smiled at him and left the room. He got off the table, shrugged into his robe, went back to the locker room and showered. Getting dressed, he navigated his way out of the spa just as Olivia was pulling the outside door open. He hurried to hold it for her. She glanced back and then smiled.
They walked to the parking lot.
“Sam, would you be interested in having a coffee with me?”
He looked down at her, those candid eyes never wavering. He felt himself leaning closer, breathing in her scent. Which was dangerous given his current state of mind. But he seemed helpless to curb the impulse. Olivia Marshall wore her confidence like a well-worn sweater. He was so tempted with all that soft skin and a slightly lush bottom lip that just begged a man to taste it. Bite it. Just a little.
He got a hold of himself. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I can’t. I’ve got an appointment.”
“Are you sure you couldn’t spare just half an hour?” she said, disappointment clear in her eyes. There was something else there, too—something that was there and then gone.
He hated to be paranoid, but something made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Something in her voice that made him think...what? That she had targeted him? That was paranoid. She was a massage therapist, for Pete’s sake.
“I’m going to visit my mother.”
“Of course you would be. How is she doing?”
“She’s up and around along with Dan Henderson, her Secret Service agent.”
“That was so terrible. It must still be a difficult time for you.”
He nodded.
“Maybe some other time, then, for that coffee?”
“Maybe,” he said noncommittally.
As Olivia walked away, everything seemed to pile in on him all at once. Mike’s betrayal, his mother’s shooting, Dr. Owens’s death, the blackouts, the nightmares and feeling as if he couldn’t trust himself.
It was such an alien feeling and he wouldn’t have minded a nice woman to take his mind off it all. But it wouldn’t be fair to subject her to all his crap. Letting her go was a smart move.
So why didn’t it feel right?
He shifted his shoulders. Had he killed Dr. Owens?
Had it been a dream?
Or had it been reality?
* * *
As soon as Dan Henderson heard that Trey Winston was on the estate, he stepped inside Kate Winston’s sumptuous all-white master bedroom suite and spoke quietly to her while she was handling some correspondence from her desk. He let her know he was going to be right back and brought up another agent to stand guard outside her door.
Moving silently through the house and down the wide mahogany staircase, he went looking for Trey. One of the agents said he had gone into the library. When he knocked on the library door, then walked in, he was brought up short. Trey and Debra were playing kissy face near the desk. “Henderson, aren’t you supposed to be watching my mother?” Trey said, his eyes never leaving Debra.
Newlyweds, Dan thought. He had more important things on his mind than romance, but he smiled at Trey’s wry tone. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were with your wife, sir.”
“That’s all right,” Debra said. I was just leaving. “I’ll go up and see Kate. You’ll join me after Agent Henderson is finished?
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Walking past him, she smiled, blowing Trey a kiss from the door, slipping out and leaving the door ajar.
“What is it? My mother...” Trey said, his blue eyes, so like his mother’s, looking immediately worried.
Dan shook his head. “She’s fine. Everything is quiet.”
“But something is bothering you.”
“Yes. Were you aware that Captain Winston moved off the estate?”
“I’m aware. We argued about it, but, Dan, Sam is a mess right now and he’s understandably upset about Mike Harris. He wanted to be on his own. He’s rented a house over near Six Forks Road. Under the circumstances, I can understand his pain. He and Mike were extremely close.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea for him to be at a different location rather than here at the estate where we can give him protection?”
“You’re talking about Sam, right?” Trey laughed. “Dan, he’s a U.S. Army Ranger. He can take care of himself. He wasn’t targeted. My mother was.”
“With all due respect, sir, he and Harris were captured and detained at the same Afghani camp, and now with Harris going off the grid, I...”
“You know I value your opinion. Hell, man, you saved my mother. I’m glad to finally see you up and about.”
“Yeah, on a cushy security detail,” he groused.
Trey smiled. “The estate is pretty cushy.”
Dan laughed. “Yes, sir.”
“What is it about Sam that is bothering you?”
“During my recovery, I had time to think about this. What could have happened at that place or to them...I mean, for such a dedicated soldier like Harris to turn against his own country and try to commit murder? As you said, sir, Harris was tough, both mentally and physically. He was in Special Forces. It just makes me twitch and spin conspiracy theories.”
“Like what?”
“I wasn’t here that night and I didn’t witness Harris’s meltdown, but another agent was and he was described as being disoriented. Thad even discovered the chief of police was involved and that this might go higher than we all think.”
“I’m aware of that, but all we can do at this point is let the feds do their job, while it’s business as usual for us.”
“But, sir. If Harris and your brother were captured together and your brother even admitted that there might be government involvement...aren’t you worried that Captain Winston—”
“What the hell are you saying? Are you accusing my brother of being involved in some crazy political organization?”
“Not exactly.”
Trey stiffened and his mouth flattened out. “Well, you’d better explain it and explain it to me good. Sam has been through enough and I won’t take anything said about him lightly.”
“I understand, sir. I’m just concerned that he’s out there alone with all that’s come to light.”
“I trust Sam with my life. He would never hurt anyone in this family, ever. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t
