Obsession

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  Charlie moved to the back of the vehicle, opened the rear door, and hefted a box of supplies. “If you’ll unlock the door, I’ll get this stuff inside for you.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  “It’s not a problem.” Charlie shrugged. “That way you won’t have to keep tracking snow through the house.”

  “That’s true.” Kendra offered him a smile. Then she started up the steps and retrieved her key to unlock the door. To her surprise, when she started to slide the key into the lock, the doorknob shifted. Testing it, she turned it to find that it was already unlocked.

  She looked at it a moment, puzzled. Had she forgotten to lock the door? She tried to bank down the uneasy feeling that instantly surfaced. Before she could turn to look for any signs of an intruder, Charlie’s hand came down on her shoulder.

  His eyes were intense, as though he, too, were sharing her thoughts, her questions. His voice was low, barely louder than a whisper when he said simply, “Wait.”

  Kendra nodded obediently. Then she watched him as he moved back to the front of the porch and studied the yard. She looked out, wondering what he was looking for. She could see their tire tracks on the road and the faintest outline of the footprints Charlie had left when he had walked across the street to her cabin earlier.

  Was it her imagination, or were there also smaller tracks on the road? Perhaps from a sled or a snowmobile?

  Charlie turned back to her. “Have you seen anyone but me since you got here?”

  She shook her head. The directness in his eyes had her fumbling, and the truth, at least part of it, tumbled out of her mouth. “No one but my grandparents knows where I am.”

  “Is it okay if I check out your place before you go inside?” Charlie asked softly. “It may sound silly, but it would make me feel a lot better if I know you’re safe.”

  Kendra’s head bobbed up and down, and she swallowed hard. If Charlie was worried too, maybe her concerns weren’t just from her imagination running away with her.

  Charlie handed her his car keys. “Why don’t you go wait in the car. I’ll be right out.”

  Again, Kendra nodded. She started back down the stairs, slipping on the second step and having to carefully regain her balance. Then she hurried to Charlie’s SUV and climbed back inside. Her tote fell onto the floor, and she absentmindedly pulled her favorite stuffed animal free and clung to it.

  When she looked up at her front door, she saw Charlie glance back at her, making sure she was safely inside the vehicle. Then he slowly pushed the door open and disappeared inside.

  Chapter 9

  Charlie entered Kendra’s cabin and quietly closed the door behind him. He set down the box of supplies he’d been carrying just inside the door and reached for the gun he kept holstered at the small of his back. His eyes swept the room, and he listened for any sound that was out of place.

  The fire still flickered in the fireplace, though it had diminished to a dull glow, no longer providing any warmth in the room. Kendra’s belongings were still strewn across the room, but nothing appeared to have been moved since they left.

  It’s probably nothing, Charlie assured himself, even though he’d felt the odd chill run through him when he’d realized her door was unlocked. He remembered asking her if she had her key, but since Kendra had been the last one out of the cabin, he couldn’t be sure if she had thought to lock the door or not. But he also didn’t remember seeing those faint snowmobile tracks on the road when they’d left earlier.

  Then again, now that he thought of it, he had been more concerned about getting Kendra to his truck without her freezing her toes off than he had been about making sure everything was secured properly. That pretty face of hers was proving to be a distraction, and he didn’t have time for that right now.

  He was probably overreacting by making her wait for him outside. Regardless, though, it wouldn’t hurt to err on the side of safety. He would just check out the cabin to make sure everything was as it was supposed to be, and then he could laugh off this little panic attack and tell Kendra that his protective side was showing because she was staying here alone.

  He slipped his boots off, partially to mask the sound of his steps and partially to keep from tracking moisture across the floor. He checked out the main level first: the living room and kitchen, the three bedrooms, two bathrooms, the mudroom, and various closets. When he was satisfied that the back door was locked tightly and that there wasn’t any sign of anyone having been inside the mudroom recently, he turned back down the hall and headed up the stairs.

  The third stair from the top creaked loudly under his weight. He froze for a moment, listening once again as he lifted his weapon a little higher. The loft overlooked the living room below, and three doors opened off of it. Cautiously, Charlie entered the first room to find a bedroom and a private bathroom. His methodical search revealed that the other two rooms were identical to the first, and all of them were empty.

  A sigh escaped him, and he holstered his weapon. He took a moment to steady himself before heading back to the door, slipping his boots back on and motioning to Kendra that it was all clear.

  Kendra climbed out of the car and moved toward him, her face pale. He’d scared her, Charlie realized. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing right now or not. He wanted her to understand the dangers she was facing—otherwise, how could she defend against them?—but he also needed her to trust him.

  He moved toward her and pasted on an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about that. I thought I heard something inside.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, everything’s fine.” Charlie reached for her hand, pulling her gently up the steps and toward the front door. “Why don’t you go inside and warm up by the fire. I’ll get everything else from the car.”

  “Are you sure you don’t need any help?”

  Charlie shook his head and nudged her inside before going to unload. He made several trips, each time depositing his load near the door. When all of her belongings were finally unloaded, he took off his boots and helped her carry her groceries into the kitchen and set them on the counter.

  “Thanks so much for your help,” Kendra said, and Charlie was relieved to see that most of her color was back. “I don’t know how I would have managed to get supplies if you hadn’t been here.”

  “I’m glad I could help,” Charlie told her. “I’m going to go get my stuff put away, and then I thought I’d make some dinner. Any chance you want to join me?”

  Kendra looked at him blankly. “Join you?”

  “Yeah.” Charlie nodded, amused by her expression. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought that she wasn’t used to having men ask her out. Not that he was asking her on a date, exactly. “Come have dinner with me.”

  “Oh, okay,” Kendra said, still looking somewhat stunned.

  “Great.” Charlie stepped toward the front door. “Why don’t you come over around five? That way, it will still be light out when you walk over.”

  Kendra simply nodded. Then Charlie pulled on his boots and walked out the door.

  * * *

  A bomb had gone off at her concert, she was hiding away from the world in a snowbound cabin, and all she could think about was her upcoming date. At least, she thought it was a date.

  Kendra shoved cans into the kitchen pantry, her conversation with Charlie replaying over and over in her mind. She cringed as she thought of how she had acted. She’d felt like a tongue-tied schoolgirl who had just been asked out on her first date. In a way, the description wasn’t all that far from the truth. Though she hadn’t been a schoolgirl for some time, she couldn’t remember the last time she had been out on a date.

  How long had it been? Two years? Three? She shook her head as she tried to remember when she had broken up with Steve DeFoe, her boyfriend of almost two months. The memory of those two months nearly caused her to reconsider going to Charlie’s for dinner.

  Steve had been so charming, so atte
ntive when they’d first started dating. Then he’d turned possessive. When he had first started complaining about her bodyguards and their lack of privacy, Kendra had been sympathetic. Then the complaints had escalated into arguments, both with her and with those tasked with protecting her.

  When he’d shown up at her house in the middle of the night, demanding that she let him in, Kendra had realized Steve wasn’t who she thought he was. The argument that ensued had turned nasty, and ultimately, Kendra had ended the relationship. Steve’s temper had exploded then, and she didn’t even want to think about what might have happened had her bodyguards not been nearby.

  At first, she’d felt bad about the fistfight that had ensued between Steve and Alan Parsons, but then Steve had started giving interviews and spinning lies. After seeing the incident splashed in the tabloids and dealing with the constant media pressure in the weeks following the breakup, Kendra had resigned herself to the fact that dating simply wasn’t worth the effort.

  As she considered what it would be like to date like a normal person, without all the bodyguards and security, without any of the paparazzi or hovering fans, Kendra found herself smiling. Then another thought struck her, and her excitement waned.

  Perhaps this wasn’t really a date. Maybe Charlie was just being friendly. Kendra moved into the living room and stared out the window at the cabin across the street. Her lips slowly curved up into the beginnings of a smile. Whether dinner tonight was a date or simply a friendly gesture, it wouldn’t hurt for her to get to know Charlie a little better.

  * * *

  “You already saw her?” Elias Washington’s voice came over the phone.

  “Yeah.” Charlie nodded to the empty room. “I invited her over for dinner tonight. I thought maybe I could find out why she’s refusing protection.”

  “I don’t have to explain to you that gaining Kendra’s trust will go a long way in helping our investigation.”

  “I kind of figured,” Charlie said. “By the way, the weather reports say that this storm is supposed to keep dumping snow for another day or two. Do you have any idea how long it normally takes to get the roads plowed up here?”

  “Pinewood is a summer town. They don’t plow the roads up there,” Elias told him.

  “Then I guess it’s a good thing I picked up enough supplies in town to last a couple of weeks. If we really get another foot of snow tonight, even my four-wheel drive isn’t likely to make it down the mountain anytime soon.”

  “Do what you can to stay close to her. I want nightly updates.”

  “Anything else you want me to work on while I’m up here? I have a feeling I’m going to have a lot of down time.”

  “I’ve already e-mailed you the case file from the bombing at Kendra’s concert,” Elias told him. “Also, Rick Michaels, in the LA office, was hoping for some more help with investigating the latest serial killing. Sometimes it helps to have a fresh set of eyes read over the case files.”

  “I doubt I can do much from up here, but I can at least take a look.”

  “Good,” Elias said. “And, Charlie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful.”

  “I will. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Charlie hung up the phone and walked to the window. Staring out at the snow, he considered what he had to do. His first priority was to keep Kendra safe, and he supposed that meant getting to know her. He didn’t really like the idea of misleading her about why he was here, but this certainly wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to stretch the truth. Over the past two years with the Bureau, he had learned how to skim over details, to twist the facts so he could lead people to think what he wanted them to.

  All he had to do was not volunteer too much information. He could play the role of the vacationing lawyer, the guy who needed to get away and hide from the world for a few days. And just maybe he would be lucky enough to gain Kendra’s trust and figure out why she was running from all the people who wanted to help her.

  Chapter 10

  The streets were busy outside Kendra Blake’s condominium as the Phoenix rush hour peaked. He watched the constant flow of people into and out of Kendra’s complex and studied each vehicle that passed into the gated community. Of all of the places she could hide, he thought this would be her first choice. He didn’t know what to make of the fact that she hadn’t arrived yet.

  She had said once that she felt safe here. He couldn’t understand why, except that the general population didn’t know that she owned the upstairs unit. She also seemed to like being close to her grandparents’ place, the ancient little house located several miles away.

  He had considered that she might hide there, too, but he’d checked it out earlier in the day and hadn’t seen any sign of her. That had been after he’d broken into her condo to make sure it was really empty. Bypassing the front gate had been pathetically easy. There wasn’t a security guard, and the lock on Kendra’s front door had been easy enough to pick.

  Now all he could do was wait and stay out of sight. It was only a matter of time before he would find her. Finally, the day he’d been waiting for was nearly here.

  * * *

  Kendra took a deep breath and then raised a hand to knock on the door. There wasn’t any reason to be nervous, especially now that she understood why Charlie had invited her to dinner. The explanation was simple, really. She was the only person he could talk to within a ten-mile radius.

  She clasped her hands together and took a little step back when the door swung open. Her mouth instantly went dry. His long-sleeved T-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders, and his quick grin sent butterflies to battle in her stomach. He might have asked her over for a friendly dinner, but that didn’t negate the fact that Charlie Whitmore was one handsome man.

  “Hi, there.” Charlie stepped back, motioning inside. “Come on in.”

  “Thanks.” Kendra stepped over the threshold and took a look around as she waited for her stomach to settle.

  The cabin was just as she remembered it: a simple A-frame structure, the entire front wall made up of tall windows. Two sofas were angled in the open living area so that anyone sitting on them could enjoy both the view out the front windows and the warmth from the wood stove. The curtains were open, revealing the steadily falling snow. The smell of burning wood lingered in the air, combining with the faint scent of Charlie’s aftershave and the mouthwatering aromas coming from the kitchen.

  “Here, let me take your coat.”

  “Thanks.” Kendra slipped her coat off and then leaned down to take off her boots as well. After she set them by the door, she turned and asked, “Do you need help with anything?”

  “I think everything is set. The chicken just needs to cook for a few more minutes.” Charlie draped her coat over the side of a chair to dry and looked over at her, a sudden look of concern crossing his face. “You aren’t a vegetarian, are you?”

  A giggle escaped her. “No, I’m not a vegetarian.”

  “Good.” Clearly relieved, he started toward the kitchen, glancing back as though making sure she was following him. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  “Just some water would be great. Thanks.” She slid onto a stool by the kitchen counter as Charlie walked behind it and retrieved a glass from a cabinet. After he filled it with ice and water, he set it in front of her. “You know, you really didn’t have to go to all of this trouble.”

  “It wasn’t any trouble.” Charlie lifted the lid off the pan on the stove and stirred. “Every time I feel like I need to get away from civilization, I forget one very important thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I like people.”

  Kendra grinned. “I know what you mean.”

  Charlie replaced the lid on the pan and looked up at her, his blue eyes direct. “So you said you’re planning on staying up here for a couple of weeks?”

  “Maybe longer.” Kendra shrugged. She imagined that between the incident at her concert and her sudden disappearance, her nam
e was already being splashed all over the news. Charlie didn’t seem to know anything about her reasons for being here, so she kept her answer neutral. “I was actually thinking about hiding out here for a while so I can work on some songs for my next album. It seems like I never have any time to write anymore.”

  “Do you like to write your own songs?”

  Kendra’s smile was instant, a dimple flashing in her cheek. “I love it. It’s my favorite part of what I do.”

  Charlie smiled in response. “You must be good at it. I can hardly turn on the radio anymore without hearing you sing to me.”

  “Really?” Kendra studied the man across from her, amused by his choice of words. “Do you like it when I sing to you?”

  Charlie laughed. “I guess I do.”

  Before Kendra could respond, a phone rang. Charlie pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. He looked at Kendra apologetically. “Excuse me for a minute.”

  Kendra nodded, her eyes dropping to stare at her water glass.

  “Hey, Amy.” Charlie’s greeting was warm, and Kendra found herself envious of the woman on the other end. What would it be like to have a man like Charlie greet her with that same friendly, familiar tone on a regular basis?

  He was quiet for a minute and then spoke into the phone once more. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I’m there, but I can’t really talk right now. Can I call you back later?” He hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “Okay. Bye.”

  Charlie put his phone back in his pocket before looking back at Kendra. “Sorry about that.”

  “That’s okay,” Kendra said. Then she surprised herself by asking, “Was that your girlfriend checking up on you?”