He shrugged. “You might never figure it out.”
Tori turned and Ryan was much too close.
“In the meantime, I want you out of danger, Tori.” His nearness tugged at her.
Her breath hitched. She wanted to feel his arms around her again. Tori put a hand on his chest and gently shoved him back so she could get by.
“You can still work on it at the safe house,” he said. “Sometimes you have to get some distance to get a fresh perspective.”
The way he said the words, she wondered if he’d meant something more. If he was talking about their past relationship. And their recent kiss. What would her perspective be on that kiss when she finally got any distance from Ryan? She lifted her eyes to look at him. He studied her. He’d shuttered away the emotions she might have seen earlier. What was he thinking? A better question—did she really want to know?
“All right.” She blew out a breath. “I’m going to pack. I don’t have much, so it won’t take long. But I might need to come back here if I think of something to look into.”
He lifted his palms and then dropped them. “If that happens, we’ll do what we can. But I think we both know there’s nothing here to find or you would have found it already.”
“Maybe I can help your computer tech with Sarah’s computer.”
“We’ll see,” he said. “Now it’s getting late. I want to get you to the safe house before dinnertime.”
“What about my parents?”
“I’ll inform them that I’m keeping you safe. That’s what they want, and they need to trust me for now.”
Wow. “But they’ll want to see me.”
“We’ll arrange for that.” Ryan’s brows knitted. “You know how this works. Why are you wasting time? Let’s just get out of here.”
Tori couldn’t take his intensity and headed toward the bedroom to pack.
She turned to shut the door only to find him standing in the doorway, blocking her.
“Please give me privacy so I can pack,” she said.
“I’m sorry. I thought we were still talking.” He shrugged. “Thank you for agreeing to this, and also, for what you’ve learned to help the investigation.”
Admiration swam in his eyes. Tori wanted that from him much more than she should. “You’re welcome.”
He nodded and stepped back enough for her to close the door. Grumbling to herself, she removed the few clothes she’d put in Sarah’s closet and dresser drawers. She was accustomed to living out of her luggage when she traveled, but she’d put her stuff away as if she truly intended to stay here.
Uncertainty about her future gnawed in the back of her mind. Those permanent, life-changing decisions were too big, too important to make while she was in this frame of mind. And yet wasn’t it because of the current set of circumstances she was even considering leaving her position?
Tori sighed as she finished packing far too quickly to clear her thoughts. She hadn’t brought much. After all, she’d only come out here on bereavement leave. It was only after she’d gotten here that she began to consider extending that indefinitely. She plopped on the edge of the bed and pressed her hands against her face.
Should she go back to work? Ask for a longer extension, or simply resign? She’d need to make that decision over the next couple of days. She wanted to stay close to her parents, but she was in danger, herself, and couldn’t be very close to them anyway, since she would be staying at a safe house. Nor could she be as free as she needed to be to conduct her own investigation.
“Oh, Sarah.” She lifted her gaze and, through teary eyes, spotted the framed photograph on the dresser. Her sister stood in front of the marina sign in Crescent City with Tori. The picture had been taken before Tori had moved to South Carolina.
The window exploded with shards of glass.
The bedroom door flew open.
“Get out!” Ryan grabbed her and threw her in the hallway as he covered her.
An explosion ripped the air.
His ears rang and dizziness swept over Ryan as he used his body like a human shield to protect Tori. Anguish engulfed him. He should have somehow run farther with her and completely escaped the house before the explosion. But instinctively he’d known there wasn’t time and had chosen to cover and protect her.
At least the ceiling hadn’t caved in and crushed them.
Shouts resounded and broke through the continuous buzzing in his ears. He needed to get up and get Tori out of here, but his mind and body couldn’t agree on how to do that.
Hands gripped Ryan, tearing him from Tori. His first instinct was to fight the assailant, and he reached for his weapon, prepared to battle and save her.
Deputy Jackson. The breath rushed from Ryan. “I... I could have shot you.”
“No, you couldn’t. You’re moving too slow, Bradley. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Ryan glanced down at Tori.
Unmoving, she remained on the floor.
Oh, no!
Ryan knelt down next to her and pressed his hand against her carotid artery. She was still alive. Relief whooshed through him.
“Tori.” No response. Fear corded his throat. “Tori, are you okay?”
“We called emergency services,” Deputy Jackson said. “Looks like it was a pipe bomb someone tossed through the window.”
“Is anyone in pursuit?”
“No. I rushed inside to help.”
“Did you see who did this?”
Jackson shook his head. “I only heard and saw the explosion.”
Ryan wanted to ask Jackson how someone had been able to approach the house and throw a bomb inside with a sheriff department vehicle parked out front. Had Jackson been snoozing or otherwise engaged? Why hadn’t he prevented this? But he would save those questions for a better time.
He was worried about Tori.
Tori groaned and rolled over. Her lids fluttered and then opened, and her green eyes focused on him.
He pressed his hand gently against her cheek. “You scared me to death.” Had he thrown
