over the two miles of rough terrain to the main road. There, luck was with her. She had no more begun a hurried jog down the pavement when a car passed, then slowed. Relief washed over her when she saw the young girls watching her expectantly.
“Hey, ain’t you the journalist that’s been running around town?” the blonde, gum snapping driver asked her with a smile.
The girl waitressed evenings at the small restaurant she ate in, Merinus remembered.
“I need a ride back to camp,” Merinus told her urgently. “Could you drive me there?”
She was sweating, her blood thundering through her veins. She needed Callan. She swallowed at the bile rising in her throat as she fought the weakening symptoms.
“Sure. Get in. You look kinda sick, though. Sure you don’t want to go to the doctor?”
Merinus pulled the back door open and slid in thankfully.
“No doctors.” She barely halted the shudder of her body at the thought of someone touching her. “Just take me to the access road to my camp. I’ll be fine from there.”
She wondered if her jeep was still there. Another cell phone was hidden there, a spare, just in case, Kane had told her. She had to get to that phone.
“Sure. No problem.” A heavy foot hit the gas and the car shot forward. Merinus bit her lip, fighting the need to scream out at her to stop, to take her back to Callan. Addictions could be cured, she told herself. Detox. Kane had gone through it a long time ago, and he told her once, any addiction could be cured. All you had to do was fight it. Just fight it. She could fight it, Merinus assured herself.
Her fists clenched in the pockets of her shorts, her body throbbed and the air became stifling. She tasted blood from her teeth biting into her lips and she was forced to clench her teeth instead. Control, she chanted to herself. Control. Kane said all it took was control.
* * * * *
The roar that erupted from Callan’s throat when they realized Merinus was missing almost shocked him. He knew it shocked the others. Dawn whimpered, Sherra flinched. The three men whose sole job it was to protect the house paled.
“You didn’t even know she was out there?” The primal growl in his voice had the three men taking a step back.
“We were above her, Callan. There was no reason for us to believe she would try to slip away from you,” Taber defended them all.
“And why would you not patrol the road? Do you think no one would think to use it?” he bit out harshly.
“What the hell is it there for?”
“We would have heard—”
“Nothing if they were on foot as Merinus was,” Callan rasped furiously. The rage pulsing through his body was hot and violent. Damn her to hell, she had run from him. Taken money and the keys to her vehicle and ran, despite the needs raging through her body. And she needed. He knew, because the hot throb of lust was making him demented.
“We miscalculated,” Taber admitted.
“You f**ked up, there’s a difference,” Callan accused him. “She’s headed for camp.” He pushed his fingers through his hair, fighting to think. “She’ll want her vehicle so she can run. Let’s go.”
He turned on his heel, unwilling to wait any longer.
“Sherra, you and Tanner head for town, make certain she’s not there. The rest of us will head to camp. My damned luck she’s f**king called in the Marines by the time I get there.”
The Marines or those damned brothers she kept threatening him with. That woman thought her brothers could move the damned world if they wanted to. He bit back an oath of disgust as he jumped into the Bronco and turned the key. Taber and Dayan followed quickly, settling into their seats as Callan tore out of the driveway.
“She’s becoming a liability, Callan,” Dayan charged as they sped onto the main road minutes later. “A danger to us.”
“Shut up, Dayan.” Callan flicked a glance at the other man through the rear view mirror. He watched fury wash over Dayan’s face, his brown eyes narrowing in offense. Callan was passed caring. Respect came with a price. He and Taber had f**ked up, and Callan would be damned before he would accept the responsibility for that himself. They each had a job to do and he had done his part. The other males had failed in theirs and the price could end up being their lives if they didn’t find Merinus.
“She shouldn’t have much of a head start on us,” Callan bit out. “No more than an hour, and she would have taken much of that jogging to the main road.”
“Could be less if she didn’t get a ride right off,” Taber offered. Callan flicked him a sarcastic glance. Of course, she would have got a ride right off. No one around here left anyone walking.
“If she’s called her family, you’ll have to let her go, Callan,” Dayan bit out. “We’ll all go into hiding again. There’s no other choice.”
Callan refused to answer him. He turned sharply onto another graveled path, a short cut that would take him right to the area Merinus had parked her jeep. The drive was mere minutes compared to the half hour it would take by going around. He prayed he got to Merinus before she got to that damned jeep. If she managed to get out of the county before he caught up with her, then they were both in more trouble