“I knew it!” he said, pleased. “I bet the cave wasn’t covered when he found it, so he dragged the tree over the opening to conceal it so he’d be safe.”
Stepping closer, he knelt down at the opening and peered inside, only to feel his heart stop in midbeat when he saw the contents of the cave. There on the ground was a red thermal blanket that was identical to the ones carried on all of the king’s aircraft. The queen had insisted that all blankets be red in case there was ever a crash—the blankets would be nearly as effective as a flare when they were spread out on the ground to flag down rescue planes.
“What is it?” Eliza asked quietly when he turned to stone. “Did you find something?”
“This,” he said huskily, and pulled out the blanket. “It’s from Lucas’s plane. I’m sure of it.”
Protected from the weather all these months, it was clean and dry and neatly folded, as if the prince had just left it. And that made little, if no, sense. Glancing around, Eliza scowled. Damn, she hated it when things weren’t logical!
“It seems like he would have stayed here until help came for him,” she told Lorenzo with a frown. “The man had a blanket and cave to keep him safe from the elements, a firepit and plenty of firewood to warm him, not to mention water from the creek to drink. It was the middle of winter, he couldn’t have known where he was, but he still walked off and left the safest place he’d found. Why? What possessed him to do such a thing? The authorities had dogs and helicopters looking for him all over these mountains. You know he had to at least hear the helicopters. Why didn’t he spread the blanket out in the clearing? Somebody would have found him.”
He shrugged, worry darkening his eyes as he looked around. “I don’t know. Maybe he was so shaken from the crash that he wasn’t thinking clearly and didn’t realize anyone was looking for him.”
“Or something spooked him,” she said. “Think about it. Why else would he have left the blanket? He thought to dig it out of the wreckage of the plane, but then he walked off without it when he left here. I can’t think of any reason why he would do that unless he was scared and he left in a hurry.”
His brows knit in a frown, Lorenzo didn’t like the sound of that, but he had to agree that there was little other reason for Lucas to abandon the cave. Unless, he was out in the surrounding woods, searching for food, and wasn’t able to make it back to camp for some reason. He could have fallen and broken a leg or hit his head and knocked himself out. In the dead of winter, that would have been a costly mistake.
No! he told himself fiercely. Lucas wasn’t dead! He couldn’t be. Not when they were so close to finding him. There had to be another explanation.
“I want to look around,” he told Eliza hoarsely. “Just in case.”
He didn’t say just in case of what, but he didn’t have to. If he’d learned anything about Eliza over the past few days, it was that she wasn’t a slow-witted woman. “Let’s spread out,” she suggested. “We can cover more territory. I’ll meet you back here in a half hour.”
Moving to opposite sides of the campsite, they began the search with grim expressions. Later, Lorenzo couldn’t have even said what he was looking for…except a body. Thankfully, they didn’t find one. They didn’t find anything, in fact, and Lorenzo had just about resigned himself to the fact that he might never know what had led Lucas to abandon the campsite when he inadvertently stumbled across a deer stand half-hidden in some trees about a quarter of a mile from the camp.
“It had to be hunters,” he told Eliza when they met back at the campsite. “He heard the guns and must have thought someone was shooting at him.”
“So he took off.”
Lorenzo nodded grimly. “He wouldn’t have gone south, that’s where the hunters were.”
“And the cliffs on either side of the creek made it impossible for him to go east or west. He had no choice but to go north.”
“Just like Willy said,” he retorted. “Crafty old goat. I bet he knew about that deer stand all along.”
Eliza shrugged, a rueful smile curling the corners of her mouth. “I wouldn’t put it past him. Willy doesn’t always feel the need to share everything he knows.”
“Now you tell me,” Lorenzo retorted, but he couldn’t complain. Willy had put them on the right path to finding the prince, and he owed him for that. There was no question that the king and queen would reward him for his help if he would let them, but for now, he couldn’t worry about Willy. Half the day was gone, and he had a feeling they had a long way to go before they tracked down Lucas. By mutual agreement, they headed north.
For a while, they made good time. Hurrying to keep up with Lorenzo’s long stride, Eliza didn’t notice that the terrain had become progressively rougher until she unexpectedly stepped in a hole. Between one heartbeat and the next, she went down.
She didn’t remember crying out, but suddenly, Lorenzo was there, his handsome face lined with worry. “Are you all right? What happened? Here, let me help you up.”
“I stepped in a hole,” she said, dazed. She struggled to her feet, only to wince, and in the next instant, he’d swept her up off her feet and set her head spinning. “Lorenzo! What are you doing?”
“Making sure you didn’t break your ankle,” he growled, and carried her over to a nearby log. Setting her down, he immediately dropped down to a knee in front of her and began gently tugging off her right boot and sock.
Eliza told herself there was nothing personal in his touch—he would have done the same for anyone. Then his hand closed around her bare ankle, and just that easily, he set every nerve ending in her body tingling. Startled, she gasped softly…and drew his eyes to her.
“Does that hurt?” he asked huskily.
He knew it didn’t—she could see the awareness in his eyes, the same awareness that now had her heart thundering in her breast—but she only shook her head. “No,” she choked. “It’s just a little tender. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
He frowned at that. “Maybe we should call off the search for the rest of the day.”
“No! I appreciate the offer, but it’s not necessary. Really,” she insisted when he hesitated. “I’m fine. Look.”
She wiggled her foot, testing her ankle. Under his hand, Lorenzo felt the delicacy of her bones, and in spite of himself, he was fascinated. Because she was such a tiger when it came to her job, he tended to forget just how delicate she was as a woman…until he touched her. Then he found himself wanting to run his hands over her. Just once, he told himself, he wanted to see how soft she was.
Don’t even think about going there, a voice in his head growled. Not unless you want the story to end up on the front page.
That brought him back to his senses as nothing else could, and with a hastily swallowed oath, he jerked his hand back and handed her her sock. “If you’re sure. Tell me if it starts to hurt you.”
Rising to his feet, he vowed he wasn’t going to touch her again. But as soon as she’d pulled her sock and boot back on and they continued moving north, he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to help her whenever they reached a rough spot. And with every touch of their hands, he found it harder and harder to let her go.
When they finally reached the end of the narrow valley and stumbled onto a road, Lorenzo was torn between relief and frustration. He didn’t have to touch her anymore, but they’d come to the end of the trail. Once Lucas reached the road, he could have gone anywhere.
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