Page 208 of Protective Heroes

“Abigail, it’s not good news, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

They’d left her house on fire and hightailed it out of there without a backward glance. Really. What else could he tell her that would make this night any worse at this point?

She knew there was no way anything could be saved or that good news was coming her way. Not anytime soon.

As true as all that was, her hand still trembled as she combed her fingers through her hair, hitting several knots along the way. She gave up and crossed her arms across her chest instead. She might know what was coming, but her nerves were still on pins and needles. “No need to sugarcoat it, Caden. Give it to me straight.”

A look of respect settled on his expression as he pushed up from his chair to kneel on the floor in front of her.

“It’s bad, baby.”

Six

He eyed her cautiously before continuing. “Everything’s gone. The fire department wasn’t able to get there in time, Abigail. The police captain who works alongside us on special cases from time to time has already dispatched forensics to comb over the place for anything that might help in nailing the assholes that did this to you. The fire spread to consume the woods beside your house and the tiny shed.”

A stab of pain shot through her, but she swallowed past the sharp intrusion. She’d hoped the little shed she’d built the previous summer would survive. It housed nothing special, but it had been a project built from determination and sweat. Just to prove to herself she could.

Pain wound around her heart and squeezed.

She had nothing but the clothes on her back. And they were borrowed at that. Acid burned the back of her throat. Knots tightened deep in her stomach and she bit down on her lip to force herself to focus.

Reece walked toward them and his presence helped calm her rebellious stomach. Out of the corner of her eye she caught how his otherwise strong cadence broke slightly by the damage to his leg. He favored his right a little more than normal. The running must have irritated his injury. She offered a small smile and received one in return.

He joined them in a chair opposite her and Caden’s and stretched his legs in the aisle. One of the perks of a private plane. Plenty of legroom for all that man. Instead of focusing on the bad and ugly, her mind took a detour for the easy. Reece Sterling in tight jeans and a black fitted T-shirt made a woman’s mouth water. When had he changed?

“When should they have something for us?” Reece reached over and plucked the laptop off the table for a closer look at the information Caden had pulled up on her and all the interactions she’d logged in at work over the past month. Several emails between Tech, a couple of other secretaries on data reports and two new clients that wanted a security upgrade. All routine.

It was fascinating to watch Reece’s mind shift into work mode. She ducked her head and hid her smile.

He must have sensed her attention on him. His gaze shifted to her while Caden filled him in on his conversation with the sheriff. His gaze caressed her face then moved down to her breasts and settled on the apex of her thighs before returning to hers. A burst of excitement rushed up her body to pebble her nipples against the confines of her bra and shirt.

“Sam said he’d be in contact within a day. From what he can tell so far, not much was left behind except a set of tire tracks from the one vehicle and a couple of boot prints along the bank of the lake, which confirmed what we thought about the ambush coming from that direction. Whoever was in the vehicle must have been there as backup. A second getaway car, I guess. Hell, none of this makes any sense.”

“It’s a miracle they didn’t run into Dane.”

“For them. That man is like a one-man assault team on two legs.” Caden rubbed a hand down his face.

He looked tired.

She felt tired.

Reece looked anything but tired.

Abigail swiveled her chair to face away from the men toward the back of the plane and let their voices drop into the background. The plane taxied for takeoff and within a few short moments the city below became nothing more than twinkling lights in a blanket of darkness.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed her sister’s number from memory. The airplane leveled out just as the voicemail on her sister’s phone picked up. “Mí Amor Flowers. Leave a message and I’ll call you back shortly.”

Her heart shed a pound of worry just by the sound of her sister’s voice. The play on her father’s nickname for both of his girls when they were young always made her smile. Now the pet name hung over her sister’s flower shop.

Her sister’s voicemail beeped. “¡Hola, chica! I’ll be out of town for a day or two. I’m heading to Puerto Vallarta on business. Nothing big, just a meeting with clients. My bosses mentioned we’ll be staying at a place in the Mismaloya area a mile or so south of Vallarta. I lost my phone so you’ll have to call me on this borrowed number. I’ll call again when we land with more details. ¡Te amo! Chao.”

She pressed the red button to end the call. God, what was she thinking? She’d just lied to her sister. But what good would it do to worry her? She pulled a lock of hair between her fingers and tucked her other hand around her waist. She would call her back when there was more information.

Abigail closed her eyes and sank back in the leather seat. The adventures of the day washed over her. She rolled her eyes at her own sardonic thoughts.

Reece and Caden’s deep voices carried on in the background and she let the warm sound caress along her frayed nerves.

Someone’s phone pinged with an incoming message. Abigail shoved away the pull of sleep lulling her and slowly turned back around to face them.

---