twenty-three
Propped up against a mountain of pillows in the bedroom of the RV, Alden sipped a soda and watched the live feed of the party as Tabitha made her rounds. His daughter really was a marvel. So intriguing how the young men reacted to her beauty. First they looked at her angelic face, then their eyes would drop to those plump red lips, go lower to her tight, firm breasts, and then take in her beautifully shaped ass. By the time they made it back up to her face to speak, they were drooling.
He never felt the slightest jealousy. They were young and their fascination with her beauty was understandable. Only once had he felt the slightest anger, and that had been last year when a young man had touched her. Actually, the anger had been more than slight. After Tabitha had been rightly punished for allowing the young prick to get that close, Alden had gone out and hunted him down, just as any good father would. As the kid had gasped out his final breaths of life, Alden had whispered in his ear the sin he had committed. The young man had died knowing justice had been served.
They had never talked about that night, but Tabitha had seen the blood all over him when he’d returned to the RV. She’d simply run him a bath and washed it off. That had been the end of that, and she’d never allowed anyone to get close enough to touch her ever again.
Alden was pulled from his musings as Tabitha whispered into the microphone attached to her collar. “There is a young woman on the stairway. She looks out of place and alone. Would you like me to approach her?”
“Get closer. I can’t see her clearly.”
The image of the woman became clearer as Tabitha walked toward her. The girl was moderately attractive. Heavy makeup and ill-fitting clothes took away from her looks, but she had potential.
“She’s a possibility. Talk to her … see what you can find out.”
Before Tabitha could approach her, a young man ran up the steps toward their prospect. The girl’s face brightened, her relief obvious.
“Looks like she’s a no-go,” Tabitha muttered.
Alden sighed. “Walk around for another few minutes. If you see no one, come on back. We’ll try again tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, Father.”
“Not your fault, my angel. We’ll find the right one soon.”
As Tabitha made her way through the overcrowded room, Alden kept an eye out for any interesting-looking females, as well as any men who made improper advances toward his daughter. A party such as this, with people drinking and doing all sorts of vile things to alter their minds, there was no telling what some imbecile would do to a beautiful young woman like his angel.
After about ten minutes, it was obvious that Tabitha was not going to find the right young woman there. The party was getting louder, more boisterous. Fools were going to get more foolish as the night went on.
“Come back now, Tabitha. We’ll start again tomorrow.”
“See you soon.”
Disappointed but not overly so, Alden relaxed against the pillows again. Finding the right one to bring back to his people wasn’t an easy task. He had made several mistakes in the early years, not only in selecting girls but also in training them. A couple had ended up as stable girls. Others he hadn’t been able to tolerate, so he had put them out of his or their misery.
Having Tabitha help him had been a brilliant idea. Not only did she look like an innocent, she could spot certain aspects of a woman he’d never looked at before. Qualities that only another woman might be able to identify.
No doubt about it. She would continue to travel and hunt with him each year.
Honor stood in front of the mirror and tried out several expressions, hoping to come up with the right one. For three days straight, she’d made herself as visible as possible. At the beginning of the week, she’d been confident she could look and act like an insecure, lonely college student. Through several long, exhausting afternoons and evenings, that confidence had disappeared. She had attracted plenty of guys, but not the one she had wanted to lure. The shy, awkward persona wasn’t as easy to give off as she’d thought it would be.
“You ready?”
She turned to Seth, who stood behind her. After that brief, uninformative talk about Clemmons, he’d been much too quiet. Whenever she made a statement or asked a question, his comments were terse, to the point of rudeness. And though they slept together each night and he held her in his arms, they still hadn’t made love.
She tried to tell herself that his worry for his niece and his focus on the mission were to blame for his standoffishness. While part of that could be true, she knew that wasn’t the whole story. Whatever had happened to Seth during his years of undercover work continued to eat at him.
Why hadn’t she delved into that experience before now? She’d seen the changes in him, including a hardness that hadn’t been there before. The answer to her question wasn’t one she was proud of, but it was the truth. Getting specifics would have meant digging deeper into their past. Other than reminding herself daily that he’d lied to her, she had skirted the issue of what Seth had endured. Pain avoidance was a selfish reason, but there it was.
Now not only did she need to play catch-up, she had to figure out how to get him to talk. He’d made it pretty damn clear that the subject was off-limits.
“You look nice.”
Quite different from his previous compliment. Stretching her mouth into a smile at the watered-down flattery was difficult. They were back to behaving like strangers. She hated that. However, until this job was over, she could do nothing about it. Once they’d found the young women and the creep who’d taken them, she promised herself, she and Seth would spend hours of uninterrupted time together … with their clothes on.
“It’s a little less sexy than the other outfits I’ve been wearing. I bought the shirt at the mall in Casper and the jeans and my jacket at a thrift store.”
“You could wear a sack and still look beautiful.”
Her heart clutched. Now, that was a Seth compliment. And only with him had she ever felt beautiful. He had made her feel that way, and not only by how well he treated her; his attention to detail was phenomenal. He’d notice minute things, like her perfume or a new shade of lipstick. Once he’d complimented her on a new belt she’d bought. She knew enough about guys to realize how special Seth was.
He’d told her that having five sisters had trained him well. She just wished to hell they’d trained him to open up more.
Her hands smoothed the emerald-green blouse. “You always know the right thing to say to make a woman feel special.”
“It’s easy when the woman is special.”
Biting her lip to keep it from trembling, she turned around and gave him a brilliant smile. “So, I guess we’d better go over everything one last time. Okay?”
His expression tightened. “First, we’ll hit the two coffee shops and the diner again. This afternoon, we’ll go to the library, another bookstore that’s got an attached café, and let’s try that ice cream shop again. Tonight, there’s a small newcomers’ get-together not far from campus.”
She grimaced. “Hopefully better attended than the frat party.”
“Yeah, that was a bust.”
The party had been a dozen or so guys getting drunk and no girls. Honor had made one quick glance around the room and sped out of there before she was seen. Drunk college boys weren’t on her list of suspects.
“If we have any spare time, I’ll wander around the campus a little more today. Maybe if I’m seen walking alone through campus, that’ll catch his eye.”
“Let’s test the mic one more time.”
Part of her wanted to roll her eyes at him; the mic had worked perfectly each day. And today, they’d already had three tests. However, not only did she understand how important it was to have the equipment working properly, she also knew Seth needed this reassurance. If it eased his concern for her, then she would grit her teeth and test it another half dozen times. Anything to erase those grim lines around his mouth and lighten the shadows in his eyes.
“How about I go down to the lobby and grab us some coffee and a couple of those homemade chocolate chip cookies we saw yesterday?”
Though his eyes remained somber, a small smile lifted his mouth and eased the lines somewhat. “Make that four cookies and a large coffee.”
“Gotcha.” Adjusting the watch at her wrist, she winked at him and went out the door.
The instant the door clicked shut, Seth released an explosive sigh. He used to be better at hiding his thoughts. Honor knew something had happened with Clemmons … something he still couldn’t talk about. Only a few people knew the whole story. After the son of a bitch went down and Seth left the force, he told himself he never had to think about it again. What was done, was done. He couldn’t change the past, no matter how much he wished for it. Didn’t stop the nightmares, though. He doubted anything ever would.
Clicking on the small receiver in his ear, he heard the elevator bell ring, telling him that Honor was probably in the lobby. Distant noises hit his ear, and he envisioned her walking through the lobby toward the coffee station.
“Hmm.” Honor sounded eerily close. “Only peanut butter and double chocolate today. My favorites, but not what the grumpy man in my room asked for. Guess he’s out of luck.”
“Get your sweet ass up here with those double-chocolate cookies before I have to come down there and—”
She gave an overexaggerated gasp and Seth hardened. How was it that one small sound from Honor could turn him on so fast when he’d had other women strip naked to give him lap dances and he’d felt nothing? Hell, did he really want to answer that question?
She laughed softly. “My sweet ass is on its way up. You hear me okay?”
“Yeah, hear you fine.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
She went silent again, but the abrupt quietness wasn’t reassuring. She wasn’t going to stop asking questions and trying to find out what had happened. He told himself that Honor was a professional. There was probably very little that surprised her. However, to dig deep and share the things he’d seen, the things he had done to survive and get the job done? Could he open up and spill the darkest, deepest, filthiest part of his soul?
The door opened and Seth turned to see Honor struggling with two white foam cups and a napkin-covered plate of cookies. He strode quickly to take them from her hands.
“Thanks.” Her eyes sparkling with good humor, she grinned up at him. “I got six of each. Thought you could use a little sweetening up.”
The punch to his gut went clear to that battered, dirty soul and he knew the truth. This beautiful woman might have seen the worst of what humans could do to one another, but beneath that tough-girl attitude was the optimistic and idealistic young woman who still believed in goodness and doing the right thing.
No way would he tell her that in hell, the right thing didn’t exist.
Honor’s mouth ached as she smiled and said for the tenth time today, “Thanks for asking, but I have a boyfriend. Nice to meet you, though.”
Had the boys been this horny when she was in school? Sadly for her, she knew they had been. However, she’d been a skinny, freckle-faced, too serious girl when she was in college. Dating had been one of the least important items on her agenda. Yes, she had dated occasionally and had even managed a couple of steady boyfriends, one in high school and a less serious one in college. Not one of them had ever touched her heart. Not until Seth.
As if she’d conjured him up, she heard him sigh. “Honor, if one more pimple-faced kid or muscle-bound jock asks you out, I’m coming inside to pass out pamphlets on abstinence.”
Swallowing a startled laugh, Honor lowered her head to the book she’d been pretending to read. “They’re just lonely, Seth.”
He snorted. “Lonely, hell. They’re horny kids and you’re a hot babe who looks like their nighttime wet dream.”
Honor didn’t know if she should be insulted or complimented. Deciding not to even comment on that, she said instead, “I’ve been here for over an hour, and other than a couple of girls who came in for coffee and then left, I haven’t seen anyone who could remotely be the woman we’re looking for.”
“Yeah. I agree. What’s next on the agenda?”
“I’m going to walk around campus.”
“Okay, sweetheart, I got your back.”
Arousal hit unexpectedly, taking her breath. Heat flowed through her entire body and then pooled between her legs, causing a slow, steady throb. She squirmed in her chair. A room full of horny young men was not the best place for her to be right now.
“What’s wrong?” Seth asked.
“Huh?”
“You groaned. Everything okay?”
Telling him the truth was out of the question. “Yes,” she said instead. “Guess I’ve just been sitting for too long.”
“I’m in the parking lot. Are you headed outside yet?”
The answer would be no, she was sitting here lusting after the owner of the gruff, sexy voice in her ear. Telling herself to get her act together, Honor stood and went out the door. On the sidewalk, she stopped for a second for a sweeping gaze around. She saw no one suspicious, nothing out of the ordinary. A few students walking to classes, three girls giggling in the parking lot, cars driving by. And as she’d figured, she didn’t see Seth. The man was excellent at hiding.
“Where are you?” she murmured.
“Across the parking lot from you. Sitting in a grassy area, with my back against a tree, pretending to read some boring book about what some group of people did to another group of people in the Middle Ages. Figured if anyone saw me, I’d better look like I was a professor or something, instead of a stalker.”
“Okay, I’m headed to the student union. It’s the large two-story building on State Street.”
“Right behind you.”
Walking through the middle of the moderately busy campus, Honor took her time, hoping to give the impression that she had no appointments, no place to go, and no one to meet. Putting herself into the lonely, “I don’t have a friend in the world” persona was wearing and somewhat depressing. Sad that there were young people out there who felt this way. Not that she’d had loads of friends, but she had a couple of close friends she could call on a moment’s notice. She also had her family. Even so, she wasn’t generally one who became morose and moody. Whenever she’d felt that way in the past, a good book or movie had usually changed her attitude.