Indecision tore at him. He sniffed the air but didn’t scent any foreign humans in the area. It didn’t mean they weren’t near though and could show up soon. The wind played hell on his nose with the dust.

His gaze locked on Trisha. She calmly ate and drank. The guy guarding her wasn’t threatening or staring at her body in a way that indicated lustful intentions. He seemed smart enough to know that hurting her when they needed her doctoring skills would be detrimental. The ass**le who’d pulled her hair would pay dearly for hurting her. He wanted to kill him first for that offense. The sooner, the better.

For now she seemed safe and if other humans returned to that camp, the male guarding her knew her value. It would be a while before they realized they didn’t need her doctoring skills. He couldn’t hide her somewhere, leave her to track the males who’d become a threat to her, and not worry that she’d be discovered again. He glared at the male watching the doc.

The guy seemed bored but he didn’t appear eager to move either. Slade slid back in the dirt, carefully kept low as he started to follow the older male who’d dared pull the doc’s hair, and his blood boiled with rage. The male would pay for causing her pain. Pay dearly.

* * * * *

The silence became awful. The breeze blew and trees whispered in the wind. Trisha heard birds in the distance. She sat under the hot sun wishing for shade. She also needed to use the bathroom. When her bladder was ready to burst she turned her head and looked at Bill.

“I have to use the restroom, please.”

He blinked. “Fine. You’re too pale to be in that sun anyway. It’s too easy to get dehydrated if your skin burns bad. I was thinking of moving you.”

“I can get up then?”

He nodded. “See the tree by the tent? Go behind it. I’ll break your legs if you try to run away from me. It isn’t an idle threat. You don’t need them to patch up Pat. You go behind the tree, do your biz, and you can be on this side of the tree under it in the shade. Is that clear enough?”

“Crystal clear. Thank you.” Trisha pushed to her feet. Her body had become numb in places that painfully awoke as she remembered to limp toward the tree. She had to duck under one of the lower branches and there wasn’t much privacy but she didn’t have a choice. She unfastened her pants, bent, and quickly did her business before straightening. She walked back around the tree. Bill stood in her path.

She hadn’t heard him moving toward her. She looked up at him. Bill was a beefy man who stood at about five-foot-nine. He had harsh lines on his face from too many years in the sun and his skin was a weathered, soft brown. He frowned.

“I’m tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night so this is what we’re going to do. Back up to that tree. I want your back to it.”

Trisha stared at him with fear. What is he going to do? She had a sinking feeling that it would be really bad.

“I’m going to tie you to the tree so I can rest. That’s all. I’ll sleep a few feet from you to be able to hear every sound you make. You just ate, used the bathroom, and had something to drink. You will be in the shade and it isn’t cold. You’ll be fine. Now back up before I make you.”

It wasn’t as though she had a choice. Bill was a much bigger man. He looked to be the sort of jerk no one wanted to end up facing off against in a bar fight. He wasn’t overly tall but he had that mean look to him that implied he’d cut someone’s throat in a heartbeat. She nodded and slowly backed up against the tree to stare at him with fear.

“Reach up and grip the branches, arms out wide.”

“Can’t I sit down?”

“I said,” he ordered softly, “reach up and grip the branches. I wasn’t asking. I was telling and I won’t repeat myself again. You can either do what I say or I can change your way of thinking. It would be a painful lesson. Do you understand me?”

She lifted her arms to grip the branches just above her head. She saw the man reach into his back pocket and pull out a bandana he probably used to wipe sweat off him. He stepped very close to her. He used the bandana to tie her wrist, securing it to the branch.

He stank and needed deodorant. She smelled booze on top of it, mixed with the disgusting stench of chewing tobacco too. She held her breath as much as she could while he wrapped something made from a rough cloth on her other wrist. He yanked it tight. He moved back finally and the horrible smell withdrew.

Bill stared at her, nodded, and then turned his back to walk into the tent. Trisha looked up at her restrained arms. He had two mismatching bandanas securing her wrists to the thin branches. She pulled on them but they only moved slightly, proving there was no way she could pull free. She softly cursed and tugged at the bandanas, trying to see if he’d left her enough wiggle room to slide her hand out. He’d tied them too tight.

Bill exited the tent carrying a sleeping bag and pillow with him. He darted a glance at her before throwing the bedding down about four feet from where Trisha stood. She’d thought he was at least decent since he’d offered her a drink and food but that was before he’d tied her, scarecrow-like, to a tree. After a while her legs were going to grow really tired.

He stretched out on his back on top of the sleeping bag, facing her, and settled his gun across his chest. She spotted a hunting knife peeking out from a boot as he crossed his legs. He shoved the pillow behind his head and closed his eyes.

Trisha shifted. Her legs ached and her arms felt as though they were going to fall off. She lifted on tiptoe to level her arms with her shoulders. It sent some blood back into her upper limbs but then her toes would hurt until she’d have to ease back down onto her feet. She rolled her head every once in a while. She tried to sleep but every time she drifted off her legs would start to collapse, causing pain to shoot up her arms from her weight pulling against them. Time crawled by.