She shrugged. “Why should I mind? I won’t know you’re here.” She looked back at him over her shoulder. “I never know—” She forgot what she was going to say as she met his eyes. Intensity. Heat. Electricity. She couldn’t breathe and her breasts were swelling. The response was totally unexpected. And dammit, she could tell he knew it. She quickly looked away. “No, I don’t mind. Sit down over there on the couch and be quiet.”

She heard him moving behind her to the couch. “I promise you won’t even know I’m here,” he said softly. “The last thing I want to do is disturb you…”

Chapter 8

Chapter
8

2:35 A.M.

Lara!”

There was a dim shape in the darkness…

Coming toward her.

“Wake up!” Tanner was sitting her up in bed. “You said you wanted to know everything. I promised you, dammit.” Then the lamp on the bedside table was lit, and Lara was wide awake.

His expression was grim, she thought as she shook her head to clear it. His lips were tight and his light eyes gleaming with ferocity. “What?”

“I got the call from Sherman.” He grabbed her navy bathrobe from the bottom of the bed and draped it around her shoulders over her nightshirt. “The Connecticut airport was hit earlier tonight. It wasn’t good.” He was swearing beneath his breath. “I told him not to fight them, but he wasn’t listening. He and his buddy in the sheriff’s office decided they wanted to take at least one prisoner to interrogate.” He took her wrist and was leading her from the bedroom. “Idiots.”

She had to hurry to keep pace with him. “Where are you taking me?”

“To the library. I need a drink.” He was pulling her down the staircase. “This isn’t going to be easy for me.”

She pulled her arm away from his grasp as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Just tell me. Sherman was hurt?”

“No, but his friend Abner was killed.” He threw open the door and strode past her into the library to the bar against the far wall. “And your father’s men set fire to the remaining aircraft left in the hangars. Everything but the office was burned to the ground, and the only reason that was spared is that they wanted to send a message.” He was pouring himself a whiskey. “Sherman was in the woods trying to stop Abner from bleeding to death or he would have probably been killed, too. They hit hard and fast and were in and out of the airport in forty minutes. After Abner died, Sherman made his way back through the airport to the office to see why they hadn’t touched it.” He handed Lara his phone. “Anton came prepared. You told me he liked cameras. Evidently, he had this photo enlarged and brought it with him. He tacked it on the door of the office.”