Her Kind of Hero by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online

looked like a modified cell phone and spoke into it. A minute later, he put it back into the backpack.
    â€œThey’re on the way in.” He stood over her, his face grim as he picked up the small lantern and extinguished the light. “I know you must be cold. I’m sorry. I planned a quick airlift, so I didn’t pack for a prolonged trek.”
    â€œIt’s all right,” she said at once. “Cold is better than tortured.”
    He cursed under his breath as he hefted the backpack. “We have to get to that small clearing on the other side of the stream. It isn’t deep, but I can carry you…”
    â€œI’ll walk,” she said with quiet dignity, standing up. It was still painful to move, because she’d been tied up for so long, but she didn’t let on. “You’ve done enough already.”
    â€œI’ve done nothing,” he spat. He turned on his heel and led the way to the bank of the small stream, offering a hand.
    She didn’t take it. She knew he found her repulsive. He’d even told her mother that. She’d enjoyed taunting Callie with it. Callie had never understood why her mother hated her so much. Perhaps it was because she wasn’t pretty.
    â€œWalk where I do,” he bit off as he dropped his hand. “The rocks will be slippery. Go around them, not over them.”
    â€œOkay.”
    He glanced over his shoulder as they started over the shallowstream. “You’re damned calm for someone who’s been through what you have in the past two days.”
    She only smiled. “You have no idea what I’ve been through in my life.”
    He averted his eyes. It was as if he couldn’t bear to look at her anymore. He picked his way across to the other bank. Callie followed obediently, her feet cold and wet, her body shivering. Only a little longer, she told herself, and she would be home with Jack. She would be completely safe. Except…Lopez was still out there. She shivered again.
    â€œCold?” he asked when they were across.
    â€œI’ll be fine,” she assured him.
    He led her through one final tangle of brush, which he cut out of the way with the knife. She could see the silver ripple of the long blade in the dim light of the small flashlight he carried. She put one foot in front of the other and tried to blank out what would happen if Lopez’s men caught up with them. It was terrifying.
    They made it to the clearing just as a dark, noisy silhouette dropped from the sky and a door opened.
    â€œThey spotted us on radar!” came a loud voice from the chopper. “They’ll be here in two minutes. Run!”
    â€œRun as if your life depended on it!” Micah told Callie, giving her a push.
    She did run, her mind so affected by what she’d already endured that she almost kept up with her long-legged stepbrother. He leaped right up into the chopper and gave her a hand up. She landed in a heap on the dirty floor, and laughed with relief.
    The door closed and the chopper lifted. Outside, there were sounds like firecrackers in the wake of the noise the propellers made. Gunfire, Callie knew.
    â€œIt always sounds like firecrackers in real life,” she murmured. “It doesn’t sound that way in the movies.”
    â€œThey augment the sound in movies, mademoiselle.” A gentle hand eased her into a seat on the edge of the firing line Micah and two other men made at the door.
    She looked up. There was barely any light in the helicopter, but she could make out a beard and a mustache on a long, lean face. “You made it, too!” she exclaimed with visible relief. “Oh, I’m glad. I felt bad that you and the other man had to be decoys, just to get me out.”
    â€œIt was no trouble, mademoiselle,” the man said gently, smiling at her. “Rest now. They won’t catch us. This is an Apache helicopter, one of the finest pieces of equipment your country makes.