That again. He seemed determined to keep her out of danger, out of trouble. The idea should have warmed her, but instead it made her chill. Had they made no progress at all after her demonstration that she could protect herself, at least in hand-to-hand combat?
But this wasn’t the place to encourage a major argument with Jock Larabey. Not with so many people around who might overhear them, especially if they raised their voices.
“I get it,” she said as neutrally as she could. “But look, I really need to be able to trust you both. At least tell me what you’re going to do, where you’re going to go.” She hesitated. “And it frustrated me last night when I lost track of you. I didn’t see you anywhere near the ranch when I got there. I only saw a...well, it looked like a wolf. It seemed to be stalking the outside of the compound. Were you around? Did you see it—and me—too?”
There was no immediate response from either man. They glanced at each other, though, as if their silence spoke volumes between them.
What was going on?
“Those guys purport to be hunters,” she went on when they still said nothing. “I had the sense that the wolf had some purpose to be there. Isn’t that silly? But I’d have hated to see one of them shoot the animal. There is no license for killing wolves this early in the year, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if they used the poor thing for target practice, anyway.”
She’d been watching their expressions as she talked. Once again Jock’s look appeared to say lots that she couldn’t read. But he finally spoke. “You’re right, Kathlene,” he said, amazing her—only she wasn’t sure what she was right about. “There’s something we’ll show you and explain after lunch. Will you have a few minutes?”
Not really, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. She’d just have to face the wrath of her partner, Jimmy, after calling him to tell him she’d be late.
And dealing with his anger wouldn’t be pleasant.
But she had a feeling it would be worth it...to learn whatever Jock Larabey was now willing to tell her.
She had seen him. Just as he had suspected.
And she might wind up seeing him again as their investigation progressed.
Therefore, Jock figured it was already time to nip any suspicions she might have in the bud.
Not that she was likely to assume that the canine she saw was anything but a genuine wolf or dog or whatever.
He took a sip of water from the glass in front of him. He’d already told Ralf his opinion by his glance.
Jock hadn’t been a member of the military and Alpha Force for very long so far, but Ralf had enlisted in the army years ago. He was an astute soldier and a smart aide to a shifting Alpha Force member—him.
Ralf knew by Jock’s glance what he was saying. Jock felt certain of it.
It was time, after lunch, to go introduce Kathlene to Click.
* * *
She had insisted on driving her own vehicle since she had to return to duty soon.
Jock sent Ralf back with the car they had driven here as part of their cover—a nice but slightly beat-up black sedan that was owned by Uncle Sam, but with plates registered to Mr. Jock Larabey of Seattle, Washington.
He rode in the passenger’s seat of Kathlene’s SUV. She’d indicated that her partner was in current possession of her sheriff’s department cruiser.
They had been relatively silent on the drive from town, with Ralf staying right behind them. Jock had insisted on paying for their lunch, and she’d thanked him. He didn’t need to tell her it was part of his government expense account.
He wondered what she was thinking as they drove along the lane that would take them to the driveway to the Clifford Cabins—that also, eventually, would pass by the area that was the object of their investigation.
But they weren’t going that far. Not this afternoon.
“So tell me what made you decide to move to Cliffordsville for your law-enforcement career,” he finally said. It was similar to what they’d talked about yesterday, noncontroversial—although she had grown quiet when he had asked about her early background.
“I’d just heard that Clifford County was looking for new deputies here,” she said, glancing toward him.
Lord, was she gorgeous, even decked out in that uniform with her hair pulled back. Or maybe having her face barely adorned like that added to how beautiful she was, with nothing artificial making her look like anything but herself. Oh, she did wear some lip gloss. Maybe she had a little makeup on, too.
But mostly, she looked like one lovely lady. One lovely, hot, enticing lady.
“Did they hire you right away?”
She nodded. “But that was Sheriff Chrissoula. Before our current sheriff, Melton Frawley, took over after Chrissoula retired six months ago.”
“And was that around when the anarchist group started to move in?”
She again shot him a glance. “How did you know? Or did you just guess? Yes, it’s my belief that Sheriff Frawley may have rolled out the welcome mat. Or even if he didn’t, he also didn’t tell the group to get lost.”
“Do you think he’s one of them?”
She shrugged her shoulders that still somehow managed to look slim and sexy despite her uniform. “I hope not, but I can’t say for sure. Now—” she turned her car onto the driveway toward the cabins “—what is it you want to show me here?”
“You’ll see. I think it’ll explain a lot to you, at least about last night.”
She parked, and Ralf pulled in beside her. The parking lot had a few more cars in it now, but no other people were visible around the row of rustic cabins surrounding the parking area.
Kathlene didn’t wait for Jock to open the door for her, but he hadn’t really expected her to. She clearly didn’t want to rely on anyone behaving in a gentlemanly manner.
And somehow her independence only added to her attractiveness to him. To a point. Ignoring politeness was fine.
Ignoring danger was not.
She began walking along the paved path toward the cabin where Ralf and he were staying. “No,” Jock called. “This way.” He gestured toward the cabin next door. “Got the key, Ralf?”
“Sure do.”
His aide moved to the front of the group, holding the key card in his hand.
“You’ve rented this cabin, too?” Kathlene looked confused.
Why did he want to kiss that puzzled frown away...?
“I’d like you to meet Click,” Jock said, and nodded to Ralf.
Ralf pushed the door open and was nearly bowled over as Click leaped out, eagerly wagging his tail and greeting one of the humans who was his closest friend.
“You brought a dog?” Kathlene asked. She shook her head, then smiled. “The dog I saw last night? He’s not a wolf, then? He’s a pet?”
Instead of waiting for his answers, she dashed off toward where Click and Ralf were now roughhousing.
She obviously liked canines.
Couldn’t he find anything to dislike about this woman—except for her carelessness in the face of danger?
He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.
*