Chapter 4
FOUR
Gate duty wasn’t anybody’s favorite assignment, but somebody had to do it, and today that somebody was Colin Hale.
Truth be told, he didn’t mind it as much as some of the others did. He liked the quiet of the gatehouse, the pine shadows across the road that curved up toward the offices, the peaceful stillness of a mountain morning with nothing to do but watch the camera feeds tick through forest views.
He’d had worse jobs. He’d had jobs where boredom was a luxury he couldn’t afford. And he liked boring because boring meant no one was bleeding, screaming, lying, or making him deal with a child.
An SUV appeared on camera, leaving the ranch and heading down past Watchdog’s main offices to the gate.
That would be Edith Hartley—one of Arden’s therapy clients leaving after her session.
The SUV appeared at the gate a minute later.
He smiled and waved her through. She thanked him in the soft, distracted way people did when they were already thinking about something else.
He watched her vehicle disappear down the road, then picked it back up on camera at the turnoff from Watchdog to the road leading into Lyons.
Quiet descended again for the next couple of hours.
He scrolled through his phone, avoiding the news, and finally settling on a playlist from his music app.
He was leaning back in his chair, thinking about what he wanted for lunch after his shift ended in an hour, when the camera feed from the lower road caught his eye again—a white Subaru, coming up slow.
He checked the list. Nothing matched—no vehicle description, no expected arrival.
Could be one of Arden’s horse owners, he reasoned.
She still boarded a couple of horses for people, but he didn’t recognize the vehicle as belonging to either of them.
Could be a new Watchdog client who hadn’t called ahead.
Could be someone who got lost and was looking for directions, or could be nothing.
His hand moved to the radio anyway as the vehicle slowed to a stop. The woman behind the wheel looked both exhausted and wired.
Colin leaned out the window. “Good afternoon. Do you have an appointment?”
Her eyes went huge. “No, I don’t. I didn’t even know I was coming here. Do I need an appointment? I’m looking for a woman—her name is Arden Volker. Does she work here? Live here?”
She was trying for polite, but her smile looked nervous.
Colin noticed movement in the back seat.
Oh, no. Not a kid. And not one this cute. And terrified-looking.
She clutched a stuffed Snoopy in one arm—Waylon would get a kick out of the Snoopy—and what looked like a couple of rags in the other.
No, wait—not rags. One of them had eyes and a nose and a pair of ears.
A teddy bear. But one that looked like it had been torn to shreds.
He had a feeling she hadn’t loved it to death.
Only one type of person tears up a little kid’s teddy bear.
Anger rose from his gut to his chest.
Shit. Why does it have to be a kid?
Colin looked past their car down the road. He couldn’t hear any gravel crunching, and there were no cars on the camera. He turned back to the woman.
“Are you in immediate danger?”
As soon as he asked, she looked behind her as well, as if the devil was right on her heels. “No. No, I’m not.”
“But you looked anyway,” he said.
“I did,” she answered hesitantly as her hands tightened on the wheel. Then she glanced at the little girl in the back seat. “Can we discuss this away from… Is it okay if I get out of my car?”
“Aunt Maren?” came the little girl’s voice from the back seat. “Where are you going? Is this him?”
She was still looking at Colin when she said it.
Him, he wondered. Him who?
Then she said the words. “Are you my daddy?”
She might as well have thrown a bucket of ice-cold water at him.
“Am I your what? No way, kid.” He turned back to the woman—Aunt Maren, apparently—who looked absolutely mortified. “What’s happening here?”
“I’m s-s-sorry. She’s had a rough twenty-four hours. We both have.” She sniffed, holding back tears.
Colin immediately felt like an asshole. Stop being such a prick. He extended his hand. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m Colin. Colin Hale.”
She took his hand so hesitantly, Colin died a little inside. The second she touched his hand and looked into his eyes, he wanted to confront anyone that might be coming after her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Colin. I’m Maren.” She turned to the little girl. “It’s all right, sweetie. I’m just going to talk to this nice man right here. I’m getting out of the car for a second. I just need to stretch my legs—you know I’ve been driving all day.”
“And all night,” the little girl muttered under her breath. The eye-roll that went with it seemed much more adult than what a—four-year-old? Five-year-old?—would normally produce.
“It’s okay, hun. We’re not going anywhere,” Colin reassured the little girl, hoping that would be about the last thing he’d have to say to her.
Colin didn’t do kids. No way, no how.
Maren got out of the car and stood right in front of the gatehouse window.
He could smell fuel, exhaust, and fast food on her, but underneath that?
Clean, salty sweat and a hint of something flowery.
He tried not to breathe it in. The last thing this poor woman needed was someone flirting with her.
Under any other circumstances, Colin would have been.
Even tired and stressed, Maren was gorgeous.
“Please,” she said. “I’ve been on the road since San Diego.”
San Diego. That was what—fifteen hours away?
Yeah, more like eighteen or twenty. He could see it on her.
She rubbed her forehead as she closed her eyes, and Colin had the strongest desire to turn her around and give her a neck rub.
Something, anything that would calm her, that would take away that worried line between her brows.
“I need to see Arden Volker. It’s very important. If she’s here—do you know her?”
Wait. Colin looked back at the little girl in the back seat. Really looked at her.
Hold on. No. That can’t be.
Her eyes.
Those are Arden’s eyes.
“Are you related to Arden?” he asked Maren.
“No, not directly. But yes, I guess I am.” She glanced back at the little girl. “My niece Juniper is.”
“Your niece is, but you aren’t?” he asked.
She ran her hand through her hair. “I know it sounds very complicated, but if I could just speak to Arden Volker, I can straighten everything out. Please—you don’t have to let me in if it’s against the rules, if I don’t have an appointment.
But can you get word to her that I need to see her?
That a little girl named Juniper needs to see her. ”
Long-lost niece? he wondered. He’d never seen either of them around here before.
Shit. What am I supposed to do?
Colin’s boss, Kyle McGuire—Arden’s husband—could be called the paranoid sort under any circumstances, and with good reason. Kyle and Arden’s lives had been in danger many times. Was this another trap? A trick?
But those eyes, he thought. You can’t fake those eyes.
Colin rubbed the back of his neck. “What’s your full name, Maren?”
“Maren…Walsh.” He noted her hesitation. Was she lying about her last name, or was it fear?
Please don’t let this be a trap. And if it is and she’s the unwilling bait, I’ll do anything to keep this woman safe. And her niece, God help me.
“Give me a minute, Ms. Walsh. Can I have you get back in your car and back up about ten feet from the gate, please?”
She smiled lightly—a smile meant to please and to disarm.
He hated it.
A lot of women used it when they were in danger and when they knew whoever was threatening them had the power to hurt them very badly. He hated seeing that smile directed at him. It went against everything he believed in, everything he did.
“Hey, look—you’re not in trouble. It’s just protocol. Nothing personal.” He caught himself. “You seem like a good person.” He nodded firmly. “And the kid goes without saying, right?” He smiled at the little girl. At Juniper.
She just watched him, expressionless now. Wary. Or interested—he couldn’t tell. It was hard with kids, and he spent as much time as he could avoiding them.
Maren nodded, and the smile she gave him the second time was much warmer. “Thank you. You’ll have to forgive me—like I said, I’m really tired.”
“I understand. Long road trips can really knock the stuffing out of you.” He stopped himself from cringing, thinking of the ruined teddy bear in Juniper’s hands. “I mean—”
To his surprise, Maren laughed. She waved him off. “No, no, don’t worry. Yeah, Mr. Kibble has seen better days, that’s for sure.” She grew serious again. “Thank you for any and all help you’re giving us.”
“Of course,” he said. “Just let me make that call.”
Maren got into her car, started it up, and backed up not ten but twenty feet. Out of courtesy or caution, he wasn’t sure.
Colin got on the phone. Jodie, the receptionist, picked up.
“Hey, Colin!” she said in her usual cheery voice. “I noticed you’ve got someone at the gate. What’s going on, sweetie?”
“Hey, Jodie. This one’s a little odd. I don’t think there’s anything wrong, but—yeah, I know, we have to be careful. Can you put me through to the boss, please? Tell him I have a woman named Maren Walsh and a little girl named Juniper who are here to see Arden. They don’t have an appointment.”
“Arden?” Jodie’s voice filled with surprise. “Is she a client?”
“No, says she’s never met her. No appointment. I don’t think she even knows what Arden does for a living. But she needs to see her.”
“She needs to see her?” Jodie sounded incredulous.
“Yeah, she does. And I agree. But, I need to clear it with Kyle first. Like I said, it’s…odd.”
“Okay, Mr. Mysterious, I’ll put you through.”
“Thanks, Jodie.”
A click, a couple moments of silence while Jodie talked to Kyle, then Colin’s boss was on the line.
“Colin. Who’s at the gate?”
“Boss, her name is Maren Walsh and she has a little girl with her—Juniper. They’re here to see Arden.”
“That’s what Jodie said. But why? What do they want with my wife?”
Colin looked down the drive at the little girl sitting in the car, watching him with those silver-gray eyes.
“You need to see it for yourself, boss. Once you do, I think you’ll get it.”