“Long night for all of us,” Tessa said. “I was trying to get Hunter to take some fever-reducing medicine, but couldn’t wake him enough. Rourke finally got the pill down him, but Hunter clamped his teeth on Rourke’s finger. Broke the skin even. I’m really worried that wolf was rabid. What if Hunter and Rourke have rabies now?”
“Hunter’s bite was pretty bad, huh?”
“Tore the muscle all the way to the bone.” Tessa shuddered.
“They’ll get the shots and be fine. But if they don’t, rabies in humans is fatal. The doctor will have to decide. But if we can kill the animal and bring him in, the medical personnel can check out his brain and know for sure. No sense in Hunter and Rourke having to go through the painful ordeal if it’s not needed.”
“Hunter doesn’t want the wolf shot. He said it didn’t have rabies, and he’d take care of it himself.”
Ashton smirked. “I love his style. Get rid of the offender personally. Of course, when I was on the receiving end of his drive to right the wrong, I felt a little differently. But Hunter’s all right. I mean, if the roles were reversed and some dude shot me, I probably would have killed him. On the other hand, I doubt I would have had the balls to charge up the hill after a guy who had his rifle sights on me. That took a hell of a lot of guts. It was as if he knew he’d shake me up so much, I wouldn’t be able to get off another round. And he was right. I couldn’t twitch a muscle, shoot, run, nothing. Must be his training.”
Ashton shook his head. “I talked to my dad about going into the Navy SEALs. He’s all against it, said I couldn’t live with having my hair cut. But after we get rid of this stalker and Hunter reassures me he’s sticking around to keep you safe... oh, hell, I promised Michael. Okay, here’s the deal. I’ll help Hunter find whoever murdered Bethany, and then once Michael’s set free, I’m checking into the Navy.”
Rourke lifted his head from the window. “I’m helping also. Maybe between the three of us, we’ll discover something.”
“Four of us,” Tessa corrected him.
“I thought you believed Michael was guilty, Rourke,” Ashton said.
“I did. I changed my mind. Since we now know he wasn’t lying about someone seeing his girlfriend behind his back, what else was he being truthful about?”
“You think it was me?” Ashton asked, his voice growing hard.
“No. Someone else who knew all of you.”
“The list. I’ve got to write that list of possible suspects,” Tessa said.
“Of possible murderers?” Ashton asked.
“No, of stalkers. Hunter thinks it’s someone who was in the house before he broke in that one night. Someone we knew.”
“A gray,” Rourke muttered under his breath as he rested his head against the window again and closed his eyes.
“A what?” Tessa asked.
But Rourke had fallen back to sleep.
“Why don’t you get some sleep?” Ashton said. “You look pretty worn out.”
“Who’s going to watch your driving?”
Ashton gave her a small smile. “It’s going to be slow going. This two-hour-long trip will probably be more like four.”
The blowing snow made for whiteout conditions and the windshield wipers swept away the building snow, but it continued to shower down on them—huge white flakes. Thank god the truck’s heater was working fine, and the cab was toasty warm.
Tessa closed her eyes and slept for a while. Until the truck jerked to a stop. Her eyes popped open. Ashton swore under his breath, yanked the door open, jumped out, and slammed the door shut. They were in the middle of nowhere still, surrounded by forest, no traffic, nothing but cold, wet snow and a gray bleakness. So what was the problem?
The truck was leaning at an odd angle. In the ditch? Great. Tessa pulled on her gloves to investigate.
Ashton threw open the door and jumped back into the cab, shoving the door closed, his face ashen despite the chill in the air.
“How bad is it?” Tessa asked, afraid to know the answer.
“I left my rifle at your place, damn it.”
“What?”
“My rifle! I left it at your place.”
“What has that got to do with getting stuck in a snowdrift?”
“Rourke and I probably could get the truck out, but three gray wolves were watching me from the woods. They looked hungry. Maybe the one that attacked you was one of these?”
A shiver sped down her spine as she peered into the blowing snow, but saw nothing.
“They’re wild dogs,” Rourke said softly, peering out the window.
“I don’t see them,” Tessa said.
“Those are wolves,” Ashton reiterated. “Wild dogs, my ass.”
“We can’t just stay here. What if the snow piles up behind the muffler?” Tessa glanced behind them.
“It will,” Ashton warned.
“Okay, well, then we’d have to stop the engine, and we’d freeze.”
Ashton rubbed his gloved hands together. “After what happened to Hunter, I’m not sure trying to move the truck while those animals are out there is a good idea.”
“I’ll move it.” Hunter pushed the blankets aside and groaned.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Tessa gave him a look like he had better not even think of it.
His brow furrowed. “I told you not to take me anywhere. I would have been fine in a day or two.”
“Hunter, you’re sick. We’re taking you to the hospital and that’s that.”
“We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and not going anywhere fast.”
“How are you feeling?”
Hunter glared at her. “Fine.”
“Right. You look like you’re still burning up with fever.”
“The dogs won’t attack us, will they, Hunter?” Rourke asked.
“They shouldn’t.”
“Shouldn’t is the key word,” Ashton said. “The wolf shouldn’t have entered Tessa’s home and bitten you either. Which means it has to be rabid.”
“I’ll try to move the truck,” Rourke said, albeit reluctantly. He cast Hunter a dirty look over the backseat. “You stay here. You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”
“Wait! Let me try my phone.” Ashton pulled out his cell phone. “Maybe we’ll have a signal here.”
Everyone watched as Ashton punched in a number. He shook his head. “Nothing.”
“I’ll help.” Tessa buttoned her parka.
“No, you stay and try to drive us out of the mess. Rourke and I’ll stack up some wood under the tires, and then we’ll push while you drive,” Ashton said.
“I’ll help,” Hunter growled.
“No,” Tessa said. “That shoulder of yours is too badly damaged. You’re not going anywhere.”
“We can’t stay here, Tessa. I’ll help. Then you can take me to the hospital and get me patched up. All right? But without my assistance, we may not be going anywhere.” Before she could object, he added, “Three hulking men should be enough of a deterrent for the dogs. I don’t want anyone else bitten.”
“But your shoulder. You shouldn’t do anything physical. And the fever. You shouldn’t be out in this cold. What if you drove the vehicle, and I helped the guys?”
“No,” all three men said at once.
Hunter pulled on the ski cap. But she hadn’t brought Michael’s field jacket for him because she didn’t figure he could get into it with as bad as his shoulder was, and she hadn’t thought he would be leaving the truck except to be wheeled into the hospital.
Ashton tossed his parka back to Hunter. “You owe me.”
“Hell, he really owes me,” Rourke grouched.
Rourke didn’t elaborate, but she figured he was still pissed off at Hunter for biting his finger and worried he had rabies. He was sick with a fever, too. Working in these winter conditions couldn’t be good for any of them.
Tessa started to remove her parka. “Here, Ashton, take mine.”
“Size petite? Wouldn’t fit over my broad shoulders.” He rolled them back to make them appear larger. He wasn’t half as broad as Hunter.
The men headed outside while Tessa moved into the driver’s seat, wishing she could do more. The dogs must have been hiding or had run off. She didn’t see any sign of them, although the guys kept casting glances at the woods while they were working. As soon as the men had piled up enough branches under the tires, Ashton motioned for Tessa to drive out. With them pushing and the truck tires finally getting some traction, she managed to pull back onto the road.
Ashton and Rourke whooped and hollered and she was glad, too, but afraid Hunter might have done more damage to his shoulder as quiet as he was.
With snow covering his long hair and sweater, Ashton helped Hunter into the truck while Hunter groaned. She knew he shouldn’t have helped with the truck. Probably did most of the work, too, knowing him. Rourke climbed in and Tessa moved over to the center of the front seat. Once everyone was settled, Ashton put the vehicle in drive and began the remainder of the slow trek toward the hospital.
Tessa peered over the seat. “Are you okay, Hunter?”
He buried himself in the blankets and mumbled, “I’m fine.”
She shook her head, imagining he could have broken every bone in his body and his response would be the same—I’m fine. “How about you, Rourke?”
“I’m fine.”
She raised her brows. “Good. Then the hospital staff won’t have much work to do when they check the two of you over. How about you, Ashton?”
He smiled broadly. “I’m frozen to the bone, I skinned my knuckle, and I pulled my calf muscle.”
“An honest answer for once. What about the dogs? Did you see any sign of them?”
“Wolves.” Ashton tightened his grip on the steering wheel as they plowed through another snowdrift. “They were watching. But like Hunter said, they didn’t seem interested in attacking. Just curious, maybe. Pray we don’t end up in the ditch again before we reach our destination.”
