Trust Me

Chapter 20

The rock she was standing on was narrow. If she moved even just a little, the water flowing down the rocks streamed onto her. The hard rock pressed against her face and chest as she held onto Vince's hand and inched herself under the water fall. She knew they were going to fall under the torrential waters as the roar became deafening.

Her left hand tried to hold the slippery rock wall, but found it was more dangerous than just letting her hand press against the wall to steady herself. A damp smell filled her nostrils as she breathed in the moisture from her surroundings. She felt the sharp scrape of the rough wall across her check as she moved sideways.

Suddenly she found herself falling forward. The rock wall had disappeared. They were now in a small cave underneath the rushing water. Ranalla turned around and looked in amazement of their sanctuary.

"What's this?" It wasn't a terribly large cave. Just big enough for them to fit in with four feet between them and the surging water.

Vince moved to the far back wall of the cave and motioned for Ranalla to follow. He lowered the backpacks and settled down on the damp stone.

"We wait here." As she sat down beside him, he took one of her hands and held it. He gazed toward the light that came through the water in the form of various rainbows. "There is metal in these rocks that will confuse any heat seeking sensors."

She looked at him in astonishment. "They have those?"

He nodded. "And more."

She swallowed. "We'll never really get away then, will we?"

He turned to look at her in the dim light and watched the shadows play across her worried face. He smiled, hoping to give her a semblance of peace. "We're going to do our best."

"Be honest with me, Vince."

His grip tightened on her hand. "I am. I'll never lie to you Ranalla. I may not always tell you what you want to know, and may keep from things you don't need to know, but I won't lie to you. Always remember that."

She nodded back and leaned against him.

"How long do we wait?"

"I'll give it another hour or so. Better safe than sorry. I want to make it to the safe house before dark."

And so they waited.

After an hour and half, Vince crept out from their hiding place and left Ranalla alone. She hugged herself against the chill of the water. Though it was still mid-day, the atmosphere inside the cave with the running water was several degrees cooler.

He was back a few minutes later and began picking up their bags. "Let's go. It's clear."

The way out was as treacherous as it was going in. Ranalla held onto Vince's hand with all her might. She tried not to think of the drop off behind her and the rolling water below. Though it only took a minute to get into the sunlight, she felt like it took hours.

Ranalla shivered in the warm sunlight. Vince led her down the large stream away from the misty air. They began their walk and let the warm air and sunshine dry them off. After an hour of following the water downstream, Vince led her off into the woods again.

The hike seemed to be strenuous as they pushed on. Ranalla knew it was because it was only the second day. Her body was making its objections to the pace known. The stress of running and hiding didn't help matters either.

The continued on until dusk. Vince found a hollowed out section of a hill with a rock overhang that he decided would do fine for the night.

"I thought we would make the safehouse today?" Ranalla asked as she lowered her backpack.

He began clearing a space for a camp fire. "It's getting dusk. I wanted to put off getting there one more day, especially after that helicopter's pass."

She nodded. Though she wanted to reach the safe house, she also wanted to reach it alive.

"Go ahead and get the sleeping bags out and put together. I'll gather some firewood."

He walked off into the heavy woods filled with shadows. She couldn't help but shiver as the night began to slowly descend. Danger was everywhere. Fear was becoming her regular companion.

Vince found several pieces of dried wood that would hold them through the night. He sat them down on the ground in a pile as he scouted for smaller pieces to use as kindling. Once it was all gathered, he looked up at the sky through the thick canopy of trees. They had at least one more day of good weather ahead of them, but he had to get her to the safe house soon.

With a quick glance around, he pulled out his cell phone and noted the medium strength signal. Hitting a speed dial button, he waited.

"Well?"

"I've got her."

"Bring her to me."

"No. You come and get her. And you come alone." Vince gave the coordinates. "Alone or you lose her."