“When’s the last time you were here?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “Did you leave a light on for me?

  “No.”

  “Anything seem odd when you were here?”

  “No.”

  Most of the time Clint appreciated Nessie’s to-the-point personality, but right now, he’d like more than one-word answers. “And Pete? Is he here?”

  “He’s snoring up a storm in his recliner, but we’ll be over first thing in the morning.”

  “Okay. See you then.” Clint disconnected.

  Had Nessie actually left a light on? She was conscientious, and yet, she was nearing seventy. He needed to check it out, and he’d been a SEAL far too long not to take care and approach under cover.

  He silenced his phone and slipped out of the truck, glad the door’s rusty hinges were quiet for once. He unlocked the tool box in the truck bed to retrieve his handgun and rifle.

  He loaded both guns and set off for the house, moving silently through the trees. A soft breeze played over the tranquil ranch, cutting through the sticky night alive with cricket chirps and an owl’s repeated hoots. Everything in nature was ignorant of the danger that lurked ahead, but Clint wouldn’t let down his guard.

  In the clearing around the long, low house, he found an older-model sedan. He eased alongside it for cover and took a good look.

  What in the world?

  He moved closer and ran his fingers over bullet holes dotting the side. His apprehension skyrocketed.

  Was a local thug using the usually empty house as a hideout? Clint would have installed a security system, but he’d never had any issues. Plus Nessie and Pete didn’t like the thought of having to arm and disarm it, so he’d bowed to their wishes. Maybe it was time to reconsider.

  He racked his handgun and continued forward, working his way through tall grasses and wildflowers to the mowed area outside the house. Warm light spilled out, illuminating the shrubs and flowers Nessie cared for. Gauzy curtains fluttered in the breeze and brought him to a stop.

  So the window was open. Nessie might have left a light on but she would never leave a window open. Something moved behind the curtains. Someone was inside and he needed to find out who.

  His best bet was to enter through the back door and surprise them. He circled around the rear of the house, unlocking the door as quietly as he could. He slipped inside and down the hall where female voices drifted out to meet him.

  One voice pierced his brain, and his heart skipped a beat.

  No. He had to be wrong. She couldn’t be here. Right?

  He shot a quick look into the room and spotted two women. He recognized both of them but the younger woman’s face was burned into his memory.

  So now what? How did he step into the room and tell the only woman he’d ever loved that he was home without letting her see how much she still got to him?

  Keep it light. That’s what he’d do. He cleared his throat to alert them to his presence.

  “Hi, honey, I’m home,” he joked as he swung around the corner.

  “What on earth.” Bree clutched her chest. “What are you doing here?”

  “Ah, this is my house, Bree. Shouldn’t I be the one asking that question and demanding a good reason for you breaking in?”

  She rushed across the room to him, tears filling her eyes. “I’m in trouble, Clint. Big trouble, and I have nowhere else to go.”

  Aw, man. No. Not tears. Not a voice that trembled with fear. He could tune out a lot of things in life, but he could never ignore a woman in trouble, especially not when the woman was Bree.

  TWO

  Bree managed to hide her shock at seeing Clint, but just barely.

  “Marie,” he greeted Bree’s mother with a smile, and Bree couldn’t take her eyes off him.

  He hadn’t changed much. Over six feet tall, his shoulders were broad in the plaid shirt open over a white T-shirt, his jeans as worn as his favorite old pair of boots. He had a thick head of shaggy brown hair with copper highlights, but it was his eyes that drew her attention just as they had the six months they’d been together. Brown in color, they changed according to his moods. Dark coffee brown when he was irritated or concerned as he was now, but a warm chocolate when she caught him gazing at her with the affection they’d once shared.

  Oh, man. He was here. Really and truly here, and she’d all but run into his arms for help when he’d stepped into the room.

  Why hadn’t she prepared herself to handle the possibility of seeing him again? She’d been consumed with the need to protect Ella and find a killer, she supposed. Or maybe she didn’t want to think about Clint. They hadn’t been together since she’d called things off three years earlier. Not that she didn’t want to be with him, but she couldn’t. As a nurse in the war zone in Iraq, she’d seen the horrors that he faced on a regular basis. She could never be with a man, start a family with a man who put himself in such danger. She should trust God to keep Clint safe, but every time he had deployed when they’d been together, fear had consumed her.

  Still, in all that time, she hadn’t been able to forget him. She measured every man she met against him, and they all fell short in comparison.

  Ella’s sharp cry sounded from the bedroom, and Clint spun in that direction, his gun coming up in his hand. Ever the SEAL. Cementing in her mind why they couldn’t be together.

  “Relax. It’s just Ella,” Bree’s mother said. “I’ll go get her.”

  She didn’t wait for Bree to agree, but stepped into the hallway.

  “You have a baby?” Anguish rode though Clint’s voice.

  “You think I...no, wait...she’s mine, but not mine. My friends. Jason and Laura. You remember them?”

  He nodded.

  “They died, leaving me custody of Ella. That’s why I’m here. To protect Ella.”

  As if Ella knew Bree was talking about her, her crying wound down until Bree could no longer hear her.

  Clint stepped closer, his eyes warming. “I’m sorry for your loss. I know how much you loved them.”

  The tenderness and compassion in his tone wrapped around her as tears pricked her eyes. She wasn’t normally a crier, but after everything that had happened the last few weeks, tears threatened all the time.

  She firmed her shoulders to ward them off. “I did love them, which is why I have to find the person who killed them.”

  “Killed them? They were murdered?”

  She nodded. “And the police won’t believe me.”

  He watched her for a moment, before gesturing at the sofa. “Let’s sit and you can tell me what’s going on.”

  She moved to the far end of the plaid sofa and hoped he got the hint to put some space between them and sit on the other end. Of course, he didn’t. He dropped onto the heavy oak coffee table right in front of her and leaned his elbows on his knees, his gaze raptly fixed to her face.

  How could she think with him looking at her like that?

  Get a grip. If not for your sake, then for Ella’s. Just stick to the facts.

  “Ella is teething and has been pretty cranky, totally stressing out her parents,” she said. “I offered to watch her for a day so they could spend the night on their boat. There’s evidence that the generator they’d used to power the AC malfunctioned. They died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Their deaths were ruled an accident.”

  “But you don’t agree.”

  She shook her head then shared everything that had happened. “To be fair to the detective, it’s all just my word. And I acted out when he first told me they died, so I can see why he might not trust me. But I have to figure out what really happened.”

  “That’s not a good idea,” Clint said. “You could become a victim, too.”

  “That’s why we’re here. After the call from the killer I know he’s serious about hurting me. Your ranch is the safest place for Ella, my mom and me.”

  “Then my house is yours for as long as you need it.” He sat up straight and a firm look of resolve crossed his face. “And now that I know you’re in danger, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to any of you. You have my word on it.”

  “Are you sure you want us to stay?” She met his gaze head on. “With the stress of your job I know you need peace and quiet when you’re on leave and having a baby around won’t give you that.”

  He pulled back his shoulders, taxing the seam of his shirt. “We may not have been able to make a go of things between us, but I still care about you, and I’m not going to leave your side until I’m sure you’re safe.”

  Even if she wanted to argue with him—which she didn’t—once his mind was made up about something there was no swaying him.

  “Thank you.” She smiled.

  He returned her smile but shifted to watch her mother enter the room carrying Ella. “If you’ll take her, I’ll go find the teething gel.”

  Bree took the precious child and cuddled her close, smelling her baby-soft hair as she whimpered. Bree reminded herself that every day going forward, everything was for Ella. For making her life better. Easier. And raising her as her parents had wanted.

  Ella stiffened and started to wail.

  Clint frowned and looked at her like she was an alien. “You don’t expect help with the baby, right?”

  “Right,” she replied, but sadness creased her heart.

  Nothing had changed. Clint still didn’t want children. She did. One of the reasons they’d split up. Now she had a daughter, and he looked like an invading army was marching through the room, and he wanted to flee.

  Bree forced her attraction and feelings for Clint aside and drew Ella closer to soothe her. Ella had to come first, and Bree couldn’t be interested in any relationship until she stabilized her life. That wouldn’t happen until the killer was caught. And even once that happened, she couldn’t be interested in a man like Clint who not only didn’t want children, but wouldn’t be around to help raise them.

  * * *

  Bree walked the floor with the fussy baby and Clint tracked Bree’s every move. Tall and thin, she had the look of a runner, which she was. She often wore athletic attire on her days off and was kind of a tomboy with her brown hair usually worn in a ponytail, accenting expressive brown eyes. Clint had always gone for more feminine women, but something about Bree had hooked him the moment they met.

  Maybe it was the way she looked at him, at others, like she knew what they were going through and hoped to ease their distress.

  Ella suddenly tossed back her head and screamed at the top of her lungs. Apparently the teething gel hadn’t kicked in yet or wasn’t working at all. Clint wanted to help, but Bree was far more capable than he was of settling the child. He could already tell she was a great mom, just as he’d always known she would be.

  He wanted a wife and children. Several kids, in fact. But he wouldn’t get married until it was time for him to transition into a job that allowed him to be present in his child’s life instead of being deployed. He knew the pain of being raised without parents. He would never inflict that same pain on his own child.

  Sure, he could leave the SEALs, but he was called to help others. While he had the health and stamina to continue his work, he had an obligation to see it through. To serve where he felt he could do the most good. Even if it meant he couldn’t be with Bree.

  When she’d come into his life, he’d prayed for God’s direction, and no other job that he was suited for had presented itself. So as long as he worked as a SEAL, he had to accept the restrictions the job placed on his life. No wife or family for him.

  Bree swayed with Ella until she quieted down. “Hopefully the teething gel is working, and we will all be able to get some sleep. Sorry, but I chose the biggest room so I could keep Ella nearby. I suspect it’s your bedroom. We can move.”

  He waved a hand. “I’ll just need to grab a few things, and I can sleep anywhere.”

  “I suppose as a SEAL you have to be able to do that.”

  He nodded.

  “Are things still going well in the job?”

  He took a moment before responding as he wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to know. “If you’re asking if I’m ready to leave it, nothing has changed. I believe this is God’s will for my life right now.”

  A flash of pain lit in her eyes then vanished as fast as it appeared. He liked seeing that it still bothered her that they couldn’t be together. Not a good thing to admit, but it might mean she, like he, hadn’t let go of what they’d had together.

  Not something he should be thinking about. He needed to move to a safer topic. “Since you’re gung ho about finding this killer, do you have any thoughts on where to start looking?”

  “Let me put Ella down, and then we can talk about it.” She started around the couch.

  “Do you need any help?”

  She shot him a look over her shoulder. “You want to help?”

  “I may not be ready to have children, but I didn’t say I disliked them.” Especially when they were absolutely adorable and had big eyes and plump cheeks like Ella’s.

  “Right,” she replied.

  Sadness deepened her tone. Man, it hurt to hear her pain, and he wanted to reach out to her. Another bad idea. Maybe he should rethink staying here with her. His friend Shawn Dunlop was a local deputy, and he’d probably agree to watch out for her and look into the murder.

  No. Not happening. He wasn’t leaving her safety to Shawn or anyone else. He was the most skilled person here, and taking charge right now might make up for some of the pain he’d caused her when they’d broken things off. He’d just have to suck it up and not let his feelings get to him. He knew how to do that. He’d done it with his grandfather for years, each and every time he’d voiced his anger over being forced to leave the job he loved to care for a kid.

  Clint could employ these coping skills he’d learned with his granddad to get through this time with Bree.

  She breezed back into the room, a soft smile on her face, and dropped onto the sofa. “Each time I conquer one of Ella’s teething episodes and get her down to sleep again, I feel like I’m taken one step closer to being a real mom.”

  “I have no doubt you’re a wonderful mother.”

  She sighed. “I still have so much to figure out. I took a short leave from work, but I have to go back eventually.” She frowned. “I wish I could stay home with her like Laura did, but I have to support us somehow.”

  “But first you’ll investigate her death. How do you plan to go about it?”

  “I’ll leave Ella here with Mom. No one knows where we are so she’ll be safe. Then I’ll head back to the marina to see if I can find Adam Carpenter again. He’s the guy who said he saw two boats that night.”

  “Sounds like finding him might be a long shot, but we have to try.”

  “We, as in you’re coming with me?”

  He couldn’t tell if she liked or loathed the idea. “I told you I’d keep you safe. That means not letting you out of my sight.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “And I want to get a look at your friends’ boat, too. After my years in the navy, maybe I can see something you and the police missed.”

  A hopeful gleam filled her eyes. “Do you really think you’ll find something?”

  “If the detective—what’s his name again?”

  “Greg Newlin.”

  “Right, so if Newlin doesn’t really believe your friends were murdered, he might not be looking at the boat as he would a crime scene.”

  “Good point.”

  “Not that I’m skilled in processing a crime scene, but I’ve been trained to carefully evaluate my surroundings. I also have a buddy who’s a local deputy. If we strike out tomorrow, maybe I can get him to take a look at the boat, too.”

  “That would be wonderful.”

  He sat back to think about the situation. “We need to try to figure out why someone would want to kill Laura and Jason. Why don’t you tell me more about them? Their jobs, things like that.”

  “Jason was an insurance adjuster for some big health insurance company. Laura used to be a nurse, too. We met at work, but she quit a little over a year ago to nurse her mother who had terminal cancer. She died a few months before Ella was born. Laura never went back to work, but stayed home with Ella.”

  “Okay, so this isn’t about Laura’s job, but could be about Jason’s. Or maybe it has to do with Laura’s mother. Do you know if Laura might have inherited anything valuable?”

  “No. Laura and I talked about her mother, and all her money was used for her medical bills. In fact, Laura was helping pay for them at the end.”

  “And Jason’s job?”

  “He didn’t talk about it. Not ever.”

  “Didn’t you find that odd?”

  She shrugged. “It didn’t seem odd at the time. Insurance isn’t really fun to talk about.”

  “Did he or Laura ever say he disliked his job?”

  Bree shook her head.

  “Did you ever meet any of his coworkers?”

  “No, he didn’t hang out with them outside of work. He was an introvert and a real homebody except for when he was boating. He really didn’t have any friends other than Laura’s friends.”

  “Still, we should consider talking to his coworkers. Family members, too.”

  “Laura and Jason didn’t have any living family. That’s why they gave me custody of Ella. I’m executor of the estate so I have access to the house. Maybe we can find information about his work there.”

  “Okay, so we’ll start at the marina tomorrow, and if time allows, we’ll stop by their house.”

  She frowned and twisted her hands in her lap. “I was staying there with Ella the night they died. I gathered up her things and haven’t gone back.”

  “Are you up to it?” He reached out to take her hands and offer comfort.

  She moved back. “I’ll do whatever it takes to find their killer.”