Page 67 of Cold Silence
Travis waited for Claire to duck down, then grabbed his door handle, letting in a wash of air.
Claire had risen up and looked over the seat at him. “Be careful, okay?”
“Hey,” he said, making sure to lighten his tone. “Don’t worry. I’m trained to handle myself in dangerous circumstances.”
“Still.” She held his gaze. “Be careful. For me.”
“Of course.”
He may have played down this situation for Claire, but as he jogged across the road, he kept his hand firmly seated on his gun. The biggest mistake he could make would be to underestimate his enemy, and Robb was the enemy until proven otherwise.
Travis stealthily moved in. Five feet from his target, he cleared his throat. “Hello, Robb.”
Robb spun. His gaze quickly ran over Travis then took in Eryn’s rental vehicle.
With a big smile, Robb started for the road.
For Claire.
Had Robb seen Claire? Figured she was in the car?
Robb slipped his hand into his coat pocket.
Gun!Travis reacted on instinct, bolting after Robb and tackling him to the ground. He straddled his back.
“What the—?” Robb mumbled as he squirmed. “What’re you doing, man, and what’s my girl doing in your car?”
Travis slowly turned Robb over and jerked his hand out of the pocket. A black velvet box lay in his palm. A ring? He was going to ask Claire to marry him?
“This is your grand gesture?” Travis stifled a burst of hysterical laughter threatening to escape. “Flowers and a proposal?”
Robb’s eyes narrowed. “What business is it of yours? And I’ll ask again, what’re you doing with Claire?”
“I’m doing some testing for the Army while I’m in town, and she’s working on the project.”
“You didn’t mention that the other night.”
Travis released Robb’s wrist and stood, keeping his hand on his gun just in case Robb tried anything. “What are the odds that the Claire I work with and the Claire you mentioned are the same person?”
“Fair enough, but what’s with the tackle?” Robb tried to scoot back.
Travis held firm. “Someone attacked Claire the other day. I thought you might have a gun.”
“Me?” Robb’s mouth dropped open. “I’d never hurt Claire. I love her and have to ask her to marry me.”
Travis eyed the guy, putting a healthy measure of warning in his gaze. “Trust me. She’s not available. Especially not to a stalker like you.”
Travis hauled Robb past Eryn’s vehicle to Gage, who’d pulled up behind and was out with his eye on them. Travis wanted to question him about the attack but he was so angry right now he could do something he would regret. Better to put distance between them until he cooled down.
“Take this guy.” Travis patted Robb down for any additional weapons then opened the back door of Gage’s SUV to shove Robb inside and slam the door, letting all his frustration with the stalker into the effort. “I need your guys to detain him, and I’ll have Eryn work on the camera first thing. Hopefully we’ll have something illegal to pin on him and get the police out here to take him into custody.”
Gage gave a sharp nod. “I’ll have Jackson or Coop park in the lot and wait for word from you.”
“Thanks, man.” Travis spun and raced back to Claire. He climbed into the front passenger’s seat and looked back at her.
“I know,” she said before he could get his door closed. “You don’t have to say it. I didn’t listen. I sat up. I’m sorry, but I wanted to be sure you were okay.”
This time it was okay, but… “Promise me you won’t go against my directives again.”
