“Oh, my gosh… In all the chaos these last few days, I haven’t had a chance to ask. Do you have any update on Kimber? Any progress finding her?”
Matt turned somber. “Not enough.”
Tessa hated to hear that. Deke must be going out of his mind. Their children must be missing their mother, and they had a baby even younger than Hallie… It broke Tessa’s heart to think of them, not to mention what Kimber herself must be enduring. “I’m praying something breaks in the case soon.”
“You and me both, ma’am.”
The silence that fell was awkward. Sure, he’d more or less propositioned her—politely—but she didn’t feel uncomfortable around him. In fact, she got the feeling he was full of something she wished she could soothe. Sadness? Loneliness? She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“So…you’re from Wyoming?”
A little smile pulled at his lips. “Yes, but you don’t have to be polite and pretend you care after the day you’ve had.”
“I do care.” He seemed genuinely nice. “I know you said no yesterday, but I really do know this amazing girl…”
He tried to hide his grimace. “Maybe another time.”
That was his pride talking, and she wished it wouldn’t. He really was a hunk, and Madison would be incredibly good to him if he was even half as good to her as she suspected he could be. “If you change your mind…”
Thankfully, they were both spared continuing the conversation by a knock on the door.
Tessa leapt up from her seat. “I’ll get it.”
Matt stood, too, and pulled out his keys. “And I’ll be going. I left my cell number near the primary keypad, in case you have any questions. You ladies have a good evening.”
He pulled open the door before she could and blocked whoever stood on the other side of the portal. An instinctively protective gesture, she supposed.
Then Matt relaxed, tipped his hat to her, and walked out. “Evening.”
“Bye.”
She saw the colonel filling her doorway now. He looked haggard, like he hadn’t shaved or combed his hair in days. His clothes looked limp. He was at the end of his rope.
Tessa’s heart went out to him, and she rushed over, wrapping her arms around him. “Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry for everything you’re going through. I wish I could do something helpful. But I’d be happy to get you some food or coffee or…”
He hugged her tightly, and she could tell this strong man, this pillar of his family, needed to draw strength from her.
“No, but thank you,” he said, his voice tight and gruff.
“Come in.” Honestly, she didn’t know why he’d stopped by, but if he needed to talk or needed an ear, she would always be here.
“I just came by to check on you, maybe sit with you a spell. That okay?” He tried to give her a smile, but she could tell the effort was costing him. “The fact you got Hallie back today gives me hope. I need that.”
Of course he did. Her heart broke for him. “Don’t lose faith. I’d half given up ever getting my daughter back, but I’m glad I kept trying.”
But in the back of her head, Tessa knew that if the people who held Kimber were as horrible as the ones who had taken Hallie, her friend’s safety was in serious jeopardy. She didn’t want to say that out loud, though. Especially now. But the colonel had been around the block more than a few times. He knew.
“How is your daughter?”
“Sleeping.” She led the older man back to Hallie’s bedroom, as much because she needed to set eyes on her daughter and reassure herself that her baby was okay as she did to give the colonel a sliver of hope.
“She looks good.”
“After a checkup, a good bath, and a couple of meals, she seems almost like her old self.” The baby had been a little cranky and anxious at first, but she was young. She would have no memory of this incident, thank goodness.
Her former boss nodded. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Together, they backed out of Hallie’s room and returned to the sofa. “Are you okay, sir?”
He let out a long sigh. “I won’t bullshit you. I don’t know. I’m trying to put on a brave face for my boys and my wife, for my son-in-law and my grandkids. But I’m losing hope of recovering Kimber. It’s wearing on me.”
“What do they want?”
“Valeria.”
“And you can’t give her up.” If EM Security Management surrendered their client, it would ruin their reputation forever. They would have to shutter their business, give up their livelihoods, and find a whole new arena to thrive in.
“No. Even if we did, we don’t negotiate with drug dealers and terrorists. They’re notorious for not keeping their end of a bargain.”
She understood that now. After Aspen had made it clear she’d always intended to kill Hallie, no matter how cooperative Tessa had been, she realized she should have gone straight to people who could help her after her daughter’s abduction, not tried to handle everything on her own.