CHAPTER SIX

When she woke it was full dark, and she was filled with panic. She could hear nothing past the muffled roar of the waterfall, and she sat up, immediately alert.

It was much cooler up here at higher elevations. Back in the tiny village of Talaca the nights had been hot and steamy, and she would lie in her tiny nun’s cell in her underwear and pray for a stray breeze. She could hear the wind in the trees overhead, and the night was chilly. Her clothes were still damp and clammy, clinging to her skin, and she shivered.

She heard the rustle of bushes and froze. She’d been a fool to fall asleep – she should have kept going, following the water. It could flow in no other direction but downhill, where towns and cities lay. If MacGowan was as good as he said he was he’d be more than capable of catching up with her if he wanted to. Even if he didn’t want to, she was better off taking her chances than staying there like a sitting duck, waiting.

It was too late now, she thought irritably. If she got caught it was her own damned fault for being so trusting. Trusting MacGowan would come back, trusting that things would work out for the best. Hadn’t she learned first-hand that life wasn’t particularly fair? She might die on this mountainside because of her stupid belief that helping people was her responsibility and her calling.

The night birds were silent now, and she wondered what kind of four-legged predators roamed around here. She already had enough trouble with the two-legged kind. Would she prefer to be raped and slaughtered by someone like Carlos, or torn to pieces by a jackal or puma or whatever prowled the mountainside? Neither option seemed particularly delightful. Someone, something was getting closer, and she looked around her for a weapon, but there was nothing. Should she try to run, or stay where she was, hoping whatever it was would miss her?

A shadow loomed out of the darkness, suddenly, and she screamed, then slapped her hands over her mouth when she recognized MacGowan. There was a faint sliver of moonlight, enough to illuminate his gaunt figure, and she could see the trace of an ironic smile.

“Good thing the Guiding Light are looking miles away, or you would have brought them straight to us, princess,” he growled. “You wanna try not to scream so much?”

“That was the first time I screamed,” she shot back, indignant. She couldn’t begin to count the number of times she wanted to shriek in total panic, and each time she swallowed it. “Did you find Dylan?”

“Unfortunately.”

Beth’s heart sank. “Damn,” she said softly, getting to her feet. Her legs were cramped, and she stumbled a bit before she righted herself, but MacGowan didn’t make any effort to help her. “He was so young.”

“Still is,” MacGowan said in a disgruntled voice. “Hey, brat, show yourself. Our little nun thinks I killed you.”

The lanky teenager appeared out of the heavy foliage, a sullen expression on his face. “I can take care of myself,” he muttered.

“Yeah, right. That’s why you were still trussed up like a Christmas goose when I found you,” MacGowan drawled.

“I thought the others had killed him, not you,” Beth snapped. “And I told you, I’m not a nun. I’m not even Catholic.”

“Close enough, Sister Beth,” he said. He was deliberately taunting her, and she knew she shouldn’t rise to the provocation, but she couldn’t help it. She bit back her retort. “And I’ve already lost one meal ticket – I’m not about to let go of another.”

“Such nobility of spirit,” Beth said under her breath.

“You betcha, lady,” he shot back. “I’ve been stuck in a hellhole for almost three years – I want the good life when I get back to civilization.”

“Three years?” She didn’t bother to hide the shock in her voice. “I didn’t realize . . .”

“And I don’t need your bleeding heart fixating on me. Money will soothe my wounded soul just fine. And if you feel like throwing in a mercy fuck on the side I’d be grateful.”

“Dude, that’s no way to get a chick,” Dylan scoffed.

MacGowan glanced at him, amused. “Really? You can give me pointers while we head down the mountain. Based on your vast experience, no doubt.”

“Hey, I’ve had lots of pussy in my life.” He cast an uneasy glance at Beth. “Excuse me, Sister Beth.”

“I’m not a nun,” she said through gritted teeth as they started, single file, down the winding trail.

“Sure she is,” MacGowan said. “Pay no attention to her. I want to hear how an infant like you gets pussy.”

“I’m sixteen!” he protested. “And I live in Hollywood. I’ve been getting laid since I was twelve.”

“Great,” MacGowan muttered. “What cougar got to you?”

“None of your business. And I like my chicks young, just a year or two older than I am. Even Sister Beth is too old.”

She felt ridiculously offended. “I’m not . . .” she began, but his words drowned her out.

“Your mistake. Sister Beth feels like a prime piece of ass to me, and I’m a connoisseur in these things.”

“Would you mind not discussing me like I’m a side of beef?”

They both ignored her as they continued down the path, and she had to hurry to keep up with them.

“You haven’t been laid in three years,” Dylan scoffed. “A heifer would look like a prime piece to you.”

Enough was enough. “Are you calling me a cow?” Beth demanded in a dangerous voice.

MacGowan glanced back at her, and in the fitful moonlight she could see the shadow of a smile in his dark face. “A very young cow,” he said, amused. “Calm down, Sister Beth. He’s too young to appreciate your mature charms.”

“I’m thirty-one years old,” she snapped. “And I’m not a goddamned nun.”

He laughed out loud then. “You get kidnapped by rebels, threatened by a psychopath, fall off a cliff and face death around every corner and the only thing that can make you swear is being called a nun? You should have said you weren’t a goddamned cow.”

“Go to hell,” she muttered.

“Better,” he said judiciously. “But I’m looking forward to you telling me to go fuck myself.”

“Consider it said,” she snapped.

“Oh, no. I need to hear the words from your innocent lips.”

She tightened her innocent lips, glaring at him.

“You two already got a thing going on?” Dylan inquired. “’Coz I’ve been up in the mountains away from females for more than six weeks myself, and if you don’t mind I just might tap that.”

Beth couldn’t even begin to respond to that one. MacGowan did it for her.

“Just a suggestion, brat, but if you’re wanting to seduce a woman, you’re better off not calling her a cow and suggesting she’s too old.”

“Well, hell, she’s probably in need of a little physical comfort and escape just like we are. Women have needs too, you know.”

“Do they really?” MacGowan said in an innocent voice. “I think Sister Beth will do without your attentions. She looks like a virgin to me.”

It was the last straw. “I am not!”

He glanced back at her. “Close to it, I bet. You probably slept with someone, didn’t like it, and decided not to try again.”

“You’re not even close,” she said. It had been two men and a total of three encounters before she’d given sex up for good. “And I’m not discussing this with you.”

“Then why do you keep answering?” He stopped again. “Dylan, I think we’d better keep Sister Beth between us. She’s smaller than the two of us, more vulnerable, unless she’s got a black belt I don’t know about, and she’d be safer between us. Besides, this way you get to look at her ass, and trust me, it’s a very fine ass for a woman her age.”

“I’m thirty-one!” she protested again, then gave up. He was right about one thing – she shouldn’t keep rising to the bait. “And I’m fine where I am.” Dylan had stepped aside, but she refused to move.

“And I don’t give a damn what you think,” he said, grabbing her upper arm in his strong grip and pulling her behind him. She was going to be a mass of bruises by the time she reached the city. Carlos and company had already inflicted a fair amount of damage, and MacGowan was finishing the job. “Just follow me and don’t wiggle your ass too much. The boy is young and impressionable.”

“Go. Fuck. Yourself.” She enunciated the words very carefully.

“Better,” he said. “But I don’t hear real conviction in the words. We’ll work on it.”

“I’m certain you’ll give me plenty of opportunity to practice it,” she said sweetly.

For a moment he said nothing. “You’re a dangerous woman, Sister Beth,” he said finally.

And she had no idea what he meant.

He could fall in love with a woman like that, he thought darkly, moving down the narrow path, feeling her behind him. She was cold and he knew it. Her clothes hadn’t dried, and the night was chilly. If hadn’t been so damned quixotic and rescued the brat he could have taken her someplace secluded, stripped off her wet clothes and warmed her from the inside out. And he’d have made sure she enjoyed it.

That was a danger too. If you give a woman the best sex of her life then she’s likely to want more. And more. More than you were willing to give.

No, Beth Pennington was nothing but temptation wrapped up in a prim, tasty little package, and he couldn’t afford to be tempted. He needed her money, and rescuing Dylan hadn’t been quixotic. He needed his money as well. He had no idea what he was going to face when he got back to London, but Peter Madsen was going to die slowly and in a great deal of pain, and that would cost money. The thought of revenge had kept him alive, and he wasn’t going to let go of it so fast.

He couldn’t afford to let Beth Pennington distract him. He needed to get paid and get rid of the two of them as soon as possible, so he could concentrate on his own problems.

If he could make them hike through the daylight tomorrow they might reach the edges of civilization by tomorrow evening if his calculations were on target. There they could find transportation to the nearest city with an airport, and they could wire the money into his bank account in the Cayman Islands. Once he had verification he could dump them and be on his way.

In the meantime, keeping her annoyed gave her energy and made her forget to be scared. And it amused him. Dylan was easier to handle – he was a typical adolescent mass of hormones, and talking about sex kept him fully distracted. They would both be hungry – he’d taken the weapons and food rations from the bodies of the men he’d killed, as well as a decent pair of boots, and he’d feed his two lost lambs around midnight, when the moon was bright overhead. That would keep them going.

But eventually even he was going to have a hard time coming up with distractions, and then all they could do was put one foot in front of the other and hope they made it.

Things weren’t that bad yet. And if he got too tired to bait them he could simply bully and threaten them, and fill his mind with erotic fantasies about all the things he wanted to do as soon as he found a willing professional.

The only problem was, with each explicitly, definitely X-rated fantasy he was seeing Beth’s face, her eyes wide with shock and pleasure. Damn, he needed a woman.