Free Danger at the Border by Terri Reed

darkening his jaw. His cold, lizardlike eyes were trained on Tessa and gleamed with male interest. Jeff’s blood boiled. He very deliberately placed his arm around the back of her chair, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder. She shot him a grateful glance while sipping her tea.
    “This is Aaron. He’s my right hand,” Sherman said. “And my legs.” Sherman let out a mirthless laugh.
    Aaron took the seat Jeff had snubbed. He poured himself tea and added two sugars before saying, “Welcome to Camp Sherman.”
    The insincere words grated on Jeff’s nerves. He turned his attention to the man Kyle called the boss. “You didn’t bring us here for relaxation,” he said. “Why are we here?”
    Aaron pointed a finger at Tessa. “Unfortunately, we need her help.”
    “My help?” Tessa set her cup down abruptly. Liquid sloshed onto the table, the dark tea staining the white cloth cover.
    “Yes,” Sherman said. “Killing the fish in the lake was never our intent.”
    “What about the people you hurt?” Jeff asked.
    Sherman shrugged. “Again, not our intent.” He turned his gaze to Tessa. “We need your help to figure out the right insecticide to use for the plants that won’t harm the wildlife.”
    “And you couldn’t just ask for help?” Tessa mopped up the spilled tea with a paper napkin.
    Aaron snorted. “We couldn’t very well let anyone know we’re here, now, could we?”
    Which was why the shooters had forced him and Tessa into the woods. But did they intend to let them leave? No. Sherman and his henchmen had no intention of letting them go.
    Tessa tapped Jeff’s leg. She’d obviously connected the same dots he had. No one knew where she or Jeff had disappeared to and would probably never know. Once Sherman and his men had what they wanted from Tessa, she and Jeff were as good as dead. Their bodies would be buried somewhere deep in the forest or left out for bear food.
    They needed to play this out and pray God would provide an opportunity to escape.
    How strong is your faith?
    Tessa’s words replayed themselves in Jeff’s head.
    His fingers curled around hers. He had nothing but faith to go on here. Would it be enough?
    * * *
    “And if I don’t help you?” Tessa dreaded the answer.
    Sherman exchanged a glance with Aaron. “Then we’ll have to find someone else who will help us.”
    She shivered at the implied threat in his words. If she didn’t help, she was of no use to them. And if she was of no use to them, they might as well kill her and Jeff now and possibly kidnap her colleagues. She couldn’t let that happen. She’d do what she could to buy Jeff time enough to figure out a way for them to escape.
    His strong, capable hand held hers, comforting and sure.
    Maybe she was placing too much trust in him. Too much faith. He was only a man after all. One man with no weapon. And she was the means to keep him in line so he wouldn’t force a confrontation and end up with a bullet in his heart.
    But Jeff believed in God. Believed that God would protect them.
    What if Jeff was wrong? What if faith wasn’t enough? What if they were doomed no matter what they did?
    Despair threatened to paralyze her. She shook it off. As long as there was breath in her body, she had a chance at survival. If helping Sherman and company figure out their insecticide problem bought her and Jeff time, that was what she’d do. Jeff had said God would expect him to be smart and take action. She assumed that went for her, as well.
    “I don’t have to see your operation to test the chemical components of the insecticide you’re using,” she said.
    Jeff gave her hand a squeeze. “You could have a bad batch of insecticide. I would guess the operation has been in place a long time.”
    Sherman nodded. “My great-grandfather settled on this parcel of land before the government gobbled up all the acreage and turned it into a wilderness park. Right where we are now, there used to be a log cabin built by my