Page 145 of Master of My Heart

“I know you can,” he said with a nod. “But I also know you’ve been through a lot since then, so don’t push yourself.” She started to protest, but he held up his hand. “Promise me. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I promise.”

Martin beamed. “Good girl.” He looked up as Ethan approached. “Hello, Ethan.”

“Hey, Martin. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Of course.” Martin nodded, then hugged Sabrina again. “Go get ready. We’ll start in a few.”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chase groaned as he got into his SUV and slammed the door. It was after six in the evening and he’d been in meetings since seven this morning. He’d canceled everything during the search for Sabrina. Now that she was safe, though, he had to make up for it. He hoped she had a more enjoyable day than he did.

He’d texted her after lunch to say hi, but she hadn’t responded. Part of him worried that she was ignoring him. The other part of him knew she wasn’t used to having a phone and paying attention to it. Ethan would have called him if she were in trouble, so he knew she was fine.

Chase laughed, wondering how Ethan was doing, sitting in dance rehearsals all day. He’d emailed his friend a few things throughout the day for him to work on, but hadn’t gotten into social questions.

Thoughts of Sabrina had tugged at the corner of his mind all day. It was wonderful knowing she was here and safe. He would see her soon. Ethan was the lucky one, being with her all day.

Lucky dog.

His phone rang as he hit the button to start the SUV. Looking at the screen in his dash, he saw that it was Richard. He sighed, praying he didn’t want to meet tonight. He was exhausted and wanted to go home, take a shower, have dinner, and fall into bed.

He pushed the button on his steering wheel as he pulled out into traffic. “Hey, Richard.”

“Hello, Chase,” Richard’s voice surrounded him, coming through the SUV’s thirteen speakers. “How was your day?”

“Long. Both the bank and tech company had me in meetings all day.”

“That’s what happens when you travel.”

Chase growled. “The traveling wasn’t exactly my idea. And the last few days were more important than their crap.”

“I know. Were they upset?”

“Tara was a little bitchy this morning, but after I explained what happened, she seemed to soften, though I think she was a little jealous.”

Tara was the bank’s security manager and had been flirting with him the entire job. She was attractive, with long blonde hair and brown eyes, but a little too forceful in her personality. They’d gone out to dinner a few times—working dinners, she said—but there was heavy flirting on her part. Chase had a policy of never dating or sleeping with someone on a job. It complicated things too much. Something he’d learned the hard way at West Point.

“I was going to invite you over for dinner, but you sound worn out,” Richard said. “Kathy wanted to see you.”

“Yeah. I just want to go home and go to bed.”

“I understand. Would you mind stopping by my house tomorrow morning, though? We need to talk about Sabrina.”

Chase sighed. “Okay.”

“Well, not her, specifically. More what we learned from her and what we can do to find out more.”

“Oh. Okay, sure.” Richard wasn’t going to lecture him. Good.

Richard laughed. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about stuff since you got home and she was here. We need to have a plan.”

“I agree.”

They settled on a time, then Chase punched the disconnect button on his steering wheel and turned on the radio. He needed something soothing, so he turned on the classical station.

*****

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