The Other Half of Your Heart Read online

  Chapter Four

  “Make a sound and I’ll break your arm,” Dave whispered into her ear.

  It felt as if he were doing so already. Cara lurched alongside him through the seeming miles of corridors, propelled by his death-grip on her forearm. She couldn’t decide which was worse, the pain in her injured ankle or the bruises she could feel growing beneath his fingers.

  They had slipped out of their room and down the stairs with no difficulty. Apparently, the Arvisus had thought the door lock sufficient to keep them in and had not posted a guard.

  And if I were alone, Cara thought dismally, it would have been. Of course, had she been alone, she wouldn’t have been in this predicament! She would be Buck’s wife...Mrs. Bucknell Tarrant. She longed for the safety of his muscular bulk with an intensity she had never before felt. Poor Buck! He must be going out of his mind with worry. At the moment, however, Cara had a little difficulty mustering up much sympathy for anyone else but herself.

  “They must not be sure, or they wouldn’t be so careless,” Dave muttered under his breath. “We can’t let our guard down or expect to be this lucky much longer.”

  “What are we going to do?” Cara whispered.

  “Get out of here, of course.”

  “How? Do you know where we are? You can’t even find the front door, let alone... Why don’t we just look for a telephone?”

  He looked annoyed. “And call who? I’ll bet money every cop in a twenty mile radius is either on this guy’s payroll or is afraid of those who are.”

  “So what are you going to do? Look, why don’t you leave me here? I won’t make a fuss, I promise I won’t. You can go wherever you want... I just want...”

  A look of pure hatred passed over his face, frightening Cara into silence. “We both know what you want, lady, and it ain’t going to happen, not if I have anything to say about it! Now the garage is about fifty yards away....”

  “Garage! What about the dogs?”

  “We’ll just have to hope they don’t notice us.”

  Cara made a sound of disgust. “Can’t you just shoot them?”

  “Shoot...?” Dave looked startled. “Sure, and bring every guard in half a mile running!”

  “Well, what are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Can you run?”

  “No, of course not!”

  But Cara lied. Without warning, the house alarm began to shrill, which in turn sparked the unearthly baying of the dogs. Dave flung open the massive door and began running, and Cara matched him stride for stride. The closer the sound of the dogs, the faster she found she could move.

  The garage was an old stable, converted to the demands of modern transportation. It was also almost as fortified as the house, and seemed as far away as the moon, especially when Cara could see the dogs and their handlers running around the corner. Even from that distance, the dogs’ teeth looked enormous.

  Cara had never particularly liked dogs under any circumstances.

  Knowing that they could never reach the fugitives in time, the handlers turned the dogs loose. Even as her feet pounded frantically over the manicured turf, Cara watched with a queer kind of detachment, as the great beasts seemed to take flight, covering the distance between them in great bounds.

  Dave dragged her the last few feet of the way, grabbing her arm and thrusting her into the dim building. He had the door almost closed when hard claws and frenzied growls made the wood shake. Cara’s heart stopped a dozen times until he wrestled the door shut.

  “Come on.” The struggle had cost him; even by the glow of the single low wattage bulb, there were bloody streaks and punctures visible on his arms.

  The building was bigger than it had appeared from outside, but there were only three vehicles in the cavernous space, a luxurious, huge Mercedes, a battered pick-up and a military-looking jeep.

  “The rest must be out on patrol,” Dave muttered. “Come on, get in the jeep.”

  “Why not the Mercedes?” Cara asked reasonably. “Isn’t it a lot faster?”

  “Not where we’re going.” Dave shoved her up into the passenger seat, then ran around the back. “Do you know how to hot wire the ignition?”

  “Hot...? No! Of course not!”

  Cara thought he muttered, “Trust a woman not to have any practical skills,” but she wasn’t sure. Besides, the noise level was rising. The dogs’ snarling had turned to hysterical howling, interspersed with wild bursts of angry Spanish. Apparently, the handlers had finally caught up with their charges and had joined them in flinging themselves against the barred door. The door was thick, but not that thick; it wouldn’t hold much longer.

  After a pause, Dave plopped into the seat beside her and reached beneath the dash to twiddle the wires. “Thank God this isn’t one of those modern computerized things... There!” There was a cough, a husky growl and the engine raced. “Get down on the floorboard. “

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Get down!” Without malice, Dave shoved her down beneath the dash and slouched as low in his seat as he could go, then set the jeep into gear. “This is going to be tough.”

  At the far end of the garage were two large double doors of rough wood. They were closed.

  “You’re not...!”

  But he was, and he did. Cara shrieked and crawled as far under the dash as she could. With an explosion of sound and a heart stopping impact, the jeep crashed through the doors, scattering splinters, and shards of wood like weighty confetti over the interior of the jeep. Spraying turf, the tires grabbed the earth and flung it out into the darkness.

  Behind them, the other door gave. The dogs bayed with frustration as their prey sped away, but their howling was almost drowned out by the roar of the Mercedes and the pick-up snarling to life.

  Cara swept the woodchips out of the seat and crawled up carefully, holding on tightly to keep from being thrown as the jeep lurched over the rough ground.

  “Will you speed up?” she snapped, dismayed at just how close the dogs were. “They’ll catch us!”

  “Not in those cars, they won’t,” Dave answered, then flashed her a singularly impish grin. “I slashed their tires. By the time they get running again, we’ll be long gone. I just wish I had had time to take care of the radio, too, but the base unit is probably somewhere in the house.”

  “Radio?”

  He nodded toward the unit nestled under the dash. “Señor Arvisu keeps in touch with his private army by radio. That’s how they knew we were coming before we got there. I wonder how many units are on patrol tonight?”

  Cara stared in wonder. She would never have thought of any of that. “What do you do for a living?”

  “That’s a hell of a question to ask at this particular moment.”

  “I mean, are you a spy, or a thief, or something like that?”

  He snorted and it took Cara a moment to realize that he wasn’t grunting with the effort of steering the jeep, he was laughing. “God, you’re good. Miss Waters. You’re damn good! Hold on, I think it’s time we left the road.”

  “Road? This is a road?” Cara asked in amazement, then believed it as he wrestled the jeep into the jungle. The trees were so close it almost seemed as if they were trying to crawl in the jeep beside them. The ground beneath was rough and twisted and piled with debris that, with the almost total dark, slowed their progress to little more than a crawl.

  “Are you crazy?” she shrieked. “Put on the lights! You can’t see where you’re going!”

  “And neither can they. Remember how far a glimmer of light carries out here?”

  “But you could run us into a tree!”

  “This thing is built like a tank, so it wouldn’t hurt us much at this speed... you better hold on, by the way. I don’t think we have any seat belts.”

  “What about the dogs? They’ll catch us at this speed.”

  “They’ll have called them back... I hope.”

  “You hope! What if...?” Cara shut her mouth to keep fr
om biting her tongue as the ground abruptly lurched and rolled beneath them.

  “Do you hear them?”

  Cara listened. “No. Do you have the slightest idea of where you’re going?”

  “Sure do. As far away from them as I can get.”

  While she agreed with the end, Cara had definite doubts about the means. A singularly violent jolt sent her slamming against Dave’s iron-rigid body. He didn’t cry out at the impact, but Cara could feel him flinch. When she straightened, she didn’t need the faint dribbles of moonlight to see that her arm was darkly smeared.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  “Yeah. Those dogs got me good.”

  “Shouldn’t we be doing something about it...?”

  “Later.”

  “But infection... Shouldn’t we stop and let me bandage it?”

  Even in the dim light, the hardening of his face was obvious. His voice dripped sarcasm. “Not up to your usual standard, Miss Waters. It’s a little bit late to change your mind about staying with your confederates.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The Arvisus wouldn’t have appreciated...” He stopped almost in mid-word and bit his lips. “You’re safer with me, anyhow.”

  Even though she couldn’t explain why the idea of staying behind with the Arvisus was so frightening, Cara was stung by his quick change of attitude. Fool! She had allowed herself to be lulled into complacency by his charm and his seeming care for her. She had forgotten that he had kidnapped her in the first place, that he was responsible for her being in this predicament instead of being safe with Buck.

  “You’re crazy,” she said bluntly. “I don’t understand a thing you’re saying.”

  “Now that sounds more like the cool Miss Waters we both know and love.”

  “What do you want from me? Why did you kidnap me? I’ve never done anything to you...”

  “You are good; I’ll give you that...”

  “Oh, shut up!”

  * * * * *

  Cara had never known a night so long. It seemed that she had always been in this hot, stinking jungle, first being dragged by a madman, now sitting in an uncomfortable jeep that bounced and lurched through the dark. The sunny days in Puerto Vallarta with Buck and even her life before receded to the vague quality of a half-remembered dream.

  “This will do,” Dave said, abruptly breaking the uncomfortable silence. He pulled the jeep into an incredibly narrow place between two thick trees and stopped the engine. The silence rushed in like a dark tide, engulfing them.

  Cara could not tell what made this particular spot different from any of a hundred they had passed in the past century or so. In fact, the moon had sunk so low as to be completely useless. Dave Burkhart had to have eyes like a cat.

  “For what?”

  “It’ll be dawn before long. We both need to get a couple of hours of sleep; you’re out on your feet and I’m beat. Come on, help me hide the jeep.”

  Stiff from a lifetime of clinging to the lurching jeep, Cara stumbled and slipped as she followed Dave’s directions to drape the back with creeping vines and fallen branches.

  “I wish I could see how it looks,” Dave said at last, “but it’ll have to do. I don’t guess they’ll get this far anyway.”

  “Where are we going to sleep?”

  “In the jeep, of course. Sorry it’s not more luxurious...”

  Luxurious was not a word Cara would ever consider connecting with the vehicle in which they had been incarcerated. It had metal seats covered with torn plastic and not enough padding to cushion a mouse, but at least, at the moment, it wasn’t moving, and at the moment, that was good enough for her.

  Groaning only slightly, Cara crawled back up into the seat. “I just hope those vines aren’t inhabited.”

  If they were, Cara never knew. She was out from the moment she laid her head back. The next thing she was aware of was a fitful sun shining in her face and that in spite of the rigidness of the seat, she was a great deal less uncomfortable than she had been when she went to sleep.

  Her head rested on a warm shoulder and a strong arm cradled her gently. Without opening her eyes to the glaring sun, she smiled contentedly. She was wrapped in a wonderful feeling of safe contentment. It had to be Buck! Buck had found her! It must have been his coming that had wakened her. Being in his arms was better than it had ever been before. Wanting to savor the moment, she kept her eyes closed, but could not hold back a small purr of happiness.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” Dave Burkhart said crossly.

  Cara jumped back as if stung, leaping free of his arms and only his quick grip on her shoulder prevented her falling backwards out of the jeep.

  “You!”

  “Who did you expect?” he asked reasonably, if sharply, and began massage his right arm.

  In the daylight, his arm looked worse than it had in the bleaching moonlight. The dogs’ fangs had left ugly gouges and cuts, all of which had scabbed over and broken open again. Red pressure marks showed where Cara had lain.

  “That looks bad.”

  “It feels worse, believe me.”

  “Looks like it could get infected... does this thing have a first aid kit?”

  A sardonic smile crossed his face as he turned to rummage in the back of the jeep. Perversely, it made him even more handsome. “Why, Miss Waters, you sound as if you care.”

  “I do. You’re going to get me out of here and then I’m going to see they put you so far back in the jail it’ll take a week for your mail to reach you. I want you to be in prime condition for that.” Cara’s voice was harsh. “Find anything?”

  “No first aid kit, but... yes.” Dave grinned as he pulled a half-full bottle from behind the seat. “Soldiers are all alike the world over, God bless ‘em. This should contain enough alcohol to kill any wandering bug.”

  Cara took the bottle and stared at it with disgust. “There’s a worm in it!”

  “He won’t drink much.”

  She frowned at his flippant tone. The beast was actually enjoying this! “There’s no bandages.”

  “In the movies the girl always uses her petticoat.”

  “Who wears petticoats these days?” Cara asked, then sighed. “Give me your knife.”

  “Going to amputate?” he asked, but obediently dug in his pocket and produced the knife. Cara tried very hard not to think about just how tight those plain coarse cotton pants were, nor how they highlighted his undoubtedly masculine attributes.

  It took her a moment to find the right blade in the multiplicity of choices the knife offered. Dave didn’t offer to help; he seemed to be enjoying her confusion. After pulling out a minuscule pair of nail scissors, much too small for her purpose, and an oddly shaped thing that she vaguely associated with pipes, Cara located a short, wickedly sharp blade. Her shapeless cotton dress was long, falling far below her knees. She was able to cut off quite a large chunk of fabric and still keep the skirt decent if not quite fashionable.

  She cleaned his arm as gently as possible, but still he flinched at the sting of the alcohol. Cara was liberal with the spirit even as she worked at making sure the worm stayed as close to the bottom of the bottle as possible. It might be dead, but a bug was still a bug.

  “Technically, it’s a worm, not a bug,” Dave said.

  Cara wasn’t aware that she had spoken aloud and for a moment panicked. What else had she said without thinking? Her thoughts were too chaotic for her to understand, and the idea that this horrid man might have heard...

  “That’s close enough to a bug for me.”

  “You don’t like bugs.”

  “No, and I don’t like snakes, and I don’t like jungles, and I don’t like you. If it weren’t for you, I’d be safe back in Puerto Vallarta.”

  “With Buck Tarrant.”

  The insolence in his tone infuriated Cara. “Yes, with Buck Tarrant, and why shouldn’t I be? He’s a gentleman and a kind man and an honest man, and not a criminal like you!”

>   She didn’t have to add that last part. Her anger was as directed towards herself for finding him attractive. It surely wasn’t her fault that her body vibrated to his touch, or that waking cradled in his arms had been one of the most erotic moments in her life. How dare he be able to arouse her just by being there, making her thrill to unknown music in a way Buck never had! It had to be just a physical, purely animal attraction, fostered by the bizarre circumstances. It was Buck she loved, Buck she was going to marry; she had no business being aroused by another man.

  “Your loyalty is touching, Miss Waters. How long do you intend to carry on this charade?”

  “Charade?”

  His arm was as clean as mescal and a scrap of material could make it. For reasons she didn’t understand, Cara was glad to see that the bites and scratches were not as bad as they had appeared and that there was no sign of infection.

  “That you and Tarrant are lovers.”

  “We’re not...!” Cara snapped, then realized her relationship with Buck was none of this man’s business. “We’re in love. We’re going to get married.”

  “Married? Buck Tarrant is going to marry you? Yeah, sure.”

  The sarcasm in his voice angered Cara. What did this macho creep think, that she wasn’t good enough for Buck? With no real forethought, she drew the bandage on his arm tight.

  “Ouch! What makes you think Buck Tarrant is good enough for you?”

  Cara looked up in surprise. “What?”

  Dave Burkhart had blue eyes. Funny, she hadn’t noticed that before. In the dappling sunlight, they looked unbelievably cool, like little patches of winter sky.

  “What’s he like in bed?”

  “That’s...” Cara sputtered in rage. “What gives you the right...?”

  “You haven’t slept together yet, have you?”

  “That’s none of your business!”

  “You haven’t.” It was a statement.

  “Buck respects me.” Savagely Cara tore another strip of cloth and wound it around his arm, taking exaggerated care not to make it too tight.

  “Ignoring you is respecting you?”

  “He doesn’t ignore me. He says that what we have is too beautiful to sully with pure animal lust.” Cara said, then as Dave made a rude sound, snapped, “He says that something worthwhile is worth waiting for.”