A Soldier's Redemption by Rachel Lee Page B

renewedrush of terror as something struck her. “What do you know?” she asked on a whisper. “What do you know that I don’t?”
    His hand hesitated, then resumed stroking her hair. “I’m not sure I know anything.”
    â€œTell me!” Her hands balled into fists, and she pounded one of them against his chest, not hard, but enough to make a point. That chest yielded to her fist about as much as cement.
    He sighed, tightening his arms around her.
    â€œWade, don’t do this to me. You either know something or you don’t.”
    When his answer seemed slow in coming, she stiffened, ready to pull away. “You can’t do this,” she said, anger beginning to replace fear, and weakness with strength. “You can’t! You can’t just waltz into my life and then do things to make me afraid all over again. Not without a reason. I won’t stand for it.”
    â€œAll right. Just keep in mind this may be meaningless.”
    â€œJust tell me.”
    â€œThat man we met at the store yesterday morning? The one we ran into later in the aisle?”
    â€œYes? What about him?”
    â€œEarly this morning I realized he was driving the car behind the woman who waved to us as we were walking back to the house.”
    She hardly remembered the incident and had to make herself think back. Yes, a man had driven past them, right after that woman. She tipped her head back, trying to look at him. “But it was a different car.”
    â€œYes, it was. But it was the same man. Maybe he just owns two cars.”
    No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t rememberthe face of the man in the car during their walk. “How can you be sure? I can’t even remember what he looked like.”
    â€œTraining. If I hadn’t gotten so lazy over the last six months, I’d have picked up on it right away. And he might just have two cars. A lot of folks do.”
    He looked down at her at last, his obsidian eyes like chips of stone. “I can’t ignore it. Coincidence or not, I cannot ignore it.”
    She bit her lip, then said, “That’s what made you come down so early this morning. Why you went out to jog. You were looking for him.”
    He nodded. “I didn’t find him.”
    â€œSo it could be coincidence.”
    â€œMaybe.”
    She shook her head a little, trying to sort through a bunch of conflicting thoughts. Finally she came up with one question. “That phone call couldn’t be part of it, could it? I mean…” She wanted to believe it was all random chance, but the phone call kept rearing up in her mind, some part of her insisting it was no prank. “It doesn’t make sense. Why call me if you know where I am?”
    â€œBecause maybe you don’t know exactly which of a handful of women is your target.”
    â€œAnd how would that prove a damn thing?”
    He loosened his hold on her, giving her space, but she didn’t move away. She didn’t want to. Odd considering that he was busy ripping her newfound courage to shreds. Not that it had been much to begin with.
    He spoke finally. “Sometimes the only way to identify a target is to do something that makes them take a revealing action.”
    She searched his face, but it remained unreadable. “You’ve done that?”
    â€œA couple of times.”
    â€œIt works?”
    â€œIt did for me.”
    â€œBut I haven’t done anything since the call! So that can’t be what’s going on.”
    â€œMaybe. Maybe not.”
    â€œStop being so elliptical. Just tell me what you’re thinking. Please!”
    â€œI moved in here right before you got the call. What if the person trying to locate you saw me only after the call?”
    Her stomach sank, and right along with it her heart. “Bodyguard,” she whispered. Then she had another horrifying thought. “Marsha got a dog.”
    â€œIf I were them, I doubt