Target on the Mountain

by Elizabeth Goddard

  He worked his strong jaw back and forth. His slicked-back hair was now mussed, even though he’d tried to shove it back into place. His blue-green eyes held both appreciation and...something more. Affection. Getting a glimpse of that sent longing coursing through her. And she absolutely couldn’t act on any part of that. She couldn’t afford to miss what she once had with this man, or think about how much she wished she hadn’t had to make a choice between him and a career she’d wanted.

  The barista—Tom—approached the table, interrupting her thoughts. “Some more towels if you like. They’re just small dish towels, but they’re dry.”

  “Thank you, Tom,” Tori said. She didn’t want to reach over Ryan to take them. “That’s very kind of you.”

  He set them on the table, smiled and left. She wished he would bring her another cappuccino macchiato.

  As if he weren’t close enough, Ryan leaned closer to Tori after Tom left. “I think he’s a great guy, but he’s also looking for a big tip since there are so few customers today.”

  Tori smiled. “I think he deserves one.”

  Ryan smiled back and held her gaze for a few breaths. “Me, too.”

  “Maybe we should leave that tip and get out of here.” Tori needed to escape her proximity to Ryan.

  “I had hoped that whoever tried to run you over might come back.” They had either followed her and had parked when she parked, or had been lying in wait for her.

  “Oh, really.” She feigned outrage.

  “Yes. We could get a license plate. A face. Something to find out who is behind this.” He guzzled the rest of his coffee and set the empty cup on the table.

  “But now you want to leave?” She did, too, but if she could keep him talking about something else, she might be able to prevent him from pursuing information about why she’d come to Shady Creek. She didn’t want to share too much. At least, not yet. If she got Ryan involved too early then she’d stand no chance of getting more information out of Dee James. James knew something.

  “Yes. The towels aren’t doing enough to warm you up.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Your lips are still kind of blue.” His gaze lingered on her lips.

  Tori’s heart skipped erratically. She needed to escape from where he’d purposefully pinned her so he could protect her. While he’d been serious about not sitting with his back to the door, she was sure protecting her was the real reason he’d sat beside her. She knew that much about Ryan.

  The thought stirred her heart and made her miss him and what she’d left behind all the more.

  “Okay, then, let’s get out of here.” After all, if she couldn’t lean against him to get warmer, she needed to get home so she could get out of the wet clothes. Her jeans hadn’t dried at all and the cold and wet chilled her to the core.

  She’d have to come back to talk to Dee James another time. Ryan and Tori both pulled bills out and left them on the table for a more than adequate tip, and thanked the barista.

  At the glass doors, Ryan tugged her aside. “Be careful. I’ll walk you to your car and stay with you until you get in. Then I’ll follow you home.”

  She gave him a wry grin. “I wouldn’t expect any less of you.” She still wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about the way that he’d been following her at all, not counting the fact that she’d missed her tail completely to begin with.

  The rain had slowed while they were in the café but now it came down in sheets again. “Really? It’s like it was just waiting for us to finish our coffee. Can we run?”

  He frowned and subtly shook his head. “I’ve got a bad feeling that I can’t explain. I got that right before the vehicle went for you. Let’s take mine instead. I’ll send deputies to bring yours back.”

  “What? No, that’s not going to work for me.” Tori reached into her bag to dig for her keys.

  When she glanced up, Ryan’s eyes had widened.

  Tori turned in time to see the grille of a vehicle heading right toward them!

  As if in slow motion, she and Ryan gripped hands and ran toward the back of the building. He yelled at Tom. “Get away. Move out of the way!”

  Tom looked up, startled, and then his expression filled with horror. He dropped the glass mugs he was holding and then ran to the door that led to the kitchen. He opened the door and waved them in. “In here! Come in here!”

  The vehicle crashed through the plate glass window and it shattered behind them as the engine revved and the ceiling crumbled. Tori and Ryan ducked as they ran forward and propelled themselves through the door that Tom held open for them.

  Tori feared their efforts to escape wouldn’t be enough as the three of them kept running, continuing to the back of the kitchen. Tom held another door wide for them that opened up to the alley behind the strip of buildings. Still running, they rushed outside and into the rain.

  Ryan got on his cell and called emergency services and then the local police, as well as the sheriff’s department, to let them know his version of what happened, all while he peered at her. Done with his business, he tucked his cell away.

  “I need to check on the driver,” he said. “But I also need to keep you safe.”

  “I’m going with you to see who was driving,” she said.

  Ryan scowled.

  To Tom, he said, “Sorry we brought trouble to your workplace, Tom. Please hang around so we can take your statement.”

  “Cool, man. I’m sorry this happened, too.”

  “Please don’t go back inside the building.”

  “I can just wait in my car. It’s over there.” He pointed to a small gray sedan parked in the alley.

  “Okay. Someone will come for you to take your statement, if you want to wait there.”

  Ryan started jogging around the building.

  She followed him around to the front to get a better look at the damage.

  “It’s not stable,” he said. “I don’t want you anywhere near that building.”

  She peered inside without going in. “I don’t see anyone in the car.”

  “He or she could be unconscious, but I think you’re right. The door is open. Looks like the perp fled.”

  “Was this the car you said tried to run me over?”

  Frowning, he nodded.

  “Ryan?” Tori sniffed. “I smell gas. Do you think the crash severed a gas line?”

  He tugged her across the street as a concussive force slammed into them and drove them forward.

  SEVEN

  Ryan weighed her down. Once again he’d protected her. She was grateful, but she also couldn’t breathe. She pushed against him and squirmed.

  “Ryan, I’m okay.” She croaked out. “Can you let me up now? We have to quit doing this.”

  “Funny. And no, I don’t ever want to let you up again.”

  “Stop joking. This isn’t the time. I... I can’t breathe.”

  He crawled from her, stood and assisted her up as he looked her up and down. “Are you okay? Did the blast hurt you?”

  She sucked in a few gasps for breath. “No, I don’t think so. You knocked the air from me, that’s all.” Or the blast had done that, but if that was the case, she would have some organ damage, too, except she felt okay. It wasn’t the blast but Ryan’s protective nature that had caused the minor issue.

  Concern and regret filled his features. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  Despite the dire circumstances, Tori offered him a soft smile. “I’ll probably be sporting a few bruises tomorrow—” she glanced across the street “—but those are nothing compared to what Tom’s café will look like after the fire is done with it.” Flames shot through the front and licked the roof. The insurance office next to the café didn’t have any noticeable damage yet, but the structures could be unstable. Still, they were far enough away that they could be all
right.

  Ryan’s cell rang and he answered, but he kept a grip on her arm.

  A crowd started to gather, probably including the insurance staff, those in the laundromat and people who lived in the apartment complex. Was Dee James among them? Early on, she’d searched for his picture and found him—a redheaded guy in his late twenties. But she didn’t see him among those watching the explosion.

  Of course the rain had stopped right when it could have been useful dousing the fire. She shook her head, unable to understand the weather or the events that led up to this moment.

  Sorrow and anger gutted her. Could the café be in flames because she and Ryan had chosen to drink a cup of coffee in there? She covered her mouth to hold back sobs. Reminded herself she was an FBI agent and needed to act the part. And as an agent on leave, here unofficially, she wanted to help. But how?

  The best help she could offer at the moment was to get out of here. Ryan needed to focus on this situation and not hover around her to protect her.

  When he ended the call, she said, “Ryan, you need to do your job and I need to leave. I’m just going to go home.”

  Instead of letting her go, he gripped both of her arms and turned her to face him. Tori wanted to shrug free, but the pure terror in his eyes kept her frozen.

  “You need to take this threat on your life more seriously. Sure, you’re trained and know how to protect yourself, but have you ever had someone actively trying to kill you? Someone who is relentless in seeking you out?”

  Her mouth suddenly went dry. “No. You’re right. This is...this is different.”

  “You probably need to tell your superiors about these attacks, if they don’t already know.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “In the meantime, you’re not taking your car home today. You’re riding with me. I’ll take you home. We already decided that, remember?”

  “That was before the explosion. You’re needed here now.”

  Ryan ignored her comment and took her hand, kept her closer than she would have liked as they hurried down the sidewalk. He led her over to his vehicle. Opened the door for her and waited as she climbed in. Fire trucks and other emergency vehicles had arrived and were blocking the street.

  “What about Tom? Don’t you need to go get his statement?” she asked.

  Before he could reply, a fireman headed for Ryan, who’d repositioned his badge to hang around his neck so it was visible. Ryan met the fireman halfway, standing only a few yards from her. Ryan spoke with the fireman in the street, explaining what had happened, as police officially blocked it off. Then he instructed another county deputy, mentioning Tom the barista—Tori heard that much—who would still be waiting in his sedan in the back alleyway. Two firemen rushed around the alley toward the back of the building, she presumed in search of Tom.

  Though Ryan had just been through a traumatic experience or two, he was still the man in charge today and appeared confident and experienced.

  And Tori was reminded more strongly than ever of what she’d lost when she’d left Ryan behind. A lump grew large in her throat. She could hardly swallow.

  Ryan suddenly jerked his attention to her, his eyes both searching and piercing, then he jogged around his vehicle to the driver’s side. A month ago, Tori would have wanted to be the one in charge. She would never have allowed him to herd her into this vehicle. She would have been very much hands-on in processing this crime scene. But today she’d acquiesced to his demands and was even glad for his overprotective concern.

  If he hadn’t been there earlier today, she could have been mowed over before she’d even realized she was in danger. She would be in the hospital with injuries. Either that or she’d be in the morgue. Maybe she’d lost her edge.

  When Ryan climbed in, she said, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  She expected him to comment that he was only doing his job. Instead, he started the vehicle and steered out of the cordoned-off block.

  “Hey, there’s Tom, talking to a deputy. He must be giving his statement.” She sighed. “I feel so bad. The café was destroyed because we decided to go there to get warm. Tom was so good to us, and now he’s out of a job. We should check in on him later.”

  “I agree,” he said. “We should definitely do that.”

  He steered onto the main road leading out of Shady Creek and back to Rainey.

  Tori suddenly realized she’d used the word “we,” and in his reply, Ryan had, as well. Uncertain what that meant, if anything, she turned her attention to watching for anyone suspicious.

  “If the place hadn’t exploded we could have checked for video footage. I noticed they had a security camera. That could have given us an image of the driver. But we do have the plates now.”

  “That we do, but I suspect since the driver was so willing to crash it into the café where there would be no retrieving it, they weren’t concerned about the license plate tracking back to them.”

  “You’re saying the vehicle was probably stolen.”

  “Yes.”

  Both of them caught up in their own thoughts, they drove in silence the rest of the way back to Rainey, where, thankfully, the rain had also stopped, and the sky was clearing.

  Who besides Detective Ryan Bradley had followed her all the way out of town to Shady Creek? Or had they been waiting there for her? The thought gave her the creeps. Maybe she’d been capable of taking care of and protecting herself before, but she was having some serious doubts about her abilities now, in a way that left her feeling vulnerable. She wrapped her arms around herself and wished she had a blanket, even in the warm cab. The weather added to her dreary mood. What happened to the beautiful summer days of northern California? The weather seemed unusual.

  She feared that someone might have figured out where she’d been heading and why. Her call to Dee James could have been the catalyst to today’s events. She would keep that to herself for now. She didn’t want Ryan looking into him and scaring off her only lead.

  Still, did Dee James have anything to do with what happened to her today? Had he sent someone to follow her? Or had it been him?

  She sat up taller. “You didn’t even get a glimpse of the driver?”

  “No, why?”

  Too bad. If Ryan had said anything about red hair that would have told her something.

  “Just wondering.”

  When Ryan turned onto the street and then parked in front of Sarah’s house, Tori realized she’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she’d barely noticed the ride going by.

  A deputy waited in a vehicle at the curb. She got out of Ryan’s and headed for the house, though she fully expected Ryan would want to clear the house first. She would wait at the door for him. Honestly, she wanted a hot shower and to relax for a few minutes before she had to head over to Mom and Dad’s for dinner.

  “Tori,” Ryan called. He stood next to the vehicle and spoke with the deputy inside.

  Tori trudged over.

  “Deputy Jackson needs the keys to your car. He’ll get it back to you tonight.”

  Tori nodded and dug through her purse. As her fingers grabbed onto the large key ring that used to belong to Sarah, a pang shot through her heart.

  Ryan walked her to the door. “I’m not so sure you should be driving Sarah’s car around since we know she was targeted.”

  “I don’t think it matters what car I’m driving. Are you sure you want to use the extra manpower just to bring mine back?” Finding the house key, she thrust it in to unlock the door.

  He pressed his hand over hers on the knob. She gazed up at his taller form. She’d once had a thing for him. Might still have a thing for him because his nearness seemed to suck the air from her.

  “I’ll use all the manpower available to me to protect you, Tori.”

  And she believed him. That thrilled her, when it shouldn’t. Warmed her
to her toes, despite her cold, damp clothes.

  “Now, I’m going in first,” he said.

  He pulled his weapon as they entered. She disengaged the alarm to allow them entry, then armed it again for protection while they were inside. Like always, Tori waited in the foyer, her own weapon out while he cleared the bungalow again.

  Mom texted her.

  Dinner ready within hour.

  If Mom only knew what Tori had just been through. She would have to keep that from her or else Tori would never hear the end of it.

  Ryan returned. “It’s all clear, but—” he hesitated “—are you going to be all right? It’s been a harrowing day.”

  She shrugged. “Mom texted that dinner will be ready in an hour. I should be good until then.”

  His lips flattened into a straight line as if he didn’t believe her.

  Tori didn’t want him to leave yet. Was it only the dangerous situation getting to her? Or was it something more?

  “Until then, I’ll build you a fire. It’ll take the chill off.”

  She could build her own fire, thank you very much, but if it would keep Ryan here, that was fine by her.

  “Still worried about me?” Now why had she asked that? It sounded entirely too much like flirting.

  From the way he looked at her, it seemed he’d noticed that, too. A half smile lifted one cheek. “As a detective on this case, yes, I’m worried about you.”

  His words might have hurt her, if she’d bought into them. With the emotion behind his gaze, she didn’t believe his concern was a simple matter of a detective doing his job.

  “Okay. I’ll just change into clean clothes and then...and then... I’ll make us some coffee while you make a fire.” That sounded way too romantic, and yet she was walking into this with her eyes wide open.

  What are you doing, Tori Peterson?

  A few minutes later, as she settled on the sofa with a nice warm fire in front of her and hot coffee in her hand, Tori felt so relaxed that she could fall asleep. She was warm, and with Ryan sitting at the far end of the sofa, she knew she was safe. When was the last time she’d actually felt safe like this? When was the last time she’d allowed herself the need to feel safe? It was foolish for her to be here with him now like this, but she needed this.