“If it was up to me, I’d say pack up and go home. Get away from this.”
“But you think I’m going to keep digging no matter the danger.” She’d never let go of a story in her life. What was happening here went much deeper than research to finish Dad’s book. This was a story, but she wasn’t entirely sure what it was about.
“While I believe you certainly have the tenacity to continue no matter what, I think packing up and going home isn’t going to make you safe. It isn’t going to save you.”
What did he know that he wasn’t telling her? His words chilled her to the bone, because she agreed. She wanted to leave for her safety, but go where? What then? Her father—if he was murdered because of what he’d learned—had been killed in DC, which was on the opposite coast. “And youare?”
“I intend to keep you safe, yes. I thought I made that clear.”
I can’t believe I’m in so much danger this guy andhis sheriff want to guard me.Not quite protective-custody danger, but maybe he knew she would never stand for that, and to find out the truth about what was going on, she needed to continue her research.
But that truth could get her killed too, if it had in fact gotten her father killed.
She felt his eyes still on her, as if he was waiting on a response from her. Oh, she had a response, all right. Her heart was pounding. It should be pounding because she was in this much trouble, this much danger, but instead, she knew it pounded for an entirely different reason...
The man with the steel-blue eyes who stood like a fortress between her and danger—as if she belonged to him.
22
In all his travels around the world, his assignments, and then that last reassignment to Octavia Dane, he’d never run into such an odd set of incidents connected to or surrounding an even odder search. He struggled to believe that any of it could be related to Cressida or her father’s research about theSpecter’s Bounty, but it seemed those questions stirred the waters and now they were frothing and would start to boil soon. He could feel it.
Octavia, what have yougotten me into?
He wouldn’t be here now if something big wasn’t brewing. His only choice was to keep moving forward—for Elise’s sake, and now for Cressida’s. His thoughts and prayers remained on Elise and her improvement, but maybe that’s why his brain had been ignoring the warning signals going off in his head when it came to Cressida.
She was at the center, if only because she’d stirred the waters. She stared up at him, absorbing the news he’d shared. He thought she’d be happy, but under the circumstances, she was surprised Mrs. Monroe would give her an interview, much less ask to see her.
“When does she want to see me?” she asked.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“I can’t imagine she would be in a good state of mind after shooting someone.” Cressida shifted back and forth in the sand. “Unless she thinks I’m connected to what happened.”
That’s what Braden intended to find out. “She shared that Madeline never mentioned you wanted an interview.”
“That liar. I would love to know what Madeline was doing working for Mrs. Monroe. What is her story?”
The wind gusted and rain started up. The weather was always changing. “I need to get you back. It’s late. I didn’t want to talk about this where anyone could hear us.”
“You can call off your bodyguards, you know.”
He arched a brow. “Why’s that?”
“I think I know who’s following me. I can’t be sure ... I need to look into it.”
“Or I could just talk to him like you suggested at the restaurant.” He rubbed his chin. “I should have done it then. Let me take care of it.”
“That’s fine. Please do. Bottom line is that I don’t want to be trapped in my room. I have work to do.”
They got back in his vehicle, and he took her to Cedar Trails and led her inside.
At the top of the stairwell, she turned to face him. “You don’t have to walk me to my room. I’m good now.”
I should just tell her, though she might notlike it. “I booked a room here too.”
Fire surged in her vibrant green eyes. “But ... what about the investigation? Don’t you need to be close to your headquarters?”
“Actually, this works out better. Everything I’m looking into is here on the coast, but this keeps me close to you too. As I mentioned, protecting you is my priority, and thatcomes from the top.” And she had no idea just how high from the top that came. Maybe he could figure out how to tell her what he’d been charged with hiding. That he was working for her mother, the currency an experimental drug to save his niece’s life.
