Katie entered the bedroom and held out coffee in a thermal travel cup, rolling her eyes and wrinkling her nose in acknowledgement of the person on the other end of the phone. Katie and Avery Watkins were like fingernails and a chalkboard. Neither liked the other and both protested loudly when forced together. The situation grew worse after Rena insisted on investing in Katie's shop two years before. But the location and timing turned out to be perfect, and the wilderness store thrived, making them all money.
"No," Rena laughed, "I do not count the trip to DC with you to attend some ambassador's party a vacation. Everything was micro-planned and I didn't get a minute to myself. I didn't even get to see the Lincoln Memorial except from a taxi." Rena shrugged her shoulders toward Katie and took a drink of her coffee as she listened. Then she said, "If I hadn't known better, I would have sworn you were trying to marry me off to his brother, and he was over twice my age. Uncle Avery, I've gotta go now. Katie's waiting on me. I'll be hanging out at the shop today."
"He probably was, you know." Katie sat on the bed and handed Rena a sky-blue Outfitter Dreams tee shirt, once she hung up the phone.
"Was what?" Rena dropped her nightgown onto the foot of the bed and put on the soft shirt.
"Silly! Trying to marry you off, of course. With you busy with a new husband, chances are you would leave your investments in his hands. Avery's a sly old devil."
"Come on, Katie, Uncle Avery is well-off. He doesn't need the pittance he gets from handling my funds. Maybe he fancied himself a matchmaker, or he wants to see me settled down before he gets too old." She changed the subject while pulling on her jeans. "Let's leave early and stop to get some of those cinnamon rolls we like at the bakery. I'm starving."
* * * * *
Travis waited and watched from half a block away, propped against a brick wall. After his call the night before, he'd received a money drop, and then bought a prepaid cell phone as ordered. He also rented a cheap motel room where he showered and slept several hours. The gray advertising tee shirt he bought at the motel souvenir rack fit snugger than he usually wore, but at least it was clean. After a large breakfast at a nearby diner, he felt like a new man.
He spied Katie's dark green SUV as it turned off Main Street and into the side street. She would park in back, as was her habit, to leave the street parking for the daily tourists and shoppers. River Cove was a mid-size town set in a deep curve of the Chattooga River. The white water rapids, easy access to nature trails and rock formations, trout fishing, and good weather in the protected valley made it a year-round tourist haunt for outdoor enthusiasts. Craft and specialty shops, cafés and a couple of good restaurants, and various local businesses lined the southern town's streets.
After allowing ample time for Katie and Rena to open Outfitter Dreams, Travis walked along to the store. A bell sounded as he opened the front door and entered. A few early customers browsed in various areas of the shop and a young store clerk welcomed him right away.
"Hello, sir. May I help you with anything in particular?"
"No, thanks. I met Rena and Katie last night and wanted to take a look around the store. I'll just wander through, if that's all right," Travis said.
"Yes, sir. Just let me know if I can help." The young man turned his attention to the front as the bell announced another customer.
The well-stocked store was larger than it appeared from outside. Travis decided Katie must have knocked down some walls and taken in more than one other shop to hold all the gear. Everything from fishing rods and mountain bikes to camping necessities, and even the apparel needed for outdoor activities, filled various sections.
Two climbing walls in a rear corner were fronted by thick mats. He spotted Rena rigging a young boy with safety ropes and a harness near the smaller climbing wall. He pretended interest in a row of mountain bikes, but couldn't take his eyes from her. Snug jeans hugged her trim thighs and well-rounded hips and the blue tee was just tight enough to emphasize her full breasts.
Rena helped the child get started on the wall then left him in the care of an attendant and a woman, probably the mother from the anxious look on her face.
"Hi," he greeted as she drew near.
"Hi back at you. I didn't expect to see you until later." She smiled up at him. She wanted to tell Travis how good he looked all cleaned up, but decided it might embarrass him.
Relishing her welcoming gaze, Travis reached out a hand to touch hers. "I hope you don't mind me coming by to see the store. I was at loose ends and wanted to see where you work."
"Sure, I'm glad you did." Rena thought she would melt just from the warmth of his hand on hers. "We're super busy and... Well, if you want to help out, we can always use another set of hands," she offered. "Let's go tell Katie you're here, and see what we can do about occupying your time." She had to dial her emotions back a notch to avoid acting like a giggly teen on her first date as they held hands and went searching for her cousin.
Chapter Four
Travis fetched and carried, straightened stock, and followed Rena whenever possible throughout the morning. He received two calls on his cell phone and each time assured the caller the situation was under control. Then at noon he received a third call ordering him to get Rena outside – to take her to lunch – to walk north on Main Street.
"I'm getting hungry," Travis whispered in Rena's ear while she rang up a variety of fishing supplies for a senior couple. "Any chance of us grabbing some lunch?"
"I can go at one or so, after the others get back. But if you're really hungry, go ahead. I'll order in with Katie," she answered in a low voice as she bagged the purchases. She thanked the customers. "Enjoy the fishing. Remember to stay within the limits and have your license available. The game wardens are always making random checks."
"I can wait. One it is." He slid his hand across her shoulder and went to put several pairs of hiking boots back on the shelves.
* * * * *
Travis and Rena held hands as they left the shop and turned north on the sidewalk. He seemed quiet and the tightness of his grip revealed his tension. Rena knew something had changed, but couldn't figure out what – or why.
She glanced up at his face to see his jaw clench and his eyes scan the street constantly, as if he sensed danger, but wasn't sure from where it might come. He gave her a slight reassuring smile when he realized she was watching him, but then his jaw clenched and his eyes roved once more.
As they crossed an intersection with a side street, Rena heard the powerful roar of an engine and a squeal of tires. She saw a dark truck careening toward her, as it spun right at excessive speed off Main Street. Then, forceful hands propelled her forward. Instinctive training from her horse-back-riding and gymnastics days kicked in and she went with the energy instead of fighting it, tucked, and rolled. She banged against a wall with a jolt, but avoided major injury.
"Travis!" She scrambled to her knees, worried for the man who shoved her out of the way and saved her life.
"I'm here – I'm okay. Are you all right? That truck came out of nowhere! Idiot!" He lifted her gently to her feet, and then stared at the blood on his right hand. "You're bleeding. Do you need a doctor?"
She laughed nervously, relieved to be alive. Checking him up and down, Rena decided he was truly unhurt. She checked her left elbow, which must have hit the brick building. "It's just a scrape. I'm fine, really. Needs cleaning, and maybe a band-aid." She accepted a wad of tissues from a shopkeeper in the gathering crowd and held them to the back of her arm.
Katie ran to them and grabbed Rena for a fierce hug. "Nearly scared the life out of me when Tim came in saying a truck ran you down. Don't ever scare me like that again!"
"Travis pushed me out of the way. It would have hit me," Rena explained. She couldn't believe how calm she sounded. She decided she must be in some kind of shock as everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.
Katie let go of Rena and grabbed Travis. "Thank you, thank you, a million times over... I can't lose he
r, I can't..." Katie burst into tears.
Not sure how to handle the sobbing female, Travis gave Rena a look which begged her to do something.
"Come on, Katie. Let's go back to the shop and you can take care of my arm. I'm fine, Sweetie, I'm really all right." She patted and then hugged Katie's shoulders before turning her toward Outfitter Dreams.
Travis trailed the two women, on watch in case the truck came back for another try. Well, he'd burned his bridges now. The anonymous caller would realize he never intended to kill Rena, and instead, he'd rescued her. The immediate problem – he still had no clue who put the hit out on her.
A few minutes later, a police car stopped near them. Travis told Rena, "Why don't you two go on and take care of your arm? I'll talk to them. They can come to the shop if they need more information than I can give."
Rena gratefully nodded and walked with a quiet Katie until they made it safely inside the store. She was beginning to feel the effects of nearly being rundown after all; her knees trembled, and she desperately needed to sit somewhere. There would be some black and blue areas later too.
Travis gave the officers a description of the vehicle and explained what happened. They shook hands and the policeman radioed in a BOLO (be on lookout) on the truck as they pulled away to begin the search. After a careful inspection of the street, Travis took a deep breath and answered his ringing cell phone.
"What the devil was that?" a male voice shouted. "You were paid good money to take care of the girl. If you aren't the solution, then you're part of the problem. Get my drift?"
Thinking fast, Travis decided to make use of this unforeseen opportunity. "It's not enough. The job's worth more than $20,000 – way more. I'm in with her now, and you saw how quickly the tables can turn if I don't get more. And what's the big idea, sending in someone else on my job? No one cuts me out of a deal! Why such a hurry, anyway? Who are you?"
"Who I am is not important. I'm merely a hired man, like you, but I know when to do as I'm told. I'll check with my associate and call you back in two minutes."
The phone rang in less than two minutes. "Another $20,000 will be waiting at the same location, same time, and the job gets done by midnight – or your name goes on the list with hers. Don't disappoint us." The line went dead.
Tucking the phone into his hip pocket, Travis knew he needed to have a serious talk with Rena, soon. Would she hate him for the lies he'd told? Or would she understand, give him another warm smile, and be glad he'd been there to save her?
Chapter Five
The shop remained busy the entire afternoon, which helped Rena and Katie pretend everything was normal as they concentrated on work. Travis sent Tim out to bring in sandwiches for the three of them late in the day, since they missed lunch.
Seated around Katie's desk in a corner of the stockroom, they were almost finished eating when Rena casually asked, "Who are you really, Travis? A bodyguard, or some type of law enforcement?"
He almost choked on the last bite of cheeseburger he'd shoved in his mouth. After a long drink of water, and checking to make sure no one could hear, he tried for a similar calm tone. "This has to remain between the three of us. I'm Special Agent Travis Benchley of the FBI. I was assigned to another case, but discovered someone put a contract out on you from one of our wiretaps. I posed as a down-on-my-luck hit man for hire, and was promised the job if I could quickly make contact. I thought I blew my cover out there today, when the truck came at you. Then the contractor called afterward, and I haggled for more money. I'm supposed to do away with Rena by midnight."
"Are you crazy?" Katie couldn't keep silent, or still, a second longer. "Rena, what are you going to do?" She began to pace in the limited space.
Instead of looking at Katie, Travis met Rena's troubled gaze with steady gray eyes. "Well, I'm not going to hurt Rena, if that's what you think. But, when I don't do the job, whoever wants her dead will send someone else –like they did earlier. This won't stop them, but it did buy us a little time, though not as much as I hoped."
"And then someone will come after you too, won't they?" Rena softly asked. Dag-nabbit, she'd known meeting this man was too good to be true.
"Probably, but don't worry. I've called for backup, and we should have help soon. We also have agents tracing the calls and going through your history for anyone who might have reason to want you out of the way. We just need to take precautions until we find the culprit. If you can think of anyone who wants to cause you harm, it would certainly help."
"Her uncle," Katie volunteered immediately. She wasn't surprised when her cousin stared daggers at her.
"Katie, no!" Rena sounded shocked Katie even suggested such a thing. "I know you don't like Uncle Avery, but he'd never harm me. He loves me and has no reason to."
"Well, they can at least check him out," Katie insisted. "You can't rule out anyone at this point, can you?"
Travis agreed, and then added, "Not even you, Katie. We'll be checking you out too, and your employees – everyone who knows Rena is vacationing here."
Rena jumped up. "Don't be ridiculous. Katie is like my sister. Heavens, this is so..." She looked from Katie to Travis and back again, not believing what was happening and not finding the words to describe it.
Katie didn't seem upset about being on the possible suspect list. "Rena, I'd rather them check us all out than miss one inkling of who it might be. Travis, just let me know what you need from employee records and it's yours. I'll help anyway I can."
Travis stood and stepped forward to place a comforting hand on Rena's shoulder. "Thanks, Katie. I need a list of names and socials on current employees. I'll get headquarters to send a court order to make it all nice and legal. Rena, I need your uncle's full name, any current or recent boyfriends, anyone who knew you were coming here on vacation, and a list of anyone who might have a grievance, real or imagined."
Rena reached up and placed her hand over his. "It's going to be a very short list. I'll work on it before we leave, but we have to work on the float tonight. We only have three more evenings to get ready for the festival."
"Drat! I almost forgot about the darned parade. We have enough volunteers to work on the float, Rena. Maybe you would be safer at the house. What do you think, Travis?" Katie's concern showed on her face.
"Oh no you don't. I took my vacation now to help out through this busy time, and I'm not going to miss any of the fun," Rena insisted.
"You're sure?" At her nod, he told her, "Okay, but we'll need to leave early. I'm supposed to bump you off before midnight, so it would be best if we get you out of sight before then. And you stay near me the entire evening, understood?"
"Understood."
* * * * *
Travis made several phone calls, faxed Rena and Katie's list of employees and possible suspects to his superior, and kept an eye on Rena as she worked. She looked a bit paler than normal, but otherwise seemed all right. For some reason he didn't want to consider yet, her well-being was especially important. He couldn't look at her as just another assignment.
At six o'clock, Katie hung the Closed sign on the front door and the employees emptied the registers. The day's receipts went into a safe in the stockroom, and then the employees clocked out for the day. Finally, Katie locked the back door as Travis scanned the rear alley for any sign of danger, carefully keeping his body between the side street at the end of the alley and Rena.
Unbearable heat poured from the SUV when the doors were opened. Once the motor started, Katie let down the windows then turned the air on full blast. The search for a parking space took longer than the actual drive to the warehouse at the end of Main Street. They joined several others coming from their jobs or day's outings to prepare the floats for the Independence Day parade.
Travis and Rena trimmed styrofoam into specified shapes, painted, hung red, white, and blue fabric swags and added ribbons. Travis even tinkered with the tow motor when it was needed and refused to start. They laughed as they snacked on sandwiches and
homemade cookies during their break.
As they made their way back toward the work area, Rena tripped when her foot caught on the end of a discarded plank. Travis grabbed her waist to keep her from hitting the concrete floor face first. He pulled her back against his strong body, folding his arms protectively around her.
"Thank you," she whispered, tilting her head up to reward him with a sweet smile.
He couldn't refuse the warmth in her beautiful eyes. His head lowered and a brief but passionate caress of his lips crossed hers. Even if she slaps me, this would be well worth it, he decided.
Surprise flickered in Rena's gaze, quickly replaced by desire, and her smile reappeared. She brushed his jawline with her fingertips before stepping out of his grasp.
Chapter Six
At ten-thirty, Travis reminded Rena, "We need to leave soon. I want you hidden away by midnight."
"Let me tell Katie we're going. Do we have transportation? We will be at the house, right?"
"Questions, questions, questions... Are you always so nosy? Don't you trust me?" Travis teased as he took her arm and led her to Katie.
She took his question seriously. "With my life..." Rena whispered. Which was true, but she wasn't sure exactly why – when she didn't really know anything about him.
Katie offered the keys to the SUV, but Travis refused. "I made other arrangements, but thanks." He added in a whisper, "If anyone asks about her tomorrow, just say she left with me tonight for a drive and you haven't seen her since. Then on Friday, report her as missing to the local sheriff. I'll keep her safe, I swear."
"You darned well better!" She hugged Rena and softly pleaded, "Please, be careful. Call me when you can."
* * * * *
The old pickup truck wasn't anything special to look at, but when Travis turned the key, it fired up with a throaty roar. He switched on the headlights and glanced at Rena. Still pale, but holding it together. He drove north out of town, heading deeper into the wilderness of the southernmost foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Carried Away by Love Page 5