Code of Honor. Lenora Worth
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should bring her comfort, but she was still afraid. Not so much for herself as for those trying to protect her. Especially for Brice. He was so fearless, so focused, that he’d do anything to protect her. Even put his life on the line.
At least Charles was all right. He’d be sore tomorrow and his right ankle was bruised so he’d have to stay off of it for a couple of days. After they brought him to the house and checked him over yet again, Charles had refused any further medical help. So Betty had taken him to their room near the kitchen while everyone else settled down to dinner. But Selena barely managed to eat a bite of the hearty stew and freshly baked bread Adele and Mrs. Sager had offered. She was too keyed up, too worried.
And she was still worried right now.
Because she hadn’t told Brice everything.
And after what Charles had described, she was afraid to tell Brice or anyone else the rest. Afraid that if she voiced what she believed to be true, she’d put Brice and both their families in even more danger. And bring down the law on her beloved clinic, too. She couldn’t tell anyone anything until she had proof. And so she waited and wondered. She’d enlisted help on this and had given what could become important evidence to a confidant to analyze, and now she was waiting for a report back. It wasn’t that she wanted to deliberately keep anything from Brice. This was just curiosity. Or so she had thought until today. When would she hear? And how could she keep everyone safe until she had answers?
Glancing over at the battered, buttery soft, tan leather tote bag she always carried, she wondered how long she could keep her secret hidden away. What if someone tried to attack her again? What if someone got their hands on that bag? Was that why these people had tried to harm her?
And what about Charles and that sound they’d heard tonight, like a bird cawing or a cat’s loud meowing, a loud sharp sound that had spooked Charles enough to make him stumble and fall. Selena and Brice had heard it too—faint and echoing—so it was hard to say. But she had heard such sounds in the jungle, and something about this particular cry tonight caused her heart to chill like a chunk of ice inside her body. She’d heard a bone-chilling cry right before her village had been attacked.
An awful, high-pitched wail that even now sent shivers up and down her spine because Selena was pretty sure the shrilling call had been made by a human being. Had it been a warning or an alert? She may never know. She only knew that right after she’d heard that sound echoing throughout the rain forest, her world had shifted and changed and she’d lost Diego. And any hopes of staying in Argentina. And now she was harboring secrets that could possibly cause her to lose her nursing license for good. And the clinic too.
What should she tell Brice?
Getting up now, Selena padded toward the chair where she’d dropped the tote, her hand reaching for the thick strap. She’d have to find a new hiding place. A knock at the door caused her to pull her hand away as if she’d touched a snake. But maybe what she’d found was worse than a snake’s bite—evil and sneaky and destructive.
Pulling her robe around her cotton pajamas, she went to the door. “Yes?”
“It’s only me, luv.”
Brice. Her heart caught in a grip of fear and trepidation. Should she be honest with him?
“Not just yet,” she whispered. She’d do a little more snooping of her own before she’d involved Brice in this. No need to get everyone all riled up on just a suspicion and something she’d found by accident. And she had no way of knowing if what they’d heard tonight had indeed been the same type of call that she had heard down in the jungle. All sorts of wildlife inhabited the woods around Brice’s estate. She should know—she’d gone traipsing around with him here many times. Maybe this had been some sort of night creature. Maybe no one human had been out there in the woods.
She shivered again.
“Selena?”
He had never been a patient man.
She opened the door, a slight smile hiding the dread coursing through her system. “I’m right here, safe and sound.”
“Don’t scare me like that,” he said, coming inside the room, his gaze scanning the big bay window and the stained glass patio doors across from the bed. Stomping to the window, he made sure the brocade curtains were pulled together. “And don’t go out onto the balcony alone.”
Selena watched him, knowing he was only concerned for her safety. And because of that concern, he looked a bit wild and disheveled, and about as hyper as she was right now. She needed to be kind and at least grateful, even if she did feel trapped by CHAIM’s need to always be on the lookout for danger.
“I won’t go out onto the porch, I promise. Even if that balcony does remind me of Romeo and Juliet.”
He whirled, his hands on his hips, his eyes moving over her. “I put you here because I remembered that you liked the balcony, but you’re also safer on this level and it’s not that far from my suite down the hall—if you need me.” He left that statement hanging in the air for a few seconds, then asked, “Are you all settled in, then?”
She took in the big room with the oversized antique furnishings and the striking Sir Frank Dicksee painting over the bed. It depicted a knight and his lady—La Belle Dame sans Merci. The irony of that vivid portrait weighed on her soul tonight. The beautiful one without mercy. Was she betraying Brice by not being completely honest with him?
“I’m nicely settled,” she replied, hoping her tone sounded neutral and upbeat. “And I didn’t mean what I said earlier about this being a Tudor-style prison. Your home has always been comfortable.”
His brow furrowed. “But?”
“But, Brice, I’ve been on my own for a long time. I’m not used to such close observation. This happened so suddenly, my head is still spinning. You’ll have to give me a little time to get adjusted to this new arrangement.”
“Take all the time you need—just be careful and stay alert.”
“I’ve always been careful and alert, especially when I was working down in Argentina. But this is different.”
He put his hands on his hips in that Brice way she knew so well, his head lowered as he gazed over at her. “You feel as if your life had been taken from you?”
She nodded, then sank down on a bronze-colored brocade loveseat tossed with burgundy and gold pillows. “Yes. I’m a nurse. That’s what I do. I don’t understand how these ruthless criminals could possibly hold that against me. I’m all about saving people, not destroying them.”
He came over to sit beside her. “They don’t like us having a presence down there, luv. They can’t get away with their dirty work if we get in the way.” He leaned back, fatigue pulling at his features. “It would help with our investigation here if you could remember something, anything that might have provoked this attack.”
Selena glanced toward her bag, wondering why she couldn’t just show Brice what she’d found and tell him her suspicions, maybe tell him about her own independent investigation. But what if she was wrong? That would open up a whole new set of problems. Better to wait until the right time to figure this out, if ever. “I don’t know,” she said, not quite meeting his gaze. “It all happened so fast. One day we were going about our business, examining patients, and the next, this gang of militants came crashing through the jungle and out into the village to destroy what we’d worked so hard to build, not only our physical buildings but the trust of the natives, too. I’m sure the camp is gone by now since everyone abandoned it the minute the shooting started. Even me.”
Brice’s finger on her chin brought her head around. “I haven’t told you this because I didn’t want you to worry, but I sent reinforcements down there to help the locals. They got as many of them to safety as they could. But you’re right, most had scattered and couldn’t be found.” Rubbing his finger down her cheek with a feathery touch, he said, “I did try, cara. I did it for you. And I did it because it’s not my nature to leave any innocents