Page 5 of Protective Assignment (Warrior Peak Sanctuary #1)

Cade could tell River was on the brink of crying, and that just made him even more worried. Why would a simple question about how she was doing make her so emotional? Unless the truth was more horrible than she wanted to admit.

“You know, if you’re in trouble, you should tell someone. I’m sure there’s probably someone here who could help,” he said gently.

Her jaw set tight and she lowered her gaze to the ground, clearly indicating the conversation was over.

Cade tried to think of another way to approach the subject, not wanting to push too hard since she still looked like she might bolt at any moment.

His mind came up blank, so he decided to change the subject altogether.

“You haven’t eaten breakfast yet, right?” he asked her, picking up the weights again and moving them back over to the rack. Maybe it would be easier for her to talk about practical stuff, the physical rather than the emotional. She wouldn’t be the first who had spent time here to feel that way.

“Not yet,” she replied. “That’s where I was heading, before I took a wrong turn.”

“Let me clean up and I’ll walk you down there,” he told her. “And how did you sleep?”

“Okay, sure,” she replied with a shrug, leaning up against the door.

She was still reluctant to tell him much more than the bare basics, and he could feel the anxiety coming off her in waves, but at least he could try and pull down some of those barriers she held on to so tightly.

He wanted to know what was going on in her head, and why she seemed so nervous around everyone.

It was clear she was afraid of something or someone and she wouldn’t trust him with the whole truth of why she was on the road in the first place.

Even though she was so secretive, he wouldn’t have felt right about sending her back out on her own without at least trying to help in some way.

Offer whatever assistance he could to make things a little easier for her while she was there.

“So, what exactly happens here?” she asked, tucking her hands behind herself and cocking her head at him. It was obvious she was just trying to get the attention off herself, but if she had questions, he was more than happy to answer.

“At the lodge?” he asked, and she nodded.

He shrugged a shoulder. “They have a variety of physical and mental rehab activities to help military and law enforcement deal with all kinds of injuries. That’s why I’m here.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You got injured?”

“Yeah, former military. Got shot in the shoulder and my body banged up pretty good,” he replied.

“I’ve been working on getting back on my feet these last couple of years.

And since my brother’s been bugging me to come up for a while and he’s one of the therapists, I thought I’d take him up on his offer and take advantage of the family discount at the same time and schedule some therapy. ”

He continued filling her in on his injury and his recovery, stopping short of coming clean about his doubts over his future.

He didn’t want to dump his problems on her.

She wasn’t asking about that part, and it seemed as though she had plenty to handle in her own right when it came to figuring out the future.

The way she reacted surprised him. Most people, when they heard about what he had been through, were instantly apologetic, trying to say the right thing and give him advice about what to do, but she just listened to him. He appreciated it more than he thought he would.

“…so yeah, that’s what I’m doing here,” he finished up and glanced over at her across the room.

For the briefest moment, their eyes locked and the atmosphere in the room changed.

Something about those big, blue eyes staring back at him made him stop in his tracks, and he felt something flicker in his chest—something he hadn’t felt for a long time.

He could tell she felt it, too. She seemed to freeze for a moment, her eyes widening slightly, then her cheeks flushed a deep red and she tore her gaze away from his.

“Uh, um…” Her voice cracked. “I should go to breakfast, let you finish up. I’ll find my way,” she told him, ducking her head down and hurrying out of the gym before he could say anything else. He thought about going after her, but figured she needed her space.

Since River rushed out, he decided to continue what he’d started when she arrived.

Once he’d finished his workout, he grabbed his bag and headed to the communal showers to get washed up, and then had breakfast. As he was refilling his coffee thermos to head back down to the cabin where he was staying, Lawson appeared beside him, arms crossed over his chest.

“I heard you were here,” he remarked.

Cade nodded at him in greeting. “Hey, Lawson.”

“And that you brought someone with you,” he continued. “Who’s that woman you arrived with?”

Cade screwed the cap back on to his thermos before he replied.

He should have known that Lawson was going to have questions about River, and he was probably right to.

After all, he co-owned the place with Xavier, and he was Hannah’s big brother.

He had more reason than almost anyone to care about who came through those doors and what exactly their intentions were.

And bringing in a mysterious stranger like River raised a whole lot of questions.

As another former CIA agent, Lawson Davies was used to getting all the answers he wanted.

But before he could reply, Hannah bustled past, holding a nervous-looking River by the arm. Both men turned to watch as they passed, then Cade turned back to Lawson.

“I don’t know much about her,” he admitted. “I’ve been trying to get information from her, but she isn’t giving much up.”

“You should come in for a meeting with Xavier and me later today,” Lawson told him firmly. “Three o’clock in the office. So we can talk. How long is she going to be staying here?”

“I don’t know,” Cade admitted.

“Well, one more day, and I’ll want to talk to her myself,” Lawson replied. “See if there’s anything we can do to help her out.”

“She doesn’t talk much, trust me. I’ve tried.” Cade shrugged as he looked after her down the hall where she and Hannah disappeared.

He wasn’t sure what it was going to take to get her talking, or if she would ever be willing to open up at all.

Maybe she just wanted to keep herself to herself, and do what he’d suggested—rest and refuel—then leave.

Lawson was talking about her staying another day, but as far as Cade could tell, she was already ready to get back out on the road and continue on to wherever she was headed.

“Maybe she’s in trouble with the law,” Lawson suggested. “That’s why she’s keeping her mouth shut. Probably safer for her that way, huh?”

“I have no idea,” Cade replied, but in his gut, he doubted it. She didn’t strike him as the type who could cause any real trouble, but she might be caught up in some unwillingly. “She seems harmless, though.”

Lawson clenched his jaw slightly. “Yeah, well, I’ll be the judge of that,” he replied.

“So, this meeting?” Cade inquired, directing the conversation away from River and her secrets. “Is something going on?”

“We want to run something by you, is all. Talk to you then, all right? I have to meet with a client.” Lawson clapped him on the arm and then continued down the hall.

“Sure. I’ll see you later,” he told Lawson’s retreating form, then turned to head out to his cabin.

Since Carter was with a patient that morning, Cade didn’t have much more to do than wander around the grounds and get to know the area now that he was finally there.

His brother had told him a little about the place when he had been trying to convince him to come.

Cade was pretty sure the real reason Carter wanted him there was so he could keep a closer eye on him.

His brother knew better than anyone how hard Cade found it to just sit around and do nothing.

When the two of them were growing up, they had always tried to outdo each other.

From who could climb up the highest in the big oak tree in their backyard, to who could launch himself the furthest off the tire swing, and countless bicycle races down the driveway in between.

Because of that, they frequently found themselves in the ER with their arms in a cast or their heads getting stitched up.

It was why Carter had gotten interested in physical therapy in the first place, because he wanted to help people the same way he had been helped when he was a kid.

Cade, however, had gone the other way entirely, craving the same kind of thrill they’d sought out when they were kids.

That same adrenaline rush that lit a fire in his belly.

Cade found himself on a thin, gravel pathway that wound away from the main building.

While most of the guests at the lodge stayed in the main building, there was a small cluster of cabins out in a clearing in the woods where people who were longer-term residents could stay.

That was where Carter and some of the others lived and where he’d gotten Cade set up for his time there.

He hadn’t had much time to do anything other than drop his stuff off before grabbing a bite with the others and then crash on the bed the night before, but now that the rain had stopped, he wanted to get a better look at the place.

The path Cade was walking on cut through the dirt and a little bit of grass surrounding it, and led the way to the cabins.

It was fall, and with the leaves beginning to change colors on the trees, it was really pretty out in the woods.

This had always been Cade’s favorite season, but it had been a while since he’d had a chance to spend it out somewhere rural like this.

He sipped on his warm coffee as he followed the trail down to where he was staying, watching a few rays of sunshine peek through the gray clouds above him.

Maybe it was going to be a nice day after all.

He reached the cabins surrounded by the low-lying branches of trees that sagged with red and gold leaves, and headed to his place. It wasn’t much, but it was cozy enough, and exactly what he needed as long as he was there.

All the cabins were set back in the surrounding trees, like part of nature, and blended in perfectly with the forest. There were walkways leading up to the door of each unit.

Each place had the same outside lighting, but they all had different interiors.

The inside of his cabin was just slightly larger than the single units, with an open-floor concept in the front, then two small bedrooms separated by a tiny bathroom in back.

The living area and kitchen were contained in the same space, the kitchen big enough to hold a small counter with two stools pushed underneath, a couple of cabinets, a compact sink and little fridge.

A great place for a basic meal and cup of coffee if he didn’t want to go up to the lodge.

He liked the social aspects of the lodge, though, and he didn’t want to miss out on it.

Then there was the gym. He needed that space to get in his daily workout to keep in shape and help settle his mind in the midst of his recovery.

The living area was the larger of the two sections, and allowed for a couch, a small side table with a lamp, a comfy chair and a fireplace. Then the two bedrooms each with a queen-size bed, side table, dresser and small closet and then the shared bathroom.

Just before he reached his new home, he heard a laugh. Hannah’s, if he wasn’t mistaken. And then, it was followed by another female laugh he’d never heard before. He stopped in front of a cabin toward the end and peered inside, trying to get a look at what was going on in there.

That was when he saw it—Hannah and River together.

But instead of the usual nervous, wide-eyed expression she had on her face, River was smiling.

More than smiling, she was laughing. Her head was thrown back and her long hair flowed over her shoulders, her face lit up with joy.

Her face was completely unguarded and she was beautiful.

Staring for a moment, Cade felt a smile spread over his own face. After how reserved and jumpy she had been, to see her smiling and laughing lifted a weight from his shoulders.

He found himself wondering what it would take for him to be able to get her to laugh like that.