Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Cap opened the passenger door for Emma, and she stepped onto the running board, then into his truck. He slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“I don’t live that far from here,” he said.
The man’s words sounded distant, muffled, like she was underwater.
“Uh-huh,” she acknowledged.
He pulled out of the downtown police department parking lot and hung a right, traveling away from the bay.
If she never went on the waters of Sturgeon Bay or Lake Michigan again, it would be too soon.
Today’s events erased any fond memories she had of boating.
Not that she had that many, but she had some.
Her friend’s dad had taken them tubing several times years ago.
That had always been fun. But no more, no thank you.
All she’d wanted was a nice, relaxing day on the water when she’d set out this morning. Instead, it turned into a nightmare.
Jonathan was probably…her throat closed at the thought of Jonathan’s status. And poor Carly, what had become of her friend? She choked back a sob. Now, here she sat in a truck with a near stranger, about to spend the night alone with him in his home.
She glanced at Cap. He seemed trustworthy.
Grounded. The chief of police let him take her home, so the chief trusted him.
The captain trusted him. The investigator trusted him, so she should trust him, too, right?
Those warm, dark eyes of his emitted empathy and trustworthiness, making her feel marginally less adrift, but she’d once trusted Jonathan, too.
“Look how that turned out,” she said to herself.
She wrapped her arms around herself and stared out the windshield.
“Are you okay?” Cap asked.
Turning her head, she refocused on him. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
“I can understand that. Know that I won’t let anything happen to you.”
There was no bravado in his voice. Just certainty. She believed him.
They crossed over the highway, then drove up a slight hill past a few large homes on the right and modest ones on the left.
They got to a wooded area with homes located few and far between.
The blinker clinked, and Cap turned down a short gravel driveway that cut through the trees.
The headlights illuminated a log home with a wraparound porch.
The door of the two-stall garage rolled open, and he pulled into the right stall. A UTV was parked in the other spot.
Cap cut the engine and swung open his door.
She opened her door and admired the tidy garage.
A kayak hung on the side wall along with some snowshoes and skis.
Shelving units filled with camping gear lined the wall in front of the truck.
This guy was outdoorsy for sure. Not like her at all.
Exercising was her thing, but she was a gym kind of girl.
And now, after what she’d encountered today, water sports were completely off her list.
She slung her purse along with the bag she’d packed for the boat ride over her shoulder and followed him into the house.
Cap tossed his truck keys onto the kitchen island, and they clinked against the granite countertop. Then he walked over to the refrigerator and yanked it open.
He turned his head and looked at her. “Do you want one?” he asked, displaying a bottle of beer to her.
At her hesitation, he added, “I might have a bottle of wine around here somewhere.”
Not that she didn’t want to respond to him, it was like her brain was acting in slow motion. She was exhausted, scared, and just plain didn’t know what to do or say at this point. Maybe a beer would settle her nerves.
“A beer is fine,” she finally squeaked out.
He twisted off the caps and handed one to her over the top of the island, his fingers stopping just short of brushing hers.
They stood on opposite sides and stared at each other briefly before he took a swig from his bottle. She set her purse and bag on a stool, then took a sip of her beer and set the bottle on the countertop.
“Taste good?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“The beer. Do you like the beer?”
She looked at the dark bottle to find her sip had been more of a swig. In one draw, she’d chugged down about a third of the contents.
She sighed a bit in frustration at his observation.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. It’s been a tough day, and I was just trying to make small talk.”
“It’s okay. I’m a little on edge.”
He nodded and took another swig of his beer.
The silence that followed was awkward, but not uncomfortable enough to flee.
She spun around to look at the living room behind her.
It was nice. Inviting. Warm. Not the feel she’d expected from him.
A big TV hung on the wall next to a stone fireplace.
Two brown leather recliners faced the television, and a matching couch lined the divider between the kitchen and the living room, facing a wall of windows with a large sliding glass door.
To her right was a hallway leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms, she presumed.
Both the kitchen and living room had dark hardwood floors, but the hallway had carpet. A couple of deer mounts hung high on the wall on either side of the fireplace. Other than that, there wasn’t a lot of wall art, but what there was had an outdoorsy theme.
“You have a beautiful home.”
“Thanks.”
“I take it you enjoy outdoor sporting activities.”
He arched a brow.
“I saw the kayak and camping stuff in the garage, and then the deer mounts,” she said as she pointed to them.
A smile stretched on his face.
“I do. My whole family does. My brother, sister, and I used to work as fishing, hiking, and hunting guides for my Uncle Lee, who owns Yooper Adventures. We still help him out sometimes when he needs us. It was the best job I ever had.”
“You didn’t want to stay in the U.P. and keep doing that?”
“It was a summer gig when I was in high school and college. Uncle Lee paid us pretty well, but it wasn’t the kind of wage you can make a living on, unless you own the place.”
“So, you went to school for law enforcement, but then found your way back to working outdoors?”
“Exactly. I was in law enforcement for almost fourteen years before I started charter fishing full-time. I did it part-time until I made the switch.”
She nodded and took a sip of her beer.
“Less stress?”
“Until today.”
Her gaze dropped to the countertop.
“I’m so sorry. I should have known something was wrong with Jonathan. I keep replaying everything, wondering how I missed it…seeing his true colors. Now, because of me…” she paused and swallowed hard, “Carly is missing.”
“Listen. This wasn’t your fault. You just got caught up in something beyond your control.”
She met his gaze and held her hand up.
“It is my fault. I thought I loved him, and as we got closer to the wedding, I began to question myself. Something just seemed off. I didn’t say anything to anyone because I thought I was just getting cold feet, and my parents loved him.
Everyone loved him. Honestly, I felt a little bound by everyone else’s feelings and the idea of getting married.
Then, when he dumped me. I was angry. Why, I’m not sure, because he gave me the out that I wanted.
What a blessing being dumped turned out to be.
As a trained observer, you must think I’m stupid for falling for a guy like Jonathan and not seeing his true colors. ”
Cap shifted from foot to foot and crossed his thick arms over his chest. His facial muscles tightened, and a blood vessel swelled on his right temple and ticked. Too much reaction for a story that wasn’t his.
What had she said that put him on the defensive?
Her cheeks warmed. She’d revealed too much of her personal information to this man she hardly knew.
She should have realized that when she was doing it.
Somehow, the words kept pouring out of her mouth as if they were old friends, which they were not and probably never would be.
They were two very different people. She shot her gaze around the room.
Two different people with very different likes.
“I’m sorry for dumping all this on you. I shouldn’t have. And I’m very sorry you got involved in this mess. I should have just gone home with Morgan and Hailey.”
“No! You shouldn’t think that. I don’t think you are stupid at all. People like him know how to manipulate others. It’s not right, but they don’t care.”
His quick and firm response startled her.
“And going home wouldn’t be a good idea. I suspect you’ll hear from the drug dealers, and we’ll need to deal with them. You can’t do it alone. It’s too dangerous.”
“Here you left that stressful job, and I dragged you right back into it.”
“No worries. I miss it sometimes. The work.”
“I bet you were good at it.”
The tension in his body seemed to dissolve, and his mouth lifted into a smile.
“I’ll show you to your room,” he said as he gestured for her to follow him. Letting her know he was finished with this conversation.
He led her down a narrow hall and stopped at the first door on the left.
“Here’s the bathroom.”
He took a couple of steps and entered the room on the right.
“You can stay in here.”
The room held a queen-sized log bed covered in a quilt with a bear picture on it.
Shams in perfect place with a couple of matching throw pillows.
The curtains matched the quilt. A tall chest of drawers was on the opposite wall from the bed.
The walls were bare except for a large rectangular mirror with a wood frame.
“Looks nice. Thank you.”
“Down the hall to the left is an office, and my bedroom is the door at the end of the hall.”
She nodded.
“So, you’ll be okay?” he asked.
Would she? She didn’t feel okay, but the circumstances were what they were, and she knew Cap’s home was probably the safest place she could be right now.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.”
A spark flashed in his irises. Was that a blush that rose on his cheeks? He hesitated as if there was something else he wanted to say, but then thought better of it.
He spun and left the room.
Cap’s face burned. For chrissake, he was a sucker for a woman in distress.
It wouldn’t be so bad, but the beat-down look in Emma’s gaze practically caused him to pull her into his arms and assure her everything would be okay.
Unfortunately, the men they were dealing with could make that assurance a full-blown lie.
He was on edge and probably wouldn’t sleep a wink between the danger and the mere fact she was in the room next to him.
She had awakened a set of feelings he no longer felt capable of.
Not since his own engagement imploded five years earlier.
His ex and best friend’s betrayal had carved permanent hurt and awareness into him to the point he vowed to trust no one on that level again, except for family.
He recalled Emma’s comment about being a trained observer. The context nearly made him laugh. Some trained observer he was. Love made fools of everyone.
He stripped down to his boxers and slipped between the sheets of his large bed; the coolness of them was refreshing, but even with his body as exhausted as it felt, his mind buzzed, preventing him from sleep.
When would the Colombians make contact? Would they find Emma? What had become of Carly?
An old familiar pressure settled in his chest, the one that he’d tried to run from when he left his work as a narcotics investigator. Convinced the stress would kill him if the dealers didn’t get to him first.
He closed his eyes and cycled into his breathing exercises.
In through the nose, hold, let it out slowly. Repeat.
His nerves calmed with each round.
Now, if only there was something he could do about his palpitating heart as visions of the drop-dead gorgeous woman in the next room played through his mind.
He recalled her dark hair gleaming under the glow of the kitchen lights, her smooth skin, and expressive ebony eyes that revealed everything she felt.
She held a subtle beauty that snuck up on a person. If only she didn’t look so scared.
He rolled onto his side and buried his head under his pillow, then he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Closing his eyelids, he willed himself to fall asleep. How could he be so exhausted yet not be able to fall asleep? The danger? The intrigue? The woman in the next room?