Critical Doubt

by Barbara Freethy

  "Hello?" Abby said, her voice choked up.

  "It's me, Savannah."

  "This isn't your number."

  "I borrowed a phone. What's wrong?"

  "You don't know? You haven't heard?"

  Her stomach flipped over. "Heard what?"

  "Chief Tanner just called me. They found Todd's body. He's dead, Savannah."

  She took a quick breath, more surprised than she probably should have been. But as long as Todd was missing, there had been hope. Now there was none. "I'm so sorry. Where are you?"

  "I'm still at my parents' house."

  "Good. You should stay there for the rest of the week."

  "What about Todd's funeral? He has no family besides his mother, and Chief Tanner said that she didn't understand anything that he said or that the staff at the hospital tried to tell her. Someone has to put something together for Todd. He didn't have any really close friends in Dobbs besides Paul and me. I guess there's the rest of his team, but it seemed like it was just Paul and Todd who were staying in touch."

  "You need to take a breath, Abby. Nothing has to be done tonight."

  "That's what the chief said. He also said he'd help make any arrangements."

  "Good. I'm sure there will be an autopsy, which will take a day or two. And I will help you with all this, but just give yourself some time. As you said, Todd didn't have family. There's no rush to do a service."

  "I don't even know what he would want."

  "We'll figure it out. Maybe Ryker has an idea. He knew Todd very well at one point."

  "Are you guys still at my house? I can't believe you didn't hear about Todd."

  "We're not in Dobbs. We came to Atlanta to talk to Todd's employer."

  "What did you find out?"

  "Not a lot, but we did meet a woman who was in love with Todd. She might want to be part of a memorial service."

  "Really? Todd had someone in Atlanta? He never told me that."

  "I'm not sure if it was serious on his part, but this woman really cared about him."

  "What else did she say?"

  "That Todd had money troubles and was gambling."

  "With Paul," Abby said. "And they weren't winning, I know that. When are you coming back?"

  "I'm not sure. Tomorrow or the next day."

  "What aren't you telling me, Savannah? Why stay in Atlanta?" Abby asked suspiciously. "Todd has been found. There's nothing else to know, is there?"

  "I just want to make certain there's nothing else to know."

  "Because of the explosion at Todd's house."

  "Yes. It's the one piece that makes me think Todd's death was not an accident. Until I know for sure, I want you and Tyler to stay in Ridgeview. Promise me you will."

  "I will. I'm not that eager to go home. Tyler is doing well with my parents and it helps to have their support."

  "Abby, whatever financial issues Paul left you with, I'm going to help you. You should have told me there were problems."

  "Are you rich now, Savannah? Because our money problems are too big for you to help with. I might have to declare bankruptcy to get out from under. I told Paul that a few weeks ago, and he had a fit. He said he couldn't do that. He couldn't walk away from his debts. It wasn't honorable. Well, falling off the roof wasn't honorable, either, but that's where we are."

  She heard the bitter, angry edge in Abby's voice and couldn't blame her. "We'll talk when I get back, go over all the options. There's life insurance, right?"

  "Yes, and I got a letter today from some veterans' fund that said I might be eligible for compensation. I just had to fill out a form and then they'll get back to me."

  "Well, that's good. Hopefully, we can keep the wolves away."

  "We got into a lot of debt when Tyler was sick two years ago. That's when we maxed everything out. Paul's injuries just made everything worse. I know I need to get a full-time job now. I just don't know what I'm going to do."

  "We'll figure it out. Just let yourself grieve your husband. Paul was a good person. You loved him, and he loved you, and you can't forget that in the midst of everything else."

  "You're right. I better go. I hear Tyler calling my name."

  "I'll talk to you tomorrow." As she set down the phone, she heard three knocks at the door. She got up to answer it, checking through the peephole first to make sure it was Ryker. Then she opened the door.

  He entered with a smile and a large bag in his hand, but as soon as he saw her face, his expression changed. "What's wrong now?"

  She closed the door and put on the dead bolt. "I just spoke to Abby. The police found Todd's body. He's dead, Ryker. I'm sorry."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ryker could barely hear what she was saying. The bells had begun to chime as soon as he'd seen the grim look on her face.

  "Ryker?" she asked.

  It sounded like she was talking underwater. He put his hands over his ears as a chorus of noises echoed through his head. Explosions, bells, screams, squealing tires, garbled shouts…

  Terror ran through him. The anxiety that he'd come to expect and yet was never quite ready for was back.

  There were hands on his shoulder now—her hands, warm and strong. He stared into her beautiful green eyes and the gold flecks within her gaze shimmered like a waterfall. Her blonde hair was like silk, her lashes a long, beautiful sweep of black, her nose so perfect and straight with just a tilt at the end that seemed to fit her stubborn personality so very well. And then there was her mouth and her full, pink lips, perfect for kissing. He could lose himself in her. He could be who he used to be.

  His thoughts shockingly started to drown out the noises in his head.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved in closer, her head fitting just under his chin. Her breasts were soft against his chest, and other parts of his mind and body suddenly started demanding attention.

  He took his hands off his ears and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, feeling a connection that he'd been missing the last year—even longer than that. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling her sweet scent, and his mind began to quiet. He no longer heard the bells, but he could hear his heart beating faster, the blood rushing through his veins.

  She pulled back slightly, lifting her head, meeting his gaze. "Better?" she murmured, her voice still hushed as if she was afraid of setting him off again.

  "Yes. I don't know how you did it. You drove the noise away." He paused. "Actually, I do know. You distracted me. My mind ran away from the bells and straight to you. I started thinking about how much I want to hold you, kiss you."

  Her eyes glittered with his words. "You are holding me, Ryker."

  "I want more. But…"

  "There's a but?" she asked with surprise.

  "I don't want you to kiss me because you feel sorry for me or you're trying to comfort me or bring me back to life. I want you to kiss me because you want to. Or not."

  Indecision played through her eyes. "I want to. I just don't know if I should."

  "I can't blame you for that. I can't imagine what you see when you look at me."

  A smile curved her lips. "Sometimes, I see a man in pain, someone who's haunted. But I also see the man who made me want to be reckless, daring, and more impulsive than I'd ever been in my life. You might not believe this, Ryker, but I had never ever picked up a guy in a bar and slept with him the same night—not before you. But it was like you cast a spell over me. I was so caught up in your smile, in your charm, and in your moves…"

  A smile crossed his lips. "I had some good moves."

  "Really good. And the way you kissed—it was like we were on fire." She paused. "It was like that earlier today." She licked her lips, and his whole body tightened.

  "Man, don't do that; you're killing me," he groaned.

  "Then I better do something about that." She pressed her mouth against his.

  And just like that, the fire was back. He was lost from the first touch of her mouth, and he wanted to savor every
second. He wanted her to feel what he was feeling, so he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue between her parted lips, feeling like he'd found home in the warm cavern of her mouth.

  Sweet Savannah… Sexy Savannah… His Savannah.

  He hadn't known her name before. Now he wanted to shout it from the rooftop. He'd found her again, and he didn't want to let her go. He wanted to keep this feeling, this moment. He wanted to keep it going forever. And she seemed to feel the same way, as they kissed, then kissed again, their hands roaming as they molded their bodies closer together.

  It wasn't enough. He wanted to strip away their clothes and throw her down on the bed. He wanted to give her pleasure and make her crazy, the way he'd done before. And he wanted her to do the same to him.

  And then he heard knocking.

  For a moment, he thought it was his mind once again flipping out on him.

  Then Savannah broke away. "Door," she said breathlessly.

  The knock came again, followed by a male voice. "Room service."

  "Oh, hell," he muttered.

  She laughed. "I thought you were hungry."

  "For you."

  She flushed. "You'll have to settle for turkey sandwiches and pie." She slid out of his grasp and walked across the room. After checking the peephole, she opened the door.

  The waiter pushed in a cart and set up their food on the small table by the window. Savannah signed for the meal, and then they were alone again.

  His heart was still racing, and he wanted to take up where they'd left off, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to happen. And maybe it shouldn’t happen.

  Damn! He'd never thought that before. But this was Savannah, and whatever was between them was more than a little complicated.

  "It smells good," she said, lifting the lid on one of the plates. "Ooh, the fries look amazing."

  "So, we're really going to eat now?" He had to ask just in case he was misreading her.

  "I think we should," she replied, taking a seat, not really meeting his gaze. "We were getting a little carried away."

  "A little," he agreed. "But it was…good."

  She finally looked at him, desire still written in her eyes, but it was also mixed with determination. "Yes, it was good. But it's over."

  "For now."

  "Maybe for more than just now."

  He could see her slipping away. "Reality is back," he said soberly.

  "We have a lot going on, a lot to figure out."

  "True."

  "Why don't you sit down?"

  He moved over to the table and took the chair across from her, leaving his sandwich untouched, as he thought about the terrible news she'd delivered right before he'd flipped out, right before she'd distracted him with a kiss. It was amazing how quickly she'd driven everything else out of his head. "Where did they find Todd?" he asked.

  "I don't know. I didn't even ask Abby. She was really upset."

  "I'm sure she's devastated."

  He felt a wave of anger and sadness run through him. "I knew it was coming, but I just hoped…"

  "So did I," she said, meeting his gaze. "We're going to find out what happened, Ryker. And now, more than ever, we need to go to DC and warn the other two guys that they could be in danger."

  He nodded. "I still have their numbers. I can text them both now."

  She stopped him as he pulled out his phone. "You can't use your phone from here, remember?"

  "Right."

  "You can use my burner phone."

  "I don't know their numbers off the top of my head."

  "We'll talk to them tomorrow."

  "I hope that's not too late," he said grimly. "I might have let Paul and Todd down, but I won't make the same mistake with Hank and Mason. I have to save the rest of my team, even if it's the last thing I do."

  "Let's not make it the last thing. And let's do it together."

  "This isn't your fight, Savannah."

  "Yes, it is. You're in it for the guys; I'm in it for Abby. If Paul was killed, I need to get justice for her and for Tyler and also for Paul. Plus, you need me. I have resources you don't have. I know you don't like to have help, but you're getting mine, whether you want it or not. Otherwise, we'll both be chasing down the same guys separately and that won't be efficient. You understand the benefit of a team, a partnership. Don't try to shut me out." She picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth. "And you should really eat. We may have some long days ahead of us."

  He wanted to tell her he didn't need her help, but he did, and not just because she was an agent. She somehow brought him peace when no one else could. But she could be in danger if she stayed with him, and he didn't trust himself to be able to protect her. On the other hand, she could probably protect herself.

  He picked up his turkey sandwich. He wasn't really hungry, but he needed to eat. He needed to be ready for whatever was coming next, and he was quite certain there was something else coming. He just hoped they could figure out what that something was before someone else got hurt.

  "I love room service," Savannah said, a short time later, as she finished the last bite of pie, which he had insisted she take. "I don't know why, but it always feels so decadent to have someone deliver food to your room. Of course, my father would say that having room service is about as lazy as anyone can get."

  "Well, he's not here, so you don't have to feel guilty."

  "Oh, I don't. I feel great." Her expression suddenly shifted. "Now, I feel guilty for saying I feel great after what we learned about Todd."

  "You shouldn't. I know you care. In fact, you probably care too much about someone you didn't know that well."

  "I didn't know Todd well, but I know how important he was to Abby and Paul, especially Paul. And I was close to Paul. He and Abby started going out our senior year in high school. They were crazy about each other. I wasn't super happy about it at first. I felt like I was losing my best friend to him, but he became a big brother to me, and if it hadn't been for the two of them, I think I might have completely lost it in high school. I was so angry all the time. I hated the pageants by then. Josie was always pissed off at me. My aunt was on me about everything: my skincare, my knowledge of world events, my ability to speak in front of a crowd... You have no idea how much work goes into winning a beauty pageant."

  "I really don't. I thought you just had to look good in a bathing suit."

  "Even that takes work. And then there were the mind games that I was supposed to play with my fellow competitors. Josie was far better at that part than I was. Anyway, Abby and Paul were what I considered my normal friends. I also liked the way they were together. They had passion, but they were also best friends. I wanted that, too."

  "Who was your first love?" he asked curiously.

  "Steven Montgomery. He was tall, blond, and the high school quarterback."

  "I'm not surprised you got the quarterback."

  "I didn't really get him. He was the one who cheated on me."

  "Oh, and then you threw the rock at his car and hit the police car instead."

  "My aim is usually good, but I was upset that night. I wasn't thinking clearly."

  "What about after Steven?" he asked, wanting to know more about her. "Who was the next guy?"

  "My next semi-serious relationship was senior year of college, but after I graduated, I went into the army, and he was off to law school. We never saw each other again." She paused. "There were a few other relationships, but none that made me think they were forever, and in retrospect not one of them really knew me, not the real me."

  "Why didn't you show your true self?"

  She shrugged. "I would probably need a psychiatrist's couch to answer that question."

  He didn't believe that for a second. "I think you already know the answer."

  "Well, I can give it a shot. Because I was abandoned by my father, I didn't think anyone could really love me," she said. "I do have some self-awareness. But I think it's more complicated than that."

  "I'm sure
it is."

  "It wasn't just about my dad, it was also about my aunt and the pageants, knowing that I had to speak and act a certain way to get approval. It became ingrained in me. I became good at fitting in, just not so good at being myself."

  "Until you spent the night with me and then realized you should quit the army and become an FBI agent."

  "Yes." She smiled. "I know that probably doesn't make sense to you."

  "It doesn't, but as long as it makes sense to you, it doesn’t matter." He paused. "I know I made an assumption about you, but I wouldn't have cared if you'd said you weren't a dancer. You could have told me you were an astronaut or a teacher or a farmer, and I would have still wanted you."

  "I've never been any of those," she said with a smile.

  "You get my point. And maybe you started out being who you thought I wanted you to be, but I don't think that continued once we got to my room. Did it?"

  She let out a sigh. "I don't know. Probably not. You kind of made me lose my mind. I don't remember thinking much."

  "Do you remember pretending?"

  "No." She met his gaze. "I was not pretending anything when we were together."

  He was more than a little happy to hear that. "Good. I wasn't pretending, either."

  "Well, I know you weren't," she said dryly. "I saw the evidence for myself."

  He laughed. "At least three times. Or was it four?"

  "We need to stop talking about that night."

  "Why?"

  "Because we can't go back."

  "Are you sure?" He paused at the sound of her phone. "Seriously? First a knock at the door, now a phone call?"

  She grinned. "Maybe we should listen to the universe." She opened her text, and her expression changed. "Flynn sent me photos from the cameras near the bar."

  He jumped to his feet, moving around the table, so he could see her phone.

  "It's a silver Prius, as the witness said. But the driver isn't clearly captured on any of the shots."

  "All I see is a baseball cap."

  "Todd's neighbor told me the man she saw was also wearing a baseball cap," she murmured, scrolling through the photos to a long text. "Flynn says the car is registered to a Dolores Jamison, an eighty-nine-year-old Atlanta resident, who recently went into a convalescent hospital. Her niece reported that the car was stolen yesterday afternoon." Savannah looked up at him. "I'm sure the driver dumped the car shortly after he almost ran us down, but Flynn says he'll let us know if the vehicle is located. He'll also do some more checking in the morning, look at other traffic cameras in the area that might have picked up a different angle. But for now, we don't have anything."