Wade huffed.
She wanted to pick him up on it and the fact he was clearly going to side against her and Cooper and convince Karl to keep moving if no one was at the cabin, but she ignored him instead. For the last hour, he had been blissfully occupied with carrying out Karl’s order to keep an eye on the forest, meaning he had left her alone.
Skye peered through the trees, trying to catch a glimpse of the cabin.
No one would be there. She knew that in her gut. They were miles from the coordinates Karl had given her for her GPS. The chances of them finding someone out at this remote cabin were extremely slim. Karl wasn’t going to be happy, and she was going to have to calm him down and make him believe she was still useful to him.
Skye wasn’t sure how the hell she was going to manage that.
She swallowed to wet her suddenly parched throat, and tried to banish the images of Karl putting a gun to her head and pulling the trigger that flooded her mind.
Ahead of her, the trees thinned and her heart leaped as she spotted the clearing and then a raised deck that had seen better days. Her nerves shot into overdrive, had her hands shaking as she started thinking of ways to calm Karl and stop him from killing her. She abruptly halted as the cabin came into view between two trees.
Smoke curled from the chimney.
Fear trickled through her for a different reason as guilt churned her stomach, making her feel sick. She had brought Karl and his men to this building and there was someone here. She had placed them in danger.
Karl unzipped his jacket enough that he could pull out his handgun. He signalled to Wade, gesturing for him to head to the left of the cabin, and silently directed Cooper to go to the right. She swallowed her racing heart as the two men moved stealthily through the trees to check out the cabin, studying every angle of it before both settled in a position where they had the small old wooden building that stood in the middle of the small clearing covered.
No escape for whoever was inside.
Skye took a step forwards, instinct pushing her to warn them they were in danger.
Karl seized her right wrist and pulled her back to him, causing her to bump into his chest. He snaked his left arm around the front of her throat, holding her at his mercy, and her brow furrowed as she stared at the cabin, as that urge to call out a warning continued to run through her. She tamped it down as Karl brought his other hand up, flashing the gun he was holding.
“What has this person done to deserve being hunted?” She tried to look over her shoulder at Karl as Wade and Cooper eased to their haunches and aimed their weapons at the cabin.
What if it was the woman they were looking for inside? What if she had led Karl right to her and now they were going to kill her? Oh God. She couldn’t be responsible for an innocent person dying. She just couldn’t. She had to find a way to alert them or get Karl to leave, giving them a chance to escape.
“They owe me a lot of money,” Karl snarled into her ear. “I also think the bitch killed my men.”
Skye jerked back against him as anger flared, hot and fierce in her veins. “The storm probably killed all of them, or the mountains… That bear—”
She cut herself off as the wooden door of the cabin creaked open and her gaze darted to it as Karl pulled her back behind a tree.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Knox?” she breathed as she stared at him where he stood in the doorway, his big body taking up most of the space.
He loomed like a malevolent shadow, his black trousers and boots, and his forest green and black checked fleece shirt that stretched tight over his broad chest, causing him to cut an imposing figure as he nursed a steaming mug and yawned.
“You know this man?” Karl breathed close to her ear and she nodded.
Swallowed hard.
“Um… yeah. Knox… He was a regular at my bar for a while. I… I haven’t seen him for a while though. I wondered where he’d gone.” She dragged her gaze away from him and looked at the cabin.
Did he live here now?
“Prove you know him.” Karl’s grip on her tightened.
She scowled down at his arm. “How? All I can tell you is that he has blond hair beneath that black hat and blue eyes, and a scar… on his right shoulder.”
She could almost feel Karl staring at the side of her face as she told him that, knew the look he would be giving her, and she regretted mentioning the scar and revealing she had seen Knox with his top off at the very least.
It seemed to be enough to make Karl believe her, because he put his gun away and zipped up his coat and signalled to Cooper and Wade, calling off his dogs. The two men stashed their guns, Wade placing his behind a bush and Cooper choosing to slip his behind some logs that stood near the old trunk of a tree that was being used as a chopping block, to the right of the side porch.
Karl released her and pushed her forwards, guiding her out from behind the tree. Her heart thundered, adrenaline rushing through her as she stepped into view.
Nerves turned to relief as Knox noticed her and smiled in a way that hit her as hard today as it had back when he had come to her bar.
He pulled his hat off and his smile widened, his baby blues twinkling with it. “Well, if it isn’t Skye Callaghan. What are you doing so far from home?”
Beside her, Karl visibly relaxed and she wanted to hug Knox for making this so easy on her, proving to the man that they did know each other.
“These men are looking for people they know and they wanted a guide, so here I am.” She shrugged and Knox’s gaze slid from Karl to her, seared her with heat she hadn’t felt in a long time, not since he had walked out of her life.
She refused to get caught up in him again.
But God, he looked so damned good as he stared at her, his dark blond hair damp and tousled and a fine dusting of stubble coating his square jaw. Intense blue eyes held her immobile, doing a better job of locking her in place than Karl’s arm around her throat had.
“They came up here in this weather?” He lifted his mug and blew on the contents, his eyes never leaving hers.
Her heart did an irritating flip.
“They did. They sent GPS coordinates for a place up in this valley and that was the last we heard. Have you seen anyone?” Karl eyed him closely.
Knox just continued to stare at her, apparently unbothered by Karl or the two men who emerged from the trees to his left and right to flank him. “Nope. You want to come in and warm up? I can make more coffee. No milk though. No power up here and I haven’t been able to get to town in months… not since the snow settled in.”
How the hell could he be so relaxed? Either he was an amazing actor or he really didn’t give a damn that three men he knew were armed and dangerous had him surrounded.
She wished she could be as calm as he was.
His blue eyes softened, a hint of worry warming them, and as much as she wanted to be angry with him, as much as she wanted to keep the shield around her heart in place and not let him in again, she couldn’t stop herself from giving away everything she was feeling. She glanced at Karl and then dropped her gaze to her boots, fear getting the better of her.
Fear that she was going to get Knox killed.
She glanced at Knox, her brow furrowing as she thought about that, as it all played out in her head on repeat, tormenting her over and over again as the scenario changed each time but every time he ended up dead.