Page 78 of Protect Me
I still thought about it all the time.
I released her. Hernandez appeared in the doorway between rooms.
“Hey, Kate,” he called. She smiled, but didn’t move away from me. I wanted to draw her in, drinking her like a cold glass of water. News of Timothy had shaken me up. No part of me fearedthatidiot. I could handle him with a bad knee and on a bad day. But I did fear for Kate.
For her comfort.
Her presence of mind.
Hernandez had given me a few minutes of reaction time to come to terms with what he’d just revealed, which I appreciated. A few deep breaths, and seeing her safe in front of me, restored my ability to think this through.
Before she could move away, I hooked an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the hallway.
“C’mere,” I murmured. “We gotta talk.”
To the right of the hall was a small, spare bedroom. I ducked inside and closed the door. Light streamed through the window, illuminating pale peach walls and plush carpet. Supplies and bookshelves filled it. Unopened oil stain containers. Plastic organizers with hammers, screws, nails. Blueprints. Dagny used this as a storage room for her side hobby building furniture out of palette wood. She only made a few pieces a year now, in between working her full-time construction management job out of Jackson City.
Apprehension filled Kate’s face as she studied me, eyes wide.
“Vik?”
“Hernandez just said that Timothy has a new warrant out for his arrest.”
She sucked in a sharp breath.
“What for? What has he done?”
Quick as I could, I summarized his report. Kate listened, wordless, until I finished on a long breath. “Timothy hasn’t checked in for over twenty-four hours.”
Kate swallowed. “Oh.”
She’d paled, but her calm mien was largely unchanged. A few moments passed in silence before she met my gaze again.
“Thank you for telling me. I’ll thank Hernandez too.”
“Let’s come up with a plan,” I said, a hand on her waist. “We’ll make sure you’re not home alone, all right? You can hang out with me and Daniel while I work, or I can come to the coffee shop until you’re done if Bastian isn’t already there.”
Her brow creased. She folded her arms across her middle and dropped her gaze. “I can’t ask that of you, Vik.”
I reached out, tugged a hand free, and threaded our fingers together. “You didn’t and I want to. Frankly, Kate, any reason to spend more time with you is a welcome one. If it happens to keep you safe from that bastard? All the better.”
She blinked, eyes locked on our intertwined fingers. Her head lifted to stare right at me.
“Do you mean that?”
I reached deep, found the truth all the way in my middle soul, and whispered, “Every part of it.”
Her mouth parted, then closed. She nodded.
“Okay.”
“He’s going to be found, Kate,” I said with a reassuring squeeze. “Hernandez and the whole county will be watching for him, not to mention the police in Jackson City and other rural areas. Eventually, he’ll get taken in and you’ll be able to breathe free for a long, long time.”
Kate’s shoulders expanded under a deep breath. Then, in a move so shocking I could only stand frozen, she stepped into my space and wrapped her arms around my waist. Her heartbeat mingled with mine. The wispy sensation of her breath racing across my collarbone sent my head into a whirl.
I loved her.
I knew it.
