Brand came walking up behind Danielle and sat down on the stool beside her. “Sounds fairly uncomplicated.” He’d obviously heard Danielle. “What about the lockbox?”
As Danielle studied Brand’s face, she became serious. “Could protecting Sarah be the only real reason you’re here Brand?”
Sarah was surprised at the question.
He nodded firmly. “It could.”
“You must believe Sarah’s in more danger than you let on with me earlier today?”
Brand sighed. “My commander and his advisors seem to think so.”
Brand looked at Sarah. “Danielle is used to this cloak and dagger stuff because her husband Jake is with the FBI.”
Sarah blinked. “Really? And he’s living in a small quiet town like Crystal Rock?”
Danielle’s jaw dropped before she burst into laughter.
Brand looked puzzled and shrugged when Sarah glanced at him quizzically.
Danielle finally stopped laughing. “Do me a favor, you two, once you get a chance? Google Crystal Rock.”
Sarah grimaced. “Up until the last few years, I’ve been living out of state, since I enlisted at nineteen. And between boot camp and training and getting an education…”
Brand added, “I’ve been out of touch too. Although my parents live in Chicago.”
“Really?” Sarah asked. “I didn’t know that.”
Danielle looked at Brand first and then at Sarah. “I guess you two haven’t had much time to get to know each other?”
Sarah smiled wryly, and answered, “Well, besides the fact that Brand was my captain? I was also engaged.”
“And there’s wasn’t much time for small talk where we were at.” Gazing at Sarah, Brand waggled his brows. “We should have plenty of time for that now. Especially, since Sarah’s no longer engaged, so she’s susceptible to the Reardon charm.”
Sarah snorted, rolling her eyes.
Danielle shook her head and began laughing again. “You guys are a riot.”
Danielle must’ve noticed that Brand was getting antsy, because she stood up. “Okay, I know you’re in a hurry to get settled in tonight since you’ve got to go straight to work tomorrow. I’ll have someone remove the lockbox tomorrow morning. There’s a high-quality alarm installed, and you can even change the code. Anything remaining on the property is for sale with the house. Besides the appliances which include a washer and dryer, there’s a snow blower in the garage, and even a couple of snowmobiles you can use. Sometimes the roads leading around the lake don’t get plowed out as quickly during storms as they do here at Dragonfly Pointe because of our year-round bookings.”
“Great. Sounds good,” Brand answered, standing up.
Sarah drank the rest of her coffee and rose from the stool when Brand reached for her hand.
With a warm smile on her face, Danielle walked with them into the lobby, where Brand had left his luggage near the desk.
“Would you like some help getting everything out?” Danielle asked Brand.
Sarah answered for him. “No worries, Danielle. Brand’s truck is right near the door.”
Surprising Sarah, Danielle wrapped an arm around her, giving her a quick hug.
Turning to Brand, she did the same with him. “If there’s anything I can help you two with, just make sure you give me a call. And Jake should be home next week if there’s any trouble. By the way, no one’s going to know where the two of you are staying unless you tell me otherwise.”
“Thanks, Danielle,” Brand answered. “That was the next thing I was going to ask.”
“Not a problem,” she answered
Walking up to the automatic doors, Danielle pressed a button which held them open.
Sarah threw a clothing bag over her shoulder, and picked up two of Brand’s suitcases.
Grinning, Brand grabbed the others, and soon they were outside, packing up Brand’s truck.
Twenty minutes later, they were in town at the grocery store Sarah had noticed upon arrival a few days earlier. They’d made a list while driving, and Sarah covered one half of the store while Brand chose items from the other.
Another hour after that, she and Brand were each pulling their trucks into the driveway of the cabin.
Stepping out from his truck, Brand approached as she was parking in the driveway.
She slid down the truck window. “It’s funny, we didn’t even look inside the garage once we saw the pool.”
Brand shook his head tiredly, and grinned. “We didn’t, did we?”
“Should I leave my truck here?” she asked
“I’ll go inside and open up the garage door, so we can pull both vehicles in, providing there’s room. Just give me a minute,” Brand said, walking to the back door.
Five minutes later, Sarah was driving her truck inside the garage, while Brand was parking his rental beside it.
Sarah began grabbing the groceries from Brand’s truck. There were two doors leading inside from the garage. One ran into the pool area, while the other opened straight into the kitchen.
Brand brought in the last bag of groceries and laid it on the counter near the rest. “I’ll go check out the hot water heater and furnace to see if everything’s running. If I can find them, that is.”
“Danielle mentioned everything was down in the basement.” Sarah grinned. “We didn’t make it down there either.”
“That must be the staircase leading down there near the entrance from the garage.”
“Once I’m done putting this stuff away, I’ll see if I can find the thermostat while you’re downstairs. It’s a little chilly in here, so maybe the heat is just turned down.”
Heading toward the garage door, Brand looked back. “I think she said something about zones. So, there may be a way we can adjust the settings for different parts of the house.”
“Alright. I’ll see if I can figure it out,” Sarah answered, loading deli meat and cheese into the fridge. By the time she closed the door, Brand was already on his way downstairs.
The furnace and water heater were running, so it didn’t take long to figure everything out. After taking a twenty-minute break at the kitchen table to eat some chicken they’d picked up from the local take out joint, an hour later Sarah and Brand were carrying some of their luggage upstairs.
“I’m really feeling burned out,” Sarah admitted with a rueful grin.
“Me too. That’s why I didn’t break into the beer.”
Sarah grimaced. “I haven’t had a beer in ages. I miss simple things like having a few drinks and going out with friends.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re getting your life back. We’ll see what we can do about getting out a little more when I feel like you’re safe.”
Brand carried her luggage into the master bedroom and laid it near the dresser. “Take a hot bath and relax, and get a good night sleep. At least there’s a television in here. I’m taking the room next door.”
She frowned. “The rooms at the other end of the hallway are a little larger.”
He said grimly, “It’ll make me feel better if I stick close to you, Sarah.”
She gave him a small smile. “Alright. I’ll admit I’d feel better too. It’s strange how reassuring it was to have my family around, especially when I was finally released from the V.A. hospital.”
“Not so strange after everything you went through.” He glanced around the room. “Well, okay. I’m going to bring in the rest of our stuff, and then I’m going to get that alarm code changed since we’ll be going into work in the morning.”
“Alright. I might try setting up my office later if I wake up. I’ll warn you, I don’t sleep very well sometimes.”
Brand sighed heavily. “Me neither. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Brand.”
Chapter Fourteen
Sarah must’ve been too exhausted to awaken because the house had remained quiet for the remainder of the night.
He gave her a side glance now as he sat behind the wheel of his pic
kup driving them to the wounded warrior home. She was looking lovely today with her long hair hanging loose around her face. She wore a pair of animal print earmuffs with a dressy black coat, and she looked unusually put together and stylish.
When she’d appeared in the kitchen this morning wearing a clingy rose-colored sweater with another pair of black tights, Brand had wanted to march her back up the stairs.
And take everything off of her.
But there was no way that Sarah was ready for the intensity of Brand’s feelings. It was getting more difficult being around her and not being able to make love with her. He couldn’t afford to come on too strong. It might make the entire situation worse if he made a move on her too soon.
So, he’d tossed and turned last night trying to fall asleep and, after finally giving up, he’d decided to work. Discovering that the cabin luckily had active satellite internet, probably because it’d been available for rent, he’d sat in his room on the bed studying the information now available for him via email. There was a collection of onsite pictures for him to view from each suspect incident taking place in Iraq.
Plus, there was information regarding failed attempts of sabotage here in the United States, as well as around the globe, along with the lists of incidents unfortunately which hadn’t been prevented in time to save lives.
And each year the lists were getting longer.
It was a longshot, but the first directive from Brand to the brass this morning had been to order one of the highly skilled techs working at headquarters to check for commonalities between each the incidents. Names of soldiers, whether U.S. or Iraqi, locations where all were stationed, terrorist groups linked to the incidents, no matter how indirectly, as well as insurgent groups working in those areas—even contractors or other military personnel who might’ve been doing additional reconnaissance work. Brand had given the tech a long list of possibilities.
It would be time-consuming, but hopefully not a waste. If the research led anywhere, Brand could expand the parameters, even though none of it would be helpful with the situation here in Crystal Rock. Sarah might not be in trouble at all.
Although, ever since he’d been told about the possibility that they all might’ve been targeted for death in Iraq, Brand’s gut reaction had immediately told him it was true.
“How about another list?”
“Huh?” Sarah answered, obviously distracted.
“About what you’re going to need to have ready as an organizational coordinator.”
“Lots and lots of paperwork,” she said, grimacing. “Both from potential patients, their doctors once they’re accepted. I’ll also be creating a bunch of questionnaires for applicants. And then there’s the endless forms I’m going to have to fill out to try to acquire additional funding from the feds,” Sarah added.
Brand looked at her quizzically as he pulled the truck into the parking lot of the wounded warrior home. “How do you know all this stuff?”
Sarah answered, “I guess you didn’t know that I’ve been getting my MBA through the years?”
“No. How did that happen?”
“Well, I didn’t enlist right away after graduating high school. I went to college for almost two years. Dad made Alex and me promise for my mom’s sake. She was so freaked out because all our military people were being sent to Afghanistan. And then came Iraq. Anyway, I decided if I didn’t make it as a pilot, business would be great to fall back on. There were some long lags between training, so I worked a few classes in here and there. I did a lot online. You’d be amazed how easy it works. Anyway, when I got back to Hayward, I had to do something to stay occupied, so I finished up, and did the additional courses for my masters.”
“You’re amazing, Sarah,” he said softly.
She turned away, but Brand could tell she was pleased by his words. She was such a warrior—her confidence had soared in the air as much as it had during hand to hand combat. He got such a kick out of the fact that she didn’t handle compliments very well though.
Brand grinned, walking to the other side of the truck and opening the door for her.
She looked at him strangely. “What the heck are you doing? Don’t start doing that kind of stuff.”
He laughed, because he’d known what she’d say, even before it’d come out of her mouth. “I’m just trying to be polite with my girl.”
Sarah snorted.
Chapter Fifteen
They kept busy the next few days, between travelling back and forth to the wounded warrior home and setting up their individual office spaces in the house. Brand had suggested she have her desk closer to the fireplace when he noticed she had regular pain and cramping in her leg.
“The cold, damp weather is probably always going to affect how it feels. Let’s keep the fireplace burning in here when we’re working. I’ll set up on the other side of the room. That way we won’t be bothering each other when we need to make calls.”
And she’d agreed. The office was bright and airy with a huge window overlooking the lake, and Sarah enjoyed the view while she was working.
But spending all her spare time with Brand was getting to be a challenge, she realized, finding herself more attracted to him every day.
It seemed like he was doing everything he could to reassure her he was feeling the same way, and when she’d walked inside her office at the wounded warrior home this morning to find a huge arrangement of flowers, she’d wanted to cry. Romance had been curiously absent from her previous relationship.
The card had simply been signed Yours, Brand, and when Sarah insisted on bringing the flowers home with her tonight, Brand had smiled from ear to ear.
But she’d been having some restless nights. Sarah had been feeling a little disorientated since moving to Crystal Rock. She’d spent only about a half an hour each week with the wounded warrior shrink, Dr. Wallach, who seemed to be satisfied with her progress. She was bound to be feeling slightly anxious, he’d reassured her, because of the changes happening suddenly in her life.
Life was almost going too smoothly these days; she was enjoying her job as well as her time with Brand just that much. But she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder, worrying about trouble possibly coming their way.
“I think I’m going to try to get to sleep a little earlier tonight,” she told Brand, after hearing snow was in the forecast for tomorrow.
They were sitting and relaxing after dinner. Brand had his laptop in front of him on the coffee table, and was frowning over something he was reading while Sarah was watching the local news on TV.
He stood up. “Are you feeling okay?”
She nodded. “Oh, yeah. I just haven’t been sleeping very well.”
Brand nodded. “Me neither lately. It’s like I’m worried about your safety, but I have no idea what to expect or who to expect trouble from.”
She frowned. “Exactly. It’s been a little stressful. I was feeling tired today and couldn’t concentrate very well.”
“Okay. You go straight up to sleep, and I’ll shut everything off down here and lock up before I turn in.”
Sarah went over to the kitchen table and picked up her vase of flowers. “I think I’ll take these with me.”
Brand laughed softly. “I’m glad I could make you happy, Sarah.”
She turned back momentarily before climbing the staircase. “You did. You do, Brand. Make me happy that is.”
Sarah took a long, hot bath and was feeling like she could sleep for days once she finally went to bed, falling immediately to sleep.
* * *
When she heard herself groan, she froze, transported into the past. Grunts and harsh laughter resounded as she was dragged away from the rest of her team, each member appearing to be scattered amidst the wreckage from the truck.
Intense pain ripped through one leg as Sarah was pulled over ground covered by gravel and sharp rock.
But that didn’t stop her from reaching into her pocket before struggling to be free.
She let loose a blood curdling scream, bolting upright in the bed.
“Sarah. Sarah?” She heard his voice calling from far, far away.
Instinct had her reaching under the pillow.
“Sarah. Put down the dagger. Come on, Babe. Please…put it down. It’s Brand. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Slowly, her eyes came open as she glanced around the room until her vision became focused. And there was Brand. Safe, secure.
And there for her again.
But he was trying to get through to her.
She stared at the knife in her hand before shaking her head dazedly, and dropping it.
Brand came a little closer. “Okay. That’s one. What about the other?”
“Uh,” Sarah answered, still feeling muddled. But then she reached under the mattress and brought out the stiletto.
Brand gingerly took it from her hand, switching it to his other hand which held the dagger.
But he was looking at her quizzically. “Got any others?”
One of Sarah’s strengths had always been swift response.
Waking quickly and turning to the nightstand, she scooped up the switchblade hidden under her phone.
This time, Brand seemed to be having trouble controlling his reaction as he reached for the knife, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“That’s it,” she finally said. But the depression she normally had after having this kind of an episode wasn’t there, she noticed.
Maybe it was the situation and circumstances, but maybe it was just because she always felt safe when she was with Brand. Except for her brother Alex, there had never been another man who’d made her feel like she was protected rather than the other way around.
Least of all Jim. Her own acceptance of Jim’s proposal was puzzling her more whenever she began thinking deeply.
But then she looked at Brand and stilled. All he had on was a pair of loose boxers, and his hair-dusted chest was broad, strong and muscular. Like her, he had a few tattoos. Her brother Hawk had celebrated his life in the military with a series of designs as each year went by, but Sarah wasn’t much into body art. Not so much because it wasn’t beautiful, but it’d required a lot of patience to sit still long enough to have it done. Why bother? Once she’d satisfied her curiosity about Hawk’s fascination, a couple of butterfly tattoos had been enough.
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