by April Hunt
* * *
Lyn wiped sweat from her brow as she exited the elevator. She’d spent more time on the elliptical than normal, trying to outrun her thoughts on Atlas and her impressions of David Cruz. There was a lot to process from what she’d seen today. It didn’t seem as if there’d be enough time to do the follow-up research she had planned before calling it a night. Through it all, she was sure she was missing something important about him. It was the kind of important that could eat away at a person and cause insomnia. The only cure she had for it was to burn off the anxiety eating her up and clear her head to track down the useful bits of information. Thus the visit to the hotel gym.
Bleh. So now her legs were about as useful as limp noodles and she wasn’t sure she was even walking a straight line down the hallway back to her hotel room. But her mind was clearer and she already had some search strings in mind once she got in front of her laptop.
Everything about David Cruz shouted military. Not uncommon for kennels providing trained working dogs to military and law enforcement. But most of the trainers she’d met hadn’t had the edge Cruz had.
His level of tension as he walked into a room had been enough to make her nervous, an awareness of everything around him. She’d seen men like him on military bases, fresh back from deployment, but not a trainer working at a kennel out in the middle of suburbia.
But he wasn’t a raging jackass either. And she’d come to associate the attitude with the kind of soldier. It was probably unfair, but it was exactly why she’d left home as soon as she’d gotten accepted to college and never gone back for more than a brief visit. The men her stepfather introduced her to had all set her teeth on edge with their overbearing demeanors and the way they patronized her.
David Cruz hadn’t done any of that. If anything, she owed him an apology for the way she’d greeted him.
She barely glanced up as a man turned the corner at the far end of the hallway and walked toward her, then passed by without a word. Pausing at her door, it took two tries to slide her room key but finally she got the green light and turned the handle. As she walked inside, a loud thump made her look up from her phone.
Panic shot through her as a man dressed all in black straightened, her laptop bag in his hand. For a moment her mind froze.
What? Who?
She started to shout, but a hand covered her mouth as a hard body crowded her from behind, forcing her farther into the room and making her drop her phone. She stumbled forward and another hand grabbed her left arm, twisting it behind her back.
Oh God. Her thoughts scrambled and scattered. This wasn’t really happening.
The man already in the room walked toward her, his lips stretching into a leering grin. The rest of his face was hidden by a ski mask. He looked her over from head to toe and then his gaze settled somewhere south of her face.
“It’s really too bad you came back.” His voice sent chills down her spine and she struggled.
No. No, no, no, no!
Her captor only tightened his grip until pain shot through her shoulder. What should she do? What could she do?
The other man leaned close and the stench of cigars choked her. “I’m not gonna lie though, Miss Jones. I’m kinda glad you did.”
She stared at him, shrank away as he ran a tongue over his top lip. It was all going in slow motion and she gagged in disgust.
“We weren’t supposed to let her see us.” The words rumbled in the chest behind her head.
“And she won’t see our faces.” The other man reached out and fondled her breast, pinching her nipple. Twisting. Pain and revulsion shot through her. She couldn’t get away. “But we can show her a couple other things before we leave. Seems a shame to let the bed go to…”
Stop!
Lyn kicked out, hard, her foot catching the front of his shin.
“Ow! You bitch!”
Desperate, she bucked against her captor. The back of her head contacted with a hard jaw and she heard teeth snap together. A grunt of pain.
The pain in her shoulder seared through her and she didn’t care. She needed to get away. Now.
A door crashed open and the weight of her captor slammed into her as they both fell to the floor.
“Hey!” the other man shouted.
An angry roar was all she could make of the newcomer. There were sounds of punches thrown as she struggled to see, trapped as she was. Then feet running past her.
The weight lifted off her as the man above her scrambled to his feet. She rolled to her back and drove her feet upward, catching him in the gut.
“Oof!”
“Fuck. Let’s go.” Both men ran out the door.
She sobbed.
A hand touched her shoulder and she flinched away.
No!
“Hey, hey! It’s okay. You’re safe now. I won’t hurt you.” The statements were repeated over and over again. Slowly, the voice seeped through her panicked thoughts. She knew the voice.
David Cruz was crouching down in front of her.
She couldn’t catch her breath and the sobbing wouldn’t stop. She swallowed hard and tried to take a deep breath. Then another.
“That’s it. Nice and easy. Take your time.” Cruz crooned to her, his words soft and patient. “I’m not going to leave you. You’re safe.”
Good. Safe was good.
“I’m going to call the police now, Miss Jones.”
“D-don’t. Please.”
Cruz’s brows drew together. “Why shouldn’t I call the police?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, yes. Call the police. Just…”
He didn’t seem to get angry at all. He only waited, watching her. His gaze trained on her face, not touching her. Not doing…things.
“D-don’t call me ‘Miss Jones,’ please.” The last word came out in a whisper. She’d have nightmares, for a long time. And the way the other man had said her name was going to haunt her forever.
“What should I call you?” So gentle. Was this how he won the trust of his dogs? She wouldn’t blame them for trusting him.
“Lyn.” She shifted, trying to move her left arm, and winced as the sharp pain came back.
“Easy there, Lyn. Call me David. Can I touch your shoulder?”
The sobbing hadn’t stopped yet and tremors took over her body as reaction set in. Logically, she could register what was happening to her. Take a step away from herself and compartmentalize to catalog the damage, hear what David was saying to her. But she wasn’t up for intelligible speech yet. She only nodded in response to David’s question.
His touch was feather-light and still, it took effort not to shrink away from him.
“It’s okay. You’ve been through hell just now. I won’t ask more questions until the police get here.” His check was gentle but thorough, and strangely her shakes steadied when he touched her but started up again as soon as he sat back on his heels. “Nothing broken or dislocated, but he had your arm wrenched behind you in a nasty hold. I’m betting the paramedics will still want you to have it in a sling for a few days.”
She blinked up at him.
“I’m calling in 9-1-1. They’ll dispatch both police and ambulance. You should be looked over.”
For the first time, she took a long look at her hotel room behind him. Everything, all her belongings, had been tossed across the room. She hadn’t brought much with her but she had packed for an extended stay. All of her clothes, her notes, were strewn everywhere.
Fear rose up in any icy wave and clawed at her throat.
“Why were they here?” They had to have been looking for something.
David shook his head. “I was about to ask you the same. This looks too thorough to be a random robbery.”
The one man had said something…
“One of the men, the one holding me, said I wasn’t supposed to see them.” And she wouldn’t think about what the other man had said. Not yet. She’d tell the police when they got there and David could listen then.
&
nbsp; “That so? We’re going to have to see what the police think.” Somehow she suspected David was leaving things unsaid.
Biting her lip, she wondered whether they were going to come back for her.
“They won’t get to you again, Lyn.” David responded as if he’d heard her thoughts. “And you did great in here. I only heard a minute or two, but you let them know you weren’t going to give in without a fight. You were very brave.”
Then why did the word “stupid” come more immediately to mind?
An awkward silence settled between the two of them. It stretched out until she fished for something, anything, to say. “I might be late tomorrow morning.”
A surprised bark of laughter yanked her gaze back to him. He smiled at her, warm and comforting. And she wanted to slip into the curve of his arms to ward off the chill.
She’d only met him this morning and already she was going to ask him for more than she should. But what else was she going to do?
“Will you stay with me?”
He reached out a hand slowly, giving her plenty of time to watch the approach, and then cupped her cheek. “I’ll be right here, the entire time. If you need to go to the hospital, I’ll go with you there, too. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Chapter Three
How is she?”
Cruz craned his neck to look out the window. “Physically? She’s a trooper. Arm’s in a sling for a few days but she insisted on starting with Atlas at oh-five-hundred this morning.”
That despite his assurance to her that it was completely fine for her to have started later. She’d mentioned she might be late, damn it. She should have taken the time for herself.
“That so?” Beckhorn’s voice held equal parts surprise and admiration. Cruz shared it. “How’s Atlas doing?”
“He’s acknowledging her existence.” And didn’t that chafe his ass just a little bit. “She’s out walking the perimeter with him now.”
Speaking of, the pair came into view finally, far out across the grounds. Atlas kept pace with Lyn’s short stride, adjusting to her changes in speed and coming to heel when she paused to check out flowers or whatever.
Dog still maintained an air of disinterest, but he was out there with her and not laying on his belly in the kennel.
“So he’s making progress.” Beckhorn pressed for more.
“Baby steps, my friend.” Cruz chuckled. “Don’t go reporting him as recovered any time soon.”
“This mean you don’t want me to keep digging into who sent her?”
Cruz leaned back in his chair, considering. Her fear had been real the night before. Terror, really. “She was damned shaken up last night. Take a look at the debrief I sent you, off the record. Someone was looking for info she didn’t know she had. Or maybe she didn’t have it yet.”
“She’s a liability.” His friend made a grim noise.
“I had her check out of the hotel and gave her a place to stay here where I can keep an eye on her.” He didn’t entirely trust her yet but he was sure she hadn’t been faking anything the evening before. Her reactions had been genuine.
“You’re going to keep her around?” Beckhorn whistled, low and long. “Is she that hot?”
“It’s not about that and you know better.” Of course, Lyn chose to bend over right about then, checking out a pretty wildflower or weed or something, and he got a faraway view of her shapely rear.
Okay, she was hot.
But he wouldn’t keep a liability around just for that. He had Atlas in mind.
“Yeah, yeah,” Beckhorn continued, oblivious of the view. “What’s the plan now?”
“We both know there was something to the way Calhoun died.” It was a big part of the reason Beckhorn had called Cruz so soon for Atlas. He’d needed someone he could trust to oversee the dog’s recovery before something unfortunate occurred. “Accidental friendly fire, my ass.”
“It’s the ‘accidental’ part in question. We both know it wasn’t friendly even if the round did come from one of ours.” Beckhorn’s tone went flat. “What we need to do is both prove it and find out why. Calhoun reached out to you just before he died and whatever drunk text he sent you pointed to Atlas.”
“At the time, the message hadn’t made any sense so I assumed it was a drunk text.” Cruz swallowed hard on the guilt and self-recrimination there. Not sure what he could’ve done from across a damned ocean but he still felt he should’ve realized something was wrong and helped his friend stay alive.
“It still doesn’t make any sense.” A string of curses followed. “Look. No ripping ourselves up for what we would’ve, should’ve, could’ve. We do the right thing now.”
“Yeah.” Cruz nodded even if Beckhorn couldn’t see.
Lyn resumed her stroll and Atlas took up position by her side. Dog might play like he wasn’t interested in the woman but he was engaged and Cruz would take whatever help there was to be had.
Of course, he might have more in common with the dog than he’d prefer to admit.
Last night, she’d suffered a bad scare. Things could have been far worse if he hadn’t shown up when he did. He’d been ready to rip her a new one when he’d come to her door, ajar only because her phone had landed in the entryway. It’d taken seconds to change gears from being angry with her to charging in to help her.
He’d have still gotten through, but it would’ve taken longer for him to realize what was going on and to break down the door. She’d been very lucky.
In those moments, he’d become someone else. The man he used to be. The stranger he’d locked down after he’d returned from deployment. When he’d heard her in danger, he’d gladly embraced the old rage and the cold calm to rush the door. Eliminate the threats.
“You still there, man?” Beckhorn brought him back.
A cold chill passed through Cruz as he realized he’d come to his feet. Maybe he hadn’t completely put the other him to rest yet, but it’d take some time to ease back and he hadn’t been all too relaxed as it was. It’d been why he’d come to spend time at Hope’s Crossing. “Yeah. Here.”
Now. Just a minute ago? Not so much. Seemed like Miss Evelyn Jones had a way of pushing all sorts of buttons with him without even trying to.
“You wanna share what you’re thinking? I can almost hear the gears turning in your head.”
Way across the field, Lyn had come to a halt. It was Atlas’s posture that got Cruz moving. “I’m going to have to call you back.”
* * *
Atlas noticed the stranger first. Lyn thought it might be one of the other trainers, but in seconds it was clear he wasn’t. She’d met both through the course of the day and neither of them had the same build or stance. Dressed casual in dark jeans and button-up shirt, the stranger came through a thick grouping of trees out of nowhere. He caught sight of her and grinned. She recognized it. Oh God, she’d recognize that grin anywhere.
Fear rushed through her and she stumbled back a step, instinctively bringing her hands up to ward off the stranger without thinking.
A deep growl broke through her shock and Atlas surged forward, ripping the leash off her wrist before she could close her hand securely back around the leather.
“Atlas!” Oh no, no. She couldn’t leave him, wouldn’t. Last night, the intruders didn’t seem to have any weapons on them, but this man might.
But he blanched white at the sight of the oncoming dog. He backpedaled a few steps and then turned and ran straight back through the copse of trees.
Atlas plunged through after him.
Lyn ran after them both.
“Are you crazy?” The bellow came from behind her but Lyn ignored David and kept going. His angry shout was gaining on her. “Stop! I got this.”
Reckless, more afraid for Atlas than anything, Lyn sprinted through the trees and came out in another field. The stranger lay on his back, yelling in pain with Atlas over him. He’d only made it halfway to the fence.
“Los! Los!” David caught up and p
assed her by. “Los!”
Atlas didn’t let up.
“I’m just lost! I came in here by accident!” The man was shouting.
David let loose a curse and turned to her. “Lyn, come here.”
Her heart in her throat, she ran to his side. She should say something, tell Cruz who the man was.
The man’s screaming became shriller and words scattered from her mind.
“Here, focus here.” David’s words cut across the awful sound. “You can do this. Go to Atlas, grab his collar, tell him ‘Los.’”
“What? I…”
He grabbed her good arm and gave her a light shake. “Quick. Before he gets through this guy’s guard. Atlas can and will kill. You need to do this.”
His gaze caught her, steel blue and hard. Not cold. Urgent.
She nodded.
He let her go then and she stumbled toward Atlas. She needed to get to him before he killed this man.
“Not on his left, go to his right.”
Obeying David’s instructions, she changed the direction of her approach.
Atlas was so fast, he was a blur. He had the man’s forearm between his teeth and was shaking his head back and forth. As she hesitated, there was a sickening crack.
“Los!” The word fell out of her mouth as she lunged forward and grabbed for Atlas’s collar. “Los, Atlas, los!”
Atlas released his hold and she dragged him back as the man crab-walked away from them on one good arm. David was on him in a split second.
“I’m going to sue! You’re all crazy here! I’m going to sue!” The man babbled as David hauled him to his feet.
He was covered in blood and his arm hung at an awkward angle.
Lyn swallowed back bile and knelt down next to Atlas, keeping a firm hold on his collar. She couldn’t stop shaking. “Good boy, Atlas. Good boy.”
Atlas’s attention was on the man and he whined with eagerness but stayed with her.
“Lyn.” David sounded calm, completely ignoring the threats of the injured man. “Take Atlas back to the kennel and check him over.”
“What about…”