Chapter Five: Supply and Demand

For a moment Kate stared at him, caught by that charming-yet-dangerous half-grin. And then she was moving, her feet carrying her closer and closer to him. When she was as close as she could get, she reached up, took his face in her hands, and kissed him. It was no gentle kiss either. Rather it seemed in the back corner of her mind she was kissing him as though it was the last kiss she'd ever get.

After a stunned instant he responded, his tongue snaking out to tangle with hers. His lips pressed and glided against hers, and his beard stubble scratched her cheeks. One hand pressed against her back, pulling her closer. His fingers danced at the waistband of her pants, then dipped lower.

He dropped the water bottle, and when it crunched against the brush Kate broke away with a gasp. She breathed hard, taking several steps back and looking anywhere but him.

"I...uh...I don't...I..." She glanced up and saw that half-grin again tipping the corners of his mouth. She held her arm out, then dropped it to her side.

"Never seen you speechless before, Freckles."

"Damn it," she said, bending to pick up the water bottle. She glanced at him again, then turned and stalked into the trees. When she was out of sight, she leaned back against a tree and closed her eyes. What the hell was she thinking? Kissing Sawyer had to rank right up there on the list of most foolish things she'd ever done. No good could come from it. A few moments of pleasure in exchange for endless teasing and torment. That's what she'd get.

Why had she done it? She wanted to chalk it up to exhaustion and overloaded emotions. She didn't want to think that there might be another reason, like a part of her had wanted to kiss Sawyer.

There had been something simmering between them since that first antagonistic confrontation in the jungle. She didn't even like him. He was an ass. The kind of man she should avoid at all costs. But she'd kissed him.

And she wanted to do it again.

She shook her head and took a sip from the water bottle. It was warm, but at least it was wet. It slid down her throat, soothing the dry burn and settling in her empty stomach.

She sank down and sat in the grass, leaning her back against the tree. What was going to go wrong next? Her life had been spinning out of control for months and showed no signs of settling down. She'd spent the last of her money going to Australia, thinking nobody would go that far to find her. But she'd been wrong. Not only had the marshal come looking for her, but he'd found her. He'd caught up with her because Ray had made her feel guilty for planning to leave in the middle of the night. So she'd let herself be convinced to stay one more night. It had been one more in a long line of huge mistakes.

"Hey, Kate."

Her eyes slid shut at the sound of the voice. Fear and dread coursed through her. Her breath sawed in and out of her lungs, and a mixture of sweat and dirt stung her eyes. No, her mind cried. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It couldn't end this way.

She turned her head and met the marshal's eyes. They were smug and triumphant, and it was clear that he'd believed all along that this would be the outcome of their little cat and mouse game. He'd believed he would find her and bring her in, and he'd been right. She was caught.

"It's been a while," he said, holding the gun steady as he glanced down at Ray. He was coughing, trying to come around, though his eyes were still closed. His face was streaked with blood and dirt, his body oddly distorted due to his missing arm.

The marshal looked back at Kate. "I wondered how far you'd go to get away. Now I know you'd do anything. Even murder an old man."

Kate looked down at Ray. "That wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered as he coughed again. Ray wasn't supposed to get hurt. She liked Ray. For a short time, he'd made her life bearable. He'd been someone normal in a life filled with chaos. But the trust she'd started to build for him had been shattered. Now she felt only sadness and regret.

"Let's go," the marshal said.

She looked over at him, then back down at Ray. "You're just going to leave him here?"

"It's not like you care. You're the one who did this to him."

Kate squeezed her eyes shut. Don't let him get to you, she told herself. Don't let him make you feel guiltier than you already do. "You can't just leave him."

"I'll call the police and get them out here. But I'm not giving you another chance to run. You're going to face what you did. Now move."

He gestured with the gun for emphasis. She had no choice. She had been running for a long time, but even she couldn't outrun a bullet. She didn't want to think about whether or not he would actually use the gun if she tried to run. She couldn't take the chance.

She let him take her back to his truck, then squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her lips together when he frisked her for weapons. He opened the passenger side door and pulled a pair of handcuffs out of the glovebox. She felt tears welling up and willed them away. She was not going to show him any more weakness.

When the cold steel clicked around her wrists she remained outwardly stoic and calm, though a wild sense of panic was clawing at her. She was caught. Endless months of running and worrying were over, but she was about to plunge into another kind of nightmare. This time, there was no escape.

Kate took another sip of water. She had escaped, but in a way the island was another sort of prison. She had her physical freedom, but she was still stuck here, just like everyone else.

A few minutes later she walked back into the clearing. Sawyer was on his knees, pawing through a suitcase. "Anything useful?" she asked.

"Couple bottles of water," he said as he turned. "All the booze got smashed. Some interesting clothes in a suitcase over there you might like. Oh, and these." He reached into his pocket and pulled out three condoms.

She rolled her eyes. "You're not going to be needing those."

He smirked as he put the packets back in his pocket. "You're the one who kissed me, Sweetheart."

"That was a mistake," she said. "It was just overloaded emotions. The last couple of days have been stressful."

"Or maybe that was you giving in to what you really want."

"Not a chance." She met his eyes, then turned away and sat down on an airplane seat that had broken free. She leaned back and closed her eyes as she took another sip of water. There was no way she was going to admit that part of her wanted him. It would only add fuel to the fire.

"Ah, so you wanna play the denial game? That's cool. For now."

She glared at him. "Have you found anything to eat?" she asked.

He tossed her a packet of peanuts as he sat down next to her. She opened the bag and tossed a couple peanuts into her mouth. She didn't particularly like peanuts, but they were better than nothing. If she was going to stay on her feet long enough to get back to the beach, she was going to have to deal with them. And with Sawyer.

She felt him next to her, felt the heat coming off his body, but she refused to look at him. She didn't want to see the look she knew was in his eyes. Evil glee would probably describe it, she thought. He probably loved the fact that she'd initiated the kiss. Maybe he'd even been prodding her this entire time on purpose, just to see that happen. Maybe a kiss hadn't been his ultimate goal, but his goal could have been to simply see her lose her cool. And she'd certainly done that.

She finished her peanuts and took a few swallows from her water bottle to wash down the salty aftertaste. She set the bottle on her seat and wandered over to the suitcase Sawyer had pointed out. She opened it up and shook her head when she saw all of the lingerie and short skirts. She turned to glare at him, but he only smiled. Damn him, she thought.

She found a couple of t-shirts in the suitcase that she could use. She shook her head, trying not to think that they belonged to a dead woman. There was nothing that could be done about that. Many people had died in the crash. That was a reality that couldn't be avoided. But the people who had lived had to find a way to survive until rescue came. So she took the shirts, re-folded them, and set them aside.

She moved on to another suitcase. It must have belonged to a teenage girl, she thought, judging by the trendy clothes and huge makeup bag tucked inside. There were a couple of fashion magazines, a portable CD player, and a journal. She picked up the small book and brushed her thumb over the cover. Whoever it had belonged to, they'd decorated it themselves with doodles and hearts and the names of half a dozen different boys. She tapped the book against her palm. It seemed wrong to read it, but it seemed wrong to leave it here in the jungle.

She added the journal to the pile of things she was taking with her.

Eventually Sawyer joined her, and in half an hour they'd gone through everything there was to be found. She'd packed all the clothes she could into a duffel bag they'd found. The journal was tucked into the bottom of the bag. They had three water bottles and a half-dozen bags of peanuts, which Sawyer carried in a small satchel.

"Ready to hit the highway, Freckles?" he asked.

She was about to answer when she saw the corner of a briefcase sticking out from beneath a bush at the edge of the clearing. She set the duffel bag down and walked over to the briefcase. It was expensive leather with brass fittings. She tried to pop it open, but it was locked. She wished she wasn't the curious type. They should be leaving. She figured it was mid-afternoon, but she had no idea just how long it would be before it got dark. She didn't think they'd make it out of the jungle before nightfall, but she wanted to get as far away from here as she could.

But she wanted to know what was in the briefcase.

"Know anything about popping briefcase locks?" she asked Sawyer.

His lips tilted into a grin. He dropped the satchel and held out his hand. "Let's see what you got."

She handed the case to him and watched as he examined it. He played with the locks, then pulled out a pen and worked it into one of the keyholes. A moment later the lock flicked open, and he went to work on the second lock. When it popped open, he set the case on the ground and lifted the lid.

Kate's eyes widened. "Oh, my God."