Once bandaged, Hannah finished her task of chopping vegetables. She and Jack worked together with enviable ease preparing the chili, while Riley kept a watchful distance. With Jack, Hannah laughed, she joked, she sparkled like a jewel set incongruously in the middle of his plain, utilitarian kitchen.
This was the real Hannah Cooper, Riley realized. The one unencumbered by fear. The woman she must have been when she arrived in Wyoming, before a killer had tried to make her his next victim. She didn’t have to think about clues or harsh memories with Jack. She could just be Hannah, the woman from Alabama who’d come to Wyoming to go fishing and see Old Faithful and the Grand Teton mountains.
Jack was right, Riley realized with some pain. Emily would have loved Hannah.
Despite her long nap that afternoon, Hannah didn’t make it through dinner without breaking into yawns.
“We’re boring her already,” Jack teased.
She gave a rueful laugh. “I promise I can stay awake long enough to help with the dishes.”
“No, you don’t.” Riley broke his silence. “You go on and get to bed. Jack and I can handle a few dishes.”
She gave him an odd look, then pushed herself out of her chair and offered them both a soft good-night.
After she’d gone down the hall, Jack looked at Riley. “You were quiet during dinner.”
“I figured you and Hannah had conversation covered,” he replied drily, immediately kicking himself for the irritation in his tone. He was acting like a jealous jerk.
Ironically, it worked in his favor. “I’m not moving in on your girl, Riley. I know I’ve got a reputation as a player, but you’re family. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Riley made himself laugh, although inside his guts were in a tangle. “I know.”
“And you know, you guys don’t have to be all proper and formal around me. It’s not going to kill me to see you kiss the girl.” Shooting Riley a pointed look, Jack got up and started putting away the leftover chili.
The image Jack’s words evoked made Riley’s mouth grow dry. What would it feel like to kiss her? To feel her soft curves settle against his body as if she’d been made exactly for him? The need to know was suddenly overwhelming.
He had to get out of the house. Now. Go take a ride, work off some of the restless energy tormenting him. But before he could act on the impulse, there was a knock at the back door.
Riley made sure his Ruger was tucked firmly in his waistband, ignoring Jack’s curious look. He crossed to the back door and edged the faded curtains away from the inset window.
Joe and Jane Garrison stood outside, stamping from foot to foot against the cold night air.
Riley unlocked the door and let them inside, giving Joe a warning glance. He’d already told his friend about Jack’s unexpected arrival and the charade he and Hannah had to keep up in front of his brother-in-law.
Joe and Jack knew each other from way back, but Jane hadn’t yet met his brother-in-law. Joe handled the introductions, and Jane immediately engaged Jack in conversation, giving Joe a chance to show Riley the file he’d brought over.
“Jane spent the last couple of hours online, tracking down all the snake-shaped belt buckles she could find. She printed them out and they’re all in here. I thought you’d want to see them as soon as possible, while the dream is still fresh in Hannah’s mind.” Joe handed over the folder. “Also, I’ve asked Jim Tanner to fax me the personnel files of the hospital security staff as soon as he gets access to them. His people will run the background checks, but I figure it won’t hurt to put both departments to work on it.”
“Good idea,” Riley agreed. “If you do get them, I’ll bring Hannah to the office. Give her a chance to get out and take in a little fresh air.” Maybe, with people around, he wouldn’t find himself thinking about the softness of her skin or wondering what she tasted like.
Because if he didn’t get control of his treacherous body soon, the next four days would be the longest of his life.
A WAXING MOON HUNG LOW in the eastern sky, spreading cool blue light across the mountain in the distance. Beyond, the night was alive with stars, millions of them, more visible than Hannah could ever remember. She had grown up in one of the more remote areas of Alabama, where there weren’t enough city lights to obscure the stars in the night sky, but even at home, she had never seen quite so many stars as this.
She couldn’t orient herself, an odd feeling. She knew the window of Riley’s darkened bedroom faced east, or she couldn’t have seen the moon from this vantage point. But what was east when you didn’t know where you were in the first place?
She had always prided herself on being aware of her surroundings, of picking up on the nuances of her settings that most people never even noticed. She was as skilled a tracker as any of her brothers, as good a boatman, as successful a fisherman and she was the best night hiker in the family.
She didn’t like feeling so up-ended. It reminded her too much of that moment, four years ago, when she watched her future shatter into a million pieces.
She leaned her forehead against the cool windowpane, feeling the vibration of the night wind rattling the glass. In a little while, Riley Patterson would walk through the bedroom door behind her and they’d close themselves into this small, intimate room for the night. The thought gave her a sense of safety, the knowledge that in this place, with Riley watching over her, nothing outside could hurt her.
But with that sense of safety came another, more complicated feeling of reckless anticipation. Riley would be there soon, so close she could hear him breathing, and she could hardly wait.
It was crazy. He was still clearly mourning a wife he’d never stop loving, and their acquaintance was supposed to be businesslike and short, spanning no more than the next few days. She’d been around other attractive men before without feeling like a schoolgirl trembling with a crush. Far more suitable and available men.
Or was that the appeal? Her brothers always teased her about her competitive streak. Did she think she had a fighting chance at winning his heart away from the other woman this time?
She pushed her hair back from her face, wincing as her palm brushed against the scrape on her forehead. She had to get control over herself before she did something stupid.
A soft knock on the door behind her made her nerves twitch. The door swung open, spilling light from the hallway into the darkened bedroom. Hannah turned to look at Riley as he entered, her heart suddenly hammering against her breastbone.
He paused in the doorway a moment, a tall, lean silhouette against the light. She couldn’t see his eyes in his shadowy face, but she felt his gaze like a touch. She felt suddenly naked, despite the warm flannel enveloping her from chin to ankle.
He reached for the light switch.
“Don’t,” she said. She wasn’t ready to come into the harsh light of reality yet.
He hesitated a moment, then dropped his hand to his side and closed the door behind them, plunging the bedroom into darkness again.
Hannah turned back to the window, leaning her hot cheek against the cold glass pane. “You can see the mountain better without the light on.”
Warmth washed over her as Riley edged close to the window, just behind her. Though he didn’t touch her, she felt him as surely as if he had. “That’s Sawyer’s Rise.”
“The mountain?”
“Yes.” He moved the curtain aside, stepping up beside her. She looked up and found moonlight painting his masculine features a cool, shadowy-blue, emphasizing the hard, lean lines of his cheekbones and the deep cleft of his chin.
In this light, he looked as if he’d been carved from the face of the mountain, solid rock with a million unexpected facets. The itch to touch him tingled in her fingertips. Would he feel like stone, cool and rough to the touch?
After a moment of exquisite tension, he spoke again. “There’s something I need to show you.”
He moved away from the window. A moment later, the soft glow of lamplight filled the bedroom, obscuring the moonlit landscape outside behind the reflected light in the windowpane. Hannah caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection, her hair a tousled mess, her cheeks flushed beneath shadowy eyes.
She turned away quickly, running a hand through her hair to tame the riotous tumble. “What is it?”
He was carrying a thin manila folder, she saw. He sat on the bed and opened it, patting the mattress beside him.
