The Other Half of Your Heart Page 3

Could he see in the dark? Cara wondered then shrieked as he pulled her bolt upright on legs that felt like rusty swords and broken glass.

  “Shut up! Come on, we've got to get out of here...”

  “I can't...”

  Cara couldn't have moved even if she had wanted to. Her legs buckled and she fell against her captor. He gave a grunt of pain, for which Cara was spitefully glad, and they went down in an uncomfortable tangle of arms and legs, partially sprawled over the spongy bulk of his previous victim.

  Cara recoiled. “Did you kill him?”

  “I don't want to kill anybody,” he replied, scrambling to his feet and pulling her up after him. It didn't occur to Cara until much later that it wasn't really an answer to the question she had asked.

  “I can't stand,” she said, feeling herself start to fall again. “Everything's asleep.”

  Dave Burkhart swore under his breath as he grabbed her around the waist and, half-dragging, half-carrying, pulled her out the door into the night-dark jungle. He might be lean and slightly built compared to Buck, but there was no denying he was strong. Cara knew that, for the moment at least, she was powerless against him.

  “Where are you taking me? You can't...”

  “Shut up,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “And don't get any ideas about screaming for help, because right now I'm in no mood to mess with you!”

  Cara shut up. It took almost all her concentration to keep from screaming, not from fear, but from the pain in her arms and legs. They were making quick and reasonably silent progress between the moon-dappled trees, but it was not easy. She kept banging into things - roots, trunks, things with twigs and thorns - and Cara was sure that not all the twinges of pain she felt came just from blood flowing back into her limbs.

  “Can't we slow down?” she gasped at last, exhausted from trying to stagger along beside him. It was painful, but easier than being dragged.

  “And give your boyfriend a chance to catch up? No way. He's too close on our tail now.”

  That was music to Cara's heart. Buck was coming to rescue her. He would find her. She would be safe with Buck. “I hope it's soon. See, you aren't so smart.”

  He was whooping for breath now, but neither his pace nor his grip on Cara lessened. “Guess not, if they found you so soon. I didn't expect to find your boyfriend's little buddy when I got back.”

  Cara was startled. He thought that horrible barbarian was a buddy of Buck's? Buck would never have anything to do with someone like that. This man would say anything just to rattle her. She'd have to be careful and not believe anything he said.

  “Buck will find me,” Cara declared defiantly, gasping herself. “He'll find me and then you'll be sorry, you... you pervert!”

  That did stop him.

  “What?” He turned to stare at her. In the bleaching moonlight, his eyes were hidden in pools of shadow.

  “Pervert!” Cara repeated. “You kidnap me off the street, knock me out, take me God only knows where out in the country and tie me to the bed, and if that doesn't qualify as perverted, I don't know what does!”

  She halfway expected him to hit her, for he tensed and his face darkened as he began to choke. For a moment, Cara wondered if she had hurt his feelings so much that he was crying, then was startled to realize that he was laughing.

  “You are something else, Cara Waters. You are really something else. Come on.”

  “No! I, I...” Despite her pressing need Cara simply couldn't say it.

  “You just want to wait here until Buck Tarrant comes and picks you up, right? Come on.” Dave Burkhart jerked at her arm.

  “I need to go to the bathroom!”

  “What are you trying?” His voice dripped suspicion.

  “To go to the bathroom! You go away and leave me tied up for hours... I...” Cara stopped abruptly. It was unbelievable that she should be standing in the jungle at night arguing about body functions with a total stranger! She and Buck had never even used the word bathroom; it was always 'ladies' room' or 'men’s room.'

  Even more unbelievable was that he should sound embarrassed. “Of course. Go ahead but be quick.”

  “Go ahead? Where?”

  “Here.... There....”

  “Not with you here!”

  “So that's it. Get me out of the way and make a run for it. Well I wouldn't advise that, Miss Waters. This is rough country and there's no guarantee that you can connect up with Tarrant, or that he'll even come after you.”

  Cara would have argued with him bitterly if her need were not so desperate. “At least turn your back!”

  “Here.” Burkhart whipped out a length of the same light rope he had used before and tied it around her wrist. “Now you can choose the bush of your choice.”

  Cara felt like biting him; if she were tied like a dog, she might as well act like one. Later, though, later; now she scuttled behind a large tree and, trying not to think of what might be lurking there, yanked down the once-white shorts she had chosen that morning in a luxury hotel shop when she had thought she was about to be married. Now that seemed a lifetime ago on a different world.

  When she was finished, Cara did weigh the idea of yanking the rope and making a run for it, but couldn't make herself. That horrid man was right; she wouldn't know where to run, and in the waiting jungle there were probably many things more dangerous than Dave Burkhart. It was dark enough that she had to follow the rope hand-to-hand back around the tree.

  “All right, let's go. Can you walk by yourself or shall I help you?”

  There were still daggers of returning feeling going through Cara's limbs, but she would have died before letting him touch her again. “I'm fine. Where are we going?”

  “To the nearest town.”

  “And where's that?”

  “I wish I knew. Come on.”

  “You don't know where we're going?” Cara asked disbelievingly. “Why don't we wait here until dawn at least?”

  “So your partners can catch up with you? I don't think so.”

  So he did think Buck would try to find her! Cara’s heart sang. She wanted to be there when Buck gave this... this pervert what he deserved!

  “At least take this off...”

  “You don’t give up, do you?”

  At least he didn’t jerk on the rope; instead he reached out and, with an accuracy that was startling in the deep dark, gripped her wrist. His touch was strong enough to discourage any thoughts of struggle, yet so gentle Cara was disgusted to find herself tingling at the contact.

  “I don’t need your help,” she snapped.

  “Well, maybe I need yours,” he answered in an equally sarcastic tone. “Let’s get moving. We’ve been in one spot too long.”

  “Do you intend to keep moving all night long?” Cara asked in disbelief, but he didn’t answer.

  After an eternity of twenty minutes or so, she was glad for his steadying grip. The going was rough, laden with rocks and tree roots ready to ensnare an unwary foot, all traversed at a steady pace in light that varied from faint to none.

  How could he be so sure-footed in pitch-blackness? Cara wondered after she innocently walked headlong into a tree.

  Cara also wondered if Buck were in this same jungle, looking for her, worried about her, doing his best to find her. Maybe he was only a few yards away, and they would never know they had been so close together. If she screamed... Cara knew why her captor wasn’t worried about that; she could barely get enough of the heavy, damp, hot, smelly air into her lungs to keep herself going. Screaming was out of the question; a hoarse whisper was the best she could manage.

  “Can’t we rest a minute?” she wheezed.

  “Do you need to use the bathroom again?”

  Cara was uncharitably glad to hear that he was short on breath too. “No. I need to rest!”

  “A rest room, then,” he scoffed with sarcastic humor, then to Cara’s undying relief slowed to a stop. “I guess we can take a short break.”

  Without even thinking of th
e crawling little horrors it might hold, Cara leaned against the closest tree and gasped for breath. Finally she asked, “Have you the slightest idea of where we are?”

  “Not far enough away.”

  Cara almost jumped. How quiet he was! His voice was almost in her ear and yet she hadn’t had the slightest idea he was even close. Somehow that made him seem even more sinister; honest people didn’t need to be so quiet!

  “How far are we going to go?”

  “Until we’re out of reach of that boyfriend of yours.” His voice dripped sarcasm.

  “And then?”

  “Why, Miss Waters, can’t you guess?” Some trick of the fitful moonlight made his teeth shine wolfishly as he grinned. His fingers closed around her wrist again. “Come on.”

  * * * * *

  It seemed as if they had been running forever. Cara was almost…almost!…beginning to think nostalgically of when she had been tied to the bed; at least she had been lying down! Now it seemed as if she would never lie or sit down, or rest again. She would spend the rest of her life being dragged through a dark jungle by a madman. It was not a cheering prospect.

  Would morning never come? It seemed it had been dark for days and days. If she could see, she could start thinking about getting away from this loonie toon and finding her way back to Buck.

  Where was Buck? Surely during this endless night he hadn’t stopped looking for her. Of course, if he had started looking in the other direction, by now he could be miles and miles away.

  Miles and miles, and she was stuck here, in the dark, in the jungle, with a maniac. How could this possibly have happened to her?

  Cara bit her lip and, responding to the iron grip on her wrist, forged on. What kind of vitamins did this man take? He held the same hard pace without stopping, showing no hesitation in forging through the foliage and the dark.

  A tree root, camouflaged by the chiaroscuro dappling of moonlight, caught Cara just above the ankle and sent her falling heavily enough to rip her wrist from her captor’s iron grip. The ground was full of sharp and lumpy things, which bit cruelly into her, but Cara didn’t have the breath to scream.

  “Get up, Miss Waters.”

  “I can’t.”

  “That’s an old trick. I wondered how long it would be before you tried it.” He sounded scornful. “Now come on! We’ve got to keep moving.”

  “And I tell you I can’t!” Cara’s voice was thick with unshed tears. “Go on if you have to and just leave me here. It won’t make any difference; Buck will find you and when he does, I hope he beats the tar out of you!”

  For some reason that made Dave Burkhart laugh. He reached down and clamped onto her wrist again. “That would be worth seeing, wouldn’t it? Now get up!”

  “I can’t! I’ve hurt my leg...”

  “What?” Delicately his fingers made their way down to her ankle. Cara couldn’t help a small squeal when they found the large patch of sticky wetness. Her captor swore under his breath. “Well, this tears it. You certainly did a job on yourself, didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t mean to,” Cara snuffled. “It tripped me...”

  “Let me see.” His voice was as gentle as his fingers as he explored the contours of her leg. Fighting the electric tingle of his touch, Cara held her breath; she told herself it was just in case he should hurt her.

  “Mmm...” he said, sounding just like a doctor. “Well, you’re lucky. You don’t seem to have broken anything, just twisted it, and given your shin a good scraping.”

  Cara released her breath as her terror receded. To be stuck in this horrid dark jungle with this madman and have a broken bone would have been too much. The knowledge that she was unbroken made the pain of her bleeding skin bearable.

  “Let’s see if you can stand on it.” Burkhart stood up and, with insulting ease, hauled Cara to her feet.

  Tall and generously built, Cara was unaccustomed to being moved around so easily by anyone, let alone this thin and unprepossessing man. Even Buck, with his bulging muscles and unquestioned strength, had never lifted her. That had vaguely annoyed Cara, who deep within her secret heart still cherished some adolescent fantasies of being literally swept off her feet in a swirl of romantic passion.

  There was certainly nothing romantic about this! He steadied her at arm’s length with all the passion and romance of a personal trainer. “Try standing on it.”

  Gently Cara put her foot to the ground, then crumpled with an annoying gasp of pain as red-hot swords shot upward through her leg.

  Dave Burkhart caught her, holding her in an embrace that was usually reserved for lovers. His arms encircled Cara, pressing her against him. Her head just fit in the hollow where his neck and shoulders met, a small part of Cara’s mind registered. The pain in her leg then washed everything else from her mind.

  “I can’t...”

  Her captor swore again, this time more forcefully. “You must have really twisted it, then. Great going, Miss Waters!”

  Blinking through her tears of pain, Cara glared up at him wishing there were enough light for him to see the hatred in her eyes. “Don’t you dare blame me! If you hadn’t kidnapped me and dragged me through the jungle in the dark and made me fall I’d...” ...I’d be married to Buck by now, Cara had been about to say, but there was no way she was going to share her most tender feelings with this pervert!

  “You’d be what?” he asked in a harsh voice that might have belonged to a different person from the man who had so tenderly explored her injured ankle. “Never mind. I can guess what you had in mind. Was it worth it, Miss Waters?” he asked cryptically.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I should have known. Come on, we’ve got to get going.”

  “Going! I can’t walk... Can’t we wait here?”

  “Still hoping for Buck Tarrant to come and rescue you?” His voice dripped suspicion. “Hasn’t he got what he wants by now?”

  Cara remembered her frustration at Buck’s reticence, but there was no way she’d share that with this man! “It doesn’t change the fact that I can’t walk!”

  “You can still hop.” Dave pulled her arm over his shoulders and got a strong grip on her waist.

  “You’re kidding!”

  “Not unless you have a better idea. Come on.”

  If Cara thought the trip until then had been a nightmare, she had been wrong. At least she had the satisfaction of knowing it was equally as difficult on him, halfway hauling her. Step, lurch, hop, step, lurch, hop... it became a macabre dance that seemed to Cara as if it would go on forever.

  “Please...” she whimpered at last, so tired and in so much pain that the pleading in her voice didn’t even bother her, “...leave me. I can’t go on...”

  He too was now gasping. “As tempting as that prospect sounds, there’s no way I’m going to do that, especially when there’s a light ahead.”

  Cara’s eyes popped open. “Where?” Her gaze followed his pointing finger.

  It was a light, a tiny yellowish pinpoint flickering through the jungle foliage like a blinking eye. She didn’t know whether to be delighted there was evidence of human habitation, or to despair because it seemed so far away.

  “I’ll never make it,” she whispered and of their own volition, big tears crept down her cheeks. Buck... What she wouldn’t have given to feel his arms all strong and protective around her, to hear him call her ‘Honey’ and tell her that everything was going to be all right…

  “You aren’t going to get out of this that easily, Miss Waters,” Dave growled through gritted teeth, bringing Cara back to the present with an unpleasant snap. “Now come on!”

  Propelled by his iron hands, Cara lurched forward. She wasn’t really aware of when her leg gave way and he finally had to give up and carry her, but she was aware of when he stopped. The world filled with light and as she squinted through the sudden brilliance, she could see nothing but the shiny and surprisingly small rifle muzzles pointed at them.

  Chapter Three<
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  “But that is terrible!”

  All thoughts of sleep banished, Cara sat on an uncomfortably hard chair while a silent Indian woman tended to her ankle and Dave Burkhart crushed her hand. He nodded to their host and hostess. An older Mexican couple perhaps in their mid-fifties, they were handsome and impeccably attired in rather theatrical dressing gowns.

  “It was frightening, Señora... and I blame myself.” Dave Burkhart looked incredibly penitent. “Just knowing I put my sweet wife’s life in jeopardy... I’m sorry darling.”

  He had said it many times, and each time it had made Cara increasingly angry. In ever-mounting pain and completely terrified, Cara had been in sort of a daze from the moment the guards had picked them up. The jeep ride to the big house had almost jostled the teeth from her head. She hadn’t dared open her mouth for fear of biting off her tongue, but her captor had had no such fears; almost continually, he had babbled to their rescuers in hesitant Spanish.

  He had better, Cara had thought with vague satisfaction. He had a lot to explain. Kidnapping was a serious crime...

  But it hadn’t been like that, not at all.

  When they arrived at the house, an impossibly large mansion set in the middle of the jungle, it had been ablaze with light and welcome. Señor and Señora Arvisu themselves, had come to see to their welfare and, to Cara’s intense relief, they both spoke excellent English. Now she could explain her predicament and this creep would get what he deserved and she could get back to Buck...

  That was before Señor Arvisu said, “You and your wife have had an awful experience,” and Señora Arvisu had echoed, “Dreadful! Come in, come in... We must have that leg seen to...”

  Wife? Cara had struggled to come to full awareness only to hear in horror her captor describing in emotional detail a devoted marriage, a second honeymoon, a jeep trip, a blowout and an accident...

  “Don’t believe him!” Cara had shrieked, flailing at him with both fists. “He kidnapped me, right off the street in Puerto Vallarta, and knocked me out and took me to this farmhouse where there was this horrible man and then he took me away and wouldn’t even let me use the bathroom unless he tied me up...”