Chilled (Bone Secrets, #2)(71)

Sarah’s father had destroyed the footbridge the following day. Brynn hadn’t known until weeks after the accident when she’d found herself drawn back to see the place she’d lost her friend. She’d frozen in shock at the sight. Sawdust had still coated both banks where Sarah’s father had attacked the log with his chainsaw. She’d cried at the sight, confused by her anger at the loss of a childhood adventure site and her happiness that someone had taken revenge on the log that killed her friend.

She still felt the bewildering war of emotions.

“Jesus Christ. I don’t see how you managed to cross the other day.”

“I almost didn’t.” Her lips smiled, but her eyes didn’t. She turned to him, studying his reactions. He showed horror, pity, sadness, and…understanding?

“Do you swim?”

“Only if I have to. I made myself learn about five years ago. I hadn’t been in water since that day. I was sick of making excuses not to swim with friends. I even missed birthday parties. One day I was watching a movie on TV about Hawaii and the water was so beautiful. So many shades of electric greens and blues. The movie was about female surfers, and they were so strong and determined. They loved the water. I realized that I’d never get to experience that amazing water if I didn’t learn to swim. So I took lessons at the local pool.”

“And you went to Hawaii?”

“Not yet.” She looked at her hands in her lap. She couldn’t bring herself to get on a plane and fly over that much water.

She felt his steely eyes study her face. “How do you feel about flying?” he asked.

Damn, he was perceptive. “Flying’s great. Flying over water is a different matter.”

He nodded. “I can understand that.”

Brynn squirmed, hating his scrutiny. She’d ripped off a big scab, exposing raw and sensitive skin for his examination. She toyed with the deck of cards, nervously shuffling them. “Now you know my greatest fear, what’s yours?”

He sat straighter in his seat, gaze guarded. She didn’t feel any pity. If she could do it, then turnabout was fair play. It was like playing truth or dare in junior high. How much would Alex reveal?

He rubbed a hand over his mouth and then raked his hair with his fingers. She watched. His black hair was threaded with the smallest touches of gray at his temples. He wore it short, sort of spiky on top. Although three days of hats and hoods had flattened things considerably. A simple run of his hands had things back to normal. She wanted to touch the growth of hair on his cheeks. It was past the harsh stubble stage. It would be soft under her fingers.

Brynn suddenly felt self-conscious. Three days with no shower. Three days of hard exercise in the same clothes. She must stink. She was pretty sure her hair looked OK, because she’d kept it pulled back like always. She rarely wore much makeup because her eyes and eyelashes could hold their own.

“That’s hard to say.”

“Because you’re not scared of anything?”

His eyes pinned her. “No. Because there are too many.”

She blinked.

Not the masculine answer she’d expected.

“What are you afraid of?”

He ran his hand through his hair again. “I don’t know where to start. But I guess I’m not afraid of dying. Not anymore. Been there, done that.”

She studied his face. He was completely serious.

“I’m not afraid of things happening to me. I get more tense, nervous when I think of things happening to the people around me.” He glanced over his shoulder toward Ryan. Brynn could see the sleeping man’s boots sticking out from under one of the thin blankets. She brought her gaze back to Alex as he spoke. “I’m more afraid of what you and he will suffer if we’re never found out here. I don’t care about what happens to me.”

A subtle look of shock crossed his face, and she realized the words had surprised him as much as her.

The words had stumbled out of Alex’s mouth before he’d had time to consider them. But they were true. He didn’t want his new friends to suffer. Especially from an incident he might have caused. He wasn’t guiding Besand’s hand, but the killer had definitely reacted to Alex’s presence; therefore, he’d put his friends in danger.

“We’re perfectly capable of hiking out of here when the weather clears. We don’t have to wait for someone to come find us.”

“I know that.” And he did. “It’s more…” He didn’t know how to say it.

Brynn cocked her head in a movement like Kiana. “You’re afraid you’ve brought us into Besand’s range of interest.”

He exhaled. She’d nailed it. “Yes.”

He’d seen firsthand the horrific pain Besand could inflict on a person holding his interest. He’d seen the autopsy photos and heard the descriptions directly from Besand’s mouth. He’d told the stories with a calm detachment that scared Alex more than the words themselves. Besand simply liked to hurt people. Alex was an anomaly for him. He could hurt Alex without touching him. Besand simply opened his mouth to speak and Alex felt pain.

He didn’t want that for Brynn. Besand would take his time with her, wrench as much pleasure from her physical pain as possible. Alex’s chest grew hot and his fingers clenched on his thighs. He remembered how the skin of her face had felt when he’d touched her that morning as she slept. If Alex had his way, Besand would never touch that silkiness.