Incriminating Evidence Read Online Free

in his direction. Lightweight, the item landed in the no-man’s-land midway between them. “That’s a pepper spray wipe. For your eye.”
    “Thanks,” he said again. He slowly scooted toward the packet, being careful not to make any sudden moves to startle her. It hadn’t escaped his attention that she kept one hand on the canister at her belt. The wipe removed the burning oil from his skin, and at last he could really see again. He splashed more water on his swollen eye and was able to open it a bit as well. With some ibuprofen for the swelling and pain, he might be fit for human company. “Do you have any ibuprofen?”
    “Yes. And I can make a cold compress—with stream water—for your eye as well. I have an emergency cold pack, but we should save it. The stream water is cold enough.” She paused and studied him. “If you roll the water bottle to me, I’ll toss you the ibuprofen, then go to the stream to refill the bottle.”
    It was a fair prisoner exchange, especially since he didn’t have anything else to trade. But it was going to be a long-ass night if they both had to stay awake in an Enemy at the Gates sort of standoff.
    He rolled the water bottle toward her, and she tossed him a pill pack. After extracting his promise not to follow her outside, she took her backpack and left him to get more water.
    He didn’t have much choice but to make that promise, and he would even keep it, although she was a fool for trusting him with nothing more than his word. As soon as he got his various aches under control, he’d turn his brain to seriously considering the matter of who she was and what she wanted from him. But right now, every time he started to follow that line of thought, his physical needs—splitting headache, near-blindness, what have you—took over and demanded attention.
    And he still had no clue how he’d gotten into this situation.

    I sabel returned to the cabin, relieved to see he’d kept his word and hadn’t moved from his ceded territory in the small, rectangular room. He had the back half; she’d taken the front. At least she had the only door. But she also had the broken window. Her territory would be colder.
    She shivered as she stepped inside and pushed the heavy door closed. The swollen wood dragged against the floor, scraping off a layer of rotting timber. That the cabin was still standing was a testament to old-growth trees. The logs were so thick, the cabin would last another hundred years before it faded from existence. Then the only evidence a cabin had once stood here would be a moss-covered river-rock chimney tower, standing as proudly as its white spruce neighbors.
    The wind had kicked up substantially, and she was chilled from those few minutes outside. Thank goodness they had four walls and a roof, because there was no way in hell she could share her emergency shelter tube tent with Alec Ravissant. The man was an injured bear with opposable thumbs, and he believed she was the person who’d beat the crap out of him.
    As if she could take down a former Ranger like him all by herself. If he hadn’t been hit so hard in the head, he might see how ridiculous the idea was. But then, maybe he did see and assumed she had an accomplice.
    The problem was, if he knew her name, he’d never believe she was innocent. Her name would only convince him of her guilt. She had, after all, declared it her life’s mission to get his precious compound shut down. And she’d succeeded—even if only temporarily.
    Now it was about to reopen again, and he could easily assume this situation was her last desperate act to prevent the trainings from resuming.
    She did have a beef with the man and the compound, but beating and abduction was a tad far-fetched, even for her.
    “What’s your name?” he asked.
    Evasive answers would only make him suspicious. Lying was her only option. “Jenna,” she said, thinking of a server at the Tamarack Roadhouse.
    “Jenna what?” he persisted.
    “Hayes,”