“Hello?” Tessa said reluctantly. She didn’t really want to speak with Logan, but she knew there was no way to avoid it. Pandora’s box had been opened, and all kinds of horrible things were flying out of it.
“How are you doing this morning?” Logan asked.
“I’m still alive,” she said.
Logan didn’t laugh.
“Good. That’s what we want. That’s our goal and our focus. You understand that, right, Tessa?”
“I’m not a child, Logan. You don’t have to pat me on the head and tell me what a good job I’ve done in order to keep me cooperating.”
“That wasn’t my intention,” he said, then sighed. “Okay, maybe it was, but you gave Seth some good information. I need more.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Andrew was kidnapped during the massacre?”
“Yes.”
“His body was found a few days later?”
“No. His body was found two years later.” She’d been in the States by then, already aware of what he’d done. She hadn’t mourned him. “Based on the condition of his remains, the police theorized that he’d been killed within days of the massacre.”
“The medical examiner positively identified the remains?” Logan pressed.
“No. It wasn’t possible. His body had been buried in a shallow grave and dug up by animals. There were only a few bones remaining, but his wallet was there and the shirt he’d been wearing.” Bile filled her throat at the words, and she swallowed it down. She hadn’t mourned Andrew, but she wouldn’t have wished his fate on her worst enemy.
“Convenient,” Seth muttered.
“So,” Logan said, oblivious to the comment, “it’s possible your brother-in-law is alive.”
Her heart jumped at his words, her stomach churning. No way could Andrew be alive.
“Tess?” Logan pressed. “Is it possible?”
“No.
“There is no hard evidence that he’s dead, though, right?
“His wallet—”
“Anyone could have put that with the remains. Even him.”
Could Andrew have survived?
She didn’t want to think so. Didn’t want to even consider it, but she couldn’t stop wondering, imagining, thinking about what it would be like if he had survived.
“Tessa?” Seth touched her hand. “You okay?”
She wasn’t, but she nodded.
“If Andrew survived, he’s the only one who knows it,” she finally managed to say.
“How many other people survived?” Logan asked.
“Ninety villagers. One missionary.”
“Do you know the name?”
“Anna Goodwin. She’d only been there for a couple weeks before the massacre.” The night of the murders, Tessa had found Anna stumbling from her hut and had nearly carried her from the village, darkness pressing around them.
If she let herself, she could still hear Anna’s screams. Hear the sobs of the mothers and fathers and children they passed by. Still smell the coppery scent of blood that had seeped into packed earth and stained the ground.
She gagged, handing the phone to Seth. “I need some air.”
She yanked the truck door open and tumbled out into the cold, her brow beaded with sweat, her face hot.
She heard Seth’s door open and close, knew he was following as she made her way to the clinic.
He snagged the back of her coat before she reached it, tugging her around and into his arms.
He felt warm and strong and so much more familiar than she wanted him to be.
“It’s okay,” he murmured against her hair.
She stood there for a moment, inhaling his scent, absorbing his warmth. It felt good.
Too good.
She stepped away, smoothing her hair, hoping Seth didn’t notice the way her hands trembled. “I need to get Bentley.”
Seth tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers calloused and rough but his touch as warm and light as a summer breeze. “Logan is going to meet us at your place. He needs more information. The best thing you can do is give it to him.”
“I will.”
“Good.” He smiled gently and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Now, let’s go get that giant mutt of yours.”
“He is not a mutt,” she protested, and he chuckled, the sound chasing away some of the horror and sadness that thinking about Kenya always brought.
The clinic door opened, and Amy stepped outside. “Are you two planning to stay out here all day, or are you coming in to get Bentley? Because I’m pretty sure he knows you’re here. He’s been whining and scratching at the kennel door for five minutes.”
“We’re coming,” Tessa replied quickly, breaking away from Seth and going to the door. Bentley she could deal with. Seth she wasn’t so sure about. If she stayed in his arms too long, if she thought too much about how it felt to be there, she might never want to leave.
“I was expecting you earlier,” Amy said in her normal blunt fashion. She’d pulled her dark hair into a bun at the back of her head, and her glasses were perched on the end of her nose. She looked more like a schoolmarm than a veterinarian. “It’s a busy day, so we’ll have to hurry up.”
“I’m sorry about the delay. I’ve been dealing with...trouble.”
Amy glanced at Seth and scowled. “I can see that.”
“Not him!”
“Sure. When there is a man involved it’s always trouble. I learned that the hard way. Come on.” She led them past a receptionist’s desk and into the kennel. “Bentley is doing well. His hip is healing nicely. No running for the next few weeks, and I’ll want to see him the day after tomorrow.”
“That’s fine,” Tessa replied, and a dog howled frantically in reply.
“I think that might be your cherished family member,” Seth offered as they rounded a corner and walked through an aisle lined with kennels.
“He can’t help it that he’s loud. He has a big voice to go with his big body.”
Seth laughed, the sound shivering along her spine and lodging deep in her heart. It filled an empty spot that she hadn’t realized was there, offered more than she’d been looking for. More than she’d thought she would ever have again.
“All right, you beast. You’re free,” Amy said affectionately as she opened Bentley’s kennel.
The dog lunged toward Tessa as if his life depended on getting to her, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, his one good ear perked up with excitement.
Tessa crouched to greet him, rubbing his knobby head, and accepted his slobbery kisses.
“All right. Enough.” She nudged him back and hooked him to the leash that Amy offered. “Thanks for taking care of him, Amy.”
“It’s my job. Besides, I like the big lug. You’ve already paid in full, so I’ll let you three show yourselves out. I have patients waiting.” Amy hurried away, and Seth took Bentley’s leash.
“Let’s get out of here. Logan is probably already waiting at your place.” He pressed his hand to her lower back, and Tessa could feel his palm through her coat and shirt.
They walked out of the clinic that way, and if Tessa hadn’t known better, if she’d been standing on the outside looking in, she’d have thought they were a couple. Two people picking up their beloved family pet together.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she couldn’t deny how wonderful it was to have someone to lean on. Someone beside her. After so many years of facing her fears and troubles alone, she had someone who wanted to face them with her.
It was a heady feeling. One she could give into completely if she let herself. But she didn’t want to let herself. She didn’t want to be heartbroken again, forced to create something out of the ashes of her dreams again.
“Don’t look so scared, Tessa,” Seth said as he opened the truck door. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“I’m not worried about something happening to me,” she responded, her voice huskier than it should have been.
“You should be,” he responded as he slid his arms under Bentley’s stomach.
“Don’t! You’re going to wreck your shoulder. Let me get him.” She put a hand on his arm, his biceps bulging beneath her fingers as he did exactly what she’d told him not to. “I told you—”
“It’s already done. So how about you climb in and we get moving?” he grumbled, his eyes flashing with irritation, pain or, more likely, both.
“Fine, but as your physical therapist—”
“In case I haven’t made it clear,” he cut in, “I’m not all that interested in having you as a physical therapist.”
“You need rehab,” she protested as she climbed into the truck.
“There are other things I need, too,” he said.
She didn’t plan to ask him what those things were.
She thought she probably already knew.
She grabbed the door handle, planning to pull it shut.
Seth held it open. “Aren’t you going to ask what they are?”
“No.”
“Chicken.”
“I think we’ve already established that.”
“Then, maybe it’s time we establish this.” He leaned down, his lips brushing hers so gently, she barely felt them, and yet they were all she could feel, all she knew. Just that moment, that brief touch. It made her want to move closer, it made her want more than she should.
Need more than she thought she could ever have.
It was the path to destruction, but she couldn’t seem to pull away. Not when his hands slid down her arms. Not when they were palm to palm, fingers entwined. Not when Seth tugged her closer, made her forget every reason why she shouldn’t be in his arms.
A car pulled into the parking lot, the roar of the engine cutting through the moment.
Seth broke away, his breathing uneven, his eyes blazing.
“I’m not going to apologize,” he said gruffly, closing the door and rounding the car.
He met her eyes as he slid behind the wheel.
“I won’t the next time, either,” he said.
Next time?
Did he really think there’d be one?
Did she?
Did she want a next time?
Bentley whined, his dark head resting on the backseat.
She turned, murmuring to the dog and hoping that Seth would start the engine, take off and not say another word about the kiss, or his feelings on the subject.
She had enough to deal with.
She didn’t need to throw a relationship on top of it.
Her life had been routine and mundane, exactly the way she liked it. Now, it seemed to be chaos. And right in the middle of it all was Seth. The calm in the midst of the storm. Even with his sweet kisses and his gruff commands.
She clenched her fists, absolutely refusing to meet his eyes.
“Logan is waiting. Shouldn’t we go?” she prodded, but Seth didn’t start the engine.
“You can’t avoid looking at me forever,” he chided.
“I can try,” she muttered, but she met his eyes, her breath catching. “We do have to go.”
“I want to make sure that you know this isn’t over.”
“This?”
“Us. Whatever we have, it’s something I’m not planning to run from.”
“I...”
“No need to comment, Tessa.” He backed out of the parking spot and pulled onto the road, a look of determination on his face.
She should have told him that they didn’t have anything. That they would never have anything.
But she didn’t believe it herself, and she wouldn’t lie. Not to him, and not to herself.
There was something between them, and it seemed to grow every time they looked into each other’s eyes. She couldn’t deny it, but she couldn’t put a name to it, either.
Not now.
Maybe not ever.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the moment and allow herself to imagine—just for a while—that things could work out with Seth Sinclair.
FOURTEEN
Logan was leaning against the porch railing when they arrived at the house. Hat in hand and scowl on his face, he looked about as happy to be kept waiting as Seth was to be bringing Tessa back to her place.
He wanted her in the safe house under lock and key.
Based on her silence during the ride, he’d say she wasn’t all that interested in what he wanted. The kiss had changed things between them—there was no doubt about that. He didn’t regret it, but he wasn’t going to let it get in the way of keeping her safe, either.
He pulled into Tessa’s driveway and parked behind her Mustang. “I’ll come around—”
She didn’t give him a chance to finish.
She was out of the truck, cajoling Bentley to try to get him to get out before Seth even opened his door.
He jogged to her side of the vehicle and nudged her out of the way. “I’ll get him. You go inside.”
“I can—”
“Tessa, you’re out in the open. You may as well just pin a target to your shirt,” he cut in.
“He’s right,” Logan agreed, taking Tessa’s arm and hurrying to the house. “Until we figure out what’s going on, we can’t be too careful.”
They disappeared inside the house, and Seth turned his attention to Bentley. The mutt licked his hand, but didn’t budge.
“Come on, dog. You’re home. Let’s go.” He reached into the backseat, his shoulder straining as he maneuvered the dog out the door and set him on the ground.
Bentley’s tail swished, but he didn’t seem eager to move.
“Let’s go.” Seth gave the leash a light tug, and Bentley lumbered toward the house, his nose raised as he sniffed the air. They were a yard from the porch step when he stopped in his tracks and growled deep in his throat. Hackles raised, he lunged toward the back of the house.
Seth let him have the lead, running through the backyard and up the hill that led into the woods.
Someone shouted behind him. Logan maybe, but he didn’t want to take the time to answer. If the perp was up on the hill again, he planned to find him.
“Seth! Hold up!” Logan called.
This time there was no ignoring him.
“Move faster!” Seth barked, following Bentley onto a path that led through the thick pine forest. A half a mile in and Bentley didn’t slow, his one good ear standing straight up as he pursued the trail.
Logan raced up behind them, his heavy breathing joining Seth’s in breaking the stillness of the forest. “What’s going on?”
“Bentley went crazy when he got out of the truck. He scented someone. I think it’s our guy.”
“Or it could have been a deer, a cat, a kid.”
“No way. He’s out here. I can feel it.” The energy was there, the feeling that somewhere just out of sight, someone was watching. He’d felt it hundreds of times in Afghanistan, and he couldn’t ignore it.
They ran another mile, cresting the rise of the hill and following it down to the river. Bentley slowed, sniffing at the underbrush, the tension easing from his body. Finally, he sat on his haunches, shook his head and looked as if he planned to stay there awhile.
“Looks like he lost the trail,” Logan said as he scanned the area. “I’m going to look around. There are a couple of dirt roads that bisect these woods. It’s possible he drove in and walked the rest of the way.”
“Sounds good. I’ll head south.”
It wasn’t Seth’s first choice but the thought of Tessa alone at the house, made him nod. “I’ll head back. Keep me posted. Come on, Bentley. Let’s go home.”
The big dog lumbered to his feet, limping slightly as they walked back the way they’d come. Tessa wouldn’t be happy that Seth had let the dog run pell-mell up the hill.
Seth wouldn’t be happy if something had happened to Tessa while he was out on the trail.
He frowned, anxiety crawling along his spine.
What better way to get to someone than to distract the people protecting her? It was security 101. Never leave your client unprotected.
He had.
Logan had.
For all either of them knew, the perp had circled around and headed back to the house.
The thought left him cold, and he tightened his grip on Bentley’s leash, breaking into a sprint as they barreled down the hill toward Tessa’s house.
* * *
Tessa spread several blankets on the floor in front of the fireplace, tossed an oversize pillow down with them and stood back to survey the bed she was making for Bentley.
He’d love it, but she wanted to keep adding blankets and pillows. Not because Bentley needed them, but because she needed to keep busy. Seth and Logan had run off twenty minutes ago, and she hadn’t heard a word from either of them since. Plus, they had her dog. If she hadn’t been so afraid, she’d have gone looking for them, and when she’d found them, she would have let them have it for allowing Bentley to run after he’d just had surgery.
She was afraid, though.
Terrified.
The old house groaned as she walked into the kitchen and filled the teakettle. She’d heard the same creaking sigh hundreds of times before and thought nothing about it. Now, it sounded sinister. Like footsteps in the attic. Stealthy movement at the top of the stairs. Her heart raced at the thought, her stomach sick with terror.
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