From the Shadows
“KC...”
Dread shimmied up her spine and she clenched her jaw, recognizing the voice that had haunted her innermost being. She quickened her pace on the trail. This was not the time or place that she wanted to see Janko. She wasn’t ready, but then she’d never be ready until he returned her kids.
“KC, wait!”
He was closer. She could hear his footfalls now and knew he’d catch her, but she’d make him work at it. “Well, hell, Janko, get your lazy ass up here. You’re slowing me down.” Wasn’t it just like him to begin the course at the halfway point?
“Murphy tells me you’re pushing too hard.” He matched her stride.
“I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
“KC, you’re no good to me hurt. While I need you in top form, an injury at this point will delay our mission.” His blue eyes pierced hers. Chips from a glacier were warmer.
She spun him around by one arm. “That’s right, Janko, it’s always the company first. You have your priorities and I have mine.” Dropping his arm, she sprinted a few feet away. “I’m working again for only one reason—you kidnapped my children. You have no clue what life is really all about and what’s important in this world. People. Relationships. But you wouldn’t know about that, would you? How does that cold empty bed feel now?”
Waves of fury radiated through her as she attacked the Wall and scaled it before he could grab the rope. She was proud to say that she made it over the first time, and she used the same anger to propel herself at top speed over the giant web of ropes and across the water pit pole. She thought she could hear him, but when she glanced back, there was no one behind her.
Damn him. A part of her was glad she’d lost him and another mad because the sight of him made her guts tighten into knots. The wind cooled her as she flew down the high wire, landing on her feet, and started on the final run back to the barracks.
Just a few more minutes and a hot shower will be mine, then I’ll ask Murph to...
A flash of white was all she saw before the impact sent her flying. Janko attacked her from behind a small wall of shrubbery. As she fought to refill her depleted lungs, instinct took over. The will to survive—the need to win—controlled her, but he was too strong, and her muscles were too sore.
How many times had she passed these bushes and never thought about an ambush? Ambush—the irony of the word.
“Caught you napping, didn’t I?” Janko pinned her arms above her head, the scent of pine surrounding them. “The KC I trained wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.” His crisp T-shirt remained snowy white and sweat-free, unlike hers.
She breathed in short gulps, unable to hurl the insults that welled inside her. Relax, relax. All you have to use is what is inside you.
Seeing him this close—mere inches away—and feeling the familiar weight of his body pressing her down still hurt, even after so many years. A few more lines framed his eyes, and gray streaked his much shorter hair and moustache. He was as devastatingly handsome as the day she’d met him.
When she was twenty-one, he’d intrigued her. By twenty-four, she’d fallen in love with him. One short year later, he’d taught her to trust no one, most especially him.
Finally able to take a full breath, she couldn’t resist a few verbal jabs. “I see that time has added a few gray hairs to your mane. Thinking about using color? A lot of men do. At least, you haven’t lost much.” If there had been one vanity about him, it was his hair. She grinned as his eyes turned flinty and he ground her hips deeper into the soft earth. “Oh ho, so did I hit a nerve?”
“Good try, KC, but not this time. He flashed a smile that showed even, white teeth as he lowered himself until she bore his full weight now.
For a brief moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Like molten lava finding a tiny crack, her anger spread through her, strengthening her tired muscles. She tossed him on his side and quickly brought her knee up, only to find her leg scissored between his. He rolled, forcing her to follow or risk injury to her knee.
She moved with him, not finished by half.
Her hand crept down into her fatigue pocket where her fingers curled around a knife. She slowly slid it free, opening the blade with her thumb. The sun glinted off the steel blinding him momentarily before the deadly sharp edge rested gently against his throat.
He made no move to protect or defend himself.
“Damn, babe, it feels dull.”
Kelly slowly pulled the knife toward her, leaving a dotted line of blood. “Don’t play games with me, Steven. If you didn’t have my children hidden God only knows where, I’d slit your throat without another thought.” She flicked her wrist, throwing the blade into the small triangle created between his legs and hers. Her gaze followed his to the quivering black handle. “Have I made my point?”
“Most definitely, KC dear. Loud and clear.” Untangling his legs, he got to his feet.