Heartstealer (Women of Character3 by Brannigan Grace

Author:Brannigan, Grace [Brannigan, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Questor Books
Published: 2012-05-08T04:00:00+00:00

§ Chapter Eight §

When Jacie woke daylight was just beginning to break and the sky beyond the mountains was a fiery orange red.

She had never thought of herself as a person who scared easily, but between her skydiving accident last year and the suspicions Sloan had voiced about someone trying to hurt her, she began to feel incredibly paranoid.

She looked outside her tent but she didn’t see anyone stirring. She quickly put on some clean clothes and climbed out of the tent, wondering if coffee was available. She reached down to close her tent flap and heard a noise behind her.

"Were you able to sleep?" Sloan asked and she almost jumped out of her skin.

She whirled around with her hand to her chest. "I didn’t see you there. I’m about ready to jump out of my skin. I must have dozed off and got an hour or two of sleep."

He reached forward and gently cupped her cheek. "I’m not going to let anything happen to you Jacie. I stayed close to your tent most of the night."

She swallowed, touched by his concern. "You didn’t get any sleep at all, did you?"

He shrugged it off. "Right now I’ve got other priorities." He moved toward the portable grill on the back of the truck tailgate and retrieved a pan of boiling water.

"Coffee?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Sorry, it’s only instant today."

"That’s fine." She looked around, stretching, feeling cramped muscles protest. The morning air was quite cool and she shivered as she accepted a cup of coffee with a murmur of thanks. "Is anyone else up?"

"James. Donny and Michelle are around here somewhere."

"That was really well done, you know, the way you put Donny at ease last night." She felt she had to tell him that. "Anyone else might have jumped down his throat."

"Donny’s a good kid."

"So, you’re going to tell the rest of the party what’s going on?"

"We have to. They should be aware of what’s been found. I’m still hoping for an easier explanation than the one that’s been running through my head all night."

She felt the tension build up again. It had been a pressure in her chest since the night before. "I know, I’ve been trying to figure this entire thing out too. It’s making me crazy." She traced the rim of her coffee cup. "I’m really sorry and that’s so inadequate. If it turns out this is my fault in some way, I hope I haven’t done harm to Timber Falls."

"It’s not your fault," he said gruffly. "You didn’t ask for this to happen. We’ll get it figured out."

Before it’s too late. He didn’t say the words but they were inside her head and she read them in the grimness of his expression.

She heard the murmur of voices. The others were beginning to stir. She looked at him, not envying him the next half hour.

After a quick breakfast Sloan and James gathered everyone together and showed them the syringe and needle. She watched the varying reactions of horror and concern and

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