Chapter 5 #3
He moved aside, and she hurried around to the other side of her Jeep and nodded to Cas as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the Suburban.
She slipped inside as Sebastian adjusted the seat for his longer legs and cleared the windshield.
She maxed up the heat and turned on both seat warmers because she was bone cold and assumed he was probably the same.
Sebastian reversed out and headed to the entrance. The police officer moved his cruiser back, and Nora spotted a crowd of TV news crews being corralled a hundred feet away.
“Head right.” She lowered her gaze and sank in her seat, heartbeat doing a bit of a jig.
They wouldn’t recognize her.
They wouldn’t link her past with this current case, would they?
The idea made her feel nauseous. The media storm she and her family had endured after her rescue had traumatized them all.
No way was she putting them through that again.
It had been almost as bad as the abduction, maybe more so, because she couldn’t remember that part clearly, whereas the aftermath she remembered all too well.
“I hope they don’t report the exact location or what we found today.” Sebastian’s expression was fierce as he glared into the rearview.
“They’ll say it’s a matter of public safety and the right to know.”
He flicked her an amused glance. “Doesn’t sound as if you agree with their ‘right to know’ any more than I do.”
Her shoulders were up around her ears. “It’s not that I believe the public doesn’t have a right to know, it’s just, I don’t think they have the right to know everything. And, if the one advantage we have is that Eastman believes we don’t know where he is…”
“Then there goes our meager advantage.”
“Exactly.” She kept her gaze focused ahead, grateful her fingers had begun to defrost.
“On the positive side, if he does use Starlink or a satphone, we can track him.”
“I guess.”
“Do you think he’ll have had the sense to find shelter?”
She exhaled. “I have to believe that he chose this trail for a reason and that he was prepared for the weather. The weather service has been forecasting this storm for days.”
“Yeah. I hope the guy is warm and snug in some cabin with his feet up and his belly full.”
She watched Sebastian’s gloved fingers clench around the steering wheel.
“…The idea of that little girl being out in these conditions.”
Memories flashed in her head. Lightning. Rain. A storm. She shuddered. At least she hadn’t had to deal with a blizzard.
“What made you get into law enforcement?”
She jerked in surprise.
Power? Control?
His words seem to convey genuine interest, but she wasn’t willing to open up, not when she was numb with fatigue and vulnerable to men with dark, pretty eyes.
“I always wanted to work for the National Parks Service.” She shrugged. “It’s a dream job, although the reality isn’t quite as idyllic as the posters suggest.” And sometimes dreams merged into nightmares. “What made you join the FBI?”
He gave her a tight smile. “Dream job.”
Ah. No more forthcoming than she was. “Take the next left. What were you before you joined the FBI?”
She was intrigued. She couldn’t help it. And he’d started it.
“Beat cop. Kansas City. Where I grew up.”
“Huh.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t look like you’re from Kansas, or Missouri.”
“Missouri.” A reluctant grin tugged on the corners of his mouth. “I get my rugged good looks from my mom. She was Brazilian.”
“Rugged good looks?” She laughed.
He grinned.
That explained the jet black hair and dark chocolate eyes. “How did your mom end up in Kansas City?”
His face fell into a neutral expression she recognized all too well.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
He shot her a quick look. “It’s okay. I don’t think about her often. She died when I was twelve.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What about you? Where are you from?”
Avoidance and deflection. She knew it well.
“Take this next turn. I’m about a mile up on the right. Red mailbox.” This was why she didn’t get involved with strangers. Her baggage was too cumbersome and heavy for casual conversations. “I grew up in Vermont. My family is still out that way.”
“You visit often?”
“Christmas or Thanksgiving usually.” Her brows grew heavy, thinking about the last time she’d been home.
Her mother believed she needed to get over the past and come home.
Her father still blamed himself, as stuck in the nightmare as Nora.
She didn’t want to talk about her family or her past. “Do you ever go back to Missouri?”
“Not if I can help it.” His lips were compressed. Eyes flat.
God help her, she wanted to know more. “Is your dad still alive?”
He shot her an amused look. “Unfortunately.”
“I see.” Her mailbox came into view. “Right, here.”
He pulled into her winding driveway. Glanced left and right through the trees. “You live out here alone?”
She saw the questions in his eyes now. Felt the glance at her gloved hands.
The interest, however, minuscule and not necessarily sexual, took her by surprise. “Yeah. It’s not so bad. Chance is a good alarm system, and I’m armed.”
“I was thinking more about how much time it must take to plow this driveway.”
“And there we have the fundamental difference between the sexes.”
He didn’t laugh even though she kept her tone teasing. He pulled up to her cabin. She opened the garage, and he drove inside.
If he spotted her old truck with the attached plow, he didn’t mention it.
She pushed open the Jeep door, every ache in her muscles screaming for Tylenol and a hot bath.
She opened the door for Chance and watched as he jumped out, a little revived by the short respite and food.
The Suburban was turning in the driveway.
Chance went into the woods to mark his favorite tree and then trotted over to the front door and stood there shivering as she collected the gear she needed.
“Here, let me help.” Sebastian took a heavy bag from her hands before she could argue, and she had no option but to follow him to the cabin. She unlocked the door, reluctant to let him inside her refuge but unable to block his way without drawing more attention to herself and her innate weirdness.
Chance scooted inside and jumped into his heated dog bed. She threw Cas a wave and went inside. Tossed her jacket on the hook beside the door and headed over to light the wood stove.
Sebastian placed the gear near the door and stood awkwardly for a moment. “I’ll let you get some rest. Thanks for all your hard work today.”
“You too.” Emotions crowded her, and she didn’t know why. Maybe because a little girl, even younger than she’d been when she’d been taken, was still out there. “Maybe see you around.”
“Yeah, maybe.” His eyes flickered over her.
She slipped her hands into her back pockets, wondering why he made her feel so off balance.
He stepped outside, hesitated, then glanced back. “We’ll find her.”
“I know.”
Their gazes connected, knowledge and unspoken worry passing between them. The question wasn’t whether or not they would find her, it was whether the child would still be alive when they did.