you that it was a trap to lure you here.”
“Trust me. I’d already figured that out.”
Deke’s hands moved over hers, touching and manipulating as he worked to loosen the knots.
“Ow!”
“Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. My thumb got a little twisted.”
“I’m almost done.”
She listened to his labored breathing as he worked. “Deke, why do they want you? You know who they are, don’t you?”
She winced as the knots began to loosen and the circulation increased in her fingers. “This is connected to a case, isn’t it?”
He shook his head. She had her back to him and she knew he’d done it. Was it a movement of the air, a rustle of his clothing? Or was it the connection they’d always shared? Even when they couldn’t share their dreams or their heartbreaks.
“I’m not on a case right now. I’m trying to stick close to the ranch. Irina’s not doing well. She’s stopped searching for Rook.”
“What? Oh, Deke. I can’t believe she’d ever—Did she find out something?”
“Ran out of money.” He pushed air out between his clenched teeth, a sure sign he was frustrated about something.
“She stopped because of money?”
“She either had to stop the search or fire at least two specialists and cut back on voluntary cases.”
His fingers strained against hers as he picked at one of the knots. His breath hitched and he grunted quietly.
Mindy knew what he was feeling. His arms were tied behind his back, just like hers were, and she couldn’t even imagine the pain in his wrists from working against the stiff ropes. She wanted to say something, to at least acknowledge the pain he was going through. But Deke Cunningham would never admit pain. Not pain. Not hurt. Not heartache.
“But Rook’s her husband. I can’t believe she’d quit for any reason. I’d never—” she stopped, biting her tongue—literally. Never give up was what she’d been about to say.
But she had. She’d given up on them.
“Well, she did.” Deke’s curt answer told her that he hadn’t missed what she’d almost said. His breath hissed out between his teeth again. A sure sign that he was hurting.
Not knowing what else to say, she kept talking about Irina Castle. Maybe if he got irritated enough with her, it would distract him from the pain in his wrists.
“She must be devastated. It would be bad enough to give up if she knew it was useless. But not to know, and to have to stop because of money. When did she make that decision?”
He didn’t respond, just kept working silently.
He didn’t want to tell her. Dear Lord, she knew him so well. “When, Deke?”
At that moment she felt the ropes give, releasing the strain on her shoulders, arms and wrists. Pain shot through her muscles as they relaxed. She bit her lip and tried to suppress a groan.
“Easy,” Deke muttered. “Don’t move too fast. You’ll regret it, trust me.”
It was one of the cryptic remarks that reminded her how little she knew about this man she’d loved as long as she could remember. She slowly flexed her arms and shoulders, clamping her jaw against the pain, as her brain filed that tidbit of information away with the others she’d collected over the years.
He knew how it felt to be tied up for hours—or days.
He twisted around. “Turn around this way. I need you to get my knife,” he said. “It’s in my left boot, if they didn’t strip-search me while I was out. They took my gun. Thank God I ditched my cell phone.”
She twisted awkwardly around until her shoulder bumped his. “They didn’t search you after they brought you down here. They didn’t have time. One of them got a phone call, but he obviously didn’t want to talk in front of me, so they left.” She looked down, but the tiny window didn’t provide enough light for her to see that close to the ground. Still, she knew she couldn’t bend over far enough to reach his boot.
“Good. See if you can grab my knife.”
“No,” she said flatly. “I can’t.”
“Come on, Min. It’s sticking down in the side of my left boot. You remember where I keep it.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
She bit her lip. She’d put off the big reveal as long as she could.
“Are you injured? Too stiff? What?”
She almost cried. He assumed she was hurting. And she let him think that. Dear heavens, she’d never realized what a coward she was.
“These knots are so slippery, I’ll bet I can loosen them.” He kicked his feet back and forth, working the ropes. “There.” He inched around.
Mindy could see his head and shoulders in the dim light. She’d already felt the comforting softness and smelled the old-leather smell of his jacket. So it was no surprise that even with the darkness leaching the color out of everything, she could see the way it bunched across his constrained shoulders. She could even see the shadow of his too-long hair on the sheepskin collar.
He straightened his leg and barely missed brushing her tummy with the side of his boot. She flexed her cramped fingers and rubbed the indentations on her wrists. Then quickly, she wrapped her right arm around his calf and got her hands behind the boot heel and tugged.
“Pull your foot backward against my hands.”
“You got it, sugar.”
Her heart twisted until she wanted to cry out. “And don’t call me sugar,” she hissed.
He pulled backward, inadvertently pushing his heel into her tummy. “Hey—” he said.
Mindy cringed. “What?” she snapped.
“Have you gained weight?”
“Deke, this is serious.”
He didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds. “I know it is.”
Tugging harder, she finally got a purchase on the boot heel and jerked it off his foot. His knife fell into her lap as something clattered against the crate and onto the floor.
“There,” she said, breathing hard as she pushed his foot off her lap and picked up the knife. She pressed the button that sprung the blade. It snicked into place.
Deke jumped at the sound. “Hey, careful. It’s sharp.”
“I
