AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Seth’s big body jerked.
She swallowed and finished, “There’d be something in his attitude afterward.”
His face set with cold determination. “Let me just say that if I’m going to have a shoot-out with anyone, I’d just as soon it was him.”
A miniflashback rattled her. “One shoot-out was enough, thank you. If only we could prove he was here and you could get a warrant for his guns.”
“We’ve flashed photos at rental-car companies. Cops in half a dozen jurisdictions have helped. We’ve even tried ones in Vancouver.” The city was across the Columbia River from Portland, which put it in Washington State. “Unfortunately, given that he owns a small plane, your ex can land at a private field anywhere. Now, after all his effort to assure us he’s an extremely busy man who couldn’t possibly get away, he’ll have a plan to make the round-trip as fast as possible.”
“Lovely thought.” She was hugging herself again.
Seth noticed, too. He lifted his arm, and she all but dived into his embrace.
“Damn, I wish I could sleep with you tonight.”
Robin thought that this time he wasn’t even thinking about sex. She pressed a kiss to his throat. “Me, too,” she whispered.
* * *
NOT LONG AFTER breakfast the next morning, Robin turned to Seth. “Can you do a grocery run? We really need some basics.”
He frowned but gave a grudging nod. He obviously didn’t want to leave, but the couple of local grocery stores didn’t deliver. “Make a list and I’ll go.”
“I already have a list. Just give me a minute to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.”
Two minutes later, he was gone after a few quiet words with his father.
Michael had a holster on his belt now to carry his gun. Most of the time, Seth wore a long-sleeve shirt with the tails loose to hide his service pistol. Michael wasn’t bothering. Robin knew that by now she ought to be used to seeing men openly carrying lethal weapons even to the bathroom or to get a snack out of the refrigerator, but she hadn’t totally adjusted. Every time Richard had opened his huge gun safe and insisted she admire his collection, she’d felt queasy. There was a reason why she’d closed her eyes when he made her try target shooting.
And yet here she was now, being guarded by armed men. And glad of them, if a little unsettled.
Michael currently sat at the kitchen table, the newspaper open in front of him. He appeared to be glaring at the new exterior door.
“Damn kid thinks he can tell his old man what to do,” he growled.
“He’s scared for us,” Robin reminded him.
“Mommy?” Jacob had been sitting on the floor playing with his simple wood puzzles, but now he got up and tugged at her pant leg. “Potty.”
“Then let’s go.” Since his kiddy seat was upstairs, she bent to pick him up.
A dark shadow slid across one of the kitchen windows covered by a sheer roller shade.
Chapter Fifteen
Seth’s foot kept easing from the accelerator. Apprehension rode him. He shouldn’t have left the house. Left Robin, Jacob and his dad.
If he hustled, he could get to town, do the shopping and be back in not much over half an hour. That wasn’t very long to be away. They had to eat.
He watched his rearview mirror, checked his phone. If anything went wrong, Dad or Robin would call.
He was lucky this road was so little traveled. If it carried much traffic at all, cars would be piling up behind him.
When his phone rang, Seth pulled to the shoulder. Sergeant Hammond, he saw as he answered.
“We’ve lost him,” Hammond said without preamble. “Winstead is scheduled to be a speaker at a Rotary Club dinner tonight, but that gives him plenty of time to get down there and back. I just called Boeing Field. He didn’t file a flight plan—rarely does, according to the woman I spoke to—but he did fly out several hours ago.”
“He could already be here.” And I just left my family unprotected.
“Where are you?” the sergeant asked.
“Not where I should be,” Seth said, panic making it hard to get the words out. He ended the call, dropped his phone on the seat and wrenched the steering wheel to make a U-turn. Then he slammed his foot down on the accelerator.
