Targeted For Murder. Elizabeth Goddard
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An artist? He hadn’t expected that. The news left him unsettled. Disturbed.
Cooper squeezed his eyes closed, remembering. His brother Jeremy had been an artist before he committed suicide. Cooper caught himself. Now wasn’t the time to relive the horror or wallow in the guilt. He focused back on Hadley.
Were those tears shimmering in her eyes? She blinked them away. Back at the cabin, before daylight had faded, he’d noticed the greens and golds swirling in her irises.
Cooper had to stay on task.
If only something about Hadley and her situation didn’t tug at his heart, tipping it a little bit in her favor. He gently pushed the feeling back. He was nowhere near ready to let himself care about someone. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t help a person in trouble, especially this kind of inescapable deadly trouble.
He was all over making sure she stayed safe. Who was Cooper Wilde if he couldn’t protect someone in her position? His business, Wilderness, Inc., would mean nothing.
“I was thinking you could stay in the apartment. Work in the back office, if you want. Was hoping you’d say you were a bookkeeper.” He tossed her an apologetic shrug. “That would keep you safe and out of sight until we can form a plan.”
Find the source of this contract and end it for good.
“You’d want me to stay long enough to work here? That’s crazy. Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said? I can’t stick around here when someone’s after me. What if something happens to you because of me? I can’t be responsible.”
“Let me worry about myself.” Cooper was all for justice. Unfortunately he wasn’t sure Hadley was going to get it the usual way. There was no one else he could trust with her safety, not even the authorities.
He thought back to her story about the official-looking man who burst through the door of her apartment, weapon drawn, before the police even arrived. Then how she’d seen him speaking with the police when she left, confirming to Hadley the man worked in some official capacity. But the fact that he’d mumbled to himself about taking care of loose ends raised the hairs on Cooper’s neck.
No wonder she was scared to trust anyone, even the police. And if the CIA was involved, all bets were off.
She watched him now, waiting on him to lead on if he meant his invitation. The night closed in around them, and Hadley shivered. What kind of guy was he to keep her out here waiting? And what kind of guy was he if he didn’t use every resource he had to help her?
“I have connections. Someone who can help me find out who is after you.” Someone he didn’t want to contact. He’d wait until there was no other choice.
Hadley studied him.
First things first. “Let me show you the apartment. You can crash there, and make a decision in the morning, if you’re not ready tonight.”
She sagged. “Honestly, I can’t think straight. I haven’t eaten. I’ve been running all day. I’m fried.”
Cooper didn’t want to say he was counting on that. “Let me show you my humble abode.”
He grabbed her backpack from the Jeep, locked it up—as if that mattered much—and together they hiked the outside stairs up to the apartment. He shoved the door open. It hadn’t been locked. He’d never had a need to lock the door.
Until today.
She eyed him before walking into his apartment. He’d left a light on in the corner. Hadley stood in the middle of the small efficiency apartment and looked around.
“It’s not much,” Cooper said apologetically.
Her gaze landed on a painting of old-town Gideon, then drifted back to him. “Thank you,” she barely croaked out.
Cooper had the sudden urge to reach out and grab her, draw her to him. Hold and comfort her. He fisted his hands against the unwelcome emotions, preventing them from acting out his desires.
No. No, no. He wouldn’t let her crawl under his skin. He was just doing his job as a good person. One who knew something of the world. “You’re welcome. The shower and bath are through there. I’ll see if I can find something for you to eat, and then I’ll crash in the office downstairs.”
“My father told me not to trust anyone, Cooper. Anyone. And here... I’m letting myself trust you.”
He swallowed the knot in his throat. Determination filled him to see this through with her. To the end. He was nothing if not committed to his missions, if not loyal to his assignments. He might try to think of Hadley as just an assignment, but she was much more. She was a person who mattered. A beautiful woman who had fought an assassin and survived. And Cooper would listen to the alarms resounding in his brain and stop his heart from connecting, nip this attraction before it started. Keeping her safe was what mattered. He could do that and keep his heart in line at the same time because he had the training.
De opresso liber.
Liberator of the oppressed was the Green Beret motto. Never mind he hadn’t been able to save his brother from his internal torments.
“I’m not just anyone. You can count on me to do my best to help you, Hadley.”
That seemed to satisfy her. She grabbed her backpack along with another small bag, then closed the door to the bedroom. Cooper brushed off the faint stirrings in his heart and searched his refrigerator, scolding himself for not keeping it reasonably stocked. Eggs. That was all he had. It would have to do.
While he whipped up scrambled eggs, minus butter or bacon on the side, he considered all his options.
God, how do I keep her safe? How do I stop this contract out on her?
First thing he should do starting tomorrow was give her a few wilderness survival pointers, in case she really had to disappear on her own. In case the worst happened and Cooper was taken out. He couldn’t discount that possibility.
Then there was the fact that even if that bad guy was dead, another would come after her. The next attempt on her life might be the last if they succeeded. The new guy might not be interested in playing first.
So Cooper needed to keep her good and hidden.
And he needed to warn the others around him, his family and employees, to keep an eye out for anyone who acted suspicious.
He finished the eggs and dumped them on a plate and set it with a fork on the small table. Poured a glass of water. Grabbed the salt-and-pepper shaker and searched for a paper towel. A napkin. Something to show her he was civilized.
The fixings were slim around here. If he were looking to impress her, he was sure to fail. Good thing he wasn’t looking.
A knock came at his door.
That would be either Deputy Callahan or...
Someone to kill Hadley.
A hot shower had never felt so good. Too bad she couldn’t stay there forever. When she was done cleaning up, Hadley dug in the bag for the few extra items of clothing she’d bought and found something to wear. She changed into a clean T-shirt and pulled on sweats, which she’d sleep in tonight. She tugged a hoodie over towel-dried hair, her bruised muscles and sore body aching with the effort.
Too bad the shower hadn’t washed away the treachery of the day. Today had been the worst day of her life, and it seemed there was no end in sight. How would Hadley know when it was over? How could she find out about the contract on her life?
Was she wrong to take Cooper up on his offer? Was she too naive to see that she couldn’t trust him? And even if she could trust him, she had to remember that she was putting him in danger and he could die, too, because of her.
Her thoughts shifted away