Page 23

It was a pathetic attempt at humor, but it worked. At least, it won him a grudging smile. He needed more than that. He needed her full cooperation.

“I guess I do feel a little, you know, under the weather.”

“The thing is, you’re gonna have to dig down and work past that. I can’t carry you out of this pigpen—I need my hands free in case we run into problems.”

Annie nodded again. The shock of seeing him had muddled her brain. What he meant by problems were the bandits outside.

“We’ve already neutralized several of them.”

Neutralized. Despite herself, she winced.

“This isn’t a Sunday School picnic,” he said flatly. “I suspect you figured that out all by yourself.”

“Yes. You’re right. It’s just that I never expected—”

“People hardly ever do.”

“What about the ones who haven’t been…neutralized?”

“They’re drunk as skunks and snoring—but there’s no guarantee the whole fucking camp won’t suddenly decide it’s wake-up time. So we’re going to have to be quiet. No talking once we get through that door. You got that?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Time to move. Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath. “Yes.”

He helped her to her feet. She swayed a little; he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I’m going to go as quickly as I can,” he said. “You’ll have trouble keeping up.”

“That’s ridiculous. I’m every bit as capable as—”

“Didn’t we just have this conversation?”

Annie rolled her eyes. He took that as a yes.

“So what I want you to do is lean into me. Not just on me. Into me. Let me take most of your weight. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. And one last thing.” Dec cleared his throat. “If I go down—”

“No!”

He put his index finger across her lips.

“Believe me,” he said, “I’m not planning on it. But if something happens, you’re to keep going. Head for that big pine. The one where that fat SOB held court a few hours ago. There’s a narrow trail just beyond it. It’s steep, but you won’t have to go far until one of the guys from the unit steps out and gets hold of you.”

She lifted her face to his. Her eyes were wide; her mouth trembled.

“Declan. I couldn’t stand it if you—if something happened to—”

He kissed her.

What the fuck. It had worked before. Kissing established him as being in charge. Or maybe it just reminded her of who he was. Of what they’d once had. What he’d thought they’d once had.

The point was, kissing her shut her up.