Page 39 of Fatal Mistake
“But I—”
“Now, Sheriff! Get them out here now.” Frustrated, Cal hung up before the guy voiced additional objections.
“Not cooperating?” Rick asked.
“No, he’s cooperating, but he’s freaked out by the whole thing.” Cal shook his head. “Remind me never to work a crime in a rural county.”
“I’m guessing you won’t want such a reminder if Keeler strikes in the boonies again.”
“You’re right. I won’t.” Cal shoved his phone into his pocket. “Go ahead and take the SUV back to the team and send Brynn over here with her equipment.”
“You sure you got this?” Rick appraised him.
Cal was getting perturbed at everyone questioning his emotional stability. He gave a sour laugh. “Nothing to do here except wait for the ME to show up and for SWAT to finish their search. Which is unlikely to produce Keeler as he runs from his bombs. So yeah, I think I can handle things on my own.”
Chapter 13
Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon
4:50 p.m.
Cal had given Tara an impossible choice. Stay in the command truck where they’d turned off the air-conditioning to save fuel and it was inferno hot, or go with him to the cabin he’d arranged for their overnight stay. On the surface, the cabin seemed the best choice, but the rest of the team would stay at the crime scene until later in the day, and she’d be alone with Cal. Not a good thing with the way they’d been alternating between butting heads and fighting an obvious attraction. But maybe she didn’t need to worry. Not with the way he’d arrived back on site, his lips in a flat line that discouraged discussion and his shoulders rigid as he marched to the rental SUV.
She followed at a slower pace and took a few moments to pull her damp shirt away from her body and flap the fabric in the breeze.
Cal jerked open her car door and huffed out an impatient sigh. “This is no place to dawdle.”
She peered at him. “Do you actually think Oren is still hanging out somewhere near here?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?” he said matter-of-factly.
He didn’t have to say anything else. He was right. If Oren wanted her dead, he’d have to be within shooting or bombing range. Not a comforting thought.
She climbed into the SUV, but Cal shielded his eyes from the sun and surveyed the area before he took the driver’s seat. She wanted to think his cautionary approach was overkill, but he’d just convinced her that danger followed her everywhere, and she needed to heed the warning. With that being true, she wouldn’t roll over and count on him to protect her. She’d continue to stay alert and use the self-protection skills she’d learned over the past few months.
Protect yourself. Of course. But what about God? Shouldn’t she ask for His protection, too, or had she turned her back like Cal suggested? If not, where did God fit in all of this?
He didn’t. Or at least He hadn’t. If He wanted her to be safe, would He have let Oren shoot her and get away with it? He could have arranged for Cal to arrest Oren at the pump house and many times since then, ending her terror and the loss of additional life, but He hadn’t done so.
No, she believed in Him, in His mighty power, but she wasn’t sure about Him knowing what was best for her right now, and she needed to focus on what she could do to remain safe.
She kept her gaze moving over the roads and through the dark forested area until they reached a gated driveway. Cal punched a code into the lockbox and moved the car onto the drive before the gate swung closed with a solid clang behind them. They wound up the drive until it opened to a wide clearing holding a two-story house with five different rooflines, a two-car garage, and three decks visible from the front. Rough cedar covered the exterior and brick wrapped the corners.
“This place is huge.” She glanced at Cal. “I thought you said it was a cabin.”
Cal used a remote to open the garage door. “That’s what Sheriff Gorton told me, but we obviously have differing definitions of ‘cabin.’”
“I was picturing small and quaint, and that the team would be cramped into a little space. Now we won’t be crowding each other.”
Cal shifted into park. “I’ll take your bag in and come back for the groceries.”
They got out and she met him at the tailgate, where he lifted her tote from the back.
“I can carry it.” She took the bag from him in an effort to prove her independence, but more likely, she needed to believe she retained some control of her life.
He didn’t seem to give her actions much thought, but he crossed over to the steel entry door leading into the house. He unlocked it and punched in the security code for the alarm. Tara watched and memorized the code in case she had to take off without alerting him.
She left him to fetch the groceries that were delivered to the crime scene by a deputy and stepped into the wonderfully cool air-conditioned home where vaulted ceilings covered in rustic pine and rough-hewn log beams soared high. Perfect. She could actually breathe in the wide-open space. She stepped into the family room that included floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking another large deck with steps leading down to a small creek and lush woods.
