Page 46 of Fatal Mistake
“He’s right,” Kaci added. “And as an extra precaution, we can put Tara in tactical gear, and she should be good to go.”
“Since everyone but Cal is in favor of this,” Rick said. “Our plan is clear.”
Cal came to his feet. “I’d like to talk to Tara alone.”
No one moved.
Looking like he wanted to crash a hand into the wall, Cal curled his fingers into tight fists and met his teammates’ gazes. “Make yourselves scarce.”
“We’ve decided, Cal,” Brynn said quietly. “Leave it at that, okay?”
His jaw tightened, and a thunderous look claimed his face. “A minute with Tara is all I ask.”
Rick stood and grabbed the pizza box. “There’s a media room downstairs filled with DVDs. We can unwind with a movie.” He headed for the stairs.
Tara stood in place, but Cal went to the large window looking over the yard and faced outside. One by one, each teammate cast him a long look, but he remained peering out at the night, so he couldn’t have seen them. However, he did have to feel their intense study as tension crackled through the room. He’d made his anger perfectly clear, but she didn’t know if he was mad because she’d gone against his wishes and usurped his control, or if he felt like his team betrayed him.
Memories of Nolan going off on one of his tirades, demanding her compliance with whatever arbitrary rule he’d come up with—berating and browbeating her—left her apprehensive of the man in front of her who seemed barely in control of his emotions.
A knot formed inside her chest while she waited to be alone with him. But then she remembered that he’d offered to go to bat for Hickson simply because he felt a loyalty to a fellow vet. Nolan had no loyalties. He didn’t even know the meaning of the word.
But Cal?
He’d been loyal to her, protecting her at all costs. Loyal to his quest for justice for the murdered women. To his team. He really was an incredible man if you could get over the fact that he tried to control everything. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn’t get past it.
The last one to depart, Kaci started down the stairs, giving Tara a reassuring glance before disappearing from view.
She was eager to talk this out and faced Cal. “Everyone’s gone.”
Looking over his shoulder, he glanced around the room before stepping in her direction.
“Why don’t we sit down?” he suggested, his tone not at all angry or harsh as she’d expected.
She appreciated his change in attitude, but she had to believe he would ask her to reconsider her decision, and standing made her feel more confident. “I’d like to stand.”
“I don’t want you to do this,” he said softly, though his body language was anything but soft.
She wouldn’t let that deter her. “I don’t get the change in you. Last night you showed up here and begged for my help. I hate to admit it, but I put myself and my safety first when I should have been thinking of others. So now I’m thinking of them and giving you all the help I can provide, and you don’t want it.”
He narrowed his stance and shoved his hands into his pockets as if trying to physically withdraw from her, but as he looked away, she caught a flash of dark anguish in his eyes. She saw a tortured soul, pain, and torment that went far deeper than this disagreement with her, but his about-face said he didn’t plan to share it with her.
What was he trying so hard to keep buried? Was it guilt? Sadness? Regret? The reason for turning his back on his faith? Would he ever tell her? Did she even want to know?
Enough with the questions that he’ll likely never answer.
“Cal,” she said to gain his attention. “I don’t want to go against your wishes if helping with the search is foolish, which is why I asked your team to weigh in. If the others don’t think this is a mistake, I think it’s safe for me to help, don’t you?”
He shook his head but didn’t speak.
She stepped closer, drawing his full attention. “What’s going on? You want to catch Oren more than anything, so what’s changed that you don’t want my help?”
He clasped a hand on the back of his neck and started massaging. “I can’t explain it.”
He’d never shown a loss for words before, and she wondered if he wasn’t willing to talk to her. Another trait of a man needing to be in charge.
And yet…she couldn’t let go of the fact that she’d come to see there was far more to Cal. Something that he worked very hard to keep hidden, and when she should be heeding the warning signs and running the other way, she kept wanting to find out what that something was. To get to know the real Cal Riggins. To find out if he was indeed like Nolan or if that other, deeper man that she’d seen hints of actually existed.
She groaned internally. This kind of thinking showed why she’d wound up hurt and alone in past relationships. And worse, in this case, she’d seen Cal’s tendencies right up front and had no business trying to figure him out.
