Page 35 of Sackett (Demented Souls #17)

S ackett stood in line beside Selena, waiting to get their tickets to the train, then board. His mind kept drifting back to this morning and how he’d woken up.

He’d been surprised to find Selena curled against him, using him as her pillow, but pleased at the same time.

He’d lain there as still as he could be and watched her as she slept.

Yeah, that made him feel a little bit like a creep, but he hadn’t put her there or snuck in to find her like that.

He tried to justify it by telling himself he was just letting her sleep.

It only did so much toward salving his conscience. But what would have happened if he’d woken her sooner? She wouldn’t have been so rested. She still would have been embarrassed but she would think he didn’t want her touching him and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

He wanted her to touch him, and he wanted to touch her, a hell of a lot more than had happened this morning.

But he wouldn’t push. He wouldn’t ask for more. He would leave it up to her. It was the only thing his integrity would allow him to do.

“Where do you want to sit?” he asked as they made their way onto the train.

“Seats are assigned with the tickets. We were a little limited, but I got ours in the open gondola cars. I thought we’ll probably get better pictures without glass to get in the way.”

“Sounds good.” Sackett followed her through the crowded train, resisting the urge to put his hand low on her back as she led the way.

His hand ached for the contact, but he told himself no.

It would make her uncomfortable and he didn’t want that.

As much as he wanted to touch her again, to inhale her sweet, tempting scent, he had to wait until she made the first move.

If she ever did. If she didn’t then he’d deal with it.

His wants. His body’s wants weren’t her responsibility.

He lectured himself nonstop as they made their way through the aisle. He almost didn’t notice when Selena stepped out of the line and between two seats.

“You all right?” Selena’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, making him realize when she sat, that they’d reached their seats.

“I’m good, was just thinking,” he said as he sat beside her.

“About anything good?” She looked at him, interested.

Sackett shook his head. He thought it was good, or he wanted it to be, but he wasn’t going to tell her what he’d been thinking about.

“How long until we leave?” he asked as he settled in.

“We have about thirty minutes,” Selena responded after checking her watch. “You have something you want to do?” She turned to look at him.

“Just find the restroom. Will you be okay until I get back?” He didn’t like leaving her here alone, but they were nowhere near Boulder, or Fort Collins and he’d watched for a tail the day before and seen nothing. There was no reason to think she wouldn’t be perfectly fine here.

She nodded, turning her attention back to the view out the open top half of the wall in front of their seats. He watched her for a moment, making sur she really was okay and wasn’t just putting on a brave face. He scanned the car, then turned and went in search of the restroom.

They made it to Silverton with no problems. Sackett couldn’t help but be glad that it seemed they’d lost the assholes who had kidnapped her and could enjoy their time on the way home. And he was determined to do just that.

After talking to a few people, they walked from the train station toward what looked like the main drag through town and wandered up and down the street, checking out shops.

Several times as they walked, Selena’s hand brushed his.

He wanted to take it and hold on to it, but wasn’t sure that was what she was after or if the touches had been accidental.

He hoped they were deliberate, but they still had at least one night together, possibly two.

He didn’t want her to regret traveling with him or feel like she wasn’t safe with him.

They stopped at a saloon on the main drag in Silverton and ate lunch. They were talking about things they’d seen, waiting for their food to arrive, when she reached across the table and grabbed his hand. The suddenness of her touch and the intensity of her grip made him look at her, suddenly alert.

“What?” He kept his voice calm, and his tone even, just as if they were still discussing things they’d seen in the little shops so far.

“That man over there.” She rolled her eyes to the left, then brought them back to him. “That’s Mr. Smarmy.”

Sackett gave her a long blink, trying to remember if she’d ever used that name to him before.

“You’re going to have to give me a clue who that is, sunshine.” He did his best to sound like it was an endearment he used with her often, not wanting to clue anyone who might overhear them in that there was anything wrong.

“Remember the night you took me for a walk, but I forgot my shoes?” Selena seemed to understand what he was doing and kept her voice soft, trying to clue him in without saying exactly what she wanted him to know.

“Of course, how could I forget it?” It had only been a few days ago. He searched his memory, trying to recall if she’d mentioned anyone in talking about that night. “You mean that guy? That’s him?” He scanned the room, trying to spot the man she was pointing out to him. “Which one?”

She gave him a brief description, her hand still clutching his as she sat stiff and barely moving as she watched him from across the table.

“Relax,” he said under his breath, hoping she would trust him. “He’s not going to do anything as long as we stay public. Too many potential witnesses.”

“But what about—”

“Don’t worry, sunshine. You did good spotting him and now that we’ve seen him, we won’t give him a chance to do anything.

” Sackett had no doubt the man she called Mr. Smarmy was Jonah Harper, the leader of the commune.

Sackett thought commune was just a polite name for a cult but that was neither here nor there.

What mattered now was that they get back to Durango and figure out how he had managed to find them here.

He had little doubt the man had followed them from there, but didn’t know if he’d been on the train, as there had been more than a few cars and Sackett hadn’t visited even half, much less all of them.

Or maybe the man had seen them in line for the train and had driven up here on his own.

Either was possible. If he’d been on the train, then they didn’t have much to worry about until they got back but if he’d driven up here, then he could potentially attempt to take her here.

Either way, now that she’d spotted him, they would be more aware, more prepared.

“What do we do now?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“We relax. We act like we haven’t seen him, and we continue to enjoy our day.

” He turned over his hand under hers and gripped hers back, hoping it looked natural to anyone watching, especially Harper.

Then he scanned the saloon to see if there were any other faces from the files Krissi sent him on his flight up.

“We keep an eye out, but don’t let them know that we’ve seen them, if we can manage it.

Can you manage it?” He watched her, trying to read her expression, not just her response.

“I think so.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before exhaling.

“I’m sorry.” She kept her voice soft enough that it wouldn’t be overheard, even at the next table.

“Seeing him caught me by surprise and I had a moment of panic.” She took another deep breath, and he watched as she seemed to rebuild herself from the inside out.

In the space of a few seconds, she was back to the confident, happy woman he’d been walking with when they’d come in here.

“How are your feet?” he asked. They’d spent a good chunk of the last couple of hours walking and he wanted to check on her. On top of that, if they had to run for some reason, he needed to know if she’d have trouble doing so.

“They’re fine. A couple of twinges here and there as I move, but they’re better than I expected when I got my first look at them.”

“Good.” He didn’t share his concerns, that was something she didn’t need to know about. He just hoped they didn’t have to run in order to get away from this fuckwad again.

They finished eating, then strolled along the street again before walking back to the train station, making sure they went early enough that there were others headed for the same place.

Sackett didn’t doubt he could protect her from Harper, but what if the man wasn’t alone?

What if he’d brought several men to make sure of his success?

Sackett wasn’t willing to take the risk.

At the station, he asked her to use the restroom before they boarded, so he could keep an eye on the door and not seem like a total stalker.

They made it on board and were on the way back to Durango without Harper trying anything or spotting anyone else either of them recognized.