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He returned to the kitchen to fill another cup of coffee. Not that he usually bothered drinking decaf. What was the point? But it was as good an excuse as any to stay away from her.
Yeah, he shouldn’t have brought her to his place. Chalk it up to temporary insanity. That, and maybe a soft spot for a woman in danger.
Harper wasn’t his sister, Amelia. Yet the situations were similar. If he’d been older, more in tune as to what Amelia had been going through, he may have been able to save her.
But he hadn’t. Too busy playing football in high school to pay attention to what Amelia was doing at college.
Sipping his decaf coffee, he tried not to think about how his sister had fought for her life. How her ex-boyfriend had repeatedly punched and kicked her until she’d died.
How no one had heard Amelia’s screams.
Enough. He gave himself a mental shake. This whole situation was messing with his head. After losing Monique, he’d locked his emotions in a deep freeze.
This was not a good time for them to thaw out.
“Excuse me, Steele?” Harper hovered in the open space between his living room and kitchen. “May I use your bathroom?”
“Of course.” He set his mug aside and headed for the hallway, gesturing with one hand. “First door on your left.”
“Thank you.” She rested her hand on her belly as she brushed past him.
He glanced at his watch for what seemed like the tenth time in ten minutes. What was taking so long to secure a safe house?
Pulling out his phone, he shot off a text to Joe Kingsley.Any word on the safe house?
Three little dots appeared as Joe drafted a message back.Not yet. Where are you?
He hesitated, then answered his new lieutenant the same way he had Brock.Safe.
Joe replied,???
He sighed. Obviously, Joe didn’t appreciate his vague answer either. It didn’t really matter. They wouldn’t be hanging out at his house for long.
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, he returned to the kitchen for his decaf coffee. A glimpse of a brown SUV coming down the street caught his attention.
It was an odd color for a car. One that wasn’t highly popular compared to the black, dark blue, dark green, gray, silver, and white models out there. And one that didn’t belong to any of his neighbors, as he’d made a point of familiarizing himself with the names and vehicles of those who lived around him.
With a frown, he crossed the living room to look out the window. The brown SUV moved past, then turned left at the next block. He turned away, telling himself to relax.
There was no reason to be on edge. He’d made sure they weren’t followed, and the shooter would have no idea where he lived. And the car used by Harper’s kidnappers had been black, not brown.
Harper returned to the living area. “Thanks. The baby likes to kick my bladder.”
“Ah, sure.” He hoped he didn’t sound as idiotic as he felt. Babies were not anywhere in his field of expertise. Like Jina, he was a sharpshooter. And he sometimes helped Brock handle hostage negotiations, although Brock was far better at talking people off the ledge than he was. The guy had a calm, soothing voice. Which was kinda funny since his teammate also had serious trust issues. “I checked with Joe Kingsley, our lieutenant. They hope to have the safe house ready soon.”
“Okay.” She smiled as she sank back onto the sofa. He belatedly noticed she’d kicked her shoes off again. “I’m sure you’re anxious to get rid of me.”
He wasn’t, and wasn’t that a kick in the pants? Yeah, he needed his head examined. He forced himself to take a step back, doing his best to sound impartial. “Our only goal is to make sure you’re safe.”
“I still can’t believe Jake is alive.” She shook her head. “He must have been hurt pretty bad to have agreed to testify against the guy he worked for.”
“He’s fine now,” he assured her.
She grimaced. “I know I’m supposed to forgive those who trespass against me, but that is far easier said than done.”
Considering how the guy had treated her, he completely understood where she was coming from. Yet he sensed she cared about acting the way God would want her to. He’d watched Joe praying with Elly, his fiancée, the same way Rhy did. It was something he and the rest of the team noticed but didn’t talk about.
There were times it was easy to believe in God, like when they hadn’t lost anyone during the recent warehouse incident.
