Regan Black - His Soldier Under Siege

Pouncing on the opportunity, he convinced her to let him drive her home. They took the base shuttle to his car and she programmed her address into his navigation app. During the short drive to her house, she sipped on a water bottle she’d pulled from her tote, staring at the neighborhood passing by.

He appreciated the silence as his thoughts were swirling with doubts and nerves about this move. Since agreeing to explore the potential of their first kiss, they’d deliberately avoided crossing the line between neutral-territory casual hookups and personal space.

Living in separate cities, about an hour away from each other, helped. Although they’d agreed dating other people was okay and that either one of them could bow out gracefully if a date took a serious turn, here they were. He hadn’t dated anyone else in over a year. So he kept circling back to her, and her to him, every few months for a long weekend of hiking or rafting or some other outdoor adventure. It was the perfect solution.

No one else captivated him the way Grace Ann did and few had shared his interests with the same intensity. Unique, confident and strong, she was practical with an unexpected side of whimsy that cropped up at the oddest times. Despite the inherent risks of her career choice, she lived life large. He admired that, though he couldn’t cope with it day-to-day over the long-term. On the rare occasions when he pictured his future wife, she didn’t wear camouflage or follow orders to assist in a crisis overseas.

Pulling into the last driveway on her block, he studied the clean lines of the redbrick house on the corner lot with a one-car garage and a cherry tree in the front yard. He wondered if she had help with the well-kept lawn. As long as they had been together, he should know if she enjoyed yard work.

“Nice place,” he said.

“Thanks. I’ll get the garage door so you can pull in.” She opened the door and slid out of the passenger seat, tote slung over her shoulder.

She punched a code into a keypad beside the door and a moment later the garage door rolled up. He put the car in Drive, but she didn’t move. He couldn’t pull in without hitting her and the garage interior was too dim for him to see beyond her. Turning off the engine, he climbed out of the car and walked up to stand beside her.

Shards of glass were scattered across the cement floor. His gaze followed the glinting trail to a broken window in the back corner. He reached for his cell phone, but he’d left it in the car. “Call the police,” he said quietly.

“No.” She swallowed. “It was just wind.” She dropped her tote bag to the floor. “I didn’t get the tree branches trimmed back when I should have.”

He hadn’t heard anything about damaging winds, having been indoors for the majority of the past two days. “You sure?”

“What else?” Moving forward with stilted motions that bore no resemblance to what he remembered as the fluid, energetic woman he’d gone kayaking with a few weeks ago, she walked over to the wall-mounted pegboard and pulled down a broom.

“Hold up.” Derek stepped into her path, noticed her eyes had glazed over and her knuckles were white where she gripped the broom handle. With a gentle shake of her shoulders, he broke through the strange haze. “Grace Ann, you need to call the police. Now, honey.”

A shiver rippled through her and her big brown eyes brimmed with tears. She blinked rapidly before they could spill over. “Why? I can’t tell them anything.”

Derek had never before felt this drive, this need to rescue a woman. Being there for Kevin had been his primary focus and he studiously avoided drama and troubling entanglements. Whatever Grace Ann was facing, he was determined to help.

“I’ll make the call,” he said. “We’ll report this as a possible break-in.” Thank goodness he’d insisted on bringing her home. “Take a look around,” he said, using her phone to look up the nonemergency number for the local police department. “Is anything missing?”

She was so obviously overwhelmed he wanted to cuddle her close and assure her it was just another lousy moment in a bad day. His mind on the attacker who’d escaped, he couldn’t help wondering if both instances were related. Briefly, he considered closing the garage door and taking her to a hotel. Preferably a hotel on the other side of the country.

Instead, he called the police department, gave her address and explained what they’d found. While she looked around, Derek took stock as well. There were a few items of value, but nothing other than the window seemed to be disturbed or vandalized. He glanced to the steps leading to the house, wondering if someone might be hiding inside. Although the hole in the window wasn’t big enough for a person to fit though, he wasn’t taking any more chances.

“Come on, we’ll wait in the car.”

She aimed a watery smile at him. “You should go. To your hotel or back to the hospital. I’ll be fine.”

Like hell he’d leave her to handle this alone. “Sure, I’ll go. Is there a neighbor you’d like to come over to wait with you?” he asked innocently.

“Just go .” Temper flared in her eyes. “I’m a big girl, Derek.” She paused to clear her throat. “This isn’t the first bad day I’ve had.”

He’d bet good money it was among the worst she’d had in a long time. At least he hoped days like this weren’t the norm. He moved her tote aside and tugged her down to sit on the steps with him.

“You might not have heard, but I’m coming off a pretty bad day myself,” he said, keeping his voice light. “The experts promised that my worst nightmare isn’t going to strike this time. Which gives me time to help you out.”

“What’s your worst nightmare?” she asked, pressing her hands together between her knees.

“Being alone.” It wasn’t a fear he’d ever confessed or tackled head-on. When had he come to trust Grace Ann so much? “I don’t dwell on it,” he added. He lived his life, managed his career and kept himself distracted with hobbies.

“Ah.”

“Ah?” he echoed. “Meaning?”

She exhaled, her breath fluffing her bangs away from her forehead. “You know I’m second of five kids,” she reminded him. “An army brat. My family seems to grow a little more every year through military connections alone. I’m not sure I have a grasp of the kind of loneliness you’re afraid of.”

Her answer painted a clear picture of how little he knew about her and filled him with a strange urgency to learn more. “Do you have a roommate?”

“No. I enjoy living by myself.” A wry smile curved her lips. “Of course there’s always a sibling or friend I can call, to vent or lean on when needed.”

He supposed that’s where he fit into her life. Someone she called when she needed a break from solitude or work. “Why don’t you call your family now?”

“I should.” Elbows propped on her knees, she rested her head on her hands. “I will once the police are done. No sense worrying everyone until we have more facts.”

“You’ll tell them about the attack in the stairwell, too?”

She rubbed her temples. “I hate to worry the family but I will tell them all of it,” she muttered.

“What else are you dealing with?” He smoothed a hand across the bunched muscles of her shoulders.

“Stupidity.” She picked up her cell phone, turning it around in her hands, lips pursed. “I got suspended today,” she said. “Someone reported me for misuse of Defense Department supplies and my security clearance is suspended while they investigate.”

Whoa . Work was everything for Grace Ann. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She picked at the knees of her scrubs. “Some guy was strangling me.”