Cover Me (Elite Force 1)

His somber expression sent a skitter of apprehension down her bare spine.

She set aside the cookie bar with the others on the complimentary plate of snacks and tugged the quilt tighter around her. “What’s wrong?”

“Time to talk about your brother.”

Her stomach sank. She could see in his eyes that he already knew the truth.

So much for her big decision to come clean about Phoenix deserting.

As she looked at the cool anger in his face she realized what had been “off” about him in the plane. He must have just found out. He’d said he spoke with one of his teammates right before boarding the plane. Realization crept in.

He hadn’t come on the flight to be with her. He’d joined her because he knew about her brother and there could only be one reason for him to follow her up the mountain. He wanted to see her brother jailed.

She sat motionless. Feeling so damn gullible. For once she didn’t have a clue what to do. Stay put so he couldn’t find her brother? Except then who would warn the community?

She had completely and surely boxed herself into a corner. “How did you find out?”

He dropped into a rocking chair beside the bed and it didn’t escape her notice that he didn’t choose the bed.

“The OSI lifted fingerprints from your backpack to get an ID on you. Your brother’s name popped up in connection to one of the prints in the database. He has a sister named Sunny and here you are. What’re the odds on that?”

She stayed silent, her finger nervously tracing the appliquéd fish on the quilt.

“So much makes sense now.” He clasped his hands between his knees, leaning toward her, his eyes pinning her as effectively as if he’d handcuffed her. “No wonder you freaked when I mentioned the need to report back in. You couldn’t have been that old when he ran. Only a teenager.”

“Sounds to me like you already know everything. Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“Waiting for the right time.”

“Waiting until you could snag another quickie with the gullible woman?”

His head snapped back as if slapped.

She held up her hand. “Stop. Forget I said that. I’m the one who kept secrets. If anyone should feel taken advantage of, it’s you.”

His forehead puckered in confusion. “Damned if I can figure you out.”

“It’s probably best for both of us that you don’t even try.”

Her words, the wall they built, swelled between them. She inched off the bed and reached for a long T-shirt in her bag, one of Wade’s T-shirts. Her wardrobe was seriously limited these days to what he’d given her and what she’d packed when leaving her apartment over the gym for what she thought would be a simple trip up and down the mountain.

Tugging the shirt over her head while keeping the blanket up would look silly. So she turned her back to him and yanked the cotton in place quickly. When she spun around, he was staring at the floor as if to give her privacy. God, how cold this felt, so different from what they could have had. Except if she had been up-front with him from the start they would have never even been here in the first place.

She sat on the edge of the bed. “What happens next?”

With her brother.

Between them.

“You need to face the possibility that someone in your community may be tangled up in this, that someone has a very compelling reason for wanting to keep the place anonymous.”

His not-so-subtle hint sunk in.

“You think my brother killed all those people?” Horror almost made her vomit. “No! No, I would know. He’s not capable of that.”

He held up a pacifying hand. “Okay, I understand that isn’t something you can consider. But you need to accept that it’s possible—quite probable in fact—that someone inside your community is tied to this. Letting them know you’ve discovered the bodies, that you’re on your way, could have alerted them.”

His words made sense… blood chilling sense. “But I already sent that email.”