Thrill Ride (Black Knights Inc. #4)(19)
Chapter Five
No way. No how. Under no circumstances was she crawling into that tree.
“Now, chere,” Rock coaxed, keeping hold of her hand so she couldn’t run screaming in the opposite direction, “don’t take off with your pistol half-cocked. I’ve got tarps coverin’ the entire inside of the thing, top and bottom, and, as it happens, I just did my weekly rounds yesterday. Which means that less than thirty-six hours ago I sprayed the sucker with insect repellent. Ain’t nothin’ living in there that’s worse than the guys huntin’ us out here.”
He might be right about that. But the thing looked like a black hole, a giant mouth open and ready to devour her. And with the sound of the water running nearby it reminded her of—
Her vision began to narrow, her head floating away from her shoulders. And then, suddenly, he was there, beside her, his masculine heat and solidity anchoring her in the moment as he wrapped a heavy arm around her shoulders.
“This is the only way,” he whispered in her ear, gently frog-marching her toward the hollowed-out tree.
“But, but—” Her mind raced with a thousand thoughts. The first and foremost being that if she crawled into that abyss she was going to die just like—“They’ll still be able to see us using infrared technology, won’t they?” She grasped onto the idea like a drowning person grasps a life raft.
Oh, friggin’ hell, a drowning person…Why’d she have to go and think of that?
“I.T. doesn’t work in the jungle when our body heat matches the outdoor temperatures.”
Well, duh. She’d known that. Hadn’t she? It was hard to remember with her brain floating up somewhere near the canopy. Every step closer to that yawning cavity had her heart threatening to come crashing through her sternum like the alien creatures in those Sigourney Weaver movies. And wouldn’t that be one more fun thing for Rock to have to deal with?
“We’re outgunned, out-equipped, and out of options,” he continued, basically carrying her the last foot until they were standing right in front of the downed tree. She thought she could feel the darkness of that hole reaching out to pull her in.
Oh, geez. Oh, geez. Oh, g—
“They’ll see our tracks into the river and know which direction we headed,” he continued in a calm voice that only managed to make her realize how frickin’ close she was coming to a major breakdown. “Now, it’s gonna take them some time, probably an hour at least, to come down this far since they’ll carefully search each side of the riverbank lookin’ for where we got out. And when they can’t find hide nor hair of us, they’ll start scouring the jungle in earnest. And I can tell you this: with NVGs they have all the advantages. We need to hide out here until daybreak in order to even the odds. By the time mornin’ rolls around, they’ll be scratching their heads, spread thin, and wondering if maybe we somehow managed to make it to one of the surrounding communities. And that’s when we’ll make our break for it.”
Uh-huh. That all sounded very logical. Except for the teensy, tiny little fact that it meant she’d have to spend the rest of the night crammed inside that tree. In the dark. With the sound of the river running nearby…
“Now I know you’re scared.” Placing a hand on the top of her head, he half-helped, half-forced her to duck into the crevice. Oh, geez. Oh, geez. “But I’m gonna be right here with you the whole time. Nothin’s gonna happen to you. I promise.”
The darkness inside the hollowed-out log was complete. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, much less the tarp she felt beneath her knees when Rock tugged her into a kneeling position. They began crawling up the length of the tree and the sides closed in on her, threatening to suffocate her. She should’ve been comforted by the slightly chemical smell inside the log since it told her she wasn’t likely to be overrun by a bunch of critters but, somehow, that just made the claustrophobia worse. “Don’t you…don’t you have a flashlight in that pack?” Something, anything to cut through the blackness. “Or, I know, you could…you could use my phone as a light.”
“Non.” She couldn’t see him, but she knew he was shaking his head. “It just might be enough to shine through the foliage at the base, spotlighting our position. And even though I think we’re safe for the time being, I don’t want to take any chances. No use temptin’ fate if we don’t have to.”
So, okay. No light. She could do this. She could do this. She could—
Oh, my God! I don’t think I can do this…
“Bon, chere, you’re doin’ fine,” he crooned softly, and the smooth sound of his deep voice took the tiniest edge off her nerves. We’re talking microscopic. “Now just lie on down there,” he helped her onto her side in the tight space, “and I’ll be right back.”
“What?” she squawked, scrabbling into a sitting position and banging her head in the process.
The overhead tarp crackled on contact, but she couldn’t worry about her sound signature right now. Not when the only person keeping her sane was threatening to leave her all alone. In the dark!
“What do you mean?” She reached into the blackness, relieved when her fingers landed on Rock’s warm forearm. She followed the muscular expanse up and over his bulging bicep, past his big shoulder, until she could wrap her hand around the back of his neck and pull him forward. Pressing her forehead to his, she panted, “You can’t…you can’t leave me.”