She did think it would be mighty nice if Shane passed his coat over to her, though. If she were going to have a fantasy about him stripping, then she’d really like to have his coat.
Rachel giggled at the thought. The sound of her voice coming out squeaky startled her into stopping her laughing as quickly as she had begun it. Wow, this was a strange dream.
“Put this on,” Shane said, rushing to her and placing a bag at her feet, then kneeling down and helping her sit up. Rachel gave him a sweet smile and nodded her head. She tried to reach for the bag, but her fingers wouldn’t work.
Maybe she had frostbite. It wasn’t unlikely. Maybe she was already dead and this was heaven. But why would Shane be in her heaven?
“Let me help you,” he said, then he carefully removed the tarp. She wanted to protest even though it wasn’t much protection against the cold.
Within a few heartbeats, a warm coat was being wrapped around her shoulders, sending some feeling back into her arms. Then gloves were being thrust upon her hands. Oh, this dream was getting better all the time. If she got out of here alive, she’d have to apologize to Lia about fantasizing about Shane. At least she could tell her sister that she’d been fantasizing about Shane putting clothes on her, rather than taking them off.
She’d never been attracted to Shane, but right now, she could kiss the man.
“Lean on me,” fantasy Shane said as he pulled her into his arms, making her stand up on wobbly legs. She didn’t like this part of the dream. Her feet ached from walking in the snow and then being clenched stiffly as she’d tried to curl up into as tight a ball as she possibly could.
Soon, warm pants were pulled up her legs, and then, even better, thick wool socks. Before she could blink, Shane was putting shoes on her feet and tying the laces.
Rachel reached out and touched his face, afraid he was going to disappear and she’d find herself huddled in the cold again without the fabulously warm clothing enveloping her.
“Shane?” she asked.
“I’m here, Rachel. I’m getting you out of here,” he said, his voice soothing as he wrapped her in an affectionate embrace.
Wait a minute. She could actually feel him. She’d never had a dream this real.
When Rachel realized this was no dream, her emotions released in an avalanche. She began sobbing against his shoulder as the warmth began returning to her aching joints. He must have placed warmers in the clothing, because she could feel real heat penetrating her frozen form.
“Eat this,” he commanded, placing a PowerBar in her hand. Rachel didn’t hesitate to lift it to her mouth and bite down, and she moaned as the flavors exploded on her taste buds and she knew the lovely calories were headed toward her stomach.
Not caring that she looked like a savage animal, she gobbled the bar down greedily, eating every last bite. She nearly licked her glove-covered fingers, but Shane placed a water bottle in her palm and instead she lifted it to her mouth and guzzled.
“Can you run?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied. She hadn’t had much food the last couple of days and her body was still frozen.
“I need you to run just to the fence, OK? I have to keep my gun out in case anyone tries to stop us. It’s dark out, but floodlights are illuminating the yard and I don’t know when Gianni’s men are going to come check on you. I saw them put you in here two hours ago. I’m sorry it took so long for me to get to you, but the yard finally cleared so I could safely reach the shed. I’ve counted about fifteen guys in total. I couldn’t take the chance of having them hit you while trying to get me.”
“That’s OK,” she said, not really knowing what she was saying.
“No, it’s not. None of this is OK. I got here as fast as I could, but it wasn’t fast enough. Rafe and Adriane will meet us. Their plane just landed an hour ago and they are moving as fast as they can to reach us. They wanted to be here for the rescue, but I wasn’t going to wait. We just have to get past the fence line, and I have a snowmobile ready.”
“Sure,” she mumbled.
“All right, I’m going to open the door. Hold on to my belt,” he said. She took a couple of unsteady steps, testing her legs. They were holding her upright. That was a good sign. “Don’t let go,” he commanded her.
She acknowledged his order with a nod.
“Trust me, Rachel. I’m going to get you out of here.” He leaned down and hugged her again before placing her hand on his belt and cracking open the door. “It’s all clear. Don’t make a sound. We’re going to move swiftly and get the hell out of here.”
She didn’t say a word as her muscles tensed in preparation. She’d do what he said and hope she didn’t fail him. She wanted to survive. She needed to.
Without further delay, they were off. After only a few paces, she heard shouting to her right and then Shane lifted his gun and began shooting. Gripping his belt for all she was worth, she focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she ran behind him. She knew he could move faster, that he was slowing his pace for her. As much as she wanted to leave, she was going as quickly as she could. She was grateful he seemed aware of her limits.
They made it to a wire fence as more shots were fired. She didn’t look behind her, but just focused on Shane’s back as he opened the fence and thrust her through. She stumbled to the ground and looked behind her as Shane kneeled, holstering his handgun and quickly raising his rifle and firing several shots.
The gunfire had alerted Gianni’s other men that there was trouble, and soon doors were opening and more men ran around the house, intent on taking both her and Shane out. Now, they didn’t care about information they could obtain from her; they cared only about stopping her escape.
“Run straight ahead!” Shane yelled without turning, still firing as two more men came into view.
She knew she was moving slower than he was, knew she couldn’t help him, so she stumbled to her feet and began running as hard as she could. She tried to inhale through her nose so the breath wouldn’t freeze in her lungs, but she couldn’t help but gasp in her desperation for oxygen.
She didn’t know how long she ran, but it seemed each time one foot hit the snow-covered ground, another shot fired off. If something happened to Shane, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself. Maybe she should turn back around and help in some way.