Page 30 of Cold Silence
“My what?” She pushed up her glasses.
“Where you take shelter from tornadoes.” With few basements in a city boasting volatile summer weather, most residents had designated an internal room for shelter.
“Oh, that. The laundry room, why?”
“I want to establish a place for you to go in the event of an intrusion. I also suggest you sleep in your clothes in case we need to use the room or flee the house.”
“Okay.” That fear crept back into her eyes, making her seem vulnerable and alone.
He forced himself to turn away. “Show me the room.”
She led the way to a room, if you could call it that. The space was barely bigger than the appliances. He made a quick assessment and then looked straight at her, making sure his expression conveyed the importance of his upcoming directions. “If I’m somehow disabled or if I tell you to come here, you head to this room and lock the door. No questions asked. No dallying. Straight in here. Got it?”
She gave a certain nod, but the fear lingered.
“We’ll pick up a deadbolt and secure this space.” Hoping to eliminate the heavy tension between them before he exploded, he grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll repair any damage my bumbling skills cause before I leave town.”
A wobbly smile lifted one side of her mouth, and though he wanted to give her additional safety instructions, he thought it best to pass the advice on in small snippets before she totally freaked out.
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Go ahead and grab that shower then I’ll take one after you’re done.”
Travis returned to the family room as Gage entered again.
“I’ll take those keys.” Travis held out his hand. “I’m going to take a look outside.”
Gage widened his stance. “You don’t trust my recon skills.”
“I do. I just want to get the lay of the land.”
“This really has you freaked.”
Travis held up his hand. “Before you say that I’m overreacting, can you think of one good reason I should relax?”
“No,” Gage said. “No, I can’t.”
“Exactly.” Travis headed for the door.
He stepped out into the evening air, forgetting how high the humidity levels could be in Orlando. He’d once thought he would ask Claire to marry him, but to be together, one of them would have to quit their job and move to another state. If he was being honest, he was thinking she would make the move as he didn’t really want to live in such stifling weather. Nor did he want to leave the team.
Plus, Claire was far more employable than he was. What kind of job could he find?
Didn’t matter now, did it?
He shook it off and moved around the house. High shrubs in the front gave plenty of hiding spaces to a would-be attacker. Too late to trim them back. He would just have to be sure they made a thorough check behind each shrub each time they returned.
He eased around the side and down a slight incline to the gate. He reached over to open it and entered the backyard that the large patio door faced. The space was wide open and lit by landscape lights that illuminated a large deck and lush tropical plants ringing the perimeter.
Beautiful. Peaceful even. But additional places for that potential attacker to hide.
Loud pounding sounded on the glass door from the inside.
Travis’s heart rate kicked up, and he spun.
Gage opened a section of the bi-fold door. “We have a situation here.”
Stomach knotting, Travis charged across the deck and inside.
Dressed in conservative black pants and a white blouse, Claire stood in the family room, her hair wet. Her eyes were narrowed, and she clutched her phone tightly in her hand.
