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  “I’ll keep watch on things here.” Forte acknowledged the caution. It was worth keeping in mind.

  “Sounds good.” Rojas sighed. “I can think of a certain child who will most definitely want to go to the same place and adopt a cat, too, if this works out.”

  Ah. “Sorry, man.”

  Rojas currently rented the house on Hope’s Crossing Kennels land, but as part of the agreement, the rental payments were tracked and would be applied toward the cost if Rojas ever exercised the option to buy the house and the small plot of land it was standing on permanently.

  “No use making a decision until I’m faced with the request.” Rojas’s tone had turned wry.

  “I’ll follow up with the info for you.” Forte wanted to wrap up. Haydn was standing at one of the front windows in the sitting area, and the cat was on the windowsill. Both of them were staring at something outside. “I’m guessing we’ve got a late breakfast being delivered.”

  And if it was something else, he’d need his full attention to handle it.

  * * *

  Sophie took a quick shower, promising herself a long bath later when she saw the cute tray of teakwood holding a selection of carefully labeled bath salts. The bathroom had a separate shower and large soaking tub, big enough for two. Another thoughtful addition to the bathroom was a semi-permanent partition, making the toilet a bit more separate from the rest of the bathroom. It wasn’t common, not even in modern hotels, but she did go on the occasional long weekend, and she loved hotels that included this in their floor plans.

  Maybe it was a weird thing to notice, but any particular features that enhanced comfort were the things she remembered about staying at a particular place.

  There were apple-scented candles in the bathroom, too, and she thought they’d be nice to light so she could turn the artificial lighting off when she took her bath.

  All this she promised herself while she dried, then dressed in a fresh tunic-style tee and leggings. Forte had left both of their duffel bags in the bedroom she hadn’t been using for her nap. The two bedrooms did share the full bathroom, which, in this case, worked out conveniently, but she wondered how other guests worked it out.

  “I can hear you wandering around, so I’m guessing you can’t find clothes or you’re considering every detail of those rooms based on how you might set up a B-and-B.” Brandon’s voice echoed down the corridor, and she jumped.

  “You know me so well.” She decided to cut through the hallway back to the other bedroom instead of going by way of the bathroom again.

  Brandon met her in the hallway, brushing a wet strand of hair from her shoulder and bending to press his lips against the place where her neck and shoulder met. Delicious shivers went through her at his touch.

  “Do you need help getting your boot on?” he murmured.

  “I don’t need help, particularly, but I’d be faster joining you out in the living room if you did help.” She smiled at him.

  He sighed as he followed her into the room. “You’re a capable woman, and I respect you for it. I also want to help whenever I can. Sometimes you don’t pay attention to your own well-being and I intervene before you really do something bad to yourself. But times like today, when you’re fine as long as you do things at your pace, I don’t want to smother you or boss you around.”

  Ah. He’d absorbed what she’d said about giving orders earlier. She sat on the bed, looking up at him.

  “I’m trying.” He reached for her hand and lifted it, brushing her knuckles with his lips. “But could you meet me halfway and ask me for help to let me know when it’s okay to take care of you? It’d give me a clear signal so I don’t push you into having to push back.”

  His request made, he reached for her medical boot and brought it to her.

  She smiled at him and lifted her right foot.

  Her leg as a whole was looking a lot better. The angry red scrapes and cuts from hitting the asphalt and rolling to avoid the explosion were healing well. The skin around the cuts had faded to her normal skin tone. Luckily, they’d been able to avoid stitches for the deeper cuts and use butterfly-stitch bandages, which she’d been replacing daily right after her bath. The bruises were still showing up, though; rising up under her skin in awful blotches of black, blue, and purple with a crazy mustard yellow around the edges.

  Swelling in her ankle was under control, but she could still tell the difference when she looked at it side by side with her good ankle.

  Brandon studied the evidence of her brush with blowing up, his expression somber. Then he carefully pressed a kiss against every scrape and bruise, lingering over her ankle.

  She parted her lips. Maybe the rest of the day could wait.

  Then his gaze met hers and humor danced in his eyes. The desire still burned, but she couldn’t help smiling in response, her mood lightening.

  “We should get a sock on your foot to protect your skin from rubbing against the inside of the boot.” Brandon worried too much. “But I guess this’ll be good to get you out there for a late breakfast and we can ice your ankle while you’re out there, then get a fresh sock on it before we put the boot back on.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “Okay, but we can ice the ankle with the boot on, too. I’d just as well have my toes bare to the air for a little bit if I’m not going to be on my feet for the next couple of hours.”

  He gave her a smile as he straightened to stand in front of her. Impulsively, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his thighs, rubbing her face into his abdomen.

  One of his hands came to rest on the back of her head.

  “Sophie.” His voice had gone husky. “I promise I’ll cuddle with you after you have a chance to eat, but if you keep doing that I’m going to forget I wanted to make sure you got breakfast.”

  She held on an extra-long moment and then released him, standing up and making him take a step back. Oh, he didn’t have to, but he did for her.

  “How are our four-legged friends?” she asked as she walked down the hallway. She was trying hard to walk with a normal stride now that it’d been a few days. Her doctor had said she could as long as there was no pain when she put weight on the ankle. She made it most of the way before little twinges told her it was too soon.

  Brandon placed his hand on her lower back and urged her past the living room area and over to the sitting area with the settee. “They’re fine. Not sure if they want to be friends yet, but war hasn’t broken out, either. “

  “That’s g—oh!” She slowed and let Brandon lead her around the gorgeous setup on the low table. She sat and barely noticed as he coaxed her into lifting her right leg to rest on the length of the settee.

  A selection of lovely dishes were spread across the table, each of them porcelain white with a delicate pattern of tiny blue roses around the edge. On one oval dish, spears of asparagus wrapped in bacon were stacked high. On another dish was a selection of tomatoes cut in half and broiled. A third specialty dish had hollows to cradle soft-boiled eggs partially shelled to display the rich, yellow yolk. A polished wood board was set to one side, offering a selection of at least five cheeses.

  “I’m not a cheese kind of guy, but this looked like something you’d like to nibble on through the day, so I had them put it here for you.” Brandon crouched down and balanced on his heels as Haydn walked by. The big dog was easily tall enough to lean over the low table and gobble up everything there. “Don’t worry about Haydn; he’ll leave the people food alone.”

  “It looks gorgeous, and I’m picky about my cheeses.” She couldn’t wait to pounce on them and start sampling.

  He regarded the cheese with less affection. “What are all these, and is this one even edible?” He pointed to a white, crumbly cheese veined with blue.

  She laughed. “Okay, so the selection on this cheese board hits every one of my top things to remember about putting together a tasty combination of flavors and textures. That’s always a win for me.”

  “So what
are Sophie’s top things to remember about cheese?”

  She giggled then blushed as he watched her, waiting. He actually wanted to know.

  “Oh.” He knew she loved food, but they’d never talked about food together. “Well, there’s variety, for one thing. There’s a nice sharp block of white cheddar; a nutty chunk of manchego; a creamy wedge of brie; a tiny fresh white wheel of goat cheese; a nice strong blue cheese, which you were pointing to; and a gooey wedge of something so soft it looks spreadable with a strong, funky scent. That’s more choice than most cheese boards I’ve seen in restaurants. They usually only serve between three and five cheeses.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “You want funky cheese?”

  She nodded with enthusiasm. “That kind is my absolute favorite to spread on a slice of thick, crusty bread. So good.”

  “And you’re happy about this other stuff served with the cheese, too?” He gestured to a couple of tiny ramekins of preserves and dried fruits.

  “I can’t wait to taste them.” She leaned closer to get a better look. “Dried apricots or cranberries are great to have with the brie or goat cheese. And there’s any number of preserves you could pair with the nutty cheese. Maybe they make these preserves on site. A lot of B-and-B’s do. This one even looks like it might be bacon jam.”

  “Seriously? They make jam with bacon in it?” He was definitely dubious.

  “Bacon is a versatile ingredient.” She was very serious about that statement. “It makes a lot of things better.”

  He snorted. “I’ll try it later. For now, eat, please.”

  “Aren’t you eating with me?” Her spirits took a dive as he stood, his knees creaking faintly with the motion.

  He paused. “I’ll have some if you want me to join you. Or you can fall into a book. I brought an e-reader with books already loaded from Lyn and Elisa on it. It’s not connected to any kind of data plan, and we’ll need to keep the Wi-Fi turned off. I’ve got to walk the property and make sure I’ve got as clear a line of sight as possible on the approaches to this place.”

  His consideration was overwhelming. This really was like a dream vacation. If someone wasn’t trying to find and kill her. “Brandon?”

  “Yeah?” His brows had drawn together as concern colored his tone.

  She asked her next question in a very quiet, hopeful voice. “Could we pretend, just for a while, that the outside world doesn’t exist? Could it just be us here, enjoying a remote getaway?”

  He came to her side and leaned close. His lips met hers in a soft, lingering kiss full of promises. “You can pretend if you want, Sophie, and I’ll keep your dream safe.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Forte woke at dawn out of habit. He didn’t need an alarm clock anymore, but he reached for the current disposable phone and disabled the alarm he’d set for peace of mind. Might be a weird quirk of his, but it made it easier to fall asleep at night when he wasn’t anxious about whether he’d wake up on time in the morning, or in the morning at all.

  Sophie had rolled to the other side of the bed. She might be a snuggle monster on first falling asleep, but she definitely tossed and turned through the night. Apparently, she’d gotten too warm toward the early hours before dawn because she’d not only rolled to the other end of the gigantic bed but she also kicked off the majority of the covers. Only a single corner of the bedspread covered her hip, and the sight of her lying naked and mostly exposed like that was amazingly tempting.

  He shook his head and pushed aside thoughts of a morning ambush for the time being. She needed her rest.

  He got off the bed as quietly as he could, doing his best not to disturb her, then moved around the bed to where Sophie lay and straightened the covers, tucking her back in so she wouldn’t catch cold.

  It was reasonably challenging to move around the cabin silently. The wood floors squeaked unpredictably. He might have been irritated normally, but this morning he found it a sort of challenge. Lighthearted, he crossed to the bathroom as quietly as possible. Once he’d taken care of his own business, he headed out to the hallway via the second bedroom and found Haydn waiting for him in the hallway.

  Sophie’s cat was nowhere to be seen for the moment.

  Forte continued down the hallway, and Haydn fell in at his side. They stopped at the breakfast counter separating the kitchen from the sitting area. He grabbed his tablet, then Haydn’s leash.

  Sophie’s cat hopped up on the breakfast counter and directed an imperious meow at him.

  “After we go out for a walk, you both will get breakfast.” He didn’t know when he’d started talking to the cat, but it didn’t feel awkward. He talked to the dogs he’d trained all the time.

  Sophie’s cat sat right there on the counter and proceeded to groom, extending one of her hind legs toward the ceiling and giving him the cat finger again.

  All righty then.

  He and Haydn headed outside, though Forte made sure the front door was firmly shut. The last thing he needed was for Sophie’s cat to follow them and potentially take a trip into the woods.

  These woods were dense and provided a home for plenty of wildlife. Raccoons were out there for sure. He thought he’d heard a fox or even two calling out in the night. Plus, it was a good sign there were bears in an area when the trash cans at the entrance to the clearing were all enclosed in latched cages.

  Haydn didn’t need the leash. Forte let him range out to the edge of the clearing on his own. Mostly, Forte kept the leash in hand to reassure anyone who might be out walking from one of the other cabins or someone from the main house.

  Haydn stopped to sniff a tree, then turned and lifted his leg nice and high to mark it. Could be another dog. Could be a bear. Forte shrugged. “You do your thing. Probably can’t hurt to have the scent of another large predator around this clearing to keep some of the deer from coming in and eating the landscaping.”

  The browse line in these woods was discernable, though not as bad as it could get up in the woods in Pennsylvania. He was happy to see there wasn’t much underbrush in these woods, giving him a clearer view of what might be in the woods around them.

  Haydn, for his part, had apparently decided to delineate the entire clearing as his territory and was patrolling the perimeter to establish it. This included a brief stop-and-piss on likely looking trees or stumps. Forte walked a full circuit with him the first time, then called him in and put the leash on him.

  Haydn was ready and eager, standing with his weight evenly balanced on all four feet despite the prosthetic. All the recent activity had done him good, and he’d acclimated to the prosthetic faster than Forte had anticipated.

  Forte strode over to the cabin’s porch and pointed to indicate a spot under a bench where he wouldn’t be immediately noticed. “Hier.”

  Haydn immediately placed himself where indicated.

  Forte smiled. “Bewaken.”

  Leaving Haydn to guard the cabin, he walked up to the main house.

  The household was just beginning to stir. They had full Wi-Fi there, but he bypassed the inviting wraparound porch and continued up yet another hill toward the tasting house.

  They were at a cidery, actually, and he planned to bring Sophie up to taste ciders later in the day if she was up for it. For the time being, he parked on one of the picnic tables looking out over the area and fired up his tablet to connect to the public Wi-Fi they had there. From his vantage point, he could see all approaches coming into the cidery grounds.

  Once the tablet was on the public Wi-Fi, he opened up the app for the virtual private network Cruz had set up. Safely anonymous on the Internet, he went to his e-mail and read through the messages there. It didn’t take long.

  Kennel business was mostly handled by Elisa now, and his family e-mailed him to check in occasionally, but more often, he was included on the family distribution list when someone wanted to let all of them know something at the same time. That was the way his family worked. Loving but not really bound tightly together.


  One message sat in his inbox, out of place. The subject looked like spam, but the e-mail address was legit, so it hadn’t been flagged by the spam filter.

  Mr. Forte.

  Please call this number for an exclusive offer just for you.

  That was it, no logo or graphics. It was the e-mail address that caught his attention: Labs-Anders Corporation.

  Forte opened up a new e-mail window and quickly typed out an update message for Ky including the client names Sophie had shared with him the prior afternoon. Then Forte added a request for Ky to look into a connection between the client names and Labs-Anders Corporation. It looked like Beckhorn had hit on the right organization. He also copied Rojas and Cruz on the e-mail so they’d be aware of the communication with Ky.

  The e-mail address he was using to send the e-mail was different from his personal address. This was one of a set only he, Cruz, and Rojas used. Now Ky had it.

  He wasn’t actually surprised someone had found him. The personal e-mail address was available to the public and easy to find. It was what his family used, and the e-mail he provided when prompted to give one for interacting with the local community or businesses around the kennels.

  But being contacted told him there was interest in him from an unusual source. The timing was too convenient for it to be unrelated to Sophie’s situation.

  “Hello. Labs-Anders Corporation. How can we help you?” The voice on the other line was female and bored. Or it sounded bored.

  “This is Brandon Forte.” It didn’t hurt to give whoever this was his full name. Whoever had contacted him knew it if they’d tracked down his e-mail.

  “I’m sorry, unless you have a specific reason for calling or know who you are trying to reach, I’m not sure I can help you.” The woman’s tone was flat and extremely unhelpful.

  “I’m calling in response to an offer I received via e-mail.” This could be a sign, countersign procedure, but the e-mail hadn’t indicated any specific phrasing. Most likely, it was receiving the e-mail at all that would get him through the next security check.