Dani gave a clipped nod and Alyssa stepped back into the main room. Dani jogged to the open staircase on long legs that took her up the steps in a flash.
Cole lowered his gun, but kept it gripped between both of his hands and his focus on the door. Silhouetted by the outside light, his long-sleeved shirt clung to his body, molding to muscles she knew were rock hard from when he’d carried her to the house. He was tall—well over six feet she figured. She had to look up at him and she easily cleared five-eleven without shoes. Chestnut-colored hair covered his collar and had a slight wave as it started to dry.
“We’re clear, Cole.” Dani’s voice came from upstairs, and Alyssa pulled her focus from him to watch Dani run down the stairs. “Go ahead and have a seat, Alyssa.”
“Now would be a good time to tell me who you are and why you have guns.” Alyssa directed her comment to Dani, who hadn’t asked a single question of Cole. If Alyssa had a brother who brought home a soaked stray, she’d be peppering him with nonstop questions.
Dani just smiled, lighting up a beautiful face surrounded by natural blond waves. She clicked on a lamp, flooding the room with light. Alyssa blinked until her eyes adjusted; by that time Cole was joining her. His lips tipped in a warm smile. Instead of making Alyssa feel welcome the way Dani’s had, it surprised her when her heart started beating a little bit faster.
She dropped onto the sofa and adjusted the blanket to hide her surprise.
“You okay?” He sat on the table facing her and set his weapon next to him.
“Yes.” She looked into sharp blue eyes that missed nothing yet were kind. She felt a warm connection. Not an earth-shattering, startling sizzle—just a feeling that he was a good and honorable man.
“Alyssa,” he said, breaking the spell and making her jump, “whatever’s going on with you, we can help work through it. That’s what we do and we’d gladly accept you as a client.”
She watched him, searching for duplicitous motives. She found only kindness laced with something that resembled sorrow.
“A client?” she asked.
“Remember I told you I used to be a marshal?” Cole’s gaze didn’t waver. “Well, all of my brothers and sisters used to work in law enforcement, too. Now we operate a private investigations agency in Portland. We’re a nonprofit agency that specializes in providing free services to people who are in need but can’t afford quality investigators.”
Private investigators? Maybe they could help her find out if Nolan killed Todd.
“Wait.” Dani came forward and those questions that hadn’t been asked earlier lingered on her face. “Alyssa’s not a client?”
“Not yet,” Cole said. “We just met on the beach, but it seems like she’s a good candidate for our help.”
“No wonder you were freaked out by our guns.” Dani grabbed a laptop from the table and plopped onto the sofa. She typed for a few moments, then swiveled the screen toward Alyssa. “Here’s our company Web site. This tells you a little about our family. Just so you know we’re legit.”
Thankful Dani seemed to be a mind reader, Alyssa focused on the About Us page on a professional Web site for The Justice Agency. The page contained no photos but held bios for each of them. Five siblings. Three men and two women. She scanned the page, aware that Dani and Cole were both watching her, but she wouldn’t hurry and miss a single word. If she was going to consider letting them help her figure out if Nolan really had killed Todd, she had to be sure they were trustworthy.
She read the short family bio. Interesting. All of them were adopted, which explained how Dani could be blonde and fair-skinned next to Cole’s swarthy complexion and darker hair. But they all did have law enforcement backgrounds, as Cole mentioned. Dani and Ethan Justice were experienced FBI agents. Kat and Derrick were former Portland police officers. And Cole was a former U.S. Marshal, like he’d said.
There were testimonials from clients gushing about the Justice family’s ethics, compassion and top-notch abilities. All services were provided for free, assuming the client met their needs assessment.
Could her luck be changing? Had God heard her prayers and led her to a family who could help her?
“I’d really like to think you’re good guys.” Alyssa tried to put strength she wasn’t feeling into her tone.
“But something’s stopping you,” Cole added.
“It’s just—” She paused to formulate her sentence so she didn’t come off sounding ungrateful for their offer and didn’t share too much about her situation until she was sure she could trust them. “The men chasing me are police officers, and unless I misunderstood what I overheard, they’re drug dealers, too. So the fact that you once worked in law enforcement might be a big selling feature for potential clients, but not for me. Law enforcement backgrounds don’t prove you’re honest or trustworthy. Plus it can’t be a good sign that all five of you left that line of work.”
“We weren’t kicked out, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Cole chuckled, a cute dimple piercing his cheek.
Dani sat forward, her usual smile missing. “Our parents were murdered a few years ago and the police couldn’t find the killer. We each took a leave of absence to find who was responsible. We discovered we liked working together, so we formed our agency.”
“I’m so sorry about your parents,” Alyssa said sincerely. She knew how hard it was to lose parents. Hers had died in a car wreck during her last year of college.
“Turning our focus on helping people in need has made the loss easier to handle.” Dani closed her computer. “I don’t know what’s going on with you yet, Alyssa, but we’d be glad to help if we can.” She squeezed Alyssa’s hand.
After spending nine years married to a police officer and hanging around others in the profession, Alyssa had developed a discerning ability to weed out the fakes. At least she thought she had before Nolan revealed his secret tonight. Could she trust her instincts anymore?
Still, these people didn’t appear to be fake. They seemed good, strong—amazing. Starting with Cole, who risked his life to bring her here, and extending to Dani, who let a stranger into the house without question. Tears threatened to flow as a result of their kindness, and she swallowed hard to hold them back.
She looked at Dani and kept her tone light. “How can I turn down help from a woman who reacted so calmly when her brother dragged in a strange woman off the beach?” Alyssa forced out a chuckle to lighten the mood and glanced at Cole.
Abruptly he grinned, exposing that dimple in his left cheek again.
Oh, wow, she thought. Wow.
He was gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous and would have women falling all over him. And that included her. The memory of being carried up the beach flashed into her mind. She’d felt safe and secure, like nothing could harm her. That was even more attractive than his smile.
How long had it been since she’d felt safe and cared for? Cherished? Had she ever truly felt that way with Todd? Not really. Not even before the night two years ago when in anger he’d hit her and she’d asked him to move out of the house, basically ending their marriage.
Dani cleared her throat, and the memory washed away like the mighty waves pounding the shore. The feeling of safety ebbed away with it.
This couple might want to help her, but she still wasn’t cared for. She’d known that since she and Todd split up, especially after he started hounding her at all hours of the day, wanting to get back together. She needed to keep remembering the way he’d failed her so this pair of amazing blue eyes still fastened to her didn’t make her forget what she knew with a certainty.
Men couldn’t be trusted.
No matter the first