Chapter One Stephanie came awake slowly, not sure what had happened. She felt like she was trapped in a tunnel. A long, dark tunnel with no way out.
"Stephanie?" she heard Ranger call to her through the darkness. "Stephanie, can you hear me?"
"I can hear you, Ranger," she tried to say, but something was wrong. She couldn't make a sound. And it was still so dark.
"Come back to me, Steph," Ranger said. "Please, babe. Come back to me."
From far away came a flash of light growing brighter with every passing second. Stephanie blinked her eyes a few times and Ranger's face came into view. He was hovering over her. His eyes were fixed on her, concern evident in them. He ran a finger down the side of her face and let out a deep sigh.
"Can you move?"
"I think so," Stephanie said and then just to be sure she wiggled her toes. "I'm c-c-cold."
And wet. And sore. What the hell happened?
Stephanie sat up and looked around. The sky was overcast and raining, with the roll of distant thunder echoing in the background. A smoldering chunk of metal and glass lay crumpled a few yards away. Stephanie looked up at Ranger.
"Where's your pilot?"
Ranger's face went blank.
"He didn't make it, Steph," Ranger said, trying hard to keep his emotions under wraps. Their pilot, Marcus Strong, had only been working for Rangeman for a short time, but Ranger knew he had a family. He would provide for them the same way he provided for all his men, but he knew as well as anyone that no amount of money could replace the love of a father or husband.
Stephanie slipped her hand in Ranger's and squeezed lightly. Ranger met her gaze and it was then that Stephanie noticed the large gash across Ranger's shoulder.
"Oh my god. You're bleeding."
Stephanie ripped a section of her T-shirt off and moved to press it against Ranger's wound, but Ranger caught her hand at the wrist. He wasn't used to dealing with a situation like this in the presence of a woman. True, Stephanie wasn't just any woman—she was smart, resilient, tough—but she behind her eyes he knew she was vulnerable and frightened and it was his responsibility to get her out of this. He had to be strong for her, to be fearless. Letting her tend to him wasn't an option if he was to be either of those things.
"It's just a scrape, Steph," Ranger said.
"Just hold still and let me—"
"No," Ranger said.
Stephanie jerked her hand back and realizing she still had the scrap of cloth wadded in her fist, shoved it into her pocket. "You're so damn difficult," she said. "You're bleeding and you won't even let me help you."
Ranger got to his feet and offered to help her up but Stephanie refused his gesture. "You don't need help and neither do I," she said. Steadying herself against a tree to keep her head from spinning, she looked down and did a self assessment. She still had her clothes, thank god. And although she was sore she didn't think anything was broken. She felt of her hair and cringed. If she didn't find a hairdryer soon, she was going to have one hell of a frizz attack on her hands!
Almost as soon as she thought it, she felt stupid. She was lost in the woods with no food and no shelter. Soon, it was going to get dark and cold. And who know what kind of animals roamed freely in the woods at night? Frizzy hair was the least of her problems.
Fighting off a pending panic attack, Stephanie turned to Ranger.
"What do we do, now?" Stephanie asked.
Ranger had been studying the area, trying to pinpoint their location. He turned around to face her and his features softened. "There's another storm coming in," he said, pointing to the ominous gray clouds swirling overhead. "We need to find shelter for tonight; some place dry so we can get out of these wet clothes."
"And tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow we start walking," Ranger said.
Stephanie looked around. There were no trails where they were, not even ones made by the native wildlife. No sound of planes or helicopters overhead. Nothing but trees and rocks and dirt.
"Do you know where we are?"
Ranger thought about this for a long time. The real answer was no, he didn't know where they were. He didn't have the slightest clue. But if he had to guess, he would guess they were somewhere near their destination, which was his safe house in Maine. It was a gut instinct combined with years of military training that lead him to this conclusion, but that was good enough for him to give her an honest answer.
"We're not far from the cabin," he said. "Should take a day, two tops."
"Maybe we should stay here and wait for someone to fly over," Stephanie said, her head back, eyes searching the skies above.
"Bad idea, babe," Ranger said. "No one will be able to see anything in this weather and the area is too dense to search by foot."
He didn't want to think about the possibility that a search might not even happen, if they thought there were no survivors.
Stephanie hugged herself as a sudden chill rushed through her body. Ranger noticed her shivering and pulled her into him.
"I'll get us out of this, babe," he said to her. "Do you trust me?"
"I trust you," Stephanie said. "Body and soul."
To be continued...
