Chapter 17
Noah had witnessed a lot of stunning moments in his respective careers. Revolutions igniting with a single spark. A perilous rescue. Cities falling to their knees. Tense moments when he couldn’t see Dancer and had to run on faith.
But none of them compared to successfully navigating the most difficult and critical negotiation of his life.
She’d stayed.
One minute, Sabrina had both feet out the door, and then the next—well, he still wasn’t sure what had truly happened, not before or after she’d taken his hand.
All he knew was that she had. She’d stayed in that hotel room in Moab, and somehow, they’d managed to do exactly as he’d suggested: move on. Sort of.
Everything was fine as far as she knew. On his side, he had no idea what he was doing.
At least his premature declaration hadn’t ruined everything. There’d been a moment when he’d been one hundred percent convinced it would go the other way. Okay, several moments. Worst conversation of his life.
And the best. Because she’d stayed.
It changed everything and nothing at all.
She was still Sabrina—fierce and commanding and as unpredictable as a flash flood through Dark Canyon Wilderness.
But now he got it. They weren’t at the same place.
Not for the reasons Jacob had tried to warn him about though.
This wasn’t a case of a Noah hanging his heart out to dry for a woman who was just passing through.
This was a love match in progress. Or would be as soon as she got over whatever was holding her back. He just had to hang on until she realized he wasn’t going anywhere. Until she understood that he meant what he said and said what he meant. She could trust him.
Except she didn’t quite yet. Okay. He could live with that. He was used to jumping in with both feet and dealing with the splash damage later.
He skidded into a turn out off 191 and headed south from Dark Canyon, just shy of the Navajo Nation border.
He didn’t venture this direction often, as this part of the state didn’t have a whole lot of anything but a bunch of flatlands.
They called this area White Mesa for a reason. You could see for miles.
Sabrina had opted to meet him here, citing a “work thing” for why he couldn’t pick her up—which may or may not be legit—but as long as she came, he’d take her whatever way got him into her orbit.
Dancer’s head appeared between the seats, his cold nose bumping Noah’s ear. “Yeah, yeah. I know. She’ll be here. I’m not worried.”
Jacob’s cryptic text messages about suspicious activity in this sector would get her here if anything would.
His brother wouldn’t send him a breadcrumb about the Annie Ross case without good reason.
Had Noah shamelessly forwarded the text to Sabrina in hopes she’d want to join him?
Yes. Had Noah shamelessly suggested using it as a training vehicle for Ripley? Also yes.
Maybe Noah by himself might have been enough to tempt Sabrina into hanging out with him. But today wasn’t a day he felt like testing that. And fortunately, he didn’t have to.
Sabrina’s USFS vehicle pulled in just as Noah grabbed his gear.
He hadn’t realized how tight his shoulders were until they relaxed—slightly—as she hopped from the driver’s seat.
They were supposed to be figuring it out, but mostly that had consisted of not talking about it and dodging the slight strain that hovered around the edges of everything.
Which he needed to fix. Immediately.
“Bet Nathan Bradley doesn’t combine training sessions with fun stuff like chasing leads in a murder case,” he called, keeping it light until he could figure out how to get through this wrinkle between them.
“Nathan Bradley wouldn’t know fun if it bit him in the—” She cut off as Ripley bounded over to greet Dancer. “Let’s just say his teaching style made me appreciate yours more.”
“My methods are unconventional but effective.” He jammed his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her, which was difficult. But he did it. “Speaking of unconventional. Jacob wouldn’t give me any information about his tip. This could all be for nothing.”
Her eyes lit with that spark that he’d missed. “Would he do that? Give us a tip that wasn’t legit?”
“And take an opportunity to be a pain in my rear? Absolutely.”
“You guys don’t fool me. I can tell you care about each other.” Suddenly, she gave him a pointed look. “Why are you way over there? Do I not warrant a proper hello these days?”
Noah blinked and got his wits in order a second later, eating up the space between them, then scooping her up in his arms.
They locked gazes. Instantly, the weird tension dissolved.
She snuggled up in his embrace where she fit like she’d been made for this spot, settling his nerves and his heart in one shot.
“Hey,” he murmured as he nuzzled her cheek. “How’s it going?”
She laughed and it rumbled against his chest. “Fine. And you?”
“I missed you.”
“It’s been like two days since you saw me. And you saw a lot of me then,” she reminded him as if he needed reminding of the good parts of that trip to Moab.
Never one to shy away from laying it all out there, he pulled back and searched her impossibly blue eyes. “I can never see enough of you. But I didn’t want to crowd you.”
Sabrina’s gaze grew sober. “Which I appreciate. It’s important to me that you realize I’m the one figuring stuff out, not you. But you don’t have to stop being you. I’m pretty partial to you.”
That sent a dizzying wave of sparklers through his chest. “Then I’m going to kiss you and you better like it.”
She met his mouth without hesitation, but everything was different. Noah had never kissed Sabrina with the knowledge that he was in love with her shimmering between them. Sure, he’d known, almost from the very beginning, but she hadn’t.
Now that she did, it changed things. Softened them. Everything felt more wondrous, exploratory. As if she might be using this very moment to work through what it might be like if she let herself fall.
The beauty of it, of her, stole his breath.
Obviously, he hadn’t needed to hold back. So he poured all of his feelings into the kiss, telling her without any words how much he admired her, how he loved the snap, crackle and pop she always brought into the room.
Or onto the mesa, rather. A cold wind whipped across his ungloved hands as he spread them across her back, wishing he could pick her up and deposit her in the front seat of his truck so they could find a dozen ways to warm each other up.
But he didn’t. He stepped back because they were here for a reason. Annie Ross.
“That was a pretty good greeting, Colton.” Mischief crept into her expression. “But I suspect you can do better. We’ll test it next time.”
In the meantime, she was going to kill him. “I could do better now, but I was distracted by the fact that we’re outside in January and not here to let me show you how much I missed you.”
Her brows lifted. “Now you have me intrigued as to what you would have shown me. So probably you should switch gears to why we are here.”
Noah outlined what he’d inferred from Jacob’s text, which was nothing concrete, but enough weird reports to justify some creative location scouting disguised as SAR training.
“We can only assume it somehow connects to Annie Ross,” he said. “Or at least that’s the hope.”
“Let’s hope it’s not like Annie Ross.” She nodded toward where Ripley and Dancer waited at perfect attention. “I’d rather the dogs find someone alive. Basic search pattern to start?”
They fell into an easy rhythm, working the dogs through increasingly complex sequences. Noah found himself watching Sabrina more than the actual training. She’d taken to SAR work like she’d been born for it, her competitive streak melting into genuine passion for the work.
He could relate. Some things just got into your blood.
Like the way she moved with such fluid grace, anticipating Ripley’s needs before the dog even shifted position. Or how her whole face lit up when they nailed a particularly tricky sequence. The woman had intensity programmed into her DNA, same as he did.
They were a match. He could feel it in his bones. Did she?
“Earth to Noah.” Her voice snapped him back. “You’re supposed to be watching Dancer’s nose work.”
He grinned at her eye-roll. “Don’t need to. Your form is perfect. Unless you’d prefer an unbiased opinion. You’re welcome to go show it to Nathan Bradley.”
“You’re not letting that go, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
But before he could really get going with the Nathan-related teasing, Dancer’s posture shifted.
Just a tiny change that most people wouldn’t notice.
But Noah knew that particular realignment of muscle and bone, the way his partner’s entire body switched from training mode to something else entirely.
“Dancer?” The lab’s head came up sharply, nose working the air in that precise pattern that meant business. Real business. “What’ve you got, boy?”
Ripley picked up on Dancer’s change instantly, her own stance morphing to mirror his intensity. Noah’s pulse picked up. Two dogs alerting like this? Not a coincidence.
“Is Ripley copying him, or did she pick up something too?” Sabrina asked.
Noah kept his eye on the dogs, his old instincts hummed to life, the ones that used to keep him alive in much more dangerous places than Dark Canyon. “I think door number two. Dancer, show me.”
The lab moved with deliberate purpose, each step calculated as he led them deeper into the scrubby vegetation, Ripley a quarter of a length behind him. Dawn had barely started making an appearance, which meant visibility was low. Perfect time for someone to think they wouldn’t be spotted.
Sabrina fell into step beside him, her voice pitched low. “What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know.” He kept his own voice down, letting the dogs work. “But if Jacob’s tip is right, we might be about to discover what the definition of ‘suspicious activity’ is. Dancer doesn’t get worked up over nothing.”