“What if it doesn’t?” she cried. “What if I can’t remember? What if—” A sob slipped from her.
The tears did him in. He slipped his arms around her and she let her head drop to his shoulder just as Zoe stepped back into the room. “Aw, come on, Robin, it’s going to be okay. We’ll figure it out.”
“Before someone else gets hurt?” she mumbled.
“That would be best, yeah.” He lifted his gaze and locked on Zoe’s very expressive eyes. Toby simply stared at her. She cleared her throat and Robin pulled away.
She swiped under her eyes, then her cheeks and sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for,” Toby said. “I think you’ve earned the right to have a good cry.”
A low laugh escaped her, but it lacked humor. “Maybe so. But tears never solved anything.”
“You ready to see your temporary home?” Zoe asked.
“Sure.” Robin’s shoulders straightened and she blew out a breath. “That would be great. I...ah...don’t have any money right now, but I can pay you as soon as I—”
“We’re not worried about that.”
“Unca Toby! You here!” He turned just in time to catch the little two-year-old missile who launched herself into his arms.
“Gracie, you’re not supposed to be out of bed,” Zoe gently scolded her daughter.
Gracie wrapped her arms around Toby’s neck tight enough to choke him. “Unca Toby. Mine.”
“Let go, monkey, you’re choking me,” he said.
She loosened her hold and patted the pocket on the front of his T-shirt, then jammed her hand in. “No candy?”
The befuddled expression on her face almost made him laugh in spite of everything. “No candy tonight. Sorry, kiddo.”
Her lip poked out, then she rubbed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. “Talk an’ walk, pweese.”
Zoe bit her lip and held out her hands as though to take the child from Toby. “I’ll just put her back in bed and then we’ll head over to the cottages and get you settled.”
But Gracie was having none of it. “No! Want Unca Toby! No, Mommy!”
With pursed lips and a furrowed brow, Zoe looked at her child in exasperation.
Toby shook his head. “Robin, are you okay if I handle this?”
She blinked, looking tired and dazed and he felt guilty for even asking. “Of course.” Then her eyes softened and she smiled. “I’ll be fine for a few more minutes.”
“I can just show Robin to her place while you take care of my strong-willed child,” Zoe offered.
“No,” Toby said swiftly. “I’d rather you not. I don’t want to leave her alone right now.”
His sister hesitated, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two of them. She finally sighed. “Fine. In the interests of time and to avoid a complete meltdown, it will be easier to let her have her way this time.”
“Exactly,” Toby said. He winked and turned his attention to Gracie while Zoe linked her arm with Robin’s and led her to the kitchen. “Let’s get you some water and a bite to eat if you’re hungry. He won’t be long. He’s like a baby whisperer or something.”
Toby chuckled and started a silly monologue that would put Gracie to sleep within minutes. But while he paced and talked, his mind churned.
What if Robin couldn’t remember what happened at the lab? How would they go about finding the killer? They needed a plan and soon.
Twenty minutes later, he walked into the kitchen to find Robin and Zoe sitting and talking. To say Robin looked tired was an understatement. The strain around her mouth said she was at the end of her rope. The concern on Zoe’s features said she was thinking the same thing.
He forced a smile to his lips. “She’s out. Robin, are you ready?”
“Yes, please. Zoe very graciously offered to let me lie down, but I’m afraid once I do, I won’t be able get up for a while.”
“That’s no problem.” Zoe stood and gathered a few items from her refrigerator and dropped them into a plastic bag. “I’ve got the keys and some chicken salad and fruit. Let’s go.”
Toby plucked the keys and the food from his sister’s fingers. “I’ve got this. You make sure the little one doesn’t wake up and come looking for you.”
Zoe rolled her eyes but nodded. “Fine. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”
Toby nodded. “Now,” he said to Robin. “We can go get you settled.”
* * *
Settled would be nice. Because Robin had been unsettled ever since she’d awakened in the back of Toby’s car. And maybe if she was able to sleep, some of the pounding in her head would ease. Toby drove her the short distance to the cabin and unlocked the front door for her. “Here it is. Home sweet home. Let me give you the tour.”
“I think I can probably find my way around.”
“Humor me. It won’t take long.”
She gave him a tired smile.
“You’re standing in the living area,” he said. “Kitchen and laundry to the right. In the refrigerator, you’ll find water bottles, soda and probably some chocolates. In the pantry, there are crackers and other nonperishables that will keep you from starving. We’ll go to the grocery store in the morning or raid Zoe’s fridge.”
Robin nodded to the bag in his hand. “I think she already raided it.”
“True enough.” He set the bag on the counter. “Bedroom and bath to the left. Through the sliding glass doors in the living area is the deck that overlooks the new man-made lake.”
“It’s lovely. And it’s so clean. I didn’t think anyone was using this during the winter.”
“They’re not. Aaron and Zoe have a cleaning crew that comes in after guests leave in the summer and twice a month during the winter to keep the cottages fresh.” He smiled. “Because sometimes they get a winter guest or two and want to be prepared.”
She set her bag on the sofa. “I really appreciate this, Toby. Please be sure Zoe knows.”
“She knows.” He walked to the door. “Come here.”
“What?” Robin stepped over next to him and he pointed.
“See that cabin right there next to yours?”
“Yes.”
“That’s where I’ll be.” He turned back her. “You have your phone, you also have a landline on the wall in the kitchen. Your back door opens up to mine. The cabins are exactly the same, just opposite floor plans. If anything happens, I’ll be right here.”
“Okay.”
“And one more thing.” He pointed to the box on the wall next to the door. “This is an intercom system that works between cabins. Zoe and Aaron just put it in last year. Cell phone reception is usually okay, but if the weather gets bad or a cloud gets too low or a bird flies just right, it can turn spotty.”
“You’re being sarcastic, I think.”
He shot her a quirky grin. “Yeah. You never know when you’re going to have service and when you’re not. Aaron and Zoe have a satellite phone just in case. But at least with the intercoms, there’s no problem with us communicating.”
“What if the power goes out?”
“There’s a generator. It automatically kicks in.”
“That’s comforting.”
“Good. Now, why don’t you get some sleep while I head over and check out my digs?”
“All right. Thank you. For everything.”
“Of course.” He reached for the doorknob and hesitated.
“What?” she asked.
“I just—”
“Just what?”
“Nothing. Your medicine is in the side pocket of your bag if you need it.”
“Okay.”
Once he was gone, she locked the door and immediately felt the press of loneliness. As a child growing up in foster homes, she was familiar with the feeling. She hadn’t liked it
then and she didn’t like it now. Tears threatened once more, but instead of letting them fall, she closed her eyes and tried to visualize the lab where Toby said she’d worked. She started with test tubes, then beakers, then a table.
The room flashed in her mind. A poster warning of hazardous materials in the area hung on a white cabinet. The choking smell of smoke.
She gasped and opened her eyes while her head began to pound a nauseating beat. She stumbled to the couch and grabbed her bag, shook a pill into her hand and tossed it back dry with only one thing on her mind.
Sleep.
Because she was safe. For now.
Twenty minutes later, as she turned the bedside lamp off and pulled the covers to her chin, she decided she was fooling herself. Because until the man—or men—who’d burned down the lab and tried to kill her was caught, she doubted she’d be safe anywhere for any length of time.
* * *
Toby paced the small area of his cottage, his mind racing, heart pounding. The fact that he couldn’t figure out how they’d tracked him to the store bothered him. A lot. He was trained to know that. Either he’d missed a tracking device—which was entirely possible since he didn’t have anything but his eyes and hands to search with—or it had to have been his phone. But that shouldn’t have been possible. At least not for the average or even above average person.
But if they’d tracked him via his “untraceable” phone, that meant the people after Robin were more dangerous than he’d originally thought. Not that he hadn’t taken them seriously, but this new information altered things. It would change the way he planned to protect Robin. Because if the guys looking for Robin were as good as they appeared to be, she wasn’t as safe as he’d hoped. And that set his nerves more on edge, cranking up his adrenaline.
Using Amber’s phone, he’d sent the picture of his store stalker to Ben with a request to figure out who the guy was. It was good to know his instincts were still on target. And while the man had escaped, maybe the picture would connect him back to whoever had blown up the lab and was trying to kill Robin.
He glanced at Robin’s cottage and noted the lights appeared to be out except for the one over the kitchen sink. He hoped she was sleeping. She was going to need it.
Toby settled himself on the couch and closed his eyes. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t stay that way. The cottage felt too empty. While he was comfortable with that emptiness, he’d never liked being alone. He supposed he should be used to it by now. He lived alone in his little house near the university, but with the constant activity on campus, he never felt alone. He simply had to step outside and take a seat on his porch and someone he knew would eventually come along and join him for a cup of coffee and conversation.
Taken from his home and placed in foster care as a teen, he’d always been the outsider, desperately trying to fit in—and never quite making it happen. Until Ben had recruited him to work for the CIA. From a troubled teen with a chip on his shoulder to one of the top operatives in the CIA, Toby had come a long way and he knew it. He just hoped all of the skills he’d acquired along the way would serve him well now in protecting Robin.
His stomach rumbled and with a groan, Toby rolled from the couch to his feet and stepped into the small kitchen. In the refrigerator, he found a bottle of water and some cheese along with a container of chicken salad. From the pantry shelf, he pulled a box of crackers and a bag of chips then sat at the small pub style table and began to inhale the food. He’d been so concerned about Robin, he’d forgotten how hungry he was.
A knock at the kitchen door had him reaching for his weapon. And then he relaxed. Bad guys don’t knock. He peered through the side window to see Aaron, Zoe’s husband, standing on the porch. Toby swung the door open. “Hey, what are you doing out here so late?”
“I just got back from the Wilsons’ and saw your light on.”
“Everything okay out there?”
“Delivered a pretty little breech foal. Everything’s good for now so I thought I’d come see what I could do to help.”
“What do you mean?”
“Robin’s in trouble, right?”
“You could say that.” Toby paused, but he trusted Aaron. Aaron knew Toby’s past and continued to treat him like one of his brothers. “Someone tried to kill her and I think she can identify who, but she suffered a head injury in the blast and can’t remember anything from the last six months.”
Aaron stepped inside and eyed him. “What exactly is Robin to you?”
Shutting the door bought Toby a few seconds of thought for how to answer that. “She’s a friend. For now.”
“You’re risking your life for her,” Aaron said with a raised brow. “That’s a pretty special friend.”
Toby gave a low groan and motioned for Aaron to sit. “It’s complicated.”
“Okay.” Aaron took the nearest kitchen chair.
“You know I was with the CIA,” Toby said.
“Yeah, and you quit to teach at the university.”
“I did. But the last few months I’ve been working with the FBI, which is investigating the campus lab. It came to their attention that not everything studied there was legit. Turns out they were right. Anyway, my assignment was to get close to Robin, gain access to the lab and the people who worked there and find out who was involved with what.”
“Ouch.”
“I quickly figured out that Robin wasn’t involved in anything illegal.”
“And you found yourself attracted to her.”
Toby smiled. “Yes.” He shrugged. “But I couldn’t do anything about it until I was done with the case. I wasn’t going into a relationship built on lies.” A pause. “Still won’t do that.”
“All right. Then what can I do to help? You can’t guard her twenty-four-seven all by yourself.”
“I’m going to have to find a way. I plan to talk to Clay tomorrow and see what he recommends. I left a voice mail for him, giving him a heads-up we were on the way but that there wasn’t any immediate emergency and talking could wait until tomorrow. I guess he’s going to take me up on waiting until tomorrow.” Clay Starke, Aaron’s brother, had been the sheriff of Wrangler’s Corner for several years and Toby had come to trust him, too. “I know that during this time of the year, the deputies are stretched thin with everyone wanting time off for Christmas.”
“True.”
Toby turned and put the remainder of the food back where it belonged. “I brought Robin to Wrangler’s Corner because I know there are people I can trust here.”
“Exactly.” A pause. “How likely is it that trouble is going to show up here?”
Toby raked a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure. When I made the decision to bring her here, I felt like it would be all right for everyone. At least for a short while.”
“I hear a but there.”
“But I’ve received some intel since then that made me think danger might show up sooner rather than later. Which means we’ll have to leave first thing in the morning.”
“But where will you go?”
“I don’t know. A hotel or something, I guess. As long as we keep moving, it’ll be a lot harder to track her down.”
Aaron sat for a moment, clearly thinking what that meant. “Or they’ll track you down and trap you with no backup, no help.”
“Well, that scenario wouldn’t be part of the plan.”
“Of course not.” Aaron rubbed a hand down his cheek, his narrowed blue eyes serious. “You know, when Zoe was in all that trouble, this town and its law enforcement members came together to protect her.”
Toby’s jaw tightened. He’d found out about his sister’s troubles too late to do anything about it. Her dead husband’s family had sent someone after her to kill her. Thankfully, they hadn’t succeeded. “I’m glad you were here for her.”
“I am, too. But my point is, I think th
is is the best possible place Robin could be. We’ll protect her, just like we did Zoe.”
“There’s no we, Aaron. You’re heading out in the morning as planned. Let’s leave it that way.”
“I wouldn’t feel right letting you face these people alone.”
“These people use guns, Aaron.” Toby told him about the two dead scientists.
Aaron raised a brow. “Have you forgotten where you are? This is Wrangler’s Corner. We’re a little more Wild West and less civilized than your big city people. Just about everyone in this town has a gun and knows how to use it. And won’t hesitate to protect someone.”
“Good point.”
“Thank you.” Aaron stood. “I’m going to talk to Zoe when she wakes up about her taking Grace and getting out of town for a while. Sophia’s heading out on a ski trip with her homeschool group, so we won’t have to worry about her. I’ll stay here and help you watch over Robin.”
“No.”
“What?”
“No. You’re not a cop. And while I know you’re very capable, the fact remains that you’re not trained for this kind of thing.”
“I know how to shoot.”
Toby sighed. “Look, Aaron, I appreciate you want to help, but I can’t let you do that. Don’t change your plans. Clay is here and has numerous contacts. We’ll handle it.”
Aaron looked like he might argue so Toby held up a hand. “It’s not negotiable, man. I mean, if you want to stay, that’s up to you, obviously, but we’ll move so we don’t make this place a target.”
“No, I don’t want you to have to move.” Another sigh slipped from Aaron. “Fine. We’ll keep everything as planned, but I don’t like it.”
“What exactly is the plan?”
“Like I said earlier, Sophia’s leaving in the morning with her homeschool group to go on a four-day ski trip and my mom’s agreed to watch Grace.” Sophia was Zoe’s child with her first husband who died before she and Aaron had met. Aaron had adopted Sophia. He stood. “Stay here. Use the house or the cottages, whatever you need. I know Clay and Amber will help you.”
Holiday Amnesia Page 5
