Chapter 10 The Unraveling #2
“To help Ben find his dad.” Kaya spun away from her to flutter around the kitchenette, grabbing extra bottles of water and other quick-grab snacks to toss into her backpack.
“Ben has called him a bazillion times, but his calls keep rolling to voicemail. We know something hinky is going on at Haywood Ranch, and his dad is probably right smack in the middle of it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need our help. ”
Questions poured out of April. “Where are you going? Does your uncle know, and is Bo going with you?”
“We’re heading to Ben’s parents’ house first. No, Uncle Uri doesn’t know. I just found out myself. Yes, Bo is coming.” Kaya sent her an anxious look. “Will you let Uncle Uri know what’s going on?”
April took a deep breath. “Translated: Will I take the heat for you while you go off gallivanting into goodness knows how much danger?”
Kaya lifted her chin. “I’ll be with Ben and Bo. Even if I wasn’t, I can take care of myself. I’m not some helpless ninny. I’m a law student, two snaps from graduation, who intends to finish strong with my final thesis project.”
April impulsively drew her into a hug that surprised both of them. “Considering everything that’s at stake, all I’m asking is that you be extra vigilant.”
Kaya hugged her back warmly, making her heart swell. “I promise.”
April let her go. “I do trust you, and I’m not second-guessing your toughness. I just can’t bear the thought of anything bad happening to you. You and Bear have become very important to me. So, no unnecessary risks, you hear?”
Kaya snorted out a laugh. “As if Ben and Bo would allow it!” She leaned in to give April another hug. “I want the same promise out of you. You’re every bit as important to us, and you’re just as involved in the case.”
“I promise,” April didn’t have to think twice about it, “though I’m not the one they’re targeting.”
She waited until Kaya and Bo left before heading down to the third floor to knock on Bear’s door.
He stepped into the hallway with two cups in hand. Steam was swirling through the drink slots on the lids. “Tea,” he said simply, handing her a cup. “It’s made from Yaupon Holly. My people call it the black drink. It’s smooth with malty overtones, the perfect mix of green and black tea.”
“Thank you.” She lifted it to breathe in the warm scent. “It smells like lilacs and honey.” Then she took a tentative sip. “Oh, wow! It’s like roasted caramel.”
He winked at her. “You’re welcome. It seemed like a good beverage for date night.”
She drenched him with a smile of appreciation as she took another sip. “I was hoping you’d have time for a quick visit. You’re my favorite person in the world to decompress with.”
“Quick? Who said we need to hurry?” He led her to the elevator, keeping a possessive hand on her lower back as they ascended to the rooftop terrace. “I’m taking the evening off. You?”
“I am.” As they ascended to the roof, she debated the right moment to inform him what his niece was up to.
They reached the terrace, and he studied her expression as they leaned over the balcony railing together. “I wasn’t sure when you’d be back from the police station.”
“Me neither.” She sipped tea and told him what Gil had said about carving out a job for her in his company. “It’s a lot to think about.”
He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “But I hope you will.”
She raised her startled gaze to his, searching his features.
“What?” He drew a finger down her cheek. “I want you in my life. You know that.”
She caught her breath. “I do now.” She’d been hoping, but she hadn’t wanted to assume.
He grunted. “I guess Hawk was right. He said I need to tell you how I feel about stuff, so that’s what I’m trying to do. You know I love you, right?”
She nodded breathlessly. “You’ve mentioned it a few times.”
“When I say I want you in my life,” he added carefully, “I mean right by my side. I can’t predict what a future together would look like, between your work and my wilderness retreats, but—”
“Yes,” she cut in. Her heart was racing so hard that she wondered if he could hear it. “That’s what I want, too.”
His hand returned to her cheek. “Do you really mean it?” He looked awed.
“I do.” She was a breath away from weeping with happiness.
“I’m asking you to marry me, April.”
She found it adorable that he seemed to feel the need to clarify whether they were talking about the same thing. “And I’m saying yes.”
His dark eyes glowed into hers. “You do realize you just got yourself engaged to a Comanche?”
Emotion clogged her throat as she answered with a scripture she’d memorized from the Book of Ruth. “Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.” By the time she finished, happy tears were spilling down her cheeks.
His eyes grew damp. “That’s an answer I can live with.” He drew her closer to kiss her tenderly. “Now and forever.”
It was a while before either of them spoke again. They remained in each other’s arms, sipping tea and gazing over the railing at Heart Lake. The rippling blue water darkened with the sunset, picking up gleaming white and silver hues from the moon and stars.
April hated to raise his concerns in the middle of such a perfect evening, but she’d given her word to Kaya. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
He nuzzled her temple. “Does it have anything to do with where Bo drove Kaya this evening in an armored vehicle?”
She grew still. “Nothing gets past you, does it?”
“Not much.” His hard mouth nipped a gentle trail down the side of her face. “I knew whatever it was had passed your scrutiny, and that’s good enough for me.”
His words were humbling. She drew a bracing breath and told him everything. When she finished, a scowl rode his ruggedly handsome features.
An agonized apology rose to her lips. “Bear, I—”
He raised a finger to his lips to stop her. “I smell smoke.” He turned his head, giving the air a tentative sniff.
She did the same. “I smell it, too.”
They exchanged a troubled look and pushed away from the railing. April wasn’t sure where the smoke was coming from, but the only way down to the ground was through the building.
Smoke alarms blared as they stepped inside the building. An automated voice announced through the overhead speakers. “This is an emergency. Please evacuate the building. This is not a drill. This is an emergency. Please evacuate the building.”
Bear reached for her hand, and they sprinted together toward the elevators, but billowing smoke halted them in their tracks.
The hallway in front of her suite was on fire!
“To the stairs,” Bear ordered harshly.
They dashed into the stairwell, where they only made it past a few floors before they encountered a stampede of humanity. If he hadn’t anchored himself to April’s side like a sturdy tree, she might not have made it to the bottom without being trampled.
They burst through an emergency exit door that a firefighter was holding open. Hotel guests scattered like ants across the parking lot.
“What’s going on?” Bear paused by the firefighter, but the man waved them away from the building.
“Keep moving,” he barked. “We’ve got active fires on the third and top floors.”
April’s blood chilled in her veins, instantly assuming she, Kaya, and Bear had been the targets. “We need to tell the police.”
“The police are on the scene, ma’am,” the firefighter assured her. “Just keep moving. We’ve got an aid station going up.” He pointed east where a set of tents were being erected. “They’ll have everything you need.”
Bear kept a steely arm around her as they hurried to her car. The parking lot had a line of vehicles waiting to pull onto the road. People were hollering back and forth, calling to friends and loved ones. A few horns honked. Sirens blared as emergency vehicles approached. It was utter pandemonium.
As they reached her old white Volvo, a masked person darted around it and took off running. It was a woman in a ski mask and a black bodysuit. She wove her way between the vehicles.
April gave Bear a startled look, then tore off after her.
He remained at her side, pointing her around the opposite side of the vehicle he was running on. They reached the end of the long line of cars and converged on the masked woman, tackling her to the ground.
She kicked, clawed, and writhed for all she was worth, but they overpowered her.
Bear yanked off her mask.
A young woman lay there, trembling and weeping uncontrollably.
April’s lips parted in astonishment as she recognized her. “You?” It was Tiffany Masterson.
“She m-made me do it.” The tall, willowy college student’s eyes streamed with remorse and terror. Her blonde hair was pulled into a tight bun, and her shoulders were slumped in defeat.
She took one look at Bear’s menacing expression and made no further attempts to escape. “I never wanted to hurt anyone,” she babbled, sounding hysterical. “But she has my mom. I was afraid of what she’d do to her if I didn’t tie up the loose ends.”
April perceived she was looking at the person who’d set the fires at the hotel and dialed Luke. “On my way,” he snarled.
While they waited for Tiffany to be apprehended, April shook her head at the distraught college student. Though chaos was unfolding around them, it was the perfect opportunity to get a confession.
She fumbled for her cell phone, discreetly turning on the video recording button.
“How could you?” She rasped out the question, coughing from smoke inhalation and frustration.
“You were Kaya’s best friend! Roommates!
Study partners!” She shook her head helplessly.
“She trusted you, Tiffany.” Her voice broke.
Tiffany shrugged bitterly. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.” April dropped to her knees beside her, keeping her phone out of sight.
Tiffany wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve. “She didn’t give us a choice. It was either do this or do that, or my mom would go back to jail.”
“She.” April pounced on the word. “Who’s she?”