“Steve didn’t have a real job, not the way you mean. He was smart enough, but he didn’t want to be tied down to a regular nine-to-five job. He made just enough to get by doing odd jobs—yard work, handyman kind of stuff in the summer. And in the winter he did snow plowing—he had a snow plow attachment for his truck. He used to plow a lot of the parking lots for the businesses in town on a regular basis, including Mandy’s store, but he also did one-off plowing or shoveling jobs for people when they called him.”
Keira darted a glance at Cody, and she could see the same thought was occurring to him. Before she could say anything, he said, “When we were up at my cabin the Friday before Memorial Day, there were still patches of snow on the ground. When did it snow last?”
An arrested look came over Callahan’s face. “The week before,” he said slowly. “Right around the time I started getting vibes from Steve that something wasn’t quite right. Right around the time he must have seen that hit list.”
Chapter 17
An agency helicopter took the four of them to Casper that night, where they picked up Callahan’s four-by-four from the safe house. From there they drove to Black Rock.
Callahan drove, and Cody sat in the passenger seat. Keira and Trace sat in the middle row, after the child car seats had been removed and stored in the back. Cody heard Keira tell Trace, “You have no idea how glad I am you’re okay. Once we figured out your name was on that list, I was worried until I realized your car was at work, and they couldn’t get to it.”
Cody suppressed the unreasonable shaft of jealousy that rippled through him. McKinnon’s her partner, he told himself. Of course she cares about him. But McKinnon told you there’s nothing between them, and never was. Not that way. Besides, he knew it himself—she loved him. But that didn’t stop the sudden flare of possessiveness.
He glanced over at Callahan. “Did you see Mandy and the kids before we left?”
“Yeah.” The word wasn’t much more than a growl. “For about fifteen minutes.” Then Callahan added, “If we’ve got this thing figured correctly, at least I don’t have to worry about their safety. But I won’t relax until we know for sure.”
Cody remembered the last time he and Callahan had driven together through the darkness, six years ago. He’d been at the wheel then, with Callahan in the passenger seat. They’d known that either or both of them could have ended up dead that night. And Callahan had extracted that promise from him regarding Mandy.
Six years, he thought. An eternity.
He looked over his shoulder at Keira in the row behind him. Her face was turned away now, staring out the window into the night, so all he saw was her profile in shadow. As he watched her he realized, all told he’d only known her three weeks. Three weeks. Another eternity. But this eternity had changed his life even more profoundly.
He smiled to himself, remembering...was it only last night? Remembering the way she’d listened to his story without judging him, the way she’d clasped his hand, the way love and admiration had shone from her eyes. He hadn’t told her that story to gain her sympathy—or her love—he’d just felt she needed to know those things about him before they took the next step in their relationship.
But she had surprised him once again—it seemed as if she was constantly surprising him. When she’d confessed she wanted to be loved by him the way Callahan loved Mandy, something that had been broken inside him six years ago had been healed. He saw that now.
Then she had given herself to him—physically and emotionally. A surge of desire swept through him as he remembered the way she’d called his name...twice. He would never tire of hearing his name on her lips that way, just as he’d never tire of making love to her. Just as he’d never tire of lov—
Keira turned her head at that moment and caught his eyes on her. Her face was solemn at first, but then she smiled slowly, and it was a smile for him alone. It warmed him from the inside out.
He heard again in his head the faint sound of protest she’d made when he’d told D’Arcy they could be protected together. But she hadn’t denied him. That hadn’t been easy for her—he knew that. Just as it hadn’t been easy for him to consent to her plan this afternoon. As much as he wanted to protect her, he knew that part of what made Keira so special to him was her dedication to her job, the same dedication he had. Their jobs were dangerous, but vital to the safety of their country.