Proving Ground by Stanalei Fletcher

Author:Stanalei Fletcher [Fletcher, Stanalei]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Suspense
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2015-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Mac was surprised by Caitlin’s question about her father. “Of course Sean knows you’re out here.” Did she think that he’d keep it a secret?

“I don’t suppose he thinks it was by accident.”

Mac snorted and shook his head. “I’m not sure how you want me to answer that. You’ve changed, Cait. But not that much. I think you’re as accident-prone as always.”

“How would you know how much I’ve changed? Did you try to stay in touch?”

“So you’re saying being out in the middle of a forest fire wasn’t an accident?”

“I’m saying—” She must be tired. Too tired to realize she’d taken the bait. “I’m not saying anything more.”

“This is a first.” Mac laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You. Speechless. Twice in one night.”

Mac caught Caitlin’s glare in the flashlight beam. Good, she still had some fight left in her. She’d need it for what they had to do tonight. “Come on, we can’t stand around here all night.” He deliberately turned his back on her and swept the surroundings with his flashlight. They’d follow the ridge above the lake as they hiked to the rockslide. He didn’t like the thought of climbing those boulders in the dark, but they wouldn’t be safe from the fire anywhere else. The rocks offered safety in the way of providing little fuel.

He walked a few steps and stopped. Caitlin hadn’t followed him. “Are you going to stand there all night?” He swung the beam directly into her face. She raised a hand and cringed against the sudden brightness. Mac tried not to let her disheveled appearance soften him. He had to be tough. They were far from being out of danger. He had to be strong enough to get them both safely through the night.

Caitlin took a breath. “Get that damn thing out of my face. I’m coming.”

He dropped the light to the ground in front of her so she could see where to step. She still used the stick and she had a limp, but it didn’t seem too bad. Climbing was another matter. Moving around on the boulders would force her to shift her weight from leg to leg. If her ankle was weak, he’d have to support her most of the way. He’d do what needed to be done, but touching her would be a different kind of torture in itself. As she drew level with him, he turned to lead the way.

His pace was steady but slow so she could keep up. They walked in silence for a couple hundred yards, but it took them almost another thirty minutes. The glow from the fire grew almost to the point where they didn’t need the flashlight. That wasn’t a good sign. “Can you walk any faster?”

Caitlin moaned. “I’m going as fast as I can.”

“Right. Grandma could’ve run circles around you by now.” It was heartless, but if he didn’t push her, they’d never outrun the inferno.

“How much farther before we reach the rock slide?”

“Another hundred yards.” He picked up his pace.

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