Love Inspired Suspense January 2014

by Shirlee McCoy

  “Then what?” Burke asked.

  “Then it’s my business.” And he wasn’t quite sure what he had planned. Just let Annie and Sophia go to their new home and their new lives? Eventually, he’d forget about them. He’d continue on the way he’d been going, pouring every ounce of his energy into his job.

  Was it enough?

  That was the question that haunted him.

  The loose board at the top of the stairs creaked, and he knew Annie was on her way down.

  “I’d better go check the monitor,” Burke said, slipping from the room as footsteps sounded in the stairway. Seconds later, Annie appeared, her hair loose and wild with untamed curls. She’d changed into pink sweatpants and a white T-shirt. The pants hung low on her hips, the T-shirt just skimming their waistband. She smiled when she saw him, and his heart responded.

  “You’re back,” she said, dropping onto the sofa and pulling her knees up to her chest. Her arms were thin and well muscled, her fingers long and narrow. Pretty hands. Pretty arms. Beautiful woman.

  “And you’re awake.” He sat beside her, inhaling the fresh clean scent of shampoo and soap.

  “I wanted to hear what you found out, so I stayed up.”

  “The doll body and head are a match,” he told her without preamble. There was no sense beating around the bush.

  “That’s not a surprise.” She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “Was there anything else? Any evidence that will help you find the person who planted the bomb?”

  “The evidence team is still looking. If there’s something to be found, they should know it in the next day or two.”

  “I guess that’s it, then. More waiting.” She dropped her chin to her knees, her hair spilling over her arms. He wanted to put an arm around her shoulders, tell her everything was going to be okay.

  There was an invisible wall between them, though. One made of his commitment to the marshals.

  “The waiting won’t be so bad,” he assured her, touching her arm, the warmth of her skin shooting through him. He leaned in, unconsciously moving closer. “I’m having the real-estate brochures that I promised you shipped to my office. They should be here in a couple of days.”

  “Great.” She sounded so pitiful that he chuckled, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear so that he could see her face.

  “The time will go quickly. I promise.”

  “That’s the second promise you’ve made to me in twenty-four hours. Maybe you should quit while you’re ahead.”

  “Quit what?”

  “Making promises.” She met his eyes, her raven-black eyebrows drawn together, her cheeks smooth and pale. “They can be awfully difficult to keep.”

  “Not if the person giving them takes them seriously.”

  “I guess you’re right. Like you said earlier, I can’t judge everyone on…”

  “One person’s failures?”

  “Something like that.” She smiled wearily, her eyes so darkly shadowed the skin looked bruised.

  “You need to get some sleep, Annie.”

  “So do you, but we’re both wide-awake. Did you eat dinner?”

  “Not yet.”

  “I put a plate of food in the fridge for you, if you’re hungry. Want me to heat it up for you?”

  She turned toward the kitchen, but he snagged her waist. “What I want,” he murmured, “isn’t something that I can have right now.”

  Her eyes widened, but she didn’t pull away.

  “You’re a beautiful woman, Annie. I’d have to be a fool not to notice.”

  She laughed nervously, slipping from his grasp and taking a few steps away. “Beautiful? I’m wearing sweats and a T-shirt and my hair hasn’t been combed since sometime this morning.”

  “It’s not clothes or hair that make you beautiful. It’s the way you treat your daughter. The way you treat everyone in your life. Your faith. Your positive attitude.” He didn’t hold back, didn’t try to pretend anything different than what was. They both deserved the truth, and they both had to decide what to do with it.

  “Hunter…” She ran a hand over her hair, shifted from foot to foot.

  “What?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t want to be lied to again. I don’t want to play the fool. I don’t want to think I’m going to have everything and then find out that I’ve got nothing.”

  “So, you’d rather spend the rest of your life alone?”

  “I thought I would. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “Just like with everything else in your life right now, you have some time to think about it.”

  She shook her head and smiled. “True. Too much time, if you ask me.”

  “I can think of a way to distract you. For tonight anyway.”

  Her eyes widened; her mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “Come here.” He led her across the room and opened a cabinet in the bookcase. His uncle sent him photos of the ranch several times a year. Probably in an attempt to entice Hunter back to Montana. Hunter hadn’t had the heart to throw any of them out. He pulled out a shoe box. “Take a look.”

  She opened the lid, lifted a photo of a ranch house, its white clapboard siding gleaming in the afternoon sun. In the distance, white-tipped mountains stretched toward the sky. “It’s beautiful. Where was it taken?”

  “My uncle’s ranch in Montana.”

  “Wow!” She lifted another picture. This one of a cow and her calf. “This is the kind of place I wanted to live when I was a kid.”

  “Did you grow out of wanting it?”

  “I married a man who liked the city.” She smiled as she studied a photo of Hunter’s uncle Samuel. Tall and narrow, his face deeply tanned, he wore a cowboy hat, scuffed boots and a layer of dust from hours spent working cattle. “Who is this?”

  “My uncle.”

  “Your father’s brother?”

  “My mother’s.”

  “Do you visit him every year?”

  “I haven’t been back in a long time, but Uncle Samuel sends me pictures every year. I think he’d like me to come back.”

  “Why haven’t you?”

  “Work keeps me busy.”

  She set the photos back in the box, looked straight into his eyes. “Work should never be more important than family.”

  He knew that, but he’d forgotten it for a while.

  He frowned, taking the photo of his uncle from the box. He’d aged, his dark hair liberally salted with gray, the lines on his face deeper than they’d been. “You’re right, Annie. I need to make time to see Sam.”

  “I’m glad we agree. Now, how about you go eat the food I left for you?” Annie held the box out toward Hunter, but he shook his head.

  “Take them upstairs and look through them. Maybe you’ll decide Montana is the place to settle.”

  “If the rest of the photos are like the first three, I’m going to be more than a little tempted to do just that.” The house, the cattle, the weather-worn cowboy—they appealed to Annie at a visceral level. Made her think of home and family and long nights spent next to warm fires.

  “If you like the look of Montana, I can start searching around. We should be able to find you a nice little property and a job,” Hunter offered. He looked as rugged as his uncle, his jaw dark with a five-o’clock shadow, his hair slightly ruffled.

  She could imagine him standing just where his uncle had been, cowboy boots and hat, dust-covered jeans. He would make a perfect rancher. She could imagine being there with him, her arm wrapped around his waist, her hands resting on his firm side.

  She pulled her thoughts up short, glancing away from Hunter’s dark eyes. “I…don’t know.”

  “That’s fine. I’m not asking you to make a decision now. I’m just offering you the option.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’ll look through the pictures, and I’ll think about Montana.”

  “Good.” Hunter sounded legitimately pleased, his smile as warm and welcome as summer sunshine.

  If he’d op
ened his arms right then, she would have walked straight into them. No regrets. No second thoughts. She would have laid her head against his chest, listened to the solid thud of his heart.

  He didn’t.

  She didn’t.

  But she was pretty sure they both wanted to.

  “I’d better go upstairs,” she murmured, afraid if she didn’t leave, she’d do exactly what she shouldn’t and throw herself into his arms.

  “Good night, Annie.”

  The new name sounded wonderfully familiar coming from his lips.

  Her heart thumped in response, her pulse racing with feelings she’d thought she would never have again.

  She clutched the box to her chest, ran upstairs and closed herself in the room with Sophia.

  SEVENTEEN

  Twenty days.

  Nearly three weeks.

  That was how long Annie had been locked in Hunter’s house. Aside from appearing in court, she hadn’t been anywhere else, done anything else.

  Now it was nearly over.

  Not just those twenty days, but the year she’d spent in witness protection.

  Annie wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. Relieved? Excited? Scared? A little of the first two and a lot of the last.

  Today had been the last day of the trial. The jury was already deliberating. She’d done everything she could to make sure Fiske and Saunders paid for what they’d done to Joe. She hoped it had been enough. Prayed it had been.

  One way or another, tomorrow would be the first day of the rest of her life.

  It felt strange to think of living without rules and protocol, bizarre to think that she could wake up every morning and go through her day without fear and anxiety.

  Even stranger to think she’d be living in a house alone with Sophia. No armed guards checking in on them. No security cameras or computer monitors.

  No Hunter.

  Her stomach sank, something like sorrow clawing up her throat and lodging there.

  “Stop it! You’ve been waiting for this day for over a year. You’re happy. Not sad,” she muttered.

  She didn’t quite believe herself.

  She glanced in the dresser mirror, smoothing the collar of her dress. A soft dove-gray, it had a 1950s vibe, the Peter Pan collar and slim pencil skirt demure enough for court and fashionable enough to appeal to both the men and women on the jury.

  At least, that was what Steven had said when he’d handed it to her. She’d worn it on the first day of trial, and he’d told her to keep it. She had to admit, it looked good paired with black pumps and a neat chignon. She applied mascara, blush, lip gloss—the same way she’d done every day before trial for the past week. Tonight, she was doing it for a different reason.

  She was going to see her parents for the first time in over a year. Just thinking about it made her pulse race with happiness. They hadn’t approved of her testifying. They certainly hadn’t wanted her in protective custody. They’d always loved her, though. They’d been her biggest support system in the weeks following Joe’s death, and it was going to be really good to spend time with them.

  “Pretty, Mommy!” Sophia said, tugging at Annie’s hem.

  “Thank you, sweetie.” She lifted her, inhaling the sweet powdery scent of baby shampoo. She wanted so much for her daughter, and she was going to work hard to provide those things. Not a big house or fancy cars or anything material. Just love and security, faith and happiness.

  Tomorrow.

  The first day of forever, and it felt bittersweet because of Hunter.

  “Guess what we’re doing tonight, Sophia?” she asked, setting her wiggling daughter back on the floor and doing her best to ignore the fact that moving on with her life meant leaving Hunter behind.

  “We’re going to see Grandma and Grandpa,” she continued as Sophia danced around the room. “Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

  “Yay!” Sophia clapped her hands, but Annie didn’t think she had any idea what that meant. The last time she’d seen her grandparents, she’d been just a year old.

  “We’re going to meet them, and Hunter is going to take us all to dinner.” They were going to a small restaurant on the outskirts of St. Louis. A long drive, but Hunter didn’t want to take any chances.

  “Cookies?” Sophia wanted to know.

  “No cookies,” Annie said with a laugh.

  “Yes cookies!” Sophia responded with an impish grin.

  “You know what you are? You’re a cookie monster!” Annie said, tickling Sophia’s belly and then smoothing down the front of her velvet dress. Royal blue with a wide sash and a crinoline underskirt, it was the perfect complement for Sophia’s dark hair and fair skin.

  Hunter had chosen well.

  But then, Hunter seemed to always do the right thing and make the right choices. The way he’d treated Annie was the perfect example. He’d made no secret of the fact that he found her attractive. Since the night he’d let her look at photos of his uncle’s ranch, he’d been even more solicitous, more caring. He’d talked to her late into the night, listened to her worries about the trial and about her life after it. They’d sat in church together, arm pressed against arm, talked about the sermons afterward. They’d shared a thousand moments together, but Hunter had been professional through it all. He’d never crossed the line, never tried to go after more than quiet conversation and easy companionship.

  There had been a few times when she’d wanted to, though.

  “I’m not cookie monster,” Sophia squealed happily.

  “You are.” Annie chuckled, but her stomach felt hollow, her heart empty.

  Someone knocked on the door, and she opened it, knowing Hunter would be on the other side.

  He’d changed into dark slacks and a blue dress shirt, his hair brushing his collar. He looked good. Better than good. He looked like a man she’d like to have dinner with, a guy she’d love to spend an afternoon walking through the park with. He looked like what forever might have been if she hadn’t met and married Joe.

  “Looks like you’re ready to go,” he said, stepping into the room.

  “We’ve been ready for a half hour. I guess I’m a little anxious.” She brushed a hand down her skirt, smoothing out invisible wrinkles.

  “I’m sure your parents are, too. We’ll leave in ten minutes. Just like we planned.”

  “The trial is over. I thought we could loosen up a little. Maybe leave in nine minutes instead of ten.”

  He laughed, scooping Sophia into his arms when she tugged on his pant leg. “Sounds like you’re really wanting to live on the wild side, Annie.”

  “Not wild, just…freer.”

  “Tomorrow will be here before you know it, and I have some news that will probably make your new life a lot easier.”

  “What?”

  “Antonio just called me.”

  Her heart jumped at the words. The attorneys had given their closing arguments that morning, and the jury had been deliberating since then. She’d been praying for a quick decision. She’d be leaving town the next day, one way or another, but she wanted to leave knowing that both men were going to be behind bars. “What did he say?”

  “The jury has finished deliberation. The verdict was unanimous. Saunders was convicted on the second-degree-murder charge. Fiske was convicted of being an accessory. Both of them are going to jail. Saunders will probably spend the rest of his life there.”

  “How about Fiske?”

  “Hopefully, he’ll be there for a good long time. He wasn’t the trigger man, though, and it’s hard to prove that he knew Saunders was going to pull the trigger.” He touched her shoulder, his hand sliding to her nape. His palm was warm and rough, his fingers slipping beneath her collar.

  “It’s over, Annie. Your life is yours again. All you have to do is decide what to do with it,” he murmured.

  “That seemed so much easier a couple of weeks ago. Now that it’s here, and I’m ready to start over, I’m not sure I know what I want.”

/>   “A pretty little house on a couple of acres of land. A nice job at a nursery school where you can bring Sophia. A chance to go back to college and become an elementary schoolteacher so that you and Sophia will be on the same schedule when she’s older.”

  “You’ve been listening,” she said, her pulse thrumming.

  “Always.” He tugged her closer, their bodies just centimeters apart. “Have you thought any more about going to Montana? Because I’ve done the research and found a nice little town a few hundred miles from my uncle’s place. There’s a rental there. It’s on acreage with farms all around.”

  “That’s funny because, last night, I dreamed that I was living in a farmhouse and that there were cattle grazing in a field behind it.” In the dream, she’d been sitting on a porch swing with Sophia, and Hunter had been walking toward them. It had been the best dream she’d had in months, and she hadn’t wanted to wake up because she hadn’t wanted it to end.

  “What if I said that the owner of the property is willing to rent it out beginning tomorrow?”

  “I’d say I was tempted.” Really tempted.

  “What if I told you that there was an opening for a teacher at the local nursery school in that town, and what if I told you that they’d be thrilled to have you teach there?”

  “I’d say that you work fast.”

  “I’ve been looking since the night we talked about my uncle’s ranch. I found the nursery school first, then hunted for the property. One of the teachers at the school is going on maternity leave. You could step in for her as a long-term sub. She’ll be out for a year.”

  “By the time she returns, I’d be settled into the community and would have some connections with the people who live there. I could probably find another job pretty easily,” she said as much to herself as to him.

  “Does that mean you like the idea?” he asked, smiling into her eyes.

  “I love the idea.”

  “I’m glad. I always said that if I left St. Louis, Montana is where I’d want to be.” He set Sophia down.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, but she knew. She could see it in his eyes.

  “Today, I’m still the marshal assigned to protect you. Tomorrow, I’ll just be a man who wants to spend a little more time with you. If that’s not okay with you, tell me now.”