He gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “There’s no telling what we’ll find around the corner of the garage. But you don’t need to worry. I’ll be in front. Ready?”
“I guess.”
He eased open the door. Immediately, they were moving through her moonlit yard. She followed him, pulling her suitcase, struggling to keep up as he rushed forward.
Her pulse thumped hard. Adrenaline raced through her system. At the driveway, she dragged the suitcase to the back of his SUV, went to the passenger seat and climbed in. Before she’d finished struggling with the seat belt, he had loaded her suitcase and was in the driver’s seat. He started the engine, whipped into Reverse and zipped away from her cabin.
A glance at the speedometer showed her that he was well over the recommended speed limit for this narrow, winding road, but she wasn’t scared. Troy had control of the vehicle. He was fast but safe.
She craned her neck to look over her shoulder. She didn’t see headlights behind them. “Are we safe?”
“I don’t see anyone.”
The narrow road straightened a bit as they drove past a beaver pond. It was less than a mile to a main intersection. “What happens if they catch up to us?”
“They won’t.” He negotiated the rugged road like a grand prix champion. “I think we made our escape fast enough that they didn’t have time to plan another assault. It’s a good thing that you noticed that missing photo.”
“And a really good thing that you were with me.”
He cranked the steering wheel, and the SUV swerved onto a paved road. There was no other traffic in sight.
Breathing hard, she flopped back against the seat. This definitely wasn’t the evening she’d expected after a long day at the hospital. In usual circumstances, she would have thrown together a salad with fresh veggies, had a cup of tea and relaxed. No doubt, her poor feet were swollen. Her sneakers felt as tight as rubber bands.
Absentmindedly, she stroked her tight belly. Inside her, the baby started to kick, possibly in reaction to the rush of adrenaline when she fled the cabin. “Wow, it feels like he’s jumping hurdles.”
“Who’s doing what?”
“The baby. He’s bouncing around.”
Troy kept his eyes on the road, but reached his hand toward her. “May I?”
She appreciated that he asked. So many people walked right up to her and began touching without permission. Gently, she took his hand and placed it over the place where the child—their child—was tap dancing.
Troy reacted, pulling his hand away. “That’s the baby?”
“Oh, yeah. I think he got excited by our escape. I don’t do a lot of running these days.”
“It doesn’t hurt him, does it? I mean, he’s okay, right?”
His concern erased his macho facade. Feeling the baby move had turned this big, bad marine into a cream puff. His reaction was actually kind of cute.
“The baby’s fine,” she assured him. “He’s always active. Sometimes, I think he’s got a ping-pong paddle in there.”
Troy replaced his hand on her belly. As he experienced more kicks, a wide grin spread across his face. “That’s my boy.”
She shared his pride. After all the time and effort she’d spent resisting Troy, she felt closer to him now than ever before. Strange. When they’d made love the first time, it had been because of a personal disaster. Now, it took another potential disaster to bring them together.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“We could continue on into Denver or stop at a hotel on the way. Your choice.”
“Hotel,” she said. “I’m too tired to face my parents tonight.”
“Lucky for us, I already have a suite booked in Keystone.”
“Why would you make reservations?”
“I needed a place to stay after you threw me out. Again.”
Was she really that mean? The answer, of course, was yes. She’d been pushing him away with both hands for eight and a half months, but she wasn’t going to apologize. She had her reasons. “Does this hotel have room service?”
“Count on it.” He gave her tummy a final pat and took his hand away. “Tonight, I’ll pamper you. This is a nice place, and you can have anything you want to eat.”
“Yay, I almost feel good about having my house broken into.”
“As soon as we get there, you need to call your parents and tell them what happened. The photo on the fridge was of all four of you. They might also be targets.”
She knew his analysis of the situation was correct. If someone was after her, the rest of her family could be in danger. Telling them would be difficult, nearly impossible. “Their work isn’t something we talk about. Not ever.”
When she and her sister were growing up, they knew their parents had contacts that went beyond their jobs in the diplomatic corps, and they had learned not to ask too many questions when their parents left town.
“Did your family travel a lot?” he asked.
“When I was little we did. But we were based in Washington, D.C., for years and years. I’d have to say that I had a very average childhood.”
Aware that she was swimming in a sea of denial, Olivia turned her head and stared through the window at the thick pine forest beside the road. No matter how many times she told herself that her early life was as normal as puppy dogs and lollipops, it was a lie.
“You can tell me the truth,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I have a high security clearance, and I’ve looked into your background thoroughly.”
“I don’t like that. I have a right to my privacy.”
For a few moments, he drove in silence. Then he cleared his throat and spoke again. “When you were a child, you and your mother were abducted and held captive for a week.”
He had flung open a door to her past that she always kept tightly locked. This was her secret, her life. And she didn’t want to look back.
Chapter Three
Troy knew that he’d overstepped his boundaries with Olivia, but he wasn’t going to let the subject drop. Not when her safety had been compromised. She needed to understand that her parents’ profession might be the reason she was targeted for kidnapping. It wasn’t the first time she’d been abducted.
“Stop the car,” she said. “I want out.”
“That’s not going to happen. I won’t let you put yourself and
