Hidden Away

CHAPTER 18

THERE was no ocean view. No sound of incoming waves and no cool breeze from the water. It was hot. The humid, cloying type of heat that made Sarah’s edgier than she already was.

She’d arrived the day before after hiding in a ridiculously small, run-down hotel room in a town she couldn’t even remember the name of. When she’d received Marcus’s email with explicit instructions, she’d been both fearful and relieved. As much as she didn’t want to involve her brother in her mess, she needed help and he’d provided wonderfully.

Fiona, the caretaker of the house Marcus owned, had stocked groceries and all the necessities, and as soon as Sarah arrived, she’d discreetly disappeared leaving only a telephone number where she could be reached if Sarah needed anything.

The area was remote but not without its escape routes. She’d spent every moment of her first hours here meticulously planning for any eventuality. She’d been a little—okay a lot—naïve when she’d arrived on the island weeks earlier. Not that she hadn’t been exceedingly cautious, but even so, she’d been caught unawares and without a way to protect herself. Escape route, yes. She’d made sure of that from the moment she’d arrived on Isle de Bijoux. But she hadn’t considered her own protection. Ridiculous, considering her circumstances.

It was no longer an issue. Thanks to Marcus, she now owned a gun and while she wasn’t exactly able to test-fire it, she’d been over every inch of the weapon, loading and unloading, testing the stiffness of the safety, the weight of the gun and how the stock rested in the cradle of her palm. It was big and a little awkward for her, but in a pinch, it would work.

She’d raised it, pointing at an imaginary enemy and tested her resolve to kill another human being. When all else failed, she pictured Allen Cross and imagined facing him down and putting a bullet through his heart.

She could look out for herself. It was time to look out for herself and stop being the scared, defenseless twit she’d turned into over the past year.

In a former life, she would have been able to stay on the island and perhaps enjoy a vacation romance with Garrett. He’d certainly seemed interested enough. He’d kissed her. She’d seen the way he looked at her. She wasn’t immune to the man despite the faint sense of alarm he raised whenever he was near.

No, it wasn’t fear of him as someone who posed a potential risk to her safety. It was the fear a woman had when she sensed a man who could overpower her senses and reduce her instincts to those of a primal being.

It was a heady sensation. It filled her mind and soul with a vibrancy that awakened a deep longing. To possess and be possessed.

Mocking laughter bubbled up in her throat as she stared at the lush terrain surrounding the house. She stood in the window and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She was running for her life and was standing here contemplating the what-ifs involving a fling with a hot guy.

But she was encouraged by the flare of attraction, the ability to think of a handsome man without fear and mistrust overwhelming her. It was ... a step in the right direction. Progress. Healing. Sweet, sweet healing.

Amidst such turmoil and the knowledge that her life was irrevocably changed, hope burned. That maybe, just maybe, her future wasn’t the bleak horizon it had been months ago. It was ... liberating.

Hunger drove her toward the kitchen. Reluctantly, she left her perch high above the surrounding acreage. Here she felt more secure. She could see an approaching threat.

The kitchen, while small, was well stocked and surprisingly had updated appliances. It was more modern than her apartment back in Boston. After checking the fridge and pantry, she decided to go for simple and made herself a sandwich. She’d cook later when she wasn’t feeling so antsy, as if someone would pop out of the woods at any moment and storm the house.

She poured herself a glass of wine and started to put the bottle up but then decided an entire bottle wasn’t a bad idea. It would definitely help take the edge off the previous days of all-consuming stress.

She tucked the bottle under her arm, picked up the saucer with her sandwich and then collected her wineglass with the other. She went back to the living room with all the windows and positioned herself so she had the best view. By the time she was halfway through her sandwich, she’d already refilled her glass twice.

Mellowed by the wine, exhaustion crept like a slow-moving fog, seeping through her veins until her limbs went slack and her eyelids were so heavy that she struggled to keep them open.

She kicked off her shoes and leaned forward to put her plate on the coffee table next to the almost-empty wine bottle. After staring a moment at her glass, she drained the contents and then slumped back on the couch, her head bouncing gently against the plump cushion.

Probably not the best idea to get soused when she was supposed to be on her guard, but she hadn’t slept in three straight days, and she was fried. She had to sleep or she was going to go crazy.

There was one other thing she had to do before she succumbed to exhaustion. She dragged her laptop over to her from the end of the couch and opened it. It took a moment for her computer to find the wireless network, and she held her breath, hoping the Internet connection was reliable enough for her to check her email.

The screen blurred and she reached up to rub her eyes and massage her forehead as she tapped at the keys with her other hand and completed the series of steps to access her account. Her connection was slow and it seemed to take forever for the page to load. When finally, the screen bearing the message that she had new emails popped up, she tapped impatiently at the keypad to access the content.

The first was merely one line.

Let me know you made it safely.

The second contained all the impatience and worry she knew Marcus was capable of.

Damn it, Sarah, what’s going on? Check in the minute you get this. I’m worried.

She opened a blank email and typed a short response.

I made it. Thank you. Please don’t worry. I’m waiting like you told me to.

She shut the laptop and pushed it toward the end of the couch. Her eyelids drooped more precariously than before. Sleep. Finally, fatigue was fast overtaking her. She glanced over to the end table to her right and reached out her hand to grasp the gun. After checking to make sure the safety was engaged, she placed it in front of her on the table by her discarded sandwich, making sure the weapon was within easy reach of her position on the couch.

She yawned broadly and welcomed the approaching oblivion of sleep. Aided by the wine and three days of adrenaline-induced wakefulness, she slipped under. But even so, her sleep was fractured and she dreamed of dark shadows and of something else entirely. She dreamed of Garrett.

GARRETT didn’t immediately intrude on Sarah’s newfound sanctuary. He spent the first day scouting the area, keeping his ear to the ground and making damn certain that he wasn’t walking into a trap—and furthermore that when he did make his presence known, they’d have a clear escape path.

Donovan was positive that the house Sarah was holed up in belonged to Lattimer, which meant Sarah had been in contact with him since leaving the island. He was going to have to talk fast and make damn sure Sarah didn’t contact him again after Garrett made his presence known or his cover would be blown to high heaven.

Whatever had prevented her from accepting help from her brother before evidently had gone out the window as soon as she’d run scared. Or maybe this had been the plan all along. Who knew how Lattimer thought. It pissed Garrett off that Sarah’s brother had left her vulnerable for so long while she was on the island. If she was so damn important to him, then Lattimer should have hauled her away to one of his many holdings whether she liked it or not.

As a result of Sarah’s flit, Garrett had no idea what he was getting into. For all he knew, Lattimer could be here with her, although it would make him the dumbest son of a bitch on the planet, and Lattimer hadn’t stayed alive as long as he had by being stupid. Still, stranger things had happened, and one thing Garrett had learned in his years in the military and the missions that KGI had taken over the years, was that crazy shit happened all the time and rule number one was to be prepared for anything.

He shifted his backpack, and switched his rifle to his other hand as he climbed another hill in the wooded area surrounding Sarah’s house. He was nearing an end to his recon after having made a complete 360 of the terrain. What he’d seen so far pleased him. There was no sign of recent activity, no indication that anyone had found her before he had. But still he paid careful attention to the smallest indicator that anyone but him had been watching the house.

He rested on his stomach and moved his field glasses to his eyes. He trained them on the many glass windows of the house. The openness made him twitchy, although it being one of Lattimer’s holdings, it was likely all state-of-the-art bulletproofed.

Garrett scowled even harder when he found her, standing at one of the windows looking out with a worried frown. It didn’t matter if the glass was bulletproof or not. Her parading around in the opening was an invitation to anyone hunting her.

He was going to have a long talk with her about safety measures just as soon as he explained to her the magnitude of the danger she was in. Hell, everyone in the world wanted a piece of her. Resnick was probably having a kitten right this moment and would be breathing hard down Sarah’s neck. If Donovan had found Sarah, so could Resnick.

He didn’t even want to think of who else was looking for her. The break-in on the island still weighed heavily on his mind.

When he was through with his surveillance, and satisfied that an immediate threat didn’t exist, he stashed his gear between two rocks and began the slow journey toward the house. He’d get his equipment after his come-to-Jesus moment with Sarah. If he barged in fully armed, he’d only scare the shit out of her, and she was already going to have a big enough what-the-fuck moment over his arrival. And he didn’t have chocolate to wave under her nose this time.

Since he didn’t want her to have any advance warning of his coming—she’d probably take off again—he was careful to keep his approach disguised and circled to the back edge of the property so he could access the back entrance.

Subtlety had never been his strong point, but now he warred between whether to knock like he was some casual guest—yeah, right—or just break in the back and corner her before she got any crazy notions. He was confident in his ability to talk fast once he was in.

He’d rather go in, explain later. Much more his style.

When he reached the solid wood door from the back terrace, he gave the knob an experimental tug. At least she’d locked it. He moved to the window a few feet from the door and peered in. He felt like a damn creepy stalker, and if she saw him, she wouldn’t have reason to believe otherwise.

“Get in first. Explain later,” he muttered.

She was a mission, and he shouldn’t feel like he had to apologize for making sure she was safe.

“Keep telling yourself that, buddy. Maybe you’ll believe it.”

Christ. Now he was having pussy conversations with himself. Maybe he should have let Donovan take the job after all. It was apparent he was losing his damn mind.

After peering in, he didn’t see her, and it was likely she was still standing by the damn windows in the front. He tested the window and found it locked as well. Not just locked, but there were sticks between the top of the sill and the middle to reinforce the security. No one would get in unless they broke the panes.

So it was back to the door.

He took out the small pouch that held his “tools.” Hell, it had been a damn long time since he’d resorted to a breaking-and-entering that didn’t involve explosives. It took him longer than he’d like, but he finally jimmied the lock and carefully opened the door.

Only to find two chains that prevented it opening more than two inches.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered.

There was no quiet way to do this. He didn’t exactly carry around bolt cutters.

So he’d make an entrance anyway, despite his resolve not to scare the daylights out of her.

He pulled back and then rammed his shoulder into the heavy wood. It took two attempts before the chains gave way and he sprawled into the house. He hit the floor and rolled. Only to stop in front of a pair of female feet.

If he expected her to scream, panic or have an otherwise girly reaction, he was dead wrong. When he glanced upward, he was staring down the barrel of a fucking cannon. Jesus, she was holding a goddamn Desert Eagle .50 cal. When he looked higher, he met with one pissed-off woman. He dropped his gaze again to the gun to see that she had a haphazard grip around the stock, and worse, the safety was off, and her finger was curled way too tight around the trigger.

“Sarah,” he said in a low voice.

“You bastard,” she hissed. “It was you all along, wasn’t it? You weren’t there on some vacation. Someone sent you after me.”

“In a manner of speaking,” he said mildly, still keeping a very close eye on her trigger finger. “But if I’d been sent to kill you, you would already be dead.”

Confusion flickered across her face. Clearly that hadn’t been what she’d expected to hear. “Did Marcus send you?”

Interesting that she seemed to think someone else would have sent him. He’d get to that later. Right now he had to be damn convincing. “Yes. He sent me.”

Her brow furrowed and she took a step back although she kept the damn gun pointed at him, and the problem was where she had it pointed—though he wasn’t going to take the chance of pissing her off by asking her to target a different portion of his anatomy. There was a humiliating medical report he had no desire to file. Having his nuts shot off by a pissed-off woman.

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she stared down at him. “Who is Marcus? And you better know all the answers or I’m going to shoot.”

There was a firm set to her chin. Her lips were pressed tight and her eyes glittered, and it wasn’t with fear. No, she seemed more than capable of shooting him just because she was pissed off.

“Can I get up?” he asked calmly.

“No. Stay down. Start talking.”

He sighed. He took a shot that Resnick knew what the hell he was talking about and hoped he wasn’t wrong. “Your brother sent me. He doesn’t want you unprotected.”

Surprise made her suddenly unsteady, and he tensed, hoping she didn’t shoot him by accident. Then her eyes narrowed again. “Why wouldn’t he say anything?”

“When exactly would you have had this heart-to-heart?” He took another stab and hoped he was right about Sarah not being in constant contact with Lattimer. He suspected she corresponded solely by email, judging by how fanatical she was about that damn laptop. “Your brother isn’t the type to spell things out through an email. Nothing’s one hundred percent secure, you know. Plus, he didn’t want to worry you. My job was to stay close and make sure you stayed safe.”

She frowned. “So why all the elaborate charade? You didn’t have to date me to watch out for me.”

He met her gaze and remembered kissing her. Remembered touching her and stroking his hands over the curves of her body. And what he was about to tell her, while a lie, would be the absolute truth if her brother really had hired him to protect her.

“I wanted to spend the time with you. You intrigued me.”

“So all that bullshit on the island was just you making sure our paths intersected repeatedly so you could do a job?”

The note of incredulity in her voice was hard to miss. As was the sarcasm. But there was also a hint of hurt in her voice that twisted the knife a little further in his gut.

“Hell no, and I think you know that.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head for a moment. The hand holding the gun wavered precariously, and he seized the opportunity before she accidentally pulled the trigger and made a woman out of him.

He rolled and grasped her wrist, pointing the gun toward the wall. Then he squeezed until she yelped in pain and the gun dropped with a clatter to the floor. He immediately eased off her wrist but held on while he reached for the gun with his other hand.

Still holding on to her hand, he hoisted himself up and then turned her arm over and rubbed his thumb over the mark he’d made on the inside of her wrist. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She yanked her arm back and clutched her arm to her chest, her eyes troubled as she stared nervously at him.

“Who are you?”

He popped the clip out of her gun and pocketed it before laying the pistol on a nearby end table. “My name is Garrett. I didn’t lie about that.”

“That tells me precisely nothing.”

“I work for different people,” he said. “I protect people. It’s what I do.”

She arched a delicate brow. “You’re a mercenary?”

“If you’re asking if I take money in return for my services, then yes. I don’t work for free.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And how much are you being paid to protect me?”

“Does it matter? What’s important is that I keep you safe. I’d think you’d take a keen interest in that part.”

“And you expect me to trust you. Just like that.”

He had to control the wince. Yes, he wanted her to trust him even as he fed her a huge lie. He went on the offensive instead.

“If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead,” he said bluntly. “I damn sure wouldn’t have gone through an elaborate charade to get close to you, and I damn sure wouldn’t have kissed you.”

Her eyes widened and he kicked himself for bringing it up. He wasn’t trying to be manipulative and make it about emotions though it would certainly look that way in the end.

“Why did you then?”

“Because I wanted to.” That much was the truth.

She didn’t look like she knew what to say to that. Confusion flickered in her eyes and then she turned away, her hands going to rub at her temples. When he walked around enough that he could see her face again, her utter fatigue flashed like a neon sign.

“When was the last time you slept?” he demanded.

She looked even more startled by the question. Her hands came away from her head and she stared at him like he was a puzzle she couldn’t quite figure out.

“I don’t get you, Garrett. I don’t get any of this. Why are you here? I don’t need you.”

“The hell you don’t.”

She raised her hand again and pressed her open palm to her forehead. “Let me rephrase then. I don’t want you here. Go home. I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want Marcus involved. Just leave me alone.”

He snorted, growing more irritated by the minute. “You really think you can go it alone? Sarah, you’re a victim waiting to happen. Hell, you’ve been standing in front of the windows, gawking around like an idiot.”

Her head snapped up and she glared at him, her eyes flashing. “You’ve been watching me?”

“Hell yeah, I have. I’ve been here for two days scouting and making damn sure you weren’t followed. You haven’t exactly made it hard for anyone to find you. You may as well hang up a neon sign that says ‘Sarah Daniels Is Here’ and paint a big red X on your forehead.”

She covered her face with her hand and closed her eyes. “God, I was careful. I thought I was careful. Am I deluding myself? I don’t know anything about hiding. I’ve never had to hide.”

She looked dangerously close to collapsing. Her shoulders slumped in a gesture of defeat, and she looked so damn small and vulnerable. He stepped forward, fully intending to pull her into his arms, but he hesitated. On the island he wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but it was different now. He’d misled her. She probably thought everything that happened on the island was merely an effort to gain her trust. And while that had been his initial intention, it sure as hell wasn’t why he kissed her or why he was dying to do the same right here and right now. Only now he’d upped the stakes. He’d never outright lied to her before now.

“Sarah,” he said in a low voice.

She looked up, her eyes raw, exhaustion practically screaming back at him.

“I don’t expect you to fully trust me yet, but right now you don’t have a hell of a lot of choices. Until I know what the threat to you is and eliminate it, you’re stuck with me. That has nothing to do with your brother or anyone else. It has to do with you being safe, and I’ll do whatever I have to in order to make that happen.”

“Why? Why would you care?”

He stared back at her for a long time. “I care. Let’s just leave it at that.”