Page 218 of Cowboys & Navy SEALs

Maddox looked out the car window at the passing trees ablaze with the crisp, tawny colors of fall. His gaze traveled up to the clear blue sky touched with tufts of stringy white clouds. The storm the night before had left everything fresh and clean.

Addie chuckled. “Look at you … salivating over the landscape. I’ll bet you wish you had your camera right now.”

“It would be nice,” he agreed, “under a different set of circumstances.”

“Yeah, if we weren’t on some wild goose chase to find out what the key goes to. Or if someone weren’t trying to kidnap me … or worse.” She shuddered.

He touched her arm, the familiar zing racing through him when their skin touched. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave your side until this is over. Promise.”

Addie gave him an appreciative smile before turning her full attention back to the road. She tightened her hold on the steering wheel. “Do you really think it could be that simple? That the key goes to Jordan’s storage facility?”

“We can only hope.” His thoughts went back to the conversation with Piper and Hamilton. “What’s your take on the things Piper said about Jordan?”

“Which part?”

“The part where she said he was trying to sell the drug formula to Barrett Medical?” His question was met with silence, making him wonder if she was going to answer.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what to think. Does it sound like the Jordan I knew? No, not in the least.” Her voice hardened. “Then again, my two closest friends were havingmajor marital problems, and neither of them breathed a word of it. What do I know?” She glanced at him. “What’s your take?”

“Everything Piper and her father said sounded plausible. It corroborates what we know about Jordan—that he’d been to a divorce attorney.”

“It fits with the things Jordan said, how Piper didn’t understand and why Jordan asked for my forgiveness.” There was a glum note in her voice.

“I’m sorry about your grandmother. I can only imagine how hard it must’ve been to see that video of the Alzheimer’s patient—to think your grandmother could’ve been cured.”

She gave him a sad smile. “Yes, it was hard.” She let out a half-laugh. “Crazy, but I found myself feeling jealous of Priscilla Roseman when I watched that video.” Her voice hitched. “At the end of the day though, I’m happy for her. She has her life back, knows who she is, knows her children and grandchildren.” She let out a heavy breath. “Regardless of what shortcomings Jordan had in his personal life, I’m grateful that he developed PZT.”

“Interesting, how all three of your lives were brought together by Alzheimer’s.”

“Yes, it is.”

“And, all of the people who had Alzheimer’s died before they could take PZT.”

“Yeah. Sad.” Silence settled between them.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

She gave him a slight smile. “I was thinking about the card on my refrigerator. The one you asked about.”

His interest piqued. “Yes?”

“I was at the care center, visiting Gram.” She paused and took in a shaky breath. “I had just learned that she had cancer and that the prognosis wasn’t good.”

“I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through,” he uttered, feeling the urge to put his arms around her and pull her close.

“Thanks,” she said mechanically, resuming her narrative. “Gram was lying in her bed. I was sitting beside her, praying and shedding a few tears, when I felt a tug on my arm.” She laughed softly. “I looked, surprised to see a little girl standing in front of me. She had these big brown eyes that seemed like they could see into your soul, her hair in braids. She never said a word, simply smiled and handed me the card before bounding out of the room. I looked down and read the message—Be Happy.” Her voice caught. “I knew in some inexplicable way that my prayer had been answered by that little girl. Later, I found out the girl was there with her mother. Priscilla Roseman is her grandmother.”

A tear slipped down Addie’s cheek. She wiped it with the palm of her hand, a self-conscious laugh issuing from her throat. “I’m glad that Priscilla now knows what a wonderful granddaughter she has.” Addie took in a deep breath and shot Maddox a brief smile, shrugging her shoulders. “Now you know the rest of the story.”

“Thank you for sharing that,” he said quietly. Addie was truly one in a million. No wonder he’d fallen so hard, so fast for her. There was so much he wanted to say to her right now. He wanted to take her by the arms and shake some sense into her—make her realize that the two of them were meant for one another. Make her realize that he still loved her, had never stopped loving her. That she consumed nearly his every thought. “Hey, I want you to know that regardless of what happened between us in the past, I’m glad I’m here with you.”

Her expression was unreadable as she stared at the road ahead of them. “Thanks.”

He got the feeling that his words had fallen flat.

She drew in a deep breath as if trying to bottle up her emotion. He’d gotten a glimpse into her soul and now the dark curtains had been pulled over the window. She was once again the tough, capable, take-crap-off-no-one girl. Heck, he loved that aspect of Addie too. She looked in the rearview mirror at Piper who was following them. Maddox glanced in the side mirror to make sure no one was tailing Piper. All seemed to be okay...for now. After Piper got out her laptop, it had taken less than fifteen minutes to track down the unit. There were several storage locations near Birchwood Springs. Putting the phone on speaker, Piper called all of them saying that she’d received an invoice for Jordan Phelps and was calling to question the balance. The first three people had no record of Jordan Phelps. On the fourth call, however, they hit pay dirt. The lady on the other end of the phone found Jordan in her system.

“I’m showing that a payment was made a week ago. The account is current.”

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