Helpless (Blue Fire Saga) by Scott Prussing Page B

she didn’t know how far they were going and how much Dominic had planned for her to do, so she didn’t know if they could spare the time.
    Interstate 691 was completely free of snow and ice. Traffic was moving freely at sixty-five miles per hour. Leesa tried to remember the last time she had driven this fast and realized it had been almost a year ago, back in San Diego. The Blazer rode pretty smoothly, and she enjoyed driving it, perched higher above the road than she was used to. Now and then they crossed wide puddles formed from melted snow streaming across the pavement. Leesa knew the water would freeze into sheets of ice at night, making driving treacherous, but right now it was no big deal, other than when cars in front of her spattered her windshield, making it necessary for her to use the windshield washer. The wiper blades were in good condition and did a good job cleaning the window. She guessed that Walt had replaced them prior to selling the Blazer.
    At Dominic’s instruction, she merged onto 84 West. After an hour or so of driving, they crossed the border into New York state. Leesa wondered how much farther they were going, and why Dominic was familiar with this area, as he seemed to be.
    They followed another interstate south for twenty miles or so and then Dominic told her to exit onto a local highway. He guided her through a couple more turns, until she saw a sign for Whippoorwill Ridge Park.
    “Pull in here,” Dominic told her.
    “How on earth do you know about his place?” Leesa asked as she swung into the tree-filled park. They were more than an hour and a half from Middletown.
    “I’ve been exploring places where we could work. I don’t sleep much, so I’ve got lots of free time. Turn here.” He indicated a small parking area to the left.
    As she turned into the empty lot, Leesa thought her eyes were playing tricks on her—but what a wonderful trick it was. Sitting on a large gray boulder, smiling and waving to her, was Rave!
    He was wearing his black and white flannel shirt and black jeans. He looked amazing, as always.
    Leesa almost fell as she scrambled out of the car and raced toward him. He got up off the rock just in time for her to leap into his arms and wrap her legs around his waist.
    “What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly. “How did you even know?”
    Rave slipped his hands beneath Leesa’s thighs to support her weight. “Dominic told me yesterday and gave me directions. Traveling in the middle of the night by the less travelled roads let me get here without being noticed.”
    Leesa squeezed him tight. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
    “I told you, a hundred mile jog is nothing if you’re at the end of it.”
    Leesa kissed him on the cheek then twisted her head around toward Dominic, who had joined them. “Thank you!”
    “It never hurts to have a little added protection around, just in case,” Dominic said. “Besides, Rave will be a good test for you. Let’s see if you can do everywhere/nowhere when you are distracted by him.”
    Leesa had not been expecting that. Could she possibly do it while looking at Rave’s handsome face? Dominic was right, she thought. That would be a really good test.
    “You’d better put me down, Rave.”
    Rave looked at Dominic, who shook his head.
    “Do it right where you are now,” Dominic said to Leesa.
    Leesa’s eyes grew wide. “You’re kidding, right?”  No way was she going to try this with her legs wrapped around Rave’s waist and his face mere inches from hers. She could feel his heart beating against her chest and smell his sweet warm breath. This was crazy. She could barely even remember her name when he held her like this, much less do anything as difficult as everywhere/nowhere.
    Dominic smiled. “I said it would be a good test, didn’t I? It’s not like being in the middle of a battle, but I think the distraction factor might be similar.”
    Leesa wished there was a battle somewhere nearby.