Read Somewhere Montana for Free Online Page B

back the covers and gently placed the warm, moist pack on the bruised and swollen joint. Her sharp intake of breath and the jerk of her body had his head whipping up to study her face. He could see the pain etched on it. Not wrapping it any time soon. Not giving her a chance to slip away. She’s just stubborn enough to try.
    He could see how tense she was. She held her left arm cradled in her right hand. Tears threatened to break loose, adding a shimmer to the bright blue eyes. He needed her to relax. Hard to do when her side and shoulder probably ached and burned and her knee throbbed.
    “Shall I get you a pain pill?” asked Mac.
    “No. They apparently knock me out for a long period, if today is anything to go by. I can’t be.”
    “Physically your body was depleted. You lost a lot of blood. You couldn’t combat the effects of the medicine. You can’t rest if you’re fighting pain. It’s nine o’clock. At least you’ll get a good night’s sleep.” He strode into the bathroom and returned with the pill and a glass of water. “Down the hatch. And don’t try hiding it to spit out when my back is turned, because I’ll check to make sure you swallowed it.”
    She complied with his order, placing the pill in her mouth and drinking half the glass of water. Then she opened her mouth and lifted her tongue so he could see it was gone, all the while glowering at him. A smile turned up the corner of his lips and she had to look away. He could see her heart pounded in the bouncing pulse at her throat and the flush rise over her cheeks. Was she still affected by him?
    “I want to check out your luggage,” he said, stepping to the closet and pulling out the suitcase first. He opened it on the far side of the bed. Taking a small halogen flashlight from his pocket, he started to go over it inch by inch.
    “What are you looking for?” she asked.
    “Want to be sure there are no tracking devices.” His head bent close as he looked and felt around the open edges.
    “Marcos couldn’t have gotten to them. They aren’t kept in my room. Besides, he’d have no reason to think I was going anywhere.”
    “When did the attack occur?”
    “Two days ago.”
    “Two days!” He snapped erect and leveled a furious look at her, cursing under his breath before counting to ten. “You should still be in the hospital, not traipsing around the country. You could have been killed in the crash or bled out before we reached you. And you’re talking of leaving now? Like hell you are! When did you leave the hospital?”
    “The next morning. I had to. Marcos made bail and he knew where I was.”
    “How did you manage to pull off that harebrained scheme with the plane?” He slammed the suitcase shut and shoved it into the closet, then yanked out the backpack. Sage looked worried when he dropped it onto the bed.
    “My friend, Vanessa, helped me.”
    “She the friend who set you up with him in the first place?” His anger had not abated. He paced back and forth beside the bed, one hand on his hip, the other running through his hair. Turning to face her, he saw the fear in her eyes, the tears rolling down her cheeks, and it took the wind out of his sails. “I’m sorry, Sage. I shouldn’t be yelling at you. This whole scheme is scaring the crap out of me! Go on.”
    “She wasn’t the one who introduced me to him. She drove me home from the hospital. We worked out a plan in the car. It was where we felt safest. She dropped me off and went home. I told the servants I was going to stay with her a few days. Then I packed and stowed everything in my car. I waited about an hour, then had Henry bring my car to the front door. I figured if Marcos was watching, he’d see me leave with only my purse. When I got to Vanessa’s, she was watching for me and opened the garage door so I could drive inside. I don’t think I took a decent breath until that door closed.”
    “So what was the plan from there? How did you manage to elude him to get