by Elle James
“Trying to hide her trail,” Chuck mused. “What about her home? Have you hacked into her home phone or computer?”
“We haven’t located a home phone or computer IP address.” Hank continued, “We looked up the town where she supposedly lived in Idaho with her husband. It appears to be a sleepy little community in the mountains.”
Chuck stiffened at the tone of Hank’s voice. “You don’t think it was sleepy, do you?”
“Swede found some news articles about the town. Apparently, a survivalist cult set up a compound just outside the town limits. They’ve stirred up the residents on a number of occasions with their religious practices and suspected abuse of their children and women.”
Chuck’s hand tightened around his cellphone. “Great. Have you said anything to Kate?”
“No. We’re still verifying sources. Kujo and Six are between assignments. I’m sending them up there to do some snooping around.”
“Good.” Chuck glanced through the picture window into the living room where Lyla lay on the couch, still sleeping. “If Rachel was part of this cult, they might have returned her to the fold.”
“That’s what we’re counting on. Kujo will go in as a hiker on vacation. With his dog Six along, it’ll be more believable. They will have a good reason to be out mucking around in the mountains.”
“Great. As soon as you know anything—”
“You’ll be the first to get the call,” Hank finished. “Other than that, everything okay at the cottage?”
“It is. The girls are settling in.” Chuck smiled at Lyla sleeping on the couch. Kate entered the living room wearing the T-shirt she’d put on. And she’d pulled her long, blond hair back into a ponytail, giving her the appearance of a much younger woman.
“Let me know if you need help.”
“Roger.”
Hank ended the call.
Chuck slipped his cellphone into his pocket before entering the house through the back door.
Kate had entered the kitchen and set a bucket on the counter. “The place appears clean, but I’m going to do a little surface cleaning.” She shrugged. “It makes me feel better to have something to do.”
“Stick to the inside of the house. I’m going to jump in the shower.” He nodded toward Lyla. “She should sleep for a little longer.”
“We’ll be fine. I’ll leave the doors locked.”
“Good.” Chuck checked the front deadbolt once more, collected his duffel bag and strode down the hallway to the bathroom. He wouldn’t take any longer than was necessary. Though the town looked sleepy and the people were friendly, he didn’t know anyone well enough to trust except for the men of the Brotherhood Protectors. They were cut from the same cloth—loyal, honorable, and they had his back. Anyone else was all bets off.
Chapter 6
Kate cleaned the kitchen counter, stove, sink and walls. Then she went to work mopping floors and dusting the furniture. Her hand in mid-swipe with a dust rag, she paused at a noise coming from the front door.
Someone knocked. Not a heavy rap but a light tap. No wonder she had barely heard it the first time.
She rose from her kneeling position by the coffee table and walked toward the front of the house, remembering Chuck’s orders to leave the door locked.
Kate pulled the living room curtain to the side, hoping to see whoever it was standing at the front door.
A gray-haired little woman stood on the porch, balancing a plate stacked with sandwiches in one hand while she knocked with the other.
After a quick glance around the porch, the front walkway and the road beyond, Kate determined the woman was alone and harmless.
She hurried to answer the door.
“Oh, thank goodness,” the diminutive woman sighed. “I almost dropped this plate twice, knocking.” She grinned at Kate. “I’m Louise Turner. I live in the house next door. Welcome to the neighborhood.” She held out the plate of sandwiches. “I would have baked a casserole, but since I just got home from a doctor’s appointment, this was the quickest thing I could make in time for lunch.” She shoved the plate into Kate’s hands.
“Oh, thank you.” Kate took the plate and smiled at the array of diagonally-cut sandwiches. “My, that’s a lot of sandwiches.”
“What you don’t eat, you can bag and put in the refrigerator for a late-night snack. I used to make sandwiches for my husband at lunch for just that purpose. It kept me from having to get up and make them in the middle of the night when he had a hankering for a snack.”
“This is a very nice treat. I was just wondering what to do for lunch.” Kate noted the woman’s gray hair and bright, blue eyes.
“Well, now you have it.”
“Won’t you join us?” Kate asked.
Mrs. Turner shook her head. “No, thank you. I know you’ve got a lot to do, having moved in today. I’ll leave you to it. But I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. I’m having a few people over and thought it would be nice to introduce you and your husband.”
Lyla sat up on the couch and rubbed her eyes.
Mrs. Turner smiled. “Oh, and you have children as well as a dog?”
“No dog, just one child,” Kate corrected. “I’m not sure what my…husband had in mind for dinner.”
“Well, the offer is open. If you can make it, you’re more than welcome. There won’t be more than three others coming. I’d better get going. I have to water my flowers and put a roast in the crockpot.” She waved at Lyla. “Hope to see you there.” And Mrs. Turner was gone.
Kate was turning the lock on the front door when Chuck strode down the hallway, bare-chested and rubbing his head with a towel. And he was scowling. “Did you open the door?”
Kate held up the tray of sandwiches. “Our neighbor brought lunch and invited us to dinner.”
“You shouldn’t have opened the door,” he said and pushed past her to check the locks and look out the window at Mrs. Turner’s retreating figure.
Kate lowered her voice. “It was a little old lady, not the guy who broke into my apartment.”
“You don’t know if she was a setup. Did you actually see who broke into your apartment?”
“Well…no, but—”
“You can’t be too careful. If they set her up as a decoy, they could have pushed past her as soon as you opened the door.”
Kate sighed. “We don’t even know if they’ve found us here.”
“Exactly. They could have followed you here. They might know where you are and are waiting for the right time.”
Lyla toddled over to where the adults were standing. “I’m hungry.”
Kate stared down at the plate of sandwiches in her hand. “Do we eat them or not?”
Chuck checked out the window again.
Mrs. Turner had made it to her house and bent to pull weeds in her yard.
“She doesn’t look like someone playing the part of a decoy,” Kate said. But she couldn’t discount the fact that Chuck was the expert bodyguard. He had experience as a witness protector.
“Let me have a bite off each one. If it doesn’t kill me, you should be all right. And if I die, call Hank for a replacement bodyguard.”
Kate frowned. “Are you sure?” She didn’t like the idea of Chuck being the taste tester for poisoned sandwiches.
He grimaced. “You’re probably right. The old lady appears to be who she says she is.”
Mrs. Turner pulled a garden hose out to water the flowers in the window boxes, unaware of the people watching her.
“She invited us to dinner tonight. Should I have told her no?” Kate asked.
“If we go, we go together.”
“She invited three other locals to the gathering,” Kate added.
“We’ll watch and see who shows up. We can decide then.”
“Fair enough.” Kate carried the sandwiches into the kitchen and cut a corner off all of them. She laid the corners on a plate for Chuck. “Better test these fast. Our little miss is eyeing the rest of them.”
> Lyla stood beside Kate, watching every move.
“Can I have little sandwiches, too?” she asked.
“After Daddy eats,” Kate said.
“Are you going to eat now, Daddy?” Lyla asked. She licked her lips, staring at the plate of sandwich corners.
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned down at her. “Why don’t you wash up while I see if these are as good as they look?”
“Okay,” she said and ran off to the bathroom to wash her hands.
“I’ll go help her. I think the sink is a little high for her to reach.”
“I’ll build her a step to stand on,” he said and took a bite of one of the corners Kate had cut from the sandwiches.
Kate froze, her gaze on his face, watching, praying he didn’t fall over dead after having been poisoned by an old woman.
“Hmmm,” he tilted his head and tugged at his collar. Then he coughed and opened his eyes wide.
Kate’s heart raced. “What? Are you all right? Was it poisoned?”
Chuck swallowed and laughed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease you. But you looked so concerned, I couldn’t help it.”
“You’re awful!” Kate grabbed his arm and shook it. “Don’t do that. I think I lost a year off my life.”
His smile faded. “I’m sorry. That was mean of me. But the good news is, the sandwiches aren’t killing me. Mrs. Turner is probably just who she said she was.”
Kate drew in a shaky breath. “Still, I’m not sure I want to feed Lyla any of the sandwiches for another hour or so.”
“Just to make sure it’s not a slow-acting poison?” He chuckled. “Glad to know you care.”
With a snort, Kate turned toward the bathroom. “It would serve you right if you dropped dead, choking on a sandwich.”
His laughter followed her all the way to the bathroom, the sound warming her insides more than she cared to admit.
The man was entirely too attractive and had a wicked sense of humor. In her mind, that was a killer combination, and she wasn’t sure she could resist it for long.
Chuck made fresh sandwiches for Lyla and Kate, while they were busy in the bathroom. By the time they emerged, he’d set the table with plates, glasses of ice and napkins.
“Have a seat, ladies,” he said. He held the chair for Lyla and helped her into it. “Would you like water or juice?”
“Juice,” Lyla said.
“Water for me.” Kate took her seat, her gaze on the plate of sandwiches. “Are those different than the ones Mrs. Turner brought?”
“Yes, ma’am. I didn’t want you to worry, so I made them specially for my girls.” He winked at Lyla and placed Mrs. Turner’s sandwiches in front of his plate. “I’ll take care of these.”
Kate helped herself and Lyla to the ones Chuck had prepared while he poured juice into Lyla’s cup and filled Kate’s with tap water.
Then they sat at the table like a family.
Chuck took one of Mrs. Turner’s sandwiches and let the image of Kate and Lyla sink in.
God, he missed having a family. Why hadn’t he moved on? He felt as if he’d been in a holding pattern for so long, he didn’t know how to land.
For the next twenty minutes, he pretended to be a father to Lyla and a husband to Kate.
And it felt good.
At the end of the meal, he helped Kate clean the table and wash the dishes by hand. The cozy cottage was mid-last-century-dated. No dishwasher existed in the small kitchen.
Chuck insisted on washing. Kate and Lyla dried the dishes and put them in the cabinet.
Thankfully, Sadie had included four place settings of dishes and flatware. They wouldn’t have to resort to paper plates and plastic forks to eat, unless they wanted to.
That afternoon, they worked on organizing their few belongings and the toys Sadie had sent.
Kate opted for a long soak in the clawfoot tub while Chuck kept an eye on Lyla. All the while Kate was in the bathroom, Chuck couldn’t help but imagine her naked body lying in a scented bath.
Chuck had to get a grip on his attraction to his client or risk jeopardizing the mission. He needed to focus on keeping Kate and Lyla safe.
The sun was setting when Kate emerged from the bedroom wearing a simple, white dress that hugged her torso and flared out around her legs. The fabric lay softly against her and swayed when she moved.
Chuck had helped Lyla into one of the pretty dresses Sadie had given her and pulled her blond hair up into a single ponytail, twisting the strands into a smooth braid.
Kate smiled and shook her head. “You are good at being a daddy.”
“She’s a good kid and stayed really still while I brushed her hair.”
“He doesn’t hurt me when I have tangles,” Lyla said. She smiled up at Kate. “You’re pretty, Mama.”
Kate’s cheeks blushed a rosy pink as she curtsied in front of her niece. “Thank you. And so are you.”
“Isn’t Daddy pretty?” Lyla slipped her hand into Chuck’s.
“Yes, Lyla. Daddy’s pretty, too.”
Chuck frowned, though his lips twitched on the corners. “Handsome. Boys aren’t pretty.”
Lyla tipped her head to one side and looked up at Chuck. “Why?”
Kate didn’t help. She raised her brows and crossed her arms over her chest. “Seriously. Why?”
Chuck tugged at the button-up shirt he’d changed into for the dinner at Mrs. Turner’s. “Never mind. We’ll be late for dinner if we don’t leave now.”
“How do you know?” Kate asked, but she dropped her arms to her sides and draped a sweater over her arm. “I don’t recall Mrs. Turner setting a time.”
“I saw an older couple and a woman enter her house a few minutes ago. I assume those are the guests she spoke of.”
“Probably.” Kate said. “I’m ready.”
Together, they walked next door to Mrs. Turner’s house.
She met them at the door, smiling broadly. “I’m so glad you decided to come. Please, come in and meet my friends.”
When Kate stepped inside and Chuck followed, Mrs. Turner stared at him and frowned. “Oh.”
Chuck’s brows furrowed. “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head, the frown still firmly set. “I don’t think so. It’s just you aren’t who I expected.”
Kate tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not the man I saw walking the dog earlier. I thought that man was your husband.”
“I’m sorry,” Kate said. “What man?”
“There was a man walking a dog on our road earlier today. He was shorter, not as big.” Mrs. Turner held her hands out demonstrating how broad the other man’s shoulders were. “And he was bald.” She pointed to Chuck’s head. “You have a full head of hair. I know I wasn’t seeing things.”
“Whoever it was, wasn’t my husband,” Kate said. “Is it unusual for someone to walk his dog on this road?”
Mrs. Turner shrugged. “Not unusual, just unusual to have new people move in next door and a stranger walk down the road on the same day.”
One of the older women smiled. “We’re a small town. Not much changes.”
Her husband cupped her elbow and laughed. “But when it does…we notice.” He held out his hand. “Hugh Landry.”
Kate gripped his hand. “Kate—”
“Johnson,” Chuck cut in. “Kate, Lyla and Chuck Johnson.”
Mr. Landry shook Chuck’s hand next. “This is my wife Greta and our friend, Wanda Wilcox.”
The introductions over, Mrs. Turner led the way into the dining room. The aroma of roast beef and onions filled the air and made Chuck’s mouth water.
“Please have a seat,” Mrs. Turner said.
Chuck helped Lyla into one of the chairs, and then held another for Kate. He helped Mrs. Turner with her chair, and then sat on the other side of Lyla, figuring they could better meet her needs if they worked as a team.
Kate settled Lyla’s napkin in her lap and one in her own.
“Yo
u’re just in time,” Mrs. Turner said. “We were about to sit down for dinner.”
“Would you carve?” Mrs. Turner passed the carving knife to Chuck, and soon, they were passing plates and platters of food around until everyone had been served.
The conversation was lively, the older guests filling them in on the gossip about other members of the community.
Chuck didn’t recognize any of the names, but he listened in case he heard something that might concern him, Kate or Lyla.
“Your dog-walking man might be one of the men here working the pipeline construction,” Wanda said. “Rita’s Bed & Breakfast has been booked solid for the past couple of weeks. I expect they’ll be moving on, once they complete the section they’re working north of town.”
“The Blue Moose Tavern has been pretty busy lately with them and some people getting a jump on the tourist season. We already have hikers up in the Crazy Mountains. The forestry service had to rescue some just yesterday.”
“Wow,” Kate’s fork paused halfway to her mouth. “Was someone lost?”
“No, but a hiker got crossways with a mama bear. The bear won, and the hiker had to be air-lifted out.”
“Wow. I hadn’t thought about bears.” Kate’s gaze met Chuck’s over Lyla’s head.
“Don’t worry, we haven’t had a bear in Eagle Rock in over ten years.”
“Only ten years?” Kate gulped.
“We emphasize bear awareness,” Mrs. Turner said. “Don’t leave your trash out in bags. Use bear-proof trash cans. Don’t leave your pets out at night. Not so much because of the bears but because of the wolves and coyotes.”
“I lost my malti-poo, Sweetpea, because she wandered out of the yard one evening. I think a coyote got her.” Wanda sniffed. “I miss that little dog.”
Greta patted her friend’s hand. “We all miss Sweetpea. She was a good, little dog.”
“Goes the same for children,” Hugh said. “Don’t leave them unattended outside.”
Chuck had no intention of leaving Lyla unattended. Not only because of the wild animals, but because of the threat from whoever was after Kate’s sister.
