Page 8 of Shadow of Hope
“And you said you were in the military before. What branch?”
“Marines. I was a weapons specialist and then moved into military investigations.”
She nodded at his belt. “No wonder you carry a gun.”
“We all do.”
“I’m surprised it’s necessary in a tranquil place like this unless you’re really worried about animals.”
“The two legged variety, yeah. I appreciate everyone who wants to learn to live off-grid or how to survive in the wilderness, but along with that can come all kinds of crazy at times.” He chuckled, but eyed her. “Sometimes our guests try to keep things from us that we need to know for their protection.”
She looked away. “I’m not one of those nutso preppers if that’s what you’re getting at. Just a girl hoping to learn how to survive on her own.”
“But why?” He stared openly now. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re pretty soft around the edges. Makeup. Perfume. Nail polish. Lipstick. What appears to be designer jeans. We don’t get a lot of that look around here.”
She glanced at him, then quickly away, but he caught her cautious expression. “You’re right. I’m kind of a girly girl who likes the indoors and creature comforts. But sometimes you have to challenge yourself and branch out in life.”
“Understood,” he said, but really didn’t buy her answer.
“I mean, what good do creature comforts do if I freeze to death or can’t find food and water?” Her sincere tone hit him hard. She really was worried about these things.
Question was, why?
He met and held her gaze. “You seem concerned that you might find yourself in that situation.”
“You never know, right? With the way our world is going at times.”
“True,” he said, but doubted that was her reason for being here.
“Are you married? Engaged? Involved?”
Way to change the subject.Evasive for sure. “None of the above.”
“A good-looking guy like you who seems to have a decent personality and a good job? What are the women around here thinking?” She chuckled and ducked under a low-hanging tree branch.
He followed and a cobweb caught on his face. His fear of spiders kicked his heart rate into gear. He swatted the clingy web away and jumped back, searching his clothing for the insect that had made it.
“Something wrong?” She’d stopped and was staring at him.
No way he would admit to his fear. He swallowed and moved on, chastising himself for being irrational. “What about you? Significant other.”
“Same as you. No one right now.”
They reached the lake, the moon shimmering off the calm surface. He took a moment to enjoy it, but knew all kinds of things were churning underneath the water. Like his gut clenching over a silly spider. Or unsettled things that seemed to lay underneath the calm and very lovely Ms. Kari Curtis’s fine exterior.
And God help him, he wanted to figure her out, not only for the job, but for his own personal interest. And that scared him almost as much as the very real threat of bears in the area.
3
Rocks. Ava’s backpack weighed down her shoulders on the trail the next morning as if Micha had loaded it with large rocks. Of course he hadn’t. His only part in the weight of her pack for this four-day expedition into the wilderness was to give her a list of the items she needed to pack. Not that she was special in getting the list. Before arriving at the compound, they’d all been sent an email naming supplies to bring for their week of immersion.
Her makeup bag was the only extra thing she’d added beyond the listed items to her pack. She did like makeup, maybe excessively so, and might have more products than many women, but that wouldn’t weigh the pack down much. Still, after an hour hike uphill over a winding, wooded, and rocky path, every ounce now pulled on her shoulders like a pound.
Micha struggling with his pack? Not so much. He led the way as if out for a leisurely morning stroll. Then Jamal followed, his step eager still, too. Even Ernie, who was next in line moved better than she did. These guys were followed by Buck, Fritz, and Garrett, who also seemed to tolerate the climb, though Buck grumbled a bit. As a nurse, she was on her feet all day and often got in more than twenty thousand steps, but clearly it hadn’t prepared her for a grueling hike.
Micha looked back at them and held up his hand. He ran his gaze over her. “We’ll break here. Be sure to drink some water. Don’t want anyone getting dehydrated.”
He didn’t need to tell her twice to take a break. She shrugged out of her pack and resisted sighing as she sat on a nearby boulder. She also slipped out of her jacket and set it on her pack. The temps for April were on the chilly side, hovering around fifty degrees even with the sun beating down on them, but she’d worked up a sweat on the hike and needed to cool down.
