Deadly Safari

TWO

Alex kicked the side of the bumper that now sat askew. Then, pushing the frustration down, he forced himself to think logically, like the investigator he was. “Who has access to the lodge’s vehicles?”

“Access?” Meghan hobbled to the front of the vehicle to make her own assessment, her knee clearly painful. “Everyone, I suppose—or rather, the small number of people who are in the area. They’re not exactly kept under tight security. We’re in the bush, twenty minutes from the nearest town. Except for poaching, crime isn’t exactly a huge issue here.”

“And at night?”

“They’re not locked up, if that’s what you mean. They sit in the parking lot when they aren’t being used in the bush or in for maintenance. The terrain is rough on them, so it’s a lot of work to keep them running.”

“So, in other words, anyone who wanted to could have access to them.”

She rested her hands against her hips and caught his gaze. “Are you implying this wasn’t an accident? Because if you are, that’s absolutely ridiculous. Like I said, the terrain is rough. Mechanical issues with the vehicles are the norm rather than the exception.”

“I’m not implying anything. I just...”

He closed his mouth, reminding himself that he wasn’t allowed to say more to warn her about the chance of danger. It wasn’t the first time he’d questioned Ambassador Jordan’s explicit instructions. He’d prefer to simply lay out the entire truth for Meghan. By the way, your father is worried someone is trying to kill you. And while you think I’m your new assistant, the truth is that your father just convinced me to blow my vacation time by working as your bodyguard and talked your boss into playing along so you wouldn’t suspect the truth. Hope you don’t mind.

He looked to where she stood. Brow furrowed. Questioning. No matter what he would like to say, he was pretty certain her father had been right about one thing. While he might not be her choice of assistant on her documentary team, she’d definitely send him packing if she realized he was here as her personal guard detail. From what he’d already seen, the girl had just enough spunk and stubbornness to make her believe she could handle things on her own. Which put it back on his shoulders to find a way to keep her out of trouble whether she wanted him to or not.

“You know, I’m sorry.” He tried to erase the look of worry from his expression. “It’s been one of these weeks. I missed my flight out of Amsterdam, which resulted in them losing my bag. Then there was a flat tire on the way here, and now all of this....”

She slammed her open door shut with her hip. “Today might just be your lucky day after all.”

He leaned against the side of the vehicle and shot her a surprised look. “Lucky? Right. I always consider myself lucky when I’m chased by a rhino before wrapping a vehicle around a tree.”

“Think of it this way. We were scheduled to take this vehicle out today.” Alex kept his expression neutral, not visibly reacting to the information even as he mentally stored it away. “But Samuel noticed that the radio wasn’t working, so we swapped out vehicles.” She smiled at him. He wasn’t sure if she was flirting with him or simply being sarcastic. “So if it weren’t for the rhino incident, I’d be back safe and sound at the lodge, but you’d be here by yourself with no idea how to get back and no radio. Lucky you, though, I’m here, and I know the way back to the lodge.”

“That’s a very...optimistic way of looking at it.” He had to laugh. So Meghan was one of those eternal optimists? “What now? There’s no radio, but you have to have a cell phone on you, right?”

“A cell phone? No. Even if I did, there isn’t any service out here.”

Great. He glanced back at the Jeep. “Which is why you use radios.”

“Precisely.”

“Here’s another crazy question.” He hesitated, hoping he didn’t sound as worried as he felt. “What kind of predators might show up, besides our favorite rhino and a handful of poachers? Because this wreck isn’t going anywhere.”

“Don’t you have predators back in Texas?”

“I’ve tangled with a coyote or two.”

He tried to play down his concern, but his unease went far beyond what might be hiding on the other side of the bushes. Not only did she see the cup half-full, she was unaware that they faced any problem other than getting out of the bush. He was looking at an entirely different scenario. Maybe he was reading things into the situation, but if the vehicle had been sabotaged, someone had just sent a very clear message that they could get to her.

Something rustled behind him in the bushes. Alex pressed his back against the vehicle, ready to grab Meghan and bolt the pair of them up the nearest tree if necessary.

“It’s okay.” Meghan laughed. “It’s just an impala.”

“An impala.”

“An antelope. A lot of people mistake them for deer, but they actually come from different families. An impala’s color is more reddish-brown and they have permanent horns—”

“I know what an impala is.”

“Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.”

He held up his hand. He shouldn’t have snapped, but he couldn’t take any chances if someone had just tried to kill her. Nor was he thrilled about being out in the bush unarmed, where there were predators that would be more than happy to have him for dinner. He knew enough to realize that the hunter could quickly become the hunted. And unless someone came to their rescue, they were going to have to walk back to the lodge. At this point he wasn’t even sure which direction it was.

She took a step and winced, reminding him of their other problem. They were going to have to walk, and she clearly wasn’t going to make it far. The discoloration on her knee was already beginning to show.

“From the looks of it, you’re not going anywhere, either. At least not quickly.”

So much for outrunning the next animal that decided to have some fun with them.

“I’ll be fine.” She forced a smile. “And besides, Kate and Samuel know I’m out here. They probably assumed you drove me back to the lodge, but once they realize we’re not there, they’ll come looking for us. They know the area where we are, so it shouldn’t take them long to find us.”

He wasn’t convinced. “Not to be a pessimist or anything, but what if they don’t show up? Do you really think you can walk back to the lodge?

“Do you always worry like this?”

“Yes.”

His caution tended to go hand in hand with a job of hunting down the bad guys. For the past thirteen months he’d been after Dimitri Stamos, who’d left six people dead in his latest crime spree. Being on the alert for danger came as easily as breathing and was just as necessary in his life. He knew how to track and hunt down criminals, but trekking through the bush eluding wild animals—and possibly dangerous humans, too—was different.

He glanced down at her again, in her khaki shorts and boots, looking completely at home in the middle of the African bush—and compellingly attractive despite his best intentions not to notice. What he couldn’t avoid noticing was her refusal to back down.

“There is nothing to worry about.” She didn’t seem to notice his conflicted mood. “I’ve been working out here for months, and while we typically go out with a gun, we’ve never had to use it.”

“Until today,” he reminded her.

“It was a warning shot. That rhino was more afraid of us than we would ever be of him.”

Right.

“How far to the lodge?”

“Two, maybe three miles at the most.”

Alex frowned. This wasn’t going to work. “You can barely walk.”

She took another step and forced a smile, though the pain radiating in her eyes was clear. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

He tried to formulate a plan with the little information he had. Staying in the open Jeep after dark seemed more foolish than prudent. Walking through the bush with the chance of encountering a leopard or lion seemed just as foolish. Somehow he needed to come up with a plan C.

“What do you think you’ll do when something starts chasing you and you can’t outrun it?” he asked.

“Like I said, in my experience, most animals are going to be more afraid of us than we are of them.” She glanced at the baobab the Jeep sat wrapped around. “Or there’s always the nearest tree.”

Maybe so, but he wasn’t looking forward to taking his chances. “How long until dark?”

She glanced at her watch. “Forty-five minutes...maybe a bit less.”

At a brisk pace they could make it—if they didn’t get eaten along the way. And if he helped her. He hesitated, then bridged the gap between them.

“I say we take our chances and walk, but you’re going to lean on me.”

“Really, it’s not that bad.” She took another step, then reached down to rub the bruised spot on the side of her knee that was already starting to swell.

“Right. You need to get off the leg and ice it, but since you can’t do that, you’re going to have to let me help you.”

She looked up at him with those big brown eyes of hers took another step, winced, then stopped. “Fine.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist, wishing her hair didn’t smell like lavender and that her lashes didn’t go on forever when she looked up at him. He’d figured she’d be intelligent. He hadn’t planned on her being such a...distraction.

The only solution to the problem, as far as he could see, was to tell her the truth. If she knew he was here doing a favor for one of his father’s old army buddies, who happened to be her own somewhat-estranged father, she’d be furious. Attraction definitely wouldn’t be a problem, since she wouldn’t let him within five miles of her. But if he blew his cover and told her the truth, he wouldn’t be able to protect her. And with the way things were spiraling out of control in the current election, and after what he’d seen today, he tended to believe that her life really was in danger. She needed him here, whether she knew it or not. And that meant he couldn’t do anything to drive her away.

Alex shifted his gaze back to the uneven path, pushing aside his straying thoughts as he tried to focus on the situation at hand. All he needed to do right now was get them back to the lodge in one piece. “Which way?”

“That way.” She nodded toward their right, then stopped. “I forgot my bag.”

He grabbed her camera bag out of the Jeep, waited until she’d adjusted it on her shoulder, then wrapped his arm around her waist again. She looked up at him before slowly wrapping her arm around his waist. The wind blew a strand of her hair across his face. He brushed it aside, tightened his grip, then started walking.

There was something about her that intrigued him.

Okay, more than just one thing. Meghan Jordan was a filmmaker, seemingly as comfortable in the African bush as most women were at a shopping mall. She was intelligent, strong-minded and undeniably beautiful. Exactly what he wasn’t looking for.

Alex swallowed hard. He really needed a distraction.

* * *

Meghan took another step and tried to ignore the pain.

“You okay?”

She nodded at his question, avoiding his gaze. Her knee was already swelling, but while she might need a distraction from the pain, Mr. Lone Star wasn’t what she had in mind.

Today, she’d looked forward to filming some of the final scenes with Kibibi and her cubs. Instead, Alex had torpedoed into her life, bringing with him a string of disasters. He’d barely been here an hour, and he’d ticked off a rhino and gotten them stranded out in the bush.

All right, maybe it hadn’t been his fault that the Jeep had malfunctioned, but still, the vehicle they’d been driving was now wrapped around the trunk of a baobab tree. Nothing like that had happened to her before he’d shown up.

She should be mad at him, but instead, having him so close was wreaking havoc with her equilibrium. Which left her wondering what bothered her the most. The fact that she’d just been sent an assistant who more than likely didn’t know anything about the African bush, or the fact that she couldn’t ignore the feel of his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

She searched for something to say to break the awkward silence between them as they followed the narrow trail bordered by the overgrown forest. “You do know the most important rule of the bush, don’t you?”

“The most important?” He hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

“Make sure you look both up and down.”

“Meaning?”

“Down to avoid any holes and snakes. Up to check for any unwelcome predators.”

She felt the muscles in his arm tense and suppressed a chuckle. She had no idea where her boss had found this guy, but cowboy or not, he seemed better qualified to lead a hoedown than a trek through the bush.

“Sounds like good advice.”

Moments later, she stopped at a rise in the terrain, where forest opened up into a narrow grassland. Even after eight months of working here, she’d yet to tire of the ever-changing landscape and animals that filled its terrain.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she said.

“Incredibly.”

The sun began to drop in the distance, painting the sky brilliant shades of orange and pink. Acacia trees, with their flat, green tops, sprinkled the horizon. Half a dozen giraffes walked gracefully across the far edge of the open veld.

She pointed toward the left. “Look down there, at the water hole.”

A family of elephants had gathered at the water’s edge, mamas and babies with their bulky forms casting gray shadows across the tall grasses. This was the one place in the world where she felt safe, alive and whole.

“Do you believe in God?”

He nodded at her question. “‘The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies his handiwork.’ It’s hard not to believe when you see things like this.”

She’d always felt the same way. Cell phones, the internet and email always managed to pull her in a million different directions. But standing here, in the quiet stillness of God’s creation, everything seemed to move back into perspective.

“Wait a bit longer until darkness settles in and the stars come out. There’s nothing like seeing the Milky Way and the Southern Cross light up the sky.”

They started walking again. “Do all of the assistants on your project get such personalized attention?”

She didn’t quiet her laugh this time as she looked up at him, wondering how he’d become the distraction that had almost erased the pain in her knee. “I can’t say that I’ve ever escorted a cowboy through the bush.”

Arm snug around her waist, those dark eyes with a hint of amusement in their depths, this particular cowboy looked incredibly appealing. But she brushed the thought aside. There was no way she was falling for this stranger. There was no way she was falling for anyone, because she’d yet to meet a man who made her feel worthy of being loved. Relationships weren’t for her, and that was that.

She dismissed the ridiculous train of thought. They continued walking. Twenty more minutes, thirty tops, and they’d be back at the lodge. In a couple more weeks, the job would be over, and she could send him back to Texas. Which was why, for now, it was time to change the subject.

“Have you ever been to South Africa before?”

“I visited once. Many years ago. My mother was from here.”

“So, coming here was more than just a job?”

“You could say that. I’ve always wanted a reason to return to my mother’s homeland.”

“You’ve piqued my interest.” She adjusted the grip of her hand around his waist. The fact that they had something in common surprised her. Her father had grown up in Kenya, the son of a missionary, so she’d learned early on the mysterious lure of the the African continent. “Tell me about yourself.”

“Me?”

“If we’re going to work together,” she said, “we might as well get to know each other. Where is your family from?”

“My father owns a ranch in West Texas, but many years ago, shortly after he passed the bar, his father arranged a hunting trip for him north of here near the Zimbabwe border. My mother’s father owned the game farm where they hunted. And as they say, the rest is history. They fell in love, had a whirlwind romance, and eventually they married and she followed him to the United States.”

“Romantic.”

“It was, but she died when I was twelve.”

“Do you miss her?”

“Every day.”

“Any sisters or brothers?”

“Three older sisters. My father never remarried. I don’t think he ever got over losing her. I think it’s your turn now. What about you?”

Meghan had realized the moment she’d asked him the first question she’d opened up a can of worms she’d prefer left closed. She loved her father, but their relationship had always been strained. It had been weeks since they’d talked and even longer since they’d seen each other. Explaining that to strangers was difficult.

“My story’s a bit more complicated.”

“Isn’t family always?”

She laughed. She liked him, which bothered her. And he was clearly worried and protective over her safety.

But none of that mattered beyond the short term. They had been nearly finished with their filming when Jared, her asssistant, came down with a life-threatening case of malaria. Once the filming was wrapped up and the edits finished, she’d never see Alex again.

She switched her mind back to his question. “I’m an only child. Boarding schools for junior high and high school, summers and vacations with my aunt in Southern California. There really isn’t much exciting about my life unless you want to start comparing who’s visited the most countries or eaten the weirdest food.”

“Deep-fried cantaloupe pie at the county fair is about all I have to offer.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I think I’d opt for a bag of barbecued Mopani worms before trying a slice of that.”

Alex laughed. Maybe the man was actually beginning to relax.

“You mentioned a lot of traveling. Where’s home?” he probed.

“I don’t really have one. My father’s an ambassador. I see him a couple times a year. I love him, but after my mother left him when I was fourteen, things changed between us. It wasn’t his fault, though. I don’t know a man alive who’d know how to deal with a moody teen while trying to save his part of the world.”

Meghan pressed her lips together, wondering why she was baring her heart to a man she’d just met. Even Kate didn’t know the details of her relationship with her father, and they’d known each other for months. “The lodge is just over the next ridge. We should be able to see the lights any moment now.”

“Tell me about this assignment you’ve been working on. I was given some details, but still would like to know more.”

She let out a sigh, thankful for the change in subject. “For starters, this is my first big assignment. As you probably already know, it’s a documentary in connection with the lodge and the reserve’s conservation program, the Chizoba Predator Project. For eight months, we’ve been tracking a lion family and documenting the dynamics within the pride. Now we’re waiting to take the final footage we need, when Kibibi introduces her cubs to their father. It should happen in the next couple weeks.”

Meghan stepped into a shallow hole along the path and felt her sore knee twist. She stumbled against him.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I just need to be careful.” She tried to find her balance, then pulled back slightly from his steady grip. “The ground isn’t even, and the last thing I need is to sprain something else.”

“Make sure you look both up and down.”

“Very funny.”

He winked at her, only managing to intensify the ridiculous stir of her heart.

“We can stop here for a moment if you need to.”

She tried to take another step on her own, felt her knee give and had to press her hands against his chest for balance. He was too close, her emotions too near the surface. Talking about her father always brought with it turmoil from the past. And the handsome cowboy in front of her wasn’t helping.

She drew in a deep breath and tried to relax. Something wasn’t right. “Do you smell that?”

“What?”

“Cigarette smoke again.”

She’d always been sensitive to smells, making her certain this was the same scent she’d noticed earlier today. The same brand the poachers had left. They were out here somewhere. Planning. Tracking. Preparing for another strike. She was certain of it.

The roar of an engine jerked her from her thoughts. She turned toward the noise and felt her breath catch.

“Poachers.”

“Who’s being paranoid now?” He nudged her with his shoulder. “It’s probably just your friends coming to pick you up.”

“Maybe.” She pulled them off the trail and into the cover of the bush, waiting for the vehicle to emerge. He was probably right, but if not... “My paranoia stems from reality. There was something I didn’t mention earlier.”

“What’s that?”

“The last person who got in the poachers’ way was murdered.”

THREE

Meghan let her lungs release the air they’d been holding as soon as the familiar form of Samuel appeared in the disappearing light, driving one of the lodge’s vehicles. Relief spread through her. She’d been wrong. Which meant no more worrying tonight about poachers, wild predators...or needing Alex’s help.

She stepped back onto the trail as Kate jumped from the Jeep and threw her arms around Meghan’s neck.

“Whoa, careful.” Pain shot through Meghan’s knee as she fought to keep her balance. Alex grabbed her shoulders from behind to steady her, but she managed to hobble away from both of them to lean against the front bumper of the Jeep.

“What in the world happened to you?” Kate began. “I’ve been worried sick. I saw you jump into the other vehicle. I thought you were behind us, but by the time we circled around to check on you, you’d vanished.” Kate’s gaze shifted from Meghan’s bruised leg to Alex. “And who are you?”

“Kate, Samuel,” Meghan began. “Meet Alex Markham. He’s our new production assistant. Kate works with photography and editing, and Samuel’s one of the best trackers you’ll find in southern Africa.”

“Assistant?” Kate’s gaze narrowed.

“I am sorry about what happened earlier. I certainly didn’t mean to cause such a commotion.” Alex shot Kate a smile, then held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Kate. Samuel.”

Any traces of frustration on Kate’s face disappeared. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Mr. Markham.”

“Call me Alex.”

“Okay...Alex.”

Meghan caught Kate’s gaze taking in Mr. Lone Star’s Stetson, boots, belt buckle and all his charm. She was actually fawning over the man.

Meghan shook her head. He was smooth. She’d give him credit for that. And attractive, if you liked the cowboy type. But the last thing she needed was another complication in her life.

“Yes, Kate, he’ll be picking up the slack for Jared.”

Her grin had yet to diminish. “Sounds good to me.”

“I am glad the two of you are safe, but what about your vehicle?” Samuel didn’t seem to notice Kate’s gawking stare. “I am assuming that since you are out on foot in the middle of the bush at dusk that something happened to it.”

“The brakes on the Jeep gave out,” Meghan told him.

“Is that when you hurt your leg?” Kate asked.

“Yes, I smashed it against the dash, but it’s nothing. Really.”

“I’m not sure about that.” Kate studied the bruise in what little light remained. “It’s already turning purple.”

“It’s nothing that a bag of ice and a couple pain pills can’t fix.”