He’d always had a passion for science.
Watching as Eva jogged into the kitchen, he followed her to the doorway and leaned back against the frame. What a picture they made, this woman and child—his woman and child.
The blood in his veins turned to ice water in an instant.
Twenty minutes ago, he considered himself a fundamental threat to Eva’s health and happiness. Now after a few gentle words and a little heavy petting, he was calling herhis woman? Abby was his flesh and blood—his responsibility—and he’d always take care of her. But Eva was a different story.
Maybe she was right, and he hadn’t crossed the line the night Abby was conceived. He sincerely hoped that was true. But that didn’t mean he was safe for her to be around, that he suddenly made decent relationship material, or that he was capable of being there for her and sharing her life.
It wasn’t fair to saddle Eva with a man like him, a broken man incapable of all the tenderness and depth of feeling she deserved.
He scratched his jaw just as Eva looked up and grinned at him, the baby squeezing little fistfuls of boob as Abby drank her fill. Gavin grinned back, knowing full well the gesture didn’t reach his eyes.
A single kiss wasn’t powerful enough to kill a dragon.
Eva was off-limits for her own good. Because when the bad guys were gone, she would go back to her world with their baby in tow, and he couldn’t lie to her in the meantime or pretend they’d be better off with him there.
The rumble of an engine in the distance snagged his attention. A vehicle was driving near the house, and his senses instantly went on high alert. He crossed to a kitchen cupboard in three long strides, his mind already playing out scenarios.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
He considered downplaying his concerns, but in the end found no reason to do so. Eva was strong. She’d proven that time and again. He pulled out his Sig Sauer and loaded the magazine with a satisfying click. “You hear that car?”
“Yes. What are you doing?”
“Cars don’t come by here.”
“Ever?”
“No. It’s all private property, one single landlocked parcel, and you’re sitting in the only house on it.”
She shrugged. “They must be lost.”
“Maybe. Or maybe they aren’t.” He grabbed a knife, a second magazine for his gun, and a taser, the last of which was in a simple holster he strapped to his thigh. Glancing at her face, he saw intense anxiety clearly registering in their depths. “It’s probably nothing,” he said, wanting to believe it but not believing it at all. “It’s not like there’s any way they could connect you to me, or this address. I’m just being cautious.”
He turned on his heel and headed for the backdoor, not seeing the fear that transformed Eva’s features. Because beyond the baby, there was one thing connecting them both. One single piece of paper she had wrestled with before completing in a determined flourish, one that had been filed in more government databases than she cared to count.
Government databases to whichpolicehad access, just like the location of hercompromisedsafehouse. She suddenly realized she and Abby weren’t safe here at all, and the odds of that vehicle being a mere lost driver were even slimmer than Gavin believed.
“Sweet Jesus,” she whispered. She hurriedly got to her feet and ran for cover, all semblance of safety wiped from her understanding in the space of a single heartbeat. “Gavin!” she snapped, and he turned toward her, one hand on the doorknob. “The birth certificate. Your name’s on Abby’s birth certificate.”
He cursed under his breath, then nodded once before stepping into the unknown. TheirSafe Havenwasn’t safe at all, and the enemy was closing in fast.
13
Gavin stood on the side of his house, the structure shielding him from view as icy air bit into his skin. He focused his binoculars on the Hummer parked in the woods as an uneasy drip of adrenaline churned in his gut like acid on an ulcer.
The vehicle was matte black, the finish absorbing the dull moonlight like a black hole. If he hadn’t heard its engine coming, it would be damn near invisible as it sat motionless and hulking on a stretch of government land.
The men inside were no joke, either. Three of them, from what he could see, though a well-outfitted group like this was likely just a satellite for the mothership of a larger piece of the organization. If HERO Force were on a mission like this, the chopper would be nearby, or another team of men staked out at the only exit from Gavin’s property. He had to assume these men had done the same.
Who the fuck were they? Police? A cop had been killed—a detective—but this seemed much bigger than Gavin had first imagined. He needed backup, and he needed it quickly. The car door opened, and his hand moved to thegun at his hip, his fingers brushing the cold metal as he slipped from the house into the shadows of the woods surrounding it.
He might have been hidden if it weren’t for the clear trail of footprints he left in the snow. But he needed the better vantage point more than he needed to be clandestine right now, so he’d take what he could get and run with it.
He thought of Eva and Abby in the house, wishing he’d given them more detailed directions before heading out here alone.Stay inside, he telegraphed to her now, as if their connection tethered them together on a more cosmic level. But all he got back was a deep sense of alarm, making him think he was crazy for attempting such sideshow communication in the first place.
Gavin stayed low, his breath a thin mist of microscopic frozen crystals as he watched the men spill out of the vehicle. He cursed under his breath. They were muscular, geared up in tactical black, and didn’t have a hint of hesitation between them. They moved with purpose, just as he would do in their position, and he said a silent prayer he would prevail in this battle for Eva’s life.
