Free Freefall by Traci Hunter Abramson Page A

her.
    Disappointment shot through her, followed by a wave of irritation. Perhaps the closeness they shared was no more than a result of being together constantly for the past few days. She looked out over the river, annoyed that she would let herself feel anything of a romantic nature for this man who was being paid to keep her safe. If Brent wanted to see her tucked away in some safe post where she would never see him again, she had to assume that he wanted to reestablish a professional distance between them.
    In the west the sun was sinking behind a mountain range, and fingers of pink, red, and orange streaked across the sky. Water rippled over a fallen tree, creating a mini-waterfall. Under different circumstances the sandy beach would have made an ideal picnic spot. She took a bite of her energy bar and decided that even though they were eating here, energy bars and spring water definitely didn’t count as a picnic dinner.
    After a few more minutes, Brent led his horse away from the water and swung himself onto the horse’s back. “We had better get going,” he said. He winced as pain shot through his arm, but he was grateful that the constant throbbing hadn’t returned even though his painkillers had worn off.
    Amy mounted her horse and followed as Brent took the lead. Her mind raced as they moved forward, and she was forced to ask herself if she would really want to see Brent again after they made it out of Abolstan. As much as she enjoyed his company, she wasn’t sure she would want to be involved with someone who would have to fly halfway around the world at any given time. She watched Brent ride through the trees, telling herself that he didn’t appear to want to see her again anyway. With a shake of her head, she reminded herself that she was just tired. Maybe the fact that they hadn’t slept in almost twenty-four hours was further confusing matters that were confusing enough already.
    She counted up the number of days since they had fallen out of the helicopter together, surprised that she had only met Brent four days earlier. In fact, this whole ordeal had only started five days ago, but as they pressed forward, she could barely remember what it was like to sleep indoors or not have to worry about the gunshots and tanks that sometimes sounded in the distance.
    Could they really have met only four days ago? she asked herself as she struggled to stay alert. Rolling her shoulders again, she decided it didn’t matter how long they had been on this journey. The important thing was to get out of here in time to warn the right people that their country was about to come under attack. In two more days, her family could end up in a far worse situation than she was in now.
    * * *
    â€œFour days.” Jim Whitmore paced across his office, a cordless phone up to his ear. He nodded at Jared Elliott, who was manning the desk outside of his office, and then shut the door between them. “Doug, how can we not have heard anything by now?”
    â€œI don’t know, sir.” Doug’s voice came over the line. He hated dealing with the unknown, but for the past several days the only news he’d had was that they had no news. “The unit commander said that Lieutenant Miller only had one communications device. If that was somehow broken when he and Amy were separated from the rest of the group, it’s possible that they have already left the country and just haven’t been able to get word out.”
    â€œThat’s the optimistic possibility.” Jim’s voice took on an edge. “What’s on the other side of the coin?”
    â€œSenator, I think it’s too soon to consider any negative outcomes,” Doug said carefully. “The press has not yet discovered that your daughter is missing, and none of the warring factions in Abolstan is making any demands. If they had been captured, someone would have contacted us by now.”
    Jim closed his eyes