Elizabeth Goddard - Fugitive Trail

“Fair enough, but you knew where to find me. You could have called the toy store.”

Bryce cleared his throat. “I did call.” And left a message that it was important and to please call him back.

“Oh. Okay. I didn’t get that message. It’s just Dad, me and Jane, our part-time help, working the store. Whoever took the call must have forgotten.” She shrugged.

When she’d first seen him, she’d hugged him as if glad to see an old friend—glad and yet edgy. Now she seemed downright irritated, like she didn’t want him here at all. He partly understood. He was a reminder about what happened. But then, Samson served as a daily reminder too, since the dog’s sole reason for being in her life was a result of the attack in Boulder.

As a detective with the Boulder Police Department, Sierra had been instrumental in putting notorious killer Damien Novack in prison. Damien had headed up an arms and drug trafficking organization and had committed numerous heinous crimes and murders. After Damien’s conviction, his brother, Raul, had come to extact revenge on Sierra, and attacked her in her home. Bryce had barely made it in time to save her. Raul had tried to kill him as well, but Sierra had saved him too.

Bryce wasn’t sure either of them had ever quite gotten over that violent night.

“Doesn’t matter.” He could shrug too. “I’m here now.”

“And so you are.” She arched a brow again.

He resisted the need to shift away from her piercing gaze. Was he prepared to stay even if she didn’t want his help? He wasn’t entirely sure how to take her reaction to his presence, but the fear in her blue eyes over the news of Raul remained.

And Bryce knew then that he would remain too—until the threat on her life was eliminated.

Sierra rose from the table and moved to dump her drink so she could hide her trembling hands. She was still working to get over what had happened yesterday—the image of Damien’s dark eyes and his intimidating words still fresh in her mind. Yesterday’s experience would have been traumatic even if the man hadn’t been an escaped prisoner who had come for her. Trying to save a man and watching him die like that had felt like a fist squeezing her heart tighter and tighter, crushing her.

And then to see Raul watching her from the trees…

As if that wasn’t enough, Bryce apparently thought he could walk back into her world and she would welcome him to save her again—as if he was her knight in shining armor? On the one hand, that he would do such a thing warmed her through and through. But on the other hand, she didn’t want to feel that way about his sudden appearance. They’d been through enough already.

Before Bryce, she’d cared deeply about someone on the Colorado State Patrol, but he’d been killed after he’d pulled a speeding driver over on the highway. His death had been senseless. It had been hard for her to get over it, but time had eased the pain enough for her to be ready to try. She had been close to letting Bryce in when Raul’s attack came. He’d almost died.

Sierra wouldn’t let herself care deeply or love someone in law enforcement again. There was too much pain to be had, something she knew from experience.

She sighed heavily. She truly had no idea how she really felt about Bryce’s appearance. The moment she’d seen him in the aisle next to the baby dolls, her heart had stumbled, then begun to beat erratically until she’d calmed herself and reminded herself why she had to guard against caring too much. But that had always been hard for her when it came to Bryce. His sturdy form, strong jaw and huge dimples when he smiled had always made her heart jump around, but adding to that, he could be tough as steel one moment, then instantly turn gentle and sensitive and caring the next. She was surprised someone hadn’t snagged and married him already.

“Listen.” He remained at the table, toying with his mug. Samson lay at his feet, taking up half the space of the nook.

It was a picturesque moment, one she wouldn’t easily forget.

“I know my sudden appearance today is a surprise to you. But I couldn’t stay away. Not when I heard about Raul and Damien.”

That news hadn’t filtered all the way to the small town of Crescent Springs—not until they’d found the crashed plane. That Bryce still thought of her, and that some part of him had remained committed to her, could melt the cold places in her heart. And that wasn’t a good thing. She’d tried to forget him and now he was here.

She’d hurt him before. She’d hurt the both of them. Could she really turn around, face him and ask him to leave? Washing the mug off, she tried to figure out what to say.

She continued to rinse the few remaining dishes in the sink. “So, what are you going to do?” she asked.

“I’m staying in town for a few days.” His chair scraped the floor as he scooted it away from the table.

Oh. Okay. Hmm.

Facing him, she crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “Don’t you have a job? Did you take vacation or something?”

“I’m taking a few days off.” He studied her as if waiting for her reaction. She kept her emotions hidden away.

Bryce turned his attention to the dog. Samson was a great distraction when one was needed. She totally got that.

“Is it always this crowded in town?” he asked. “Or is that just because of the ice festival?”

“No, it’s not usually so crowded. The town becomes an ice climbing mecca during the festival.” The timing of the prison break couldn’t have been worse. The tourists and fans that flooded the town—so many strangers here—could make it easier for Raul to hide in the chaos and get to her.

If only…

Bryce glanced up at her. Not even the hint of a smile curved his lips. And why should there be? There was nothing to smile about under these circumstances. Bryce showing up because of the Novack brothers only served to emphasize the way the horrors of the past were coming back to threaten her again. Maybe even threaten Bryce again too. Still, the look in his eyes—He wanted to know how she felt about him being here—of course, he would want to know. But she wasn’t sure herself.

“You know.” She smiled. “I have this amazing guard dog, compliments of you. Samson wasn’t there before, when the attack happened. But he’s here now so you didn’t need to come for me.”

A pained look skittered across Bryce’s face. Had she imagined it? At the sound of his name, Samson lifted his head. Bryce ran his hands through the dog’s fur. “And I missed Samson, okay? I needed to come see my buddy and make sure you were treating him right.”

Bryce’s grin ignited memories in her. She’d adored his grin before. She couldn’t let herself adore that grin again.

“I appreciate you coming to check on me, Bryce. Really. But there’s no need to worry about me. I’m fine—and I’m sure Raul will be captured soon.”

He crouched to get a better angle to rub Samson’s enormous belly. The dog was really too big for this kitchen.

“Yeah. Maybe. In the meantime, why don’t we have dinner tonight? You can tell me about life back here in Crescent Springs.”

Dinner. Two friends catching up. Not a date. As long as they were both clear on that point. “And you can share what you’ve been up to. Catch me up on the Boulder PD.” Wistfulness washed through her. While she loved working here and being close to her father, there were aspects she missed about the daily grind of detective work in Boulder.

Bryce stood to his full height, his silver-blue eyes taking her in. An old, familiar stirring hit her, and she realized how much she’d missed this man. She’d always felt drawn to him. But then, that was why she’d been deliberate about putting emotional distance between them.