by Connie Mann
He’d barely drifted off when her shout woke him. He came off the couch in one smooth motion, gun in hand, already racing down the hallway. When he burst into her room and saw her thrashing around, he stopped, realized she was caught in a nightmare.
He huffed out a relieved breath, sat down on the side of the bed. “Easy, cher. It’s just a dream.”
“JJ! Oh God, JJ. Where are you?” Her head thrashed back and forth, hands clenched.
He put a hand on her arm, felt the tension there.
She jerked away. “No! I have to find him. JJ!”
He leaned closer, ran his hand slowly up and down her arm. “Wake up, cher. It’s just a bad dream.”
Slowly, her eyes blinked open, fear still lurking in their depths. “Hunter?”
He pushed the tangle of hair out of her eyes. “Yeah. You’re okay.” The first fingers of dawn crept through the window, highlighting her bare shoulders and slender neck. He swallowed hard, nudged the strap of her tank top back into place, determined to ignore the temptation of her creamy skin. “Go back to sleep.”
He started to rise, but she reached out and stopped him with a hand on his forearm. She sat up and propped a pillow against her back. “Stay.” She closed her eyes, swallowed hard, opened them again. “Please? I can’t go back to sleep yet.”
He studied her, caught by the effort those words had cost her.
All the reasons this was a very bad idea crowded his tongue, but somehow, he couldn’t say no. He nodded and scooted next to her, tucked her hand in his.
She looked at their joined hands, then ran a finger over the heavy silver bracelet he wore. “You never take this off, do you?”
He’d told her funny stories about his younger brother late one night after a few too many beers. He’d mentioned that he’d bought Johnny the bracelet but had glossed over his brother’s death, unwilling to admit it had been his own fault. He really didn’t want to tell her now either, but this was Charlee.
His eyes met hers, and he found himself telling her the truth. “I wear it to remember him. He died because I wasn’t paying attention. I got cocky.”
Her eyes widened, but her voice was quiet. “Tell me what happened.” He was tempted, but when he opened his mouth to tell her, the words locked in his throat.
The silence lengthened. Charlee didn’t push, and finally, he just shrugged, shook his head to push the memories away.
She let it go, just kept running her finger back and forth over the silver links in a soothing motion. “I like it. It’s very sexy,” she murmured.
His eyes shot to hers, and even in the predawn light, he caught her startled expression, as though she hadn’t meant to say the words aloud. He took the out she’d offered him, eased away from the memories, and grinned, turning the tables on her. “Glad you think so, cher. I think you’re sexy, too, by the way.”
He saw the slight shiver that raced over her skin as he pulled her closer, ran his palms over her bare shoulders, and touched his lips to hers in one featherlight kiss. She pulled back, eyes wide, and they stared at each other for long seconds. He saw the longing in her expression, the indecision. He waited, completely still, while that clever brain of hers warred with desire. When she slowly leaned into him and kissed him back, he let out a sigh of relief.
The kiss deepened slowly, gradually, until his tongue slipped between her teeth and she pulled him closer and closer, until there wasn’t an inch of space between them. His body urged him to tug her closer still, but his mind told him to hit the brakes. Charlee wasn’t at the top of her game just yet, and he would never take advantage.
He inched back, saw the wide-eyed shock on her face.
“What are we doing?” she whispered.
He sent her an easy grin, ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “Being there for each other.” He saw the way her longing glance ran over his bare chest, but he eased her back down on the bed, then pulled the covers over them both. “Get some rest, cher. You’ve had a long day.”
“Good night, Lieutenant,” she said and rolled onto her side, snuggling against him until her back hit his chest. He gritted his teeth, tucked her in close, and wrapped his arm around her waist. Every nerve ending in his body wanted more of the way her body curved into his, but he held himself stock still.
Comfort, this was about comfort. Everything else could wait. To distract himself, he started mentally reciting every fact of the case.
He must have drifted off, because he woke to her calling Brittany’s name, tears running down her cheeks, panicked. He ran his hands up and down the smooth skin of her arms, inhaling her sweet vanilla scent as he murmured in her ear, “It’s okay, it’s just a dream. I’ve got you, cher.”
He kept up the soothing motion until she drifted off again, content to hold her so she could rest.
Somehow, having her in his arms soothed him too, and he slept, holding her tight.
* * *
Charlee woke disoriented. She remembered the nightmares, and…Hunter. She turned, smelled him on her pillow, and a warm fuzzy sensation expanded in her tummy right before an embarrassed flush washed over her cheeks. He’d held her, calmed her. And she’d kissed him silly. But he hadn’t pushed, despite the desire building between them.
Unsure what to do with the emotions he stirred in her, she grabbed a quick shower and found him at her kitchen table, wearing a crisp, clean uniform, laptop open in front of him. She hesitated. What to say?
He sent her a slow, lazy smile. “Morning, cher. You look better. Rested. Coffee’s ready,” he added, then turned back to his laptop. “I ran home for clean clothes while you were sleeping.”
She poured a cup, watched him work. “Want me to scramble a couple eggs?”
He stood, closed the lid on the laptop. “How about you sit while I make eggs?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I can make eggs.”
“I know you can. But from what Josh said, I can make them better.” He grinned over his shoulder as he pulled the eggs from the fridge.
“Nobody complains about my cupcakes.”
“And they won’t. You bake amazing cupcakes. But I have it on good authority that your cooking is another story.”
She grimaced, appreciating this lighter side of the intense lieutenant. He was trying to relieve some of the tension from last night, as well as break through the darkness surrounding them, and Charlee was grateful. She waved a hand. “Carry on, then. I can handle being served.”
“Glad to hear it.” He put a skillet on the stove, cracked eggs into a bowl. “How’s the head this morning?”
She touched the stitches, winced. “Headaches are getting better, but the wound is still tender.”
“Then quit touching it.”
She smiled as he’d meant her to. They bantered back and forth while he scrambled eggs with an expert hand. She made toast, poured more coffee.
But too soon, the meal—and the reprieve—was over. “What’s on today’s agenda?” she asked.
“I have some more people to talk to. Wouldn’t mind you coming along.”
She raised a brow. “Not exactly protocol.”
He propped both fists on the table and leaned closer, the clean scent of his aftershave making her lean in, too. “If I left you here alone, would you stay? Or go off digging on your own?”
Charlee took a sip of coffee to hide the flush that crept up her cheeks.
Hunter straightened. “Former cop. Case related to you. I get it. Just don’t get in the way, okay?”
Once again, his calm acceptance of her skills and opinions threw her off balance. Before she could formulate a response, he started clearing the table. “We’re out of here in five minutes.”
“Let me get my shoes and my phone.”
Out of habit, she also grabbed her backpack and tucked her gun inside, just in case.
Chapt
er 9
She expected them to go farther than just down the dirt road. “What do you want with Travis?”
Hunter parked his FWC truck in the gravel lot in front of the Outpost and turned to look at her. “Follow my lead, okay?” He came around to her side before she could ask what he meant.
He took her arm in a surprisingly gentle hold, once again throwing Charlee for an emotional loop. Just when she thought he was rock-hard, through and through, he showed these glimpses of softness that had her insides puddling at her feet. She straightened and shoved such nonsense from her mind. Right now, they had to talk to Travis. And she had to convince her family she was fine, so they wouldn’t worry.
They found Natalie behind the counter, talking on the phone. Her eyes lit up, then narrowed as she eyed Charlee up and down. She ended the call, then came around the counter to wrap her in a careful hug. “What are you doing out, Charlee?” She glared at Hunter. “I thought the doctor said she should rest.”
“He did, and I did, but I’m much better now.” She looked around. “Is Travis here?”
Natalie raised her eyebrows. “He’s out by the shed, doing some maintenance on the canoes and kayaks. Why are you looking for him? Usually, you’re avoiding him.”
“We need to ask him a few questions about what happened,” Hunter said from behind Charlee.
Natalie planted her hands on her hips and studied her. “You sure you’re okay, Charlee?”
Charlee crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, hoping to get her little sister to laugh, but ended up swaying slightly, mortified when Hunter steadied her from behind. “Getting better all the time. I should be back to work tomorrow.”
Natalie looked at Hunter, then back at Charlee. “Take your time, Sis. It’s all good.”
“We’ll just go check in with Loverboy Travis,” Hunter said and casually took Charlee’s arm again.
“Loverboy Travis?” Charlee couldn’t help laughing. “Don’t let him hear you say that. The last thing I want is to encourage him.”
Hunter grinned, the hand on her arm distracting her. They found Loverboy in the shed, sitting on a sawhorse, playing a video game on his phone.
“Hey, Travis,” Charlee said.
He jumped and spun around so fast, the phone landed in the dirt. He scooped it up, then hurried over. “Charlee. I didn’t expect to see you today. Are you okay? You look good.”
Hunter interrupted his nervous chatter. “I need to ask you a few questions about what happened the other day.”
“Sure, of course. Whatever you need.”
Hunter waved him back to the sawhorse and leaned against a rack of canoes. Charlee stood beside him, determined to see Travis’s face as he answered the questions. “Walk me through what happened, Travis. You were here at the Outpost in the morning…” He let the statement trail off.
Travis picked up the story. “Right. Once Charlee and the group left, I did a little work for Mr. Tanner, and then he told me I could have the rest of the day off, since Natalie was there.”
“Did you ask for the time off?”
Charlee saw Travis freeze at Hunter’s question.
“I, uh, yeah. I wanted to get out on the river for a while.”
Charlee narrowed her eyes. “You followed me. Why?”
Travis fidgeted with his phone, head down, not meeting their eyes. “I knew it was going to be a tough day for you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“What made it tough for Charlee?”
Hunter’s question made Travis look from one to the other. “The anniversary. Everyone knew that.”
“Not everyone.” Hunter crossed his arms and leaned forward in interrogator pose. “How did you know about it?”
Again, Travis fidgeted. “I heard Mr. Tanner and Pete talking about it a couple days ago.” He paused. “It wasn’t hard to find on the internet.”
Charlee stiffened. “Why did you think I wouldn’t be okay?”
Beside her, she sensed Hunter’s focus sharpen.
Travis’s head snapped up. “You’re awesome, Charlee. A great guide. I just thought you might want a friend along. Especially with that Oliver guy around.” He snapped his jaw shut as though he’d said too much.
“What’s wrong with Oliver?” Hunter asked.
Travis’s chin came up. “He just seemed like he spent too much time watching Charlee.”
“Afraid he was poaching on your territory?” Hunter demanded.
“What? No. Nothing like that.” He turned pleading eyes on Charlee. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That’s all.”
“Maybe you got there and saw Oliver paying a little too much attention to Charlee, so you thought you’d play the hero. Create a little accident and then show up to save the girl and win Charlee’s affection.”
Charlee didn’t think Travis had it in him to devise such a plan.
He jumped to his feet. “No. That’s crazy. I would never hurt anyone.”
“Do you own a gun, Travis?”
His face paled. “No. I hate guns. I’ve never even fired one.”
Hunter motioned for Travis to sit back down. “Okay. Where were you when you heard the gunshots?”
“Not far. Just a few minutes. But as soon as I heard them, I started paddling like crazy.”
“Why? Gunshots aren’t that uncommon out here.”
Travis shrugged. “They sounded different, sorta like a machine gun.”
“How do you know what machine guns sound like? I thought you said you hated guns.”
His head shot up. “I play a lot of first-person-shooter video games. Shotguns sound different.”
“What did you see when you arrived?”
“You were there. You know. Why are you asking me?”
Hunter just waited.
Travis swallowed. Shook his head. “It was horrible. There was blood in the water, and I didn’t see anyone at first. Everyone was hiding in the trees. I thought”—he swallowed hard—“I thought at first that Charlee was dead. That the girl was dead, too.”
“But they weren’t.”
“No.” He looked at Charlee. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”
“When did you call 911?”
A flush crept up his cheeks. “Um, I didn’t. I saw your boat and thought you probably did that.”
Charlee leaped toward Travis, but Hunter’s grip on her arm kept her from getting to him. “Why didn’t you call 911? Did you help do CPR on Brittany?”
When he looked down, shook his head, Charlee shouted, “What is the matter with you? You’ve been trained better than that.”
Travis hitched his chin toward Hunter. “He was already there, doing that. I had to make sure you were okay first. Don’t you see?”
“No, I don’t see at all.” Charlee broke free of Hunter’s grasp to tower over Travis. “We had a guest in trouble, and you did nothing.”
Travis swallowed hard. Hunter made a calming motion with his hands, then looked back at Travis. “Did you pass anyone else on the river on your way there? Anyone who can verify your whereabouts at the time of the shooting?”
Travis paled so much, you could see the veins under his blotchy skin. “I didn’t hurt anyone. You have to believe me.” He looked from one to the other. “I know there was another group of canoes on the river.” He slumped back down. “But I don’t really remember when I passed them. I didn’t shoot anyone.” He looked up, expression stricken. “I’d never hurt you, Charlee.”
“Let’s go,” Charlee said.
Anger spurted through her veins, and she wanted to shake Travis until his teeth rattled. She stomped back toward Hunter’s truck. “That measly coward. He’s done working here. I’ll make sure of that. He should have started CPR right away. He—”
Hunter stepped in front of her. “Take a breath, cher. He thinks
he’s in love with you, so his brain is scrambled. What we don’t know is if he fired those shots.”
Charlee took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart, get her anger under control.
Hunter helped her inside the truck, cranked up the air conditioner. “I’ll let your sister know we’re leaving.”
When they pulled up in front of her cottage, she turned to Hunter. “He could easily be the shooter. He knows the river, knows the woods around here. And if he plays those shooter games, he’d know how.”
“Concussion or not, your mind is sharp, cher. I’m thinking along those lines, too.”
As she opened her door, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the screen, then put the phone to her ear. “Hey, Liz. What’s up?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you. The news about the girl is all over town. It’s horrible. Are you okay?” Before Charlee could answer, Liz fired off more questions.
Charlee understood her worry and waited until Liz finally wound down. “If you stop and take a breath, I’ll answer all forty-two of those questions.”
“Sorry. I’m worried, that’s all. People care about you, and they’re sad and angry—and scared. They’re coming here for comfort food and answers. Do you have any information I can give them?”
“No. That would be up to Hunter. The investigation has barely gotten started.”
“Can you stop by? I need to see you, hug your neck, make sure you’re okay.”
Charlee glanced at Hunter. “Can we pick up some cupcakes and drop them off at the Corner Café?” At his affirmative nod, she said to Liz, “It’s going to take me a little while to get them frosted.”
“That’s fine. As long as I know you’re okay. I really appreciate you bringing more. Are you still with Mr. Yummy?”
Liz had a voice that carried, and when Hunter quirked a brow at that, Charlee felt the blood rush to her face. “Yes, I’m still with Lieutenant Boudreau.”
Liz laughed. “Right. Bet your face is red now, too, isn’t it?”
“Thanks for that, girlfriend.”
Liz chuckled. “Just get over here. Bring cupcakes. And him.” When Charlee started to protest, Liz’s laughter died, and she added quietly, “Be safe, okay? Promise me, Charlee.”