She sat very still while Logan unlatched her seat belt. When he shifted and turned his head, his gaze locked with hers. Something hot and dark and mysterious surged between them. For a moment that stretched into eternity, they stayed like that. Then, whatever it was disappeared and he concentrated on easing her from the car.
With a combination of gentleness and strength he lifted her from the car and carried her to where his truck was parked.
“Is this what you do, Logan Malik?” Her voice was shaky. “Go around rescuing women in distress?”
“If they’re in trouble. Especially beautiful ones.” He opened his passenger door, and guided her onto the seat. “Stay right there, okay?”
He pulled out his cell and punched in some numbers. He felt her eyes focus on him while he gave the location to the tow truck driver.
“Yeah, out on Seacliff Road,” he said into his phone. “Okay, good.”
He hung up and punched in the number for Arrowhead Bay Police.
“Chief March, please. Hey, Sheri, it’s Logan.” He quickly outlined the situation. “Yeah, I already called for a tow but can you call up EMS? The driver has some injuries.”
“No.” Devon shouted the word. “Please, Logan, if I needed medical attention, I’d be smart enough to tell you.”
He studied her for a moment, then nodded his head. “Forget EMS. Oh, and hey. Will you call Avery? She might as well find out now what I stuck my nose into. Thanks.” He stuck the phone back into his pocket.
Devon looked at him, frowning. “Avery? Sheri’s sister? Why are you calling her?”
He grinned. “She’s my boss. She likes to know when I get myself into trouble.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip, pulling her full bottom lip between even, white teeth. “You work for Vigilance, the bodyguard agency?”
He laughed. “Among other things. Hence the gun.” He winked. “You never know when you might need good protection.” He sobered. “Do you have any idea who those assholes were?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen them before.”
“Do you happen to have an idea what they were after? This didn’t look like your everyday roadside mugging. In fact, I’d say they’re some pretty nasty characters.”
“I think they were looking for my father, but I have no idea where he is.” Pain slashed across her face.
Uh-oh.
Like everyone else in Arrowhead Bay, he was well aware that at dawn this morning a Coast Guard cutter on patrol had found Graham Cole’s sweet catamaran, Princess Devon, floating unoccupied about five miles from shore. The Guard was well into an intensive search for a body.
“You have any idea what scum like that would be doing looking for him?”
“I wish.” She did that thing with her bottom lip again, and Logan gritted his teeth against the surge of lust that powered through him. Holy hell. He was more disciplined than that.
“No worries,” he assured her. “We’ll get you taken care of and make sure you’re safe.”
“I think you’re already doing that. Anyway, Chief March—Sheridan—called me this morning and here I am.”
“How come you didn’t leave your stuff at the house? I saw everything still in the back seat of your car.”
“I, uh, decided I wanted to see Sheri first. I realized I should have stopped there before heading out this way.”
“Probably a good idea.” He leaned against the frame of the truck. “You sure didn’t need this on top of everything else.”
But she was certainly handling it well, he thought. She was understandably frightened and dealing with the shock of her father’s disappearance, yet she was holding herself together with a strength that impressed him.
She looked up and gave him an obviously forced smile. “I don’t know what you were doing on this road, but I’m sure glad you were here.”
“Me, too.”
Chapter 2
The shrill sound of sirens announced the arrival of the police. Two cars turned around and parked behind Logan’s truck. A young patrol officer climbed out of the first one, followed by Sheri March, who had driven the second car. Devon always thought how unlike a chief of police the woman looked. Standing five foot five, she had a lean, compact body and a heart-shaped face, topped by fiery red curls. A lot of people had been fooled by her appearance and refused to take her seriously, even dressed as she was today in the familiar khaki shirt and pants of the police department. Most of them were still regretting it. Right now Devon was beyond glad to see her.
Sheri jogged up to Logan’s truck and gave Devon an assessing look before she said anything.
“You okay, Dev?”
Devon nodded once. “I think so.” She hated the fact her voice was still so shaky. “Thanks to this nice man here.”
“Nice man, huh?” Sheri grinned at Logan. “I’ll pass that along to my sister.”
He shrugged. “All in a day’s work.”
Devon looked at Sheri. “Have you heard any more from the Coast Guard?”
“Yes, and no. Yes, I heard from them and no, there is nothing new.” Her eyes were filled with sympathy. “I know this is hard, Devon, but Commander John Schnelling is experienced and he’s been doing search and rescue for a long time. If your father is out there, he can find him.”
Devon rubbed her arms, suddenly chilled, ignoring the soreness left by the chunks and pebbles of glass.
“I know, I just—I— Thank you, Sheri.”
“You know we’re doing everything we can, right? And we’ll keep on doing it.”
“Want me to take the report on this, Chief?” The patrol officer had moved up to stand beside them.
“Just get some shots of the scene before they cart her car away. I’ll get as much as I can from Logan and the rest from Devon later.”
“Sheri, I can answer questions now,” Devon protested, although she really, really wanted to get off this road. Even the house with its eerie feeling looked better to her.
“No. If you’re positive you don’t want us to take you to the clinic, then let’s get you home.” She looked at Logan. “I’m sure you got a license plate number. Right?”
“Yes, but I’ll bet it will either come back stolen or we’ll find it’s a dead end.”
Sheri made a face. “Of course. These are no amateurs. What did they look like?”
Logan gave them a brief description of the men, more detailed than Devon knew she’d be able to.
“Devon, did they say anything to you?”
She nodded her head. “They wanted to know where he was. I assume the he is my father. And I’d better tell them or worse would happen.”
She was surprised her voice sounded as steady as it did, considering her heart was still pounding with a combination of fear and anger.
Logan squinted his eyes against the sun as he looked back up the asphalt ribbon of Seacliff Road. “You just got here. How did anyone even know you were coming? Or when you’d be here?”
“I have no idea.” She’d wondered the same thing herself. “The only person I spoke to was Sheri, and I don’t think these guys hang out in her office.”
“They could have been watching the house,” Sheri pointed out.
“So why not