“Thank you for this, Walt. It’s been a big help,” he said and a second later a little whoosh on his phone confirmed that he had received an email. He took a quick look to confirm it was from Walt.

  “I’m glad but be careful. This stuff they stole could go for big money on the black market. Big enough to kill for,” Walt warned.

  His gut clenched at the thought Piper was in such serious danger. No matter, he intended to stick to her like white on rice and keep her safe.

  “Roger that, Walt. I’ll keep you posted on what happens,” he said and swiped to end the call.

  He tucked the phone into his back jeans pocket and walked into the living room where Piper waited, green eyes wide in anticipation.

  “It was your friend with info, wasn’t it?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Her heart pounded so hard in her chest, so loudly, that she couldn’t hear what he said next. Laying her hand over her heart, she said, “I’m sorry. Could you repeat what you said?”

  “The Marines think that the relics were stolen from Iraq, but that David had nothing to do with it.”

  “Nothing?” she said, needing the reassurance about what she had known about her husband anyway.

  “Nothing. His squad found the relics while on a mission and David reported that to his superiors. They contacted the Iraqi authorities so that the items could be recovered, but they disappeared before they could get there,” Shane said and came to sit beside her.

  “They’re still missing?” she asked and searched Shane’s features while he answered.

  “They went missing after David was killed in action. The Marines suspected two members of David’s squad but couldn’t prove it. But they were AWOL for a few days—”

  “To steal the relics?”

  Shane shrugged and his lips tightened into a grim line. “Possibly. Again, they couldn’t prove it, but they had enough to dishonorably discharge the two Marines. My friend sent me the documents but warned that they were heavily redacted. I’d like to print them if I can.”

  “Sure. Send them to me.”

  With a few quick swipes he did as she asked and when she got them, she opened the PDFs and printed them. He hopped up from the sofa, hurried over to take the papers from the printer and came back to spread the documents on the coffee table.

  Shane’s friend hadn’t been wrong about the redaction, Piper thought, staring at heavy streaks of black across most of the documents. As they read through what they could, the main things they could confirm were what squad they had belonged to, the leader of their squad—David—and the dates when the soldiers had gone AWOL. But luckily, they also had the names of the squad members to turn over to the police.

  Piper ran her fingers over the writing on the paper. “David was the leader of this squad. And these dates,” she said, running her fingers over a line in the report. “These dates are immediately after David died.”

  Shane nodded. “They are. It’s probably when they decided to go back and take the relics.”

  Piper waved her hands in a stop gesture. “But someone thinks David had the relics. And they seem to think he sent them to me.”

  “They do,” Shane said and exhaled a long breath. “We need to call Jasper PD and fill them in on all this. Maybe they’ll be able to use it to identify who might be behind what’s happening.”

  Piper nodded in agreement. “We need to do that. Maybe we should take this to them?”

  “I think that’s a good idea.”

  * * *

  AVA AND BRADY had been working a late shift away from headquarters, but at their arrival with the information, they’d called in Lieutenant Avery and Jason to sit and review the materials.

  As Margaret had read through the materials, she’d said, “The names will help, especially if one of them has a criminal record. If they do, we may be able to use our partial fingerprint and DNA evidence to confirm if it’s one of these two individuals.”

  Satisfied that the officers were doing all they could, he and Piper had returned home.

  It was late by the time they got back, but the dogs had needed to be walked. Thankfully the rain had stopped and since he hadn’t wanted to leave Piper alone, they took the dogs out together. They did a short loop to the end of the block and back and it was enough for the dogs to relieve themselves.

  Inside the house, Piper and he unleashed the dogs and did an awkward little dance as they said good-night. When he went to brush a quick kiss on her lips, she turned her face and he ended up skimming her cheek. Her soft, warm cheek that sported a bright flush of color from his actions.

  “Good night,” she stammered and raced off to her bedroom, taking Chipper with her. As she closed the door, he walked down the hall to the spare bedroom, Decoy tagging along beside him, clearly happy to be with him.

  “You’re a good boy,” he said and rubbed Decoy’s floppy gold-brown ears.

  It seemed like a hint of a smile passed across Decoy’s mouth before he barked a reply.

  “I missed you,” he said, but didn’t close the door to the bedroom. He wanted to be able to hear if anything was amiss and if so, to be able to deal with it free of any obstacles.

  With a quick visit to the bathroom, he got ready for bed, and once he was settled, Decoy jumped up and settled in beside him.

  He fell asleep quickly, tired as he was after two sleepless nights and the roller-coaster ride of emotions that both he and Piper had been on.

  But when the nightmare came this time, it was different. There was still dust and debris threatening to choke him, but now there was something else. Piper’s voice, calling to him.

  He fought against the weight on his chest, using almost superhuman strength to lift the rubble off him so he could find Piper in the debris. She was yards away, trapped beneath chunks of concrete and twisted rebar.

  “Piper,” he called out and reached for her.

  She said his name and lifted her hand. Even with the distance between them, he imagined the touch of her hand on his bare chest.

  “Shane,” he heard, close to his ear as a light weight pressed on him, not as ephemeral as before.

  He flailed his arm, trying to knock away that weight, but her voice was louder now. More insistent. “Shane. Wake up, Shane.”

  * * *

  PIPER BLOCKED HIS arm and took hold of his hand as he sat up in bed, bare-chested. His scars, both emotional and physical, revealed to her.

  “You were having a nightmare,” she said and soothed her hand across chest. His skin was damp and chilled from the night air.

  “I’m okay,” he said, but when his gaze focused and settled on her, he cupped her cheek, almost as if to confirm she was really there.

  “You’re okay. Everything is okay,” she said, trying to reassure him.

  Shane rubbed his head, as if trying to dispel the last remnants of the nightmare. He looked away for the briefest moment before settling his gaze on her once more.

  “It was different this time,” he said and ran his thumb along her chin and the slight dimple there.

  She squinted, trying to figure it out, but couldn’t. “How was it different?”

  “You were in my nightmare,” he said, shocking her.

  She laid a hand on her chest and squeaked out, “Me. I was in it?”

  “You, Piper. You were there, trapped. I was trying to reach you, but I couldn’t,” he said.

  “I’m here, Shane,” she said.

  “You are,” he said and wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her close. As he lay down, he took her with him, and she ended up lying along his length.

  His body was so hard beneath hers, calling to the woman who hadn’t experienced emotions like this since her husband’s death. But as she inched up to meet his lips with hers, she knew it was about more than physical longing. Shane had breached the walls of her heart and she could no longer deny what she was feeling.

  She kissed him, moving her mouth along his. Taking in his breath as if she needed it to breathe. Dipping her tongue in to taste him because she wanted to know everything about this strong and caring man.

  As he cupped her breast through the thin fabric of her nightshirt, her nipple beaded against his palm. Her breast heavy with need, she covered his hand and pressed it to her, moaned when he tweaked her hard nipple with his fingers.

  * * *

  HIS BREATH EXPLODED from his chest at the sound of her needy moan and the feel of her breast against his palm, beneath his fingers. The softness of her belly cradled his erection and he wanted nothing more than to strip off her thin cotton nightshirt and make love to her, but not like this.

  Not when their emotions were running high from the danger threatening Piper’s life and his. He had no doubt that if the intruder needed to get to Piper, he’d kill Shane to do it.

  “Shane?” Piper asked and leaned a hand on his chest to look at him in the dim light of the room.

  “I... I care for you, Piper. I really do, but things are too unsettled now. We’re both not thinking straight.”

  Her eyes widened at his words, and she scrambled off him, but stood by the bed for a halting second. “I care for you, too.”

  Then she burst from the room, Chipper barking and hopping up and down as she chased after Piper.

  Her door slammed shut, but he could hear Piper’s muffled crying, or at least he thought he did, through the wall separating them.

  Decoy barked, but it almost seemed like a condemnation of what he’d done.

  “Down, Decoy,” he said and gestured to the floor beside the bed.

  The dog didn’t obey. He just sat there, staring at him.

  “Down, Decoy,” he repeated more sharply.

  The dog barked again, but did as he said, his gaze still lifted to Shane’s in accusation.

  He flipped onto his side, grabbed his pillow and used it to silence Piper’s crying and the sight of Decoy’s silent condemnation.

  Little by little he finally relaxed and tossed aside the pillow. Listened to the silence of the night, broken only by the sound of the mockingbird he’d heard days earlier.

  A mockingbird mocking him and the sense of honor that was keeping him from the only woman in his life he’d ever cared about this deeply.

  But he’d lived his life with that code of honor intact and he intended it to stay that way.

  When this was all over, he’d know whether or not Piper and he were truly meant to be together or if this was just a result of the danger threatening their lives.

  * * *

  THE MORNING WAS chilly in more ways than one, Piper thought.

  Breakfast was peppered with curt one-word answers, but at least Shane looked like he had gotten a little more sleep.

  They hurriedly finished the quick meal of scrambled eggs and toast, cleaned up and were on their way to the DCA. When they arrived, another car was already parked across from Emma’s ranch house.

  “Marie’s here. She’s our vet. I hope nothing’s wrong,” she said and quickly hopped out of Shane’s pickup.

  She rushed toward the DCA offices and barn, fearing the worst, but a second later Marie and Emma walked out of the DCA offices, laughing and chatting amiably.

  Shane came to her side just as Emma and Marie joined her in the middle of the parking area. “Shane, this is Dr. Marie Beaumont, our vet.”

  He shook her hand and said, “Shane Adler. Piper’s been training my dog and me.”

  Decoy went to Marie’s side, sniffed and then sat at her feet, waiting for her attention. “You’re a smart boy, aren’t you?” Marie said and playfully rubbed his ears.

  “Everything’s okay, right?” Piper asked just to confirm.

  Emma jerked a hand in Marie’s direction. “Someone brought a stray pregnant dog to Marie, but she doesn’t have room in her kennels so she asked if we would take care of her.”

  And Emma would never say no to any animal or person in trouble, Piper thought.

  “We’ll keep a good eye on her,” Piper said, and Emma seconded it. “We’ll call if there are any complications during the whelping.”

  * * *

  “WHELPING?” SHANE ASKED, confused by the term.

  Marie smiled and explained. “It’s what you call it when you deliver a litter of puppies.”

  “She’s that pregnant?” Shane asked, arching a brow.

  “She’s that pregnant,” the vet said with a laugh, the laughter reaching up into her blue eyes. She was a beautiful woman with dark brown, slightly wavy hair that just brushed her shoulders. Of average height, she had a toned, runner’s kind of body that said she was physically active.

  “We’ve done it before, Shane. No need to worry,” Piper said and laid a hand on his arm as if to comfort him.

  “Good to know because Decoy is the first pet I’ve ever had,” he admitted.

  Marie peered at him, as if to size him up. “Military?”

  He nodded. “Military. Hard to have a pet.”

  “I get it. Anyway, I have to get back. I have some patients coming in later today,” Marie said and with a wave, she walked to her car, got in and pulled away from the DCA.

  “Where’s our pregnant patient?” Piper asked.

  “The indoor kennels, only...” Emma hesitated, and it was clear something was up.

  “Come take a look,” she said, and they walked with her to the indoor kennel where a very pregnant dog was resting comfortably on a bed in one of the kennels.

  “This is a stray? It looks like a purebred basenji. Not the kind of dog we see around here,” she said and bent to scratch the dog’s ears, earning a grateful lick from the little pointy-eared dog. She had a short red-and-white coat and a tightly curled tail and even he could see that this was not a mutt.

  “That’s what I thought. I’m going to call Jasper PD to see if anyone has reported one that’s missing or stolen,” Emma said and went to her office to make the call.

  “It’s a beautiful dog,” Shane said and followed Piper out of the DCA offices to the agility course.

  Piper’s brow furrowed but relaxed as she said, “Beautiful and very smart. But we have our own smart pups, right?”

  “Right,” he said, and Piper immediately went to work with Decoy, putting him through the paces on the agility course the first time. Once Decoy had finished, she turned it over to him and he guided Decoy through all the obstacles over and over. Decoy did each run without any hesitation or faults.

  “Good boy. Good boy,” he said and rewarded Decoy with treats and a body rub.

  “He is a good boy. I know it’s going to be a little muddy, but I’d like to take him out on the trail. Just give me a moment to hide some things.”

  She left him on the trail and went into the DCA’s offices and he took advantage to put Decoy through another run on the agility course. He caught a glimpse of Piper as she walked between the offices and the barn to head to the trail. It made him uneasy to think about her out there with only Chipper for protection.

  With a low whistle and hand signal to Decoy, they hurried to the space between the two buildings where he could keep an eye on Piper as she walked down the trail. He could see her hiding things here and there along the path and when she returned, she rolled her eyes at the sight of him standing there.

  “I’m safe here,” she said and held her hands wide to the area around them.

  He didn’t want to worry her, so he agreed despite his misgivings. “You are safe here.”

  One reddish brow shot upward to let him know she didn’t believe him, but she only said, “Let’s see what Decoy can do on the trail.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Decoy did wonderfully during the session, finding Emma’s work gloves and knit cap as well as several other hot dogs. Except for one that Chipper beat him to at the end, possibly because by then Decoy’s belly was full.

  “Chipper, that’s not for you,” Piper said as Chipper jogged away with the hot dog in her mouth.

  “Smart dog,” Shane added, chuckling at the sight of Piper chasing Chipper. When she caught the squat little puppy, she hauled her up into her arms, laughing. Her green eyes were the color of emeralds and glittering with happiness. He was relieved that her upset from the night before had been chased away by the antics of the dogs. Or maybe she was better at hiding her feelings than he thought.

  He liked seeing her like this, free of the worry that had plagued her during the last few weeks.

  When the puppy gobbled up the last of the hot dog, Piper set him down. “Maybe I should be teaching Chipper to do search and rescue.”

  Although their focus had been on Decoy during their training, Chipper had been obedient and learned many of the same commands. Not as quickly as Decoy, but eventually the little pup had learned.

  “She’s a good dog,” he said again and bent to rub Chipper’s head when the puppy came over, seemingly aware that he was talking about her.

  “She is. Come here, Chipper,” Piper said, and the little dog complied and sat at Piper’s feet, waiting for the next command. Piper rewarded her with a treat and when she straightened, she said, “I guess we can call it a day. It’s almost five.”

  “Sounds good.” He strolled beside her, their pace slow to enjoy the beautiful late afternoon sun. The dogs played together along the trail.

  “They’re good friends,” Piper said, grinning at the sight of the two mismatched dogs tussling over a branch. Decoy was at least a foot taller, his body thicker with his Lab/hound background. Chipper had the short legs of the corgi, and her body wasn’t as muscular despite the pit bull in her.