Tanner shook his head. Apparently, a lot had changed at the DCO since he’d been gone. “If Landon is deputy director, who’s the new director?”
“Some political mover and shaker named William Hamilton.”
Zarina reached out to grab his arm for balance as she stumbled over a rock. The feel of her hand on his skin immediately sent tingles racing through him. Tanner cursed silently, hating how his body reacted to her touch.
“I don’t know anything about the man, but he seems capable,” she continued, squeezing his biceps as she made her way over the uneven ground.
Tanner stifled a groan. She was doing that on purpose, wasn’t she? Considering she was smarter than he’d ever be in his life, she had to know the effect she had on him. He hated to think she’d manipulate him like that, but he wouldn’t put it past her. She knew he didn’t want her here, and she was going to fight him every step of the way when he made her leave. But he had to do it. It was too dangerous for her, and it had nothing to do with him or the grizzly. There were things going on in these woods he didn’t want her getting mixed up in.
He was still pondering that when she slid her hand to the top of his shoulder before moving it away, all the while acting like she was unaware of what she did to him.
He moved to the right a little, putting some space between them and focusing on what she’d said.
Landon Donovan as deputy director. Tanner hadn’t seen that coming. The guy was a dirty boots soldier through and through, built from the ground up to spend his life fighting the fight and leading his troops. Trying to imagine him behind a desk running a covert organization didn’t seem to fit.
“So Landon’s the one who let you come wandering around out here on your own, huh?” he asked Zarina.
From the corner of his eye, Tanner saw her throw him a withering glare. “It wasn’t up to him whether I came or not,” she said sharply, reminding him yet again that she was a woman who did whatever she felt was right regardless of what anyone told her. Which had a lot to do with him being alive at the moment, he supposed, so maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
“When I told him I was coming to find you, he wanted to send someone with me, but I pointed out you’d only run again if he did,” she explained. “I convinced him I could find you on my own and talk you into coming back.”
More likely Zarina had browbeaten the new deputy director until he relented and let her do what she was going to do anyway. Landon had a strong-willed woman for a wife in Ivy Halliwell. The man knew enough to conserve ammo when he was in a fight he couldn’t win.
“How did you know where to look?” Tanner asked, leading her down the ridge toward his camp. “Don’t tell me those analysts at the DCO have been watching me on one of their spy satellites.”
Zarina laughed. “No. It wasn’t an analyst figuring out where you were. It was me. Remember the conversation we had when we were sitting on the bench overlooking the obstacle course at the DCO complex? You told me that you were thinking about coming back here.”
“Oh.” He remembered the conversation all too vividly. Mostly because he’d nearly slipped up and told Zarina how he felt about her. Thank God, he hadn’t made that mistake. If she was stubborn now, what would she be like if she knew he loved her? “That explains how you knew I was in Wenatchee. How did you know where to find me once you got here?”
“You’re an easy man to remember.” Her lips curved in the darkness. “I simply walked into every camping and outdoor store I could find in the surrounding towns and asked if they’d seen a man fitting your description. I had a general idea where you were within hours.”
Tanner did a double take. “A general idea? You came up here and wandered around the woods because you had a general idea of where I was? Do you have even an inkling of how stupid that is?”
She glanced at him. “It worked, didn’t it?”
He didn’t bother pointing out that her wonderful plan had almost gotten her eaten. She’d probably have something snarky to say about that, too.
“I’m serious, Zarina,” he said softly. “There are things up here that can hurt you, and I’m not just talking about the bears. Several locals have gone missing in the past few weeks, and no one has a clue what happened to them. It’s not the kind of place you should be wandering around on your own.”
She was silent, as if considering that, then shrugged. “It was a risk I was willing to take. I thought you’d know that about me by now. I’m not a foolhardy person, but for you, I’ll take any risk.”
Tanner cursed silently. He knew that all right. He simply didn’t understand why the hell she’d do something so selfless for someone like him.
He knew she meant well by coming after him. She thought she could make everything better with her magic antidote, that all his problems would simply go away if he wasn’t a hybrid anymore. He didn’t have the heart—or the words—to tell her it wasn’t that simple.
When they reached his camp, Zarina moved her flashlight around, taking in the clearing, the small tent, and the even tinier fire pit encircled with rocks. It wasn’t much, but that was because he didn’t need much. The fire was out now—he never left the camp with it still burning—and he wordlessly walked over to get the
