Page 30

CHAPTER 30

R aven showered, then threw on some sweatpants and her favorite sweatshirt. She craved comfort. If she had a chocolate cake right now, she’d eat a huge slice. Maybe even the whole cake.

So it was a good thing there was no cake here.

Though it was late, her mind raced too much for her to sleep. She had more things to investigate.

She grabbed her laptop and headed back into the living room, where she found Jake sitting on the couch looking at his phone. He’d changed into some black sweats and a white T-shirt.

Her throat went dry at the sight of him. She forced herself to look away, to not dwell on the fact he was still the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

Jake stood when she walked in the room.

“At ease,” she joked, trying to break the tension she felt inside her.

He cracked a half-hearted smile.

The light moment was nice in the shadow of all the heavy things they were dealing with.

He nodded to a plate on the coffee table. “I made you a sandwich. You need to eat.”

She glanced at the sandwich, cut neatly into two triangles. “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.”

“Thank you.” She grabbed it, realizing she was hungry. “Did I miss anything?”

Raven lowered herself into an oversized chair near him and crossed her legs. She placed her laptop on the table beside her, ready to grab when she was ready to do some research.

“Not that I’ve heard.”

She nodded, expecting that would be the answer. Then she took a bite of her turkey on wheat. “This is good. Thank you again.”

“Of course.”

She didn’t want to admit it, but it felt good to have someone watching out for her. She’d been on her own for a long time, used to doing things for herself. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have someone paying attention to her.

She ate a few more bites before grabbing her laptop. Something had been nagging her, something she wanted to check out more.

“What are you doing?” Jake narrowed his eyes in curiosity as he watched her.

“I need to do more research.”

“I see.”

She stole another glance at him. Was it just her imagination or was he acting funny? He almost seemed wistful.

But why?

As her computer screen lit, all the text messages she’d missed earlier popped up at the top corner of her screen.

She saw one from Kingston.

Her gaze darted across the room to the kitchen counter where she’d left her cell phone.

Had Jake somehow seen that message? Was that why he seemed distant?

No, that thought was ridiculous. Even if Jake had seen the text, he wasn’t the type to be jealous.

He’d made his feelings toward her very clear ten years ago when he’d ghosted her.

But why did Raven feel as if he had something on his mind he wasn’t telling her?

Jake wanted to get the message he’d seen on Raven’s phone out of his mind. But every method he tried to use to stop thinking about it didn’t work.

He didn’t know why, but he’d had the impression she wasn’t seeing anyone. The fact that she might have a man in her life bothered him entirely more than it should.

Jake had his chance with her, and he’d blown it. He hadn’t expected her to wait around.

He hadn’t waited around, after all. He’d gotten married. He couldn’t have a double standard.

Yet, if he were honest with himself, he’d admit he’d love nothing more than to have a second chance with her.

The events of the past two days had proven that.

But today, when he thought that Raven might die . . . that had cemented his remorse.

That was just another reason why he was glad she’d sat in the chair instead of beside him on the couch. On the couch . . . she would have been too close. It might have been too tempting to reach out to her, to let one of her curls brush his fingertips.

Striking up an old flame in the middle of this situation was a terrible idea.

Plus, Raven was out of reach.

Even if she wasn’t dating someone, would she ever truly understand Jake’s reasons for leaving? For not being in touch? He wasn’t sure.

“You don’t trust everyone at Blackout, do you?”

Raven’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Jake blinked, unsure if he’d heard her correctly. “Come again?”

“I noticed some tension between you and your teammates.”

Of course , she did. She’d also probably noticed Jake hadn’t responded to her question earlier. The truth was, he did have a reason to doubt his teammates.

He shrugged. “You know how it is when you have to work closely with people. It’s challenging.”

“In your line of work, you have to trust each other.” She shifted and narrowed her gaze, not backing down. “So what’s going on?”

She’d really cut right to the heart of the matter, hadn’t she?

Jake could avoid her question and pretend she was misinterpreting things.

Or he could use her as a sounding board.

He swallowed hard as he tried to decide what to do.

“I’ve been thinking more about what happened today. I’m now convinced this was an inside job,” he admitted, surprising himself by saying the words aloud. He’d had his suspicions before, but he didn’t see any other alternatives at this point.

“I’m sorry to hear that. That has to be difficult.” Raven paused. “Do you have any idea who might be responsible?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I only have suspicions.” He paused. “I know some of the best EOD techs around. There are only a few people I can think of who might be capable of making the kind of bombs we’ve seen since you’ve arrived here on Lantern Beach.”

“And it’s one of your colleagues, isn’t it? One of the guys who came in with you?” She sounded breathless as she asked the question.

He somberly nodded. “That’s right. It could be any of them, really. They each might have their reasons.”

“Even Atlas? You two seem close.”

Her words caused an unseen weight to press on his shoulders. “Out of everyone, I’m closest to him. But also out of everyone, he’s the most likely one who could have left that bomb today at the headquarters.”

“Wow.” She blinked. “That’s a lot.”

“Yes, it is.”

She continued to study his face, compassion in her gaze. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m trying to figure that out.”

“Whatever it is, I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.” Her words sounded confident and sure.

His gaze caught hers. The truth was Jake didn’t always make the right decisions.

He hadn’t with her.

Was this the time to tell her the truth?

He licked his lips, unsure even how to start. Unsure how she’d react. Unsure about . . . everything, really.

But before any words left his mouth, Raven stood. “Listen, maybe we should get some sleep. Maybe we’ll see things with fresh eyes in the morning.”

“Smart thinking.” His voice sounded hoarse in his own ears.

Her gaze lingered on him, almost as if she’d sensed he was about to address what had happened in the past and wanted to avoid it. “Good night, Jake.”

“Good night, Raven.”

Maybe seeing her again wouldn’t bring healing like Jake had hoped.

Maybe it would only bring more hurt.