Kiss and Tell by Cherry Adair

, Marnie thought with grim amusement as a sharp breeze zipped through the trees and filtered through her damp jacket. She tugged her woolen cap over her ears and ignored the cold.
    The sound of the river got louder. Duchess danced ahead, disappearing through the trees. Jake gave a soft whistle and she loped back, tongue lolling as if she were grinning and delighted with the game.
    But this wasn't a game. A chill washed through Marnie as they came to the bank and she got an up-close-and-personal look at the river.
    There wasn't a snowball's hope in hell of getting her across. The noise of the water rushing over the rocks was thunderous. They stood side by side, watching the boiling brown mess flip logs like matchsticks in its race to the Pacific.
    Marnie nudged Jake's shoulder with hers to get his attention. "How did they get across?"
    "Must have done a helo jump. Probably beyond the ridge. I didn't hear it."
    "Where's the bridge?" Hands stuffed into the pockets of her jacket, shoulders hunched, she looked up at him. "It washed out completely, didn't it?"
    "Looks like." Jake glanced away from those clear blue eyes peering out at him from a muddy face. "Probably with a little help from your pals back there."
    "Oh, yeah. My pals. Happy. Grumpy, and Snoopy. Give me a break, okay? Unless you plan on tossing me in there, let's make other plans before we freeze to death."
    She walked around him so they were face- to-face. The mud was drying and starting to crack on her skin. Jake knew what it felt like, but she hadn't complained. So far.
    "Look, I hate to tell you this, but I'm so scared I can't decide which to do first, throw up or wet my pants. Could we please find a nice warm place to defrost while we figure out what to do about those guys?"
    "We?"
    "Fine, macho man. You. Personally, I don't care who comes up with the best escape plan. Just as long as someone does." She turned on her heel and walked away. The dog looked back at Jake reproachfully before bounding after her mistress.
    Jake stared at Marnie's back for a moment and scowled. She was unpredictable as hell. Between them and any sort of decent cover was a pod of determined men. Resigned, Jake caught up.
    "Not so fast, Red Riding Hood." He caught her arm, leaving a muddy handprint on her wet sleeve. He was surprised to feel muscle beneath the padding of her jacket. Even so, her bones were as delicate and breakable as a cat's. He let go.
    "Just where do you think you're going?"
    Her breath came in little white puffs. She gave him a blank look. "Nowhere." After a moment a smile lit her eyes. "Fast, apparently. Got any brilliant plans, Mr. Big Bad Wolf?"
    Jake bit back a smile. "Like your fairy tales, do you?"
    "Most of the time. Right now I'd appreciate the arrival of Superman rather than wussy Prince Charming in his dumb white pantyhose, wouldn't you?"
    She was trying hard not to look terrified, Jake thought, watching the irregular movement of her chest as she struggled to maintain her flip attitude. Not that she didn't have every reason to be scared shitless. "You don't think they'd send all those guys to get me if I wasn't hard to kill, do you?"
    "Are you faster than a speeding bullet?"
    "You bet."
    She looked at him. "Yeah, I believe you are."
    It was snowing harder now, making visibility poor. It was midafternoon but looked like dusk. Which gave him the advantage.
    "Look, you can't go off half cocked here. I know this mountain like the back of my hand. Those guys don't. What we're going to do is get to a cave about two miles downriver from the dam. It's our best shot. Stay close and alert."
    "What cave? I've been coming up here all my life, I've never seen a cave."
    "Want to stand around and chat about it? Or should we get going before they pick us off?"
    "Good point. Lead on, Macduff."

Chapter Five
     
    M arnie didn't know what Jake Dolan did for a living. It was moot at this point. An undisclosed number of men were searching for them with an impressive arsenal of