Page 54 of Lion’s Den

“Why? Nothing in my past connects to what’s happening here.”

His lady protested too much. What could be in her past that she was trying to hide? “Do you know that for certain?”

“Yes, of course.” She paused, then sighed. “No, I don’t.”

“Good answer.” He cupped her chin in his palm and leaned in to kiss her lightly. “So, let’s go back to before you started teaching. Isaac?”

“I wondered if you were going to include me in this conversation.”

“Shut up, Barker,” he said mildly. “Remember, I know where you live.”

“Back at you, Sims. Ignore him, Sedona.”

“Hey,” Cam protested.

“You can hassle me when I’m on the hot seat. Right now, it’s your turn.”

He’d insist that Sedona inform him when she was working late from now on. Never again did he want to experience the fear that had nearly eaten him alive when she was in the hands of the kidnappers. Her being taken in the first place was on him. He wouldn’t let her down again.

“Back to business, Cam. Even though you weren’t involved in the kidnapping, you may know more than you realize.”

Right. Hadn’t he considered that a few minutes earlier? If Sedona could endure a grilling from Isaac, Cam supposed he could as well. “Go for it, my friend. I hope I can be helpful.” Although he doubted it. He hadn’t spent nearly enough time with Sedona in the past few weeks. That’s what happened when he spent too much time up in the forest and the mountains getting to know the trails in the area. He had to do it, though. Search and Rescue training required an excellent knowledge of the area so the search volunteers wouldn’t end up becoming victims themselves.

“Good. Let’s see what you noticed.”

Minutes later, he was forced to raise a white flag in defeat. For a professional observer, he had lousy memory retention. “This is embarrassing,” he muttered.

Isaac chuckled. “It’s hard being on the other side of the questions, isn’t it?”

“Don’t gloat. I still know where you live.” Not close enough yet. Soon, he hoped to persuade his team to move to Morgan County so they could use their Search and Rescue training. He’d spent a lot of time on the trails for training. While hiking those trails, he considered how to approach Sedona about a relationship beyond friendship.

Cam sighed. He was pathetic. That was all he could say. He’d wasted too much time trying to figure out how to approach her when all along, Sedona had been open to dating him.

“Focus, Sims,” Isaac snapped.

He stared at his teammate. How long had he been lost in his own head? “Sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s try that question again. Did Sedona mention anything out of the ordinary that had been happening at her school?”

He thought about that for a minute, then shook his head. “No, I would have remembered that.”

“What about in her personal life? Any trouble there?”

“You mean except for her problem with Sims?” Dario teased.

Again, The Thunderhawks laughed. Cam could have gotten angry, but Sedona laughing as well made him back down and take the verbal jousting. He’d let himself be embarrassed a lot more than the pokes of fun from his teammates if he could break the tension for her. “Ha ha. You’re not funny, D.”

“You should ask your lady about that. She approved of my joke.”

Cam scowled. “Let’s get this interview back on track.”

“Yes, sir.” Isaac rested his forearms on his thighs and leaned toward Cam. “What about in her personal life, sir? Has anything unusual happened there? Perhaps an old boyfriend who popped up unexpectedly. Maybe a guy around Maple Valley not taking no for an answer. A dispute with her neighbors.”

“Hey,” Sedona protested. “I’m a good neighbor. I don’t play loud music late at night, and I don’t have a dog that barks all hours of the day or night.”

Isaac held up his hand to prevent her from making any further remarks. “I’ll get to you in a minute. Sir, has anything stood out?”

Cam stood up and walked to the window to look out. “Give me a minute.”