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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

B rooklynn never wanted to leave Ford’s arms.

Her world was falling to pieces, but in his arms she felt safe. In this house, on this property, she felt protected from all the scary things in the world.

The killers who’d chased her.

Even Lenny couldn’t find her here.

The safety made her feel terrible, knowing that she’d put Lois in danger. Thank You, Father, that she’s still alive. Thank you for sparing her life.

But what if someone else got hurt because of her? What if Lois had been killed? What if the killers tracked Alyssa down, or Mom and Cici and Delaney came back to town? What if Kenzie showed up?

Dad could be in danger, though he traveled with security, as did Mom.

Brooklynn and her sisters had all refused to be guarded twenty-four seven. Maybe she should call Dad and ask for a security guard. If she left this safe haven, she’d do that. But she didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to move out of Ford’s protection.

Or his arms.

The thought brought her up short. What was she doing, letting him hold her like this?

She leaned away, and he dropped his arms and stepped back.

“You okay?”

“Yup.” She swiped her fingers under her eyes, though there was little moisture there. Ford’s T-shirt was damp with her tears. “Sorry. I’m okay. Really.” She cleared her throat.

He watched her as if terrified she’d fall apart again.

She attempted a smile, though fear and worry still hummed in her blood. “So, what did this syndicate smuggle?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping the ledger offers some clues, but I haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Let’s look at it together. Maybe I’ll see something you didn’t.”

His lips pressed into a thin line. Humphed in the back of his throat, and she braced herself for the coming rejection. He didn’t want her help. He wanted her out of his business.

“It can’t hurt. I can use all the help I can get.”

Wow. He could be taught. She tamped down the triumphant feelings, not wanting him to see.

Carrying their empty glasses, she followed Ford back down the staircases to the kitchen, where they rinsed the dishes and tidied up.

Though Ford was his usual, quiet self, he seemed…

Peaceful wasn’t the right word, but maybe a little less grouchy.

Almost as if sharing his struggles and comforting her had lifted some of his burden.

Yeah, right.

More likely, she was seeing what she wanted to see.

She wanted Ford to like her. Silly as it was, she wanted him to be thankful she was there, not lamenting his unwanted, too nosy houseguest.

They were headed to Charles’s office when her phone dinged with a text.

It’s Nathan Church. Call when you have a minute.

“Someone important?” Ford asked.

“It’s Lenny’s partner. Maybe he has information for me.” She called the unfamiliar number. When he answered, she said, “It’s Brooklynn.”

“Thanks for calling me back so quickly.”

She recognized Nathan’s voice, though she’d only spoken to him a handful of times. He was about two years her junior, in his mid-twenties. Brooklynn remembered him as a shy, chubby kid, but the last time she’d seen him, he’d turned the extra weight into muscle.

“Do you have some news for me?” she asked

“I got a message that you called. Are you safe?”

“Yeah.” They reached the office, and Ford stepped aside so she could enter first. She nodded her thanks, then said to Nathan, “I’m safe.” She didn’t mention that she’d spoken to Lenny and he’d refused to tell her anything.

Ford touched her arm to get her attention.

She looked at him, ignoring the zing of energy that tried to distract her.

“Can you put it on speaker?” Ford kept his voice low.

She did, keeping her gaze on the phone so she could concentrate. “Can you give me an update?”

“We’re looking for the boat,” Nathan said, “using your photograph to ask around. As far as we can tell, it doesn’t belong to any of the local fishermen, but we’re hoping one of them will remember it.

The images of the people were too grainy for us to get anything helpful, but we sent them to the state police lab.

Unfortunately, they’re pretty backed up, so we won’t hear anything back for weeks. ”

Ford’s eyebrows lowered. He didn’t like that.

“We’ve also been keeping our eye on the Haunted Inlet. There’s been no activity there since you reported the incident a few days ago.”

“Do you think they just…moved on?” She couldn’t help a little spark of hope.

Shaking his head, Ford settled in the leather chair on the opposite side of the desk.

“Unfortunately,” the cop said, “what happened to Mrs. Whitmore last night tells us they haven’t.”

“Oh, right. Of course.”

“The guys who broke into her house demanded to know where you are. You were wise not to tell anybody, and I don’t mind that you haven’t told us. However, I would like to know if you’re alone or with someone.”

“I’m with someone. I’m not alone.”

“Good, good. Name?”

That had Ford’s head shaking hard enough she feared he’d give himself a headache. In case she didn’t get the message, he mouthed, No.

“Sorry,” Brooklynn said. “The person who’s helping me doesn’t want anyone to know…they’re involved. They’re worried they’ll get pulled into this.”

“Multiple people, then?”

“No. I’m just trying to honor his or her privacy.”

“I see.” His tone told her he didn’t see at all. “The problem is, if I can’t get in touch with you, I won’t know where to start looking.”

“Someone knows where I am. Someone not in my family, and not the person I’m with.” Brooklynn wasn’t about to put her sister in anyone’s crosshairs. Not that she didn’t trust Nathan, but police reports could be hacked or stolen or leaked.

And maybe she was paranoid, but as the daughter of a CIA agent and a sister of a former computer hacker, she knew nothing was truly private.

Nathan said, “If I don’t know who?—”

“If something happens to me, this person will know where I’ve been, and he or she will contact you.”

“Could you give me your friend’s contact information?”

She didn’t have to look at Ford to know what he thought about that. “Sorry. I’m trying to honor everyone’s wishes.”

Nathan blew out a frustration-filled breath.

“No problem. I understand. Is this person you’re with someone you know well?

Someone you know you can trust? Because whatever happened at the inlet obviously wasn’t a one-time thing, and if that’s the case, then…

I have a gut feeling that people in Shadow Cove are involved.

I mean, if not, then why here? There are a thousand inlets on the coast of Maine. Why that one?”

“Well, I mean… it’s hidden and unused.”

“So well hidden that hardly anybody knows it exists. Locals know, though. You need to be careful about who you trust.”

She lifted her gaze to Ford, who held it. He didn’t smirk, there was no lip-twitch-smile. Just a serious expression that communicated…what?

That he understood why she’d wonder about him, and that he wasn’t afraid of her questions.

Ford could be trusted. There was no fear in his expression as though he were worried she’d discover the truth about him. There was no malice. No duplicity.

He'd saved her life. He could’ve killed her that first day, and nobody would be the wiser. And that comforting embrace on the roof…

No, she wouldn’t distrust Ford Baker. He was exactly who he claimed to be.

“I trust the person who took me in,” Brooklynn said. “I’m safe here.”

“If you say so. There’s one more thing.” Nathan paused to inhale, then blew out the breath. “I’m saying this unofficially, okay?”

She looked at Ford, who shrugged.

“What?”

“I get the sense that Lenny has not gotten over you.”

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she said nothing as she settled onto one of the chairs on the visitor's side of the desk. The files Ford had been going through the day before were stacked neatly in one corner. In the center was the ledger she’d found.

On the side opposite the files was the photo album that held the photos of the people in town.

“He’s my partner,” Nathan said, “and I really like the guy, but where you’re concerned, he’s a little…irrational.”

Ford’s lips pressed closed as if he were fighting not to add his own opinion of Brooklynn’s ex-boyfriend.

“I’ve noticed,” she said.

“I’m just saying, I understand if you feel…hesitant to call the police if you believe he might respond. This is my personal cell phone number, so if anything happens, or if you remember something, call me directly. You don’t have to work with him.”

“Okay, but… How do you know that about Lenny?”

“I wasn’t sure, but he told me he was staking out that old, abandoned mansion, thinking you’d taken refuge there. He searched the property and gave the contractor there a hard time.”

Ford wrote something down and turned the note so she could see.

“Someone’s staying there?” she asked. Because, as Ford reminded her, she shouldn’t know that. “I had no idea.”

“How’d you get away from the people who followed you?”

“I hid. There’s an outcropping of rocks, and I managed to wedge myself in tight. It was sunrise, and I was in the shadow. They ran right by me. I stayed there for hours until I knew they were gone.”

“You’re lucky they didn’t find you.”

Ford pulled the notebook back to himself and wrote something down. He slid it back to her.

Be careful. He’s fishing.

She felt that too. “It wasn’t luck. God protected me.”

“Okay.” Nathan said the word like he wasn’t convinced but couldn’t be bothered to argue the point.

“Anyway, there was something almost…desperate about Lenny’s need to find you.

He’s told me a few times that he believes you two are going to get back together.

My gut tells me he’s…uh…a little too invested, let’s say. ”

“Not sure what that has to do with anything,” she said.

“I’d like to know.” Nathan’s words took on a you can trust me tone. Lenny used to do that. Was it a skill they taught at the police academy?