When Safara picked up her dishes, evidently planning to hobble as far as the sink with them, he shook his head. “Just leave them on the table. I’ll take care of them later.”
The stubborn woman ignored him and headed for the sink anyway. He just rolled his eyes and let her do it, but stayed close enough to intervene if she lost her balance. “I ran your clothes through the laundry last night. They’re probably wrinkled, but at least they’re clean.”
When she started to speak, he cut her off. “No more thanks necessary. It’s not like I had to make any special effort or anything. My clothes were wet and muddy, too, so I just threw yours in with mine.”
He was verging on being rude, but he needed to put some distance between the two of them. Without giving her a chance to argue, he picked Safara up and hauled her down the hall to the bathroom. He set her back down and stepped away to give her room to maneuver. “Wait here a second and I’ll get your clothes. As soon as you’re dressed, we’ll head for town.”
But before he did that, he wanted to ask one question. He leaned his shoulder back against the wall. “I never thought to ask. Where did you leave your ATV parked?”
Safara frowned and blinked her eyes a couple of times. “What makes you think I drove an ATV?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half smile. “If you’d driven a regular car, you would’ve had to leave it parked on the side of road someplace down below, which would’ve left you a hell of a hike up to where I found you. That leaves either an ATV or a dirt bike. My gut says it was an ATV.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her. “Am I wrong?”
“No.”
The single word was said grudgingly. She clearly didn’t want to say anything more on the subject, but she finally added, “It’s parked in a clearing about a quarter mile south of where you found me. It’s safe right where it is for now. My father will drive me back up to retrieve it when he has time.”
She looked as if she were bracing herself for further interrogation, but he walked away. The less he knew about why she’d been on the mountain, the better. Besides, if he didn’t press her for answers, maybe she would afford him the same courtesy.
A few seconds later, he handed Safara her clothes and disappeared into his bedroom to get dressed. The sooner he was shed of her company, the better.
SAFARA BRACED HERSELFas Eli drove down the mountain with reckless abandon. His truck was an older model equipped with four-wheel drive, which made it well suited for traveling the narrow dirt road. That didn’t mean she didn’t feel every rut, rock, and bump that he hit. Ordinarily, his driving wouldn’t have bothered her, but her ankle still ached like crazy and all this jolting wasn’t helping.
They were almost to the paved road that would take them the rest of the way into Ridgewick, the nearby town where she lived. It would be good to get home, but the same couldn’t be said about reporting to headquarters. Telling her father everything that happened last night was not going to be any fun at all. At least she could count on him to hold both his tongue and his temper until the two of them were alone. No way he’d risk revealing any of their secrets in front of a total stranger. Regardless, it would be interesting to see how her father reacted to Eli.
Would he take one look at him and thinkPaladinlike she had? She still had her suspicions about Eli’s true nature despite his claims to have no idea what she was talking about. Maybe her father would tell her she was imagining things, but then his first glimpse of Eli wouldn’t be of him charging through the forest with a broadsword in hand. The image still had the power to make her shiver even if not all of her reaction was due to fear.
No, honesty made her admit that there was also a hefty dose of feminine admiration of an alpha male in his prime in the mix. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d reacted so strongly to any man. Maybe never. She was almost hyperaware of his well-defined muscles, especially the way his powerful shoulders took up way too much room in the cab of the truck. And then there were those gorgeous green eyes that held intriguing hints of dark secrets. She also liked the way his rare smiles softened the hard edges of his face and made him look far more approachable. Too bad he was off-limits for her.
What was he thinking about so hard that had him frowning like that? Eli hadn’t said more than a handful of words since he’d insisted on carrying her out to his vehicle, but he’d glanced in her direction three times in as many minutes.
If he didn’t spit out whatever was bothering him soon, she would have to find a way to drag it out of him. She was about to do just that when he finally spoke up. “Were you one of the cops who investigated Martin’s death?”
“No, I wasn’t involved. Why do you ask?”
“At the time, Martin’s grandson was told the old man had been found dead from multiple lacerations somewhere in the mountains. They were investigating, and the last word was that they had no suspects or explanation for why he was out there in the first place. They did say that the local medical examiner and at least one of the cops who found him thought it might’ve been a bear or cougar attack, but the jury was still out on that. I was just wondering how I would go about finding out what they finally decided. It won’t change anything, of course. I just wondered what actually happened.”
His words set off major alarms in her head. If she was reading between the lines correctly, there was a good chance old Martin had been killed by an Other. That’s what the Paladins called anyone from Kalithia who crossed over into this world out of their head with the light disease. Just as with Tiel, the illness drove its victims crazy with the need to kill anyone who crossed their path. Paladins spent their entire lives guarding the most active stretches of the barrier, either killing the Others or shoving them back into their own world.
She had to tell Eli something. “Since his body was found outside of the city limits, it would’ve been the county sheriff’s department that responded.”
Eli frowned. “So does that mean neither you nor your father would have access to their files?”
“We have a good relationship with the guys who patrol this area. They might let us have a peek at their report if you want me to ask them.”
They’d reached the end of the dirt road. He remained silent as he checked for oncoming traffic before pulling out onto the two-lane highway. Once they were under way again, he glanced at her.
“Thanks for offering, but don’t bother. I was just curious.”
She did her best to match his casual attitude. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will.”
Three miles later, they reached the first scattering of houses on the outskirts of Ridgewick. Eli slowed down to the posted speed limit. “The police station is in the same building as the mayor’s office, isn’t it? That brick building about three blocks east of the stop sign in the middle of town?”
She couldn’t help but grin. Everybody she knew gave directions based on the only four-way stop in the entire town of Ridgewick. “Yep, the door is in the rear of the building, so you’ll want to drive around back.”
