She nodded and looked back at the bags. “Is there anything to eat in there?” The hope in her voice almost broke his heart.
As quietly as he could, he opened the first bag and rummaged inside. It was difficult to see anything but shadows inside, so he pulled out each item to look at it. There was a Bible, which made him arch an eyebrow at Belinda. Guess having faith meant something different down in the jungle. Where he came from, it meant you didn’t align yourself with someone who was pure evil. Next out was a roll of toilet paper, which Belinda hugged to her as though it were precious. Then came some spare ammo for the rifle. Matches. A flashlight, which made Beast grin. And two nut bars.
He held up the bars as if he’d struck gold. Belinda grinned, snatched one, ripped the paper off and devoured it. Beast wasn’t far behind. They were finishing up when one of the men started coughing. Beast and Belinda stilled, staring at each other, their ears straining to hear what was happening. Beast peeked over the tree trunk and saw one of the men roll out of his narrow bed, only to groan and go back to sleep on the ground.
He turned to Belinda. “We need to get out of here.”
She immediately started shaking her head. “We’ll die. Something will eat us. Or we’ll get lost.”
Beast held up the flashlight. “I can still see my compass. We don’t need to go far. We do have to put some distance between us and those guys. When they wake and find their packs gone, they’ll go hunting. We need to be somewhere more secure.”
She bit her bottom lip as she thought about it. It was plain to see that logic was warring with fear.
He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “It will be okay,” he told her. “I won’t let anything happen to you. We have to do this, baby. You know that.”
She stared into his eyes as though searching for reassurance. She must have found it, because she gave him a terse nod. “Okay. Tell me what to do.”
“That’s my girl.” He couldn’t resist kissing her again. “Let’s get out from between these trees.”
He backed out of their tiny clearing, dumped the bags at his side, then leaned back in to help Belinda get out. She handed him her walking stick first, which he put beside the bags. Then he supported her as she got to her feet.
“We don’t need the flashlight yet,” Beast said. “The fire gives off enough light to make out where we’re going. Just take it slow. Make as little noise as possible and watch where you’re stepping.”
She nodded.
Beast kept one eye out for the men on the other side of the bushes as Belinda wedged her walking stick under her arm.
“How’s the knee?” he said.
“It’s stiff. I can do this, though.”
It was also painful, if the tight lines around her mouth were any indication. She gave him a determined look that made pride swell within him. This woman was stealing his heart, and up until he met her, Beast wasn’t even sure he had a heart to steal.
“You go first,” he said. “I’ll bring up the rear. Once we’re clear of the fire, use the flashlight to lead us out of here.” He flashed the light on his watch, long enough to get a direction from his compass. “That way.” He pointed.
Now that she’d committed to going, Belinda didn’t hesitate. She made her way straight in the direction he’d indicated, taking her time to get over obstacles with her walking stick.
It was slow going. Once they were far enough away from the fire that they couldn’t even see shadows anymore, she switched on the flashlight and they carried on. Eyes of every size reflected back at them from the shadows of the forest. Overhead, an owl screeched. The noise was followed by scurrying all around them as small animals ran from the predator. The flashlight made a large spider’s web glitter and sparkle. It was nestled in the V of a tree, and sitting in the middle of it was a hairy tarantula. Beast couldn’t help but shudder, and was glad Belinda had her back to him. He was fairly sure he’d lose some man points for his developing arachnophobia.
There was a flurry of activity above them, and Beast ducked just in time as a cloud of bats spiralled towards them at dizzying speed. Belinda looked back at him once the bats were gone. She waggled her eyebrows and grinned widely. Even with her bruised and swollen eye, there was no hiding the delight she took in the sight.
Beast shook his head at her, but his lips twitched with the need to smile back. Instead, he urged her forward.
Almost an hour later, he decided they were far enough away from the cartel’s men to set up camp for the rest of the night.
“Do you think you can climb a tree?” Beast asked Belinda as she finished off the last of her water.
“I can try.”
He was beginning to realise that sentence summed Belinda up. She would try damn hard at anything that came her way.
“Okay, let me scout around and see what I can find.”
Without a word, she handed him the flashlight. “Don’t go too far.” She looked at the stolen bags. “Maybe there’s another flashlight in there.” Her voice was still hoarse, but she didn’t wince every time she spoke anymore. Beast took that as a sign she was healing.
He crouched down and opened the first bag. “Medical kit,” he told her. “Two bags of Brazil nuts.”
“Gimme!” Belinda waggled her fingers at him, and he put a bag in her hand.