Page 77 of The Merger
“We need to keep the fire from going out.”
Sabrina turned in my arms so we were face to face. “Okay then, we’ll sleep in shifts. Now, quit trying to distract me from what I want to know. Why do you think he crashed the plane?”
I rolled over onto my back, pulling her half on top of me. “Without proof we can only follow the breadcrumbs. Malcolm was bragging about getting away with something. He had to have known you’d figure out where he kept his records. He might have problems with impulse control, but he’s not stupid.”
I combed my fingers through her hair, idly twisting a strand around my fingers. “He was Maxwell Easton’s proxy when Maxwell tried to buy shares of Easton Corporation when the board pushed him out. Malcolm hosted the launch party for the vodka. The same vodka that was listed as a loss to the board, but also seems to have miraculously started selling.”
She took a deep breath, pressing her luscious breasts against my chest, momentarily distracting me. “But only at Malcolm’s clubs. It was right in front of my face the entire time, and I overlooked it.”
I tipped her chin up with my fingers. “It’s not a personal failing that you saw the best in him. You gave him love when he didn’t deserve it.”
Her head shook emphatically. “I was never in love with him.”
Only she could make me smile while laying on a bed of pine needles and moss. “Sunshine, I know you weren’tinlove with him, but there’s more than one kind of love. He was a part of your life since you were a child. He was family to you, and he took advantage of your loyalty.”
She let her head drop to rest in the crook of my neck. “I was a fool. He took advantage of my friendship to pump me for information to use against Jana.”
My hand slid up and down her back in what I hoped was a soothing pattern. “We’re alive. He won’t win.”
“He tried to have us killed, and he’s probably having all of his records shredded as we speak.”
“You weren’t supposed to be on this trip, remember? I’m the one who told my secretary I was flying to Denver alone. Not that I think Mrs. Bennet is a mole for Maxwell, but she wouldn’t think twice about telling any of the other executives the reason for my absence.”
“That leaves too much to chance. Who would be calling her on the weekend to ask where you are? The plane share was set up by Maxwell Easton. How much do you want to bet it isn’t only at the office that he’s got people committed to feeding him information?” she asked.
“Right at this moment, it doesn’t matter if it was Malcolm or Maxwell that tried to kill us. We’ll get to the bottom of it when we get home, and wewillmake it home,” I promised her.
She yawned again.
I put my hand on the back of her head and cradled her against my chest. “Sleep now. I’ll watch the fire.”
Her body went slack as she started to let go of her tension, but fought sleep to argue with me. “I will, but only if you wake me in a couple of hours so you can get some sleep too?”
“Shh,” I coaxed her to relax again. “Just rest now. I’ll wake you in a few hours.”
She gave in to sleep, and I had the time to relish the feel of her soft curves molding to my body. The puffs of her breath against my neck soothed the lingering edge of panic remaining from the crash. I was envious of her ability to fall asleep so soundly. Part of me worried it was because of her bump on the head, but as long as her chest rose and fell I forced myself to calm down.
When I told her I’d wake her in a few hours, I lied. I had no intention of waking her before morning. We were fighting for our lives and I needed her to heal as much as possible. We might have survived the pilot jumping out of the plane, leaving me to try to remember how to emergency land a plane. That was just the first hurdle. Now we had to make it off this mountain with no food, clothes, or shelter.
There was enough life left in my watch battery to set an alarm. I could keep the fire going until morning, and still get some rest. My wife wouldn’t die in these woods, not as long as there was enough life left in me either.
* * *
The surrounding woods came alive with the first light of the sun. The fire had burned down to coals, but they still kept us warm until we woke. I waited for a while after I woke to let Sabrina sleep a bit longer. The birds chirping and landing on the branches of our shelter, finally caused her to stir awake.
She stretched and groaned on top of me. “You never woke me up.”
I kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry, I slept. I needed you as rested as possible. Today is going to be a hard day.”
She rolled over, and I stood up. Every joint in my body protested after a night of trying to sleep on the ground. I reached out a hand and helped her up.
The long lines of her body were put on display as she stretched and worked out the kinks caused by sleeping half on top of me.
“Me using you as a human body pillow couldn’t have helped.” Her pouting lips called to me, so I pressed another kiss to her mouth before I told her what we needed to do next.
She dropped back down to her feet and saw my serious expression. “What’s the plan?”
Wasn’t that the question of the day? I didn’t think it would help to tell her I was making it up as I went along.