to protect them from the heat of the sun.” He held his hand down to her. “Hear or see anything?”
“No, it was quiet.” She slid her hand into his, cool and damp from being in the stream. He eased her to her feet, inches between them. “Are you as stiff and sore as I am?”
“Yes.” He didn’t want to let go of her hand, but forced himself to do it. “Ready to go?”
She put on her go-bag, pulling it so the straps settled comfortably against her shoulders. She settled her baseball cap on her head. “What about water?”
“We have two quarts on each of us,” he said, walking around the tree and heading out of the area. “I found some plastic bottles and gathered them up at the end of the grove. We’ll fill them with water, put purification tablets in them, and then they’ll be our hydration for tonight, as well as tomorrow’s hike.”
She walked at his side. “I wonder if Dan or anyone is worried about us, Chase? Is he concerned because, you know, he calls us every day to report on anything about Dirk or that gang in the logging area.”
“When he can’t get ahold of us, at first he may just leave us a message. And if we don’t answer in a couple of hours, he’ll probably call a second time.”
“Thinking we might be out of reach or something? No cell towers in this area?”
“Right. And if we still don’t answer after that, I’m sure he’ll call the raptor facility, asking if we’re there.”
“What if they tell him we haven’t shown up?”
“Then,” Chase said, “I think he’ll contact that sheriff of San Diego County and get a deputy sent out to this area along Highway 80 to see if they can locate us.”
“But that probably wouldn’t happen until tomorrow,” Cari said, matching his quick, long stride.
“Correct.” Chase continued to look around, keep them in the thicker parts of the grove, not wanting to be out in the open by following the banks of the stream. “How are you doing, Cari? Am I walking too fast for you?”
She reached out, grabbing his hand. “My joints are stiff and painful, but by walking like this, I feel less pain.”
“Walking increases circulation,” he said, squeezing her hand. There was so much he wanted to say to her. Cari was game. Her core strength was coming out and Chase was relieved. He knew tomorrow’s hike was going to be a miserable, hard sonofabitch for her. He was used to places like this and knew how to handle the landscape, but she didn’t.
“Did you see? There’s a lot of dark clouds off to the west.”
“I did. We may get rain tonight. We’re in a weather phenomenon called the monsoon season that comes up from Mexico every June through September in the Southwest. There can be violent thunderstorms day or night, but this is when areas like this get their rain for half of the year.” He pointed a finger up through the tree canopy at the growing dark and swirling clouds above them. “Rain isn’t our enemy,” he told her. “When we start out tomorrow morning? If it’s raining, that’s a good thing.”
“Why?”
“Because it acts like camouflage, hiding us from the prying eyes of drug runners that I’m sure are in this area.”
“Oh . . . I didn’t think of that.”
He liked that she squeezed his fingers in return. “That’s okay,” he told her, holding her gaze. “Each of us has strengths and weaknesses. A good team, a good partnership, always works off one another’s strengths.”
“I like that about you, Chase,” she said, looking into his eyes, her voice serious.
“I like everything about you,” he rasped, slowing, leaning over and kissing the back of her hand. Her eyes went soft and he felt her longing. “We’ll get through this together, Cari. That, I promise.”
* * *
“Home for tonight,” Chase told her as they squeezed between two large juniper trees that hid the entrance to the cave he’d chosen to hole up in. He guesstimated it was around five p.m., the sun starting a slow decline toward the western horizon.
Holding up one hand to protect her face, Cari followed him, getting whacked by the tough juniper leaves. She held tightly to his hand as he led her into a small, white limestone cave entrance. Ducking, she followed him inside. The light from outside filtered in through the junipers and inside she was able to straighten and look around. Chase released her hand.
“Follow