Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
COLE
You get acquainted with your sixth sense after years in the military. I get the prickle at my nape. Sometimes the tingle of awareness along my scalp.
Both are firing now.
Dammit. I hope I’m wrong.
When I cut my eyes to the passenger side mirror, Sierra catches on that I’m keyed up.
“That’s the fifth time you’ve checked that mirror in two minutes. What are you looking for?”
Not the conversation I want to be having. I watch the road ahead, then glance at rearview for another quick confirmation. I was right.
She needs to know.
“I’m watching a car that’s been keeping pace with us. Not trying to alarm you.” I pull my phone from my pocket and pass it to her. “It could be a tail. Hold on to my phone and have it ready to call 911.”
“Which car?”
“The black Dodge Charger. Late model. Tinted windows. Don’t turn around to look.”
She flutters nervously in the passenger seat, but she doesn’t turn her head.
“Good girl, you can look in the side-view but keep it casual.”
“I might not remember much, but I think I’ve watched some cop shows.”
Despite the fucked up fact that we might have a man tailing us, I chuckle dryly. “I can vouch for that.”
But the mood remains somber and quiet until Sierra speaks. “Do you really think someone would do that?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not taking any chances with your safety.”
A tense few minutes unfold. I accelerate, pushing past reasonable speed for the traffic, but not getting reckless. The Charger keeps pace.
Her voice has a quiver. “Is it still there?”
“Yes, just changed lanes, pacing along with us.” I check the mirrors again. “Call me paranoid, but with your accident being suspicious, I don’t want to take any chances.”
Her breath catches as she angles her head to look out the side mirror. “How long has it been there?”
Too fucking long for my taste. Adrenaline is pumping inside my body now. If Sierra wasn’t with me, this would be a whole different thing. I’d confront the bastard.
“He’s been there since we left the hospital.”
“Who would follow us?”
“I don’t recognize him. Single male. Dark clothing, sunglasses, wearing a hat.”
“That’s really creepy.” Sierra shudders and folds her arms across her middle.
The silence in the car is tense as I keep my focus on driving. Up ahead, I spot a turn. “Hang on, we’re making a hard right in three… two… one.”
The car rails through the turn, then sways and settles on the road. Not bad for a base-model sedan. I’d rather be in something equally matched to the Charger, but I didn’t know I’d be outrunning a tail when I took what they had at the airport.
Once I check the mirrors, I take a breath. “Babe, we’re clear so far, but I’m not letting up. Making a left.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I catch sight of Sierra’s hands tightly clutching the seatbelt. Her breathing is fast.
She scans her side mirror again. “Still no sign of him.” There’s relief in her tone this time.
After another block, I turn right and slow down. I relax a little more. “Alright, we’ll make a few more turns, but I think we’re clear.”
Taking my time, I circle the block back to the main road.
“Need you to keep your eyes peeled, too. It helps to have a co-pilot.”
“Oh, they’re peeled. I don’t see him right now.”
Cars stream around us, but nothing stands out. Cars turn, traffic thins out, and after a few minutes we have an open stretch of road behind us.
Exhaling slowly, I turn to look at her. “Sweetheart, I think we’re clear.”
She leans her head back against the seat and closes her eyes as she grumbles. “The police wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“They don’t know much, but the investigation is ongoing.”
“What do you know about my accident?”
After falling into traffic, I fill her in. “My guess is that you know as much as I do. Cade told me you were found injured at water’s edge in the bay and that the military police brought you to the hospital. Nothing more than that.”
Sierra makes a frustrated sound in her throat. “Did you know they called me Jane Doe?”
“No. That’s tough.”
“There’s no feeling quite as disturbing as losing your identity. She sighs. “Maybe them telling me they would not release me until…”
“Until I arrived. Not like they could just let you walk out of there.”
With an exaggerated exhale she shifts in her seat. “I guess. I told them I could still remember how to brush my teeth.”
“Good to know. I’ll make sure you get your toothbrush so you can demonstrate.”
She laughs darkly. “Funny guy.”
“Just easing the mood. But I can’t begin to fathom what that feels like to be experiencing this. Glad they had your prints on file, glad they connected the dots to Cade. Cade knew how to reach me. So here I am.”
I can practically hear her thinking.
“Am I a criminal?”
Damn. I thought she was working on unraveling the reason why her fiancé was across the country. I’m more than happy to answer this question. “No, sweetheart, you’re not a criminal.”
She doesn’t seem relieved by this revelation and presses me. “Why would my prints be on file?”
“You were printed as part of your job.”
Her brows knit together as she processes this information. “More puzzle pieces. But the biggest is that I can’t understand how this happened.”
When I glance over, she’s pressing her fingers to her temple. Her lips are mashed together so tight they’ve blanched, and her eyes are full of worry. This is the last thing she needs to be dealing with right now on top of her injury.
I can’t suppress my frustration at the lack of progress in her case. “I don’t understand either.”
What Sierra doesn’t remember is what worries me most. That’s a conversation she and I are not having.
Worry, regret, and anger begin to churn in my blood.
It’s not the first time since Cade called I thought this could all be connected to the last night I saw Sierra months ago. Fuck.
“You’re making noises.”
“Sorry,” I mutter, “just… rattled.”
I’m shocked when her hand touches my forearm.
“Thank you for…for being so determined to keep me safe.”
I shift my eyes off the road and meet her gaze. “I’d do anything for you. Anything, Sierra.”
She nods crisply, just once, and holds my gaze with her luminous eyes until I look back at the road.
Christ.
It’s hard to breathe.
I’m not sure what I feel inside of me is pain. It goes far deeper than that. Marrow deep. Soul breaking. Fucking agonizing.
I’ve driven exactly two more miles when I can’t take any more. “I’m pulling over,” I warn.
Once I stop, I confess what is really on my mind.
“It wrecks me to know I wasn’t there to keep you safe, but I’m here now and you’re mine to protect. I take that seriously. I’ll lay down my life to keep anything bad from happening to you.”
There’s a thick sheen of tears on her lashes that makes me growl. I reach for her hand and curl my fingers around hers. “We’ll figure this out, I promise.”
When I lean toward her, she goes perfectly still. As I touch my forehead to hers, she tenses.
“Now, I need to do this,” I rasp.
I do what I should have done in the hospital. I wrap my arms around her. “Come here, babe.”
After a beat of hesitation, she lets me pull her fully into a hug. God, she feels good. Like sweet home.
With my heart rioting, I let the heat between us settle in my uneasy bones.
So damned long since I held her. It’s been torture.
“Babe, I’ll lay down my life to keep you safe.”
She doesn’t move. Doesn’t even breathe until I cup her head and cradle her to my shoulder. Then the dam breaks.
“Let it out, sweetheart. I’ve got you,” I whisper.
With a storm of sobs, she fists my shirt and burrows deep. Yes, this was what we both needed. I hold her tighter as her small body curls into mine.
When I unbuckle her seatbelt and pull her into my lap, she goes right back to the cocoon of my arms where she fits perfectly. Never been so glad I picked the full-size rental car.
“I don’t even know you…” Her words come out between hitched breaths.
“Not right now, but you will. Whether you remember me or you get to know me, you’ll know me.”
A dull knife drags through my heart, splitting me in half. Fucking hell. I should just tell her about the ruse now.
But something stops me.
Greed.
Maybe desperation to have just a few more hours with the woman that owns half of my soul. What’s left of that soul will be rotting after this stunt.
This disaster is going to explode. I just feel it coming.