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Everything had happened so fast, Luke still couldn’t get it straight in his head. As unbelievable as it was, Clive Brennan had tracked his daughter down to tell her she was free and clear as far as he was concerned. He’d left Daniel and Ellen an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills to cover the rental of six cabins for a week with boats and tour guide included. He’d also apologized politely, asking that they not blame O’Sullivan, their regular client, who had made the reservations for them. Apparently, the poor guy truly believed they were going to stay and fish out the week.
Learning that Brennan meant no harm to Sally was a relief, but it left some rather significant unanswered questions behind.
Reclining on a grass-covered bank, Luke looked out over the lazy bend in the river where Jen and Sally fished. Five-year-old Bridgett sat not far from Jen and kept up a running stream of one-sided conversation. Jen’s occasional comment seemed to be all Bridgett required to keep her talking. The innocence of the two made him smile…until he remembered the puzzle he’d been trying to figure out ever since Brennan and his entourage were picked up by two additional men in black SUVs. No one had been sorry to see them go.
“Maybe your house blowing up was accidental—a gas leak or something. And maybe those men who rammed us were drunk out of their heads and just looking for trouble. We should call the sheriff to see if he’s found anything.” He threw out the ideas, even though they were baseless. He wasn’t ready to give voice to his hunch yet, mostly because Sally had made it clear the subject was off-limits.
He should have known she wouldn’t buy it. Sally didn’t even look at him. “The house was all electric—no gas leak. And those men? They shot at your truck after it went off the cliff, remember? You’re right, though. We should call the sheriff.” Sally whipped her line over her head expertly, casting and landing her fly on the water with a delicate touch.
Luke grinned. Where had she learned to cast like that? It was a thing of beauty. Jen was nearly as good. Perhaps he’d talk them into giving him some lessons before he embarrassed himself.
Sally swiveled to look at him without moving her feet. “You should call your brother too. He’ll be worried.”
True enough, but there was still something hinky about this whole setup. With the lack of anyone to blame, suspicion had been cast far and wide. “What about Lambert? He’ll want to know what happened.” Luke would be interested in how the man responded when he learned of Brennan’s visit. Did he already know Sally’s father wasn’t a threat? The marshal’s high-handed method of trying to force Sally to leave with him suddenly seemed blatantly fishy.No pun intended.
She reeled in her line and stepped from the ankle-deep water a foot from shore, exchanging words with Jen. The girl smiled and continued to fish from a gradually sloping bank a dozen feet upriver. Sally strode toward him, with only a slight limp. An easy smile contradicted the strain she’d undergone a few hours before. Luke’s gaze swept over the gauze wrap covering the heel of both hands as well as her right knee. MacGyver and Luke had spent the better part of an hour removing dozens of small slivers from her scraped-up hands while Travis and Coop entertained her with a PG version of life with a SEAL unit. Luke couldn’t tell if it was her interest in their stories or the wine they held so she could drink or Brennan’s abrupt exit from her life that was responsible for her relaxed and mellow state.
His gaze followed her as she approached, and when she sat gingerly beside him, he hooked his arm around her waist. “Doing okay?”
Sally leaned over and dropped a kiss on his mouth. “Stop worrying. Other than making it hard to dress myself, this is nothing.” She held up her two gauze-wrapped hands.
Luke chuckled. “I’d be happy to help you with that.”
An unladylike snort issued from her throat. “Yeah, I just bet you’d be all kinds of help.”
He increased the pressure of his arm around her, bringing her closer. “Are you sure about not getting those stitches?” This wasn’t the first time he’d brought it up in the hopes she’d reconsider. She’d decided shortly after they’d finished digging slivers from her hands that she’d been poked and pinched enough for one day.
“I’ve made up my mind, so let it go, Luke. The cut isn’t deep and Matt cleaned and disinfected it. I had a tetanus shot less than six months ago, so I’m good to go. Better than good—I’m free of my father’s shadow for the first time in eleven years.”
Concern jabbed him as it had a number of times since Clive Brennan gave his speech and walked out of her life, leaving them with more questions than they had answers. Was Sally’s old man playing a vicious game of his own? Was he lying when he told her he had nothing to do with bombing her house or trying to run them off the road? The only thing wrong with that line of thinking was they’d all stumbled unwittingly into Brennan’s trap this morning. He had them. What possible benefit would he derive from lying at that point?
“Free from your father, but the shadow’s still with us.”
Sally wrinkled her brow and studied him thoughtfully.
“Emmett Purnell was pissed as hell the night the fire started. Are you still convinced he wasn’t involved?” The list of people who might have thought they had a score to settle with Sally was short and improbable. Still, Luke ran through the list once again, biding his time.
“Emmett isn’t my favorite person, but I don’t think he plotted to kill me. Don’t forget, he came to warn us about Clive being on our trail. He’s a woman-beater, which doesn’t place him high on the list of morals, but no…he’s not a murderer.” Sally fingered the still-tender spot on her cheekbone where Emmett had belted her.
Luke gently brushed her cheek with one finger, gritting his teeth until his instant rage came under control. “I agree, but I should have kicked the shit out of him when I had the chance.”
Sally lay her right hand on his chest, drawing his gaze to hers. A teasing smile lit her eyes. “Were you serious when you asked me to marry you?”
“Which time?”
Sally slapped him lightly on the stomach, then cradled her hand and gave him a pretty pout.
“I was serious each and every time. I have to admit, you took me by surprise when you said yes. There I was without a ring, in a room full of hostiles and MacGyver grinning like a monkey.”
Sally laughed softly. “I figured we were all going to die. I wanted you to know that even if all we had left was a few minutes, I wanted to spend them with you.”
Luke’s hand slid slowly down the column of her throat. “Oh, I see. The only reason you agreed to marry me was because you thought you were going to die any minute?”
Sally tilted her head and regarded him. “I didn’t say that…exactly.”
“Since your life has been extended indefinitely, you’re not going to change your mind on me, are you?”
She lay her head on his shoulder. “Just try to get rid of me, sailor.”
