Page 29 of Cold Silence
“I really did good, didn’t I?” He started to grin, but Gage approached and signaled that the house was clear, and all good humor evaporated.
“Get your keys out for Gage so he can open the door.”
She fished them from her purse and handed them out the window. “You’ll need my security code too.” She shared it with him.
He marched to the door, got it open, and light flooded out into the night, but he entered instead of signaling to them.
“He’s clearing the inside, and we should be able to go in soon.”
She bobbed her knee until Gage stepped to the end of the walkway and waved them in. Then she sat up straight, her eyes wide.
“Wait for me to get to your door, then straight to the entrance, past Gage, and he’ll bring up the rear.”
She hopped out, and Travis tucked her under his arm to usher her into her house. The aromatic eucalyptus wreath on the front door caught his attention. Too bad the medicinal scent did nothing to diminish the sour taste lingering in his mouth over her continued unease around him. Nor did it do anything to lighten the agitation he felt in her presence. That never left his mind when he wasn’t busy worrying about her safety.
Gage closed the door and locked it.
Travis followed her to a room with contemporary furniture in neutral colors, but his attention went straight to a wall-to-wall glass door overlooking her backyard. The lawn backed to a natural green space with brush and trees tangled into a thick jungle where Claire’s abductor could take cover. The unobstructed view of the space was nice. Great, in fact.Ifyou weren’t trying to defend the place. A fence would’ve been better. Not that he believed the man who risked attacking Claire in broad daylight would let a fence stand in his way. And that meant Travis needed to keep his focus on his job.
He faced Claire. “I’d like to inspect your security measures.”
“Security measures?” She laughed. “This is a house not a military base.”
“Let me check your locks, then,” he said before he let that smile take him back in time, and he sent his buddy packing and did something he would regret.
She held out her hands. “Help yourself.”
“To start, I’ll be bunking on the couch tonight.”
“I think you’d be more comfortable in my guest room.”
“My assignment isn’t about comfort. The couch is next to the patio door, which my initial impression says is your most vulnerable point of entry. Any intruder would have to get past me to reach your bedroom.”
She shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist, her gaze darting around the room as if it no longer felt like a safe haven.
He hated that he’d worried her and despite his self-preservation warning him to stay away, he rested a hand on her shoulder.
Surprisingly, she didn’t back away.
“I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that no one hurts you, Claire.”
“Thank you.” A sincere smile crossed her lips, lighting her face and firing his pulse.
A slideshow of the playful, loving woman he’d fallen for started rolling through his mind. Her laughter. Her joy. All of it reminded him that this lighthearted woman still existed—just not for him. He swallowed hard and forced his mind back to the job.
He jerked a thumb at Gage. “Besides this old guy needs a real bed now. He’s not used to roughing it anymore.”
“Funny.” Gage rolled his eyes. “I’ll just toddle off to my car for our bags.”
Travis laughed. “And I’ll check out those locks.”
Ignoring Claire’s continued focus on him, he went down a small hallway. Things were happening so fast between them, and he didn’t know what to make of it. Only a few hours together and he felt like raising the white flag of surrender and finding a way out of the op. But he wasn’t a quitter.
He called on years of training to focus and carefully evaluated two modestly sized bedrooms before stepping back through the family room to the master. He could feel Claire’s eyes tracking him, and he wished she’d find something—anything—else to do, but she trailed him as he checked every nook and cranny of the house.
“Everything good?” she asked, still watching him.
Good? No. Far from it.“Where’s your safe room?”
