It was only after those thoughts that she was reminded why she’d stopped. Being in exile, being a fugitive, eliminated all possibility of having any kind of anything with any man. For an indeterminate period of time, up to and including forever.
It had taken her a solid six months of denial to get to the stage where she didn’t think about sex anymore. No, okay, longer than that, but she hadn’t caved since. Though she’d had close enough calls that she’d become very judicious with her reading material, and careful with her time around other people.
Some thought she was shy. No problem, shy worked, because most everyone kept their distance. At first, she’d thought the McAllister men were going to be a problem, but her fear was so great, it overwhelmed her sex drive by quite a bit.
She’d become celibate in every sense of the word, and then Tucker Brennan.
It wasn’t fair. He was only going to be in town a couple of days. She’d never see him again, but if she kept thinking about him, remembering the touch on her bare back, the quickening of her pulse every time she saw him staring...
Bodies weren’t meant to be turned off like empty refrigerators. She was only twenty-nine, but she knew without a doubt that somewhere inside her there was a clock ticking away. Exhaustion had always been her best defense, but here she was after a brutally tiring day, and he’d broken through over a year’s worth of defenses with a few touches and a good smile.
Her life, her entire life, was dedicated elsewhere. She’d done her best to never think about what she’d left behind, what she was missing. She worked until her body couldn’t take it anymore. Then she did it again.
Tonight was an object lesson. Letting herself get caught up in the real world would do her no good. Tucker Brennan was a potential check. Financing. That’s all. She’d better drum that into her foolish mind, because there’d be hell to pay if she didn’t.
The sad thing was that she’d have to pull back from Shea, as well. It had been an experiment, a test to see if she could open her life up a little.
The answer was a resounding no.
7
T
HE
STRANGE
ALARM
JERKED
Tucker out of sleep so hard he felt as if he had whiplash. And damn, he didn’t even have a razor or a change of clothes with him. It seemed foolish to shower when he had to put on the same shirt to go to Kalispell before he could return to Safe Haven, but yesterday clung to him with the scent of straw and stubborn goat.
So he showered and dressed. He would have killed for a cup of coffee, but he wanted to check in with George first.
Luckily, the private investigator was already up despite the early hour.
“I don’t have that much to report,” George said. “I’ve started working on the account number, which isn’t an easy thing to trace, my friend, but we’ll get there. As far as the driver’s license goes, the ID number doesn’t match the name or address. So it’s a fake, but from the picture it looks like a decent one. I don’t know that it’ll bring us much more information. I did send the photo you took to some people I know, but don’t get your hopes up.”
Tucker had figured as much and tried to tamp down his impatience. He was more interested in the possibility he’d raised yesterday. “What about the coercion angle? Any evidence she was pressured into taking the money?”
George hesitated long enough for Tucker to tense. “Nothing’s changed,” George said finally. “Not since I checked a year ago. Leanna had no known criminal associates or unsavory friends or family problems. If she took the money under duress, I haven’t seen any evidence. Doesn’t mean I won’t be looking. We did have a different agenda back then, and I might have bypassed something crucial.”
“All right.” Tucker rubbed his eyes. “You have anything on the men in her life?”
“There were a few in college, nothing too serious. When she worked at Keystone as a fundraising assistant, she was with a man named Alex Phillips. They were a couple for three years. He moved to D.C. and is now a lobbyist for a New York telecom consortium. He’s married and has a son. No arrests, no ties to any scandals.”
“Okay,” Tucker said. “And Shea Monroe?”
“That’s still tough. She’s worked on highly classified projects, and if I tug too hard on any of those strings we could be inviting more problems than we want. I did find out that she’s still under contract for something big, but I have no idea what.”
“Do what you can with that. And maybe start looking at Annie’s family more closely. It could be one of them in trouble, I don’t know.”
“Look, Tucker...” Shit, George was using his fatherly voice. “We never thought we’d get this far, right? I mean, worse comes to worst, we let the authorities know, they come in, do their own digging. Running like that makes her look awfully guilty.”
Tucker’s breath caught at the cavalier words. “We already decided that finding her isn’t enough to clear Christian. I need to dig more and understand what happened, before the D.A.’s office gets wind of this. My instincts are telling me we’re missing a big piece. I’m not even going to mention anything to Christian, not until I know more. So, do your best, huh?”
“You know I will, Tucker.”
“I appreciate it.”
His next call would have to wait until after coffee, because Darren wouldn’t be in yet. Irene wouldn’t be awake, either. Though Tucker wasn’t sure he wanted to speak to her at the moment, anyway. She still didn’t know his trip out of town was a fact-finding mission to help Christian, and Tucker aimed to keep it that way for the time being.
Now, it was going to be coffee or death. Personally, he voted for coffee, and he knew the day was going to be a good one because the scent of a rich dark roast greeted him halfway down the big staircase.
He’d known he wasn’t the first one up, but he had hoped that he’d recognize someone in the kitchen.
Instead, there were a lot of young women. Pretty young women at that. They were bustling about with an older Hispanic woman, making what looked like enough breakfast to feed an army.
“Well, hello there.”
It seemed early for a greeting like that, especially coming from an attractive brunette whose jeans were so tight he wouldn’t recommend she do much sitting. “Morning.”
“Who are you, and when did you get in?”
Another stare, this from a woman with a spatula in one hand and a smile that reminded him of this year’s Miss Texas posters. “Rachel didn’t tell us there were any men coming to stay.”
“That’s because he’s not here for a vacation.” At Shea’s no-nonsense voice, Tucker turned. She entered the kitchen frowning at the spatula girl. “Rachel asked me to tell you that you’re all leaving for Glacier National Park in an hour, whether you’ve eaten or not.”
Tucker could tell the other girls were intimidated by Shea. He doubted they had reason, although she’d been a big surprise. The woman who’d written emails about the financial viability of Safe Haven—who’d outlined their immediate plans for fundraising campaigns and upgrades to the facility—had come across as a smooth communicator, one who had the kind of social skills that went along with certain high levels of government contracts.
What he’d found instead wasn’t so easy to classify. There was a bluntness about her that wasn’t rude, just...raw. He wondered if she could be manipulated, say, by a woman in hiding waiting to make a last big score before darting over the Canadian border.
The bad thing was, the very traits that drew him to Annie were what made her role in the theft all the more believable. Hell, even knowing what he knew, Tucker had been drawn in and wanted to at least give her a chance.
“Morning, Tucker,” Shea said. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
“I assume I should put it in a to-go cup?”
“I have a few minutes.” He smiled at her unguarded sigh. “I thought maybe we could talk.”
With a resigned expression and a glance at the guests, she took out a large insulated mug, poured, then handed it to him. “Let’s go into the other room.”
He nodded and followed her past the dining area into a parlor with an expansive view of the Sundance and the snowcapped Rockies in the background. She leaned against a wooden post, which would have fooled him into thinking she was comfortable if he hadn’t seen how she avoided his eyes.
“If you had any questions about Safe Haven, about the financials or the fundraising, I mean,” she said, “I can probably help you. Because Annie’s very private.”
“Really?”
Shea toyed with her cup, slightly lifting one shoulder. “Most of us don’t know much about Annie except for her work ethic and her commitment to saving every animal she can. The things that matter.”
“She works extremely hard. I could see that yesterday.”
“She’s driven, you know?” Shea met his eyes, her caution fading. Perhaps acknowledging Annie’s dedication had earned him an ally. “Or maybe she just prefers the company of animals. I get that. Mostly I do, too.”
Tucker smiled at her candor. “There are days, a lot of them, when I’d have to agree.”
“Well, as long as you know that she’s worked miracles with virtually no assets. I can only imagine what she could do with proper funding.”
“I assure you, I’ll give Safe Haven every consideration. So far, I like what I’ve seen. Is there anything else you can tell me that would help sway the vote?”
She blinked, then narrowed her gaze. “Like what?”
So much for bringing her over to his team. “I don’t know.” He paused to think. “In your opinion, what’s Safe Haven’s biggest selling point?”
“Annie.”
Exactly the answer he wanted. “Well, there’s a problem with that,” he said, letting his words settle, then studying Shea’s worried frown. “We don’t know if Annie will be here long. She could leave tomorrow and then who’d run Safe Haven?”
Shea relaxed. “Annie’s not going anywhere.”
“She might get homesick,” he said, and Shea shook her head with a sadness she quickly masked. “Or find someone and get married. Have kids.”
“No,” Shea murmured quietly, her gaze downcast. “She won’t.”
He almost felt guilty for the pain he’d seen flash in her eyes. But he hadn’t caused it, not directly. Annie had. He’d bet his Range Rover she’d confided in Shea. Maybe he’d just found Annie’s Achilles’ heel. Which was perfect because Shea was a lousy liar.
This was good news. So why did he feel like crap?
“Thanks for the coffee,” he said, holding up the mug. “I’m going to gather my things and take off for my hotel. I want to be back at Safe Haven early. Please tell Rachel and the others I appreciate the hospitality.”
“No problem.” Shea finally looked at him with a small smile, and he didn’t doubt she was glad he was leaving.
The ride to Kalispell was a straight shot, and soon enough he’d put on clean jeans and a fresh shirt, and was reading over his files as he went through a quick room service breakfast.
Now that he’d met Annie, the material he’d gathered had taken on new shades of meaning. From her days in high school to her equestrian victories on horses that belonged to other people, he could see so much of the woman he’d spent time with. The data on her family didn’t suggest anything unsavory, but he still felt that was where George should focus. Because God knew, families could be tricky.
He finished reading every document in his extensive files, knowing he should have left already. But he needed to do this now, before he saw her again.
His gut was telling him there was something big missing in the picture of Leanna Warner and her disappearance. The idea that someone behind the scenes had forced her to run had taken hold in him, and he was ninety-nine percent certain he was reading that correctly.
All the things that made no sense about her—how hard she was working, why she kept herself distant and alone, even her failure to ensure Christian looked guilty to the feds—came together if she’d been coerced.
Annie Sheridan was hiding, all right, but not from justice. He’d wager a hell of a lot on that hunch. Christian had to know more. Maybe something he didn’t even realize was important.
If he wasn’t afraid Christian would tell their mother, he’d call Christian right away. But his brother was still too angry to be trusted. Or maybe that was Tucker. Lord knew he didn’t blame Christian, but his brother was filled with a very old rage. Tucker wasn’t stupid, he knew Christian had been playing Irene, using guilt to get money, then ignoring her until he needed more. But he’d chosen to stay out of it for his mother’s sake.
Better to wait, to see what came of George’s investigation.
Tucker put his iPad in his briefcase, along with an emergency set of clothes, just in case, and headed down to his rental. It wasn’t right the way he was itching to see Annie again. But there didn’t seem to be a damn thing he could do about it.
* * *
T
HE
INSTANT
A
NNIE
WOKE
UP
,
she knew something was wrong. The light. There was light coming in from the window, and she’d set her alarm...had she set her alarm?
With a hammering heart she looked at the clock. Ten. Ten in the morning, and God, Glory and the new foal. The morning feed. She jumped out of bed and almost screamed as all the aches and pains from yesterday hit her like a sledgehammer. Wincing and cussing all the way through throwing clothes on, she barely looked at what she’d hauled out of the dresser. Limping downstairs, she washed up so fast she probably skipped half her face.
Forget coffee. She hurried to the stable, trying to get her heart to slow down and her brain to speed up. She caught her hip on the edge of the door as she swung herself inside and it was a lucky thing because she would have fallen at the sight in front of her.
Tucker Brennan stood at the entry to Glory’s stall, his head turned, his brow furrowed and a single finger over his lips. “Quiet, he’s eating.”
“He’s...?”
“The little guy,” Tucker whispered. “He’s been having some trouble this morning, but he’s finally latched on tight.”
“How long have you been here?”
“About half an hour.”
“The feed. I have to—”
“Levi and Kathy are out there somewhere, said to tell you not to worry. They’ve got you covered.”
She’d known the couple would come today, but they typically didn’t arrive until long after the early-morning rounds. “I overslept.”
“So I gathered.”
“I never do. This is literally the second time it’s happened, and the first was because of a power outage, but then I bought a battery-run clock.”
His smile was warmer than it should have been. They were strangers, maybe would-be business associates, and that smile was meant for a friend. Something they could never be. “It was a long day yesterday. Come on over here and take a look.”
She crossed the short distance to the side of the stall and made sure she didn’t stand too close to Tucker. Especially after she’d found her stride slowing as she ran an appraising gaze down the back of his body. He had on jeans and a blue Oxford shirt. Sharp, clean and sexy as hell, and she hadn’t even bothered to brush her hair. Great. Bedhead was one of her better looks.
Then she saw the dark brown foal with his skinny, knobby legs splayed so he could get up under his mom. Glory was munching away, calm as you please. “Oh, that is a sight.”
“There might be another one tonight,” he said. “Cocoa’s on her way.”
“It’s a factory in here,” she said. “Something big must have happened eleven months ago to the day for two so close together.”
“Statistical probability, but I know what you mean. We see groupings a lot. Pheromones, I imagine, in the herd.”
She nodded, liking this. Just talking. It was easier when she wasn’t looking at him. “I need to do my rounds, catch up with Levi and Kathy. You can come along if you like, or stay. After, I’m going in to make coffee. I hope you’ll join me at the cabin.”
“I’ll come with you now,” he said.
He didn’t follow her into the other stalls as she checked on the rest of the brood, but he accompanied her to the barn, where the chickens ignored them but only because the goats wanted all the attention.
Pinocchio, it turned out, was doing fine, and deeply unconcerned about his battle scars. Kathy, who’d sadly lost her own land due to hard times, started out smiling at Annie, but that changed in a flash to something far harsher.