Chapter 11 - Clover

CHAPTER 11 - CLOVER

T here's about thirty minutes of silence after this Collin conversation. Enough time for me to stumble seventeen times and fall three.

Finally, Riggs says, "We're here. Stay put while I pack up my camp."

He and Collin really do know each other.

This is some kind of personal vendetta. Or maybe not. Maybe it's just an order from whoever runs things down where he comes from. But it makes a lot of sense that there's animosity between them over some… mission gone wrong, or whatever. Collin is part of some secret military thing and this Riggs guy is too.

I push my blindfold up a little bit, looking at him. "Did he betray you or something?"

"Who?"

"You know who. The only ‘who' we were talking about."

"It's not important. Just forget about it." Riggs doesn't look at me when he says this, so he doesn't notice that I'm peeking past the blindfold and this gives me time to study him. He's wearing a muscle shirt today. It's olive green in color and it's so tight, I can see every one of his stomach and chest muscles rippling under the fabric as he gathers things up and stuffs them into a pack.

His head turns, catching me. "What are you doing?"

I was checking him out, I realize. But I'm not going to say that. So I just shrug.

He's mad though. Because he growls words at me. "Push the blindfold back down and don't look up again or the whole deal's off."

I give him a good eye roll, but do as I'm told.

Then I just sit there, listening. But I got a good enough look at him to picture what he's doing. I'm keeping track of where we are. If Riggs thinks a little blindfold is enough to confuse me in my own woods, he's just kinda stupid. I spent eighteen years in these woods. Well, probably more like ten because obviously my parents didn't let me go traipsing off into the woods when I was a toddler. But I was an outdoor girl for sure. And after I got the ponies, Lowyn and I would ride these woods all day, every day, in the summers. We'd have stayed out here forever and gone completely feral if we weren't expected home for dinner at seven-thirty every night.

So the moment Riggs put that blindfold on me, I started taking mental notes. I pictured the whole walk in my head. And even though I only got a two-second look at him and the surrounding area, I know exactly where we are. I didn't even need the peek to know that. I know every boulder, every old tree, and every single creek in these woods.

I'm going to escape. I don't know when or how, but I'm going to escape. I'm sure Riggs figures he's this big, strong, capable man—and he is, I'll give him that—and he's been here a few weeks, I guess, so he's got a handle on these woods too. But he doesn't know all the hiding places. He didn't play hide and seek in here for years on end when he was small like I did.

These woods are my kingdom. I'm the queen here. And this is why, when I run, I'll get away.

"I know what you're thinking."

I turn my head in the direction of his voice. "Is that so?"

"Yep. I can practically hear your thoughts, Clover. And you're not gonna get away from me in these woods just because you know them better than me."

I scoff. "Why would I be thinking about that? We've already come up with a plan to save me." I add that little ‘we' in there to remind him that it was really his idea, just in case he's having second thoughts.

He walks towards me, leaves and twigs crunching under his feet. "Because you've got the princess complex."

I don't care what he says, I reach up and pull the blindfold down so I can look him in the eyes. "Princess complex?"

He points at me. "See, you think you're above it all. You pulled that blindfold down like my commands mean nothing to you. Like you own the world. And, Clover…" He smiles a little, but it comes off condescending. "You do not own the world. You literally have no idea who owns the world. So this little ‘I'll save myself' fantasy you're in the middle of right now? It's bullshit. And you're gonna get yourself hurt if you keep plotting."

I want to say something back. Something that challenges his threat to hurt me. Daring him to do it, maybe. Because while I don't agree that my escape plan is a fantasy—I think I've got a decent chance of success—I do agree that I'm over-humanizing him.

He's dangerous. I knew it the moment I saw him. But we've had enough normal conversations now that I had started to replace the fear with… I dunno. Camaraderie isn't quite the right word, but it's close. We've schemed up a plan and we did that together. It implies a level of partnership.

At least in my mind.

But definitely not in his.

He's doing this to save himself. Not because he cares about me, but because he would've felt guilty if he had left me in the old cabin basement to die.

This choice to bring me along was about him and only him.

I was very confident in my assertion that Lowyn would find me. And I really do believe that there's an eighty-percent chance it would turn out that way. She's very clever and Collin and Amon would send in their little army if Lowyn told them I was in danger. It's pretty good odds.

But there was no guarantee I would live if Riggs left me behind and it would be a very big mistake to think there's a better chance now that he's taking me with him.

One screwup and he'll throw me under the bus. He'll sacrifice me to save himself. I truly do believe this.

So I drop the blindfold back down and sigh without saying another word.

I can almost hear his smile. But he doesn't say anything else either.

After he's packed up , the hike continues. And this time, I don't bother keeping track of where we're going in my head because we cross over my family's property line.

Actually, that's not why. I know the other properties around here just as well as my own—to a certain degree. But I've given up on the escape plan. At least for now.

He's right. I can't get away in these woods because I'd have to run and while I've done my share of treadmill time and 5K charity events, there's no way he wouldn't catch me.

And then he'd… I dunno. Maybe he wouldn't kill me, but he could just tie me to a tree and gag my mouth so I couldn't scream and let the forest take care of the rest.

If I didn't die of thirst, some animal might get me. We've got coyotes and bobcats here, neither of which are particularly threatening to humans who are not tied to trees, but there are bears too.

But even if none of the mammals got me, there are insects. Fire ants, and black widows, and mosquitoes and ticks.

"You got awfully quiet."

"Well," I huff, "you went back to being a threat."

He stops walking, making me stop as well because I'm holding tight to his arm as I navigate the terrain. "Because we made a plan and you were gonna go back on it."

"I wasn't really thinking about running. I know you can outrun me. But I was mapping the forest in my head."

He lets out a scoff now. "So you know where we are."

"Not exactly. Not for about ten minutes now. I just figured my energy was better spent on trying not to fall on my face than figuring out where I actually was. Otherwise you might tie me to a tree and leave me out here to be eaten by fire ants."

He actually chuckles. "You've got some imagination there."

"Well, I grew up here, Riggs. It's not a far-fetched scenario."

Suddenly his fingertips are on my face, lingering on my cheek for a moment. I don't know how to react. Should I swat his hand away? Pretend like it's not happening?

But he just pulls the blindfold down and when I look up, all I see are those golden-brown eyes of his. "What did you do that for?"

"The problem is… I can't trust you, Clover."

"Well, we're even then. Because I can't trust you either."

His eyes lock on mine and we stare at each other for several long seconds. Finally, he says, "I want to trust you."

"Well, I would like to trust you too."

"I want you to commit to this plan so when we go up against Ike Monroe, we're on the same side. And you just refuse to give in. My solution is not horrible."

"Well, it's not great, either."

"There is no ‘great' solution. They're all bad. But this one we're in the middle of, at least we both get out alive."

I shrug and throw up my hand. "Fine. You're right."

"It's not enough."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not enough for you to say it's ‘fine,' Clover. You need to say it's perfect." He knows I'm about to object here, so he presses a palm at me. "No. It's not perfect, I get that. But I need that level of commitment from you. Otherwise, I might as well leave you tied to a tree to be eaten alive by fire ants because the ending will be the same. We're in a lot of danger here. You're failing to understand this." He pauses and sighs. And I know that he's sincere. Every word he just said is true. His eyes search mine for a moment before speaking again. "I need you to understand this."

I'm about to retort with a, ‘Fine, I'll be good. I get it.' But I've already said that. And I wasn't sincere. So instead, I nod, still meeting his gaze. "I get it. I mean, I don't, Riggs. I don't understand your world or the danger you seem to be in. But I'll do my best and I'll commit to the plan."

"A hundred percent, Clover."

"A hundred percent, Riggs."

After a few second of hard staring he reaches for the scarf, slides it around my neck, then unties the knot and takes it off. "There. You can leave it off. This is me telling you I trust you now."

I feel unexpectedly… sorry, I think. For making things harder. Which is weird and will probably require years of therapy to understand at some later time in the future, but I push the consequences of what I'm about to say away for another time. "I won't run. I'll do everything you say. I promise. But this is me trusting you to get me out of this alive."

He presses his lips together and nods. "All right. Let's go. It's just a little bit farther."

At first, we don't talk. We just keep walking. But we do make better progress now that I'm not blindfolded.

However, this silence gets awkward fast. At least for me. So I prompt him to talk with a relevant question. "What is this Hattie woman like? I mean, if I am to pretend to be her, shouldn't I have an idea of who she is?"

He side-eyes me. "I'll tell you, but no more jokes about me being in love with her."

"All right. But one question first. Did you and her?—"

" No ." He says this so emphatically, I laugh. "You're totally off track, Clover. I can't stand her. She's a bitch. And I really don't say that about many women. She's just…" He looks at me for a moment. "Nothing like you."

"In what respect?"

"Everything. She's tall, and thick, and… manly."

I laugh.

"It's true," he says. "I'm not cutting down her looks, because she's not ugly, or anything. She's just not feminine."

"You prefer your women feminine, I take it?" As soon as I say that, I feel a blush heat up my face. Because I'm very feminine.

But Riggs doesn't even hesitate. "Yeah. I like the princesses." Then he shoots me a sideways look and winks.

Which makes me blush hotter.

"But anyway, she's rough. And strong. And very capable."

"Is that why they sent her up top?"

"No. They sent her up top because she's rigid. Not to be confused with frigid."

I laugh.

"Because she's not a prude. She's just very by the book."

"She likes rules, I take it?"

"That woman has never broken a rule in her life."

"And let me take a wild guess here. You're a natural dissident?"

"Some might say that. She turned me in dozens of times when we were kids. Every time I wanted to do something fun, she'd ruin it. I think she gets pleasure out of ruining people's fun."

"That's… mean."

Riggs stops to point at me. "Exactly. She's mean ."

I point to myself, eyes wide as I look up at him. "So I should be mean? If I'm supposed to be her?"

"No. The last thing we need is you coming off aggressive to Ike. Just be yourself. That's good enough."

Which is a surprisingly nice thing to say, so it catches me off guard and I stop paying attention to him, or where we're going, and just think about it for a little bit.

Being me is good enough.

It actually makes me feel relieved. Like I won't mess this up and in three months it really will be over, and I'll be fine, and I'll put the whole terrible experience of being held hostage by a man who comes from an underground military facility behind me.

Riggs is walking in front of me now, so when he stops, and I'm still not fully paying attention, I end up bumping into him.

"We're here," he says.

I follow his pointing finger until my gaze lands on a cave opening in the rocky hillside.

"Come on. Let's go in."