“Tonight. But first we have to stop by a store and get them presents.”
“Wouldn’t attending the party put your family in jeopardy?”
“I’d thought about that, but my parents have a security system and we’d have the dogs to alert to any danger.”
She played with the cross at her neck. “Are you sure your family would be okay with me joining you?”
“Yes, of course,” he was quick to assure her. “As I’ve already told you, they love having guests.”
“Your parents maybe, but your nieces?” The skepticism in her voice rang clear. “Would they really want a stranger crashing their celebration?”
“Trust me, they will love you.” He searched her face, trying to determine what she was thinking that put a worried expression on her pretty face. Was it insecurity? Which didn’t seem right for the woman he was coming to know. Would seeing his twin nieces be painful for her? “If you’d rather not, I can beg off.”
“Oh no. You should definitely go. You could drop me off at the hotel,” she said.
The thought of letting her out of his sight, of her potentially being vulnerable, squeezed his chest tight. Giving a negative shake of his head, he said, “I’d prefer we didn’t split up.”
Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. His gaze followed the slight movement. The yearning to lean forward and kiss away the worry furrowing her brow flooded his system.
He cleared his throat to tamp down the urge. “We have a couple of hours,” he said. “Take your time in deciding.”
She reached across the table to place her hand over his. “I’d like to go. Thank you for including me.”
Meeting her gaze, he delved deeply into the warmth he found there and wondered just how smart inviting her had been. But splitting up was not a viable option. If Shadow came after Maren again and he wasn’t there to help…if something happened to her, he would never forgive himself.
* * *
Several hours later, they returned to the hotel so they could freshen up and change clothes before heading to the birthday party. Maren nervously put on a summer dress that she had impulsively packed when she’d left her town house. She brushed her hair, allowing the long honey-colored waves to glide down her back. She applied lip gloss and felt ridiculous for the effort.
This wasn’t a date. Even though they were headed to Colt’s family event, they were colleagues sticking together for safety reasons. Nothing more.
Waiting to hear back from Vinnie Homer about her sister had Maren on edge. She’d checked in with the US Marshals to no avail. No contact had been made yet.
She lifted up a quick prayer that the hand towel Haven had found would yield some useful results, but those would take time. But she did call Eva to ask about Colt’s phone being tracked. Eva had confirmed a spam call to his phone had planted malware that had allowed someone to track him, but she was having trouble finding the source. Also, the burner phone they’d confiscated off the assailant at the river hadn’t yielded anything useful. The calls in and out were to more burner phones, all of which were currently turned off. But Eva had a special program to alert her if any were turned back on and promised to give Maren a call if it happened.
Without any leads to go on, though, or any idea where either of the young women were, Maren and the task force had no choice but to continue their search for another clue. They’d canvassed the area around the motel in Barren Valley, then headed back to Colorado Springs to connect with the last place Opal had worked, but the fast-food joint hadn’t proved fruitful. By late afternoon, Maren’s fatigue had her head pounding and her heart aching.
Going to Colt’s family event was a welcome distraction, even if she was nervous about attending.
Having tucked some essentials in her backpack in case they were called to a case, she slung the bag over her shoulder and led Haven into the hallway to wait for Colt. When he stepped out of his hotel room, her heart skipped a beat. He’d changed into khaki shorts, casual tennis shoes and a button-up blue shirt with fish all over it. A price tag hung from the sleeve opening.
“Are you planning to return the shirt?” Suppressing a smile, she pointed to the tag.
He grinned. “Oops. I’ll have to cut it off when we get to my parents’.”
“I might have something that will work.” She dug through the backpack pockets and produced nail clippers. “These will do.” She snipped the plastic thread securing the tag to the shirt.
“I guess we’re going incognito?” she asked as her gaze landed on Rusk, who no longer had his DEA vest on. It was stored in the SUV.
“If you’d prefer for Haven to wear hers, that’s fine.”
“I’m sure she’d be okay without it,” Maren told him. “It makes her hot.” She quickly took off Haven’s police vest and stuffed it into the backpack.
Once they were in the SUV and rolling along, Maren couldn’t stop fidgeting.
Colt reached across the seat to briefly touch her knee. “Hey, it’ll be okay. No need to be nervous.”
Easy for him to say. Though she didn’t mind crowds or being part of a group of law enforcement, she wasn’t used to big family gatherings. Even as a kid, it had always just been her parents and sister, with her uncle occasionally joining them for holidays.
