Trust Me

Chapter 17

Ranalla looked at him with horror. What was he saying? They were buried alive? Why wasn't he panicking or something?

He winked as he moved the cart forward again. The dust was light in the air due to the distance they had traveled. She was still against him with his arm around her.

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly and deliberately.

"They blew up the cabin. I blew up the tunnel along with it."

"Won't they notice the ground caving in?" She turned to look over his shoulder but saw only black.

He shook his head. "No. It only blew up the barracks underneath and the entrance to the tunnel. They won't be able to figure out there was another way out. They'll think their explosions did it all."

She lay against him and felt the soft damp air moving past them. "They want me dead that bad."

He nodded silently. She remained in his arms as they continued on. She was too afraid to move.

"Where are we going?" She still could see nothing.

"This tunnel goes under the mountain."

She pulled back. "There was a mountain there?"

He nodded. "Yes, but the trees blocked the view. It takes us to another exit that we can use to hike from."

"Where are we going?"

"To another safe house."

She looked up at him. "They found this one. What if they find the other one?"

"If they do, then someone is helping them."

She swallowed. "I'm scared."

"You should be."

"Not helping here." Ranalla rolled her eyes.

He looked at her. "Sorry about that. But it's something you have to realize."

They continued on in silence. Although the cart wasn't traveling as fast as it had been when they started out, its speed was still pretty fast.

Ranalla grabbed onto the sides of the cart with her hands and held on tight. Their visibility of only two feet in front of her just wasn't enough. An hour went by before she felt them slowing down. She could see light ahead that grew brighter as they approached.

When the cart stopped, they were surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites. The light from the entrance illuminated most of the cave. Vince turned off the cart, jumped out, and helped her stand on the stone floor. He handed her the backpack and walked toward the cave entrance. He stopped in a small clearing and sat the bags down.

"We might as well rest here. We'll eat and then take off." He took the backpack from her and pulled out some sandwiches.

"Looks as though you were prepared." She took one of the sandwiches and an apple.

"I was. I made these after the helicopter went over. Better safe than sorry. If we hadn't left when we did, they would have been our lunch."

She nodded, then found a stone slab to sit on. Her stomach growled as she unwrapped the sandwich. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but they had skipped breakfast.

The sandwich was gone, and the apple was half-eaten when she realized Vince hadn't taken a single bite of his food. He was laying back against one of the formations with his eyes closed. She crawled over to him and touched his cheek. He opened one eye and looked at her. "Why aren't you eating?"

"Too much on my mind."

She shook her head. "Nope. You eat. We both need our strength."

"When did you get to be so bossy about all this?"

"When you saved my life again."

He reached up a hand and cupped the nape of her neck. He pulled her close and gently kissed her lips. "Not how I planned today."

She smiled slightly. "I know. I know."

"Ranalla, about last night..." He stopped as her lips pressed against his, and tears pooled up in her eyes. "Please don't tell me it was a mistake."

He sat up straight and took her shoulders in his hands. "No. No, it was not a mistake. Ranalla, that was .....beautiful. I just wanted you to know that it meant something to me. It wasn't just sex. It was more than that."

Her eyes brightened. "Really? I wasn't too....inexperienced for you?"

He smiled broadly. "Sweetheart, I was your first. That means a lot to me. He kissed her soundly.

Ranalla lowered her head to his chest. "You know that I'm certifiable."

"Why?" He rubbed her hair and relaxed back against the rock.

"I'm in a cave with the man who abducted me from my bed, locked me in a cabin, made love to me, and then I ran off with him." She looked up at him with a glint in her eye. "I'd say that's certifiable."

"Yep. Probably." He kissed her again before standing up. He reached down to take her hand and pulled her up. "We need to get going. There's another cave further along this chain of mountains that we can make before dark if we get started now."

She grabbed the backpack without him asking and put it on her back. It was still rather heavy. He must have packed quite a bit for them. How long did he think they'd be hiking?

He picked up one bag that doubled as a backpack and put it on. The other he carried over his shoulder. He glanced back at Ranalla standing there. Vince walked over and gently touched her cheek.

"You ready for this?"

"Do I have a choice?"

He shook his head. "Not really."

"Well, then let's get going."