Defender for Hire (7 page)

They carried their plates back to the table, bowing their heads while the pastor blessed the food and the fellowship.

It was the same as any other potluck Seth had ever been to, but it felt different, the air lighter, the atmosphere warmer. Until Darius’s phone call, he’d been planning to spend the evening at home. He was glad he’d let his mind be changed.

He would have told Tessa that, but she was picking at her food, looking about as comfortable as a cat in water.

“For someone who’s hungry, you sure aren’t eating much,” he said.

She broke her dinner roll in half, slathered butter on it and set it back on her plate. “I have a lot on my mind.”

“Want to tell me about it?”

“I’d rather you tell me about your day.”

“You want to use my day as a distraction from your troubles?”

“Why not?”

“Because, desk duty isn’t very distracting.”

“Oh.” She looked so disappointed, that he relented.

“But, I might have a story or two that will work.”

She smiled, stabbed at a bite of potato salad. “Let’s hear them.”

He wasn’t big on talking about his work, but for Tessa, he’d make an exception.

He decided not to think too much about what that meant as he pushed aside his empty plate and began to speak.

SEVEN

S
eth knew how to tell a story, and the stories he told about his job with Personal Securities Incorporated were designed to make Tess laugh.

They did. More than once.

But, even as she was laughing, she was thinking that she should leave.

Not because there were dozens of people around, eating and talking and having a great time while she picked at her food and tried to pretend that she wasn’t enjoying Seth’s company, but because all the pretending in the world couldn’t change the way she felt when she looked in his eyes.

She swallowed a lump of potato salad and chewed another one as Seth finished explaining how he’d nearly been knocked out by an elderly woman when he’d walked into what was supposed to have been an empty dressing room at a ritzy bridal salon in Seattle.

“That did
not
happen!” she said on another breath of laughter.

“It did,” he insisted. “She’d gone in there to nap while her granddaughter was fitted for a dress. After she attacked me with her purse, she accused me of trying to rush her to her grave. The whole time my client was trying on gowns, I was standing outside the door, being lectured by Mrs. Anderson.”

She could picture him there if she let herself, all hard muscles and glittering blue eyes.

She put her fork down, her stomach churning with anxiety. She’d wanted something to take her mind off of her troubles. Seth was giving her a lot more than she’d bargained for. “Thanks for the distraction, Seth, but I’m more tired than I thought. I think I’d better get out of here.”

“Running away won’t change anything,” Seth commented almost absently, his attention on a small group of people just entering fellowship hall. As relaxed as he seemed, he’d never stopped scanning the crowd or searching for signs of danger.

“Who says I’m running?” Tessa asked, frustrated with herself for being so transparent.

“Aren’t you?” He turned the full force of his attention on her, his eyes dark and filled with things she didn’t want to see. He had his own sorrow, his own pain. He didn’t need to take on hers, and she didn’t need him to do it.

“It’s been a long few days. It’s finally catching up to me,” she responded, the half truth slipping out easily.

“Sure,” he responded, dismissing her reason so definitively, her hackles went up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

“Just that I didn’t take you for a chicken.”

“I’m not!” she protested, pushing away from the table and standing. “I’m just tired.”

“Okay.” He eyed her dispassionately, not even a hint of humor in his face.

She thought she’d disappointed him.

She was sure she’d disappointed herself.

He was a good guy, a nice guy, and she was blowing him off.

She should say something, try to explain exactly why spending time with him was not a good idea, but Peggy Sue sauntered over, a brittle smile on her beautiful face.

“How are you two getting along over here?” she asked, stepping between Tessa and Seth.

It was as good an opportunity as any to do what Seth had accused her of.

She turned on her heels and hightailed it to the door.

Icy rain fell from the steel-gray sky, the moon hidden, the night silent but for the ping of precipitation hitting the ground.

Tessa picked her way across the parking lot, knowing without looking that Seth was behind her.

She could feel him as clearly as she felt ice sliding down her cheeks like cold tears. He grabbed her arm before she could open her car door.

Her heart jumped at the contact, her breath catching as she looked into his eyes.

“Next time, wait for me to check things out instead of running out half-cocked,” he growled.

“I’m not one of your clients, Seth. You don’t have to protect me.”

“This isn’t about me protecting you. It’s about you making smart choices.” His words were harsh but his hands were gentle as he took her car keys and unlocked the door. “Someone attacked you a few days ago and the police haven’t found him yet. For all you know, he’s lurking in the parking lot somewhere. Coming out here by yourself wasn’t a good decision.”

“You’re right,” she admitted, and he frowned.

“You made that a little too easy,” he muttered.

“What?”

“I thought I was going to have to spend a lot of time convincing you that I should follow you home and make sure you got in safely.”

“I may do things without thinking sometimes, but I usually don’t repeat my mistakes.” She snagged the keys from his hand and slid into the Mustang. “If you want to escort me home, I’m not going to argue.” She closed the door, cutting off the conversation. Her heart beat a strange uneven rhythm, her pulse sloshing in her ears. She wanted to think it was from fear, but she knew better. She’d fallen hard when she’d met Daniel.

She couldn’t fall again.

Seth walked to his truck and climbed into the cab, Headlights splashed across the parking lot, and he waved for her to precede him.

She pulled out onto the road, moisture drying on her cheeks. It felt like all the tears she’d wanted to cry but hadn’t. Days’ worth.
Years’
worth.

She shuddered.

Seth could follow her home.

He could walk her to her door.

But he could never be anything other than what he was, because if she let him, she’d have to risk it all again. Her hopes. Her dreams. Her heart.

She wasn’t willing to do that. It hurt too much to lose everything.

But it hurt a lot not to have everything, too.

It hurt to live in an empty house when she’d always wanted children to fill it. It hurt to go to church alone, to spend Christmas alone. To wake up on her birthday and know there was no one to celebrate with.

She swallowed back tears, frustrated with her melancholy mood, irritated because she’d come to terms with her life and she loved it just the way it was. She didn’t
need
anyone to fill the lonely place in her heart.

Still...it would be nice.

Ice pinged off the windshield and bounced off the road. As winter storms went, this one wasn’t bad, but Tessa’s nerves were already shot, her palms sweaty as she navigated the winding country road that led to her house.

It seemed to take forever, but she finally pulled into her driveway, put the Mustang in park and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans.

The porch light was off. So was the living room light. No lights shone from the upstairs windows. None from the foyer.

She hadn’t left the house that way.

She glanced up and down the street. Her neighbors were a good distance up the road, but their lights shone through the darkness. The streetlights glowed hazy yellow in the storm.

Everyone but Tessa seemed to have electricity.

Maybe it wasn’t the electricity at all. Maybe someone had turned off the lights. Maybe that same someone was waiting in the darkness.

Someone tapped on her window, and she screamed, the sound dying abruptly as she met Seth’s eyes.

She opened the door, her heart slamming against her ribs. “What are you doing out there!”

“I followed you home, remember?” he asked, frowning as he studied her face. “What’s wrong?”

“The lights in the house are off. I left them on.”

“You’re sure?” He glanced at the house, shifting so that his body was between her and it.

“Yes. Maybe the electricity went out. Sometimes—”

“The streetlight in front of your house is on. I don’t think it’s an electricity problem. Call the police. I’m going to check things out.”

“No!” She grabbed his hand. “Let the police handle it.”

“If someone is in there, Tessa, I’m not willing to give him a chance to slip out the back door and get away.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Give me the house key.”

“Seth, I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

“But, you thought that walking out of the church alone was?”

“No, but that was different. I—”

“Was alone and without protection. I’m carrying a concealed firearm. Come on, Tess. This is what I do for a living. Stop wasting time, and give me the key.” He held out his hand, and she dropped the key into it, not sure what else to do.

If
someone was waiting in the house, it
was
better to find him and catch him than let him escape.

But,
she felt like a coward letting Seth walk into danger while she waited in the car.

“Stay in the car and lock the doors.”

“Seth—”

“I mean it, Tessa. Call the police and stay here.” He slammed the door, and she dialed 911, watching as he disappeared into the dark house. The operator asked questions and Tessa answered, but her mind wasn’t on the conversation. It was on Seth.

Ice fell from the deep-gray sky, coating the driveway and grass, and hanging from the old cedar that stood at the edge of Tessa’s yard. Aside from the quiet ping on the roof of the car, the world lay hushed and still. She expected at any moment to hear a gunshot, to see a flash of light in the darkness of her house.

Time ticked by, and she saw nothing, heard nothing but the muted sounds of approaching police cars.

Please, Lord, keep him safe.

The prayer flitted through her mind, and she held on to it, tried to believe that this time, her prayers would be answered. Such a hard thing to believe when her most heartfelt prayer had been ignored.

She frowned.

Not ignored. Just not answered the way she’d wanted, expected, needed.

Please, Lord.

She tried again, shifting in her seat and staring at the empty road, willing the police to arrive and willing Seth to be okay until they did.

* * *

Seth eased through the living room and into the dining room, following the track of smudged footprints on the wood floor. He held his Glock in hand and ready, his nerves humming with adrenaline. The house was silent, but something felt off. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it was. He searched the dark corners of the dining area and walked into the kitchen.

Nothing there, but he felt danger the same way he had countless times when he’d worked in enemy territory.

He crouched low, making himself a smaller target as he eased across the empty kitchen and approached the mudroom. Cold air swept in on a gust of wind that splattered ice onto the mudroom’s tile floor.

Surprised, Seth straightened, walking into the small room, his feet sliding across the soaked tiles.

The door to the backyard stood open, the deck beyond completely coated with ice. Whoever had opened the door had done it a while ago. No footprints showed in the ice.

Seth crouched, studying the area more carefully, his shoulder throbbing from the cold, his mind calculating the time it would have taken for a footprint to be completely covered.

The sound of sirens reached a crescendo as Seth walked into the yard and tried to find footprints in the icy grass.

Nothing.

Again.

Frustrated, he holstered his gun and walked back into the house as the front door opened and a police officer called out.

Backup had arrived.

But whoever had been in the house was already gone.

“Back here,” he called out, turning on the light and letting it fill the old-fashioned kitchen. Tessa had left the place spotless. Not a pan or a pot in sight. Not a smudge on the granite counters. Footsteps pounded in the hallway, and Logan walked into the kitchen.

“Why am I not surprised to see you here, Sinclair?” he grumbled as he crossed the room.

“I wasn’t going to let the guy escape if he was in here.”

“So Tessa said,” Logan responded, glancing around the kitchen. “I would have preferred you not contaminate the crime scene.”

“I didn’t touch anything without gloves.”

“You trampled any evidence the guy might have left on the floor.” Logan crouched, studying Seth’s footprints and the floor around them.

“Aside from a few smudges on the floor in the foyer and living room, there aren’t any prints. The back deck is clear, too,” Seth offered.

“That’s not the point, Seth, and you know it.” Logan straightened. “Next time, I want you to wait for law enforcement.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Seth responded dryly. He’d done what he’d thought he had to, and he’d do it again if it meant catching the guy who was after Tessa. “I think he came in the front door and left out the back.”

“Any reason for that?”

“The front door was unlocked when I got here. Tessa isn’t the kind of person to leave the house without securing it.”

“I’ll ask her.”

“Ask me what?” Tessa walked into the room, her skin leached of color, her hair wet from melting ice.

“You’re supposed to be waiting in your car, Tessa.” Logan ran a hand down his jaw and shook, obviously as frustrated as Seth felt.

“It was freezing outside.” She turned her attention to Seth, her eyes the same deep green of the mountains in the spring. “Are you okay?”

“I’d be better if you hadn’t disobeyed orders.”

“I thought we already discussed the whole taking orders thing. I don’t do it well.”

“You’d better learn to, because whoever is after you isn’t playing games,” he snapped, irritated with her stubbornness. If she wasn’t careful, it would get her killed.

“I’m not the one who walked into a dark house alone when anyone could have been hiding in it, remember?” she responded with a scowl.

“I remember that I told you to stay in the car.”

“Neither of you should have come in here,” Logan cut in. “At the rate we’re going, we’ll have contaminated every stick of evidence there is. Go back out to Tessa’s car. Both of you. Wait there until I call you back in.”

Private security wasn’t the same as law enforcement, and once the police arrived, Seth usually backed off and let them take over. But he was tempted to do things differently this time. He wanted to search every corner of the house himself, just to be absolutely sure that nothing was missed.

He also wanted to make sure that Tessa stayed safe. Her attacker wasn’t in the house. That meant he was somewhere else. That could mean miles away or inches.