“Then they’ll come looking for me. Tracking is what I do when I’m not rousting bandits.”
Rachael swallowed the sudden fear welling up. “Great. It isn’t like I can run from you either. They’ll offer you a lot of money to turn me over to them.” She shrugged, trying to be casual when she wanted to throw herself off the verandah and run. “Or maybe they’ll just ask you to kill me for them. Less trouble that way.”
His hand settled on her head. “Lucky for you, I’m not particularly interested in getting rich. I don’t need a lot of money living here. The fruit’s plentiful and I can easily hunt and trade for the things I need.” He rubbed strands of her wavy hair between the pads of his fingers. “I think I have a lazy streak.” He grinned at her. “Besides, you swing a mean stick. I don’t think I want to mess with you.”
“When they ask you, are you going to tell them where I am?”
“Why would I do that when I can keep you all to myself?”
Rachael tipped the rest of the juice down her throat. It was cooling and sweet. She rested her head on Rio’s shoulder and allowed herself to relax. The night was incredibly beautiful with so many different types of foliage and trees bowing gently in the wind. The rain played a melody in the
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background, almost soothing now that she was outside with the breeze blowing. She could see movement in the branches as gliders flitted from one tree to another.
“Are you going to let me guess, or are you just going to keep me in suspense? Why would someone be so intent on killing you?”
YOU know how to wreck a perfectly good evening, don’t you?” Rachael didn’t lift her head from the comfort of his shoulder, but stared out into the forest. Shadows moved from canopy to floor. A symphony of music made up of every kind of rustle, croak and insect sound accompanied the wind. “I always thought it would be quiet. The edges of the forest are so active, around the swamps. Fish jumping, and insects always busy, but for some reason I thought when I reached the interior it would be peaceful.”
“Think of it as songs of the forest. I’ve always loved the way the insects and birds sound against the leaves in the wind. It’s all music if you love it, Rachael.”
“I suppose it is. Why can’t people just leave us alone, Rio? Yes, I ran away. Does it really matter so much why I ran? Who I ran away from? What difference does it make all the way out here, in the middle of a forest?”
Rio tried not to hear the wistful note in her voice. More, tried not to react to it. “It’s perfectly reasonable of me to want and need to know why someone would want to kill you. Do you have a husband you ran away from? Someone
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rich and powerful enough to track you even here? Why wouldn’t he just let you go?” He felt her beside him, fitting into the lines of his body. Heard her breathing softly. Her skin was hot, but soft and inviting. Even more than the physical temptation was her courage and sense of humor. She was occupying his thoughts, invading his blood. Rio reached over her to pull her broken wrist across her lap, positioning it for maximum comfort. “I guess that was a silly question. I might not have let you go myself.”
Rachael lifted her head to look at him. A faint smile curved her mouth. “Rio, that was a nice thing to say to me. Thank you.”
He looked harassed instead of grateful for her appreciation. “You have to tell me why, Rachael. If someone is going to come looking, I have to be prepared.”
“There is no way to prepare. As soon as I’m able, I’ll keep going. There has to be a place where they can’t find me. I’m hoping they believe I’m dead.”
“If Kim is alive, he’ll know you survived. He’s one of the best trackers around. And he’ll go looking for you because you were in his care. The government is going to be up in arms, having a church group bringing medical supplies taken by bandits. They’ll be looking for the entire group. The countries need the aid and the last thing they want is for it to get out that it’s dangerous to travel along the rivers or near the forest, two major tourist draws. And if you have someone else, an outside source, pushing the government to go after the bandits, they’ll search the river thoroughly.”