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She knew how many times a day her mind wandered and his face popped into her head. From the first time she’d seen him, picking out a muffin and ordering black coffee from the deli she helped manage, her common sense took a nosedive. One look at him and every vow she’d ever made about staying focused on her quest died a withering death.
He shook his head. “You are not going to derail this conversation.”
“I can try.”
“You might...” His head snapped back in the direction he’d been looking for the past few minutes. Far left behind the shed.
“What is it?” She dropped her voice to a whisper that barely carried over the sound of her breathing.
“Company.”
“Are you kidding?” She wanted to scream, shout...find her gun. She went with listening instead. Not her strongest skill, but at least it was something she could control while the world seemed to be bouncing around at random.
“I’ve been tracking the person for about fifteen minutes.”
The constant visual search and the thrum of awareness running through him made sense. Still, the fact that the guy could chat while conducting surveillance and not show any signs of anxiety confused her. “While we were talking?”
“Then and before.”
Well, sure. He acted as if that were normal. “You could warn a person.”
“Time to move.”
She almost didn’t hear the whispered comment, but she did see the change come over him. It was as if he switched from being on watch to back to normal again, which made no sense to her at all.
“I think we should call it a night and go inside.” His voice picked up a bit in volume. Not enough to be obvious, but a slight beat or two more than before.
She’d rather go with that gun idea. “Absolutely.”
She pitched her voice nice and strong even as her insides shook. The touch of his hand right before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders helped. He guided them through the front door and inside. She didn’t remember moving until he shut the door behind her.
He reached down to his ankle and pulled up with a gun in his hand. That was when she noticed he held two. His dark eyes flashed with fire as he morphed from the calm guy standing outside, getting some air, back to the fierce protector. She approved of the change. And she finally got it. The last part had been an act to let whoever lingered out there think he was safe.
He handed her a gun. “You know how to use it?”
“Yes.” A whole range of guns. Guns, knives, some explosives. The New Foundations leadership didn’t bother with subtleties back when she got stuck up there. You learned how to fight because weak people were useless to the cause. She just never really understood what the cause was supposed to be.
As soon as the gun hit her palm, she checked it. The magazine, the chamber. This weapon didn’t belong to her, but she’d be able to pull the trigger. She was not afraid to do what had to be done to protect herself.
Holt positioned her in the doorway between the kitchen and the family room. She had her back against a solid wall and a clear view of the door and a patch of the front yard through the window within her line of sight.
This guy was good. He knew exactly how to keep on the offensive. She didn’t think she could find him more attractive, but in that moment she did.
“Stay here.” He held out a hand as if to keep her in place even though he never touched her. “Shoot anyone who is not me. Aim for the leg to make him hobble or the hand to make him drop the gun.”
That bordered on insulting. “I’m a better shot than that.”
“It’s a risk to keep the guy breathing, but I need him alive for questioning.” Holt delivered his comment and then slipped away from her.
For a big man, he moved without making a sound. Even the floorboards that usually creaked didn’t. He shifted and stalked around her furniture and through the room until he disappeared.
She had two choices—sit and wait or track and help. She’d made a vow to step in and not remain silent years ago. She followed it now.
As she reached her kitchen, then the back door of the cottage, she visually searched for him. He’d have to be running to be gone, but she couldn’t see him.
He’d congratulated her on her security system, then set up additional sensor lights that afternoon, insisting she had blind spots he needed to fix. One of those popped on behind the shed where she kept the lawn mower and other yard equipment.
She squinted, thinking she’d see movement. She could make out one dark blob...then another. They were nearly on top of each other.
She was halfway outside with the door banging behind her before she remembered Holt’s words: stay here.
