At Night's End

by Katherine Matzen

  “Who makes the most effort?”

  “He does. I rarely get back to my quarters, much less visit people.”

  Rissa leaned back in the chair, swinging her legs back and forth. She was short enough that her feet didn’t quite reach the floor. “I don’t want to believe Trevan could be a spy. He could’ve been doing what he thought was right, but he got you into a precarious situation with a new race and left you without any guidance.”

  Heat flushed his cheeks and he leaned forward. “So, you assume he’s a traitor?”

  “Chill, bro.” She rested a hand on his knee, sending waves of calming emotions through their mental link. “I’m not accusing him of anything. I just wonder how he came to be in the right place to meet the Hatti when his last post was nowhere near them.”

  “We never talked about it.” He scratched the back of his head, trying to pull a coherent thought out of the babble bouncing around in his brain. “I thought he was on assignment to the Mingoran Empire, and they’ve apparently made contact with the Hatti.”

  “I know he made first contact, but I can’t believe he was made head Ambassador.” Rissa frowned.

  “Isn’t that the way the system usually works? If a diplomat is the first contact, don’t they stay on at the Embassy?”

  “Not always.” She shifted on the chair, telegraphing uneasiness. “Sometimes the diplomat is too inexperienced. For someone like Trevan there is usually a veteran observer as part of the entourage. I’ve never heard of a newbie diplomat being made Ambassador and given a post as the sole representative of the Alliance. Trevan doesn’t even have an assistant. He refused one.”

  “I’m not sure why you don’t trust him”

  She smiled, but he could see the tension around her mouth and knew she lied.

  “Don’t let my mood bother you. I’ve been stuck on Beryl too long. Most of the field agents are back right now. The whole war has gone quiet and it’s making me antsy. I know the Falgarans aren’t going to suddenly become peaceniks, so I’m waiting for the next catastrophe to hit.”

  “We’ll handle it, whatever happens. We always do.” His confident answer made her reach over to ruffle his hair.

  Mellora walked in, a protein shake in one hand. “What are you eating?”

  “Real food, instead of that crap you try to push off on your patients.” Rissa answered for him.

  “These shakes are nutritionally balanced and guaranteed to provide everything a recovering patient needs.” Mellora’s back stiffened and her eyes narrowed.

  “Except taste.” Rissa stuck her tongue out and shuddered. “I should know—you’ve poured enough of them down my throat over the years.”

  Lateef agreed with her. He used the shakes during the busiest times in the hall, but they were adequate, not satisfying.

  “Think of them as an incentive to stop needing our services on such a regular basis,” Mellora said.

  He accepted the glass and gulped the contents, catching Rissa’s exaggerated expressions of disgust out of the corner of his eye. Good thing I’m used to these things. They really do reek after all of Dani’s cooking.

  “You’re wanted in command, Miss D’Oro. Your partner’s looking for you.” Mellora pointed at Rissa. “Says you have a mission but isn’t trying too hard to find you.”

  “Crap. That has to mean the mission is something awful and he doesn’t want to tell me.”

  Lateef grinned. “Maybe you get a vacation. You said things are slow.”

  Rissa bounced forward to wrap him in a hug. “I like the way you think, baby brother.” She kissed him on the forehead. “Give me a call when you’re ready to get your girl. She’s the one for you, punk. If you try to let her go out of some misguided sense of chivalry, I’m going to beat some sense into you. We can keep her safe from the Falgarans.”

  She was gone before Lateef could catch his breath.

  “I’m with her,” Mellora said. “I think you need to go back to that planet and talk this woman into coming home with you. You’re going to be worthless until you do. Take care of your relationship before we get crazy busy again.”

  “I can take care of my own love life.” Lateef rose and slammed the glass down on the table.

  Mellora walked away, waving her hand at him in dismissal. “Whatever you say, tiger. Go take care of things before I have to step in. You know that won’t go as expected.”

  Lateef wanted to break into a few choice curses of his own. Dani wasn’t an object to be carted around. She had to want him as much as he wanted her, and deep down he was afraid to find out how she felt about him.

  ‘Won’t know until you ask.’ Mellora’s voice filled his mind.

  “Get out of my head.” He tried to convey anger instead of affection, but his boss knew him to well.

  “Just go take care of her without starting a new war? Leave that kind of trouble-making to your sister.”

  Chapter Nine

  Charlie White Bear blinked big, brown eyes at Dani as he waved a plastic food container under her nose. “Anna threatened to make me sleep on the couch if I didn’t get you to eat. It’s your favorite and it’s still warm.”

  Dani gave him sideways glance and continued stripping mint leaves from the stems and placing them into a large glass jar.

  “She was serious, Danielle.” He tucked his hat under one arm as he retied the ponytail holding his thick, black hair, untouched by gray, although he was in his late forties. “I don’t like sleeping on the couch. I’m too tall – my feet hang off the edge and get cold.”

  She counted to ten before glaring at him.

  He quickly picked up the dish and blinked at her as he held it out.

  “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she said. “I’ve done so since my parents died.”

  “Then you can call Anna and convince her,” Charlie said. “I tried, but she didn’t believe me.”

  “Not my problem.” Dani stuffed the last few leaves into the glass jar and poured in enough grain alcohol to cover the leaves. She tapped the jar on the counter to get the air bubbles out and then tightly screwed on a lid.

  “Why are you doing that?” he asked.

  “Making a tincture.” She filled out a label with the contents and the date. “I use them in some of my soaps and lotions.”

  “Waste of good alcohol if you ask me.” He grimaced and waited until she put the jar away in her workshop and then pushed his container at her again, trying to lead her to the table.

  “Now you can eat. It’s lunchtime, you’ve finished what you were doing, and you’ll keep me out of trouble.”

  She growled with exasperation. “I’m not hungry, Charlie.”

  “You’re never hungry.” A grin of triumph lifted the corners of his mouth. He helped her into a wooden chair and went to get a fork. “This is Anna’s famous chicken noodle casserole. I know you like it.” He pulled the lid off the container and put the utensil in her hand. “It’s very obvious you’re not taking care of yourself and we all care far too much about you to allow the situation to continue.” He plopped his large body down across from her and leaned on his crossed arms to glare down at her. “I’ll sit here until you eat, or I’m going to sit on you and force you to eat. Those are your only two choices.”

  “I had breakfast.” She tried to protest.

  “When?” He snorted with disbelief. “Three days ago?”

  Her face heated, and he shook his head in irritation.

  “Danielle, you’re obviously losing weight again. You look like you haven’t seen the sun in three years, and the bags under your eyes are huge. You’re not taking care of yourself and if you don’t want Anna coming out here to drag you home with her, you will eat lunch and then take a nap.”

  She let out her breath in a large sigh before taking a reluctant bite of the casserole. Charlie watched silently until
she’d made a fair amount of progress and then poured her a glass of orange juice, snagging coffee for himself.

  “Thanks,” he said as she chased the last noodle around the dish. “I appreciate this. I honestly dreaded not sleeping in my own bed tonight.”

  “You know that wouldn’t happen.”

  He choked on his coffee. “You obviously don’t know my Anna as well as you think you do. She was on the warpath. Consider yourself lucky I kept her from coming out here to force-feed you herself. She’s only a couple of rumors away from dragging you up to our farm until everything settles back down.”

  Dani pushed the empty container away with a contented sigh, conscious the gnawing ache in her gut was gone. She’d been hungrier than she realized. She had also enjoyed the food much more than she had expected to.

  “Wait. What rumors?” His words sank in and she demanded details. “Who’s talking about me?”

  The older man looked around, avoiding her eyes. “Where’s the dog?” he asked.

  “She’s out chasing rabbits. What rumors?”

  “Are you sure that’s safe?” he asked.

  “My dog is fine.” Each word was distinct. “What rumors are you talking about?”

  He shrugged uncomfortably. “That investigator.”

  “What about him?” she asked. “He’s already been by here.” A cold knot of anxiety settled in her gut.

  “The guy keeps asking about you and your guest.”

  Dani leaned her head against the back of her chair and growled under her breath. “What is his problem?”

  “He wants to find the guy he’s looking for.”

  She looked at Charlie. “Lateef isn’t that guy. Why won’t he move on?”

  “How do you know?”

  “I talked to him. Lateef isn’t from around here and hasn’t run out on any family.”

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t admit something like that to a stranger.”

  “I know he isn’t that kind of person.”

  Charlie studied her face and heat flowed across her cheeks as guilt flooded her system. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m not infatuated with the man. And besides, he’s gone for good. I have no way to get in touch with him.”

  He nodded, but his expression remained skeptical.

  “Come on, Charlie. You know me. I’m never going to find love again. I can’t take another heartbreak, and I certainly don’t want to risk another crazy family.”

  His face softened. “Don’t rule anything out, Danielle. Carl was an okay guy, but what you had with him wasn’t the best you can have.”

  Anger stirred in her gut.

  Charlie shifted in his chair. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking Carl, but it was obvious he didn’t care about you nearly as much as you cared about him.”

  She closed her eyes, fists clenched in her lap as she fought the desire to run from the awkward conversation. Charlie wasn’t wrong. Carl hadn’t been capable of caring too much about anyone other than himself, but he had loved her and Caitlyn.

  “Besides, I think the investigator is more interested in you, and he’s easy to contact. I have his phone number.” Charlie’s tone turned sly and a grin spread across his weathered face.

  “He shouldn’t be snooping around me.” Her head snapped up and she glared at her friend. “You all need to leave me alone and stop trying to force me to do things I don’t want to do.”

  “Danielle, we all care about you.” He appeared stunned at her outburst. “I know you don’t think anyone should, but we do. So deal, because you can’t change us.”

  She snarled silently and took the empty food container to the sink to wash out. “Tell Anna thank you for me.” She dried the bowl and handed him the clean dish. “I do appreciate the food, but I want to be left alone.”

  “Anna’s not your problem.”

  “I know that,” she snapped. “But she’s not helping.”

  “She’s doing the best she can.”

  “I know that too.” Dani leaned against the counter, trying to calm her racing heart. “I love her dearly, but I can take care of myself. I have to. Tell her thank you for me and I’ll visit soon. I have a new Shea butter soap for her to try, but right now I need some time alone.”

  His sympathetic look immediately raised all her hackles.

  “I’m afraid that might not be so easy,” he said. “There’s a reporter from Denver in town looking for the mysterious ‘Chef of the Mountains’.”

  Dani felt the heat drain from her head and white spots bloomed across her vision. “I can’t go through that again.”

  “He doesn’t know who you are.” Charlie grabbed her arms as she swayed. “We broke the links to your past when we got you out of the hospital. I’ve talked to Bob, but you know he won’t willingly mention you if there’s a chance of publicity for his cheese. I’m tracking down Holly next. She needs to get that food reporter to back off.”

  “None of that will matter.” The whiny edge of self-pity in her voice made her clamp her teeth shut. “The calls will start again, and someone’ll find my real name. Then they’ll make the connection to Carl and Howard and the accident will be in the news again. I don’t want to have to leave this place, Charlie.”

  “Then don’t answer the phone without knowing who it is.” His forceful, no-nonsense tone broke through her rising panic. “I can get a service to screen your calls and we can get someone to stay with you. You don’t have to do this alone.”

  Dani forced herself to slow her breathing.

  “It’s okay,” she said, unsure exactly who she was trying to convince. “Even if he finds me, I’ll be okay. I have to be. I’m strong enough to tell him to go away. I don’t owe him anything.”

  Abby’s sudden frantic barking was drowned out by the sound of a car coming down the driveway. Dani’s knees weakened.

  “Wait here.” Charlie made sure she was able to stand on her own. “I’ll take care of it.”

  He went to the front room and looked out the bay window. He shook his head. “Just that Manning guy. I’ll go talk to him. You can get some rest.”

  “Yeah, right. That’s not going to happen.”

  Charlie shot her a grin before walking out on the veranda, firmly shutting the door behind him.

  Dani watched through the window as Charlie leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed across his massive chest to glare at the unannounced visitor. Abby took one look at him and dashed back into the woods.

  “Afternoon, Sheriff.” Kyle walked up to the steps of the large porch carrying a pair of coffee cups from Ernie’s coffeehouse.

  “Afternoon.” Charlie’s single word answer held no warmth.

  Kyle hesitated briefly. “Is Ms. Hamilton in?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  Kyle waited a long moment and finally shrugged. “May I talk to her?”

  “Why?”

  Kyle gave a strangled laugh, shaking his head. “I could say it’s because I’m conducting an investigation.”

  “But that isn’t why you want to see her, is it?” Sheriff White Bear retorted. He uncrossed his arms and pushed his hat back on his head before resting one beefy hand on his belt, close to the butt of his gun.

  “No.” Kyle’s answer was reluctant, and he was no longer able to meet the older man’s eyes.

  Charlie studied him for several seconds, apparently coming to a favorable decision. “Come on up.” He moved aside to open the door. “Don’t expect too warm a welcome. I told her about the reporter looking for her.”

  Kyle immediately bristled, nearly dropping the cups as his hand moved toward the gun on his hip. His voice deepened with menace as his narrowed gaze carefully studied the area around the house. “Why is a reporter looking for her?”

  Charlie raised thick eyebrows. “Someone told him what a superb cook we h
ave in town. Apparently now he’s on a quest to find the source.”

  Several emotions flashed across the agent’s face. “But this guy doesn’t know who she is?” he asked.

  The sheriff nodded.

  “Then she should be okay. But I’ll stick around to keep an eye on her.”

  “To keep an eye on whom?” Dani stepped into the doorway, no longer willing to be a spectator. “Why are you two standing out here? And where is Abby?”

  As if her name had summoned her, the little dog tore out of the underbrush as if an entire herd of mountain lions was chasing her. She dashed up the steps and ran into the house, nearly bowling over the three humans. Both men immediately turned to find the threat, but the early afternoon remained still and quiet, except for the whimpering barks coming from the kitchen.

  Dani finally broke the tense tableau by stepping out onto the veranda. “Weird,” she said. She looked back into the house, but Abby was nowhere to be seen. “She’s never done anything like that before. Must have found one of those imaginary monsters she’s always barking at.”

  “Why don’t we go take a look around, Sheriff?” Kyle suggested. He handed the coffee cups to Dani.

  “What’s this?” She automatically accepted the warm cups.

  “Caramel macchiato.” Kyle grinned. “I thought you could use a treat in return for feeding me the other day.”

  “I warned you about feeding strays,” Charlie said, barely loud enough for her to hear.

  She shot him an amused glance before thanking the agent. Kyle nodded and turned to the woods, one hand still on the butt of his gun, with Charlie close behind.

  “Don’t know what they think they’re going to find out there.” She took the cups back into the house and set them on the table. She went over to the dog bed to check on her frightened companion, surprised to see the dog had her narrow head buried under the cushion, trying to shove her entire body in the small space.