Okay, Colt liked her. “My pleasure.”

Zoey grinned at him, then turned to Tae. “When the lab exploded, I knew something wasn’t right. I tried to get ahold of you on your cruise, but the captain said you hadn’t returned to the boat and . . . I freaked out. I went to Dr. Bella, and she sent me here. I met Jethro through his daughter, Raven, who was playing covers at a local bar and grill. Jethro owns it and when we found out we were neighbors, he told me to stay with him until we got this sorted.” She glanced at the trail through the woods. “You can trust him. He’s ex-military, no nonsense, and . . . well, you’ll like him. C’mon.”

She started down the path.

Tae took Colt’s hand. “It’ll be okay.”

But his heart still pounded, his chest burning. Something wasn’t . . . right.

Still, he nodded, then followed.

SEVEN

Probably, they were safe.

Colt could notch it down to DEFCON 3. Or maybe 4.

But the falling darkness had done nothing to ease the tension from his chest.

Apparently, however, he was the only one worried. Tae sat wrapped in a blanket on an Adirondack chair across from a flickering campfire, the stars overhead cast in a glittering array of glory. She held a cup of hot cocoa, her face illuminated by the flames, and, shoot, he had to keep averting his eyes or he’d lose his focus.

Which was on the forest around him, the dock that stretched out from the shore, even the grounds of Jethro’s place.

He liked it here. The cabin was small and cedar-sided. It had a wraparound porch, was set back from the water and had a firepit in the yard. Chairs around the fire, a sliding door off the deck leading inside to a modest, dated kitchen, a family room with a fireplace, a couple overstuffed leather chairs, a worn leather sofa, a coffee table.

Colt wasn’t sure where they’d end up tonight. Maybe he’d stay right here, in his own chair, watching. Waiting.

When they’d arrived at the house, Tae had disappeared with Zoey downstairs—probably to fill her in—and Colt had found a chair at the round table in the kitchen.

Jethro cooked them up trout sandwiches. The smell of the fish fillets simmering in butter had nearly made Colt weep.

“I can spot a military man when I see one.” Jethro had handed him a bottle of lemonade.

“Thanks.” Colt spun off the cap. “Ex-Army.” No need to go into his specialty.

“Sorry about that back there. Zoey’s still pretty spooked. And Bella doesn’t get many visitors, so—”

Colt held up a hand. “I get it. But I smelled the grill.”

“Yeah, that was a bad choice. We used it last night. My tank was empty.” He raised his lemonade to Colt. “Pretty sharp there, Soldier.”

“What do you know about all this?”