“Then you know.” She sobbed, anger, fear, and desperation in her cries. “If these are Sorrel’s men, then you know what they are. You know what they’re capable of doing. Why, Jordan? Why won’t they let me go? Why won’t they leave me alone?”
His hands gripped her upper arms as he pulled back and stared down at her before lifting one hand to wipe the wetness from her cheek.
“Tehya, sweetheart,” he whispered. “We kept you hidden rather than taking care of this when we should have. Sorrel isn’t haunting you, but it’s obvious someone associated with him believes you have something they want. We’ll just have to figure out what that something is.”
It was the only thing that made sense.
She shook her head. “I didn’t take anything from the estate while I was there. I even left the clothes I had brought myself the night I was attacked there.”
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised her. Nine times out of ten it was something as simple as a file she may have seen, or some insignificant piece of information Sorrel had given her before the night he died.
For now though, all he could do was hold her. All he could do was comfort her and ache for the years of her life that had been stolen from her.
“I’m fine.” She gave a hard shake of her head as she pulled away from him and moved to the counter before turning to face him once again.
Letting her go wasn’t easy, but it was easier than seeing that pain in her eyes.
“You’ll be fine,” he promised her. “We’ll see to that, darlin’.”
Jordan saw the determination on her face, the pain, the belief that somehow she could protect herself, protect her heart, if she had just found a way to defeat Sorrel when she was younger.
“Will you?” she asked then, her expression closing on him, her gaze becoming shuttered. “Will it be better, Jordan? Or will the past steal the rest of my life?” She gave a hard, brief laugh. “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t buy that puppy I wanted. This would be a hell of a life for a little dog, wouldn’t it, Jordan?”
A tear slipped down her cheek. “It’s just a puppy.” Her breathing hitched. “I can’t even have a fucking puppy.”
Before he could pull her to him again she swung away, her hand pressed to her mouth, more tears obviously following as she rushed to her room for a second time that day.
And hell, he hadn’t even known she wanted a puppy.
CHAPTER 6
The situation wasn’t going to change. Her friends were sticking by her side, and Tehya had to admit that knowing that she wasn’t facing this alone eased the tight, panicked pressure in her chest and lifted the fatalistic feeling that she may not live to see her next birthday. But the fear of losing someone else reopened the ragged wounds of the past.
The world wasn’t a pretty place, she thought, at least not for her. Her life had been an endless battle and each day of freedom had been paid for with the blood of others.
Now, as day faded to night and she sat at the computer completing the last of the payroll checks that would go out on Monday, Tehya realized that the distant thought of escaping and running alone wasn’t a course she could take, either. The time for running was over, just as she had told him when he first arrived.
Her life had been a series of paths leading here, to whatever battle fate had planned for her.
Shutting down the accounting program, she gathered the checks and tucked them into their individual envelopes. Penning the final name, she stared down at it silently.
Journey Taite.
She sighed, sliding a finger over the letters.
Journey had somehow broken with tradition and had managed to escape notice as she found herself a job. Taite daughters didn’t work. Francine Taite had once stated that fondly. It was a tradition. Taite daughters were protected from the world at all costs. The youngest of Craig Taite’s daughters, Stephen Taite’s granddaughter, was evidently determined not to be protected.
They were
second cousins and Journey had no idea Tehya even existed. But Tehya had known about Journey. The moment the other girl had arrived in America Tehya had known, and she had made it a point to watch out for the younger girl, even from Texas.
When Tehya had left to find another home, she had found herself in Hagerstown, close enough to ensure a chance meeting. And because of Journey, Tehya had found herself watching the bar she was so fond of now.
Had she endangered the other girl as well? God, she prayed she hadn’t.
And then there was Jordan.
He was on the couch in the living room working silently, not even a shuffle of paper to betray his presence. However, she knew he was there, and she knew she would have to deal with what he had said earlier.