Chosen (23 page)

“Ready?” Will called, shaking Emma out of her trance.

Her eyes flew open and she jumped. She quickly squeezed them shut, focusing on Jake, but he was gone. She sighed in disappointment.

Will dragged a fifty-five gallon metal drum between two trees and tipped it over. Four cans lined up along the top. He took the rifle and showed her how to stand and aim. After he warned her about recoil, he shot a can on the end, sending it flying off the metal drum. The birds in the trees scattered in all directions, screeching in protest. He turned to her with his smug grin. “See? Easy.”

Emma rolled her eyes. He handed her the gun. She adjusted her stance and held the rifle up, looking through the sight at a can thirty feet away. Will stood behind her and reached around, lifting her arms.

“Hey, I was doing it right. I think you just wanted to put your arms around me.”

Will chuckled in her ear. “And your point is?”

“My point is I have a gun and I might not be afraid to use it.”

He dropped his arms, laughing. “The lady has spoken. Just be prepared for the recoil.”

Emma viewed the can through the gun sight again, prepared herself and squeezed the trigger. She missed the can and the rifle jerked her back.

“Shit!” She rubbed her shoulder.

“That’s okay, I would have been surprised if you got it the first time. You have to get used to the kickback.”

She repeated the same maneuver several more times, missing each time.

“Son of a bitch!” Emma lowered the rifle and wheeled around to face Will. “Why can’t I just use the pistol?”

“Because you can’t shoot as far with it. You need to be able to use the rifle with some accuracy.”

“This is going to take all friggin’ day at this rate.”

A slow smile lit up his face. “Lucky for you we have all friggin’ day.”

She glared. “No we don’t. We need to leave.”

“Not today we’re not. You need another day to rest and you’re already getting worn out with target practice.”

“If I shoot the fucking tin can will you agree to leave today?”

Will folded his arms and shook his head with a look of exasperation. “Emma…”

“Can we or can’t we?” She considered leaving without him, promise or no promise to Jake. Besides, if she took off,Will would probably follow her.

“Only if you shoot the cans five times in a row.”

“There’s only three cans left.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Now that’s a dilemma, isn’t it?”

She let loose a string of profanity that made him belly-laugh. She marched over to the drum and found the can on the ground and set it on the drum, turning it so that the side without a hole faced her. Will watched with a smirk as she walked back to her spot. Emma spun and glared at him in defiance. She aimed through the sight and braced for the recoil and squeezed the trigger.
Plink
. The can shot off the back of the drum onto the ground.

Emma grinned at Will. He crossed his arms and he nodded his head toward her. “Bravo. Now you only need four more
in a row
.”

“You don’t think I can do four more in a row?”

He shoved his hands in his front pockets and shrugged, his lips pressed tight to keep from smiling. “Dunno, why don’t you show me if you can?”

She turned back to face the drum and shot the next can.

“Lucky shot.” Will said.

“Hmm, we’ll see.” She shot the remaining two cans.

“Well, well, all you needed was a little motivation. You still need one more.”

“Why don’t you be a dear and walk over and pick up one of those cans for me?” Emma pouted her lips and batted her eyelashes.

“I don’t
even
think so,” he laughed. “Seriously? Walk over there with you pointing a gun at me? No thanks.”

“Afraid I’m going to shoot you?”

“The thought crossed my mind.”

“You’re safe— for now. I need you to get me out of here.”

He walked over to her and pulled her in his arms, looking down into her eyes with a teasing glint in his eye. “Is that all I am to you, Emma? A trail guide?”

“A trail guide with perks.” She reached up and kissed him. “Now about that can…”

He dropped his arms, grumbling as he walked to the metal drum, arms raised in self-defense. Emma kept the gun tip pointed to the ground, weight shifted to one side. Will picked up all four cans and set them back on the drum. He turned around and paused, a stunned expression on his face.

“What?” Emma asked.

“God, do you know how sexy you look right now?”

“Yeah, every man’s fantasy— a woman with a rifle. Get out of the way.”

Will chuckled and strode toward her. “I bet you can’t shoot all four.”

“What the hell? I only have to shoot one.”

“True, but I bet you can’t.”

“And why would I want to? I’m not a guy, in case you hadn’t noticed last night
and
this morning. I don’t really get into pissing contests.”

“We could wager on it.”

“And what do you have that I would want?”

He held his hands out from his sides and flashed his cocky grin. “You’re looking at it, sweetheart.”

Emma snorted. “Please, like you’re withholding yourself from me? All of a sudden you’ve become Virgin Will? Whatever. You’ve got nothin’.”

“Don’t be so sure about that. What do you want from me, other than my body and my ability to help you escape the woods?”

Emma stared at him, thinking. “Answers,” she finally said. “I want some answers.”

He looked sullen, but not surprised. “Agreed. You get three questions answered. Now, what do I get?”

“What do you want?”

A slow lazy smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Seriously, do you think of nothing else?”

“What can I say? I’m a guy.”

“There’s nothing else?”

He hesitated. “Yes, but you might not like it.”

“What is it?”

He paused. His jaw tensed and his eyes grew serious. “At some point in the future, I’ll ask you to do something and you have to do it, no questions asked. No balking, just do it.”

She tilted her head, suspicious. “What is it?”

“I don’t know yet. But I need to know that if we’re in danger you’ll do it, whatever it is.”

She studied his face, all teasing gone. “You know that if I agree to this, I have to trust you.”

“I know.”

“That’s hard for me. I don’t know if I can.”

“I know. It’s a lot to ask, but I swear, Emma, I would never ask you to do anything that would hurt you. You’ll just have to trust me.”

He was completely serious. His seriousness worried her, made her wonder if he knew something she didn’t. But he wouldn’t tell her, even if she asked. It all depended on how lucky she felt.

Emma put her hand on her hip and lifted her chin. “You can’t interfere in any way when I take my shots.”

“You’d accuse me of cheating?” He didn’t appear very offended, in fact looked like he lost his loop-hole.

“And I get my answers as soon as I ask the questions, no cheating and saying ‘one a week’ or something completely bull shit.”

“All right, I’ll answer the question when you ask it.”

Emma stuck out her right hand. Will put his hand in hers and they shook, staring into each other’s eyes. This should have been fun, they should be laughing, but Emma understood the gravity of the situation. They both offered something they weren’t willing to give.

Emma took her stance and aimed, centering the tin can through her sight. She took a deep breath, released it, and shot.
Plink
. The can flew off the metal drum. She didn’t turn around and gloat. There were three more cans to shoot to get her answers. She shot the second and third. Only one left.

Will stood silently behind her, although she could feel his nervousness. How was that possible? Could you feel nervousness in someone six feet away? She rolled back her shoulders and shook the feeling away then focused on the can. Her finger lightly looped the trigger, about to squeeze when her stomach cramped in an unexpected wave of nausea. She pulled the trigger instinctively as she doubled over in pain. Her shot missed the can and hit the metal drum.

“Emma?” Will was immediately by her side, hand on her back.

“I’m okay, I just felt sick all of a sudden.” She twisted to glance at Will, who looked like he had the same fear.

“Can you walk to the cabin? We have to be prepared.”

“No, go.” She waved him away as she fought another surge of nausea and dropped the gun on ground next to her. She fell on her hands and knees in the grass. “You’re wasting time,” she moaned.

“No way I’m leaving you out here. You’re coming with me.”

“Sorry, but I’m a little busy right now.” The nausea won out and she threw up on the damp grass, her hair falling around her face. “Damn it, I just washed that.” She felt Will pull her hair back behind her back.

“Emma…”

The nausea seemed to have passed, if only temporarily, and she sat back on her heels, taking gasps of air. “I’m hurrying as fast as I can. Some freaking bizarre kind of alarm system this is. Why can’t I just get a headache or something?”

Will grabbed the rifle then helped Emma to her feet. “I don’t know. It worries me that it strikes out of nowhere and it’s so debilitating. This could be dangerous.”

“It’s not a helluva lot of fun for me, either. Let’s go.”

Will took her hand as they walked toward the cabin. “We need a plan. I hadn’t actually come up with one. I never thought they would find us here.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“It is what it is. Let’s get the guns and ammo and hide in the trees. We can use the element of surprise on them. If the other day is any indication, we don’t have much time.”

Will grabbed the other guns and some ammunition from the gun cabinet and laid them on the table as Emma’s eyes still adjusted to the dark. He handed the pistol and several clips to Emma. “Here, this is your gun, load it.”

“What about the rifle?” she asked as she inserted the clip into the base of the gun and the others in her jeans pocket.

“You’re going to have that, too, but only use it as a necessity. I’m going to hide you in a tree and you will shoot only as a last resort. You don’t have any practice shooting a moving target and I’m not having you draw attention to yourself.” He handed her the rifle she had used and a clip. “Load this one too.”

Will loaded the other rifles and stuffed extra clips into his jeans pockets. They walked out into the morning sunshine as another wave of nausea began to hit. “Oh no…” she moaned.

Will grabbed her arm and dragged her along behind him. She fought to stay upright. “Come on, hang in there until I get you up into a tree.”

She doubled over as they reached the tree line.

“Slow deep breaths. We have to hurry.”

It was so easy for him to say when he wasn’t the one about to vomit again, but she also knew they were in jeopardy and she was slowing them down. “I’m sorry.” She tried breathing through her nose, which seemed to help a little. Will pulled her fifty feet into the forest and stopped at the base of a large tree.

“Just try not to fall out of the tree if you barf. You’ve had enough drama the last few days.”

“Yeah, thanks for the advice.”

“I’m going to boost you up. Climb up and try to hide in the leaves. When it’s over, I’ll come get you.” Will started to lift her up.

“Will, wait.”

He stopped and waited.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, fear overriding the nausea.

He looked into her eyes. “I’m going to protect you. Now get up in the tree already.” He lifted her up and she reached for a branch overhead. Will put his hands under her butt and pushed her up.

“Always looking for an opportunity to feel me up, huh?” She tried to tease, but her heart thumped wildly, making it difficult to breathe.

“Always.” His tone was flat and she knew they were in trouble.

She pulled herself up onto the branch and gazed down. Will handed her the rifle, a worried expression on his face. She reached for the gun and realized there was something else in his face. Concern. For her. He was genuinely concerned for her safety. She knew it shouldn’t surprise her. He’d spent the last few days taking care of her and saving her life. The significance of it hit her as she realized he could very easily run away into the woods, leaving her to fend for herself. He owed her nothing. Yet, here he was looking up at her with tenderness, and for the life of her she couldn’t understand why.

“Will?”

He gazed up at her.

“Be careful.”

His roguish smile lifted the corners of his mouth, but his voice was weary. “No worries, love, this is what I’m trained for. Now keep climbing.”

She climbed about twenty feet and scooted out on a branch full of leaves. Fairly certain she was hidden, she also realized she couldn’t see anything, bringing the now familiar rush of fear and anxiety. She wished she didn’t have this stupid internal alarm. It made her ill enough that she had trouble escaping and it gave her little notice to get away, so what was the point? The sound of tires crunching on the gravel road echoed through the trees and she realized her nausea had disappeared. She wasn’t nauseated when they showed up to kidnap Jake either.

Thoughts of Jake nearly suffocated her with worry until she heard the first gunshots, then her thoughts turned to Will.

The first SUV pulled up as Will positioned himself in a tree at the edge of the clearing. He didn’t know why Emma became so violently ill when the men were close, but he was thankful for the warning. It would have been disastrous if the SUV pulled up while they were outside with only the one rifle. He tried to take comfort in knowing that Emma was hidden back in the trees, away from stray bullets. The doors of the SUV opened and four men stormed the cabin, with another SUV close behind.

They opened fire on the cabin, making it apparent they weren’t looking to take prisoners. The cabin was destroyed in a matter of moments. Will tensed, thinking about Emma hiding only fifty feet away. It seemed far enough away before, but now he wasn’t so sure. He waited. Once he started shooting, he’d give his position away.