His stomach dropped. A distraction?
“The minute I got that call from my partner, I swore to myself I would never let my emotions cloud my judgment again. So yes, I requested the transfer, and as soon as I got it, I left.” She took a single step toward him. “Because every minute I wasn’t focused on finding Samantha Perry was another minute she’d been tortured, violated and alone.” Her expression smoothed as though she couldn’t hold back the exhaustion and effects of blood loss anymore. Defeated. “I can’t live with the weight of another life on my shoulders, Benning. Even for you.”
Chapter Four
She strengthened her grip on the splintered wood railing off the cabin’s back patio, staring out into nothing but darkness. Snowflakes clung to her hair and T-shirt as January temperatures dropped with the setting sun, but her heart rate hadn’t slowed yet. Of all the people she’d been forced to discuss her part in that failed investigation with, she never thought Benning would be one of them. Then again, she never thought she’d have to come back here.
Her cover story hadn’t been all that far off from the truth. Her parents were still living out their happily-ever-after, only not here. They’d relocated back west a few years ago for the warmer temperatures and open desert. As far as she knew, her three older brothers were still assigned to their respective law enforcement agencies, but it’d been years since she’d talked to or seen any of them, and right now she ached for that anchor. For something—someone—to keep her from getting dragged below the crushing weight she’d carried for the past seven years. Her family had tried to keep her head above water, but in the end, they’d realized there’d been nothing they could do to convince her Samantha Perry’s death wasn’t her fault. She’d have to live with that for the rest of her life.
It wasn’t until Director Pembrook approached her in Washington a year ago—offered to give her a chance at redemption—that Ana had considered coming within one hundred miles of Sevierville. Because the truth was, leaving Benning had been one of the hardest decisions she’d ever had to make, even if it had been for the right reasons. Which didn’t make sense. They’d only been seeing each other for a few months while she’d worked the Perry investigation, not nearly long enough to develop anything lasting. But she couldn’t deny those short few months had changed everything.
The sliding glass door protested against the metal track from behind, but she didn’t have the energy to face him yet. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she studied the patterns her exhales made in front of her mouth. No matter what’d happened between them or how close to the surface her emotions seemed to get when he was near, she still had a job to do. Protect him and his family against the threat and get his son back. That was all that mattered. “You shouldn’t be out here or anywhere close to the windows—”
“Are you a spy?” a small voice asked.
“What...” Ana turned to find Olivia huddled in one of the flannel blankets from her bed barefooted, a few feet away. Perfect ringlets of brunette hair framed round cheeks and bright blue eyes. Snow melted around the girl’s purple-tipped toes, and she crouched low to level with the girl’s gaze. She reached out, rubbing her hands up and down the girl’s arms over the blanket to generate some semblance of heat, but with the light sheen of sweat clinging to the girl’s face, Ana had a feeling the cold would have a hard time penetrating through. Curiosity bled into Olivia’s wide-eyed expression. “What are you doing out here? You’re going to freeze to death.”
“Deflecting direct questions.” The girl cocked her head to one side, suddenly seeming so much older than her six years of age. “That’s exactly what a spy would do.”
“I’m not a spy.” Ana couldn’t hold back the laugh escaping past her lips and reached into her back pocket for her credentials. Showing the girl her ID, she smiled as Olivia’s small fingers smoothed over the plastic protector of her thin wallet. “I’m a federal agent. See?”
“Agent Ana Sofia Ramirez of the FBI.” Olivia’s smile stretched wide across her bruised face. “Cool! I’ve never met a federal agent before, but I read about them all the time. Detectives and private investigators, too.”
“Yeah? Do you have a favorite?” Ana asked.
“There’s a whole series about a girl Sherlock Holmes who solves crimes, but she’s pretending to be a boy so the police don’t know it’s her.” Animation chased back the dark circles from beneath Olivia’s eyes, followed by pride. “I’ve read all the books six times.”
“Wow. You must really like reading.” Sliding her wallet back into the rear pocket of her jeans, Ana winced at the loud growls coming from her stomach. “You know what? I haven’t eaten in a while, and I was thinking of making some chocolate chip cookies. How about I make the cookies, and you tell me about all the other books you’ve read?”
The girl nodded, then dragged her oversize flannel blanket edged with melted snow back into the cabin. Closing the sliding glass door behind them, Ana scanned the main floor, but didn’t see any sign that Benning was aware his daughter had escaped her room. She wasn’t a doctor. She didn’t have the deciding power
