“Yes.”
As answers went, it was terse, but at the moment she wasn’t really feeling like having a lengthy conversation. The situation was too dire, and she was too tired and cold and otherwise miserable. However, given the fact that she had saddled herself with the man, and he might very well be dangerous, and he definitely seemed to be up to no good and mixed up in something she absolutely did not want to know anything about, letting him know that she was exactly who and what she said she was and not any kind of a threat to him probably would be wise.
She continued, “Look, as I told you, I’m an assistant professor at Stanford, I’m here on Attu with a group of scientists to study the effect of pollution on birds, and I happened to see your plane crash. And I fished you out of the sea and saved your life and here we are. That’s it. The whole story.”
Switching on her flashlight without waiting for a reply, she shone it inside the backpack, instantly spotting the water bottle that was her target.
His head came up off the rock with more speed than she would have thought him capable of. His hand shot out of the Mylar and grabbed the wrist of her hand that held the flashlight. She looked at him in surprise. His grip was far stronger than she would have expected for a man who seemed to be teetering on the brink of passing out.
“No light,” he growled.
Chapter Nine
No radio. No light.
Gina’s insides twisted with alarm as she suddenly understood: he thought someone was out there hunting him. On Attu, in the teeth of the storm. Goose bumps prickled across the back of her neck as their eyes met. His were no more than glinting slits. His hold on her wrist felt unbreakable.
Once again, the questions burned in her mind: Who is this guy, and what on earth have I gotten myself into?
The deadly gleam in his dark eyes immobilized Gina for a moment. She once again became aware of the unexpected strength in the hand gripping her wrist.
A cautious voice inside her head warned that assuming he was too weak to harm her might be the last wrong assumption she ever made.
Finally she remembered where they were, and that he needed her if he was going to survive. Which meant that she should be safe enough for now—from him. The storm was another matter. So was whoever he thought was chasing him, apparently.
What felt like a cold finger that had nothing to do with the weather ran down her spine.
Keep it together.
She inhaled, a deep, steadying breath.
First things first: for any of the rest to be a problem, she had to stay alive.
Which among other things meant making preparations to get through the storm. Which meant she needed to be able to see what she was doing, which meant she needed the damned light.
Her eyes narrowed and her chin came up.
“Do you really think anybody’s going to be out in this?” Her voice was tart as she cast a comprehensive glance at the driving sheets of snow mixed with sleet that pelted down around them, hemming them into a space the size of a subway car. The wind howled like a wolf pack on the prowl. Where they were, sheltered at the base of the rocks, it was so dark she could only really see him when a spear of forked lightning split the black clouds tumbling overhead. “Anyway, the only people on this island besides you and me are my colleagues, my friends. You should be wishing they’d find us. But they won’t, not for the next few hours, at least. They’re hunkered down, riding out the storm.”
He slowly released her wrist, which she took as tacit permission to continue with what she’d been doing. Which she did, grabbing the water bottle and twisting off the lid.
“Scientists. Looking at birds.” There was no missing the skepticism in his voice as he watched her.
“That’s right.” Taking a long drink herself, she handed him the bottle. “Here. It’s water.”
“Water.” He said it almost reverently as he put the bottle to his lips. She could hear him guzzling it as she dug into the backpack again for her fire-starting kit, which was nothing more than a collection of items useful for that purpose rolled together in a ziplock bag.
Propping the flashlight up on a rock so that she could see what she was doing, she quickly made a pile of the cotton balls and small dry sticks that came in the kit. Ignoring the dread that snaked through her veins, she flicked the Bic lighter to set it alight. The small flame blazed brightly in the darkness.