K-9 Hideout

by Elizabeth Heiter

  She could see his reflection in the shiny metal, the stern set of his jaw, the stiffness of his posture, the seriousness in his gaze. But his fingers slid back and forth over her knuckles, a soothing caress she wasn’t sure he was aware he was giving.

  As the numbers on the elevator readout counted down, Sabrina tilted her head and rested it against Tate’s arm. She breathed in his familiar sandalwood scent and closed her eyes, trying to mentally prepare for the weekend ahead.

  The idea of spending any romantic time with Tate—even if it was pretend—made her pulse quicken. But it couldn’t eliminate the building fear.

  Adam was still out there, still obsessed with her and presumably still willing to kill anyone who got in his way.

  Her hand clenched reflexively in Tate’s as the elevator dinged and came to a stop.

  “You okay?” Tate whispered as the doors slid open.

  “Yes.” She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, leading him through the lobby. “Let’s do this.”

  “Hang on a second,” he said, tugging on her hand just as they stepped outside. With a sudden grin, he pulled a cap from his back pocket, showed her the logo for a police K-9 training facility. “I got us a nice, secluded cabin where you’ll be able to see the mountains and water, and even a glacier. But this is still Alaska, not New York City.” He settled the cap on her head, then nodded. “Now you fit in.”

  She gave him a perplexed smile, glancing down at her simple jeans and top. Okay, yes, her jeans were slim and showed off her figure, and her top was a piece she’d found at one of the quirky shops in Desparre, flowy and lacy and the same green as her eyes. She’d swiped on some lipstick and a couple of coats of mascara before he arrived. But she wasn’t exactly decked out for a party in the city.

  Instead of asking about it, she turned toward his truck, parked out front. She itched to glance around, reassure herself that other police officers were keeping watch, but she resisted. If Adam was nearby, she didn’t want to tip him off.

  Before she could get more than a step, Tate was tugging on her hand again, pulling her back to him. “I’m glad we’re doing this,” he told her, his voice dropping to a husky whisper.

  His eyes locked on hers as he threaded his free hand through her hair, then cupped the base of her neck. The feel of his fingers made her nerve endings spark to life, sending zings of electricity through her body.

  He dipped his head slowly, the intensity in his eyes telling her he wanted to kiss her, even if the location said this was all for show. To prove to Adam it was real, to goad him into making his move.

  Looping her free hand around his neck, she rose up on her tiptoes to meet him. Surprise flashed briefly in his eyes, followed by desire, and then his lips settled softly against hers.

  He tasted faintly of coffee underneath mint toothpaste. The scent of sandalwood she’d started to crave when he wasn’t around filled her senses as she closed her eyes and gave in to his kiss. Gave in to the intoxicating feel of his body pressed against hers, the way she could rest all of her weight on him and he’d hold steady. Gave in to all of the emotions she’d been trying to deny.

  He paused for half a second, and then his hand slipped free of hers to clamp onto her hip, to haul her higher onto her tiptoes against him. His fingers flexed there, kneading into her hip as he nipped at her lips with his mouth and tongue. Then his tongue slid between her lips, sending sparks down to her toes.

  She hung on tighter, linking her hands at the back of his neck as she urged him with the slide of her tongue to go faster. She felt frantic, desperate to get closer to him, as all of the dreams she’d started to envision of a future with him swept over her. Maybe those dreams were possible. Or maybe this was her one chance to create a memory with him.

  Either way, she wasn’t going to waste it. She tried to slow down, to memorize the imprint of his body against hers, the slight rasp of his chin as his mouth claimed hers over and over.

  Too soon, he eased back, and she dropped down to her feet, tugging on her shirt where it had ridden up slightly. He stared at her, a mix of surprise and uncertainty in his gaze, until Sitka made them both jump with a sudden woof!

  “You’re right,” Tate said, shifting his gaze to the dog and breaking the spell. “We should get going. You don’t mind Sitka joining us for our romantic weekend, do you?”

  He looked at her again, and even though his gaze was more controlled, his emotions veiled again, he let out a heavy breath that told her he wasn’t as composed as he was pretending.

  She gave him a knowing smile. “Of course not.” Threading her hand through his, she said, loudly enough to be overheard, “I’m ready.”

  He blinked at her again, his forehead creasing as if he wasn’t sure if he should be reading into her words or not.

  Letting him wonder, she tugged on his hand as Sitka trotted along beside her toward the truck.

  He held open the door for her, then warned, “It’s a little tight in the cab for three. I’m sorry about that. I’ve never needed to fit an extra person in here with us.”

  He’d only had Sitka a few months. But the way he said it made it sound like he’d never taken another woman on a romantic getaway like this—at least not while he’d had this truck. Maybe she was reading into it, but the idea made her smile.

  The dog leaped into the truck, settling into the middle and taking up some of Sabrina’s seat, too.

  Sabrina stepped up after her, settling her hand on Sitka’s back as Tate closed her door and went around to the driver’s side.

  On top of everything else, he was a gentleman. Of course, maybe that was part of the problem. Part of the reason he was so determined to do what was right and practical by not jumping into anything when they were trying to make it safe for her to leave.

  How could she change his mind? The distance from Desparre to New York City was no joke. And this town could easily snow you in through winter. But she didn’t care. She wanted to try.

  Maybe Adam would wait, give her at least part of the weekend to show Tate that the bond they’d developed was worth the effort, worth the challenges. But when the truck came to a stop ten minutes later, she realized she wasn’t sure how.

  Glancing around with surprise, she took in the cute house with the big front porch in the woods. It was much closer than she’d expected. Then the garage door in front of them opened, and Sabrina realized they weren’t at the vacation spot he’d mentioned at all but his house.

  She turned toward him, questions forming, as he turned off the truck and shut the garage door behind him.

  Then the door leading to his house opened, and a woman stepped into the garage. She had wavy blond hair and wore a cap identical to the one Tate had slid onto Sabrina’s head. She was even wearing the same jeans and green blouse—the outfit she’d shown Tate two days ago when he’d asked what she planned to wear. Until this moment, she’d never really wondered why he’d asked.

  Realization about what was happening hit at the same time as the knowledge that she wouldn’t get a chance to convince Tate of anything. Because she wasn’t going on the romantic getaway with him at all.

  * * *

  TATE WAS DOING the right thing. He knew he was.

  Still, as he glanced across the truck at the rookie police officer from nearby Luna—on loan because she looked enough like Sabrina to pass for her—dread clamped down and refused to leave. He gave her a forced smile, trying to reassure her. “There are officers already in place around the cabin. We’ll be fine.”

  “I’m not worried,” she said, an echo of the words Sabrina had told him earlier, her face strategically hidden behind an open map.

  Unlike Sabrina, Officer Angie Hallen didn’t quite sound like she meant them.

  He’d been a rookie once, on foot patrol back in Boston, with a veteran officer whose training method was to toss you into the fray and hope you came ou
t in one piece. He remembered the adrenaline and the nerves all too well. Time and experience calmed both, but if you were smart, they never fully dulled, because losing your edge on the job could cost your life.

  “I appreciate you agreeing to do this,” he told her. Angie didn’t know the Desparre officers, and although she’d been briefed on the threat, she didn’t have a history with him, didn’t know what kind of officer he was.

  Then again, he knew all too well that sometimes even people you knew and trusted could become a threat.

  Angie nodded stiffly, and Sitka, maybe noticing her nerves, or maybe just missing Sabrina, let out a whine.

  “We’ll be there soon,” he told his dog.

  The romantic getaway spot was well-known among Desparre locals and would be easy for Adam to figure out. It was on the far southern border of Desparre, an hour away from downtown. People who weren’t used to the area tended to be shocked when they suddenly came out of the woods and upon another, smaller mountain, this one edged with water and a small glacier.

  Sabrina would have loved it. The thought popped into his mind and wouldn’t leave, along with an image of the look in her eyes when she’d fallen into his arms and taken his kiss to a whole other level. But the look on her face when she realized she wasn’t coming with him? That one stung. He’d seen a hint of betrayal, along with regret. The same regret he was feeling now.

  Her kisses had held more than simple passion. There had been a promise in them, a glimpse of what he could have if he gave in to what they both wanted.

  There was an ache in his chest just thinking about what he was giving up. But he needed to find a way to just be happy they were going to get her life back. Because as he glanced once more at Angie, tensing as their cabin came into view, he felt it in his gut. Adam was going to take the bait.

  Even though it meant saying goodbye to Sabrina, Tate couldn’t help feeling a sharp anticipation at the idea of snapping a pair of handcuffs on Adam and throwing him behind bars for good.

  He pulled into the drive of the cabin he’d rented, far from the others scattered along the glacier’s edge. Officers Riera and Dreymond had already picked up the key for him, letting the owners know to stay away. So now all he had to do was grab his and Sabrina’s bags from the back of his truck. Then he tucked Angie into the crook of his arm, her face hidden against his chest, and hustled her into the cabin. With one sharp whistle, Sitka raced in after them.

  Shutting and locking the door behind him, Tate did a quick check of the cabin, confirming it was empty and secure and that all the shades were drawn. “We’re good,” he told Angie as he returned to the main room.

  She nodded and tucked her pistol back into the waistband at the back of her jeans. “Good. Let’s check in with your backup.”

  “Our backup,” he reminded her, grabbing his cell phone from his bag. He sent a quick text to Lorenzo Riera, and the response came back almost immediately.

  We’ve got you. Stay alert.

  “They’re in place,” Tate told Angie. “Now let’s hope Adam makes his move quickly.”

  He settled onto the couch across from the front door, which gave him good visibility into the bedroom and the window access there. Then, he raised his eyebrow at Angie as she stood by the door, knowing that even though he wanted a fast resolution, this kind of operation was often a waiting game.

  “I’m good here,” she told him.

  An hour later, she pulled a chair next to the couch and sat stiffly in it. An hour after that, she started pacing. Ten hours after that, she was slouched on the other side of the couch. By then, Tate was ready to do the same. But he also knew the darkness was Adam’s friend, a time when he might feel safer sneaking up on the woman he’d been stalking and her new police-officer boyfriend.

  So, when his cell phone rang, he grabbed it fast. “Talk to me,” he told Lorenzo, hoping the veteran officer had already wrestled Adam to the ground and slapped cuffs on him.

  “It’s... We’re—” The sound of gunshots made Angie jerk beside him just as Tate realized it wasn’t Lorenzo, hiding in the woods with most of the Desparre officers.

  It was Charlie Quinn, who was back at Tate’s house, keeping Sabrina safe.

  He leaped to his feet as Charlie’s garbled voice filled the room again, too high-pitched with pain. “Sabrina... Get her—”

  Then, another gunshot fired, and the line went dead.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sabrina sat in the living room in Tate’s house, with the shades drawn and one lone light on, frustrated and worried and anxious for news.

  According to officers Charlie Quinn and Max Becker, she hadn’t been given the full details of the plan because they were need-to-know, and it was better if she really planned for a trip in case anyone was watching. Tate had never intended to take her on a weekend away, even a pretend one.

  Pushing aside her frustration, Sabrina stood from the couch where she’d been sitting for over an hour, with nothing to entertain her but her thoughts.

  Charlie wanted her to keep the television off since the house was supposed to appear empty and he didn’t want to take any chances—a decision that had made Max roll his eyes and mutter something about “BS protection detail.” But Charlie was the veteran so he’d won.

  The two officers had been flipping through magazines in between walking around the small house and checking all the entry points. Sabrina had turned down the offers for their leftover police magazines and just waited.

  After the way she and Tate had announced their plans all over town for the past few days, then flaunted that kiss in front of the hotel, she’d expected Adam to strike fast. As the time went by, she worried she might be here for days. And Tate had taken her weekend bag with him.

  If she had to be here without him, she wanted to go upstairs and explore the rest of his house, see if it matched the easy comfort of the first floor. Tate had told her a lot about himself in the past few days, but he hadn’t invited her into his home. Knowing it was probably the only chance she’d have to see it, she was tempted to explore. Instead, she walked over to the curtained windows.

  “Please don’t touch those,” Charlie said, without looking up from his magazine.

  “I was just—”

  “If Adam followed you from the hotel to here and didn’t fall for our ruse, we don’t want to confirm anything.”

  He must have sensed her sudden apprehension, because he looked up and gave her a kind smile. “Don’t worry. That’s unlikely. But it’s why we’re here. And it’s why we’re keeping the shades down and most of the lights off. Just in case. Until we hear from Tate.”

  “I’m going to check in again,” Max said, heading into the other room.

  Sabrina strained to hear the conversation, but only the low rumble of Max’s voice reached her.

  When Max returned, all he said was, “No action.”

  She got the same update every hour for the rest of the day, until it got dark enough outside that even Charlie had given up on his magazines and was scrolling on his phone, periodically sighing.

  “Maybe he’s too smart to fall for this,” Max suggested from the opposite side of the couch, where he’d settled an hour ago and had looked half-asleep ever since. “Or maybe he’s moved on entirely, left Desparre and decided to find himself someone new to stalk.”

  Charlie scowled at his partner, then suggested to Sabrina, “Why don’t you go upstairs? I saw a full bookshelf in Tate’s second bedroom. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

  She debated only a few seconds, then hurried up the stairs. Lining the hallway were framed prints that looked like various nature scenes from Alaska. When she stepped closer to one, she saw it was labeled Sitka, Alaska. Wondering if he’d ever been there, if he’d loved the place enough to name his dog after it, she continued into the first room on the right.

  Tate clearly used the room as
his home office. There was a laptop open on a small desk against one wall, a pair of comfortable-looking chairs on another, and a bookshelf in between, overflowing with paperbacks. Smiling, Sabrina stepped closer, studying the titles in the light coming in from the hallway.

  Tate had an affinity for historical nonfiction and spy novels. He also had a whole section devoted to K-9 training. Even though he’d stuffed the shelves, he hadn’t put anything on top of the bookshelf. She could picture her romance novels lining that space.

  A wistful smile twitched, then dropped away, leaving behind an ache in her chest she didn’t think would leave anytime soon.

  The sudden boom from downstairs made her jump. Was that a gunshot?

  For a brief moment, she felt paralyzed. Then she eased to the edge of the room, peering into the hallway. Should she go downstairs, look for Charlie and Max and stick close to them?

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  A scream punctuated the final blast, and Sabrina raced into motion, scanning the room for something she could use as a weapon. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, dimming the noise around her, but she still heard another anguished scream, followed by footsteps pounding up the stairs.

  Spinning in a circle, Sabrina desperately looked for anything that might do some damage. But there was nothing except books and a laptop.

  Hide! her mind screamed at her. Racing for the closet, Sabrina had just yanked open the door when a hand clamped on her shoulder.

  A scream lodged in her throat, choking her, as she spun around, lifting her fists to fight back. But it wasn’t Adam. It was Max, with smears of blood across his cheeks and a look of horror in his eyes.

  “Charlie?” she managed to ask, but he either didn’t hear her or couldn’t answer as he hustled her to the doorway, peeked out, then shoved her through it and across the hall into the bathroom.

  “Get in. Lock the door.” When she hesitated, wondering what he would do, he gave her a push. “Now!”