by Sheila Kell
She sighed. Hell, chasing him away was just another form of fleeing.
There it was again. Rylee tilted her head. Muffled voices came through the window. Throwing back the sheet, in her flannel pajamas, she sprang from the bed and rushed to the window. A shiver rippled through her when her bare feet left the area rug for the chilled, wood flooring. She bounced on the balls of her feet the remaining distance considering what she might find. Moving the curtains aside just enough to barely peek out, she held her breath and willed down the increasing volume of her pulse pounding in her ears. One of two things had happened—she’d been found by whoever worked with Dave, or her houseguests were trying to be secretive. Only, she didn’t understand why they’d do that. No matter who it was, they shouldn’t have chosen to have their discussion in the front of the cabin where her bedroom happened to be located if they didn’t want to get caught.
In the dim lighting of dawn, her eyes focused on a small sparkle of the sun’s rays breaking over the mountains, she cursed. A small dust cloud followed the departing rental car, with Kate presumably behind the wheel since Devon stood in the now vacant spot watching it disappear.
Damn Kate! I can’t believe she abandoned me like this.
The curtain slid from her fingers, and the room once again plunged into near darkness. How did she get rid of him now? She glanced at the weapon in her hand and shook her head before she placed it back under her pillow.
Thinking of his firm statement before dinner that he’d be staying, brought out a sliver of admiration. He definitely had balls since she hadn’t invited him to hang around. Working with two of his brothers gave her an inkling that she knew the Hamilton mindset fairly well. If he was like AJ and Jesse and wanted to stay, he’d damn well stay no matter what she said to the contrary. A slow smile crept across her face. Luckily, that same stubbornness lived in her.
She harrumphed in frustration. Then something else occurred to her. What if he wanted to play house or something intimate like that? He didn’t seem to be as eager to get the annulment as she did. Her heart sank to her belly. They couldn’t be intimate. Then it would be a real marriage and no annulment would be allowed. Calming her jangling nerves, she bit her lip in thought and then shrugged in satisfaction at her plan. She’d take him to the airport herself. Then her mood soured at the thought of the long drive alone, but it had to be done. He’d interfere if he stayed.
Angel whined and Rylee reached in the closet for clothes. She quietly changed into jeans and a sweater, listening for Devon’s activity in the outer room. Plopping her behind down on the bed, she lifted her foot to put on her hiking boots. Angel whined again. “One more second, girl. It may be September, but it’s too cold in these mountains to go barefoot, even if I’m just on the porch while you do your thing.”
The dog cocked his head at her. The pose was damn cute, but it didn’t give Rylee confidence the pet understood.
“We’re also going to tell Devon that we’re taking him to the airport. I know last night Kate said there was no way he’d have taken advantage of me if he’d been sober, so I’m guessing he must’ve been drunk also. That doesn’t build up my picture of the perfect man any better.” She dropped her foot and proceeded to put her boot on the other foot. Once done, she slapped it down on the rug and looked at the dog. “You couldn’t care less, could you? You were all over him last night. Like a bitch in heat.” She stood, shook her head and chuckled. “Apparently, I must’ve been at one time as well. It just goes to prove that neither of us can be trusted in close proximity to him.”
Angel raced to the bedroom door with her tail wagging fast enough to generate wind power.
Rylee shook her head, snatched a hair clip from the dresser and opened the door prepared to take back control of her safe haven.
She didn’t have to turn in his direction to know that Devon sat at the kitchen bar with a cup of coffee and an open laptop. She caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. Besides, her body gave a frustrating, light tingle to his presence. Muttering a quick, “Good morning,” she didn’t stop on her way to let Angel outside so the dog could relieve herself. No matter how bold and strong she told herself she was, being alone with Devon frightened her deep inside. His presence challenged her resolve.
A chilly gust of wind slapped her in the face when she closed the front door of the cabin behind her and she involuntarily shivered. Angel bolted to the tree line and sniffed around until she found a spot worthy of squatting. After the dog completed that task, she raced back to the door, eager to return inside.
Rylee took a deep breath to settle her nerves, and they entered the cabin with Angel rushing in to confront Devon.
“We need to talk.” Devon quirked one side of his mouth as if fighting a smile. “Mrs. Hamilton.”
Her heart lurched at the name. Damn him! Why couldn’t he have just signed the damn papers and been done with it? What did he want? She sighed, knowing there was only one way to find out and it wasn’t to flee. She had to sit with him and talk. Then, she’d take him to the airport.
Resigned, she walked to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee in an “I don’t do fashion. I AM fashion” mug to allow herself more time to bolster her confidence. She reached into the refrigerator and withdrew her French vanilla creamer, doctored her coffee with it and then blew on the coffee before taking a sip of the warm, strong liquid. “Okay.”
His gaze slid over her from head to toe, leaving a warm awakening in its path. “I wish I remembered you, Rylee.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t remember everything either, so we’re even,” she retorted.
He cocked his head in question. “If you didn’t remember the night, how did you know we’re married? I have the license.”
She unintentionally looked down at her bare left hand. “I didn’t know until I settled on the airplane and saw the wedding band on my finger. Somehow I’d missed it before then.” Probably because she’d been in a rush to escape.
In for a nickel, in for a pound. Whatever the hell that phrase meant. She looked back to him and continued, “I didn’t know who you were at the time. I had to do a little digging to find out since you didn’t come around right away searching for me.”
An unsettling silence hovered in the air. Too much had been lost between them. Actually, all that was between them had been lost.
“I guess you didn’t give me a ring to remember you by.” His eyes gleamed with humor as he scooted his chair back and gracefully stood. “I can assure you of this,” he said and stepped closer to her, “had I remembered, I’d have been there without delay.”
An ache formed deep in the center of her chest, and she almost whimpered at what could’ve been. Resolved to regain her life, she took a stand. “Look, it appears neither of us remembers what happened that night or why we lost our heads and got married. All the more reason to get the annulment. We were unaware of our actions. Why can’t you just sign the papers and end this farce? Then I can take you to the airport, and we can get on with our lives.”
He halted and allowed a wicked smile to spread across his face. The damn man was enjoying this. How had it come to that? Didn’t he see they’d made a mistake and there was only one easy way to rectify it? People didn’t meet, immediately marry and live happily ever after. Surely, any idiot knew that.
“There’s still the matter of you hitting me on the head with a lamp.”
“How?” she croaked out in a nervous voice. Realizing her inadvertent admission, she cleared her throat and pressed on. No reason to lie since Kate might’ve told him the truth. “How did you know I did that? I thought you didn’t remember.”
He quirked an eyebrow in an all-knowing gesture that pissed her off.
“I didn’t know for certain—until just now.”
“What do you want? It can’t be me. You don’t even know me,” she stated and her forgotten coffee sloshed over the top of the cup and scalded her thumb and the area surrounding it. She turned away, set the mug down and ran cold water o
ver her hand. His light touch on her hand had her almost jumping out of her skin.
“Let me see.” He turned her hand so he could survey the burn under the running water.
She froze, her breath catching in her throat, and her pulse took on a frantic race through her veins. He was too damn close. Her mind screamed, “Flee,” and she couldn’t fight it even though she’d sworn she wouldn’t do it again. She yanked her hand from him. “It’s fine.” Then she sprinted to the doorway. Taking him to the airport or talking things out flew from her mind. “I’m going for a hike. You can come or not.” What the hell is wrong with me? The last thing I want is him following me around.
Angel appeared and pushed out the entry with Rylee. She closed it behind her, trying not to care if Devon followed or not. When she made it to the tree line, the slamming of the cabin door reverberated through the clearing behind her. A few moments later, she heard him enter the trail on her heels. His persistence made her smile to herself, and then it quickly vanished when she realized she still didn’t know what he wanted. She also didn’t know if she should continue on this trek with him behind her. She just needed to see if the girls were there.
A hand grabbed her upper arm, halting her forward movement. She spun around and Devon’s concerned gaze hit her in the gut. “Rylee, stop for a moment. Tell me what the hell is going on? Why are you really hiding out here?”
She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. She didn’t want to trust him, but since he refused to leave her alone, maybe he could help her. He did work at HIS. Then again, maybe he’d decide to bring in the FBI. All at once the burden she’d been carrying became too heavy to bear alone. A niggling sensation told her that she needed someone, whether she wished to admit it or not. Kate said to trust him so she would give it a try and pray she hadn’t made another bad choice with him.
The only drawback was that they’d have to spend more time together. She’d have to risk whatever happened because she needed someone to have her back. “What do you do with HIS?”
He narrowed his eyes at her, and his intense focus reached to her soul. “I’m the computer guy. If they need it, I find it—whether it’s equipment or information. What does that have to do with anything?”
Just the backup she needed. Research was her weak spot. She had to take this leap, for the sake of the girls. “Follow me.” She pulled her arm from his grasp and led him in silence for a couple of miles and through several trails until they broke out onto a ledge.
His appreciative whistle matched her regard of the area. “The view is breathtaking.”
Her mind couldn’t focus on the splendor of color bursting through the forests along the mountain ridges. Only the dwelling below held her attention. She pointed a finger to a house in the middle of the canyon. “They’re there.”
He squinted to view where Rylee had directed his gaze. “Who’s there?”
“Misty and Mandy.”
“And they are?”
“Two girls about to be sold into sex slavery who I’m going to rescue.”
Emotions washed over his face, and it concerned her that she couldn’t grasp any particular one, except the brief flash of anger. “How sure are you about this?” he asked in a slow, measured voice, and she wondered how hard it had been to control it.
She bit down on the left side of her lip and hated she had to admit the truth. “I’ve not had time to check the house to ensure they’re there. But, I’ve gone through Dave Westbrook’s phone and have checked out the other addresses he’s traveled to. This one has to be it.”
“Dave Westbrook? The guy who was killed with the ICE agent?”
When she nodded, he continued in a near rant, “Goddammit, Rylee! How the hell did you end up with his phone? And”—his voice rose with each word—“what do you mean you’ve checked out the other addresses?”
The mild, sensual man who’d arrived had disappeared. This man appeared ready to rip someone’s head off, and she was in his direct path. “I’ll tell you all about it if you agree to help me.”
Devon took his time scanning the area from the woods, trails, and mountains surrounding them to the canyon with a large ranch house on it below, and, presumably, two girls in need of their help. When he finally spoke, Rylee had almost given up hope he’d agree. “All right.” He turned to her and waited until she looked him in the eye. The angry man had vanished and a calm, calculating one replaced him. “On one condition. We’ll get to know each other and see if we can salvage our marriage.”
With a ton of disparaging words on her tongue, she surprised herself with the question that left her mouth. “Why do you want to stay married to me so badly?”
His eyes raked over her face as if attempting to read her thoughts. “Because, there had to be a reason I married you. I intend to find out.” He raised his eyebrows in question. “Now, are we agreed?”
She considered her choice of doing this alone, and maybe failing again, or doing this with help, even though he was the last person she wanted to be near. Her shoulders sagged, knowing what she had to do. The girls’ lives trumped her happiness in every way. She’d use Devon to help her and then, after he realized she had no intention of remaining married to someone who would extort her like he was, she’d be able to send him packing.
That begrudgingly decided, she nodded and released a long, suffering sigh. “Fine. You help me rescue the girls, and I’ll give our marriage a chance. But,” she emphasized the word while balling her hands into fists, “no one else is involved in our search until I say so.” The last thing she wanted was this area to be crawling with people and scaring off the girls’ captor. Besides, after two failed home searches, she preferred not to look like an idiot if the girls weren’t there. And, if they were, she wouldn’t argue about bringing in help to rescue them. She wasn’t stupid enough to think she could do it alone. “Oh,” she said as an afterthought as she turned back to the trail, “there will be no sex.”
IF THE SITUATION hadn’t been so serious, Devon would’ve bust out laughing loud enough to scare away woodland creatures for miles at Rylee’s stubborn, parting words. But, he thought as he turned from watching her luscious backside stalk away from him, then his humor faded and he tightened his lips, the situation was dead serious. Damn! I need my ass kicked for demanding such an exchange when someone needed help.
The moment she mentioned the possibility of girls being held captive, he knew he’d help find them, no matter the cost. He couldn’t abide by such cruelty as selling girls into slavery of any sort. Any man who walked away from this type of situation needed his balls cut off.
So why had he pushed her to agree to his plan? Hell, even he knew it wasn’t the way to win her heart. Yet, there was the crux of it all—he wanted her heart. He’d hate to live his life with someone who didn’t love him. Maybe he hadn’t had her heart when they’d married. He didn’t know if she’d had his either.
This entire scenario read like a bad dream that only got worse with the introduction of the girls.
Devon turned back to the breathtaking view of the mountains and took in the land, home, and barn in the small valley before him in a new, critical light. If, and that was a big if because Rylee didn’t appear completely confident, there were girls in trouble down there, he wouldn’t even attempt to rescue them without his brothers. They were the muscle of HIS. Her not wanting help bothered him. Something wasn’t right and he had to find out as quickly as possible.
The thought of the girls being sold sent bile climbing up the back of his throat, and he swallowed in an attempt to keep it down. He had to find a way to change Rylee’s mind about accepting help, which would put a big damper on his plans to remain alone with her and their getting to know each other. Without a doubt though, this came first. His love life, or lack thereof, could wait.
One thing that did lighten his spirits was that she chose to tell him why she was here, include him and ask for his help. Either she was considerably desperate or she trusted him, at least somewh
at. He smiled to himself. He could work with that.
Turning back, he followed the path she’d left while planning his next moves. Information was golden and he wanted it now. Who owned the home? What about the homeowners? How did they fit with the Westbrooks? He needed aerial views. He needed stuff from his office.
A movement a foot in front of him startled Devon, and he stopped dead in his tracks. A black snake, maybe three feet long, slithered across his path, weaving its long body back and forth with the leaves softly rustling underneath its movement. He’d never been the outdoorsy type and didn’t care to come face-to-face with creatures that could kill. He had no idea what type of snake it was and that could be a problem in the future. After the snake cleared his vision, he looked around the area. Did they have bears up here? He had to know what else inhabited these woods if they would be hiking through them. He didn’t need more threats to protect her from.
His shoulders slumped, and he dropped his head in defeat. There he was again with the desire to protect Rylee and his knowledge that he was unable to do so. He’d have to convince her to bring in the family.
Arriving back at the cabin with a plan in mind, Devon slid through the doorway, ready to rest his weary body as the several hour hike had kicked his butt. Rylee waited patiently at the wooden dining table with a bottle of water nestled in her hands as if she hadn’t exerted herself as he had.
He needed to tell her that he wouldn’t hold her to his requirement for help and that he needed the family behind them. After this was over, he’d find a way to see if they belong together.
Her eyes, dull and emotionless, rose and met his. “I’m sure you have questions.” She stood and turned to the refrigerator, her back stiff. “Sit. I’ll get you some water and we can talk. Coffee is brewing.”
Angel whined, and he looked down and smiled at the dog. He petted her and trudged to the table feeling every bit the heel he’d been. He’d driven her to be like this… this unfeeling, robotic woman.
