Harlequin Intrigue January 2021 - Box Set 2 of 2

by Elle James, Nichole Severn

  It had been fast, and yet, he couldn’t imagine her leaving. Couldn’t imagine losing something he’d only just begun to realize he wanted in his life.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Alanna drove slowly through downtown Desparre, taking in the snow-lined streets bracketed by a handful of buildings, looking like a postcard for peace and solitude. She was in a new rental car; her forgiving rental company had apparently lost other vehicles to avalanches. And yes, maybe they’d also been angling for juicy details of the new kidnappings from the mouth of someone whose involvement was still a mystery.

  The police had given a statement to the press first thing this morning. Alanna had watched it in the darkness of her hotel room after a fitful night of sleeplessness. They’d announced Darcy’s arrest and the rescue of the kids. When reporters demanded to know whether Alanna was still at large, the police chief had briskly shared that Alanna was no longer a person of interest, that she hadn’t been involved in the kidnappings. Then she’d left the podium, ignoring the reporters’ follow-up questions.

  Technically, Alanna had been cleared of any wrongdoing. But she knew how this worked. The lack of details meant reporters would be clamoring to talk to her again. They’d start showing up on her doorstep, using creative methods to get into her building, asking invasive questions about her life and her emotions.

  After watching the press conference, it had taken another hour for Alanna to get up the courage to leave the hotel and drive into town. But she wanted to see Desparre once more before she went home. She needed to make one stop before she drove to the airport and left Alaska behind, probably for good.

  When she’d lived in Desparre, she’d only seen the downtown’s main street from the back seat of a car. The Altiers had deemed it too risky to let her or her “siblings” walk around the more populated parts of Desparre, even if “more populated” meant seeing a dozen people.

  The small town was beautiful, comforting. It was similar to the smaller section of streets nearer to the cabin where they’d lived, where she had been allowed to walk around sometimes. In a lot of ways, Desparre still felt more like her home than Chicago.

  But it wasn’t. And it was time to leave again.

  Five years ago, when she’d stepped onto that plane with Kensie, she’d been terrified of what the future held. Terrified to leave behind everything she’d known for most of her life. But deep down, she’d known she’d done the right thing. This time, she wasn’t so sure.

  Yes, the kids were safe. But would it have happened sooner if she’d been more open with the police?

  From the passenger seat, Chance leaned over and nudged her arm with his wet nose.

  When she glanced at him with a fond smile, he gave her a forceful woof, like he knew what was going on in her mind and wanted her to forgive herself.

  Darcy was back behind bars. This time, the woman who’d raised her had refused to see her. The children she’d kidnapped had been taken to the hospital to be evaluated. Their parents were flying in to be with them, joyous reunions that would get the reporters clamoring again.

  They were safe. And they were young enough, the extent of their kidnappings short enough that they wouldn’t attract the same kind of sustained media attention she’d faced.

  There was nothing left for her here, no more guilt-ridden mission to fulfill. No reason to remain in Desparre any longer. If Darcy wouldn’t see her, after everything that had happened, maybe that was for the best. And yet, Alanna felt unsettled, as if she still had unfinished business.

  One last apology, she reminded herself, pulling into the parking lot alongside the Desparre police station. One last goodbye.

  As if he could read her mind—and didn’t like it—Chance gave a soft whine as she opened the door.

  “I’m going to miss him, too,” she whispered softly, realizing what was causing her anxiety. It wasn’t the awkward apology, the thought of all those judging eyes inside the station. She was expecting that; she’d had practice dealing with it. No matter what the official line was, Alanna knew most of the police force was angry with her. For her part in leading them to the site where Darcy had started the avalanche. For going off on her own afterward. For whatever role she’d played in Peter’s decision to come to her aid alone.

  None of those things were making her heart beat too fast, making dread lodge in her chest. It was the thought of never seeing Peter again.

  “We have to do it,” she told Chance, forcing herself to get out of the car. She was grateful there weren’t any reporters camped out at the police station like they’d been at her hotel; she had needed to slip out the service entrance. But why would there be? They wouldn’t expect her to come here.

  She owed the whole station an apology. Her intentions might have been good, but when they’d come to help, someone she loved had tried to kill them.

  She owed Peter an apology most of all. Even though they had never really been anything except reluctant partners in a search for a kidnapper, it felt like they’d created a friendship. It felt like they’d been on the path to something more.

  Chance leaped out of the car to follow her up to the police station the way he’d done the first day she’d returned to Desparre. Had it only been five days ago?

  When they’d arrived, his tail had been wagging at the adventure. He’d strode along beside her, then raced off briefly to pounce in the fluffy snow before returning to her side.

  Today, his tail faced downward and even his chin was angled to the ground. Either he was catching her mood or he was sad to be leaving this place, too.

  “We’ll be home soon,” she tried to reassure him. “You’ll get to play with Rebel.”

  At the mention of Kensie and Colter’s dog, Chance’s tail gave a quick wag, but then he was staring ahead again, intent and serious.

  Alanna took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax. But her usual method for coping with anxiety didn’t work. Instead, she pictured Peter’s face, in turns furious, betrayed and understanding. She could almost feel his long fingers sliding through hers, offering comfort, even as distrust flickered in his eyes.

  What might have happened between them if she had a reason to stay longer? If she’d come here for a different purpose entirely? If they were both different people, him without the trauma of standing too close to a hostage who’d blown herself up, her without the baggage of growing up with people who’d kidnapped her?

  Maybe nothing. Maybe it was their pasts that had drawn them together, made them both understanding and wary of one another. Maybe the same thing that had created the spark between them would have ultimately destroyed it.

  “I guess I’ll never know,” Alanna whispered, pushing open the door to the station.

  The moment she was led into the bullpen where the officers worked, a dozen gazes flicked her way, started to turn back, then fixated on her. Angry, suspicious gazes from officers who’d dug their way out of an avalanche yesterday. Officers who, at minimum, thought she’d wanted a kidnapper to get away and at worst, thought she’d been helping Darcy all along.

  “I’m sorry,” Alanna said, her voice creaking out, little more than a whisper. She cleared her throat and repeated the words, louder. “I came here because I wanted to help. I came here because I thought I knew Darcy. I thought I understood what she’d do and how I could get through to her. I never wanted anyone to be hurt because of me.”

  When the officers just continued to stare at her, none of them making a move to accept her apology, heat pricked her cheeks and she ducked her head.

  Then Tate was beside her, kindness in his eyes and in the hand he put on her arm. “It’s okay, Alanna. It wasn’t your fault. We all know that now.” He shot a quick glance at his fellow officers, who grumbled agreement and went back to their work. “Besides,” Tate added as he bent down to rub Chance’s ears, “you brought along a snow rescue dog.”

 
; She gave him a grateful smile as Chance thumped his tail.

  Tate stood again, looking more serious. “You should come with me, though.” He headed through the station, toward the back, where she’d never been.

  “I was actually hoping to talk to Peter,” Alanna said, as she and Chance hurried after him. “I wanted to say goodbye.”

  “There’s someone who wants to talk to you first.” He gestured to the closed conference room door ahead of him.

  Was Darcy in there? Had she agreed to talk to her after all? But why? And why would the police agree to it?

  Or maybe it was the kids? Or their parents, wanting to know how to help them recover from the trauma of being kidnapped?

  Even though it was part of what she did for a living, this was too personal. She was still too conflicted to offer the support they needed.

  She shook her head, backed up a step, but then Tate pushed the door open for her.

  On the other side of it, the police chief and Peter glanced her way. Then Kensie and Colter were there, hugging her, almost squashing baby Elysia between them.

  Yet again, Kensie had flown across the country for her. This time, she’d brought her husband, five-month-old baby and their dog, too. She’d always been willing to do anything to protect Alanna. From the moment she’d wrapped her in a hug in Luna’s hospital five years ago, Alanna had discovered her big sister always seemed to know exactly what she needed.

  Rebel and Chance barked greetings to each other as Alanna breathed, “What are you doing here?”

  “What are you doing here, sis?” Kensie asked her with a troubled gaze as she leaned back. “Why didn’t you call us? We’d have come with you.”

  Peter looked at the police chief and said, “Let’s give them have some privacy.” The chief nodded and they left the room, keeping the door ajar.

  In a quick burst, Alanna gave her sister and brother-in-law the short, ugly version of what had happened with Darcy.

  Kensie stared at her a long moment, then asked, “What about the cop?” She nodded toward Peter in the other room.

  Alanna glanced at him and blurted, “I owe him an apology.” Kensie and her husband shared a smile over her head.

  Then Colter announced, “Kensie and I came here to bring you home, Alanna. But I think we’re going to spend the night at my cabin. We haven’t been there in more than a year. I want to show the place to Miss Elysia here.” He took his daughter from Kensie, bounced her in his arms and mumbled baby talk to her, then added, “It’ll give you time to make that apology.”

  “But—” Alanna gestured to Peter, staring at her from beyond the conference room with his usual intensity, and Kensie took her hand.

  “This time, when you come home, I don’t want you to have any regrets, Alanna.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “It wasn’t fair of us to think you’d want to leave this whole life behind, just walk away from everyone.”

  “You didn’t,” Alanna interrupted. “You encouraged me to stay in touch with Sydney and Johnny. You tried to help convince Drew’s and Valerie’s parents to let me talk to them. You’ve always supported me.”

  “But I should have understood how hard it was for you to leave the people who’d raised you, too,” Kensie said. When Alanna tried to protest again, she pressed on. “You did a good thing, coming here to help find those kids. I know you’re upset about how it all went down, but that’s not your fault. And I can see that you found something else while you were here.”

  Alanna flushed and tried not to glance at Peter as Kensie winked and added, “Big sisters always know.”

  “It’s not what you think,” Alanna tried to explain. Her connection with Peter was forged from a situation that had ended. It would break as soon as she stepped on that plane.

  “Maybe, maybe not,” Kensie said, finality in her voice, a big sister tone Alanna had always secretly loved. “But years later, I don’t want you thinking ‘I should have, could have…’ So, Colter is right.”

  “Happens sometimes,” Colter interjected, making faces at Elysia as she squirmed and giggled.

  Kensie rolled her eyes at her husband, then hugged Alanna once more. “Don’t do it here. Go see him after work. Talk. Just be honest and at least then, whatever happens, you can move forward. Okay?”

  Alanna nodded, unable to stop herself from glancing at Peter, who’d been staring at her as if he knew he was the subject of their conversation.

  * * *

  ALANNA STARED AT the house in front of her, at the light shining through the curtains, the shadow moving inside. Her engine was still running as she debated whether she could go through with it.

  Alanna could hear her sister’s voice in her head from this morning, telling her she needed closure.

  She’d never be able to have closure with Julian. The same was probably true of Darcy now, as well. It was too late to change either of those things. But she could find closure with Peter.

  It had seemed like a good idea to go to Peter’s house when Kensie had suggested it this morning. But ten hours later, she was having doubts.

  Woof! Woof!

  Chance’s bark startled her and made the curtains part in the house’s window.

  “Chance,” she chided as Peter stepped outside, wearing just jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt in the frigid weather.

  Alanna turned off the engine and got out of her car, an apology already on her lips as Chance leaped out after her.

  “Come on,” Peter said, cutting off her apology and turning back for the house, his expression inscrutable. “It’s cold out here.”

  Chance bounded up alongside him, accepting Peter’s ruffling of the fur on his head before he jumped up the stairs and into the house.

  Alanna followed a little more slowly, nerves building.

  When she stepped inside, he helped her out of her thick winter coat, silent but not taking his gaze from hers. This singular focus made her flush and then he smiled.

  His default expression was always so serious: his lips pressed together, his gaze steady, the sharp lines of his face making him seem even more intense. His was the face of a police officer. But his smile was a little bit crooked, a little bit shy. It made him seem younger, more approachable. It charmed her.

  When he smiled, she could imagine walking beside him, tentatively slipping her hand into his. She could envision the giddy nervousness of a first date, the sweetness of a first kiss and then the smile on his face giving way to a thrilling intensity as he lay with her in front of the fireplace.

  Awareness flickered in his eyes, then he stepped back, giving her more space than she wanted. “Let’s sit by the fire.” He headed that way, tapping his leg, calling, “You, too, Chance.”

  Her St. Bernard hurried after Peter, tail wagging. When Peter sat on the couch, Chance lay at his feet.

  Alanna settled awkwardly a few feet away, angled toward him. She twisted her hands together, trying to remember the words she’d planned out on the drive to his house. But they wouldn’t come and she turned away, her attention snagging on the bare wall across from her.

  “You took down the pictures,” she said.

  “It’s going to make my family happy. They’re going to ask what prompted such a big change.” His hand skimmed hers, then he shifted closer until they were sharing a seat. “I’ve been focusing on the wrong things. You taught me that.”

  “What? I did? How?”

  The smile was back, amused now, less self-conscious. But those bright blue eyes were still laser-locked on hers, practically hypnotic. “You’ve had to make a lot of hard choices. Pretty much everyone around you—all these people who love you—they expect something from you. I see you trying to do right by all of them. I see you putting your own needs last. And honestly, with all the reasons you have to hate some of the people involved, you always seem to choose love.
”

  Alanna shook her head, blew out the breath she’d been holding. Was that really how he saw her? She wished it were true. “I try to be fair to everyone, but it doesn’t always work. It feels like I let people down a lot.”

  “You don’t—”

  “I let you down,” she interrupted, flipping her hand over to squeeze his, trying not to fixate on how perfectly his hand seemed to fit with hers. “I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have run off without telling you where I was going. I shouldn’t have forced you to make a decision that would hurt your career.”

  “I made my choice,” he said, confirming what she’d suspected—his career as a police officer was in danger. “And I’d do it again.” He lifted her hand, his breath dancing over her skin as he whispered, “If only we didn’t live across the country…” Then he pressed his lips to her knuckles.

  It was the briefest touch, but it made her skin tingle and her whole body warm.

  “I wish…” Her voice came out so soft she wondered if he could even hear it.

  He shifted even closer, pressed against her from knee to shoulder. “What?”

  When she’d lived in Desparre, she’d been sheltered, isolated. She’d barely had the opportunity to talk to people outside of her own home. She’d certainly never dated.

  When she’d returned to Chicago, Kensie had encouraged her to get out, meet people, join activities. She’d dated sporadically, but it had always felt awkward, tinged with a voyeuristic curiosity about her kidnapping on their part. She’d never developed a real connection with any of them.

  Sitting next to Peter felt natural. It felt like she was supposed to be here. And now she was leaving again.

  She didn’t realize a tear had spilled from one eye until Peter swiped it away. His warm hand stayed on her face, turning to cup her cheek, stroke down the length of her neck. All the while, he never took his eyes from hers.