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“Travis gave me a quick rundown while he was getting his gear.” Miles recounted what Travis told him. “Does all that sound about right?”
“Yes. I ... ” Frustrated, Isabel ran a hand through her hair. “I didn’t talk to him, man. Not even for asecond. For all I know, it’s not him.”
“Regardless, somebody not only has yournumber, but they know who you are. And they’ve connected you to him ... and Travis.”
She sucked in a breath and her gaze shot to Travis. She hadn’t heard that part. At that moment, he lowered the device he carried and thumbed a switch on it, turned to her. “It’s clear in here. I’ll go over the rest of the house in a minute.” He crossed to his bag, pulled out another device. It looked like one of the walkie-talkies she’d bought for a couple of the boys she used to have in the house ... sort of. Just a lot more high-tech.
He fiddled with it, then put it on her desk, glancing up at her only once. “It’s a sound jammer—it’s designed to interfere with any electronic surveillance. I doubt there is any, but just in case.”
“Fun.” It came out terse and hard. She didn’t mean to sound so bitchy—none of this was his fault and she wasn’t exactlyangryat him.
But he heard the temper and lifted his head, focused back on her, giving her a slower, more thoughtful look.
“I hear Travis so I assume he’s done sweeping for bugs,” Miles said just as Travis opened his mouth.
“Seems like.” Too confused, too frustrated to talk, she held the phone back out to Travis and walked to the window.
A split second later, Miles was talking over the speaker.
“Bella, now that we have some certainty of privacy, I want to know if anything unusual has been going on. Weird visitors. Strange phone calls. Deliveries.”
“No, I ... ” She stopped and shook her head. “I’ve had several hang-ups recently.”
Travis’s gaze locked on her, his mouth flattening into a firm, tight line. She averted her eyes.
“How long?” Miles demanded.
“I don’t know. Less than a month, I guess. I think the first call came a few days before we left to visit Mary—Marilyn.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she blundered one of her twin sister’s altered identities. Not that either of them was in danger from Travis, but she knew better. Had todobetter. “I didn’t think much of it, can’t really recall any details.”
“Remember the time of day?”
“Morning.” She huffed out a sigh. “All the kids were up. Aaron was begging me to take him into Bangor to check out a new music store that had opened up and I had to tell him no.”
“You remember more than you give yourself credit for,” Miles said easily. “Okay, let’s discuss the other—” His phone clicked. “I’m going to put you on hold for a few minutes, Bella.”
She swore and pushed away from the window to pace the room. On her second pass, Travis caught her arm. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t owe me apologies for this.” She stared at him, all the emotions raging inside turning her thoughts to noise and static. Travis’s nearness, his warmth, that got through, though, and she covered his hand with hers, holding his gaze. “I do need to know one thing, though.”
“Anything.”
“What did Miles mean when he said the caller had connected me toyou?”
Travis went stiff, and then, after a long, taut moment, he expelled a harsh breath. “Damn him.”
“Tellme.”
He closed the scant distance between them, his hands moving to grip her hips through the pajamas she’d pulled on. The thin barrier wasn’t enough to hide the heat in his hands, and that heat sent shivers through her. Her heart gave a hard knock against her ribs as he tucked her closer, lowering his head so he could rub his cheek against hers.
“He knew who I was, Iz,” he murmured. “That’s all. He said my name.”
She went rigid.
He shifted his hand to her back and spread his palm wide, smoothing it in long, slow strokes. “All it means is that you were right—your father knew we had something going and he shared the news with some of his men. That’s all it means.”
“That’snotall.” Horrified, she shoved her hands against his chest. “It also means yourfamilycould be in danger.”
He caught her wrists. “No.”
