Delta Force Rescue - Elle James Page 0,33
detected. You can trust them completely.”
Briana chewed on her bottom lip. “I promised Alejandra she’d be safe.”
“And she will be,” Hank said. “And we’ll keep you safe, as well.”
“I’m not as worried about me as much as I am about Alejandra and her baby,” Briana said. “Will you let me know when you get her moved into the safe house?”
“I will,” Hank said. “One last thing.” He reached into the back seat of the truck and removed a cooler, handing it to Rafe. “Sadie sent out some ranch-raised beef steaks for you two to enjoy, plus a bottle of her favorite wine. She cooked the potatoes, and the steaks are medium rare. All you need to do is warm them up. She included a green salad, dressing and two pieces of apple pie. I told her she’d better have some left for me when I get home, or I’ll stay and eat with the two of you.” He winked. “Enjoy and try not to get eaten by the bear.”
Hank and Swede left, driving away as the sun slipped below the mountaintops, casting them into shadow.
Rafe carried the cooler to the cabin and waited while Briana and Lucy entered before he followed. “I don’t know about you, but roughing it in the Crazy Mountains ain’t all that bad.”
Briana grinned. “It could be a heck of a lot worse. We have running water, great food and good company. What more could we ask for?”
Rafe’s grin faded. “For El Chefe to back off and leave you alone. I’d feel better if we had an end in sight. We don’t know if he’ll give up trying to find you, or by some miracle, locate you here in the Crazy Mountains. I’d almost rather confront him than be forever in limbo.”
She shrugged. “I look at this as time I get to spend with you. And now that we have the surveillance system, we can relax a little.”
Rafe nodded. He’d let her think they’d be just fine with an early warning system. Truth was, until El Chefe backed off, they had to be hyper-aware at all times. Surveillance system or not, if the drug lord sent enough men in to extract Briana, they could be overrun before Hank and his team had time to provide backup.
Rafe hoped it didn’t come to that. In the meantime, they had a wonderful meal and another night together. Life could be a whole lot worse. He could be stuck with a client he couldn’t stand instead of Briana, a woman he was quickly learning to like a little too much.
But then, what was too much? She was an amazing woman. The kind of woman he could see himself staying with for a very long time.
Chapter 8
After the meal Hank and Sadie had provided, Rafe and Briana walked Lucy outside once more before calling it a night.
They made love until midnight and fell asleep in each other’s arms. The bear didn’t return that night, and nothing set off the alarms, allowing them a full night’s sleep.
Briana woke the next day fully refreshed and ready to do something with the day. She suggested they take the drone higher up the mountain and get a feel for the terrain around the cabin. Rafe agreed, and they packed a picnic lunch and the drone, snapped a leash on Lucy and spent the day tromping through the hills, getting to know each other better and laughing a lot.
She learned she was pretty good at operating the drone. Her hands were more adept at subtle changes in direction than his, and she maneuvered the drone all around the hilltop where the cabin perched.
Lucy chased rabbits and drank from mountain streams full of clear, cold water from snow melt.
The day was idyllic, the sun shone down on them, and they didn’t see a single bear or bad guy. Just her, Rafe and Lucy in the beautiful Montana mountains. She could almost believe it was a vacation. And she loved everything about Rafe. He was smart, understood how to get around in rough terrain and took good care to make sure she didn’t walk off a cliff or fall into a ravine.
By the end of the day, she was gloriously tired and happy. Which felt strange, considering she was on the run from a drug lord, the head of a cartel in El Salvador, who had contacts and thugs he could tap into in the States. Who knew how far his reach extended? She should be more afraid,