The room was a simple white room with a white dresser against one wall and a bed against the other. On the dresser was a pink lamp. The bed was decorated with a fluffy white comforter and a quilt folded at the end in shades of pink, baby blue, and other pastel colors.
“Sarah is my four-year-old daughter.”
Kate leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed. Colt looked over at her. She was staring at him, most likely looking for—and expecting—a reaction. He looked at the room again, careful not to give her one prematurely, and focused on the chest under the front window. The lid to the chest was lifted, and toys were scattered in front of it.
Kate had a daughter. He most certainly had not seen that coming.
“Okay. Well,” Kate said. “I need to shower the restaurant off of me. So, I’m going to leave you here to think things over.” She uncrossed her arms and took a step closer to him. She placed a hand gently on his cheek. “You told me that you were a SEAL. I know what that type of commitment means and how the members of your unit sometimes come first above all else. I invited you into my house, and I felt I should give you a tiny glimpse into my life. Sarah is just one of the things about me that I’m one hundred percent committed to, above all else. I won’t blame you for one second if you leave while I’m in the shower. As a matter of fact, I would prefer that you leave right now if this gives you even a shred of doubt. No hard feelings.”
Kate turned and headed toward her bedroom, leaving him standing in front of her daughter’s room.
Colt walked around Sarah’s room. Studied the S and the W above her bed. Sarah Ward. Colt remembered Kate’s friend saying her last name last night, but Kate hadn’t told him that, and he hadn’t shared his. They hadn’t traded phone numbers. He was just now discovering she had a child.
Did a child change things? Colt wondered. He heard the sound of her shower turning on.
He walked back out to the living room and lifted a photograph from a shelf. It was of Kate and a little girl he presumed was Sarah. Kate’s blonde hair framed her face, and she wore a big, happy smile—bigger than Colt had seen on her face since he’d met her. Sarah resembled her mother, except Sarah had long, dark brown hair. She, too, was smiling, and he felt a tug at his heart. The two of them were a family. Something he wanted, eventually, but was he ready for assimilating into an already existing family unit? With a woman he’d only just met?
Colt studied Kate’s smile again, and something about it made him wish more than anything that he could be the one to put that kind of smile on her face. She had such sad eyes at times, but he sensed a longing for something under the surface—something that not even Kate could voice. The way she smiled with her daughter in this picture made him imagine that Sarah was most of the reason that Kate was so hesitant to get involved with a man.
“What happened to your father?” Colt wondered aloud at Sarah’s picture. “Is he the reason your mom is so gun shy?” Colt’s heart beat faster, and a fire sparked in his gut when he considered that Sarah’s father might have harmed Kate or Sarah. Maybe that was why she was so careful.
He placed the picture back and thought about Kate at the diner last night. They talked about so many things, and he was certain, even at the current moment, that she had been showing him the real Kate. He didn’t care what her past was about. They’d just met, and he wanted to get to know her, and she him. Now, she knew that he was a SEAL, and she didn’t send him away. Not completely anyway, and not because of his career. And he knew she had a daughter—a beautiful little girl as much a part of her as his unit was of him.
Knowing Kate had a daughter didn’t change anything, yet it changed everything. He wanted more. He couldn’t explain how it had happened so fast, but he wanted to see whatever this was between them through to the end.
He made his way down the hallway to her room. He could hear the water running in the bathroom and imagined her amazing body in the shower… every incredible curve. He wanted her so badly right then, but he wanted her to know that it wasn’t about sex.
So he turned and walked to the kitchen. Maybe she had a bottle of wine or beer. What did she drink? She’d had vodka the night before.
He searched through the cabinets and didn’t find any hard liquor or wine. There was no alcohol in the refrigerator. When he closed the refrigerator and stood, Kate was there.
She stood in the doorway with a towel wrapped around her. Her blonde hair, darkened with water, dripped on her shoulders. “I thought you were gone,” she said barely above a whisper.
“I couldn’t leave.”
She looked down at her feet and curled her toes uncomfortably. When she looked up again, tears swam in those great big brown eyes that were becoming so dear to him. “Why didn’t you leave? You should have left.”
He wanted to step to her and wipe her tears away, but he hesitated. Maybe the tears were necessary for what needed to happen next. “You said Sarah is just one of the things that you’re one hundred percent committed to above all else. What else is there?”
She looked away. “I shouldn’t have said it that way.”
“But you did.” Colt studied her.
Water continued to drip from her hair. The tears that were there a moment ago were gone, blinked away by pure determination to put up a strong front. Whatever happened in her past—and something did happen—still haunted her, yet she was strengthened by it. He had thought yesterday there was something in her eyes in addition to the sadness. He knew now that it was determination—determination to do what was best for Sarah.
Colt approached her now. Her eyes glued to his. She still hadn’t answered the question. He knew they would come back to it.
He reached up and tugged at the towel, pulling it loose from her body. She did nothing to stop him. As he drank her in—her perfect breasts, the dips inward at her waist, and her smooth skin—her breathing sped up. Would she push him away? Or was she glad that he had stayed. His eyes traveled the length of her body then back until he met her gaze again. “You are so beautiful.” He swallowed hard. “And I’m here. You promised me at least the night.” But he would want more after that.
“Are you sure?” she asked in a small voice, her eyes looking more hopeful when she spoke this time.
“One hundred percent.”
She threw her arms around him and kissed him. She devoured his lips with a hunger he hadn’t felt from a woman in a long time, if ever. Somehow, he had gotten through to her at least for the moment. Maybe she craved a man’s touch for however long it lasted. He hoped he could convince her she deserved it beyond one additional night.
He wasn’t sure what he could promise her at this point in his life, but he also knew he wasn’t ready to turn his back on her either.
He bent down and scooped up her legs while keeping his lips on hers. He carried her to her bed. They still had a lot to discover about each other, and they would start with this.
Chapter 14
Kate
Kate woke suddenly in the middle of the night, her eyes springing open. It was dark, but light from the outside street lamps filtered in through the blinds. She rolled over to find Colt propped up on an elbow, staring down at her with intense, stormy blue eyes.
“Hi,” he whispered. His face softened, and he blinked away whatever he’d been thinking about a moment before.
She smiled up at him. “What time is it?”
“No idea.”
“Don’t you sleep?”
“Not when I’m keeping watch.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Like on a mission? Do you feel like you’re on a mission?”
He ran his hand over her right shoulder and down her arm. “A little bit.”
She frowned. “I’m sorry for the way I told you about Sarah. I shouldn’t have sprung her on you the way I did.”
“Tell me more about her.”
Kate could feel the lift in her cheeks. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done or ever will do in this life. She’s smart—
so smart. She’s fascinated with royalty.”
“Like princesses?”
“Princesses, Princes, Queens, Kings, Dukes, Duchesses—all of it.” Kate laughed a little. “Instead of picture books, I read to her from Wikipedia about royal families from as far back in history as the 1400s.”
Colt returned her smile. “I saw her picture. She is beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She blinked a couple of times. “You need to understand that she is the most important thing in my life. There is nothing I won’t do to protect her.”
“Which includes sending me away.”
“That’s right.”
“What I don’t understand is why you were so quick to think I was some sort of threat to Sarah or to your happiness.”
She rolled over and looked away from Colt while letting him gather her body in close and spooning her. It would be easier to talk to him while not looking him in the eyes. There was no way she would risk telling him everything about her past.
“Why are you turning away from me?” Colt asked.
He read her too easily. “Colt, there are things in my past that I will never be able to tell you.”
“I don’t believe that,” he said. “Maybe not now, and I won’t ask you to, but eventually, you’ll trust me enough.”
“No, I won’t.” She hugged his arm tighter, scared that he would get up and leave now that she’d decided to let him stay the night. “But I appreciate that you’ll try not to ask.”
He forced her to turn back over and face him. Holding her chin, he looked deep into her eyes. “I’m sorry for whatever happened that made you so scared.”
Scared wasn’t the right word. Not for herself anyway. She did worry about Sarah, though, and what her future would be like as a daughter of someone in witness protection. Sarah would ask questions eventually—beyond what Kate had already shared with her. Would she be completely honest? When was the right time to tell her about a family she could never know? Was there ever a right time for that, knowing that their family would kill them both if they found out they even existed?
Kate reached a hand and traced the tattoo on his left arm. “Would it be too personal to ask you what the tattoo means?”
He angled his head and studied her. “Aren’t we past that?”
“I suppose we are.”
“The anchor represents everything that grounds me. It represents my unit, my faith, and my family. The arrow represents the direction I always hope to move in.”
When she lifted a brow, he continued. “Forward.”
She smiled. “That’s definitely a good direction to go in.”
“We should all follow our arrow wherever it points.”
“That sounds like something you saw on Pinterest,” she giggled, but when his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, she realized that he was troubled about something. There were so many questions in his eyes, and they scared her. There was something between them that she wasn’t sure would last, nor was she prepared for it to end. That was a new feeling for her. Hell, everything about this relationship was new to her. “What about the waves? The ocean?” Obviously, she thought after she said it.
He nodded. “I love the ocean as much, if not more, than land. But it also represents the wild and mysterious parts of life. The uncontrollable of the ocean is why we need the anchors and arrows in our life.”
“I like it.” She rolled back over and hugged his arm to her again.
“Get some sleep,” Colt whispered.
“Will you be here in the morning when I wake up?” She wondered if he would pull the same disappearing act she had pulled the previous morning.
He kissed the back of her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She liked the sound of that. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
Kate jerked in her sleep. She had heard something, but when she opened her eyes and tried to focus on what it might have been, the sound was gone.
“What was that?” Colt asked. His arms and legs were intertwined around hers like silk.
“You heard something, too?” She sat up in bed. A small amount of light was coming through the slits in the blinds on the windows. “It came from the front porch.”
He untangled himself from her and sat up. He slipped into his pants and grabbed a small handgun from what looked like an ankle holster. She knew a nine millimeter when she saw one, but had no idea that he carried one. She wanted to say that the gun was not necessary, but if he hadn’t grabbed it, she would have grabbed her own handgun.
“Stay here,” he said and slipped into the hallway.
“The hell I will,” she said, and climbed out of bed. She grabbed a t-shirt and ran after him.
The house was quiet; it was still early. Colt slipped into Sarah’s room and looked out her window into the front yard. Apparently seeing nothing, he turned and came toward Kate. “I thought I told you to stay put.”
“And I suppose you forgot that this is my house.”
He walked past her and into the living room. Still hearing nothing else, Colt went to the front door.
“Wait,” Kate said when he had his hand on the doorknob. “Let me go.”
“And in what crazy corner of your mind does that make sense?” he asked. “I’m the one with the gun. And I’m well-trained to use it.”
Kate thought about that. She didn’t need to get into the fact that she’d been shooting handguns since she was five, because that would open up all sorts of questions.
Colt opened the door and peered outside. Kate moved so that she could look out with him. She didn’t see or hear anything. Colt opened the door wider, and that was when Kate saw it.
“Not again,” she said. She pushed her way outside, but Colt quickly blocked the doorway with his arm and held her back.
“What is it?” He followed her gaze. That was when he saw what she was looking at.
Another dead rat. This time, the rat was in a cage, and it was covered in blood, its throat slit.
Kate’s pulse picked up speed.
“There’s a note on top of it,’ Colt said. They moved closer.
Kate reached out to touch it, but Colt stopped her with a hand to her arm. “Don’t touch it. We should call the police.”
He was technically right, but it didn’t matter. Someone had found her, and there was no way she was waiting around for the police to check for fingerprints and try to figure out who was stalking her with offerings of murdered rodents. She also didn’t have time to explain everything to Colt. She got in front of him. “Listen to me. It doesn’t matter. I need you to get your stuff and leave.”
She turned back around and snatched up the note and read it.
There is nowhere you can hide that we won’t find you. Rats are disgusting animals that deserve to die. But don’t worry about your daughter. She will finally get to know her real family.
She let the note drop to the ground beside the cage. She looked down the street in both directions. Seeing nothing, she turned and ran inside the house.
Colt ran after her. “Kate, tell me what is going on. What does that note mean?”
Tears burned her eyes, but she quickly swiped them away. There was no time for tears. She had to get her daughter, and they had to get out of town. Now.
First, she raced to the purse that she had dropped on a chair just inside her bedroom. She dug for her phone. When she found it, she saw that she had a single missed call from twenty minutes ago.
She dialed the number as she jogged to her closet and pulled her suitcase from the top shelf—her go bag. She pulled the smaller case beside it down with it—a locked case with a Glock 43. Not the most powerful weapon, but it was a nine-millimeter, and easily concealed.
“You okay?” the voice on the phone asked. “We have a problem.”
“How? How did they find me?”
“What do you mean? I was just calling to tell you that Jake Boone busted out of jail yesterday. We have no reason to believe he knows where you are.”
“Someone left two dead rats on my front porch.”
“When?”
“One yesterday morning. And one just a few minutes ago.”
“Jake broke out late yesterday afternoon. It couldn’t have been him.”
“And you’re just now telling me? How did he escape?” She squeezed her eyes shut. “It doesn’t matter. Someone knows where I am.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sending an agent to get you and Sarah. They’ll be there within the hour.”
“I’ll be dead in an hour!” Kate yelled and hung up.
Colt was watching Kate scramble into her clothes, saying nothing. There was no way to sugar coat any of this for him, and, quite frankly, she didn’t have time. Finally, as if snapping out of a trance, he grabbed her arms and forced her to look at him. “Tell me what is going on. What did that note mean? Who were you just talking to? Who do you think wants you dead?” His eyes were not panicked, but they wanted—no, they needed—answers. He spoke in a calm, even voice. “Tell me how I can help you.”
“Colt, don’t do this. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have allowed this to happen. This was exactly why I had been so hesitant with you. I never would have let you inside my house had I known.”
“Known what? Is that note calling you a rat?”
Tears escaped and streaked down her face. She shook her head. “I don’t have time to explain. You need to get far away from me. Get away before they discover who you are. I’m so sorry.”
He held her tighter. “Give me something, Kate, so that I can help you.”
“I told you already, you can’t.”
“The hell I can’t.” He grabbed his clothes and began putting them on. “Where’s Sarah? We can pick her up and go to my hotel. At least you can shower, calm down, and think rationally.”
“Think rationally? I’ve had an escape plan in place for four years. I have to go, and I’m ready.”
“No! I’m not losing you.”
“Colt!” Kate screamed. “You have no say in the matter.” Kate ran from the room and into Sarah’s. Sarah also had a go bag in the top of her closet, which she had updated just two days ago, though it seemed like weeks.
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protected in Darkness (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 6
