is the problem of crossing ranks being forbidden. Don’t they understand how much trouble you’d be in if you accepted dates with them?”
Zoe chuckled. “Yeah, well, it doesn’t seem to bother them to try. I think it’s probably a challenge to see if their macho appeal is enough to get me to step over the line. Most of them are pitiful.”
“Gotcha.” Linc rejoined her, sat with his elbows resting on the table and pulled the list to him. “I suppose there’s no way you can recall names, is there?”
“Mostly, no. A lot of the offenders were my students of course, because I have the most one-on-one contact with those. I think a few even thought they could overturn my decisions to wash them out by romancing me. There were times when it was actually hard to keep a straight face.”
“Maybe you’re selling yourself short,” he said quietly, watching her for clues to her innermost feelings. “There are lots of men on base who would count themselves fortunate to get a date with you.”
To his chagrin, she laughed. “I don’t see them lining up because I’m such a great catch. And that’s for the best. I already told you. I have no intention of getting involved. I have my job and Freddy. That’s plenty for a satisfying life.”
“I’ve enjoyed being with you today. That’s not a bad thing, is it?”
His ego took a jolt when she looked him straight in the eyes and said, “You’re here because you’re working. Nothing more, nothing less. When the job is over, you won’t give me or my son a second thought, and you know it.”
Mentioning their “almost” kiss seemed inappropriate in view of her candid opinion. Besides, Linc began to wonder if the physical attraction between them was merely a result of proximity. After all, he was a normal man and Zoe was a beautiful woman. There was bound to be at least a little overt interest. He certainly couldn’t deny that he admired her. She was beyond strong willed and intelligent, not to mention she had integrity.
Finally, he could admit he believed her when she insisted she’d had no recent contact with her nefarious brother. And he also believed that someone was trying to convince her she was mentally unbalanced. Given what she’d already weathered in life, he had to assume she was smart enough to discount such blatant maneuvering. Perhaps it was time to tell her so.
Linc reached across the table the way he had when she’d needed comforting during their meal. Once again, Zoe let him touch her hand. “Look,” he said, “I know this is a rough time for you. And I don’t deny there’s tension when I’m working with you. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy your company, too. The more I learn, the more I trust you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. We’ll still be keeping an eye on you in case Boyd shows up, but I believe you when you say you had nothing to do with his escape or presence here.”
Glistening unshed tears made her eyes sparkle. The urge to reach out with his free hand and cup her cheek was so intense Linc almost acted on it. He thought he’d regained his self-control until a solitary tear slid down her cheek.
Before he could stop himself, he’d brushed it away with his thumb. The sight of the vulnerable, innocent woman reached inside his heart and settled in as if making a home there. This kind of pure empathy was beyond his ability to resist. Without meaning to get in this deep, he had carried out his captain’s orders to befriend her. Boy, had he.
The biggest problem Linc had now was how he was going to keep his emotions tamped down enough to properly do his job. This was why family members were seldom assigned together. They mattered too much to each other. And right now, right here, Zoe Sullivan meant more to him than was good for either of them.
His relief K-9 officer showed up on time, removing his reason for staying. Linc was not happy that the night watch had fallen to a rookie. Nevertheless, it was not his place to question his superiors’ decisions, so he checked in with the airman, then headed for his quarters with Star.
It was going to be a long night.
* * *
The sensitivity Linc had shown when they’d been together in her kitchen had stuck with Zoe long after he’d left.
He’d taken copies of her lists with him, promising to check which of her possible suspects may have been off duty when the majority of her home invasions had taken place. Given the number of them, such a search was going to take time. In fact, she began to wonder whether one perpetrator was responsible for everything. The more she mulled over her life, the more people she noted who were not happy with her.
Such was the lot of a dedicated instructor whose final decisions about a candidate’s flying abilities and reasoning in a crisis could make or break his or her career. The percentage of female pilots she had washed out was about the same as male. Although, with fewer women applying for flight school, the actual numbers were smaller. Then there was the gender bias some of the students had against her. Yes, this was the twenty-first century but old habits died hard, even now. Life off the base in rural Texas was proof of that, although since she rarely ventured into nearby towns, she hadn’t often run afoul of good old boys and their antiquated attitudes.
Deep sleep came more easily than Zoe had expected. Freddy had been so tired after the stimulating Sunday he’d had that he’d gone to bed without argument and she had soon followed.
Morning light was beginning to filter through the blinds in her bedroom when she finally stirred. Stretched. Swung her legs over the side of the bed, onto the floor and felt...
Bolting upright, she gasped. Lifting her bare feet, she looked down and her eyes widened with shock and fear. The soles of her feet were covered in a warm, sticky red substance.
Blood.
The smell was so cloying. She started to gag, then forced herself to calm down. To take stock of the situation. Am I hurt? No. Nothing physical seemed to be wrong with her. But then where had the pool of blood come from? Whose could it be?
“Freddy!” Zoe leaped up and dashed toward her son’s room with no thought of the bloody footprints she was leaving in her wake. A scream lodged in her constricted throat, kept there by sheer force of will as she braced herself to face the worst nightmare of her life. She slid to a stop at her son’s open door, one hand on the jamb to steady her trembling body and keep her knees from buckling.
A sigh replaced the scream in her throat when she found Freddy lying on top of the covers in his pajamas, soundly asleep and clearly unhurt. As she watched, he made a sound like a sleepy kitten and rolled over to face her. He was fine.
“Thank You, Jesus,” she whispered breathlessly.
Zoe knew he’d be terribly frightened if he saw her feet, so she edged away and turned back, retracing her crimson footprints. The blood wasn’t from her or Freddy, so where had it come from? Why hadn’t she awakened? Moreover, who had managed to invade her privacy once more to carry out such a heinous act?
Fear-based adrenaline had borne her to her son’s room. Now, though, she shook so badly she could hardly continue to move. She leaned on the walls, working her way along until she was back in her own room.
The foul puddle remained beside her bed and she could see where she had initially stepped. A strong urge to wipe up the mess almost overcame her before she reached for her cell phone instead. She must not touch
