Page 17

Flipping open the tablet on the table in front of him, Enzo says, “First, we’ll talk about strategy.

Just to give you an overview of how we’re handling your case.

Then we’ll get into all the questions we have for you.

People from your background who might hold a grudge, previous relationships…

” He makes an apologetic grimace. “I know it sucks. But if there’s an ex who’s upset you broke up with him… ”

“Not likely,” I blurt before I can stop myself.

“You never know,” Enzo replies. His gaze shadows. “Winter thought her ex was over her. She never imagined…”

But Winter is gorgeous. I can understand—however screwed up it was—why her ex was hung up on her. But me? I can’t imagine any of the few men I’ve dated even think about me anymore, let alone have reason to want me dead.

Gage touches my hand. “We’ll go over it anyway, just to be safe.”

Alec glances up from his laptop. “I’ve already started researching.

Looking into jobs you’ve had, courses you took in college, even activities you did in high school.

It might sound impossible that someone could hang onto an obsession for so long.

But a friend of ours; his wife was stalked by a guy she barely knew from high school.

He was the last person anyone would have suspected. ”

Gage’s voice takes on a warning tone. “Maybe we don’t need to talk about stalkers right now.”

“Sorry,” Alec responds. “It’s important?—”

But the rest of his words fade into the background as I realize what Alec’s research really means.

He would have found the hospital records. The police reports. Possibly the photos from the lawsuit, the ones my attorney insisted on using to ensure the best settlement.

God . Did Gage see them? Does he know how horrible I looked back then?

“Ror?” It’s lower than a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear. Gage reaches beneath the table to rest his hand on my leg. “Is this too much?”

I want to say yes. I want to go back to the cabin with Gage and have the day we were supposed to have yesterday, with episodes of Too Cute and lunch from Mariano’s and watching Gage demonstrate his flight simulator again, which I discovered is just as sexy as I thought it would be.

I want to pretend there isn’t someone out there trying to kill me.

But the team is here, all of them looking at me with open concern. They’re here for me. Or at least, they’re here because Gage asked them to be.

And the man who came after me could hurt someone else.

So I need to suck it up. Ignore my own discomfort. Do whatever I can to help solve this.

“No.” I lift my chin. Cast my gaze around the conference table, giving each man a quick nod of acceptance. Then I turn to look at Gage. “I can do this. I want to do this.”

An hour later, I’m not so sure.

At first, it started out okay.

First, Enzo outlined what they knew so far. No evidence was found on my property that might help identify my first—is it only one? or was the gunman a second?—attacker. No fingerprints, no blood, not even a usable footprint in the soil.

The police sent the bullets from yesterday off to forensics, so it’s possible they might find a match to a registered gun, but as Knox—the team’s resident weapons expert—explained, “Yes, forensics can match the striations on a bullet to the gun that fired them. But if I had to bet, the shooter used an unregistered gun. So the bullets won’t tell us much. ”

But it wasn’t all bad news. Alec’s poring through security footage, traffic light cameras, satellite images, and pretty much every surveillance camera in a ten-mile radius of my property.

He even pulled in his techie friends, Leo and Matt, who are both former military and work for a different security company, for help.

“I know it’s frustrating,” Enzo said. “With your house being so isolated, it’s harder to track down this guy. But we’ll get him. And in the meantime, you’ll be safe here.”

I believed him. I do . Even in the short time I’ve been staying here, I can see how safe it is. And with Gage spending so much time with me—no complaints, there—the only times I feel scared are the nights I spend by myself.

Then we moved on to the personal questions, and honestly, I thought I held up pretty well.

Even when I had to admit my embarrassing lack of relationships and hermit-like lifestyle.

It didn’t hurt that Gage kept his hand on my leg the entire time, giving me little reassuring pats and squeezes whenever he thought I was struggling.

But it was the last stretch of questions that really got to me.

The ones about what happened that night.

Even though it’s still a relative blank, the parts I can remember are not fun to relive—nightmare flashes of menacing eyes and stinking breath and breath-stealing terror as hands wrapped around my neck.

That last memory is the one I can’t get rid of. It still lingers, like ghost fingers digging into my throat.

Though I’m about as safe as I could be, sitting at this conference table surrounded by five former Special Ops soldiers, my body doesn’t want to believe it.

Even as Enzo works his way through that night, gently asking me to recall simple details about feeding the dogs and locking up the house, I can feel the familiar signs of a panic attack threatening.

My brain jumps from the mundane—turning out the downstairs lights, grabbing my Kindle from the charger in my office—to the fractured memories that come after it.

It’s the most disconcerting feeling; having these blank spaces in my mind, like a half-solved puzzle with the rest of the pieces missing. And the pressure behind it, demanding me to just remember before it’s too late. Before another woman could suffer the same fate as me.

Or worse. What if the next woman doesn’t survive it? I’m not even sure how I did.

“So, after you went upstairs,” Enzo continues, his gaze steady on mine, “do you recall seeing anything out the window? Or hearing anything outside?”

I suck in a deep breath, trying to fill my constricting lungs. “I don’t think I heard anything. Just Elmore and Toby’s claws on the hardwood. I remember thinking I needed to give them a trim.”

“Okay.” Enzo nods. “What about outside? Any lights? Possibly headlights approaching? Anything out of the ordinary?”

My heart speeds up as I cast my mind back to that night. Standing in the bathroom, looking into the mirror, and then… It’s all blank.

“I can’t remember.” Gray edges around my vision. Waves of hot and cold alternate, prickling my back with sweat. My muscles tense with the instinctive need to escape. Voice pitching up, I add, “I keep trying. But nothing works.”

“It’s okay,” he replies kindly. “I’m sure it’ll come back to you in time.”

“What if it doesn’t?” The fear I’ve been trying to control bursts free. “What if I never remember? There’s no guarantee I will. What if there’s no way to identify this guy? How can I go home? How can I go back to my regular life if there’s someone still out there, trying to kill me?”

Gage’s hand stiffens on my leg. “You’re not going back to your house if he’s still out there, Rory. That’s just not happening.”

Tears prickle behind my eyes. “I can’t stay here forever, Gage. I have the dogs to take care of. A house. You guys have other clients. Cases. If this goes on… Do I move? Start over someplace new? Try to hide?—”

“No.” It’s low. Rough. Almost angry. “No way, Ror. You’re not leaving Bliss. Not leaving Vermont.”

“Gage.” It’s Ronan, his voice a warning.

“What if this goes on for weeks? Months?” I turn to face Gage. “I won’t take up all your time when there are so many other people who need help. It’s not right. And—” My voice cracks.

“Ror.” Gage’s features pinch, his forehead creasing unhappily. “It’s not like that.” He pauses. Inspects my face. Then he stands and reaches his hand out to me. “Let’s take a break. Okay?”

I take another deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to convince my panicking body to settle. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

“I think a break is a good idea,” Enzo agrees. “In fact, I think we’re good for today. We can meet another day if there’s anything else we need to ask you.”

“Absolutely,” echoes Alec. “You gave me a ton of great info to work from.”

Looking between Gage and the rest of his team, I’m torn.

I don’t want to be that person, the one who lets her emotions control her.

The person who’s too weak to do what needs to be done.

But then again… the lure of leaving, of taking Gage’s hand and going anywhere but here, getting fresh gulps of air and letting my lungs fully expand again…

“It’s okay,” Gage says quietly. “You’ve been at this long enough. Let’s go home. Watch some puppies and kittens. Find something to eat.”

“Alright.” I grasp his hand, letting him pull me to my feet. “But could we go for a walk first? Just to get some fresh air?”

At first, I can tell he wants to argue. To insist on taking me home so I can rest. But then he nods. “Okay, Ror. We’ll take a walk.”

So we leave the barn, my hand still tucked inside Gage’s, as the rest of the guys call out kind goodbyes and well-wishes. Enzo issues a standing invitation for dinner, explaining, “Winter keeps asking. She’d love to have you over as soon as you’re up to it.”

“Lark wants to meet you, too,” Knox adds. “Maybe we could all have dinner one night this week.” He smirks at Enzo. “Assuming Winter is cooking, and not you.”

“My cooking is just fine,” Enzo retorts with a smile. “Winter doesn’t have any complaints.”

Just before we walk out the door, Knox calls after us, “Once your concussion is better, maybe you could play World of Warcraft with me and Gage. We could use another player to help with some of the quests.”

As we step back into the sunlight, I look up at Gage. “ World of Warcraft ?”

His cheeks go pink. “Yeah. Me and Knox started playing a while back. Just late at night, when one of us is having a hard time sleeping. And an old teammate of mine, Webb, will sometimes jump in to play with us, too. It’s a good distraction when your mind keeps going to places you’d rather it didn’t. ”

The reminder of Gage’s own experiences is enough to chase away my own rising anxiety.

Of course he has bad memories. I sensed it from the first time we met.

Though I don’t know details about his time in the Army, I know he joined straight out of high school and spent more than ten years as a Night Stalker, flying in and out of some of the most dangerous places on Earth.

How could he not have seen things he’d rather forget?

It’s enough to put my own experience back into perspective.

Yes, I’ve been through things. But so have a lot of other people. Like Gage and his teammates, who put their own lives at risk to protect our country. Who probably saw some of their friends make the ultimate sacrifice.

And what about Winter and Lark? From what Gage told me, they each had their own traumatic experiences. But they made it through. Found their own happy endings, like Isla likes to tell me I’ll find once I finally open up to the possibility.

And I’m lucky, really. I’m alive. I have a job I love. I have friends. I have my sister—though we’ve never really understood each other, she’s still family. And I have Gage.

“You don’t have to play WoW with us,” Gage says, oblivious to my meandering thoughts. “I mean, you’re welcome to, once the doctor clears you for video games. But I won’t be insulted if you’d rather not.”

I look up at Gage, meeting his gaze. There’s something in his expression that strikes a chord in my heart. It’s soft. Affectionate. Almost… hopeful.

“I’d love to play with you. If you don’t think I’ll hold you back? Not knowing how to play and all.”

A smile brightens his face, smoothing out the worried creases between his eyes and across his forehead.

“It’s no problem. I can help you level up your character, and it’s really pretty easy to play.

Alec’s got plenty of extra computers, so he can bring one over for you to use.

One with a good video card, so you’ll be able to appreciate the graphics. ”

“That sounds great. I can’t wait.” As we walk towards the woods, the weight on my chest lifts.

I take in a cleansing breath, letting the crisp Vermont air fill my lungs.

The scent of pine and soil and a faint hint of flowers wraps around me, a reminder of why I wanted to live near the woods to begin with.

“Okay.” He grins at me. “I’ll talk to Alec about the computer. It might be a little longer before you can actually play, but I can get the game installed for you. Make sure all the drivers are updated. So when the doctor gives the all-clear, you’re ready to go.”

I’m still looking at Gage, so I don’t notice the obvious rock in my path until I trip right over it. But before I can take a second, stumbling step, Gage wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me against him.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“I’m fine,” I answer in a gasp, my breath stolen not from fear, but the feeling of his arm around me again.

Of feeling his warmth seeping into me, his citrusy-pine scent, absorbing the look in his eyes and the handsome lines of his face.

Of wanting so badly to kiss him, to find out if my wistful fantasies are as good as the real thing.

Gage glances down at the offending rock and kicks it to the side. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Though I know I shouldn’t, I lean against him, letting my head rest on his shoulder for a second. “Totally fine. I wasn’t looking where I was going. That’s all.”

He stares at me for a second, assessing. Then his mouth curves up, apparently appeased by what he sees. “Okay. Are you good to keep going, then?”

“Of course. I’ve been wanting to look around the property more. And with the sun out, it’s a perfect day to do it.”

As we start moving through the woods again, I prepare myself for Gage to pull his arm away. For us to walk side by side, no longer touching.

But he doesn’t.

Instead, he rests his hand on the side of my waist, tugging me into his side.

Heat sparks from his touch, sizzling through my body. My heart rolls over. Hope bursts in my chest.

“In case you trip again,” he explains. A beat later, his eyes meet mine again. “If that’s okay?”

It takes me a second to answer. “Yes.”

I loop my arm around his waist and add with a smile, “Just in case you trip.”

His expression softens. “Thanks, Ror.”

And as we continue into the woods, our arms looped around each other, all the bad parts of the morning—of the last week, really—fade away.

Maybe it’s not a kiss. But I’ll take it.