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Steele had glancedup in time to see Harper’s green eyes shine with tears. He hated seeing her cry, yet he was secretly surprised and impressed she hadn’t broken down long before now.
He couldn’t blame her for getting angry. He wasn’t too happy about having to go on the run twice in as many hours. After sliding the thick socks over her feet, he helped her put the new running shoes on.
“Thank you.” Her voice was low and hoarse. She blinked again, then rose. “My feet are much better. I’ll take care of the towels.” Before he could protest, she’d scooped them up and disappeared into the bathroom.
“You’re skating a thin line, Delaney,” Brock said from the doorway.
He turned to face his teammate. “She’s been through a tough time.”
“Yeah, sure, you’re not getting emotionally involved at all, are you?” Brock didn’t bother to hide his sarcasm.
“I only want her to be safe,” he insisted. “I’m not interested in replacing Monique in my heart.”
“Don’t lie to yourself.” Brock’s tone was curt. “I learned the hard way you can’t trust your heart. You need to remember the goal here is to find Tommy Grotto.”
Brock was right about their goal. Joe’s warning echoed in his mind. “Okay, I hear you. But the answer to finding Tommy Grotto may be drilling down into why they want Harper. And how they’re able to track our every move.”
Brock sighed and ran a hand over his brown hair. “Yeah. We need food and a computer. I’ll call Joe. Maybe he can send Raelyn or one of the others here with supplies.”
“Good idea.” He glanced over his shoulder, but Harper was still in the bathroom. Deciding to give her some privacy, he crossed the room to join Brock. “Knowing Joe, he’ll come himself. He made it clear he wants to be hands-on, participating with the team like Rhy.”
“Yeah, I know,” Brock agreed. “By the way, the new phone is charging and ready to go.”
While his teammate made the call, he paced the length of the small room. Okay, maybe he was in danger of becoming too emotionally involved with Harper’s plight. Just because he found it abhorrent that a pregnant woman would be in danger, nearly kidnapped and shot at, wasn’t the point. Finding the guy responsible was. He needed a clear head to understand how they kept getting found.
A GPS tracker on Brock’s personal vehicle seemed unlikely. Tracking his credit card to the rental property? Or tracking their personal phones? That level of sophistication from Grotto’s underlings was concerning.
“Thanks, Joe.” Brock slid his phone into his pocket. “He’s on his way and is picking up Sammy’s sub sandwiches for lunch.”
“Lunch?” Harper’s voice had him turning toward the connecting door. She looked adorable wearing the oversized sweatshirt and running shoes. The forest green of the sweatshirt matched her eyes.
“Have you had Sammy’s subs?” he asked. “They’re great.”
“I have, yes.” Her brow furrowed. “Trent sometimes orders them for the office.”
He could tell she was concerned about keeping her job, and he didn’t know how to reassure her one way or the other. Especially since it didn’t seem that they were going to find the gunmen anytime soon.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Steele went over to pull out one of the chairs around the small table. “Keep the pressure off your feet.”
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have decent shoes and socks.” She dropped into the chair. “At least now I won’t slow us down as much if we need to go on the run again.”
“Hopefully, it won’t come to that.” He scowled, not liking the idea of the gunmen showing up here. Bad enough that the room above them had been shot up last month by a crazed gunman trying to kill Elly Finnegan. The near miss had him crossing to the door and opening it to verify the camera was pointing in the correct position.
“I checked too,” Brock said with a lopsided grin. “Figured we need to be on high alert.”
“Checked what?” Harper asked.
“The positions of the security cameras.” He smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, everything is fine. You’re safe here.” Stress probably wasn’t good for the baby. And he was more than capable of worrying enough for the both of them.
“Per his text message, Joe is five minutes out.” Brock glanced up from his phone. “My stomach is growling loud enough for him to hear it.”
“You’re hungry? We’re the ones who have been burning up calories running from one location to the next,” Steele protested.
“And I’m eating for two,” Harper added.
“Are you really trying to out-hunger me?” Brock demanded.
