“I wonder if she made it into Alabama without getting caught. Goddamn it, what did Ghost get me into?”
The line was quiet for a moment. “Are you going to turn her in?” asked Logan.
He hesitated. Ghost had sent this woman to him, but that alone wasn’t proof of her innocence. It was entirely possible he was on the wrong side of justice this time around, and he needed to find out the truth before he took this too far. “Not yet. She doesn’t know I saw the AMBER alert, and I’m not going to tell her. Hopefully Ghost gets back to me soon and I can figure out what’s really going on here.”
Wyatt hung up and climbed out of his truck, cool rain falling in the soft light of the predawn sky. He took in the breadth of the log cabin. It was a rental, not an official safe-house, but it would provide them shelter and anonymity for as long as they needed it.
A woman stood at the wide picture window, her body silhouetted from a golden glow behind her, and he swore he could feel the tension in Teslyn McGregor all the way from where he stood. He held up a hand in greeting. “You’d better fucking be telling me the truth about that kid,” he said, knowing full well she couldn’t hear him. “Or I will tear you apart with my own two hands.”
CHAPTER6
Teslyn’s hand went to her throat. That must be Wyatt, and while she had been waiting desperately for him to get here, she felt anything but safe as his hulking form waved to her stoically from the driveway.
She took a quick step back from the window.
How had she gotten dragged into this mess?
She didn’t want to be here, didn’t want to be afraid for her life, charged with protecting the younger sister she’d never even known she had. Adding insult to injury, once Ivy got some food in her stomach, she’d retreated into a shell that kept Teslyn firmly at bay. If she didn’t know better, Teslyn would say Ivy was afraid of her.
Now, they’d be sharing close quarters with a total stranger, the idea of which put her at ease as much as a sharpened pendulum swinging overhead.
At least the log cabin was cozy, with knotty pine floors and walls, giving the space a rustic feel. It should have been soothing, but a jumpy anxiety had settled beneath Teslyn’s skin the moment the police car chased them from the smoldering remnants of her mother’s trailer.
She crossed to the door and unlocked the thick deadbolt before he reached the door, not wanting the doorbell to wake Ivy. A bear of a man climbed the steps and stood before her. He was far taller than she, a description she’d rarely given any man in her life. He was intimidating, with strong features that lacked warmth and a gaze that made her long to cower. She lifted her chin. “I’m Teslyn.”
“Wyatt.”
She’d been expecting this man to be like Ghost—brawny and intimidating, for sure—but always kind and respectful above all else. But if first impressions could be trusted, Wyatt Sorenson was nothing like Ghost at all.
Wyatt raised his brows. “You gonna let me in?”
She longed to send him away, to tell him she didn’t need him here after all, but her options were beyond limited. There was no one waiting in the wings to come to her rescue, no friendly sheriff she could call in her hour of need. She was desperate all right, and this man was the only hope she had. She stepped back and gestured for him to enter. “Of course.”
He walked past her, the spicy scent of him mixing with the smell of his wet leather jacket. She wrinkled her nose and blew air out of her nostrils, not wanting to smell him at all. “Just be quiet. My sister’s asleep on the couch. She was too scared to be alone in the bedroom.”
“Is there someplace we can talk?”
She held her breath as she passed him, and led the way to the kitchen. The gleam of brown stone countertops contrasted with the wood cabinets, and she was struck by how the comfy cabin had changed to cold and dark the moment he walked in.
He shucked off his jacket, revealing a snug black shirt and perfectly molded jeans. “Can I get—” Her voice came out as a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again, feeling her cheeks heat. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Water.”
So, he wasn’t much for words. She pulled a glass from the cupboard and filled it from a water cooler. She held out the drink to him, his enormous hand touching her fingers as he took it, and she had to resist the urge to wipe her hand on her shirt.
She forced a small smile onto her face. “I can’t thank you enough for coming out.”
He drank the water down in one long gulp, then turned his assessing stare on her. She could feel it rake over her face and neck, then lower before coming back up to her eyes. He didn’t appear to like what he saw in the least. “Anything for Ghost.”
He was making it clear he’d only done this as a favor to his friend, not because he truly wanted to help her. She tucked her hands in the pockets of her jeans, a touch of sarcasm coloring her voice as she said, “I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything important.”
He put the glass down loudly on the counter. “I was about to leave on a mission. I had to send a teammate in my place.”
Why had he even come here, then? Just to make her feel bad for asking? “I’m sorry to have pulled you away.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, the position emphasizing his muscled arms. His expression was steely, his eyes intense. “Like I said, anything for Ghost.”
She nodded despite the knot of tension tightening in her belly. “Well, I am sorry you missed your trip.”
