“I think I like freight dog better.”

After that, she heard nothing but deep breathing. She leaned forward and across the bed so she could see his face. He’d already fallen asleep.

10:07 a.m.

Rye was playing possum. He wasn’t about to fall asleep until Brynn did.

But she was restless and frustrated. She paced the length of the bed several times. She went over to the window and parted the curtains just wide enough to peek through the crack, then impatiently overlapped them again after cursing the persistent fog.

She returned to the bed and sat down on the other side of it. Sighing with resignation, she removed her boots, then lay down and pulled the bedspread up over her. She didn’t move again.

He knew the instant she fell asleep because the cadence of her breathing changed, and he found himself charting its lulling tempo. He was tempted to turn and check out the rise and fall of her chest but didn’t. He recalled how good her breasts had felt against his chest and knew they’d feel even better in his hands.

And he had to keep his hands off her.

His hands he had control of. His head was another matter. He clearly remembered how well their bodies had conformed to each other at the notch of her thighs. And that wet, seductive kiss. Her mouth.

He squeezed his eyes shut against the images that flickered through his mind like a silent movie. A silent X-rated movie. His cock swelled. But he willed it down. Because, for all her appeal, getting tangled up with Brynn O’Neal would be a bad idea.

More likely than not, she was a thief. He knew for certain that she was a liar.

While she’d been showering, he’d called the FAA office in Atlanta. He’d reported a no-casualty crash and promised to send a full report as soon as the fog cleared and he could get photos. The agent he spoke to was fine with that. No one wanted to work over the holiday weekend. All together the conversation had lasted three minutes.

The cell phone service had been perfect.

Chapter 13

1:28 p.m.

Brynn, wake up.”

“Hmm?”

Her shoulder was shaken. “Wake up.”

Feeling as though she were being roused from a coma, she opened her eyes and blinked Rye into focus. “It’s already been four hours?”

“No, but we have company.”

He left her, skirted the foot of the bed, and went over to the window, where he peered through the split in the curtains. “I heard their car. They’re just pulling up.”

“Who?”

“Your mere coincidence duo.”

That brought her wide awake. She kicked back the bedspread, came off the bed, and watched in alarm as Rye took his pistol from his flight bag. “What are you doing with that?”

“If we’re lucky, nothing.” He slid it into his back jeans pocket and covered it with his shirttail. Giving her a fulminating look, he said, “You’ve got one more chance to tell me who these guys are.”

“I don’t know.”

“Yeah, and there’s no cell phone service, either.”

Having caught her in that lie, he had a right to be angry, she supposed.

Still seething, he said, “Take off your jeans.”

“What?”

“Take off your jeans,” he repeated, enunciating each word. “Or at least make it look like you’re pulling them back on.” He glanced through the curtain. “You’ve got ten seconds.”

While instructing her, he’d been unbuttoning his fly and had got it undone just as two hard knocks landed on the door. He grabbed the pillow he’d been sleeping on and pitched it over next to hers.

A harder, louder knock.

In a grumpy and scratchy voice, Rye said, “Who is it?”

“We’re looking for Dr. O’Neal.”

“What do you want with her?”

“Is she in there?”

“Are you sick?”

The person on the other side of the door called out, “Dr. O’Neal?”

With a curt nod, Rye signaled for her to answer. Her heart was in her throat. She didn’t need to pretend to stutter. “J-Just a second.”

“Hurry up,” said the voice through the door.

She undid her jeans and lowered them a few inches. Rye opened the door as wide as the chain lock would allow and said through the crack, “Somebody had better be dying.”

Through the sliver, Brynn could see the tall, handsome man from the café. He said, “Let us in.”

“Like hell I will,” Rye said. “Who are you?”

“Makes no difference to you. Unlock the door.”

“Give me one good reason why.”

“Dr. O’Neal’s patient.”

Rye looked back at Brynn, his expression an unspoken question.

Her mind was in turmoil, but she wanted to know who had sent these men and why. She gave Rye a go-ahead nod to let them in.

His eyes boring into hers, he shut the door and was intentionally clumsy sliding the chain from the slot, rattling it noisily as he whispered to her, “Whatever I say, go along, or I swear to God I’ll leave you to them.”

Only then did Brynn realize that the box was no longer on the bed. It was nowhere in sight.

But she didn’t have time to ask Rye what he’d done with it. The chain fell loose against the jamb. He flipped the lock on the doorknob. The large Hispanic man caught her doing up her jeans when he came in, shouldering Rye out of his way. The punk—Rye’s description fit him to a tee—followed his partner inside and snickered as he took in the scene Rye had staged.

For effect, Rye was buttoning his fly with his left hand, unhurried, looking not in the least embarrassed, but extremely put out with her. “‘No strings,’ you said. I should’ve known better.”

She ignored that and addressed the tall man. “All right, you’re in. Who are you, and what do you want with me?”

“We were sent to check on you.”

“I need checking on?”

His dark gaze took in the room, Rye, then came back to her. “Apparently.”

“I explained to Dr. Lambert—”

“Wasn’t him who sent us,” he said, interrupting her. “Your patient has been fretting over you getting back in time.”

“There was no cause to fret. I’m well aware of the deadline, Mr.…?”

“Goliad.” He tipped his head in the other’s direction. “That’s Timmy.”

“And how do I know you work for…my patient?”

“You want to verify it, fine. Call him. He and his missus will be glad to know we finally tracked you down.” He gave the room another survey, stopping on the bed. “Can’t say they’ll be happy to learn the reason for your delay.”

“How did you know where I was?”

“We started looking for the blue Honda, but that was taking too long. So we tracked your cell phone. Signal brought us right to you.”

“You went to a lot of trouble to find me.”

“That’s what I get paid for.”

“But I saw you in the café. If you were looking for me, why didn’t you come over and make yourselves known to me then?”

He gave her a meaningful look. “While you were in the company of a deputy sheriff?”

“Oh. Well, the reason for that had nothing to do with my medical errand. Soon after I got here last night—”

Goliad interrupted her. “We know all about it.”

“Oh? How?”

“Dr. Lambert,” he replied smoothly. “He explained everything to my boss. First, the plane crashed.”

She gestured to Rye. “He was the pilot.”

Rye was leaning against the wall, ankles crossed, which Brynn was beginning to recognize as a pose typical of him. He looked annoyed, but not especially interested in what was being discussed. However, she noticed that his hands were stacked between his butt and the wall, within easy reach of the pistol in his back pocket.

His eyes were at half mast as he said to Goliad, “What do you know about the crash?”

Ignoring Rye’s question, he asked, “What’s your name?”

“Something better than Go-lee-ad.”

Goliad continued to stare at him. Rye shrugged and told him his name.

Goliad stared a few seconds longer, as though committing Rye’s face to memory, then returned his attention to Brynn. “Bottom line, you walked into a crime scene and were taken to the sheriff’s office to give your statement.”

“Which took much longer than I anticipated,” Brynn said, feigning asperity when what she actually felt was apprehension. There was no question now that Rye had been right. These men had been keeping track of her on behalf of the Hunts.

Trying not to appear unnerved, she continued. “Thanks to Dr. Lambert’s intervention, the matter was settled. Did he tell you about my car?”

The man nodded.

“Since it can’t be driven, Deputy Wilson was kind enough to arrange a car rental for me. When you saw us in the café, we were waiting for the man to deliver it.”

“Except you snuck out the back with the flying ace.” That from the fox-faced Timmy, who gave Rye a wicked grin. Rye didn’t grin back.

Brynn said to Goliad, “It seemed to be taking a long time. I feared there had been a breakdown in communication. In the meantime, Mr. Mallett had borrowed a car, the Honda you mentioned.” She tilted her head, asking Goliad, “By the way, how did you know about that?”

“Go on with your story.”

“There is no story. Mr. Mallett offered to give me a ride to Atlanta.”