Page 39 of The Secrets She Keeps

He texted Dom. Ordered him to check in on Madison when he had a chance. And then Daniel waited.

For the woman he wanted.

He had to tell her. To prepare her.

Heather deserved to know. But she didn’t deservethis.She just didn’t.

He heard a sound on the stairs. He tensed. Heather had been in the hall when he had stopped to take the call. He had texted her to meet him now. But it was another guest of the inn who passed him.

Daniel instinctively studied the man around his age and build as the guy hurried down the hall toward the stairs. It was late. But there were vending machines in the basement of the inn. The guy nodded at Daniel, then turned away.

Daniel was almost certain he had seen the man somewhere before. But the guy was wearing a hat, and the light in the hall wasn’t the brightest.

Daniel had been to Masterson once. Maybe they had crossed paths then. He just wasn’t certain. He didn’t like the idea of the man being in the basement right now. Not this late.

Not with Heather in the hotel.

Then again, maybe he was being an idiot. No one had even known Heather was coming to Wyoming. He had wanted it that way. Kept it that way.

Hell, he had sent her to Wyoming on an excuse. The entire trip was something he and Elliot had cooked up to get her out of Finley Creek. Fast.

For this very reason. Spread out the possible targets. They’d sent Heather to Wyoming so Gunnar could keep her safe, damn it. And still, those bastards had found a way to get to the very thing Daniel hadn’t wanted them to get to.

“All right, McKellen, Cara is giving my daughter her bath. You have five minutes before I need to get back up there,” a voice said behind him. Daniel turned. Heather was there, in a bright pink softball T-shirt withColeson Chaosand a cartoon duck withan eye patch on it, and soft pale blue sweatpants. The dark hair was loose and waved around her shoulders to end an inch above her waist.

Heather looked perfect. Hot. Sexy as hell.

She looked like she was ready to be carried off to some lucky bastard’s bed and tucked in really close for the night. Daniel fought his body’s instinctive reaction.

This was a very beautiful woman.

He saw her, and he wanted her. Just like that.

Hell, he was no better than his father.

She was the kind of woman men fought wars over.

Daniel was almost convinced that was exactly what the TSP was doing right now. Whatever was going on in the TSP, this woman in front of him might just hold the secrets to it all. But how to get to the secrets she kept—he didn’t have a damned clue.

“We have a problem.” Hell, how was he going to tell her?

“No. I never would have guessed.”

The sarcasm got under his skin fast. He suspected she knew it too. She hadn’t been like this in the six weeks they’d worked together before. But it was like once the walls came down, thanks to Kimball, Heather’s filters were gone too.

She said what she wanted to say and damn the consequences. Almost like she was taunting the TSP to come after her.

Maybe she was.

Heather was beyond angry right now. She was pushing just to see how far she could. Before the TSP wouldreact.

He could understand that. The TSP had almost gotten her baby sister killed, after all. Well,theyhad that in common. Even if he would never mention his sister again. Not toanyonefrom the TSP. Not until he knew it was safe.

Whenever that would be. If ever.

“Can the bullshit, Coleson,” Daniel told her. But hell, he almost likedthis side of her. He suspected the snark and firewere closer to therealHeather Coleson than the consummate professional she had been before.

Before, she had reminded him a great deal of Zoey Lake in attitude and behavior. But now? She was definitely different from the niece who looked the most like her.

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