Part 2 (1/2)
nipples were, but how sweet they tasted.
He stepped up to the SUV, watching with both amus.e.m.e.nt and irritation as she hurriedly moved back.
She gave more confusing signals than a bug scrambler.
Opening the pa.s.senger door, he said, ”Get in.”
She climbed inside without a word, careful not to let their bodies make contact at any point, but that didn
't stop her female scent from reaching out to touch him. Both sweet and spicy from her earlier exertionsand fear, it overrode the lingering smell of smoke on her clothes.He wanted to pull her to him and add another fragrance to the ones she was emitting...arousal.Knowing it would make her uncomfortable, but not really caring, he slipped her seat belt across her body and clipped it into place. He didn't pull back immediately, but took a second to enjoy her proximity whileher eyes rounded in confusion.”What are you doing?”He tilted his head, so their lips were mere centimeters apart. ”Buckling you in.””Oh.” It came out a breath of sound.He smiled. ”Do you need anything else.””Uh...no.” But she didn't turn her head away.
She just waited.
His arms were as good as around her in this position, and it would be so easy to take her lips, to taste them.
He did, briefly. Softly. And she let him, hanging there, her lips attached to his, but not moving against his.
He pulled back, stepping away from the car. ”I'm glad you're okay.”
She nodded, mute, but her eyes were asking questions he didn't want to answer right then.Soon he would, but not right now.”Okay, what's going on?” he asked after sliding into the driver's seat.She stared at him.”Your dad, Josie.”She gasped, her cheeks turning cherry red, and then she burst into speech. ”They moved Dad a little over an hour ago. He asked for some privacy to get cleaned up, and I gave it to him. He's wounded,
confused, I thought weak. It never occurred to me he'd just disappear.””Tyler has his own reasons for doing the things he does, and they aren't always comprehensible toothers, but it's a safe bet he wasn't nearly as weak as he let on.”
”You're right.” She rubbed her eyes. ”When no one came to get me after half an hour, I went looking on
my own. His room was empty.”
”Did anyone see anything?”
”No.”
”Did he leave of his own volition?”
”Yes.”
”You're sure?”
”Yes. He took the jeep and he left this.” She handed him a note.
He read it. ”Do you know where this footlocker is?”
”Dad keeps it in an underground storage unit that only he and I know about.”Of course. Some people might say Tyler McCall was on the paranoid side, but he was a d.a.m.n goodsoldier and trainer of men. ”Would it have survived the explosion?”
”I think so, but until we get up the mountain, we won't know.”
”Are there any other leads to follow up on here?”
”No. He left nothing.” She sounded dispirited.
”Don't blame yourself, Josie. Your dad is one of the best. He can take care of himself.” Daniel started
the car.”But why would he leave?””I don't know. That's a mystery he may have to solve for us, but right now we've got other things to attend to.” He pulled the big black SUV out of the hospital parking lot, noting with pleasure the dearth ofcars on the road.”Where are we going?”
”Back to the mountain.”
She needed rest, but the longer they took to get back to the compound, the better chance whoever set
the explosions would have to hide or destroy evidence, not to mention maybe finding the journal Tylerwanted his daughter to read.”What caused the explosion?” he asked.”I don't know. I haven't been back.””I didn't think you had.” But she had a d.a.m.n uncanny ability when it came to identifying bombs. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd known the type and volume of explosives used simply from the
explosion itself.
She seemed to realize that and explained. ”I was out walking when I felt the ground shake. By the time I made it to his room, half of the wall had fallen on him, and the place was in flames.”
”Any chance it was an accident?”