“Beautiful night,” she said softly.
“Yes.” He leaned against the porch. They stood for a long time without speaking. From inside, Dave could hear occasional bursts of laughter and muffled voices. “How have you been?” he asked at last.
“Fine. I’m tired, but…I’m getting things done, Dave.”
“Yes.” He turned and looked up at her.
She met his gaze with the light of the newly risen moon playing over her delicate features. He ached all over.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
Her mouth softened into a near smile. “I was hoping that you…I can’t believe you’re actually here.”
“Me either.” He decided to ask what he’d wondered for the last week. “You didn’t ask for me, did you?”
“No.” Her laugh was like music. “I didn’t know you were coming until today. I tried not to show my shock, but Bette’s been needling me a little. She must have seen something in the way I looked at you.”
A warm glow started deep in Dave’s chest. “Lieutenant Wilson said they were desperate. One of the men who should be here broke his leg. The lieutenant arranged it, but I’ve got to be on my best behavior.”
She nodded soberly. “I understand. But we’ll have times to talk, won’t we? Times like this?”
He hesitated. “I hope so.”
“I’ve missed talking to you more than anything, Dave.” She bent toward him and extended her hand. He reached up and took it, enveloping her small, warm fingers in his clasp. Jillian exhaled and looked out over the smooth lake.
He didn’t trust himself to speak. A loon laughed far down the lake. “Listen,” Jillian said. “I haven’t heard that sound in years.”
Behind her, the cabin door opened and Ryan stepped out. Dave released her hand, quickly crossing his arms.
“All right, ma’am?” Ryan asked.
“Yes, thank you.” Jillian glanced over her shoulder at him. “Detective Hutchins is here, too, so I’m safe.”
Ryan stepped forward, but stopped when he caught sight of Dave standing below them. He nodded, and Dave returned the acknowledgment. “I’ll make another round. See you later.”
“Did you want to stay out here for a while, ma’am?” Ryan asked. “I could bring you a chair.”
“No, I think I’ll go in. It’s getting a little chilly.”
Dave heard the door close behind them as he rounded the corner by the woodpile. His heart still hammered. He ran his fingertips over his scratchy cheek, remembering how guilelessly she’d reached for him. The suspension and the weeks of dejection and loneliness—that one moment was worth it all.
EIGHTEEN
The early sunlight sparkled on the water as they set off on Saturday morning. Jillian paddled steadily, reveling in the glory of the day. Her muscles would ache tomorrow for sure, but she didn’t care. She didn’t mind that Dave was in another canoe, either. With Ryan and Jerry, she guided their craft along swiftly, flipping water playfully at Jon and Bette as her canoe glided past theirs. The race was on. Dave’s paddle dove deep below the surface as he helped the Scribners try to regain the lead.
Soon Penny and the Harrises joined the competition, and all three canoes raced toward the far end of the lake with the paddlers laughing and trading good-natured jabs.
“Hey, Bette,” Jillian called across to her friend, “you paddle like a girl.”
Bette hiked her chin up. “You talk big, Goff.”
“Cat fight!” Jon hit the water with the broadside of his blade, sending a shower of water toward Jillian, but her canoe was moving so fast that the splash hit Jerry.
By the time they reached the landing place at the lake’s tip, all of them had slowed down, fighting for each stroke. Dave and the Scribners’ canoe hit the gravel beach first. Jon stood in the bow and crowed, hefting his paddle over his head.
Jerry laughed. “Big buncha kids.”
“Oh, yeah.” Jillian turned to smile at him. “Get ’em away from the law books, and they can really cut loose.”
Dave built a fire on the beach, and they took their time fixing hot coffee and eating sandwiches, raw vegetables and cookies.
As the others finished their coffee, Jillian rose and walked along the shore, stooping now and then to pick up a dry stick. When she’d gone perhaps fifty yards, she swung around to look back. Ryan pulled up two paces behind her.
“Sorry, ma’am. I know you like your privacy, but…”
“That’s okay, Ryan. I’m getting used to it.” She looked toward the woods that came to the verge of the lake, the vast blueness of sky and water. “This is just what I needed.”
“I’m glad we could give it to you.” He looked over his shoulder. “It’s probably not a good idea for you to get too far away from the others.”
“All right.” She turned back and walked beside him. “We’re going up the river this afternoon, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. It will be a tough pull up the stream, and it’s a rocky stretch. We’ll be fighting a swift current, but I don’t think it will take more than an hour to get to the other lake.”
She considered that. “Do you think it’s better to rest a little longer here, or to get to the campsite and set up early?”
“Whatever you’d like, ma’am.”
“Oh, stop it.” She laughed. “You’re in charge on this trip, so forget my office. I left that in Augusta.”
“Well, then, I’d say let’s head upstream,” Ryan said. “If we need to, we’ll have time to portage. Once we’re at our campsite, you can rest or fish or do whatever you want.”
“Okay, let’s go.” As they walked back toward the campfire, she noticed Dave gazing at her. Jillian smiled, and his sober expression at once lifted into one of expectation. In this setting, he was more handsome than ever. His olive-drab shirt, with the sleeves rolled above the elbows, reminded her that Dave had a past in the military. She sent up a prayer of thanks that he had come home safely to the achingly beautiful wilderness of Maine.
Ryan quickly organized the packing of the gear. Jillian filled a pan full of lake water to douse the fire and met Dave at the fire pit as he laid a small pile of kindling nearby for the next campers.
“Hi.” Immediately, she thought how silly that sounded. They’d been within yards of each other all morning, but hadn’t spoken to each other.
“Hello.”
The memory of his gentle touch the previous evening sent a wave of blood to her cheeks. “Is your brother still in Iraq?”
His eyebrows arched. “Yes.”
“Sorry. That wasn’t really out of the blue. I was thinking about him. About…all our troops. And about you being home. I’m glad you’re here and in one piece.”
“Thanks. He’s got three months to go.”
“I’ll keep praying for him.”
“I appreciate that.” Dave’s deep brown eyes lingered on her face.
“Are you ready?” Ryan called from near the water.
Penny, Margaret and Eric had shoved off and were paddling toward the mouth of the stream.
Dave threw her a quick smile and went to join Jon and Bette.
Jillian took her place in the center canoe with Ryan and Jerry. The orders must be followed—Jillian in the middle of the pack at all times. She didn’t mind, though it meant Penny and the Harrises were the first to see the moose that stood in the water up to its flanks, chewing on aquatic weeds. The giant stared balefully at them as they paddled past. Jillian got her camera out in time to snap a couple of pictures.
Ryan was right—the trip upstream was tough but exhilarating. They reached their destination around three o’clock. Jillian and Penny would share a tent, and Jillian insisted they could erect it themselves.
“Wouldn’t want you guys to think I’m helpless outside the office,” she told Jerry.
Twenty minutes later, she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. The tent was large enough to sleep six—and needed about as many people to raise it.
“Hold i
t,” Penny called. Jillian strained to keep one of the poles steady while Penny stretched the material out. The whole thing came loose and billowed down over her. She batted at the dark nylon, laughing as it folded about her.
“Have you ladies had enough?” Dave’s deep voice asked. “I wouldn’t want to barge in where I’m not wanted, but it seems to me you could use some extra manpower.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who said we could do it alone,” Penny retorted. “Get over here!”
“You sure?” Ryan asked.
“If you ever want to see the governor again, you’d better help me get this stupid tent off her.”
The others laughed, but Jillian heard Ryan’s quiet voice close by saying, “Easy, Penny, you’re not supposed to say the G word, remember? We’re just a bunch of friends on a camping trip.”
“Oh, right,” Penny muttered. “Friends carrying guns and keeping watch 24/7.”
Bright sunlight reached Jillian as they lifted the tent off her.
“Thanks, guys.” She smiled at them. “I admit I was overly ambitious.”
“That’s okay,” Jerry assured her. “We enjoyed the entertainment.”
Jillian helped them finish the job, while Margaret and Bette set up their camp kitchen. After supper, she and Margaret cleaned up while the others prepared their tackle for an hour of fishing before sunset.
“You hit the jackpot on handsome security guards.” Margaret grinned at her as she scrubbed the frying pan.
Jillian shrugged and smiled. “They’re great guys. I don’t know Jerry very well—he’s new. But Ryan’s been with me since January, and Dave…” She hesitated, not sure how to describe her nonrelationship with the rugged EPU officer.
“You mean he’s the one?” Margaret stared at her wide-eyed.
Jillian caught her breath. “Margaret! Hush. There was nothing to that. It was a stupid rumor, is all.”
Her friend eyed her sagely. “But you wish there was something to it.”
Jillian glanced toward where Dave patrolled between the tents and the forest. “Please be careful. If you say something like that in Augusta, it could cost him his job. He’s done nothing unethical. Nothing.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed as she followed Jillian’s gaze. “He’s gorgeous.”
Jillian felt her cheeks flush. “Will you stop?”
“What’s he doing on this expedition? I thought there was some disciplinary action.”
“Dave was the officer who briefed me on the investigations of the attempted shootings, nothing more. But someone started a vicious rumor, and he was suspended for a short time and placed on other duties.”
“I repeat, why is he here?”
Jillian sighed. “He’s a last-minute replacement for some poor officer who broke his leg.”
Margaret studied her face. “Are you uncomfortable having him around?”
“No,” Jillian said quickly. Margaret’s immediate smile caused her flush to deepen. “I mean…” Jillian looked toward Dave again. In his wide circuit of the camp, he’d made a loop and was now headed back toward them. “He’s not supposed to have contact with me, but—”
“Even on this trip?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” Jillian shook her head. “No one said anything to me about it. I didn’t even know he was coming. Ryan told me about two hours before we left the Blaine House. But I know Dave is determined not to raise any suspicions this weekend.” She glanced again toward him. He was only a dozen yards away. “Can we please not talk about this now?”
“Sure.” Margaret put the frying pan in the box of cookware. “I guess we’ll need this again for breakfast. What about the food boxes and coolers? We can’t leave them out tonight.”
Dave was close enough to hear her last remark, and he stepped toward them briskly. “That’s right, Mrs. Harris. We’re in bear country. Ryan and I will cache the food containers.”
Margaret looked up at him with a broad smile. “Hi, Dave. Please call me Margaret. No formality on this trip.”
“Okay.” He grinned back, and Jillian looked away before he could turn his endearing smile on her. She would melt if he did. “We plan to anchor a canoe off shore with the coolers in it. It should be calm tonight, so I don’t think there’s any danger of losing our rations to the deep.”
Jillian felt him watching her.
“Are you going fishing?” she asked.
“No, it’s my turn to…stay alert.” He chuckled, and she made the mistake of looking into his eyes this time. She felt as though a bear had come along in broad daylight and squeezed the air out of her lungs.
“Oh. Somebody’s got to, I guess.”
Margaret giggled as though Jillian had said something extremely witty. She picked up her wet dish cloth. “I’m going to hang this on that bush over there to dry.”
Jillian watched her walk away, feeling a rush of panic. Margaret had obviously left them alone on purpose. Last night, with Dave standing below her in the moonlight as she leaned on the porch railing, everything had seemed right. But now, in brilliant sunlight…
“I thought Ryan was my watchdog for the weekend,” she said.
“He is, but since everything’s quiet, we agreed he could go fishing with the others and I’d keep an eye on things until dark. Then we’ll swap off a double guard all night.”
“That’s a lot of trouble for the unit.”
He shrugged. “We’re enjoying it. I should scout around some more, though. Why don’t you go fishing with the rest?”
“I…”
“Don’t tell me you don’t have a license.”
She chuckled and pushed back a stray lock of hair. “I do. Ryan got it for me when he got the fire permits. Maybe I will.” But neither of them moved.
Margaret called from near the Harrises’ tent, “Hey, Jill, did you bring a swimsuit?”
Jillian stared at her. “You’re joking. Didn’t you feel that water? It’s ice cold.”
“Yeah, I’m kidding.” Margaret ducked into the tent.
Jillian looked up at Dave again. His mouth twitched, as though holding back a laugh was major work.
“I’ll see you later,” she said softly, smiling at him.
“Right.” He turned and walked toward the beached canoes.
The next morning, Jillian woke early. Penny’s regular breathing told her the officer still slept, and Jillian was glad. She felt a smidgen of guilt for causing four people to lose the better part of a night’s sleep to make sure she was safe.
The rising sun bathed the tent wall with glowing light, and she rolled out of her sleeping bag. At the end of her air mattress she found her duffel bag and boots, and in a matter of minutes she crept out of the tent and zipped the flap down. Dave crouched at the fire pit, feeding a small blaze, and she walked over and extended her hands toward the flames.
He looked up at her and smiled. “You’re up early.”
“Actually, I’m usually up about this time. I guess you’re on duty.”
He nodded. “Ryan and me. He’s off down the beach.”
Jillian could just see Ryan walking slowly along between the trees and the rocky shore.
“I’ve got the coffeepot ready to go,” Dave said.
She picked it up from beside the woodpile. Dave lowered the metal grill over the fire and she set the pot on it. She pulled over a canvas folding chair and sat on the upwind side of the fire. Dave lingered, poking at the burning logs with a stick.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about Naomi,” he said, not looking at her.
“Oh? I hoped she’d come with us.”
“You invited her, didn’t you?”
Jillian sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking out over the placid lake. “She wanted me to go on a cruise with her, and I told her I couldn’t. But when I thought of a way she and I could have some fun together, she’d made other plans. I feel as though I haven’t paid her much attention lately.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“I have. And I
was hoping this weekend would make up for it. But she’s spending the weekend with some guy she hardly knows.”
His eyes widened. “Do you know anything about him?”
“His name is Jack something.” She scowled, trying to remember the name. “She’s only been out with him twice before this. But the real issue is that I’m not sure she’s happy with her job anymore.”
“She’s tired of living in the Blaine House?”
Jillian pursed her lips as she considered the question. “She likes living there, but I think she’s bored. And she as much as said I haven’t been a true friend. In fact, she hinted that our friendship is one of convenience.”
“Is it?”
“I wouldn’t like to think so.”
Dave broke a small stick in half and dropped the pieces into the fire. “Is she a believer?”
His question struck Jillian’s heart. How many people would ask her such a thing? In the political sphere, most of her acquaintances carefully avoided religious topics.
“I’m not really sure. She sometimes attends church with me, but I think it’s more of a social thing.”
“Wants to be seen with the governor?”
She frowned. “I hope not.”
“How about when you were kids?”
Jillian shook her head. “Her family didn’t go to church. She went a few times with mine. But as much as I hate to say it, she never seemed to want to talk about spiritual things, and…”
“What?” He looked intently into her eyes.
“I never pushed it. I was content to let it slide and figure, either she knew God or someone else would tell her.” Tears welled in her eyes. “How could I know her for more than twenty years and not once sit her down and tell her what Christ did for me?”
He was quiet for a long moment, watching the flames. “Maybe the time hasn’t been right yet.” He looked at her with such sympathy she was afraid she’d lose it.
“What made you think of Naomi, Dave?”
He swallowed hard. “It seems to me that Naomi is the only person who had access to your office the day your computer was compromised, other than the staff.”
A tear rolled down her cheek. She swiped at it with her sleeve. “She said it wasn’t her, but I’ve wondered.” Dave looked at her in surprise. “I don’t know why she’d do it, though.”
Hearts in the Crosshairs Page 15