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“What?” Scarlet asked. “Am I too scatterbrained? All over the place?”
“Not so much. Well, yeah, a little. It just makes my mind reel that you’re in some terrifying situation and yet it doesn’t escape you to collect clues along the way.”
“Well, I am a trained professional.”
“True.” Jewel shrugged. “Anyway, hopefully Josh will come up with some answers as to who our hit-and-run a-hole is.”
“Fingers crossed.” Scarlet used her cosmetics to cover up some of the paleness to her skin, though there wasn’t much she could do to chase away the tumult in her eyes. Not just because her nerves were still a bit jangled over her ordeal but also because she was so worried about Sam.
Who basically barreled through the door moments later.
He very gingerly clasped Scarlet’s biceps and stared intently at her, as though needing to ensure it was really her, that she’d survived. Then he carefully hugged her.
While she was sore from the rollover, she wished like hell he wouldn’t be so tentative. But that was how Sam was. Soft voice, tender touch for the bruised and battered. The sweetest of sweet.
And it was hugely comforting to be in his arms. She closed her eyes and just gave herself over to his quiet strength and the feeling of being engulfed by him. She let him hold her for as long as he needed.
Across the room, she heard Michael introduce himself to Jewel. That seemed to bring Sam around and he reluctantly released Scarlet so that Michael could have his turn with her. She walked into his embrace.
As he stroked her hair, he whispered, “You scared the hell out of us.”
“Not intentional. I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” He kissed her temple.
“I’d apologize about you having to drop everything and come all this way, but I’m so happy to see you. I needed to see you both.”
Admittedly, her own sentiment caught her off-guard. Scarlet had been full throttle since her parents’ deaths. She’d flirted with danger every chance she got. But there was something about being on the phone with Sam when the accident happened and Michael being all the way across the country that caused her to think far beyond herself. She really had scared them. Because they cared about her. Because they were the type of men who’d want to protect her—and her lifestyle actually did put her in crosshairs from time to time.
Glancing over her shoulder, she told Sam, “I wasn’t being reckless last night. It was a two-lane road and there wasn’t much space to pull off to the side.”
“I believe you.”
“I wouldn’t purposely make you worry about me,” she said.
“You were just driving home from dinner,” Jewel reminded her. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Right.” Scarlet untangled herself from Michael and tried to gain a little composure. She dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a tissue, then said, “I appreciate everyone’s concern.”
“You should definitely take it easy today,” Jewel told her. “Feet up. Let these guys look after you. And of course, if you need anything from me, do not hesitate to call.”
“I won’t. I’ll be good,” Scarlet promised, her heart aching over having terrified everyone.
Jewel told the men it was good to meet them and then departed. Sam was collecting Scarlet’s belongings when Josh walked in.
She said to Sam and Michael, “This is Officer Larkin. He and I go way back. He was on the scene last night.”
They all shook. Josh told her, “You cracked the case for us, Scarlet. We have your hit-and-run driver, thanks to the information you provided. He thought he’d pull a Houdini by ditching the vehicle he used to smash into you. It was a rental. Only had it for the day, which lead us to the airport here in town, but the SFPD got involved as well and detained him at San Francisco International. They were able to connect with TSA in time so that someone checking IDs and boarding passes could tip them off when our perp went through security for a red-eye flight. Naturally, he claims he’s not the Dylan Reed we’re all looking for, but the guy’s got a rap sheet a mile—”
“Dylan Reed?” Scarlet, Sam, and Michael all said in shocked unison.
Scarlet’s gaze snapped to Michael, who gave her a pointed look, appearing as though he wanted to rip someone’s head off. Sam’s brother’s head, to be exact.
Her gaze shifted to Sam. His eyes darkened.
“My father?” he ventured aloud. “Did he and my mother secretly marry all those years ago and she never told me Reed isn’t her maiden name? Or is this just some bizarre coincidence?”
Scarlet did not take Sam Reed for being the type to buy into coincidences of this caliber. So her moment of reckoning was upon her.
