Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

when you crawl your way back to your boss, tell him the next time someone comes after me, it better be the man himself. Because his lackeys are damn bad at this.” Vaughn gave the man a swift kick in the chest so the man fell backward, screaming all over again.

Then Vaughn started walking, and Natalie had to remind herself to follow him. It wasn’t hard. Not when he exuded calm and confidence and safety.

He went to the front of the cabin and there was nothing that she could see, but Vaughn jerked his chin at a vehicle in the distance. “That’s where they parked their car. We’ll go in the opposite direction in case there are more shooters coming.”

Natalie looked in the opposite direction. “But it’s just...mountains.”

“I hope you’re ready to camp, Nat. Because God knows how long we’re going to be out there.”

Chapter 12

The sun was beginning to set, and Vaughn knew he needed to find a place to camp. But the adrenaline still pumped through him, and the last thing he wanted to do was stop.

He looked back at Natalie, who was...struggling. Struggling to keep up with his pace, and he thought maybe struggling to keep her composure after such a whirlwind of events. He was being an ass for not caring more about what she felt, about the toll this was taking on her.

“It’s just a little bit farther. There is a series of caves up here. They’ll make good shelter for the night.”

“Caves?” she asked, trepidation edging her voice.

“It’s perfectly safe if you know what to look for.”

“What do you mean, ‘if you know what to look for’?”

“Just... Trust me.”

“I don’t think I have a choice,” she said, sounding exhausted and like she was in a little bit of shock. He couldn’t blame her.

Maybe if he distracted her she might make it the last little distance they needed to travel. “You didn’t happen to recognize any of those men, did you?” Because interrogating her would be distracting. He made such excellent comforting choices.

“No, did you?”

“No. And with no cell service, I can’t call in a description to Stevens.” He glanced up at the quickly fading light. It was a stunner of a sunset, pinks and oranges, a riot of colors. But how could he care about beauty when he was worried about Natalie?

Which was a problem he didn’t have time to consider.

He found the entrance to a cave that looked suitable. Luckily, he’d been exploring the area around the cabin since he was a teenager. He’d been dedicated to making it a safe space for his sister, and he’d spent a considerable amount of time figuring out what that would take. Which meant he had spent some time camping in these very caves, hiking all these mountains.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the equipment he usually had, but he was a Texas Ranger. He knew how to make do.

“So you think more people are after us?”

“Two teams of two so far. I imagine if that piece of trash takes my message back to his boss, we’ll see an escalation.”

“Do you think he will? Do you think The Stallion would really come after us himself?”

“I don’t know, but I’m tired of dealing with his lackeys.” Which was an understatement. These weak attacks were practically an insult.

Though the diversion of the man trying to break in the front while another snuck in the back had almost worked. Way too close for comfort.

Natalie inhaled and exhaled, loudly. Fear and exhaustion evident in every breath she took at this point.

“Let me double-check this cave. As long as I don’t see evidence of...” Noticing the wariness on her face, he didn’t finish his sentence. She didn’t need to know what creatures might lurk in the caves. It was best she knew as little as possible.

“Stay put for a few minutes. Keep your eyes on the horizon.”

She nodded, and as he ducked into the cave, he couldn’t fight the wave of admiration he felt toward her. She didn’t argue with him, she didn’t get too scared to move. She did what he asked, and he was able to relax enough to trust her to handle some of it.

Not everyone could do that. Hell, there were some kids who couldn’t hack it in the police academy with as much poise as Natalie had showed. Even scared as she was.

He did a quick survey of the cave. They wouldn’t go very far in. Just enough to have shelter from the elements. There were no signs of predatory wildlife at this particular point, and he’d have to hope that held out for the night.

He returned to Natalie at the opening of the cave, noticing the way she looked around the mountains. Wide-eyed. Awed. Afraid. He wished there was something he could do to keep her mind off of all that was going on around them.

You know what you could do.

He ruthlessly shoved that troublesome voice out of his head and focused on the task at hand.

“I don’t have the gear I normally have to camp, but I have this emergency pack, and it’ll get us through.”

“What if someone finds us?” she asked, those wide brown eyes settling on him. He had to push away the stab of guilt, the harsh desire to comfort her at any cost, with any words, with any touch.

But it wouldn’t serve either of them to lie to her. “We have three guns and a tactical advantage, and we’ll be watching for them.”

She nodded at that and stepped inside the cave with him. He took off his backpack and nodded at her to do the same. He started to rummage for something he could put down so she could try to rest, or maybe some food, but he noted that she was shaking.

He didn’t know if it had just started or if she’d been doing it the whole time, but he found a sweatshirt from his pack and handed it to her.

She shook her head. “Unfortunately it’s not cold,” she said