Harlequin Intrigue May 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Carol Ericson

  “My associates. Once they handle it, your inn will be locked up while we try to figure out the rest. You don’t have any reservations for the week, so that shouldn’t eat into business. If we can’t get you back by Saturday, we’ll figure something out.”

  “How do you know my reservations?” she demanded.

  Reece sighed. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Yes, I...” Then she closed her eyes and shook her head. “No. No.”

  “So can we speed this along?”

  She took the computer and the headphones with a jerk and stomped over to the hood of the car. She settled herself against it, put the headphones in her ears and kept her eagle gaze split between the screen and Henry.

  Henry shed his backpack and chased a butterfly for a few seconds. Reece knew he should keep his mouth shut, but the kid entertaining himself... Yeah, he’d been there. Henry had Lianna, of course, but there was still likely to be some loneliness, given the somewhat isolated life he lived, without a father figure.

  Reece swallowed at the rust in his throat and moved to the trunk. Lianna looked like she was about to charge him, as if she was afraid he was going to toss Henry in the trunk. He knew he deserved her suspicion, but that didn’t make it easy.

  He popped it quickly and grabbed a baseball glove and held it up before she could dive at Henry.

  “Hey, Hank, you want to play catch?”

  Henry perked up, looking at the glove in Reece’s hand. “Here?”

  “Your mom has some reading to do before we can go on our trip. Not much room with the trees, and I’ve only got one glove, but it might pass the time.”

  “Yeah, cool.”

  Reece tossed the glove at Henry, who caught it with a fumbling grab. “I played T-ball last year, and this year we’re actually going to pitch.”

  “That’s cool. You got a team?”

  “Giants.”

  “Giants? You can’t be serious.”

  Henry giggled. “They’re awesome.”

  Reece scoffed. “West Coast teams,” he said with mock indignation. “Don’t have any heart.” He tossed the ball at Henry, with an eye on Lianna. She was watching them, but not with that same suspicious gaze. It was something that made his lungs squeeze.

  Henry tossed the ball back and Reece caught it bare-handed, fumbling with the catch when usually he was as sure-handed as they came.

  “Who’s your favorite team?”

  “Huh?” Reece focused back on Henry and playing catch. He cleared his throat. “Twins all the way.”

  “The American League! DH is cheating!” Then Henry erupted into a fit of giggles, clearly a fight he enjoyed having with someone in his life. Not his father, maybe the grandfather or the great-grandfather.

  Because the boy wasn’t alone like Reece had been. He had love and a family, and Reece would do good to remember to keep his distance.

  Somehow.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The first thing Lianna did was pull up the file marked REECE CONRAD MONTGOMERY. She was absolutely certain it was fake, since it mirrored everything he’d told her almost exactly.

  Born in South Dakota, became a ward of the state at age ten, where he spent the next eight years jumping from group home to foster home and back again. Enlisted in the army at eighteen, served for twelve years, including two tours of Afghanistan. There were all sorts of cross-references to missions.

  Everything looked...real. There were enlistment records and school records. There was even a birth certificate.

  He was right. It was an awful lot of effort to convince her he was the good guy when he could have just...kidnapped them.

  Though he had grabbed her. So. He wasn’t... perfect. Even if it had been careful and gentle and...

  She couldn’t believe this was happening. She couldn’t believe she was considering going with him. This had to be lies. It had to be.

  She opened a folder labeled PHONE CALLS. Each file was named with a date and time, and each date was one of the dates he’d spent at her inn.

  The first one was his conversation with a woman. She seemed like a boss, or at the very least a coworker. They talked about the listening devices and getting into her room.

  Lianna almost turned it off. It felt like an invasion of privacy to listen to him like this, even though it was his idea. Even though he was discussing invading her privacy. It felt wrong to hear him plan to get into her room.

  We want to keep the widow and the kid out of it, don’t we? That’s a priority for me. Kids don’t get caught in the cross fire.

  She didn’t hear what came next. That echoed in her ears instead. He said it so...fervently. Like he really meant it.

  She glanced up at him. He wasn’t smiling anymore. That look from the other night was on his face as he caught the ball Henry lobbed at him.

  Loneliness.

  She shook her head. She couldn’t be fooled again. But everything on this computer...well, it pointed to a good man whose job it was to help people.

  He’d helped take down a murderer by posing as a gang member. He’d saved a young girl from being kidnapped into the same gang. He’d done all sorts of things to protect people from this Sons of the Badlands group. All while working for some mysterious, nameless group.

  A group who’d been approached to find out more about Todd’s death. And what she knew.

  Lianna chewed on her lip. Reece obviously wanted what she knew. But he didn’t know she knew much of anything. And he hadn’t been pushy like all the men who’d come before. He hadn’t demanded answers or made her feel stupid.

  No, he played you.

  Lianna blew out a breath, listened to another phone call where he reiterated keeping Henry out of it. He sounded frustrated and...

  She didn’t know because she didn’t know him, and she was fooling herself if she thought she could just tell. Hadn’t life taught her she was a terrible judge of character?

  She opened another folder, labeled LETTERS, hoping to find some clarification. Some...sign to point her in the right direction. A flat-out lie. Something she could use to convince her she should walk away.

  Instead, she found the letters Reece had left for her and Henry. Letters she’d shoved in her drawer with the listening device and hadn’t read.

  Oh, she’d come close a few times, but she’d known that if she read them, she might feel some misplaced sense of grief, and she had enough real grief in her life. But now...

  She opened the first one and read the short letter.

  Dear Lianna,

  Thank you for letting me into your home. Not just the bed-and-breakfast, but your life and Henry’s. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay and enjoy it longer. If you should ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

  Reece

  It didn’t say much. It didn’t say anything, except the offer to be in touch. To help. How did a lonely man, clearly in desperate need of a family, get into the business of helping strangers?

  She opened Henry’s letter, and it was more of the same.

  Hank,

  Sorry I had to rush out without saying goodbye. I had an emergency to take care of. If you’d like to contact me, your mom has my information. Hope to see you again someday. Keep asking questions.

  Reece

  Neither said anything particularly groundbreaking or poignant. So why did she feel like crying? Like he was the only one she could trust, when it could be an act.

  It’s some act.

  She looked up at Henry and Reece. Reece made an impressive one-handed grab that had Henry hooting with delight and Reece grinning.

  Yes, he could be acting. She’d learned just how good at acting people could be. But this was all so unnecessary. So over-the-top. Unless he was who he said he was. Unless he really wanted to help them.

  If he was the bad guy in th
is scenario, there were a million horrible ways he could have tried to get information out of her or Henry.

  She couldn’t discount the fact he might be a bad guy with some kind of conscience, but she’d been interrogated before. By men with less...everything. Even the FBI agents, who she had to believe were trying to do the right thing, had been cold and off-putting. Dismissive at times.

  Reece was none of those things.

  You’re really going to trust the guy who carried you away from the bus stop like a sack of mulch? Leave your inn to whoever? Run away? Again?

  A phone rang. Reece pulled his mobile out of his pants pocket. “Montgomery,” he answered, tossing the ball to Henry and then holding up a hand to pause their game.

  Henry busied himself by throwing the ball high in the air and then darting around in an attempt to catch it. Reece’s expression was grim and serious as he gave terse responses to whoever was on the other end.

  When he shoved the phone back in his pocket, his gaze met hers. It was direct, and something shivered through her that wasn’t fear. It was something she couldn’t possibly allow herself to name.

  He walked over to her, digging something else out of his pocket.

  “Our operative at the Bluebird needs backup.” He handed her the keys to his car. “If you want to drive away, that’s fine. Just go. Don’t come back until someone gets in touch with you with the all clear.”

  Lianna blinked. “Wh-what?”

  But Reece had dropped the keys and was already backing into the trees. “If you want to stay, I’ll be back soon.”

  “But—” He was already gone, though. As if he’d simply disappeared like some kind of magical creature.

  Henry stood next to her. “Is Reece in trouble?”

  “No.” Lianna looked down at the keys he’d handed her. She could run away with Henry. They could disappear. He’d given her the means to escape. “I think he’s trying to help us.”

  Henry’s hand slipped into hers. “I think so, too. We should probably wait for him.”

  Lianna took a deep breath. Reece had given her a choice. Stay or go. Trust him or not. Knowing she had no real reason to trust him, probably knowing she didn’t trust herself.

  “Maybe we should.”

  * * *

  REECE WAS SURE Sabrina wouldn’t appreciate backup, but Elsie’s call about what she was seeing on the cameras had made Reece nervous enough to want to make sure.

  Besides, it gave Lianna a chance to make her decision without him there to muddy the Henry waters. Once they dealt with this threat, he’d find her one way or another and make sure she stayed safe.

  He ran through the woods to the Bluebird, the path well enough known to him now that he didn’t even stumble over the stray log or slip in the muddy earth beneath his feet.

  He slowed as he reached the tree line, assessing the situation as he approached. He didn’t hear anything or see anything, so whatever was progressing must be going on inside the house. Which likely meant whoever had sent their man could hear every word.

  Reece edged into the yard, scanning the area around him. Had the man really come alone? Well, why not? He likely thought he was only dealing with a woman and her child.

  Unless they’d figured out who Reece was. Depending on what they’d overheard the night he’d left, it was possible they could make some assumptions. They’d have to have quite the computer guru to get to the bottom of who he was and who he worked for—but if they simply knew he wasn’t who he said he was, and worked for someone, it was enough to potentially go in guns blazing. Depending on what they were looking for.

  Reece moved forward, but stopped short when a man came sailing out of the door, crashing into the porch. The bannister held, but the man didn’t. He tumbled over and fell with a thud on the damp earth below.

  Sabrina followed him. She glared at Reece and flipped her dark braid over her shoulder. “I can handle one guy,” she said dismissively.

  Her lip was bleeding, but other than that, she’d definitely handled him. “Blame Elsie. She called me and said you might be in trouble.”

  Sabrina rolled her eyes. “That one. She doesn’t understand a tactical display of weakness.”

  The man between them on the ground groaned, slowly coming to.

  “What’s the plan with the muscle?” Reece asked.

  “I’ll tie him up. Get Els on the phone and see if she got a real ID. Where’s your quarry?”

  “Left them with the car.”

  “Did you want them to run off?”

  Reece didn’t respond to Sabrina’s question. As far as he was concerned, this mission might be North Star business, but Lianna and Henry were his assignment.

  Sabrina hopped off the porch over the bannister, grinning down at the man she’d beaten. “You picked the wrong lady to screw with, you son of a—”

  She was securing his hands and wrists with zip ties before the man had a chance to even attempt to roll away.

  Reece dialed Elsie, who answered without a hello. “I’m working on an ID. Getting there.”

  “So what do we do with him?”

  “Leave him. Once I get the ID, I’ll send the appropriate cleanup crew. You two need to get out of there. I’m pretty sure the guy sent an SOS to his cronies. They’ll be swarming the place soon as they can. Get back to headquarters. By the time you get here, I’ll have more information to go on.”

  “Got it.” Reece ended the connection. He headed for the door.

  “What are you doing?” Sabrina demanded. “My bike is right there. We’ll ride over to your friend.”

  “Locking up the place.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “It’s her home.”

  Sabrina rolled her eyes. “It looks so sweet and peaceful. Makes my skin crawl.”

  “You’re a strange woman, Sabrina.”

  She grinned.

  Reece did a quick walk-through, turning off lights and unplugging things. He grabbed a few things for Henry and Lianna—his video games, her purse.

  “Ticktock,” Sabrina called from outside.

  Reece sighed. He dead-bolted all but the back door, but used the inside lock to secure it. It wasn’t secure, if someone wanted to break in, but at least he’d be able to tell Lianna he’d done his best. And whatever happened, Elsie had eyes on the inn now.

  He rounded the house and walked back to the front, where Sabrina was waiting on her bike. “You done playing maid?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. “You really going to make me hop on the back of that thing?”

  “Climb on, Montgomery. Don’t be a wuss.”

  Frowning at the bike between her legs, Reece sighed. He’d look like an overlarge oaf on the back, but he supposed that was close enough to what he was.

  He climbed on, then held on for dear life as Sabrina flew out of the yard. He had to clamp his teeth together to keep from lecturing her on safety.

  She flew down the road, then over bumpy grass, cutting through a field to bypass the highway, without getting caught in the woods. As they approached where his car had been parked, Reece’s stomach tensed.

  Lianna had probably taken off and they’d have to track her. Well, he wasn’t going to do that on the back of Sabrina’s motorcycle, that was for sure.

  “Looks like your friend stayed,” Sabrina said over the roar of the engine.

  Not my friend, he wanted to say, but he didn’t. Because that wasn’t the way Sabrina meant it, and it had too many uncomfortable sensations tangling with the needs of the moment.

  He could see the sun glinting off the metal of his car and, as they got closer, Lianna standing in almost the exact position he’d left her. Henry still tossing the ball.

  Reece felt an indescribable pressure inside him. One he couldn’t deal with because they had to get to safety. They had to get
to the bottom of this.

  Sabrina pulled to a screeching halt in front of Lianna and Henry.

  “Whoa,” Henry said with clear awe as he stared at Sabrina and her motorcycle. “Are you a Valkyrie?” At Sabrina’s confused stare, Henry smiled. “You know. Like in Thor.”

  Sabrina laughed. “Something like that, kid.” She turned to Reece, who’d gotten off Sabrina’s death trap at the first opportunity. “Well, I like him.”

  “Yeah, he’s all right,” Reece said roughly, offering Henry a smile. “Meet you at headquarters?”

  Sabrina nodded. Then she glanced at Lianna. “No worries. Prince Charming over here locked up your inn. Can’t promise more goons won’t come, but we’ve got cameras on the place. He can fill you in.”

  Then Sabrina took off, as loudly and dangerously as she’d come.

  Lianna stood stock-still, as if she’d been shocked into some kind of vegetative state. It only broke when Reece approached and spoke.

  “You didn’t leave,” he said, his words rougher than necessary.

  She blinked, then swallowed, looking down at the keys in her hand. “No, I didn’t.” She held the keys out to him, met his gaze. He could see trepidation in the blue depths of her eyes, but she straightened her shoulders with purpose. “I guess you should drive us to this headquarters of yours.”

  He blew out a breath. He didn’t know what had won her over, or if it would last, but it was a step in the right direction. In the direction that would allow him to put all his effort into keeping her safe.

  He took the keys, but instead of letting her drop them into his palm, he closed his hand over hers. “I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you and Henry safe. Everything. Whether you believe that or not, I want you to hear me say it.”

  She stared at him, arrested, but she didn’t tug her hand away. It was small and capable in his large one.

  Reece knew he was letting himself get in too deep. Even if no one else knew it, he was drowning in something he didn’t understand. Didn’t know how to fight, when he’d always known how to fight.

  The fight was all he’d ever had.

  She pulled her hand away, blinked and turned to her son. “Come on, Henry. We’re going on a road trip.”