Northern Renegade Page 15

  “What if something happens or there’s an emergency?”

  “We radio base and they fly in and pick us up. You ever been camping before?”

  “Hel-lo. Remember, I was a Girl Scout. All Girl Scouts go camping at one time or another. We stayed in these little teepee things with platforms for our sleeping bags.”

  “Bathroom and showers?”

  “Not in the teepees. We had to walk to get there and all the showers were in a row.”

  “But you’ve never done any wilderness camping?”

  “Well, not exactly.”

  She’d be perfect. If she could do this, then greenhorns could. She’d be a good barometer. “You need to know, though, that if you go I’m not going to babysit you. You have to carry your own gear and keep up.”

  “When do we go?”

  “Day after tomorrow.”

  She swallowed. “Okay. What do I need to do to get ready?”

  “I’ll pull together your gear. You put together some clothes and I’ll look them over. Remember, you’ve got to carry everything on your back. How about I come over tomorrow evening and sign off on your clothes.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  “Are you going to feed me or do I need to bring dinner from Gus’s?”

  “I’ll feed you.”

  “One more thing, Wellington. Now that Bradley has gone, are we still on a sex moratorium?”

  “That’s just so...romantic...really, Reinhardt.”

  “Would that be a yes or no?”

  “That would be an I’m-still-thinking-about-it.”

  * * *

  THE NEXT AFTERNOON, Tansy stirred her soup with one hand and answered the phone with the other.

  “Please tell me the grapevine is wrong,” Jenna said without preamble.

  “I was going to call you but I got on a roll with the book today and just went with it.” And she’d known Jenna would flip a gasket.

  “Have you lost your mind?”

  There went the gasket. “It’ll be an adventure. When am I going to get this opportunity again?”

  “Hmm. And it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’re going with Liam?”

  “Of course it does. He knows what he’s doing. In fact, he and Bull went out or up or whatever you call it with Dalton, looking at it from the plane.”

  “I know that. Everyone knows everything here. I did not, however, know my sister had signed on for the trip.”

  “I swear I was going to call you in a bit.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about you. Is it safe?”

  “I’m not sure I’d feel safe going with anyone else. Like I said, when will I get this opportunity again? Plus, it was my idea he do this camp thing so it’ll be pretty cool to be checking it out.”

  “I suppose if you’re going to do something awful like that, he’s the best guy to be with. But better you than me. When are you getting back?”

  “Sunday afternoon.”

  “I’m holding a spot for you for a massage and a mani/pedi on Monday. You’re going to need it.”

  Tansy laughed. “I’m up for all of the above even when I’m not coming in off of a wilderness experience, so thanks. I’m sure I’ll be ready for it.”

  “No doubt. I bet you break at least one nail out there.”

  “Who knows? Once Liam gets this off the ground, you’ll probably be signing up for one of the sessions.”

  “Sure. When aliens take over my body I’ll be right there.”

  Tansy laughed and a knock sounded on her door. “Gotta run.”

  “Yeah, Emma’s got a dirty diaper over here. Later. But you’d better stop by on your way out tomorrow.”

  “Will do.”

  Tansy opened the front door to Liam and her heart thudded against her ribs just at the sight of him.

  “What was so funny?” he said.

  “Jenna. She thinks I’ve lost my mind going on this adventure.”

  Liam grinned and her heart sort of somersaulted in her chest. “She would. I bet she’s worried you’re going to break a nail.”

  How’d he know that? “That was exactly what she said.”

  He leveled a look at her. “Your sister runs a spa and nail salon, of course that’s what she’d say.”

  She almost blurted out that she’d missed him. She didn’t realize until right now, with him next to her, just how very much she’d missed him. Her heart felt happy for the first time in a long time.... Actually, her heart had never felt happy this way ever.

  Ever practical, Liam said, “Okay, let’s take a look at what you’ve got.”

  Tansy led him back to where she had her clothes laid out on the end of her bed.

  Within seconds he’d reduced her pile by two-thirds. “That’s what you need to bring.”

  “But—”

  “No nightgown. You need to sleep in your clothes so you can be ready to roll out at a moment’s notice. You only need one extra pair of panties. No bra change. One shirt and one extra pants, three pairs of clean socks and a rain poncho. No makeup. No perfume. Leave everything but your toothbrush here.”

  Tansy bit back the urge to lobby for some additional items. This was his area of expertise and she’d respect that. “What about a hair brush?”

  “A comb would be better. It weighs less and takes up less room.”

  “Okay, a comb it is.”

  “You nervous?”

  “A little. Mostly excited.”

  “Want to see a topographical map?”

  It was kind of sexy the way that sounded when he said it. “Sure.”

  Pulling out a map, Liam opened it on the bed. He showed her where they were and where they were going. “See, the great thing about this piece is that it straddles the tree line so you have some barren areas and some wooded areas, which makes for a nice mix of training opportunities.”

  “I see.” What she saw was the way the hair covered his forearm, the way his biceps bunched when he pointed. She ran her finger down his arm. “Speaking of straddling...”

  “Oh, yeah?” He grinned and tossed the map to the top of the pile of clothes on the other side of the bed. He turned and in one swift movement, sat on the bed and pulled her on top of him, which did, in fact, leave her straddling him in intimate proximity.

  She linked her arms around his neck. “Yeah.” She nipped at his jaw and then his lips.

  Gazing at him, realization clicked into place. She loved this man. In one short week she’d found something she’d never had with Bradley, never felt with Bradley. There was nothing conventional or convenient or even seemingly rational about the way she felt about, with or for Liam.

  She wasn’t ready to say the words and he definitely wasn’t ready to hear them. But she could show him.

  And she proceeded to do just that with her body...and her heart.

  * * *

  GENERAL WELLINGTON WAS a trouper, he’d hand her that.

  “We’ll set up camp for the night here,” Liam said. It was a nice, small clearing that was relatively flat. They were a decent distance from the stream and would recross it in the morning to refill their water, but they were far enough away to keep some distance between themselves and the wildlife that would be drawn to the water.

  “Okay.” She shrugged out of the pack she’d carried all day and put it on the ground.

  Actually, he’d hand her a whole hell of a lot. She hadn’t whined or complained all day, even though they’d covered a good bit of ground. Liam was used to operating on his own, but it’d been nice having her along. She was a good person to bounce ideas off of.

  “You gather up some firewood while I pitch the tent and set up the rest of camp. We need small sticks for kindling and bigger pieces to keep it going.”

  She propped her hands on her hips. “I know that. Sheesh. I was a Girl Scout. Remember?”

  Liam laughed. “Okay, Girl Scout, get to it.”

  “Yessir, sir.” She offered a smart-ass grin and a mocking s
alute as she started reconnoitering the area.

  An hour later, Liam passed Tansy a plate of reconstituted beef Stroganoff. “Here you go. The finest in freeze-dried meals.”

  She took a bite. “Oh, my God, that’s good. I didn’t expect it to be so tasty.”

  Liam laughed. “That’s what hiking all day will do for you. It wouldn’t taste nearly as good if you were sitting in your kitchen at home.”

  “So, is this what it’s like when you’re out in the military?”

  “In some ways.”

  “Tell me about it.” She smiled at him, her spoon poised over her plate, across the campfire. “You know that’s what Girl Scouts do when they camp. They sit around the fire and tell stories.”

  “Yeah? That’s what soldiers do, too. What kind of stories do you want?”

  “Whatever you want to tell. If you don’t want to talk about the nitty-gritty parts, then just tell me the other.”

  “The interesting part is that you have these guys who are from different places, different backgrounds, a whole range of personalities, but you’re all working toward one common goal.” He told her about the guys in his outfit, about Renwald, his spotter who had been his eyes out on missions. Once he started talking, he found he couldn’t stop. And it was different from talking to Mallory Kincaid. With Tansy it became personal. He found himself opening up, sharing a part of himself he’d never shared before, not even with Natalie, because Tansy seemed to get him, to understand.

  “I like your stories,” she said.

  “I’m not usually much of a talker.”

  “You’re a good storyteller.”

  “You’re a good listener.” He pushed to his feet. “Let’s get this cleaned up and the packs in the trees.”

  “Packs in the trees?” she said as she stood.

  “Yeah. We need to clean up away from camp and then hang the packs in the trees to keep out bears and other wildlife. And no food, not even gum or mints, in the tent. Nothing with any scent.” He shook his head at her expression. “Guess your troop leader didn’t cover that in training, huh?”

  She eyed the tree line. “If she did, I forgot. Let’s get it done. I really don’t want any four-legged visitors.”

  “Yep. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”

  They went to the other side of the clearing and into the woods a bit and washed up. Then they backtracked to the other side and he made quick work of rigging their packs up high enough off of the ground and far enough out on a tree. “That should be fine.”

  Walking back to the camp, she said, “Liam, I have a question.”

  “Shoot.”

  She grinned in the descending darkness. “Exactly. Would you teach me to shoot a gun?”

  He was only a little surprised by her question. “Have you ever fired a weapon before?”

  They were back by the campfire where their tent sat a short distance from the fire. He sat back down on the log and she did, as well.

  She shook her head. “No. I’d like to learn, though.”

  “Sure. The first thing you need to do is learn about the weapon itself before you do anything else. We could do a basic lesson if you want to.”

  “That would be awesome.”

  He unholstered the Glock and took out all the ammunition and then double-checked again that it was empty. “The first rule of thumb is you always handle a weapon as if it’s loaded, even when it’s not. Don’t ever point it at anyone unless you’re planning to use it.”

  He gave her a rundown of the components and basic operation. In the flickering firelight, her gaze was intent. She asked intelligent questions and most importantly, when he handed her the weapon, she wasn’t tentative, but she also wasn’t careless and cocky.

  “You’ve got a natural grip and you seem pretty comfortable with it,” he said.

  “It is comfortable. It’s not as heavy as I thought it would be.”

  “Be careful where you’re aiming it, but go ahead and practice the grip.”

  “How’s this?” She followed his instructions to a T.

  He was impressed. “Not bad, Wellington. In fact, damn good. Is it still comfortable in your hand?”

  “I like the way your gun feels in my hand.”

  She didn’t know what she was saying, which made it all the funnier.

  “What? What’s so funny?”

  “There’s a saying—this is my weapon, this is my gun. One is for fighting, one is for fun.”

  A purely sensual smile lit her face and eyes. “Hmm. I see. Well, I like the way both your weapon and your gun feel in my hand...and the gun in other places, too. In fact, maybe it’s time for me to handle your gun again.”

  “Hand me my weapon.” She did, adhering to his safety rules. He reloaded it and put it away while she waited silently. “Now, come here, woman, and handle my gun.”

  * * *

  TANSY NURSED A CUP of hot coffee the next morning while Liam cooked breakfast. She was fairly amazed by how well she’d slept considering it was in a sleeping bag on a bedroll on the ground in a tent. She’d felt safe in a tent with Liam. She’d even been okay to get up this morning without a shower and take care of her business behind a bush. All told, she was actually having a great time roughing it.

  “I’m pretty happy we made it through the night without being visited by any wild animals.”

  He grinned at her over the small cookstove. “I don’t know. I was pretty into the wild animal in my tent last night. That was fairly spectacular.”

  “It was, wasn’t it? Having fired your gun a couple of times, maybe you could teach me to shoot your weapon if we have some time this morning.”

  “We could do that. We have time. Now, keep your strength up and eat.”

  “How much ground do you want to cover today?” They’d hiked about five miles yesterday, which didn’t sound like a lot but it had been rugged, somewhat mountainous terrain and they’d been trailblazing. It had been arduous but invigorating.

  “We should cover about twelve miles today but it’ll be different. We’re moving north so once we get through the first three miles or so, we’re going to be in much more open terrain with sparse trees. You’ll need to layer on your other shirt tonight.”

  “I’m glad you asked me to come.”

  “Yeah? We’ll see if you still feel that way tomorrow.” There was no sting in his words and he grinned. She supposed it was early and they still had a lot of ground to cover. “Let’s clean up, break camp, and then we’ll get in your firing round before we start.”

  Half an hour later, Liam looked at her, admiration glinting in his eyes. “You’re a quick study, Wellington, and a natural marksman. You sure you never did this before?”

  It was ridiculous how good his praise made her feel, and it was all the more meaningful because she knew he wasn’t one to hand out praise lightly or blithely. Plus, coming from a man who was one of the best at what he did... “No. Never before.”

  “Damn good job. Now, you reload the way I told you...that’s right...barrel pointing down...yep...now, safety on. Good job. And you remember the most important thing about handling a weapon?”

  “Yep. You don’t have it if you aren’t willing to use it.”

  “That’s right.” She passed the weapon to him and he holstered it. “Okay, sharpshooter, ready to march?”

  Happiness, contentment and excitement surged through her. Good grief but she loved this man. “Lead on...as long as I don’t have to sing cadence.”

  It was a spectacularly glorious day.

  14

  THE HAIR ON THE BACK of Liam’s neck stood up. Something wasn’t right. He couldn’t shake a feeling he’d had for a while, and the deal was, when you couldn’t shake a feeling, you listened to it because it meant something wasn’t right. It had saved his ass more times than he could count.

  He didn’t want to alarm Tansy but he looked around for an area to take cover. Already the vegetation was less dense, the trees increasingly sparse. According to the topogra
phical map, they were going to be in open terrain in about half a mile and that wasn’t feeling safe at this moment.

  Something, or someone, was watching them. If it was a friend, they’d have made themselves known by now, which only left him to surmise he was dealing with an unknown foe.

  “Let’s take a break over here,” he said, eyeing a small boulder in a clump of trees. It had become increasingly rocky.

  “We can keep going. I’m really not tired.”

  “We’re breaking.” He took her hand and steered her none too gently.

  Tansy glanced at him. “I was just saying. Okay.”

  He’d hurt her feelings. It was all in her voice and all over her face. He’d slipped back into full military mode but she was still in aren’t-we-having-a-good-time-in-the-woods mode. He had a bad, bad feeling that was all about to change.

  His sixth sense, on red alert, led him to grab her and pull her down behind the boulder’s cover.

  “What are you—”

  He’d heard the crack-bang. Any marksman recognized the bang of a rifle being fired and the crack as it impacted its target. The bullet lodged in the tree to their left.

  Reflexively, he already had his rifle out and in his hands. “Someone’s shooting at us.” Actually, the shot had been aimed at Tansy. Had he been the target, the bullet would’ve landed to the right.

  Her eyes widened and the color drained from her face. “What? Why?”

  “I don’t know why. Do everything I tell you, when I tell you. Got it?”

  She nodded mutely. He listened. It was faint, but there. A branch cracked. Based on the shooter’s probable position per the entry angle of the bullet into the tree and that crack, he was circling to their left.

  Liam motioned Tansy over farther behind the boulder. He unholstered the Glock and passed it to her. She shook her head.

  He nodded and pressed it into her hand. “I may need you to back me up and you may need to protect yourself,” he said directly into her ear, his voice low. “Just make damn sure you don’t shoot me.”

  A resolution joined the fear in her eyes. Her lips a straight line, she nodded. There was an off chance that the shot had been fired by a hunter who had mistaken them for game. He didn’t think so, but he had to cover their bases. To call out wasn’t giving away their location, because their location was already known. And whoever had fired that shot was working with a rifle and a scope, which should have given the shooter a clear view. Nonetheless, he wasn’t moving them out and being mistaken by some overzealous hunter again.