Page 92 of Say You Will

He eyes me warily, his posture formal. “Garrett flew in and beat us here with your things. One kidnapping vacation coming up.”

“Henry?”

“Yes?” He takes a step away from me and lifts his hands. “I would never hurt you.”

Incredulous, I wail, “I know that. I need you to hold me.”

He blows out a breath and blinks rapidly. Then he yanks me against him, one arm around my back, the other hand clutching my head to his chest as he rocks me gently. “You were amazing, but you can lose your shit now. I’ve got you, love.”

So I do.

twenty-eight

Henry

In My Room | Chance Pena

Franki curls up onone of the comfortably worn leather armchairs tucked into a corner and looks around the rustic cabin with curious eyes. She’s no longer crying or shaking, but she’s biting her lip and isn’t quite herself either.

I crouch before her, cupping her hands and blowing on them as I attempt to transfer some of my heat to her. I lit the wood burning stove as soon as she was ready to sit down, but it will take some time for the chill to dissipate from the cabin entirely. “Are you okay?”

She nods. “Yes. Of course. Are you?”

I blink, startled by her question.

“Are you okay?” she repeats.

“Ah.” I glance down at her hands. “I’m a great number of things. Grateful you’re unharmed. Also seething that someone shot at us and impatient to learn who hired them. I’m also concerned for your emotional and physical well-being. And we missed lunch. So I’m feeling peckish.”

She lifts my hands to her face and leans into them with a smile before straightening. “Do you know who did this?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. This was a hired job. Were they poorly prepared to take on an armored vehicle, not realizing we wouldn’t be an easy mark, or was this meant to act as a warning? How did they know where we were? And who has motive and opportunity?”

“You have enemies?”

“None that I hadn’t believed to be neutralized.”

Her eyebrows lift slowly, then she purses her lips and gives a small nod.

“You’re safe here, Franki.”

She glances around. “This place isn’t what I expected. I thought your country retreat would be some luxury lodge.”

This place is a bunker that’s been made to look like a cabin in the woods. The walls are lined with steel. The windows are bulletproof, and beneath us is a panic room equipped for a siege and a tunnel that leads to the airplane hangar.

The cabin appears to be well-maintained but has little in the way of anything I’d consider decorative or extraneous. It’s also small, rustic, and the furthest thing from elegant. I enjoy the wood beams that cross the open kitchen and living room space, but I’d never call it a great room because the entire space is less than twenty-four-feet wide total. It’s a single floor, though a loft contains a modest open space filled with books and acomfortable chair overlooking the living room. A door leads from the living room to the only bedroom, which adjoins the single bathroom in the cabin.

The visible walls and flooring are made of natural knotty pine boards, though two area rugs in shades of blue and green anchor the living and dining spaces. The hearth and wall behind the wood burner are constructed of stacked river rock and visually ground the wall facing the kitchen.

I hoped she’d like it, but I suppose her tastes have changed. “I can buy you a lodge. Someplace huge with massive windows. Do you want one in the Sierra Nevada mountains? Vail?”

When she shakes her head, I ask, “Switzerland?”

She heaves one of those sighs that means“You’re being ridiculous,”but she says, “Your cabin is perfect. I love it. I’m surprised that it’s something you like. That’s all.”

I stand to my full height. “Good. You said you wanted one of these.”

She gives me a bemused smile. “Did I?”

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