“Oh, no. Nicole. Don’t.”

  She ignored the twinge of guilt. “Don’t what?”

  “Don’t let yourself fall for him again,” Holly stated matter-of-factly. “Gratitude at what he’s doing aside—and, you know, the fact that he’s still smoking hot—do you really think he’s any different? That he’s going to be there for you emotionally, the way you need and deserve to have someone there for you? I mean, that’s the whole reason you broke up with him. You always had to be the emotionally strong one, you had to carry the whole relationship because Michael just represses anything he’s feeling and focuses on the next mission. And when you lost the baby and needed him to be there for you, you knew he couldn’t be. You didn’t even feel you could tell him. You know I’m right,” Holly said, her tone softening.

  “I know you’re right,” Nicole murmured. But she wished desperately that she wasn’t.

  It was never not going to hurt. The pain had gotten easier over the years, but it hadn’t ever gone away. Nicole didn’t think she’d ever stop having those moments where she looked at Grant and imagined their child, hers and Michael’s, playing alongside him. They’d have just been about the same age.

  She’d been so excited to tell Michael that she was pregnant. Yes, the timing had been awful—she’d still been in college, and he was overseas with no idea of when he would return, and they were both so young. And still she had been utterly, ridiculously confident that it would all work out. She’d planned it all out - what she was going to say, when she was going to say it. She was going to tell him on Father’s Day; Michael had always had such a hard time with Father’s Day, ever since his parents died. He’d been so close to his dad. Now she’d be able to give him something to celebrate on the day.

  And then Nicole had woken up the night before, bleeding, and the pain was bad enough that she’d had to call Emma to take her to the hospital. Her sister had stayed with her as they waited for the doctor, and held her hand as they told her she’d lost the baby, and Emma had hugged her as they sat in her car in the parking lot afterwards, and Nicole sobbed her heart out.

  Emma had been the last person she could do that with. The last person she could lean on like that. Maybe because her big sister had always looked out for her, without her ever needing to ask—Emma had been the one who’d bandaged skinned knees, stared down the middle school bully who’d had the gall to pick on her little sister, loaned Nicole her “lucky” earrings to wear on her first date. Nicole had never needed to be strong for Emma…just for everyone else. Including Michael.

  She’d had to talk to Michael—she’d planned that Father’s Day phone call with him in advance, and he’d have been hurt if she’d canceled it. But she couldn’t tell him what had happened. She couldn’t make the words come out of her mouth, not then. And not in any call after that. It hadn’t seemed fair to put that on him, to make him carry it when he was in such a dangerous place. So Nicole had carried it on her own.

  But that had made her realize, painfully but crystal clear, that however much she loved Michael, it wasn't going to work out. When she needed support, she felt like she couldn’t turn to him. So she’d ended things. Maybe it had been unfair of her—but she’d been holding herself together by a thread, and she just hadn’t had the emotional energy to pretend, for his sake, that everything was fine anymore. She’d been drowning, so she’d done what she could to get through.

  “I’m always right,” Holly said. “And I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

  “I won’t, I promise. I have to go,” Nicole added quickly, before Holly could grill her any further. “I’m going to check in with Angelica. Make sure everyone there is okay.”

  “Tell her to stay safe.”

  “You stay safe. Boss’s orders.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Holly laughed.

  Nicole hung up and took a deep breath. Then dialed the salon. She could trust Angelica, and she needed to let her staff know about the threat to the shop, and let Angelica know how to reach her in case of emergency. Because who knew how long she was going to be stuck here.

  7

  “So where are the bears?”

  Michael cleared his throat. There wasn’t a lot to play with at the cabin—at least, he assumed, not a lot that a ten-year-old would be interested in. But there were a few easy trails, one of which circled around the cabin in a nice, wide loop. It was a simple hike, and it let Michael do a rough perimeter check, just to make sure there was no sign of any people lurking around. Besides, it gave him a chance to get out, get some distance. He’d forgotten how good Nicole looked first thing in the morning, all soft and rumpled, with those big dark eyes blurry until she got her first cup of coffee.

  Still, Michael had been a little surprised at how quickly Grant agreed when he’d suggested a hike. “They’re probably keeping their distance, if any are around.”

  “Oh.”

  “You don’t have to be scared.” The kid didn’t look scared, though. He looked disappointed.

  “I’m not,” Grant assured him. “I just thought if there was a bear around, it’d be cool if you had to fight it.”

  Michael forced himself not to smile. “I don’t think I’d win.”

  “You would,” Grant said with utter confidence. “My mom told me all about you. You’re a superhero.” The kid looked up at him, eyes far too shrewd behind his enormous glasses. “So if I ask you a question, will you tell me the truth?”

  “I always tell the truth,” Michael told him, and frowned when it came out harsher than he intended.

  But the kid seemed unswayed. “Yeah, but you’re a grown-up. Grown-ups don’t always tell kids everything. Especially when they think they might get scared. I live in New Jersey, I don’t get scared,” Grant told him. “Except for clowns.”

  “Clowns are scary,” Michael agreed.

  “I know we’re not out here because of a problem with the electricity. And Mom won’t tell me what’s really happening. She thinks I’m just a kid and she wants to protect me. But I know something’s going on. And I can’t stay safe if I don’t understand what the problem is.”

  Michael hesitated, running a hand through his hair. “Grant—”

  “And she’s never mentioned you before. I mean, she has talked about you, but not to me. I heard her on the phone with Aunt Charlie once. And she keeps a picture of you guys in her dresser. I found it once when I was looking for Christmas presents,” he explained when Michael stopped and looked at him, surprised. “Plus, Mom’s always super careful about introducing me to any of her guy friends.”

  “Oh.” Michael hesitated, torn. He’d promised Nicole he wouldn’t tell Grant what was going on. But Grant clearly wasn’t buying the excuses. And he was right that a lack of proper intel could be dangerous. Grant needed to understand the danger they were in so he’d be careful not to wander off. “Several days ago, your mom saw someone get hurt. The cops are looking for the bad guy who did it, but until they catch him you two are going to stay here with me. Where it’s safer.”

  “And you can protect us,” Grant added, rocking Michael again with his confidence. “Cause you fought bad guys before. I Googled you,” he explained.

  Michael nearly laughed. “Oh.”

  “But if we’re staying here, that means the bad guys knows Mom saw him, and—”

  There was a rustle in the trees up ahead. Just a small sound, but Michael immediately went on alert, putting a hand on Grant’s shoulder and putting the boy behind him. Something—someone?— was in the woods. Could it be the man who’d been threatening Nicole? But that was impossible. How could anyone have found them? And so quickly?

  There was another rustle, and then a whimper. Michael felt a small hand cling to his and something in his chest gave a tight squeeze as he glanced down at Grant. The boy had gone quiet, eyes huge behind his tortoiseshell frames. “Wait here,” Michael told him.

  Grant nodded, but it took him a second to let go of Michael’s hand.

  Michael eased forward, slow and silent. It didn’t seem like the sound was getting any closer. Whoever it was might not be after them. It was probably just a hiker—someone lost in the woods. If that was the case, it’d be best if they only saw him, and not a kid, in the event anyone else came around asking questions.

  Then Michael stepped around a tree and saw…a dog. It was dirty, fur matted and patchy, and it looked tired. There was a rough length of rope around its neck, tying it to a tree. When it saw him, the dog went still, watching him cautiously. And then its tail gave a gentle wag. Michael couldn’t tell how long it had been out here, but it looked hungry. Slowly, he crouched down, and kept his voice low. “Hello.”

  The tail gave another small wag, and the dog padded towards him, one careful step at a time. But it sniffed the hand he held out, regarding him with a pair of large, soulful dark eyes. “Hey there,” Michael said, giving it a soft scratch behind the ears. The dog’s eyes closed as its tail started to wag more energetically. The poor thing was so dirty he couldn’t tell what kind of dog it was, but it looked like there was a dark coat underneath all that dirt. Looked like a mutt, but Michael guessed there was a decent amount of lab in there, especially in the large, gentle eyes.

  It shied back a bit when Grant came crashing through the trees. “Hey! It’s a dog!”

  “Don’t—” Michael started, but Grant was already rushing forward. The dog held still as Grant reached out to pet it, and then carefully leaned forward to gently lick his face. Grant burst into giggles as the dog nuzzled him.

  “Look at you!” Grant blinked up at Michael, trying to pet the now gently wriggling dog that was trying to climb into the boy’s lap. “What’s he doing out here? Why’s he tied up?”

  Michael had a feeling he knew. “Most likely he’s been abandoned. Sometimes when people can’t or don’t want to take care of their animals anymore, they’ll—well, they get rid of them.”

  Grant gaped at him. “But that’s so mean. They just tied him to a tree? How’s he supposed to take care of himself? He can’t even find food this way! We have to take him with us.” The kid started tugging on the knots of the rope around the dog’s neck. “We can’t just leave him here.”

  This was probably a terrible idea. But the kid was right. They couldn’t just leave it here. It would starve.

  Michael crouched down next to the kid, helping him with the knots, taking care to be gentle as the dog shifted its attention to him, giving his hand a couple careful licks. It took a little time to work the knots free. Judging by the marks around its neck, the animal had been here for a while, and Michael’s gut twisted as he pulled at the knots. He wondered if the dog had been out here, tied up like this, when they’d first gotten to the cabin. If it had been out here, alone, all this time. “He looks hungry,” Michael said, standing. “We should get him back to the cabin. Clean him up and feed him, at least.”

  Grant’s face lit up. “I can give him a bath!”

  Michael felt himself smile. “I’m sure that’s what your mom will suggest.”

  They started back towards the cabin. Michael wondered if he should’ve kept the rope, as a kind of leash, but the dog kept to his heel as if he’d been trained to do it.

  “What are we going to tell Mom?” Grant asked.

  “The truth,” Michael said promptly.

  “I know that,” Grant said. “I mean, what do we say so that she lets us keep it? You heard her the other night.”

  That was true. Michael glanced down at the dog, padding along softly by his side. The practical solution would be to take it to the vet in town, see if there was a shelter he could place it in. The dog seemed sweet-natured, despite all that it had been through, and its gentleness with Grant showed that it was good with kids. Surely there was a family out there looking for a pet like this. “A dog is a lot of responsibility. But,” he continued when Grant’s face fell, “I think ten is old enough to take on a lot of those responsibilities.”

  “Yeah!” Grant gave a little excited jump next to him as he seized on the idea. “I could walk him and feed him and everything.”

  “And at the very least we should make sure the poor guy gets a good meal, and a bath,” Michael added, not entirely sure if he was trying to think of a way to convince Nicole or himself. But Grant nodded eagerly.

  Nicole was waiting by the back door as they tramped out of the woods, a coffee cup cradled in between her hands. Her eyes immediately dropped to the dog, and then back to Michael.

  “We found him!” Grant jumped in, before Nicole could say anything. “Which is not the same as getting a dog on purpose. We couldn’t just leave him out there. Some mean people had tied him to a tree. He would have died if we hadn’t saved him!” He cast a large, soulful look up at Michael, not unlike the one the dog was giving him.

  Oh, hell. “We couldn’t leave him out there,” Michael agreed, which earned him a stern look from Nicole. He fought the urge to sheepishly look away.

  “We talked about this, Grant,” Nicole said. But her expression was torn. “Who's going to walk it?”

  “We will,” Michael and Grant answered at the same time.

  Nicole pressed her lips into a thin line, as if she was trying hard not to smile, but he could see it in her eyes. “We don’t have any dog food.”

  “My assistant,” Michael started, before he’d really thought it through, “can drop some off. He’ll be bringing us groceries soon enough anyway. There is a vet in the area,” he added, trying to be fair. “If you really don’t think we should take on the care of a dog, I’ll call my assistant, have him take it to a shelter.”

  “Can we keep it?” Grant begged. “Please, Mom, please?”

  Michael knew what she was going to say when she smiled and shook her head. “All right. Just for now. But if you aren’t up to the task of taking care of him, then he’s going straight to the shelter. Is that understood?”

  “Yes!” Grant leapt into the air. It didn’t seem he’d heard anything past the agreement to let the dog stay. He then ran over to hug his mom. The dog leaned against Michael’s legs and gazed up at him adoringly. As if it knew it was safe.

  Great. If Michael knew Nicole, there was no way she was going to be able to send the dog to a shelter now, no matter what she said. Which meant at least the poor thing could have a normal life when they made it through this.

  Now all he had to do was not get attached. To the dog or the kid. Or Nicole.

  8

  The birds were tweet-tweeting as Nicole crept out of the cabin in leggings and a jogging bra, her yoga mat tucked under her arm. It was painfully early in the morning, the sun just starting to glow behind the trees. For once, she was up before Grant. Not Michael, though. The door to his room had been open, his bedroom empty when she finally gave up on tossing and turning, and decided to get up and actually do something.

  Yet another night of terrible sleep. That made more than she wanted to count. Nicole found a clear spot behind the cabin, not far from the tree line, and rolled out her mat. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the fresh morning air. She tried to center herself, to focus on the birdsong and the stillness, tried to focus on pulling some of that peace inside of her. Tried really hard not to think about how many days had passed since they’d gotten here, how many days during which she’d had to just wait and be patient and let other people take care of things. Not her strongest suit.

  She was fine, Nicole told herself. Everything was fine. She’d spoken fairly regularly to Angelica, who had assured her that everything was running smoothly at the salon, and promised to keep her eyes open for anyone suspicious. The police were on the case, and she and Holly and Charlotte were in very good hands. There was nothing she needed to do, and worrying about everything wouldn’t help.

  Yeah, that really fixes things, Nicole thought bitterly. Just like everyone instantly feels better when someone tells them to cheer up, or to calm down, as if it’s as simple as that. I’m just supposed to decide not to worry, and focus on other things. Not that there was anything else to really hold her attention. The fact that there was nothing to do was part of the problem. She’d never been good with nothing. She was the one who took care of things, who looked after people. But now, she could barely look after herself. The stress and anxiety and terror roiling around in her gut left her too wound up to sleep, and twisted her stomach up in so many knots that she lost her appetite, too. Michael had noticed, she knew; she’d felt his dark gaze on her, assessing her, last night at dinner. She was worried if he caught her picking at another meal, he might actually say something. So Nicole finally gave up and went to look for her yoga mat. Back in the city, she’d gone to a yoga class two days a week. It always helped to calm and center her there. Maybe it would help now.

  Nicole concentrated on her breathing, in and out, as she moved slowly through a sun salutation. Her muscles were stiff and tired, all but crying out as she eased from a plank into an upward-facing dog pose. She tried to focus, to feel at one with the world, but that was pretty difficult when she didn’t actually want to do it. Being at one with the world was for people who didn’t have to worry about someone hunting down their friends and family, trying to kill them. Nicole didn’t want to feel at peace. She wanted to punch something. She wanted this to be over.

  She heard the dog before she heard Michael. The soft, adoring wuffs echoed out from somewhere in the trees. It had been a few days since they’d found the poor thing that they had eventually determined was a boy. Grant had finally decided to name the dog Destroyer, after his favorite battleship. Which ended up being kind of funny, as Destroyer turned out to be a dreamy-eyed cuddlebug, rarely barking, and utterly and devotedly in love with both Grant and Michael. The lab mix would wait quietly until Michael sat down, watching him with his heart in his eyes, and then pad over to rest his sleek dark head in Michael’s lap, snuggling close and patiently waiting for the affection that was never slow to come. It was a little funny, actually, watching the big, tough ex-SEAL try to act like he wasn’t completely gone over the thing.