Cold Terror

by Susan Sleeman

  “A couple of weeks ago.”

  “I wouldn’t be this quick to write him off. If he really did murder this girl, I doubt he’d think twice about killing you for testifying against him.”

  “Still, I don’t know.” She ran her fingers over the names then suddenly looked up. “If you have a computer I can use, I could look up other trials to refresh my memory and maybe expand the list.”

  “Wouldn’t you remember a man angry enough to kill you?”

  “You would think so, right? But maybe his anger wasn’t overt and details of an investigation might remind me of something.”

  “Makes sense.” He pushed off the doorframe. “I keep top-level information on my office computer, and I don’t use it to connect to the Internet, just my secured local network. But I do have an iPad you can use.”

  She tilted her head. “I’ve never used an iPad, so you’ll have to help me.”

  “Glad to. It’s in the family room.” He waited for her to come around the table and follow him into the family room where the iPad lay on the sofa table.

  He sat, and she settled next to him. Her leg rested against his, the warmth firing all of his senses. How on earth would he manage to stay close enough to help her with the tablet and not want to act on his attraction?

  You’ll just have to deal with it.

  He forced his focus to the iPad and gave her a speedy rundown on how to operate the device. Little puffs of her breath on his neck distracted him, and he all but shoved the device at her and shifted down the sofa. Oblivious to his meltdown, she started tapping away at the screen. He should look away, but he watched her work.

  Memories of caressing her soft skin, of kissing those full lips, flooded his brain. He’d once been in love with her. Totally in love. But what did he feel now? It didn’t matter, right? He couldn’t even comprehend a relationship, much less entertain getting married again. Look how he’d reacted to losing Cass. He’d become a madman with a death wish. It had taken his father to snap him out of it.

  He’d left Mia with his mother and gone on a bender. Dragged his sorry butt home and collapsed on the sofa. In the morning, his dad woke him up and forcefully sat him down. His father’s words still echoed in his head. Take care of your responsibilities, Son, or I’ll take care of them for you. If that happens, precious little Mia will be out of your life for good.

  Gage didn’t know if his dad would truly seek custody of Mia and cut him out of the picture, but the threat changed everything. He’d gotten it together and tried to be the best father possible.

  But another relationship with a woman? No. That wasn’t in the cards.

  He’d stick to his work, which—for the most part—was neat and tidy. Step by step. Follow procedure and plans, and things usually worked out fine. Not so with relationships. There was nothing neat and tidy about loving another person. Nothing orderly. Just a messy jumbling of emotions that often ended in pain.

  He shifted his focus to the iPad. A picture of a mid-thirties, handsome, and fit male filled the screen. He appeared to be an everyday kind of guy until you looked into his eyes. They were angry and mean, reminding Gage of killers he’d come across on deployments.

  “Is that Ellwood or someone else?” he asked.

  “Ellwood,” Hannah all but whispered the name and clicked on another picture where Ellwood's bicep revealed a tattoo.

  Gage recognized the sword and lightning bolts on a green background. “Tattoo says he was an army spec ops guy. Not someone I’ll let anywhere near you.”

  “Thank you, Gage. For being here for me.” She shifted to look at him, and when their gazes connected, his heart took a tumble.

  He lifted his hand, ready to stroke her cheek. She didn’t move. Not even to take her next breath. She felt the connection, too. It was still there. Strong. Nearly vibrating through the air.

  A shrill alarm suddenly sounded from the iPad’s speakers.

  Hannah jerked back, her eyes wide. “Did I break it?”

  “No.” The special alarm came from the compound’s security program. He took the iPad and silenced it, then clicked on the facility map and a red blip blinked at the south entrance.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Someone breached the south gate.” He tapped the screen to bring up the live video feed from security cameras boasting night-vision capabilities. A tall, broad-shouldered male moved stealthily down the drive.

  “Someone broke in?” Hannah’s voice skated high.

  “Looks like it.” Gage made sure to keep his tone cool, but grabbed his phone and dialed Alex who was the team expert in tactical tracking. “We have a breach at the south gate. I need to stay at the house with Hannah and—”

  “You want me to track this loser,” Alex finished for him.

  “Affirmative. Take Jackson. His close-quarters skills might come in handy. And get Coop up to the house now to stand watch upstairs for the kids and Opal.”

  “Roger that.”

  “I’ll be watching on camera. If you move out of range, I’ll be on the comms, too. Let me know the minute you have the intruder in custody.”

  “Understood.”

  Gage disconnected and peered at Hannah whose eyes were wide with fear. He didn’t want to add to her terror, but he had to make sure she remained safe.

  He stood and held out his hand. “We’re moving to an interior room without windows. My office is perfect.” And it would let him grab his comms unit and watch the invasion play out over a larger screen, too.

  “Is that really necessary?” Her face paled, and she placed a trembling hand in his.

  “You have a guy who wants to kill you, and I’ve just experienced my first compound breach. Could be a coincidence, but I don’t believe in them, and keeping you and the others alive is all I care about at the moment.”

  Thankful Coop had arrived to watch over Opal and the children, Hannah relaxed a notch and looked over Gage’s shoulder at his large computer monitor where he’d brought up the security cameras on his network. She had a much better view of the man slipping into the compound than she’d had on his iPad, but it didn’t matter. He never looked up to reveal his face, likely because he knew the cameras were there, so she couldn’t tell if it was Ellwood.

  “Does this guy fit the build of your attacker?” Gage asked.

  “Yes.” She continued to study the man moving with graceful stealth, and she could now see how he’d silently entered the cottage. “No limp. Maybe he’s not our guy.”

  “Or maybe he’s moving at a pace where it’s not noticeable.”

  “One thing’s for sure. He looks like he’s done this before.”

  “Agreed.” Gage slammed a fist on the desk.

  Hannah jumped back. “What was that for?”

  “This creep is making his way across my land, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I feel as helpless as a little kid sitting here.”

  “I’m sorry, Gage,” she said sincerely. “You could go after him if you didn’t need to stay with me.”

  “Fat lot of good I’d do even if I was there.”

  Surprised at his answer, she came around the desk to see his face. “What does that mean?”

  He sat staring ahead, not answering.

  “Gage,” she said softly.

  His focus jerked back to her as if he’d forgotten she was there.

  “You said you’d be no good to your team,” she said again.

  “Right.” He pulled up his shirtsleeve and held out his arm. Angry, red scars crisscrossed his forearm.

  How he must have suffered. Maybe still suffered. Sadness for his pain seeped into her soul but she made sure not to show any reaction. “Your injury while a SEAL?”

  “Actually, it didn’t happen as part of my job, but I was downrange that night.” His voice broke, and he took a few breaths, then shook his head as if clearing out the memory. “That was the night I got the news that Cass and Mia were plowed down by a drunk driver when he jumped the curb.”


  “Oh, Gage. I’m so sorry.” He’d nearly lost both Mia and his wife. She couldn’t even imagine the pain. “I know how it feels to lose a spouse, but having Mia hurt, too. That must have been rough.”

  He nodded, but his gaze cut away from her. “They both sustained serious head injuries and by the time I got home, Cass was in a coma. She stayed that way for months before she died. Mia still has long-term motor skill and speech impediments, and she’s been withdrawn and reserved since the loss of her mother.”

  Hannah’s heart broke for precious little Mia losing her mother and sustaining life-changing injuries, too. It explained why she seemed a bit off in her movements. Even her silence. Hannah offered a quick prayer for the child and hoped that God might hear and answer at least this one plea. “So that’s when you left the SEALs?”

  “You’d think I would, right? Come home and be the dad my daughter needed. But I didn’t, and I’m not proud of it.” His voice hitched with emotion.

  “What happened?” she asked and held her breath in wait for his answer.

  “I returned to duty right after Cass’s funeral. An escape really. I left everything behind for my parents to deal with. Left my baby girl, too.” His voice faltered again, and he paused. “But God saw fit to bring me home.”

  “God,” she said, wondering how God was helping Gage when He clearly wasn’t smiling on her. She had no idea if He even loved her. “I wish I could say He was there for me when Nick died, but I just didn’t feel Him nearby. But you. How did He help you?”

  “By allowing the injury to my arm.”

  “Seriously?” She gaped at him. “How can you possibly think that was helpful?”

  “Trust me, it’s only in hindsight and after lots of soul-searching that I realized He could see things I couldn’t. It still makes me angry that I can’t do everything I need to do, but the injury brought me home to Mia and that’s what’s most important, right?” Gage locked gazes with her. “You look skeptical.”

  “I haven’t felt God’s presence in a while.” A deep ache plagued her, but she shrugged it off as she’d done for some time. “But tell me about the accident and how it brought you home.”

  “After Cass died, I had a death wish. Didn’t know it back then. I can see it now. I’d been deployed for so much of Mia’s life that she didn’t really know me. Add the brain injury, and I believed she’d be better off without me—better with my parents.”

  “But you came home.”

  “Yeah, after I injured my arm.”

  “But you said you didn’t get hurt as a SEAL.”

  “Technically I was on duty—you’re always on duty—but it happened when we had a couple of hours of downtime. I borrowed a motorcycle and went for a ride. Came back in an ambulance.”

  Hannah knew this personality. Knew it well. A daredevil, exactly like Nick.

  “The docs did surgery and patched me up the best they could, but I messed it up pretty bad. The damage to my arm meant I wouldn’t be doing anything but sitting at a desk for the navy. So I took the hardship discharge and stayed home.”

  “Mia needed you.”

  He scrubbed a hand across his jaw and released a long, pulsing breath. “She did, and I’d like to say I finally manned up, but I didn’t. My injury kept me from getting a job in a field where I was qualified. I drowned my sorrows in a bottle first.”

  She nodded. “I can understand that.”

  “Understand it, but I’ll bet you didn’t run away from your responsibilities or fall apart when your husband died.”

  “No, but I can see how easily it could happen. So no judgment from me, okay?”

  He nodded, his expression pensive.

  “That’s when you started this place.” She gently touched his arm.

  He looked at her hand as if determining how he felt about it, then continued, “Yes, thanks to my parents. After I told them about other guys I met in the same situation, my dad suggested I think of a business where I could employ them and he’d give me the land to house the business. A great offer, but making that decision wasn’t easy either.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “The last place I wanted to live was here in Cold Harbor, settled down with a child. That’s my parent’s life, you know? If that was my dream, I wouldn’t have to start a business. I could have run their grocery store. But I didn’t want to live in this hick town. I wanted adventure. Travels. Which is why I enlisted in the navy to begin with.”

  “I think it’s a lovely little town, and I shopped in the grocery store when I got here. It’s a quaint, well-stocked place.”

  “I know that now, but back then, I was still in my see-the-world phase and couldn’t recognize the goodness in my own backyard. You know, the same mode I was in when we split up. I couldn’t get married then and settle down. I would have felt suffocated. I only agreed to marry Cass because she got pregnant.”

  Hannah’s heart constricted. “So what you’re saying is if I’d ignored my beliefs, slept with you and gotten pregnant, we would have gotten married.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “First, I would never have asked. Second, I was immature enough back then that if you hadn’t pressured me like Cass did, I still might have left.” He swiveled in his chair and looked away.

  She wanted to force him to face her. To work this out between them…but what was the point? She needed to stick to the matter at hand and hope she was able to leave the compound soon. “You were telling me how your parents offered to help you.”

  He turned and looked at her, and the anguish in his eyes almost had her taking his hand. Almost.

  “Nothing much more to tell,” he said. “I came up with the tactical training. Mom and Dad moved into town, and I used Cass’s life insurance money to purchase start-up equipment and pay initial salaries.”

  “That was an honorable thing to do.”

  “Selfish, too.”

  “I’d say it was a win-win. You gave hope to men who needed hope, and you have gainful employment you love.”

  “True.”

  “How much can you do with your arm?”

  He stared down at it as if it were an alien creature. “It works for most everyday things, but you could probably take me in an arm wrestling competition. Shoot, maybe even Mia could.” He jerked his thumb at the monitor. “But without a doubt this guy could. Means I can’t help in his capture in any way that doesn’t involve using a weapon.”

  “How on earth did you manage to rescue me in a storm?”

  “Adrenaline and dumb luck. It could easily have gone the other way.” He clenched his jaw and turned his attention back to the screen.

  End of discussion, which was fine with her. All this talk of their past wasn’t going the way she’d thought it would the many times she pictured seeing him again. She had to admit his reasoning for not marrying back then was sound, and if they had gotten married, it would have likely ended badly. The way he handled the breakup was the real issue here.

  “Report.” He pressed his hand to his earpiece. “The intruder’s out of camera range.”

  “I don’t get it,” he snapped. “How could he have evaded you?”

  He listened, a frown turning down full lips. “Keep after him.”

  “What’s happening?” she asked.

  He met her gaze. “Somehow this guy caught sight of my men, and they spooked him into hiding. They’re trying to locate him now.”

  “You said you don’t believe in coincidences, but we were very careful not to let anyone see me arrive here. How can the guy who attacked me even know where I am?”

  “Maybe he heard I rescued you, then saw on my website that we offer protection services, and he thinks I’m protecting you here.”

  “I guess that makes sense. If it is him, shouldn’t you call Blake?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest, looking formidable. “I can take care of my own business.”

  She thought his defensiveness had more to do with his lack of physical prowess because of hi
s arm and less to do with being territorial. Either way, Blake needed to be informed. “If this man is here for me, then it’s more than your business, right?”

  He abruptly turned his head and pressed a finger to his ear. “Say that again?”

  Okay. Fine. His team needed him. Maybe she should call the sheriff. But could she? Gage was doing his best to care for her and David, and she didn’t want to go behind his back but…

  “What do you mean you didn’t capture him?” he snapped.

  Hannah was glad she wasn’t the one on the other end of the sophisticated device, as Alex’s ear had to be ringing.

  Gage jumped to his feet and paced like a caged tiger. He was fierce and strong. Even if his arm left him less than one hundred percent, he still had greater skills than most men. He was a warrior through and through, and the thought sent Hannah’s heart beating faster.

  “You’re positive he’s left the property?” He stopped to glare at the computer. “Then you get out there at dawn tracking him. I’ll be breathing down your neck. And tell the team to count on doing recon trips outside the property at regular intervals starting now to make sure this guy isn’t setting up camp on our doorstep.”

  7

  Gage left his office for the family room, and despite the morning sun filtering through the window and brightening his childhood home, he remained on edge. Not unusual, he supposed. Typical behavior for when he was running an op. As much as he cared for Hannah, first and foremost, this was an op, and he had to keep reminding himself of that before he got distracted and someone got hurt.

  At the family room door, his feet stilled at the picture in front of him. Hannah sat on the sofa, one of Mia’s favorite books in her hands. David snuggled tight on one side, while Mia sat as stiff as a toy soldier about a foot away on Hannah’s other side.

  Mia’s stiff little body, the downturn of her mouth that reminded him of Cass, broke his heart. Could there be anything worse in the world than seeing your child in pain and be helpless to fix it? If there was, he hadn’t experienced it and hoped he never would.

  “Your turn to flip the page, Mia.” A smile on her face, Hannah held the book out to Mia.