Protecting Rose (16 page)
Nate chuckled. “Yeah, you’re a lucky girl all right.”
He paused. “How would you like to go for a walk when you’re done?”
“That sounds nice.”
After they cleaned the kitchen, they headed out the door. It was a beautiful day. Rose stood on the top step of the porch and enjoyed the warm breeze flowing over her. She closed her eyes. The soft whisper of the leaves and the sound of the wind as it rustled through the trees sang to her. She loved the melody of the birds’ afternoon chorus. The clean scent of the country air was like a soothing balm to her nerves. When she opened her eyes, she found Nate watching her from the bottom of the steps with a warm smile.
He reached up and offered her his hand. “Ready, Rose?”
His husky voice sent shivers of excitement down her spine. Without hesitation, she placed her hand in his, knowing that she was ready for anything he was willing to offer.
The receptionist showed Rick into Sheila’s office. He had called earlier that morning to schedule a time to speak with her regarding Rose’s case.
“Ms. Williams will be right with you, Detective Smyth. “Would you like a coffee or anything while you wait?”
He took a seat in the large leather chair near the window. He’d be damned if he would sit on the couch. “Naw, I’m good,” he said with a smile. “Thanks.”
Rick glanced at his watch and sat back in the chair, waiting impatiently for Ms. Williams to arrive. He had met Sheila Williams a few times before in a professional capacity and found her highly intelligent. Once, she’d been called in to counsel a rape victim on a serial rapist case he’d been involved in. The other time she had counseled one of his men who’d been placed on administrative leave after a particularly tough assignment that had ended in the death of his partner.
He was anxious to meet with her again to set up a meeting between her and Rose. He hoped they would be able to get some answers regarding Rose’s identity. Or at least some leads. He grinned. Besides, she was smokin’ hot. He had even considered asking her out once, but decided it was probably best not to mix business with pleasure.
His eyebrows arched with interest when the door opened and Sheila entered. Maybe that had been a bad decision. He watched her walk over to her desk with the grace of a gazelle. She was tall and slender, with long luscious legs and mouthwatering breasts that even the matronly business suit couldn’t disguise. Her thick, honey-colored hair hung in silky waves to her shoulders and her deep green eyes snapped with a strong intelligence that might have intimidated a lesser man. But he found it sexy as hell.
When she reached her desk, she sat down and crossed her very long, sleek, breathtaking legs, and swiveled her chair toward him.
His mouth went dry.
“Detective Smyth, I understand you would like me to travel to the safe house and meet with Rose?”
He tore his gaze from her amazing legs and back up to meet emerald eyes filled with amusement. Rick adjusted his tight collar and cleared his suddenly dry throat. “Yes, that’s right. If you are available...that is,” he stammered.
Get a grip, man.
Rick took a deep breath and continued. “As you know, Ms. Williams, we want to keep the fact that she survived the explosion under wraps for as long as possible and prefer not to bring her back to town. I know it is a lot to ask, but the department would be extremely appreciative if you would go this extra mile for us.”
“Yes, of course. I understand. And please call me Sheila.”
“Only if you call me Rick.” He grinned.
“All right, Rick. Has Rose remembered anything at all?”
“A little, but nothing very helpful so far I’m afraid. We know she plays the piano. Actually, she plays very well. We believe she may have had professional training at the Chicago Orchestra Hall as a child.”
Rick stood, walked over to her desk, then dropped Rose’s file folder on the corner. “This is all the information we have on her to date.”
Sheila picked up the folder, flipped it open and shuffled through the photos of Rose’s injuries. Her mouth tightened into a grimace. Obviously disturbed by what she saw, before her cool professional persona blanked her expression. She leaned forward to turn over a page on her calendar.
“I can be available on Friday around three,” she said coolly. “You can pick me up here.”
“Great. Friday it is.” Rick walked to the door. With one hand on the doorknob, he raised a questioning brow. “I’ll meet you in the lobby at three?”
“Okay.” She gave him a warm smile, a gleam of interest in her eyes.
Rick closed Sheila’s office door behind him when he left and gave the receptionist a friendly two-finger goodbye salute on his way out the main door.
Whistling a happy tune, he headed for his car. He figured it was about a three-hour ride to Montello, which meant at least six hours in his car with the lovely Sheila Williams. He could most definitely deal with that scenario.
Rose skipped down the steps to place her hand in his. Her eyes shone with trust, a smile on her face. His heart pounded rapidly against his chest and a surge of protectiveness and possessiveness fought for dominance. She placed her hand in his palm and he curled his fingers around hers.
“Where are we going?”
He tugged her toward the backyard. “There’s a cool walking path through the woods I thought you might like to see. Tom’s parents started it over twenty-five years ago. Tom continued to add to it after their deaths. Now it’s pretty much a family tradition for all of us. Each time we visit, we try to add something new.”
“What kind of walking path is it?”
“You’ll see.”
They reached the entrance of the woods and stepped onto a path, bordered by logs. He watched with amusement as her eyes widen when she caught sight of the hand-carved tree stumps at the path’s entrance.
“Wow, you’re right. This
is
cool. There must be a dozen different animals here. Were they carved with a chainsaw?”
“Yeah, a few were carved by Tom’s parents, a few by Tom. The rest were done by me and my brothers.”
“Which ones are yours?”
Nate pointed to a raccoon and a bear. “I did those two. The bear is a little rough. It was my first try.”
“How old were you when you did it?”
“Seventeen, shortly before I joined the Marines. The raccoon was a couple years ago, just before I went undercover on a long assignment.”
“What kind of assignment?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he said with mock sincerity.
Rose snorted on a laugh. “Not funny, Nate...considering.” Her eyes gleamed with laughter and incredulity at his lame joke.
“Yeah, maybe not,” he agreed with a chuckle.
She laughed with delight when they came across a wooden bridge that was actually nothing more than a plank placed over a large ditch. A giant rubber alligator strategically placed underneath appeared to crawl up the slope. A doll-sized troll stood on the bridge collecting a fee to cross.
Nate grinned. “Yeah, it’s corny, I know. But the little kids love it.”
He watched her eyes light up when she spotted a mailbox in a tree marked with a bright-red airmail sign, and laughed at the huge spider web that draped between two spruces that bordered the path, and the huge black spider attached to it.
“Oooh, scary,” she said. Her eyes twinkled.
Nate’s appreciation for the path grew as it continued to charm her. They followed the trails many twists and turns through the woods. His heart warmed to see the haunted look leave her eyes for at least a little while. Rose’s cheeks flushed with excitement and she held his hand as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
They went past a tree filled with handcrafted birdhouses, and another filled with world flags. A wooden tic-tac-toe puzzle with spinning blocks that stood nearly as tall as she did, sat at the edge of the path. They stopped to play a few games. Rose won.
They moved further down the path before stopping to admire the hand-painted shovels attached to the base of about a dozen scattered trees. Rose laughed when the eyes from the smiling faces appeared to follow them when they passed by. She admired the large fallen oak they’d turned into a child’s play area, complete with a saddle and stirrups for riding and a tree house for climbing.
“I spoke with Rick today. He’s going to see if Sheila can come to the safe house for a session with you.” They walked past a tall spruce with blown glass ornaments of various sizes, shapes, and colors that hung from the bottom branches like a Christmas tree.
“That’s great.” Her eyes flashed and she bit her lip.
He had the urge to pull her close, but was hesitant to disturb the comfortable connection between them. They neared the end of the path and Nate waited for her to notice the large circular maze. He wasn’t disappointed and grinned widely when she gave an amazed gasped.
“Oh my god! How long did this take to build?”
The maze had taken him and his brothers an entire summer to build. They’d searched through the woods for the rocks that bordered its path. The rock trail led to a beautiful stone bench that sat in the center.
“About three months.” He kicked a branch from the path’s trail. “This was one of the first things I did with my brothers after the whole gang episode. After the way they’d rallied around me during that nightmare, I dropped the chip off my shoulder and got to know them. You could say this maze is what bonded us as brothers. I guess that’s why it’s always been my favorite part of the path.”
She smiled and tugged him along behind her until they reached the center bench. She sat down with a sigh. “You have such nice memories.”
Nate sat next to her. “You’ll get your memories back, sweetheart. Give it time.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
His heart raced at the feel of her pressed against him. Her head barely reached the top of his chest and her sweet peach scent filled his nostrils. He wanted to bury his face in her hair. Nate shook his head ruefully at his own awkward emotions. He hadn’t felt this insecure with a woman since he was a teenager on his first date.
She relaxed against him, wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his shoulder. A feeling of contentment filled him and his arms tightened around her. They sat in a comfortable silence for a long time. Until the breeze turned cool and she shivered.
He ran his hands up and down her arms to warm her. “Looks like another storms on the way. We should make our way back.”
As they neared the house, Nate’s cell phone rang. He glanced down at the number and flipped it open. “Hey, Rick.” Rose watched him with knitted brows, chewing on her thumbnail.
“Stone, just checking in to see how the two of you are holding up?”
He reached over and pulled her hand away from her mouth. Entwining his fingers with hers, he gave her a smile of reassurance. “We’re good,” he said. “But we’d be better if you had some good news for us.”
He was frustrated with this damn waiting game. But his first priority had to be her emotional and physical well-being, even if every instinct in his body screamed for him to go after the bad guys.
“Actually, we think we’re close to exposing the leak,” Rick said. “We laid some false tracks and just need to be patient until the rat takes the bait. When something breaks, you’ll be the first to know. But the real reason I called is to let you know Sheila Williams has agreed to come out and see Rose at the safe house. I’ll bring her out Friday afternoon.”
They neared the house just before the rain started to fall. Somewhat regretfully, he released her hand so he could open the porch door for her. “Okay, hang on.” He turned to Rose. “Rick says the therapist can come here to see you. You still good with that?”
Rose nodded, but her eyes filled with apprehension. Was she worried she would remember, or that she wouldn’t? He knew the
not knowing
was eating at him. Every time he saw the rope burns on her delicate wrists and slender ankles, his gut churned at the horrific images that invaded his brain. The thought of someone hurting her sent him into a boiling rage.
He turned away to shield her from his dark emotions. “All right, Rick, that sounds good. We’ll see you then.”
A burst of lightening lit the sky and the rain started to fall. The smell of the storm and the fresh country air filled the house. Rose laughed when the rain blew through the open kitchen window and soaked them before he was able to slam it shut. When he turned back to her, she was on her hands and knees soaking the water off the floor with the kitchen towel. Nate squatted down beside her.