Call It Destiny

on earth.“
    Heather looked up, stunned, to find him staring down at her from the top of the rock.
    „But not today,“ he concluded as he scrambled over the rise of the boulder and dropped down beside her. „Not today.“ He reached for her with a husky sound.
    And then she was in his arms, clinging madly. The rain continued to drench them but they were clear of the raging waters of the stream and out of reach of the two men who were hunting them.
    „There’s no way anyone else is going to get across that flood tonight,“ Jake said into her streaming wet hair, echoing her thoughts. „We’re safe for now. My God, woman, you’ve scared the living daylights out of me one too many times today. It’s going to take me weeks to recover.“
    Her face buried in his soaking-wet shirt, Heather shook her head in a fierce little negative movement. „Something tells me you handle days like this quite well. Jake Cavender, you’re a fraud. How did you manage to deceive my sweet unsuspecting parents into thinking you were a nice guy who also happened to be a financial wizard when it came to hotels?“
    His arms tightened around her. „There was no deception involved,“ he assured her thickly. „I am a nice guy. And I am good at accounting and business planning. It’s just that when I’m around you, I find myself acting out of character.“ He pulled back a bit, framing her face in his hands. „Heather, you saved my life a few minutes ago.“
    She looked up at him, smiling mistily through the rain that was pelting her face. „You saved me back there at the cabin. As everyone keeps saying, I guess we make a good team.“
    In the wet darkness she could barely distinguish the gleaming depths of his eyes as he gazed down at her intently.
    „Remember that.“ Then he turned, catching her wrist one more time. „Come on, honey. We can’t stay here. This rain is going to go on forever. We need to find some kind of shelter.“
    „Ouch! Jake, my wrist. Let go of my wrist!“
    „What the…?“ He released her instantly. „What happened?“
    „Nothing,“ she said quickly, gently touching the raw burn that circled the base of her hand. „It’s just that I had the belt looped around my wrist.“
    „And it hurts like hell where the leather cut into your skin,“ he acknowledged grimly. Gently he took her other hand instead, and together they forged an awkward path through the rain-soaked night.
    „There used to be a couple of old deserted cabins on this side of the stream,“ Heather said hesitantly, trying to pick out familiar landmarks in the shadows. „One I remember was about a mile downstream from ours.“
    „A mile in this country is going to take some doing. But I guess it’s our best bet.“
    „I’m not really sure it’s going to be safe to stay there. It was fairly close to the stream, as I recall, and the way that water is rising it will inundate everything in its path. I wouldn’t be surprised if dad’s old cabin is gone by morning. This torrent is going to do some real damage before the night’s over.“
    „Then we’d better keep moving until we can get well out of the path of that water.“
    He was right, Heather knew, but she wasn’t at all sure she was going to have the strength to hike any great distance. Fording the flooding stream and pulling Jake out of the water had sapped an incredible amount of energy.
    But she decided not to bring up the subject of her own weariness. There was no point because they had no choice but to keep going.
    „I wonder what Rick and his friend are doing,“ she remarked a few minutes later.
    „They’ve probably given up the search by now. I can still see a light way over there on the far shore so I suppose they’re still at the cabin. Don’t worry, though, there’s no way they can get to us,“ Jake said reassuringly.
    „That water’s going to be over the road if it isn’t already. They’ll be stranded at that cabin. And if it goes – “
    „No loss,“ Jake cut in callously. „I have a hunch no one would miss those two. What was all that about a drug deal?“
    „I think that’s what it was supposed to be. Rick arrived at the cabin shortly after I got there this afternoon. When he climbed out of the jeep he was holding a gun.“
    Jake growled something violent. „Then what happened?“
    „He kept saying how rich he was and how much richer he was going to be before tonight was over. Said he’d been using the cabin for ‘business’ meetings