Digitalis (15 page)

“You’re sure?”

Griffin Riddell gave a curt nod, his lips thinned. “Intel just came in.”

Olin let out a long sigh. “We need to let him know.”

With a large, but gentle hand, Riddell stopped him. “Be careful. I think his heart’s involved. More stress could push him into having flashbacks again. It’s been nearly six months since the last one.”

“I know, but we can’t keep this from him. He must be made aware.”

“I agree.” Riddell grunted. “Just … pad the news.”

Olin smoothed his jacket. “I’m not sure news like this can be padded.” He strolled back toward the apartment and called Colton over, then waited for Colton to join him. The team depended on the cowboy, relied heavily on his mature guidance and looked up to him. Riddell was right—this had to be handled carefully. Olin prayed silently for wisdom as Colton left the girl and walked toward him. He knew what it’d taken for Colton to come to him and launch the investigation on Piper Blum.

Protective mechanisms triggered in Olin—Colton was like a son to him. All of them were. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to them.

“She doesn’t have any family around here.” Colton leaned against the car. “Far as we can get out of her, no friends either. She’s right defensive, too.” He shook his head and frowned. “Odd.”

“I’m afraid that I have some disconcerting news.” So much for padding.

Colton stilled, his expression shifting from surprise to guardedness, to downright depression. “All right.” He folded his arms over his chest as if bracing for the news. “Go ahead.”

“She has terminated her lease, effective Sunday.”

Colton’s gaze shifted to the woman standing in her fenced front yard. “People move.”

“There’s more. All utilities—gas, electric, landline and cell phones are turned off.”

“That’d explain why she didn’t answer when I called back.”

Despite the raw ache clearly scrawled over Colton’s face, Olin knew he had to tell him everything. The news wasn’t good, not in a situation like this. “About three hours ago, we intercepted traffic from her bank that indicates she is closing the account and withdrawing the funds.”

The cowboy watched her. His brow furrowed. Left eye twitched.

“She’s running.”

“My thoughts, too.”

“Like she knew these guys were coming after her …” Colton rubbed his jaw.

“In situations like this, it’s normal to give a directive to avoid contact with the subject at all costs.” Lambert glanced toward the house where the other two Nightshade team members kept the girl distracted.

Colton snapped a glare at him. “She’s not a threat.”

“Can you guarantee that? What if she
does
know these men?”

“She said she didn’t.” He worked the muscle in his jaw hard.

“You’ve developed feelings for her—”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“Quite the contrary, Digitalis.” When the cowboy started to object, Olin held up a hand. “It does matter, and it may work to our advantage, at least until we have some solid answers.”

“How so?”

“I suggest you put that guest room at your sprawling ranch house to use.”

Colton frowned. Then his eyes widened. “It ain’t proper to have her stay with me at the house. ‘Sides, what if trouble follows us out to the ranch?”

“I’ve had your name removed from all records related to this

incident. That should not be a problem. Think of it, Digitalis. You take her out there; you can keep a watchful eye on her. Buy us time to get the investigation done and find the answers we’re looking for.” “Like what?”

“Like why Piper Blum doesn’t exist.”

I
f I am inclined to doubt, steady my faith ….”

The line from the Marine Prayer sifted into Colton’s mind as he aimed the truck onto the gravel drive that led to his house. He tried to ignore the way Piper sat next to him—staring straight ahead and hands clutched in her lap as if she were holding onto something, tight. Real tight. The ride home had been that way the entire forty minutes. Complete silence.

And he’d rather leave it that way than dig into the silence and open the can of worms hiding behind her tight composure. The questions plagued his mind all right. Like what the general told him. And more.

Beside the house, he rammed the gear into P
ARK
and climbed out. Hand on top of the tailgate, Colton hesitated. His southern upbringing insisted he open the door for her, but he didn’t want to be close, didn’t want to see the betrayal in her eyes.

Only when the passenger-side door opened did he grab her bags from the back and start for the house. Behind him came the quiet crunching of her steps. Colton ground his teeth, wondering how he’d managed to convince her this was the right choice when all he’d wanted was to walk away and forget they’d ever met.

You’re buying into this too quick
.

Yeah, and it’d taken his girlfriend ODing in the arms of another man for him to believe the lies about her. Tightening his grip on her bags, he reached for the side door—but it swung out toward him.

“I’ve been worried si—what on earth happened to your head?” His mother stood in her robe and house shoes.

“Nothin’.”

Her attention drifted past him. “Piper, is that you?” Brown eyes came to his filled with questions she’d just have to keep to herself because he didn’t have any answers.

“Is the guest room ready?” Guilt prodded Colton to inch back and let Piper enter first. He might be irked, but he wasn’t going to be rude. All the same, he kept his gaze on the tiled floor as she swept past and looked at him.

“Of course it is.” His mother wrapped an arm around Piper as she led her toward the kitchen. “What happened? We can talk about it over a cup of herbal tea.”

Colton kicked the door shut and followed them down the hall to the kitchen.

Piper glanced over her shoulder at him, then pulled her attention back to his mom. “Actually, I’m pretty tired. But thank you.”

His mom drew back, a bit surprised, but then patted Piper on the shoulder. “That’s just fine. I understand.”

Did his mother notice Piper didn’t answer the question about what happened? Surely she did. That woman never missed a thing.

“Guest room’s this way.” He stomped through the kitchen and living area, then down the small hallway to the guest room, where he nudged the door open. He dropped her bag by the foot of the bed and slid the suitcase up against the closet.

“I cleaned the sheets last week after my sister and her brother visited,” his mom said as she moved across the room to the nightstand, where she flicked the lamp switch—
Pop!
“Oh. My. Well, I’ll get another bulb.”

Colton angled around Piper—ignoring the way she smelled—like spices. He had to get his head together. “You’ve got a bathroom all to yourself, which should be nice.” Nice? Having her own shower? What was wrong with him?

“Colton, are you angry with me?”

There it was again. That particular note in her voice that plucked his heart strings. The words sounded small, weak. Everything in him wanted to take her into his arms the way he’d done back at her place—the only thing that felt right in years—but he forced himself to remember the things Lambert had told him. The phones, utilities, lease …

Why was she running?

It gnawed at the little confidence he had left, at the inkling of a notion that she might actually be the one for him. Who was he kidding? He’d already set his heart on her. And that hurt bad, real bad, knowing she had planned to leave him. And McKenna.

Which was all the more reason this idea of Lambert’s was stupid. Piper would be around Mickey more, and it’d only make things worse when Piper left. He could abide her leaving him—

Dawg, he wasn’t fooling anyone. He couldn’t abide her leaving. Period.

“Colton, please talk to me,” Piper whispered as she stepped closer and placed a hand on his arm. “I …”

He fastened his gaze to the doorjamb. Didn’t know what everything meant, but it sure bugged him that his instincts had been tingling since she came into his life, then all the stuff Lambert mentioned, and then … “Your bags were already packed.”

A quiet intake of breath drew his unwilling gaze to hers. Piper’s chin trembled as wide eyes darted over his face. Her lips parted as if she was going to say something. Instead, her eyes glossed. Vulnerability colored her tawny features.

Everything in him went rigid as her eyes filled with tears, but he couldn’t—wouldn’t—give in. Not this time. He’d been hoodwinked once by pretty eyes. How idiotic could one man be?

He’d learned a few things since then. “Were you going to leave me, Piper?”

Again, she sucked in a breath and gulped it down. Her nostrils flared.

He gave a curt nod. “Thought so.” Colton stepped away—

“Wait.” She clamped a hand on him again and wedged herself between him and the doorjamb. “Please let me explain.”

He snorted. Couldn’t help it. Did she really think any excuse she had would repair what she’d damaged—like his trust? “It’s late. I need to get some rest.” Colton pushed himself away from her, stomped down the hall, around the corner, and stopped short.

His mom jerked off the wall and swiped her face. She gave the fake smile he’d seen many times before. “Well, I finally found the bulb,” she said and held one up. “Good night, God bless.” She tiptoed up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Colton fisted his hands, thinking of the way Piper was hurting his family. The way she’d hurt Mickey, pretending to be nice and all sweet, when she so clearly wasn’t who or what they thought.

He tromped back to his room, yanked off his boots, and dropped them against the hardwood floor. Unbuttoning his shirt, he fell back against the mattress. Groaned. He tried to batten down the swell of anger and frustration. Colton roughed a hand over his face and groaned again. How did this always happen to him?

A gentle knock pulled him straight. “Come in.”

The door opened, and his dad slipped into the room looking weary and drawn.

Colton frowned. “What’re you doing up? Are you okay?”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“You mean Mom woke you.”

“Something like that. Wanna talk?”

Flopped back against the bed, Colton studied the beam directly over his bed that stretched across the room. “Not really.”

“I’ll wait.”

Colton couldn’t help the smile. He’d gotten his tenacity from his father. It’s what made his dad a great chopper pilot in Nam. “I
can’t
talk, Pop.”

Quiet fell between them as Colton once again found himself staring at the beam. Even if he could bring himself to talk about it, he had no idea where to start. Had no idea what he believed. The sincerity in her voice, in those tears, told him she had a legit reason behind the packed bags.

“Son, the heart finds a way to talk.”

Prying himself off the bed, Colton sighed. “I did what you’ve been telling me for the last two years—I took a chance.” He removed his shirt and tossed it in the hamper. “And I got burnt.” Threading his arms through a T-shirt, he suffocated the voice that said he was jumping to conclusions. But what other conclusion was there when she had her bags packed and utilities shut off? “Whatever I thought might happen with her is gone.”

“You brought her back to the house.”

“Not by my choice. And since you brought that up, nobody takes her anywhere or lets her drive. No phone calls either.”

“Crust of bread, cup of water?” Mischievous eyes peered up at him.

The comment punched. “Just trust me on this, okay?”

“On one condition.”

Colton paused, reticence choking the breath from him. He hated it when his father did this because the condition always coiled and struck like a viper.

“You know I stay out of your affairs for the most part.”

With a hesitant nod, he conceded the point.

“But I want you to keep your mind and heart open where Piper is concerned.”

Colton shook his head. “I know too many things.”

“Well, son, that might be your problem.”