Night Talk

by Rebecca Daniels

  She wasn't sure who had felt better yesterday—Jake for having finally released everything he'd been carrying around for the last three years, or her for knowing he trusted her enough to tell her all about it. As a therapist, she understood just how much Jake had needed to free himself of all those demons he'd kept bottled up inside. But her reaction had been strictly as a woman. Instinct had her wanting to reach out, had her wanting to comfort and protect.

  It was clear from the story Jake told that circumstances completely out of his control had contributed to the death of the witness he'd been assigned to protect, and yet his sense of duty had him bearing all the responsibility. But no one would ever be able to convince him of the truth. In time he would come to that conclusion on his own—at least enough to forgive himself, but he wasn't there yet.

  It took a few moments for her brain to compute when she heard the first few notes of the William Tell Overture sing out, breaking the silence of the morning—but only a few. Cell phone!

  She resisted the urge to leap out of bed. While the chiming overture hadn't fazed Jake, she was afraid her moving would. But she had to answer. A call at this hour had to be serious. As carefully as she could, she slid out of the warm bed and raced across the cold wooden floor. Grabbing the phone from the bureau, she flipped it open.

  "Hello?" she said in a low voice.

  "Good, you're there," Nancy said in a no-nonsense tone.

  "What is it? What's happened?"

  "It's my mother, she's taken a turn for the worse."

  "I…I didn't know she was ill." Kristin couldn't remember Nancy having mentioned her family. She only knew she'd grown up somewhere outside Boston.

  "It's been going on for a while now. I'm at LAX, my flight is boarding in a few minutes."

  "Nancy, I'm so sorry." It was bitter cold and Kristin felt herself start to shiver.

  "I wanted to let you know I've turned over your files to Tony Ramsey from the clinic. I told him you'd give him a call this morning. I didn't want to say anything about…what's that place again? Eagle something?"

  "Eagle's Eye."

  "Right. Anyway, I told him you'd give him a call later this morning, get him up to speed."

  "Yes." Kristin reached for Jake's shirt and slipped it over her naked shoulders. "Yes, of course. But, Nancy, are you okay?"

  "I will be," she said. "Don't worry about me."

  "Well, if there's anything—Hello? Nancy?" It was too late, the line had gone dead. But when she looked down at her cell phone, she frowned. "That's funny," she mumbled, staring at the power bars on her phone.

  "What is?"

  She looked up to find Jake peeking at her from over the top of the quilt. "I'm sorry, I was hoping I wouldn't wake you."

  "Everything all right?"

  "Yeah, I just lost a call."

  "Important?"

  Kristin glanced down at the phone again and shivered. "I'm not sure. It was Nancy, she's had to leave town and wanted me to know she was turning over my clients to another colleague."

  He pulled back the quilt. "It's freezing, come back to bed."

  She nodded, replacing the phone on the bureau and walking back across the room. "It's so strange though."

  "That she called?"

  Kristin felt a pang of guilt as she freed the shirt from her shoulders and slid back under the quilt. He was aware she talked to Cindy on a regular basis but didn't know she had remained in contact with Nancy—no one did.

  "Hmm, you feel wonderful," she said, slipping in close.

  "You feel like an ice cube," he joked with a shiver, wrapping his arms around her. "So, is everything okay?"

  "Yeah, I guess, but it's kind of odd. I was saying something to her and she just hung up."

  "Like I said, cell reception is a little sketchy out here. You probably just lost the signal."

  "That's what I thought at first too." The warmth was seeping into her skin and heating her blood. "But when I looked at the phone just now, it was still showing a fairly strong signal." She turned and looked at him. "I think maybe Nancy hung up on me."

  "Maybe she thought you were finished."

  "Maybe," she acknowledged, warming her arms and her hands along the length of his chest.

  "So, been getting many calls, have you? Those boyfriends of yours missing you while you're away?"

  "Aren't you funny," she said dryly, making a face.

  "Funny hell," he snorted, pulling her to him. "I'm jealous!"

  Nothing would have pleased her more than to think she could make him jealous, but she knew he was joking. He was concerned for a very different reason.

  "Well, calm down, tough guy," she joked, giving him a reassuring pat on the chest. "But yes, I confess, Nancy and I have been talking pretty regularly."

  "I thought I heard you say something about Eagle's Eye?"

  She'd been caught red-handed and there was no use denying it. "And I told her where I was," she confessed. But when he started to say something, she lifted a hand to stop him. "I know, I know. I promised not to tell anyone, but there was a potential crisis with one of my clients. I wanted her to know how to get a hold of me if something happened."

  "If something happened, all she would have to do is call Ted."

  "I know, but that could take time. You know how hard it is to get a hold of him. Nancy was telling me about this client, warning me that she might be in trouble, and at that moment, I felt—" She stopped and shrugged a shoulder. "I don't know, I guess I felt guilty, you know, for not being there myself to help her through it."

  His face softened, but his gaze remained stern. "Divulging your whereabouts wasn't the wisest thing to do. It could put both you and Nancy in danger."

  She thought of her telephone conversation yesterday with Ted and felt a knot in her stomach. "Well, that doesn't seem like it's going to be an issue for much longer and Nancy's on her way out of town now anyway. I really don't think it's a problem."

  He didn't look convinced. "The point is, you shouldn't be taking chances with your safety—not when it can be avoided."

  The concern she saw in his face squeezed at her heart. She didn't doubt he cared about what happened to her, and after the talk they'd had yesterday, she understood why. She understood keeping her safe represented a lot to him, that it stood for more than just a favor to an old friend. It meant shattering old doubts and proving something to that fear he'd held inside for far too long.

  It would be so easy to misinterpret his concern, to make it into something more than it was, especially at times like this, when he looked at her with so much emotion showing in his eyes, so much affection on his face.

  "Don't be mad at me," she said after a moment, struggling with the knot of emotion in her throat. His point was a valid one, even though she believed the risk had been minimal, but she wasn't in the mood to debate the issue. "It's just Nancy. She's not going to tell anyone."

  "Well, okay, but promise me you won't tell anyone else?"

  "I promise."

  He slid down, bringing them face-to-face on the pillow, and gathered her close. "So, are there any more phone calls I need to know about?"

  She smiled. "Not a one."

  "And I don't have to worry about some jealous boyfriend finding his way up here trying to beat down my door?"

  "Well," she snorted inelegantly. "I can't guarantee that. You know how jealous boyfriends can be."

  His gaze narrowed. "I'm not sure. Maybe you would like to tell me?"

  Things were just too easy with him, she decided as she gave him a playfully wicked smile. How comfortably they could slip between emotions—serious to superficial, tense to teasing. It was how it should be, how she'd always dreamed it would be with the right person at the right time. Only…her time was just about up.

  "Oh, stubborn, possessive," she said, brushing a kiss along his lips. "Pigheaded." She slid her tongue along his bottom lip, feeling him grow hard against her. "Unreasonable and very, very frustrated."

  "Interesting,"
he murmured, shifting his weight and slipping her beneath him. "Sounds like me."

  His mouth sank onto hers and within moments they were both breathless with need. Kristin felt herself soaring, transported up and away from a world filled with uncertainty and doubt to a place where there was only touch and taste and the man she knew now that she loved.

  The real world had only just begun to take shape again, when they heard a thunderous commotion outside.

  "Jake?" Kristin cried out, the serene aftermath shattered. A million things shot through her mind. Had the stalker gotten to Nancy, had he come to Eagle's Eye? "What was that? What's happened?"

  "Oh, no," Jake groaned, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It sounds like the shed." He slowly rose up. "I don't remember locking it and I will bet the raccoons have gotten inside. It's happened before." He turned and reached for a pair of jeans, carelessly tossed over the back of a chair. "You stay here and keep warm. I'll go check it out and be right back, okay?"

  Kristin nodded, but could feel the wild pounding of her heart throughout her entire body. It surprised her just how frightened she'd felt, to discover how jumpy she still was. She'd felt so safe, so secure since she'd been at Eagle's Eye, she almost forgot what it was like to be afraid.

  "Be right back," Jake said, pushing into his boots as he hopped toward the door. "Keep my side warm for me?" he asked, turning back and blowing her a kiss.

  But he was gone before she could answer. Kristin waited a moment, feeling her heart slowly return to its normal rhythm, then threw the quilt aside and got up. She had all but moved into Jake's room in the last few weeks, but that didn't make finding her clothes any easier, and by the time she had pulled on her jeans and slipped a sweatshirt over her head, she was shivering again and her bare feet felt like ice. Not able to find a pair of her own socks, she grabbed a pair of Jake's from his drawer and pulled them on. Of course, being sizes too big, they made her running shoes feel tight, but that didn't bother her a bit. Her toes might be a little pinched, but they were also deliciously warm.

  Heading down the hall and through the kitchen, she pushed open the door and walked outside. But on the steps, she skittered to an abrupt halt.

  "Oh my gosh!" she gasped. "They did all this?"

  Jake was standing in the middle of the compound holding a shovel and surrounded by what looked like the contents of their recycling bins, compost pile and trash cans.

  "Go back inside," he advised, scooping up a shovel of trash and depositing it in a wheelbarrow. "It's cold and this is going to take me a little while."

  "But I can help," she insisted. He was right about the cold though. It bit at her cheeks and showed her breath with each word. But she was undeterred and headed down the steps, reaching for a rake resting against the railing.

  "No, no," he said, dropping the shovel and starting toward her. "You need to go back inside."

  "I want to help."

  "That's very sweet," he said gently. "But what would really help would be for you to go back inside."

  "I'm not that delicate. I can pick up after a few raccoons."

  "That's just it, my lovely woman," he said with a smile. "This wasn't done by raccoons."

  "It wasn't?"

  "No." With a hand on either shoulder, he slowly began backing her toward the steps. "So why don't you run up there and close the door and let me take care of this."

  "But if it wasn't raccoons," she asked, stopping at the steps and refusing to be pushed any farther, "then who did this?"

  "Uh, she did," Jake said deliberately, turning and pointing toward the garage.

  When it came to size, the black bear quietly watching from the boulder just beyond the compound was probably not that impressive, but to Kristin's startled eye, it looked like a grizzly.

  "Ja—"

  But Jake's hand gently covered her mouth, effectively cutting her off. "Shh. No sense getting our friend all excited now."

  "B-but it's a…a bear."

  He laughed. "You're right about that and I suspect she has a couple of cubs close by too, so it would probably be better if we don't get too excited and get her thinking we're a threat to them or anything." He spoke in a calm monotone, as though he were discussing the weather or some equally benign topic, as he backed her up the steps. "So you get back inside while I clean up this mess."

  "You can't stay out here, you'll get hurt," she insisted. "The gun, we need the gun from the truck. Maybe I should—"

  "No, no," he said with a quiet laugh. "There's no need for a gun. This mama bear is used to me and knows I'm no threat to her or her babies." He walked her up the steps and opened the door. "But the two of us together, she may not be so sure of, so you just wait inside and I'll be in as soon as I'm finished."

  "But I worry about you."

  He bent down and gave her a quick kiss. "I appreciate that." He stopped and kissed her again, longer this time. "Go inside."

  She nodded. "Promise you'll be careful?"

  "Oh, if you insist," he joked. "But only if you promise to do something for me."

  She reached up and brushed a hand along his cheek. "Anything."

  He brushed his lips against hers. "Keep my side of the bed warm."

  * * *

  "Looking for bears?"

  Jake smiled and put down the binoculars. After the initial excitement earlier, the rest of the morning had turned into a quiet one. He and Kristin had shared a leisurely, albeit late, breakfast and then gone their separate ways. She had flipped on her computer to prepare for the radio broadcast tonight and he had headed up to the tower.

  "Why? You packing heat this time?"

  She made a face. "Very amusing, Mr. Hayes. Can I help it if I want to protect you?"

  "But I'm supposed to be protecting the wildlife." He reached for her hand, pulling her onto his lap. "You know, you need a license to hunt bear in these parts." He nuzzled her neck, breathing in the clean, heady scent of her. "You wouldn't want me to have to cite you for not having the proper documentation, now, would you?"

  "Cite yourself. This is all your fault, you know that, don't you?"

  "Excuse me? My fault? How do you figure?"

  "Don't you think you could have warned me there were wild animals around here?"

  "I did," he insisted with a laugh. He enjoyed their easy camaraderie, enjoyed ribbing her without having to worry she would take something he said the wrong way. He'd never experienced that with a woman before—and certainly not with his ex-wife. Valerie had been so sensitive, had always misinterpreted everything he said. He'd forever been hurting her feelings, which might be why he eventually avoided saying anything to her at all. But not Kristin—she not only could handle the kidding, she could give as good as she got. "I distinctly remember saying something to you about critters when you first arrived. I warned you to keep your door shut."

  "Critters," she clarified. "You said there were critters around here. Squirrels, raccoons, skunks—those are critters. You never mentioned anything about bears."

  He leaned her back dramatically and gave her a firm kiss on the mouth. "I stand corrected—critters are squirrels, raccoons and…what was that third one?"

  "Skunks," she said, pushing herself up. She stood and grabbed the binoculars, aiming them at the compound below. "And I have to run across to my room. Do you think the coast is clear now?"

  He stood up, stretching his arms out and yawning. The afternoon sun had begun to send shadows streaking across the driveway. "I think it's safe to assume mama and her babies are long gone by now." He moved behind her, sliding his arms around her waist. "Probably holed up in some cave somewhere, all cozy and full after feasting on our garbage this morning." He planted a kiss along her neck. "Want me to go with you?"

  "No," she said, lowering the binoculars. "I'll try and brave it." She raised the glasses to her eyes again. "So what have you been looking at up here all afternoon?"

  "I thought I caught a flash of something down in the canyon there," he said, pointing
west toward the road. "Probably just someone on a dirt bike or something." He gestured to the sky. "But see those clouds over there? They could be setting up for a beautiful sunset."

  She followed with the binoculars. "And I'll bet it would probably go very nicely with a little wine, some cheese." She shifted her gaze just enough to peek up at him. "Interested?"

  He pulled her close and brushed a kiss against her ear. "Oh, yeah."

  She started to laugh, but something in the glass caught her eye. "Hey, I think I saw something too. Over there?" Lowering the binoculars, she stepped aside and handed them to him. "What is that?"

  He raised the binoculars, his jaw tightening. "Smoke."

  "What?" Her eyes grew wide.

  He lowered the glass. "Looks more like a campfire maybe."

  "Someone's camping down there?"

  "No one should be," he pointed out. He reached for a set of handheld two-way radios, switching both of them on.

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I'll just run down there and check it out." He headed for the spiral stairs. "Want to do me a favor?"

  "Sure, anything."

  He turned and handed her one of the radios. "Think you'd mind sticking around the tower and monitoring this in case I need to have you call down to Claybe in Cedar Canyon on the ham?"

  "Of course I wouldn't mind," she said, looking at the little radio in her hand.

  "I'm guessing from where that smoke is, I may have to hike a bit off the road." He held out the radio. "Remember how these work? Push this button to talk. Think you can handle it?"

  "Push to talk, I remember," she said with a nod, following as he turned for the stairs again. "Be careful?"

  At the top step he stopped and turned back to her. "You always going to worry about me?"

  "This is the wilderness," she said, gesturing to the view outside. "There's a lot to worry about around here."