Page 50 of Blind Trust
Walking back into the fulcrum, he found Lyla standing by his desk. “Pain meds and a side of orange ginger juice with matcha for an extra energy boost.”
“You know I’m a coffee girl, Nicolás. I’ve already had two cups.” Her halfhearted attempt to smile told him the caffeine wasn’t helping.
“Try this. It’ll help your immune system too. Keep you feisty.”
“Do you really think I need help in that department?” She took the drink, sniffed it, and slowly took a small sip. Her tired eyes met his. “It’s not horrible.”
“I’ll take that.”
Lyla swallowed the pills, then tucked a chunk of loose hair behind her ear and looked over the map sitting on his desk. “Is that my grandparents’ property?”
“I was hoping I could tighten the perimeter to give the sheriff and his deputies the best place to look.” Nic pointed at the map’s topography and the areas he circled with an orange highlighter. “These spots have a higher elevation, giving the shooter the best vantage point—”
“To target me,” she said, her voice void of emotion. “Do they teach you how to figure that out in the military?”
“Yes.”
“You never really talk about your time in the Army. Why?”
The knots in his shoulders tightened. “I don’t know.” But he did. Talking about that part of his life would inevitably lead to its conclusion, and he was ashamed. He didn’t know what Lyla thought of him most days, but the fear of what she might think of him if she knew about his past...well, he couldn’t handle another woman looking at him the way Brittany had.
“Have you spoken to your family?”
“Yes. Talked with my dad.” Her shoulders drooped. “He convinced Etta and Tully to stay at the house since my parents’ property isn’t as big as theirs, and the private security team he’s hired can protect it and... them better.” Her voice caught, and she wiped at a tear. “My parents have a general idea of what we do here. Dad more so than Mom, but that’s probably because Tom, er, Walsh, shares more with him. Tully and Etta have no idea. What happened today...”
The guilt was eating away at her, and for the first time, Nic could relate to the burden she was carrying. Without thinking, he reached for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, squeezing to reassure her but unable to find the right words.
This isn’t smart. Nic looked down at her fingers and noticed the red scrapes across her ivory skin. An urge to kiss away the pain overwhelmed him, and he slowly released her hand. The absenceof her touch left his skin cold. She glanced up at him, and there was a question hanging in the depths of her gaze that he couldn’t decipher.I’m leaving. He reminded himself of the plan. Except he hadn’t confirmed his decision with Walsh yet.
“I overheard Jack say we have two hours.” Lyla went back to her desk. “Let’s see who can find something first.”
Nic accepted her challenge, letting it keep him from having to address that the reason he hadn’t told Walsh his decision was because he was afraid to tell the woman in front of him.
Nearly three hours later and having made little progress, they decided to call it a night. Inside his truck, Nic hit the GPS for directions to Lyla’s parents’ home and pulled out of the Acacia Building parking garage.
“I’m not going back to my parents’,” Lyla said from the passenger seat.
Nic swallowed his frustration, counted to ten, and braced himself for the battle. “You can’t stay at your place tonight. I don’t care if you somehow convinced Walsh your security system is state-of-the-art or you’ve got blast-resistant windows or if you never want to speak to me again, I am not driving you home to stay by yourself, Lyla. It’s not safe.”
“You finished?”
His fingers ached from clenching the steering wheel. Nic kept his eyes on the road, afraid that if he looked over at her, she’d wield her inner Jedi and convince him she’d be just fine. Maybe she would. Maybe she’d get a good night’s sleep, but he would not.
“I just got you talking to me again,” she teased. “You can take me to Jack and Brynn’s. I spoke to her earlier, and she said I could stay with them for a few days—if necessary—until we get a better understanding of what’s going on.”
His shoulders relaxed. Just like that? No argument? He peeked over and found her watching him, her lips twisted into a pert pout.
“So you got all worked up for nothing.”
Had he? A throbbing began at the base of his neck, a symptom he recognized from his time in the Army that happened when the adrenaline controlling his exhaustion and stress began to taper off and reminded him he was human.
“I’m sorry.” He took the I-495 ramp south. “I was just—”
“Expecting me to put up a fight.”
He hated the sound of surrender in her voice. “Making sure you take care of yourself. On top of everything else, you were thrown off a horse today. As much as you want to hide it, I can tell you’re hurting.”
“I’m okay.”
