the plate of food set out for her. Water, utensils and a napkin. But no Cooper? The chair scraped when she tugged it from the table to sit. The food would get cold if she didn’t eat it. Cooper had more to take care of than her, so she wouldn’t worry about him.
Hunger overtook her. Hadley ate the eggs and could have easily licked the plate but she remembered her manners, even though she was alone. She finished off the water and went to the kitchen to get more.
Images flashed from her terrifying ordeal. A shudder ran over her. She was alone in this apartment. She didn’t even know who this guy was. Not really. But she’d made up her mind that she had to take shelter here at least for the night.
If only it weren’t so eerie and quiet. Hadley had never lived in fear before. Didn’t want to now, but she had no control over her trembling hands. Her spiking pulse.
Was she having some sort of PTSD episode? After what she’d been through, she wouldn’t be surprised. She didn’t want Cooper to see her like this.
Where had he gone? Hadley decided he must have gone down to his office to sleep. She locked the dead bolt on the door that led out back, surprised he hadn’t done that for her when he’d left. The door that opened up this apartment to the rest of the house only had a privacy lock on the knob. Anyone could open this with a kitchen utensil. She would have appreciated if he’d at least told her he was leaving for the night.
Guilt suffused her. Who was she to run this guy out of his apartment? To mess up his life?
God, I don’t know what else to do.
Cooper had been a lifesaver for her today—literally—and she shouldn’t be ungrateful. But she had no real way to show her gratitude. If anything, just being around him was punishing him by putting him at risk.
And with the thought it suddenly occurred to her she should watch the news to see if there was anything about her father. Murders occurred every day and not all of them were reported on the news. But there wasn’t a television in the apartment, anyway. Obviously, the man didn’t spend his time here except to sleep and fix some eggs in the morning. She tried to search the internet on her phone for some news, but the signal wasn’t that great and she couldn’t pull anything up. Just as well. As it was, she wasn’t sure she could face seeing news about her father right now.
So she washed the dishes and placed them in the rack, then did her bedtime routine as though nothing surreal had happened since last night when she’d gotten ready for bed—washed her face, brushed her teeth, plugged her phone in to charge, then climbed into the bed and pulled up the covers. She was almost too exhausted to care if someone wanted to kill her. Too exhausted to relive the horror of the day. Or the fact that her father had died before her eyes. Grief would bury her if she let it. The fear would strangle her.
For this moment in time, she’d allow herself to believe she was safe.
Thanks to Cooper.
God, please keep him safe. Please don’t let him die because he’s trying to help me. And please, can this just end? Can this be the last of it?
Her mind drifted along with her body as she welcomed sleep, surprised it would come—until a noise jerked her completely awake. She sat up in bed. Moonlight spilled into the window. Hadley slipped from the bed and cracked the bedroom door open; glad she’d left the lamp on in the living room.
The back door creaked. Hadley froze.
“Hadley, it’s just me.” Cooper slipped inside. He glanced around the room, then caught her standing at the bedroom door.
“I’m sorry, did I wake you?”
She shut the door behind her. “It’s okay. I thought you’d gone for the night or I wouldn’t have locked you out.”
“You were in the shower when Deputy Callahan knocked, so I thought I’d talk to him outside.”
She stiffened. Mentally prepared to run. What had she been thinking to let her guard down? “Is he still here?”
“No. Relax, Hadley. He got another call. Domestic violence one town over. It’ll take him an hour to get there. A search and recovery will start in the morning for the man who fell. There’s nothing they can do tonight to find him. The region is too treacherous.” Cooper frowned. “I’ve been through something similar before and that was someone I wanted to find. Someone I prayed would survive. And there was still nothing I could do.”
She heard the pain in his voice, and she wanted to know that story, but he said no more about it. Deciding he might want her to change the subject, she asked, “You’re sure it’s a search and recovery, rather than a rescue?”
“If he’s still alive, he’s not waiting around for a rescue.”
He’d be coming for me, then. Hadley couldn’t help the shiver that ran over her.
“Don’t take that wrong. What I meant is that he’s dead. He’s gone. It’s a recovery.” Cooper sagged.
“Why do I get the sense you feel guilty about what happened? Do you think you could have done something more to save him?”
“No. I tried to pull him up. And when he fell, I called for help as soon as I could. I did everything I could. He went over the edge because of me...but he was trying to kill you. It was him or you. Him or us. I don’t feel guilty about that.”
The way he said those last words confirmed her suspicions. He felt guilty about something. There was something more, something deeper bothering the man. Was it to do with someone who fell into the river that he mentioned?
As an artist, Hadley made it a habit to look beyond the obvious. To see what others couldn’t. But she wouldn’t push him.
“What about the deputy, Cooper? What did you tell him about me?”
“Nothing. I had just started telling him what happened when the emergency call came in and he had to leave. That’ll give me the night to figure things out. He knows I fought a guy who fell in the gorge. That’s enough for now.”
“Oh, Cooper. Is he going to investigate to make sure you didn’t murder someone today?”
“You ask too many questions. I need to go so you can get some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Are you going to call your connections?”
He shrugged. “Eventually, I guess—but not right now. You’re safe tonight, Hadley. That’s all that matters. We’ll figure out how to keep you safe tomorrow.”
“And the next day?” Hadley wasn’t sure why she prodded him. She wasn’t his responsibility, after all.
Maybe she just didn’t want to be alone.
She held his gaze, hating that she felt utterly exposed. Completely transparent. She could never have made a good spy, unlike her father.
Something shifted behind Cooper’s steely blues. He released a sort of huff-laugh and closed the distance. What was he doing? Um...no, just no. Hadley put her hands up, prepared to defend herself.
And Cooper pulled her into his arms. Held her tight. His action surprised her. Seemed out of character, but now that she felt the comfort and strength he emanated she understood him better. He wanted to show her, in a physical way, that he could protect her. That he would protect her.
As if fighting off her assassin hadn’t been enough.
“You’ve been through a lot today. But it’s okay—you can rest now. Nobody’s going to find you tonight. Even if they did, they’d have to go through me first.”
Hadley didn’t want to let go, to let herself trust, or soak up what he was giving, but she couldn’t help it. She clung to this stranger who’d risked his life for her.
* * *
What am I doing?
Cooper was usually better at controlling himself.
He’d