Chapter Five
Bree waited for the knock at her door she’d known would be coming from the moment she saw Tanner Dempsey in the diner. She’d done her best to avoid eye contact with the sexy officer but had no doubt he’d be showing up here soon.
He wanted answers. And he didn’t strike her as someone who would stop until he got them.
Should she run? Try to get out before he arrived?
She looked around the small one-bedroom apartment that Dan and Cheryl were letting them stay at as part of her “salary.” The last eight nights had been the closest Bree had come to a full night’s sleep in the six weeks since her life had been thrown into total upheaval with the care of the twins.
Those babies were a piece of her now. She would do anything to protect them, even what was almost impossible for her: trusting other people.
She didn’t know exactly why the Andrewses were helping her, just knew right now she didn’t have any other options, so she would accept it. She had a door that locked, a general feeling of security and their basic needs were being met.
Maybe she wasn’t exactly doing a great job with the twins’ care—Christian still cried all the time, obviously subconsciously aware in his little baby brain that Bree wasn’t a qualified caretaker—but hopefully if Melissa could see them now she wouldn’t completely regret her decision to trust Bree.
And being safe here had allowed Bree to start looking into the data on the hard drive Melissa had sent with the twins.
Very, very carefully.
The data on it could only be accessed by pinging off the Organization’s own servers. Bree was an expert at covering her tracks, but nobody could completely hide from them while simultaneously attempting to access their own network. The best she could do was make them think she was harmless.
And that she definitely wasn’t Bethany Malone, the hacker genius they’d helped create, forging her in brutality.
But coming at the data this way was slow, especially when Bree wasn’t sure what exactly she was accessing and how it might help Melissa.
She just knew she had to take some time to try while she was relatively safe, even if it meant working for hours at night after already putting in long shifts during the day.
Christian began to cry, so she picked him up, walking back and forth while rubbing his back. “Come on now, kiddo. I’ve had a full day on my feet. How about if you settle down so I can worry myself sick before the big bad cop arrives.”
Beth, unlike her cranky brother, stayed asleep, as she tended to do. Even when she was awake, she was all smiles and big eyes. But both of them were growing more every day. Staying awake a little longer. Showing just a little more personality.
Soon they wouldn’t be content to stay in their carriers most of the time. They’d want to sit up and look around more. Not long after that, they’d begin crawling.
That was beyond scary to think about.
“I know your mama misses you, buddy. She wouldn’t believe how big you’ve gotten in the weeks since she’s seen you. I’m going to try to get you back to her real soon.”
As if those were the words Christian had been waiting to hear, he snuggled into her shoulder and closed his eyes.
Bree had only known these beautiful babies for a few weeks, and she already knew it was going to tear a hole in her when she had to give them back to Melissa.
But that was stupid. Bree had been completely alone for the past three years since her mom died, and really even before that, when her mom had started to deteriorate. She was used to being alone. Loved being alone. A few weeks couldn’t change her entire outlook on life.
But she was already afraid it had.
The knock she’d been expecting finally came. Now she was about to find out whether the choice to stay here was taken out of her hands. She opened the door.
“Officer.” She gave a nod of greeting.
“Looks like you were expecting me.”
God, he was still as sexy as she’d remembered. Half a foot taller than her with thick black hair and warm brown eyes, before she quickly looked away from them. He was dressed in jeans and a beige Henley that molded over his chest.
Studying his shoulders and biceps, Bree let herself imagine what it would be like to be in the arms of a man. Not any man, this man. Being on the run most of her life hadn’t left time for any sort of relationships. Not friendships and definitely not romantic entanglements. She’d never wanted to.
But, now...
She finally looked up and found him staring down at her. He was waiting for her to speak. “Um, yeah, I realized you would probably have some questions about why I was still in town.”
He gave a nod. “Can I come in?”
“If I say no, are you going to arrest me?”
“Have you done anything for me to arrest you for?” One dark brow raised.
“Not today.” She meant it as a joke, but he was obviously taking her seriously.
“Then I guess I won’t be arresting you today. And if you tell me I can’t come in then I’ll leave. But I’ll take Mrs. A’s lemon pie with me.” He held up a paper bag.
Her mouth immediately watered. “That’s not fair, it’s my favorite. How did you know?”
“You’re breathing, aren’t you? Of course it’s your favorite. It’s everybody’s favorite. If it wasn’t your favorite then I would have to arrest you.”
She gestured for him to enter. “Since you have pie.”
“I also have a chicken sandwich from Mrs. A. She said you left without getting your normal meal and that you weren’t allowed to have the pie until you ate it.”
She took the bag and turned back toward the small kitchen table in the corner. He followed her in, closing the door behind him.
“Cheryl says I don’t eat enough.” Bree put the chicken sandwich on a plate. “She makes me eat at least one meal at the diner every day.”
He chuckled, a casually confident sound that mesmerized her. Bree couldn’t remember ever chuckling like that in her life. And if she had, it definitely wouldn’t have sounded that sexy.
“Mrs. Andrews says everyone doesn’t eat enough. I would find it less suspicious if she wasn’t the owner of a restaurant. But in your case, I think she might be right. Between being a new mother and working every day, you’re probably burning a lot of calories.”
“Do you want any of this sandwich?” She gestured for him to sit with her, but he shook his head.
“No, thanks. I already ate plenty.”
She nodded. “So, Dempsey. Is that the same Dempsey as the teenager that comes in a couple times a week to help out at the diner?”
“That would probably be my cousin Robbie. My father’s brother’s son. I’ve got a lot of family that lives around here. How about you, got any family?”
She took another bite of her chicken sandwich. “None here in Risk Peak.”
He leaned against the wall, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “Oh, I’m damn sure I would know it if you lived around here, believe me. Got any family anywhere else?”
She took another bite of chicken and chewed it slowly, more to give her time to decide what to say. She had a driver’s license that said Bree Daniels. If he checked that out, it wouldn’t bring the whole world crashing down. So she was probably best off sticking with it.
“No, no family. Just me.”
He tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing. “And the babies.”
“Of course.” Damn it. She was so used to thinking of herself as alone. “Christian and Beth.”
“And their father? He’s family, too, in a way. He around anywhere?”
She stuffed more food in her mouth. “He’s not in the picture.”
She didn’t know if the twins’ father was friend or foe. There were so many things she needed to ask Melissa. Every day she waited for that phone to ring, but it never did.
He let her finish eating without any more questions, but she didn’t deceive herself into thinking he was done. She immediately unwrapped the pie when she finished her sandwich. Partially to hold off more questions, but she hadn’t been lying when she said it was her favorite.
“It looks like Cheryl put two slices in here. Do you want one?”
He nodded and sat down with her at the table. She got him a fork, and they both began to eat. She was only on her third bite when she looked over and found him finishing his.
“That’s good pie,” he said, shoveling the last bite into his mouth.
Bree watched with wide eyes, scooting her plate closer to her protectively. “You’re not one for savoring, are you?”
He leaned back in his chair and smiled.
Good God, that smile was lethal.
She sat frozen as he reached across the table and wiped a little piece of pie that had gotten caught on the corner of her mouth.
He brought the crumb up to his lips and licked it off. “Oh, I’m definitely for savoring when the time is right. For savoring every little bit as long as possible.”
She had the distinct feeling they weren’t talking about pie anymore.
But then he straightened in his chair, breaking the spell.
“But when it comes to one of the Sunrise lemon pies, I had two siblings and a mother and father all vying for as much of one pie as possible every Saturday evening when I was growing up. Whoever finished first generally got to eat whatever bits had been left in the tray. I learned how to eat my slice in three bites when it counted.”
She put another bite in her mouth and chewed slowly. Except for the meals she’d eaten at the Sunrise Diner over the last week, she’d never really eaten with anyone else. Even her mother hadn’t been interested in family meals at the table. She’d been too paranoid.
“Wow.” She took another bite quickly, not completely sure he wouldn’t try to make a grab for hers. “I guess you can buy your own pie now.”
“Yeah, but sometimes my brother, sister and I still take a turn at it when we’re together for a meal. My mom gets in on the action, too.”
She could almost imagine it. A table full of grown people eating the delicious dessert as fast as they could to fight for leftovers.
It seemed...nice.
“Did your dad wise up? Does he stay out of the fray now?”