Catamount Ridge Read Free Page B

smooth out some of the wrinkles in her crumpled shirt. It didn’t work, but at least it was one piece of clothing she didn’t have to find. Another wave of dizziness hit her when she reached down to pick her panties off the floor. Jessie grabbed the bedpost and hung on for dear life.
    Everything about her felt off. She wondered if it was the drugs she had taken earlier or if she was suffering from a concussion.
    The lacerations on her arm throbbed. Luckily, you didn’t get rabies from being clawed. That came from being bit. It was the icky mouth juices that did you in. What you got from a dirty claw was an infection. Either way, Jessie had to get to a doctor.
    She wasn’t in any shape to drive, but Derek was nowhere in sight.
    Hanging on the edge, both emotionally and physically, Jessie shook off the nausea and got down to business. She managed to pull on her trousers and grab her boots. On a pair of wobbly legs, she zigzagged her way across the room and retrieved the truck keys off the table.
    Her truck was parked outside. It was hazardous driving in her condition, but she didn’t have a choice. In the light of day, Derek seemed more dangerous than the mountain lion. Too many things didn’t make sense. The hospital was only a half-hour away. There was no logical reason for him to bring her here. Then he drugged her to make her compliant. The sex that followed had rocked her world, but without the added stimulant, Jessie would have never agreed to, let alone been the aggressor in a relationship with an employee under her command. It was grounds for instant dismissal, and no matter how great the one-night stand was, it wasn’t worth throwing away her career.
    The traffic-free, mountain trails weren’t too difficult to maneuver. The truck drifted off-center now and then, but it wasn’t until she neared civilization and hit real roads that it became too treacherous to continue. A predator lurked in the eerie silence of the forest, but she had to stop. Easing off to the side of the road, she grabbed the microphone to the vehicle’s CB radio. The three-foot curly cord fell loose in her hand. Even in her fuzzy state, Jessie understood the device had been rendered useless on purpose.
    With her radio sabotaged, Jessie was left with only one other option. The signal was sketchy this high up, but she had to try her cell phone. Pain exploded down her arm when she reached across the bench seat to open the glove compartment. The effort was all for naught, because her phone was not there.
    The hair on the back of her neck bristled, and her entire being sensed a nearing threat.
    Jessie searched frantically for the source, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Weighing her options, such as they were, she pulled back out onto the road.
    •   •   •
    THE LIDS OF Jessie’s eyes were stuck to her eyeballs, making them hard to open. Gradually, she blinked a bit of moisture back into them. Focusing was difficult, but she could tell she was in the hospital. It was too much effort to stay awake. Since she was safe, Jessie decided to let someone else be strong for a while.
    As she drifted back to sleep, she couldn’t help wondering if she had been admitted into the psych ward.
    •   •   •
    DAYLIGHT POURED IN from the picture window in the stark hospital room. A low growl resonated from somewhere nearby. The memory of the mountain lion flashed through Jessie’s mind, and her head jerked towards the sound.
    Her father’s long, lanky body was stretched out on a small uncomfortable looking hospital armchair. He was asleep and snoring softly. One leg was propped up on the edge of her bed and the other rested on the floor.
    She had access to his good leg, so Jessie kicked it off and waited for her father to wake up.
    Cade’s eyes flew open when his foot banged on the hard tile. His gaze locked onto his daughter, and a relieved smile washed over his face. The old man eased his aching body out of the chair and rolled