Markos Kovac walked away as they approached. Blake winked at Heidi as Maggie ran toward him, holding out the s’more she’d made for him. “Here, Daddy!”
“Mmm.” He chewed for a few moments. “You nailed it!” He gave Maggie a high five.
“I’m gonna see if Papa wants me to make him one.” She ran toward Jeffrey, leaving Heidi and Blake munching on their treats.
The wind shifted and blew smoke over them. Heidi blinked hard as her eyes watered. She forced herself not to run.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she lied. “I’m going to walk around and then check on things inside.”
Blake frowned. “It’s turned into a nice evening. Sure you don’t want to stay out here?”
Heidi coughed in the smoke. “Duty calls.” She tried to look disappointed as she put more distance between herself and the flames.
“Wait.” Blake jogged to where she stood. “I’ll come with you.”
“No, you stay out here, enjoy the party. I want to hear all about it later,” she said with a nod toward Markos Kovac.
“Why don’t we walk toward the creek and I’ll tell you about it now?” He held out his arm.
Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea.
So why did her hand rest in the crook of his arm as he led her deeper into the forest? She took in some deep breaths. She could still smell the smoke, but the fresh air under the canopy of trees helped ease the tightness in her chest.
When they reached the creek, Blake turned to her. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re skittish. I’ve never seen you rattled. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Sorry, Z,” Max said through the earpiece. “You’re on your own. I’ll check back in later.”
She gulped. How was she supposed to handle this? “There’s nothing.” She shrugged and tried to laugh off his concern.
“I’m not buying it.” Blake stood with his arms crossed and even in the moonlight, she saw the worry lining his features. “Don’t try to protect me, Heidi Zimmerman. I’m past pretending everything is hunky-dory. If my family’s in danger—”
She put her hand out to stop the escalating tirade. “There’s nothing going on related to this—” She caught herself. The reason for her fear had everything to do with the Kovac family. Saying it wasn’t related to this case wasn’t true. Her past was the whole reason she was on this case.
“You promised,” he said, his tone censuring her. “How can you expect me to trust you when you won’t tell me what’s going on?”
He didn’t trust her? A lonely ache sizzled around the edges of her heart, but she forced it back. Why should she care what he thought? He had no idea how hard this night had been for her. None. And yet he stood there, demanding an explanation? No. Not this time. “It’s personal.”
She might as well have slapped him.
He backed away. “I’m sorry I pried.” His tone could have frozen lava. He stalked off, back to the party, leaving her standing by the creek. Alone.
What should she have said? That spending weeks in a burn unit will make a person skittish around open flame? That if he’d had half of his body broiled, he wouldn’t be a fan of bonfires, either? That the scars on her body, as horrible as they were, didn’t compare to the scars seared into her psyche?
Or that the man responsible was the same one Markos Kovac called Uncle?
No. Better he didn’t know. Their friendship had been drifting toward something that could never be.
Better if it ended now, before anyone got hurt.
Although the pain scorching her heart told her it might be too late.
ELEVEN
One Month Later
Heidi tossed the file on the coffee table and fell into her favorite chair. She pulled the earpiece from her ear and dropped it on top of the file.
Max flopped onto the sofa. “How are you doing this? There is no way I could get up in three hours and work a full day.”
“I don’t have a choice. I know it’s here, Max. I know it. I haven’t found it yet, but there’s something here.”
“Where else is there to look?”
He had a good point. She knew the process at HPI better than most of the people who worked there. She was on a first-name basis with their raw material suppliers and all their regular customers.
She knew every employee far better than they would like. She knew whose marriages were failing, whose credit was overdrawn, whose kids were on drugs and even whose cancer diagnosis was about to become public knowledge.
But she still didn’t know what Markos was after, or why he was targeting the Harrison family.
“We need some time in the house.”
TacOps had hoped to get in while the Kovacs visited family over the Christmas holiday, but two burly men appeared at the house ten minutes before the Kovacs left for the airport. At least one of them remained in the house the entire time.
Max groaned. “I know. Last I heard, Richards is working up a plan to stage a chemical spill or something and force an evacuation.”
Heidi hated the idea, but she didn’t have a better one.
Max kicked off his shoes. They sat in silence for a few minutes. “Z, I have to ask.”
She didn’t open her eyes. “What?”
“Do you need a break?”
The concern in his voice was genuine and she didn’t blame him for asking. She’d have done the same. “Not yet.”
“You’ve been here for ten weeks.”
“I spent two weeks in New York last month.”
“Following the Kovacs as they traipsed all over New York State for the holidays isn’t what I’d call a break. I’m worried about you.”
“This isn’t my longest undercover assignment. Not even close.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t need a few days to relax. I can keep an eye on things—”
“No.”
“Why not? It’s easy enough to justify to everyone at HPI without blowing your cover. A family emergency? Or a long-planned vacation? We can get you out for a few days without anyone being suspicious.”
“Not yet.”
“Z? You’re getting too close to this. To all of it. To the people, the Harrisons. Especially Blake.”
“He’s trying to help.”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”
“I’m a professional, Max.” She wished he would drop it. After their disastrous conversation at the Christmas party, she’d expected Blake to keep her at a distance. She’d been shocked when the opposite occurred. She had no idea why, but Blake Harrison seemed to have made it his mission in life to be kind to her. At first, she’d been suspicious. Her training taught her to always suspect an ulterior motive.
But so far, the only thing she’d been able to conclude was that Blake Harrison was one of the most decent men she’d ever had the pleasure to know.
“No one is questioning your professionalism. I’m not just your partner, I’m your other best friend, in case you’ve forgotten. I see what’s happening whether you do or not. He’s falling in love with you, and I’m not sure the feeling’s not mutual.”
“We’re just friends.”
“For now.”
“Forever.”
“Famous last words.”
*
Four hours later, Heidi opened her office door. In the center of her desk sat a china saucer with a delicate teacup filled with tea. Still steaming.
She scanned the room before walking to her desk. She dropped her bag into the bottom drawer and turned on her computer before she wrapped her hands around the teacup and inhaled deeply.
One tiny sip confirmed what she’d already known. He’d nailed it. Perfection in a cup. Most people had no idea how to brew a decent cup of tea. Blake hadn’t either, but he’d been pestering her since Thanksgiving to show him how she liked it.
A few more sips and she’d be able to face the rest of this cr
azy day.
The creak of his office chair alerted her to his approach. One, two, three, four steps and the light rat-a-tat on her door followed.
“Come in.”
No amount of training or professionalism could have stopped the smile she knew stretched across her face when he poked his head through the door. “Thank you.”
His smile mirrored hers. “Good?”
“Perfect.”
He winked and his smile turned smug before fading as he studied her. “Everything okay?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You know why.”
How did he know she’d been out last night? “Yes, I do know. The question is, how do you?”
“I’m a light sleeper.”
No way they’d woken him. She and Max could walk right up to his house and he’d never know it.
“I don’t make noise.”
“No. You don’t. Which is a little freaky, by the way. But my bedroom window faces the cabin. When lights come on in the middle of the night… I know two plus two equals trouble.”
She took another sip. “Only when I’m around.”
“Trouble darkened our world before you arrived, Heidi. You’re the one bringing the light. Don’t ever forget that.”
His phone rang and they both groaned.
“Bridget.” They said the name at the same time and with the same level of exasperation. That woman never missed an opportunity to interrupt them whenever they were alone together.
“Thank you for the tea,” Heidi said as Blake turned back to his office.
“Thank you,” he said, “for last night, and the night before, and a week ago.”
Wow. He had been paying attention. He also left the door between their offices open, making it easy for her to hear him.
She could picture him as he entered his office, returned to his seat and answered Bridget’s call with thinly veiled annoyance. He chuckled as he replaced the phone. Then he drew in a long breath and blew it back out before his fingers flew over his keyboard.
She leaned back in her chair.
Friends made friends tea. Right? Not that Max had ever bothered to learn, but he had no problem with day-old coffee. He couldn’t be counted on to appreciate the art form.
After Heidi had invited all the Harrison ladies over for tea one Saturday, Maggie had become enthralled with the whole process. They’d had tea every Saturday since. She’d assumed Blake’s insistence on learning to brew a “proper cup of tea,” which he always said with a dreadful fake British accent, had been for Maggie’s benefit.
Maybe she’d been wrong about his motivation.
Blake poked his head into her office. “Sorry to bother you, but Maggie would like to know if you’ll be attending her basketball game Saturday.”
Maggie wanted to know, did she?
“It’s up to you.”
Blake shrugged. “I hate to ask you to give up your Saturday morning, but I can’t deny it makes me feel better, safer, when you’re there.”
Better? Or safer?
“It’s not a problem. I’ll be there.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up at nine-thirty so we can ride over together.” He gave her a quick smile before leaving the office.
Going to Maggie’s games, having the Harrison ladies over for tea, all fit into the framework of her mission. She was able to provide security, and she was learning a lot about the personal side of the business and the family thrust into this drama through no fault of their own.
These people had become friends. Good friends. She would miss them when the case ended, but she’d be forever thankful she’d had the opportunity to spend this time with them.
Max’s insinuation about her feelings for Blake squirmed through her brain but she forced them away. She was still in control.
Wasn’t she?
*
Blake Harrison tapped on Heidi’s door at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Funny how he no longer thought of it as the cabin, but as Heidi’s house. She answered wearing jeans tucked into boots, a long sweater and the often-present scarf.
As they walked to his car, he had to ask. “What’s with the scarves?”
“What?”
“The scarves? You wear one almost every day. You take it off when you’re around moving equipment, but then you put it right back on.”
“What’s your problem with scarves?” She laughed as she slid into the front seat of his car and he closed the door after her. By the time he got behind the wheel, she and Maggie were planning the menu for this afternoon’s tea and the issue of scarves was dropped.
Until an hour later as they watched Maggie play her heart out.
“You never answered my question,” Heidi said.
“What question?”
“What’s your problem with scarves?”
She jumped to her feet and let out a piercing whistle when Maggie scored. She was really good for a five-year-old. Of course, it helped that the goal wasn’t much taller than she was.
As Heidi sat back down, Blake nudged her with his elbow. “I never said I had a problem with them. I asked you why you wear them all the time.”
She had a mischievous gleam in her eye when she answered. “I’ll show you later.” She fiddled with the scarf as she turned her attention back to the game. “You won’t like it.”
Heidi excused herself several times during the game. She’d told his mom and Caroline that crowds made her uncomfortable and she got claustrophobic sitting squished with everyone. At first, he’d assumed she’d made that up to give her an excuse to walk around and scan the area for anything suspicious.
But he’d begun to see how often she spoke the truth, even as she twisted it to suit her purposes. Like with the claustrophobia. That might be a bit of a stretch, but she had told him when they’d first met about how much she hated crowds. She wasn’t lying to them, but she was leaving out the part about wanting to make sure there wasn’t a madman lurking in the hall waiting to blow the place up.
Same with her knitting. She’d told him it made it easier for her to sit in a crowd if she had a few sharp objects in her hands. Her mom and sister, and even Maggie, thought nothing more of it than that she loved to knit. She pulled her knitting out in all sorts of random places, and did it often enough that no one gave it a second thought. Which was the whole idea.
He enjoyed being able to see beneath the facade to the real person underneath. He’d pushed her too far the night of the Christmas party and she’d slammed the door in his face. He should have left it closed. He’d planned to.
Then she’d taken off to keep tabs on the Kovacs over the holidays. Every day he’d paused at the door to her office, every night he’d check for lights in the cabin. By the time she’d returned at the first of the year, he’d given up on the notion that he would stay out of her way and let her do her job. Something about her kept him coming back for more.
The real Heidi fascinated him and he’d found it impossible not to keep digging.
He prayed he wouldn’t live to regret it.
*
Three hours later, he knocked on her door. The scent of blueberry scones wafted through the screen. His favorite. While he had never been invited to tea—It’s for the ladies, Daddy, Maggie had informed him—he enjoyed sampling the menu.
“Come on in, it’s open.”
He followed the sound of her voice into the kitchen. “Smells amazing.”
She grinned. “Where’s Maggie?”
“She’s been at Caroline’s this afternoon working on something I’m not allowed to see.” He didn’t know why he didn’t mention he had a birthday coming up. “I’m just here for the food.”
“Ah.” Heidi nodded.
“You know what they’re up to, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar.”
She shrugged. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks.” She stepped behind him and he heard the refrigerator door open. The next thing he knew, he h
it the floor. Her scarf was wrapped around his throat. Not tight, but tight enough.
His body reacted before his brain caught up. He kicked his leg out and swept her feet out from under her. She released the scarf as she landed on her rear.
She was back on her feet in seconds, her eyes wide with shock. “You knocked me down!”
“I’m sorry.” He couldn’t believe he’d done that.
“That’ll teach me to forget about that black belt. You’ve got skills.” She laughed as she unwound the scarf from his neck. “Sorry I caught you off guard, but that’s kind of the idea.”
She offered him a hand to pull him up, but then stepped back. “Are you angry?”
“Of course I’m angry.” He could see the confusion, and even some hurt as it spread across her features.
“You did ask why I always wear them, so I figured I’d give a demonstration. I thought you would think it was funny. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing to me?”
“I attacked you with a scarf and you’re angry about it. Shouldn’t I apologize?”
“I’m not angry at you.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be upset about me taking you down. It’s my job to be able to. I’ve spent a lot of time training for it and—”
“I don’t care about that,” Blake said. Maybe he did, a little. “I can’t believe I kicked you. I don’t go around kicking women.”
“You didn’t kick me. You executed an impressive sweep. Which I wasn’t expecting and landed me on my rear. I’m fine, Blake. No harm, no foul.”
“I could have hurt you.”
She studied him, her green eyes almost disappearing beneath her furrowed brow, then she sat down on the floor in front of him. “Let’s get one thing clear. You were not trying to hurt me. You were defending yourself. And you did it well. If you weren’t upset, I would say we need to do this more often.”
Was she out of her mind?
“We’ve been dealing with the drama of the unknown for almost three months. At this stage in an operation, it’s hard to stay focused, to stay on guard, especially since there haven’t been any attacks lately. It’s more important than ever that we stay sharp. We have to be ready for whatever comes at us.”
Love Inspired Suspense June 2015 - Box Set 2 of 2: Exit StrategyPaybackCovert Justice Page 50