Page 9 of Fighting for Lucy

They weren't walking randomly, hoping to find signs of a village, road, or something that could lead them back home.

If the plane had been tampered with, and Zander had nothing to do with it—and she couldn’t think of a logical reason why he would tamper with a plane he was going to be in—then why did he seem to know right where they were as well as where they were going? His strides had been confident, he’d never once wavered in the direction he was heading. There were no hesitations, and he didn't stop to check their surroundings or use a compass. He just walked.

That would be one thing if she could trust him, but since she couldn’t … it was scary.

Scarier still, he was so adamant about keeping her close and the two of them sticking together. It wasn’t so much because the idea was stupid, in these sorts of situations, sticking together would be the right move, but the problem was she couldn’t trust Zander which meant she was questioning everything he did.

Why was it so important to him that they stay together?

Images of her friend’s battered body flittered through her mind.

Was that her fate?

Was Zander leading her to Raul Castillo?

Was she going to be captured and tortured like Scarlett had been?

While it was hard to believe that Zander had played any role in his twin sister’s abduction, it was hard to deny the bad timing. Now was when he chose to come back from the dead. There was zero chance he didn't know what risk he was taking by flying that plane. He knew it was a Prey job, who she was, and this was his sister’s team.

What game are you playing, Zander Madden? And how dangerous is it to me?

There was no way she could answer that question. Zander himself certainly wasn’t going to give anything away. As they walked, she’d asked him question after question, anything to pass the time and distract herself from the throbbing pain spiking up and down her body with each step.

None of those questions had gotten an answer.

The man was a vault, and he’d walked in complete silence almost the entire time, pausing occasionally to warn her of something he’d spotted up ahead or to tell her it was break time.

Well, his voice had been silent, but his eyes were anything but.

Even though she’d wanted to ask him to remove the contacts, she hadn't, but at some point, they must have been bothering him because he’d taken them out and pocketed them. Now that she was able to see more of the real Zander, she’d started noticing the mess of emotions swirling in the deep brown depths.

There was determination there, but so much more, guilt, anger, and helplessness.

It was the helplessness that got to her the most. Lucy didn't have to ask to know it was about a whole lot more than their current predicament.

But what did a man like Zander, a highly trained Delta Force operator, big and strong, powerful and trained, have to feel helpless about?

And why did she feel like the reason he’d faked his death was something you wouldn’t immediately guess?

Still, despite her feelings that there was more going on here than Zander was ever going to tell her, Lucy knew she wasn’t safe with him. It was the secrets he was keeping that were putting her at risk. If she didn't know what she was up against, she had no way of protecting herself. And since she couldn’t trust Zander and his motives, she couldn’t rely on him to have her back.

Which meant she was on her own.

The safest option for her was to get away from Zander and find her own way back to civilization. Not an easy task for a young woman alone in this part of the world, but she had a feeling it was still safer than sticking around Zander and his secrets. Plus, she had the added burden of her epilepsy. Since this trip was only supposed to be a couple of hours, she hadn't packed her medication. In the morning, it would be twenty-four hours since she’d had her last dose, so any time after that a seizure could hit. Her epilepsy was unpredictable at the best of times, but without her medicine, a seizure wasn’t just a possibility it was an inevitability. This was a when not an if problem.

But it was also a problem for later.

Now she had to sneak away from a man who was trained to wake at the tiniest hint of a sound, especially when he was on an op.

Carefully, Lucy eased herself up into a sitting position, shifting slightly so her back was propped up against the rock wall. Not a single part of her body didn't protest the movement. Worst was her head, her arm, and her ribs. She was positiveshe’d cracked a couple, and there was no doubt she had a concussion with the nausea and dizziness.

Not that she had time to coddle herself right now.

If she didn't get away, she might not get another chance. Zander might not talk, but he watched her like a hawk, and even when she’d had to go to the bathroom, he’d hovered close enough to grab her if she tried to run.

After waiting a few minutes to see if he was going to stir, and noticing no change in his slow, even breathing, Lucy decided it was time to risk it. If he woke, she could always claim she was just going to the bathroom and then try to run again later.

Time felt like it slowed to barely moving as she pushed to her feet, not an easy thing to do with a broken arm and a battered body.