Killing the creature at his first spotting would have been too easy. The hunter craved the adrenaline of the chase. The kills he enjoyed took his patience and aim to a whole other level. The moment the buck caught on to his presence and started to run off—that would be the time to shoot.
The hunter took another step closer. Crunch went the branches and twigs beneath his heavy boots, causing the deer’s beady eyes to snap toward him. Got him. The deer took off, climbed up the side of the creek, then made a break for it through the woods.
Adrenaline shot through the hunter as he prepared for the kill. His shoulder had just lifted slightly as he reached his arch point and prepared for release when another figure entered his vision, ruining his shot.
He had assumed the section of woods near the bridge would be clear with both fields in harvest mode, festival and all. It should have been the perfect time for him to hunt in a territory he would normally shy away from, considering how close it was to the neighboring fields.
He cursed under his breath before realizing who it was. Dark hair, tanned skin, and a white dress came into view. The girl’s eyes were wide, her normally confident demeanor clearly gone. She looked as if she’d been startled by the same footsteps that had spooked the deer.
He hadn’t expected Camila to step into his crosshairs, but seeing fear light up her expression made his arousal grow thick and heavy between his legs.
By the looks of her dirty white dress, her wild and knotted hair, and her stained bare feet, she’d already had her fun at the festival—an event the hunter had already left hours ago to hunt on land he should have had free rein of that evening. Of course Camila had to be the one to ruin his fun. Anger blew through him in the next moment when he realized she was off to find the boy.
If Patrick Bell knew where his daughter had run off to, he would kill the boy then probably want to kill his daughter too. As much as the hunter would love to see how that would play out, he couldn’t let that happen. If anyone was going to end Camila’s life, it would be him—after he secured what was rightfully his.
At sixteen years old, she was ripening nicely but not yet ready for the kind of harvest that the hunter had planned for her. A different type of energy coursed through him, then his deep scowl curled into a smile.
Her time was coming, but for the moment, he decided to have a little more fun. It was time to teach the girl a lesson about the dangers of playing in the woods.
14
Camila
The flutter and scraping of brush and rocks against the ground came out of nowhere. What sounded like a giant dog scurrying off through the woods, probably running away from me, scared me more than I would ever be willing to admit. I didn’t get scared of the woods—or at least, I never had before.
I took a slow step forward then another and another, forcing my breaths to steady even though my pulse was still racing. With the bridge at my back, I started to calm, blaming my paranoia on my drunken state. So what? An animal ran off. It could have been a cluster of bunnies, for all I know.
Laughing at myself, I shook my head and picked up my pace, leaving all the tension and fear that had just racked my body behind.
But my relief came too fast. A loud whistling noise zoomed past my head, so close that a breeze hit my face. A snap followed, its impact reverberating through the woods. My heart was in my throat, and I couldn’t even scream. All I could think to do was run as fast as my feet would carry me.
15
Ridge
Long after Harold had left with Bruno, I was standing in the field, watching the sun start to dip in the sky, when a figure burst from the woods and started running toward me. A jolt shot through my heart at the sight of the vineyard girl, whom I had no business feeling things for. She was dressed in white, her dress and legs were stained purple, and her eyes were wide, like she was frightened. Even then, she was a beautiful sight.
“Whoa!” I said as she slammed into me with her neck turned in the direction she’d come from.
Her breathing was heavy as she hugged me, and my arms instinctively found their way around hers. I searched the field behind me, where Harold had taken off from long ago, and sighed when I verified that he was nowhere in sight.
“For all you knew, I could have been Harold,” I scolded her, though my voice was gentler than it would have been if she weren’t shivering in my arms.
“I’m glad you’re not Harold,” she mumbled into my shirt.
I gulped. The feel of her in my arms went against my better judgment. The affection I felt for Camila didn’t erase the last six months of destruction her father had caused to Harold’s farm. “The party’s that bad, huh?” I said sourly.
She peeled herself away from me and shook her head. “No. I mean I don’t know, but—there was something in the woods.”
I chuckled in surprise, unable to help myself. Camila never feared a thing, especially when it came to nature. A bear could approach her, and she would probably pet it instead of freaking out.
“Seriously, Camila? We’re surrounded by the Colorado wilderness. There are millions of critters in those woods.”
She shook her head, flustered. “Listen to me,” she demanded. “Someone was out there.” She shivered, causing a chill to run up my spine. “I could feel it. And I think they shot at an animal, but it had already run off.”
I made a face. “I thought you said there were no hunters out here.”
“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe someone found a way in and mistook me for a deer.”
I cringed, not believing it for a second. “Even so, if there was a gunshot, I would have heard it.”
“It wasn’t a gun. Or maybe whoever it was had a silencer.” Her eyes widened like she’d figured out the mystery. “My papa used to use those.”
I shook my head. “No way. I would have heard that too.”
She thought for a second. “A bow and arrow, then.” She groaned. “Whatever it was went right by me. I could feel it. And it hit something, but it didn’t sound like an animal.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I just ran. I didn’t know what to do.”
I didn’t want to show her that I was starting to freak out on the inside. While I’d laughed at first at her fear, I started to realize that Camila being genuinely afraid could actually mean that she was terrified for good reason.
Seeing Camila like that, like a deer in the headlights and shaking, made my heart hammer into my throat. “Stay here, okay? I’m going to check it out.”
“No!” She grabbed my arm and dug her nails in so hard that I yelped. “What if someone’s really out there? I don’t want you to be their next target.”
I reached into the front compartment of the tractor and pulled out a shotgun Harold kept there. He was always ready to defend his land however he needed to. “I’ll be fine.”
With a final warning glance telling her to stay put, I walked toward the woods, using the flashlight I’d grabbed to help me see my way through. After a good ten minutes of a thorough search, I walked back to my tractor, where Camila was standing. “Nothing.”