Line of Fire Read Online Free Page A

out of the most close-mouthed politicians or the slimiest reporters, but this man’s logic completely escaped her. “And your point?” she challenged.
    “The Gavronese rebels wear red berets.”
    She spoke slowly, working her way through what he’d said. “So Gavronese rebels kidnapped me—although I can’t imagine why—and we’re in their territory. Hence, any car that drives by is probably friendly to the people who tried to nab me.”
    “Exactly!” He seemed inordinately pleased that she’d grasped the scenario.
    “Okay, so we avoid the road.” She scowled at Tex. “And no road means no ride. So what exactly do you propose we do to get out of here? Hijack a flying carpet?”
    “We avoid all contact with people and walk to the nearest big city where we can get help from government or antirebel forces.”
    He made it all sound so easy. “And just how far away is this big city?” she asked suspiciously.
    He shrugged. “Hey, I’m not even sure we’re in Gavarone, let alone where the nearest city is.”
    She threw up her hands. “So you want us to wander around aimlessly in a jungle until we either starve to death or get rescued?”
    “There’s plenty of food out here,” he answered casually. Too casually. “We won’t starve. Getting shot, however…Or bit by a snake…Or eaten by a wild animal…”
    Her eyes widened in alarm. “I’m sorry. I don’t recall putting jaguar repellent in my purse this morning. I don’t think so, G.I. Joe.”
    “Look, it’s not that bad,” he cajoled her. “There’s a road just over that way. If we parallel it, it’ll eventually lead to civilization. Since the truck went south, we head north. Hopefully to St. George and the Atlantic Ocean.”
    St. George, she vaguely recollected, was the capital of Gavarone and was situated on the northern coast of that tiny nation. God bless her private education for supplying that wonderful bit of trivia, she thought sardonically.
    She planted her hands on her hips. “Let me get this straight. You’re going to walk the length of a country, through a jungle, avoiding God knows who or what. At the ocean, you’ll flag down…what? The nearest aircraft carrier to take us home?”
    “You’re going to walk the length of the country with me, Princess.”
    She stared in disbelief. “That’s insane!”
    His only response was to shrug.
    She spoke with forced calm through the creeping panic that was wrapping itself slowly around her chest and beginning to squeeze. “It’s impossible. You’re not Superman, and Lord knows I’m not. You’re going to get us both killed.”
    His gaze went a stormy, sea-tossed shade of blue. “Got any better ideas?” He couldn’t have sounded more irritated if she’d just lost his secret decoder ring.
    She racked her brains for a plan. She could navigate the subway systems of every major city in the United States. She could even seat fifty congressmen at the same dinner party in such a way that nobody killed their neighbor. But she had no bloody idea how to get out of a jungle full of armed kidnappers.
    “My cell phone!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Can’t we just call someone?”
    “And where in that tight little outfit is your cell phone hiding?” His fiery gaze raked up and down her person, sending an involuntary shiver racing across her skin.
    She realized belatedly that she was without her purse. She was so used to having it slung over her shoulder, she hadn’t even registered its absence.
    “Any other bright ideas, Einstein?” he asked dryly.
    At this point she was desperate enough to try smoke signals, but she could imagine what reaction that idea would get from him. This whole thing was just too crazy to be real.
    To be real…
    And then it hit her.
    “Did my father put you up to this?” she demanded.
    “Your father?” Tex all but choked in obvious surprise. “You think your father kidnapped you?”
    “Of course not,” she answered indignantly. “I think he told you guys