The sound of a truck engine rumbling up the incline signaled they had company, and shoving off the counter, Doc confirmed the identity of the visitors through the window above the sink. “Z’s here. Davis is with.”
“Good.” Eager for information on his ball-busting warrior princess, Adam squeezed her hand in reassurance before reluctantly letting go. For a moment, her fingers searched for his, and then she lay still.
He led the way into the cabin’s main area, the fire in the hearth lending a yellow glow of warmth to the otherwise dark room. In typical Davis fashion, the kid rushed through the door like the seat of his pants were on fire, and applying the brakes hard, he set the carpet under his feet into motion and damn near careened into the back of a leather recliner.
At a much slower pace, Zander brought up the rear, shaking his head and grinning at Davis’s acrobatics before closing the door on the snowstorm still raging outside.
“Is the truck secure?” Adam asked, cutting to the chase. He wanted the A-Bloom truck off the road and out of sight in case anyone came looking for it—or her—but the vehicle wasn’t equipped for winter driving conditions.
“Yeah. Stashed in the barn down at the lodge,” Zander said. “Kept getting stuck, so we had to load it onto the flatbed, took a little longer than expected.”
“This is everything we found in the cab,” Davis added, joining the huddle, and handing a small canvas tote to Adam. “Except for the McDonald’s bag. Z said to throw it in the garbage.”
Adam nodded giving Davis the affirmation he needed. “Good job. Any ID?”
“Nothing on your mystery girl,” Zander replied. “Jay’s running the license plate and registration. He’ll call with an update as soon as the situation in Vegas is under control.”
“Situation?” Adam cocked a brow in inquiry, but before he got a response, a moan from the kitchen snagged their attention, and Davis poked his nose around Adam’s shoulder.
Despite not being able to see into the other room, his worry showed plain on his face. “Is she okay?” he asked, earnest eyes landing back on Adam. Memories of finding Tara still haunted the sensitive kid, and this turn of events had to be triggering.
“We’ll make sure she’s okay. You’ll help me, right?”
“Yes, sir!” Back straightening in answer to the responsibility bestowed, Davis grew two inches in half a second.
Goddamn, he liked this kid.
For now, the teenager stayed where they could keep him alive, clothed, and fed. How long he remained with the JTT was still to be determined. Adam would do anything necessary to protect him, including sending him away with an account full of money, an alias, a plane ticket, and an order not to come back.
“It’s snowing like a motherfucker,” Zander said, hitching his thumb to the door. “If we want off this mountain, better get a move on. You ready?” he asked Doc.
“Yeah. You good?” Doc asked Adam.
“I’m good,” he replied, ears picking up another restless moan. He needed to get the woman off the table and into a bed where she couldn’t hurt herself. “Keep your phones close, and have Jay call me in an hour.”
“Roger that,” Zander replied, opening the door.
“Want me to stay?” Davis asked.
“Nah, I got this.” Adam clamped his hand on the boy’s neck and gave a light squeeze. “What I really need is for you to bring me some supplies in the morning. That work?”
“Yes, sir!” Always eager to please, Davis’s smile transformed his face, and he morphed from anxious kid to valued team member as his head bobbed up and down in rapid acceptance. “That works.”
An infinite abyss,black and impenetrable, surrounded Eve. Kept her disoriented. Adrift. Suspended in a velvety sea of darkness, the embrace a soft brush against her skin. She might have thought about surfacing. But there was no light to guide. No sense of up or down. Left or right.
There was only here.
Now.
No pain. No fear.
Just the sweet absence of being.
She could linger.
If he would let her.
Open your eyes, princess.
