And maybe, if he stopped coming around as much, she’d get lonely and move to St. Louis. It would be far less bothersome to swing by to see her there, and if she was closer, he’d have more opportunities to convince her to let him handle her affairs.
As he approached the clearing behind the house, he paused.
A light was still on in the guest cottage, meaning Cara hadn’t gone to bed yet. Not surprising. He’d finished much earlier tonight than usual. Less than an hour into his search.
No worries, though. He’d stay in the shadows until he got to the house. And since the sheriff hadn’t managed to get his security cameras installed yet, he didn’t have to dodge that potential trap either.
Nor would he ever have to.
He continued toward the back door, hugging the edge of the woods as he fished his key out, relief washing over him.
His search was over. The treasure was in hand, and no one would ever be the wiser.
He was safe.
And he’d never have to use the second vial of suxamethonium chloride he’d pilfered at the vet hospital—just in case—while Chloe attended to the canine emergency that had interrupted their date last week.
NATALIE LOOKED WORSE TODAYthan she had on Monday—which was saying a lot.
As Cara set her laptop on the worktable in the study Thursday morning, she eyed the deep, parallel channels on the woman’s forehead, her slight pallor, and the tremble in her fingers as she reached for her glasses.
Whatever was bothering her was getting worse.
And her distress was impossible to ignore.
“Good morning, Cara.” Natalie put on her glasses and picked up the journal. Opened it to the bookmarked page. “Ready to dive in?”
“Not quite.”
Natalie looked up. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I should askyouthat question. You seem upset. Is Steven all right?”
A pained expression tightened the older woman’s features, suggesting the query had been on target.
Steven was the source of her concern.
After a brief hesitation, Natalie removed her glasses. “Did you know he came back last night?”
It wasn’t an answer to her question, but itwasnews.
“No. He must have arrived late.”
“About eight. He called thirty minutes out.”
“Was the unexpected visit an issue?”
“Of course not. He knows he’s always welcome here. And he can use the rest. He still gets headaches from his injury.”
“If you’re worried about his health, why don’t you see if you can convince him to go to the urgent care center in town? It’s possible he was hurt worse than everyone thought.”
“That’s not why I’m worried.”
At least Natalie had admitted she was concerned.
“So what’s going on?”
“I wish I knew. But I’m going to find out.” Her lips settled into a firm line, and she lifted her chin. “However, that can wait until we finish our work for the day. I cut our session short once this week and I don’t intend to do that again.”
