Out of Sight

by Michelle Celmer

  “Mommy!”

  Through a sexual fog she heard her son’s sleepy, frightened cry. The thought of Adam seeing her and Will this way, the confusion it could cause, was like a blast of icy water.

  Will must have felt it, too, because he pulled away the exact second she did.

  “Mommy!” Adam called again more urgently, and Abi realized he must still be in bed. At least he hadn’t seen them and she wouldn’t have to explain. If he had, it would have been a disaster. He would have been so confused and, chatterbox that he could be, might have told one of the staff. Or all of them.

  Abi rose from the couch, her legs feeling wobbly, her brain slightly fuzzy. “I have to…”

  Will nodded, looking nearly as guilty as she felt. “Go ahead.”

  “Give me a minute. Then we’ll talk.”

  Chapter 7

  Will filled his lungs with cool, dry night air, trying to slow the pounding of his heart. He hadn’t come here planning to kiss her, but now that he had, he wanted more. When he’d imagined kissing her, he’d thought she would be shy and maybe a little awkward. Instead she’d melted against him, their bodies fitting together naturally, as if one had been built with the other in mind. A perfect compliment.

  He closed his eyes, let the darkness swallow him up.

  He didn’t want to feel this way about Abi. Considering the nature of his business at the retreat, things could get complicated if he let this go any further. For four years he’d been working to bring Ryan’s killer to justice. He couldn’t let himself get distracted now. His own happiness, his own fulfillment, were the last things on his mind.

  At least, they should have been.

  Behind him he heard the door hinges squeak. Abi stepped outside and joined him on the porch. “There you are. I though maybe you got tired of waiting and left.”

  They both knew that wouldn’t be his reason for leaving. But he wasn’t the type to run away when confronted with a dilemma.

  “Adam had a nightmare,” she said.

  “Is he okay?”

  “Fine. It happens every now and then. I sat with him for a few minutes and he fell right back to sleep.”

  He turned to her, just barely able to make out her features in the pale light streaming through the screen door. “About what happened—”

  “It was my fault,” Abi said.

  He hadn’t expected her to take responsibility for something that was clearly his fault. “It’s not your fault.”

  “No, it is. I’ve been sending you mixed signals all night. Between the dinner and the cards and the wine…tonight was really nice. The truth is, I just got caught up in the moment.”

  “I guess I did, too,” he admitted. He hadn’t had such a good time since…well, he couldn’t even remember when. He’d really never had an experience like the one he’d just had with Abi.

  Over the past four years it was as if all the flavor in his life, the passion for anything but justice, was gone. When he was with Abi, he tasted life again. “I don’t know why I kissed you. I mean, I know why, I just…I apologize if I…” He raked a hand through his hair. “Hell, I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I should say I’m sorry, but the truth is, I’m not. I’d probably do it again if I thought you would let me.”

  Abi was grinning.

  “You think I’m an idiot, don’t you?”

  She shook her head. “No, you’re just always so in control. It’s kind of cute to see you flustered.”

  “I’m glad I’ve been entertaining.”

  “You know anything other than a friendship would be a bad idea,” Abi said. “For both of us.”

  “Because it’s against the rules?”

  “Because I have a three-year-old son. I don’t get the luxury of having a fling. Even if I did, that isn’t the kind of person I am.”

  “Flings are all I have,” he admitted. “That is the kind of person I am.”

  She leaned against the porch railing and folded her arms across her chest. “Why do you suppose that is?”

  “Are you shrinking me?”

  Abi grinned. “Not my field of expertise. I’m just curious.”

  “I know exactly why. I’m no good at relationships. I was a lousy husband. After my second divorce I decided I wasn’t cut out for marriage.”

  “Then why come here?”

  Good question. One he couldn’t answer without lying, and he didn’t want to lie to Abi. He went for evasion instead. “When I figure that out, I’ll let you know.”

  “Fair enough.” She looked into the cabin, then back at Will. “It’s getting late. I have an early start tomorrow.”

  “Will I see you at breakfast?”

  “Most mornings I skip breakfast in the dining room and take an hour hike.”

  “I like to hike. Maybe I could join you.”

  She thought about it for a minute, then a smile curled her mouth. “On one condition. You have to go to group therapy first.”

  He winced. “That’s blackmail.”

  “Yeah, it is,” she agreed. “But if you really want to hike with me, you’ll have to do it.”

  “It’s a free country. I could just show up at your cabin in the morning and follow you.”

  “You could, but you won’t.”

  Damned if she wasn’t right. If he did, that would only make her angry, and he didn’t want to tick her off. He couldn’t let himself forget he needed her to get to Maureen. “Okay, no hiking. But can we at least have lunch together?”

  “Lunch would be nice.” She edged toward the door. “But consider the therapy. You might change your mind.”

  “I doubt it.”

  She smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She stepped into the cabin, shutting the wood door behind her. When he heard the dead bolt snap, he turned and walked down the path. It was so dark, he could see little more than shadowy shapes and he had the eerie feeling he was being watched. He’d felt the same way earlier in the week, when he was at the beach. He’d thought for sure it was Abi watching him, since she tended to do that, but when he’d looked around, he hadn’t seen her anywhere.

  He was sure it was just a trick of his mind. What reason would anyone have for watching him? No one knew who he really was.

  At least, he hoped they didn’t.

  Will walked into his cabin the exact second his cell phone began to ring. He closed and locked the door, then pulled it from the pocket of his shorts. “Bishop.”

  “It’s Robbins. Can you talk?”

  He was exhausted and the last thing he felt like doing was giving the assistant director an update on his progress—or lack thereof. This was not a bureau-sanctioned investigation, so technically he didn’t have to tell him squat. On the other hand, if it weren’t for Robbins, Will might not be here at all.

  He collapsed on the sofa, put his feet on the coffee table and said, “Yeah, I can talk.”

  “We might have a problem.”

  Oh, swell. Like he didn’t have enough already. “What kind of problem?”

  “There’s been some interesting information coming from the Sardoni wiretaps. Three times over the past two weeks Colorado was mentioned.”

  Will sat up, his feet hitting the wood floor with a thud. It could mean nothing or it could mean the Sardonis were onto him.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  “Why am I just hearing about this now?”

  “Because I just heard about it. No one knows you’re there. They had no reason to bring it to my attention.” His tone was grim. “I think the Sardonis suspect what you’re doing.”

  Will cursed under his breath. “How could they even know I’m here?”

  “If you’re thinking I told someone, I haven’t. It’s no secret you’re hot to get Vince. All I can figure is they’ve got someone keeping tabs on you.”

  Which was actually good news. “If they had eliminated her, they wouldn’t be looking, either. So she’s definitely alive.”

  “It could also mean they’ve sent someone
to tail you. Have you noticed anyone suspicious?”

  “No one,” he said. If someone was there, they’d blended in.

  “Did anyone arrive after you?”

  “Not that I—wait a minute. There was a replacement counselor that arrived a couple of days after the session started. Tom something.” The kid was pretty young, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t part of the crime family.

  “Do you have a last name?”

  “No, but I can get one.”

  “What about the other guests? Can you get me their names?”

  There were at least forty. Though half were children, which would narrow the odds considerably. The names of the people he didn’t know he might be able to get off the therapy sign-up sheets. He was pretty sure they listed first and last names.

  “I’ll get a list to you by tomorrow.”

  “Do it and we’ll run background checks. Until then, do you have your sidearm?”

  “Of course.” Locked up in his suitcase with his identification, where housekeeping wouldn’t accidentally stumble across it.

  “Keep it on you.”

  “Yeah, that’s not going to look suspicious.”

  “I take it you haven’t gotten to the owner yet?”

  “Not yet. I’ve been staying close to one of the counselors.” He wasn’t about to tell Robbins just how close. “She’s good friends with Maureen. I’m hoping she can get me in to see her.”

  “What about this counselor? Could she be the one you’re looking for?”

  He thought of Abi, tried to picture her with a scumbag like Vince. “No, it’s definitely not her. She’s got a three-and-a-half-year-old kid. You saw the security shots. Crystal wasn’t pregnant. But Abi did mention that she used to live in Vegas. I believe that’s where she met Maureen.”

  “You want me to run her name just in case?”

  As an agent, he knew it only made sense to check her out, but as her friend, it felt like a betrayal. He’d wanted her to trust him—shouldn’t he trust her?

  But trust wasn’t the only issue here. This was life or death.

  Maybe hers.

  Oh, hell. If he was being watched, they might think that because he’d taken an interest in her, Abi was the one they were looking for. If someone found out they’d run her name, he could be putting her and her son in even more danger.

  He could try backing off, but if someone was at the retreat watching him, the damage was already done. Either he told her the truth now, which would most surely blow his chance to get to Maureen, or he didn’t let her out of his sight.

  And how did he plan to do that? She took a hike every morning alone in the woods. It would be the perfect opportunity for someone to grab her. He didn’t doubt that whoever might be here hadn’t been sent to kill Crystal. Vince would want to do that himself, after he got out of her what happened to his money. And when he found out they had the wrong woman, he would kill her anyway.

  The thought made him sick to his stomach.

  He could follow Abi through the woods without her knowing, but he would have to stay far enough away so he wouldn’t be discovered. Too far to circumvent a possible kidnapping attempt. And if she did see him, found out he was tailing her, she would be fuming mad. He would never get her to introduce him to Maureen.

  Christ, this was getting complicated.

  The only way to protect her was to hike with her. And the only way to do that was to—ugh—go to therapy.

  What had he gotten himself into?

  “It would be a waste of time to run her name,” he told Robbins. “It’s not her.”

  “I’ll be honest. When you first came to me with this, I thought it was a dead end. Now I might have enough evidence to take this to the director. I could send another agent in.”

  “There’s no way to do that without tipping off the owner that I’m here, and that’s the one thing that I can’t do. I don’t doubt she’ll disappear again.”

  “Then I’m going to contact the Denver office and alert them to the situation.”

  “Don’t.”

  “Bishop, for cryin’ out loud—”

  “We get agents sniffing around here, Maureen will be gone. I have to do this alone.”

  He was quiet for several seconds, then said, “You’ve got a week.”

  No way he would be getting to Maureen that soon. It just wasn’t possible. “I’ve only been here a week. I need at least two more.”

  Another pause. Then his boss said, “Get me the names and I’ll have them run by Monday or Tuesday. If everyone checks out, you have your two weeks. If anyone looks even marginally suspicious, I’m getting you out of there.”

  “It’s not your call. I’m here on my own, remember?”

  “Will, I won’t be responsible for losing another one of my best agents. If I were you, I’d find a way to get to the owner and I’d do it fast.”

  Apparently Will wasn’t the only one feeling guilty over Ryan’s death. It made sense now why Robbins had cut him so much slack when it came to investigating a case that had been cold for four years.

  He wanted to catch Vince as badly as Will did.

  “Call me tomorrow with those names. And, Will?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Watch your back.”

  “Okay. One therapy session.”

  Abi turned from the volleyball game she was overseeing to find Will standing behind her. He was dressed in his typical cargo shorts and a T-shirt the same rusty-green as his eyes. “Beg your pardon?”

  “I’ve given it some thought and I decided one therapy session couldn’t hurt. One session and we can hike together.”

  Abi grinned. She’d been hoping he would come around, even if he had done it grudgingly. But one session was nothing. She wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “One session won’t do anything. Five days. Monday to Friday.”

  His mouth fell open in indignation. “Five days?”

  “Then you can hike with me as often as you like.”

  “Two days,” he said.

  “No.”

  He folded his arms across his chest, pulling the sleeves of his T-shirt tight around his biceps. They weren’t huge but very nicely defined. In fact, as far as she could tell, he was pleasantly defined just about everywhere.

  “Okay, three,” he said.

  He was also very stubborn. “This is not negotiable, Will. You either do the full five days or you don’t go with me.”

  He thought about it for a minute, then muttered a foul word under his breath. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

  “You won’t be sorry.”

  “So I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

  “For?”

  “To go hiking.”

  “One, I don’t hike on weekends, and two, you have to go to the five days of therapy first.”

  He flashed her another indignant look. “You don’t trust me?”

  Not as far as she could throw him. He was so against it, she didn’t doubt he would find any way out of it he could. “There’s a session every morning at ten except Sunday. I expect to see your name on the list starting on Monday. And I’m going to check to make sure you went each day, so don’t think you can weasel your way out of it.”

  “Abi!” David, one of the teen counselors, was waving his arms to get her attention. “Someone got pegged!”

  Abi looked over to see one of the kids sitting in the sand rubbing his head. Looked as though someone was going to need an ice pack and some TLC. “Duty calls,” she told Will, backing away. “I’ll see you at lunch?”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, but he still looked ticked off.

  “Oh, don’t be so grumpy,” she said. “You might like it.”

  “I’ll go,” he called after her. “But I’m not going to like it.”

  “Abi, do you have a minute?”

  Abi looked up from the computer screen, where she’d been putting the finishing touches to a treasure map for a camping trip next week. Brittney stood in the doorway looking troubled. Which
was normal for her. She was a nice girl and great with the kids, and without her help babysitting Adam, Abi would be lost. She was also a worrier. She had a knack for taking an ordinary situation and turning it into a three-act drama.

  And Abi really didn’t have a minute—or the ten or fifteen it would take to get whatever was bothering Brit off her chest. Despite that, she put her computer into sleep mode and sat back in her chair.

  “What’s the problem?” She didn’t add the this time that she was thinking.

  “It’s Tom, the new counselor.”

  “What about him?”

  “I know it’s not my call, but…well…”

  Get to the point, Abi urged mentally.

  “I just don’t think he’s working out,” Brit said.

  “Not working out how?”

  “Well, for one, he’s lazy. If I didn’t nag him constantly to do stuff, he would just sit around or talk to the guests.”

  “That’s odd. Every time I’ve seen him, he seems to be doing a great job.”

  “That’s the thing. He’s only like that when you’re not around. I left the kids alone with him the other day to make a run to the supply building and when I came back, the kids were running wild and he wasn’t even paying attention! When I called his name, he totally ignored me. I had to say it like ten times. He was flirting with some girl.”

  “What girl?”

  “One of the guests. That Cindy girl,” Brit said indignantly. “She’s always hanging around him, getting in the way and distracting him from his work. It’s totally inappropriate.”

  And there lies the root of the problem, Abi thought. Brit was jealous. She wasn’t an ugly girl. If Abi had to choose a word to describe her it would probably be…drab. She was a little on the pudgy side and had a moderately bad case of acne. Cindy, on the other hand, had the kind of exotic beauty that naturally drew the opposite sex.

  Maybe Brit liked Tom and resented that he didn’t return the feelings.

  “Brit, you know that we thoroughly check out each applicant before we hire anyone. Tom has impeccable references. We were very lucky to get him.”

  Brit shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Abi. He’s just not working out.”