mean he was home for good. He would be busy for the next several years helping care for his dad. When the inevitable came and duty wasn’t tying him down anymore, would he bolt?
History said yes.
The nurse left and Jason returned. Henry had dozed off by her side, and everyone had agreed to let him sleep.
“We need to talk.”
“Okay.” Could he tell how his presence messed with her?
“Your CO detectors didn’t go off.”
Oh. He wanted to talk about that. Of course he did. It was his job. So why had her heart sunk at his words?
“I noticed that.”
“Your water heater was tampered with. The level of CO in the house was significantly higher than it should have been.”
Her heart sank further. “Not an accident.”
He shrugged. “If you hadn’t caught the intruder, it would have looked like an accident. The tampering isn’t obvious. Just a loose vent. The gas company guys apologized all over themselves. Said they couldn’t understand how it happened.”
“But they don’t know about my visitor.”
“Exactly.”
“So what happens now? Can I go home? Should I go home?”
Jason couldn’t meet her gaze.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
He shifted from one foot to the other and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t get mad, but I called your brother.”
“Great. He’s probably already called Mom and Dad.” Caroline exhaled. “I didn’t want them to worry.”
“Like they wouldn’t want to know?”
She glared at him, hoping he could feel her displeasure burning from her retinas. “What did Blake say?”
“He tracked down Heidi.”
“That didn’t take long.”
“I gather they have a system of some sort.” He frowned at her. “Speaking of which, why did you call me?”
Heat flooded her cheeks. “I knew you were minutes away.”
“Why not go to your front porch and yell at the officers sitting in your driveway?”
He wasn’t going to let this go, was he? She didn’t have a good answer.
“I wasn’t thinking clearly,” she said. “I was afraid to leave Henry and I was afraid to get too far away from the bathroom.”
He studied her longer than was comfortable, and she knew he hadn’t fully accepted her response. Time to change the subject.
“So you spoke to Heidi?”
“Yeah. She said she’d call a friend. He’s not far from here and he’s going to come give your place a once-over. She doesn’t want you to stay there until he’s done.”
Awesome. Heidi’s definition of once-over probably meant pulling up the floors and tearing out the walls.
“I was able to convince her that we have things under control, but I won’t be surprised if we wind up with some random FBI agents popping in and out.”
Caroline blew out a breath. “I guess I should thank you again.”
He winked, and her breath caught. “You may not be thanking me when you hear the rest of our plan.”
“The plan?”
“I thought you could hang out with my mom and dad while you’re waiting for your house to be cleared.”
Caroline fidgeted. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? It looks like someone is trying to kill me. I should probably go to a deserted island, not hang out with your parents.”
“Nonsense.” Jason didn’t seem as worried as he should be.
“I can’t put your parents at risk. If anything happened to them—”
His hand on hers stopped her. “I’ve already talked to them. They understand what’s going on, and they want you to come. Mom says she hasn’t seen Henry in far too long.”
“But—”
“Caroline. Dad’s still a good shot.”
She dropped her head in defeat. “I wasn’t thinking that at all.” Jason’s dad had been a sniper. ALS would eventually rob him of the ability to hold a rifle, but at this point, he could probably outshoot 98 percent of the population.
“I know you weren’t. He’s been cleaning his rifle since I called. He’s ready for anything. And whoever is after you would have no reason to expect you to be there.”
“Jason, I go to your parents’ at least once a month.”
“Heidi and I discussed that, but your visits are random and not something anyone would be able to use to target you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
At 1:00 p.m., Jason loaded Caroline and Henry into his car.
“Where’d you get the car seat?” Caroline strapped Henry in with practiced moves.
“Michael. He brought it from your house.”
Caroline didn’t respond. Had he upset her? “He was still there, so I asked him to grab it so we could get the little guy home.” He pointed to a bag in the backseat. “He grabbed a bunch of clothes and diapers, too.”
“That was very thoughtful.” She laughed, a harsh sound with no humor in it. “To think that this time yesterday my biggest worry was if I’d allocated enough to the college fund I set up for this little guy.” He saw the muscles in her jaw working overtime. “And now, I’m praying I can keep him alive until his second birthday.” Her voice cracked on the last word, but when she looked up at him, no tears had broken free. She closed Henry’s door. “You ready?”
“Almost.”
He opened the passenger door for her. “There’s one thing I’ve learned from combat.” Her eyes filled with curiosity and concern. “You can’t keep anyone alive.”
She slumped in defeat and slid into the seat. He closed the door and leaned into the open window. “I’m not saying we don’t do everything we can, but you have to let go of this feeling of accountability. You couldn’t have kept Stephanie alive, and ultimately you can’t keep Henry alive.
