Love Inspired Suspense April 2015 #2 (27 page)

He pressed on, feeling a surge of victory.

Thea would be warm and safe and he'd have a chance to tell her the rest of the story she was so desperate to hear. She deserved to know it all. He was certain that somewhere in her mind were the answers he needed to find those responsible for not only killing her father, but also trying to silence his. Only when the truth came out would she finally be out of danger. Then he could return her home.

“I think there's a farmhouse up ahead.” He spoke loudly over the wind, hoping to encourage her to keep moving. He quickened the pace and within moments they were at the door of the two-story home.

Ronin banged loudly against the door. The curtain at the window fluttered and lights came on inside. A few minutes later the door creaked open slowly. He was never so happy to see other human beings.

“Hello—” He started to introduce himself but was interrupted as the lady at the door noticed their condition.

“Oh, my!” she exclaimed. “You two are a sight. You must be frozen all the way through.”

Without taking time to learn their names or why they were out in the cold, she ushered them in and motioned for them to sit in the chairs around the kitchen table.

“Our car went off the road—” Ronin started, but was once again not allowed to finish.

“The nearest road is a good mile from here,” the woman interrupted again. “That's quite the walk, especially in the middle of the night through a blizzard. First thing we need to do is get you out of those wet clothes.” She clucked around them like a mother hen, urging them to sit in chairs around the table and remove their shoes. “Just pile those shoes and socks up in the corner there.” She pointed toward a doorway that looked as if it led to a washroom. “Earl!”

“No need to holler, woman.” A large man entered the kitchen, his arms full of blankets and towels. “One step ahead of you.”

“We make a good team, don't we?”

The man laid the stack on the table and leaned over to give the woman a kiss on the cheek. The man might be older, but he was the same height as Ronin with a slightly heavier build. Ronin was well aware that although the man doted on his wife and had paid them very little obvious attention, he'd been measured up.

Ronin respected him for that. Given the circumstances, he'd do the same. He probably wouldn't have let two strangers into his home to begin with.

“We only have one bathroom and bathtub, so you'll have to take turns at warm baths. But we have a tub around here somewhere that you can soak those feet in.”

The man—Earl, she'd called him—was already leaving the room again.

Thea still shook from the cold. Ronin was worried for her feet. They had been out in the freezing temperatures for hours. She could have frostbite. But you couldn't tell by looking at her. She smiled at the woman and thanked her, not once complaining or letting on about the pain she must be in.

“We were in an accident.” Ronin supplied the information, for the first time not being interrupted. “Our car landed in a creek.”

“Must have been Rock Creek.” The woman shook her head and made more clucking sounds as she helped Thea with her boots and socks.

Ronin leaned over as he pulled his own off to see if her toes showed any signs of being blistered.

“God must have been with you two,” the woman replied. “If you've been out in that cold for very long. He had His hand on you to keep you safe.”

“He did.” Thea spoke with a calmness that surprised him. She smiled up at him. “Of course, Ronin helped some, as well.”

A smile filled his body. Contagious warmth flowed from her.

The elderly man returned to the room with a large metal tub and began filling it with warm water from the sink.

“I'll show you to the bath and find some warm, dry clothing for you to put on while your own clothes are drying out.” The woman wrapped her arms around Thea and guided her out of the room.

At the doorway, Thea stopped and glanced back at him. Her eyes filled with softness.

Thank you
, she mouthed. Then she was gone.

“That lady of yours is one strong woman.” The man placed the partially filled tub down at Ronin's feet, then returned to the sink to begin filling pitchers of warm water to add to it. “Reminds me of my own Elizabeth. She has that same stubborn streak in her.”

“She's not my lady,” Ronin corrected. He didn't want to repay the man's kindness with lies. There had been too many lies already. Not that he had actually lied to Thea, but he'd kept the truth from her. And she had thanked him. Ronin sunk his feet into the warm water. His feet tingled, then sharp jabs of pain shot through his toes and up his legs. He jerked and grimaced.

“That's a good sign. Means the circulation is returning and your toes aren't completely dead.”

He held his feet under. He deserved the pain.

“I'm going to see if Lizzie needs some help rounding you young'uns up some clothes.” Earl looked down at him and then strode away after his wife.

He was right about Thea. She was a strong woman. She was strong and many more things that he wasn't sure there were even names for. A man could spend a lifetime trying to figure her out. He shook the thoughts from his mind. She was also a princess. It had been so easy for him to forget her heritage and who she really was in the time he'd been with her. For so long he'd thought of her only as a means to an end. The truths in her mind could free his father.

She was his duty, a job. Nothing more, nothing less.

The memory of the look in her eyes before she'd left the room flooded him. She trusted him. Despite the few truths he had shared and the questions that remained, she trusted. She knew his family had worked for the Royal Guard. She still trusted him. For now that was a good thing. He'd achieved part of what he'd set out to do.

He'd gained her trust. In the days to come he could very well crush it.

SIX

T
hea would never again take a simple thing like a warm bath for granted.

She wrapped her hair in a fluffy pink towel and stared at the purple bruise along her chin. After a quick examination for other injuries, she dressed quickly in the oversize sweatshirt and sweatpants Lizzie had left for her. Her arms and legs were covered in bruises. Her ribs and right shoulder were bruised, probably from the seat belt or air bag. But nothing was broken.

Things could have been much worse. She'd thanked God several times since they'd entered the small farmhouse. She was alive. Ronin was alive.

They were safe.

For now.
Thea pushed the errant thought to the back of her mind.

Mr. and Mrs. Hollis—or Earl and Lizzie, as they'd insisted on being called—had welcomed them in without hesitation. Lizzie had drawn a warm bath and set out clean clothes and towels, tending to her like family the whole time. She liked it. It had been a very long time since she'd felt that sort of caring. Her own mother had been that way. The attention reminded her of her mother's gentleness. It was something she'd nearly forgotten. For so long it had been only her father, Leo and their younger sister, Adriana.

After her mother had died, her father had dated a few women, but he'd never really brought them into their lives. Mostly there had been servants. Some of them had genuinely cared for her. But that had been different. It always felt more as if they were doing it out of obligation than true emotion. She was their job.

Thea tugged on the thick pair of socks. Warmth had finally returned to her toes, and thankfully, they looked pink and healthy. She wiggled them again just to be sure. She never wanted to be that cold again.

She jumped at a light rap at the door and then laughed at herself. If the men who were chasing them had returned, she doubted they'd knock.

“Are you okay?” Ronin's voice was filled with genuine worry.

“Yes, I'm fine.” She could hear Ronin pacing in the hallway. She smiled. She should have known he wouldn't be far from her side. “Are you?” she questioned.

He stopped pacing long enough to answer, “Yes.”

“Are we safe here?” Thea moved toward the door, listening for any sound he might make. If he told her anything other than the truth, she would know. In the short time she'd known him, he'd gotten quite easy to read, even through a door.

“For now,” he replied with a heavy sigh. “But we can't stay long.”

Thea agreed with him. Eventually, the men would come after them. They wanted a body. Dead or alive, they'd said. She had no doubt they would keep searching until they were stopped or they'd succeeded.

Ronin would protect her for as long as he could. But why?

“If you are not the Royal Guard, then why are you here?” The question had been in the back of her mind all morning. He'd already admitted he was not with the Guard. But he'd said he was her brother's bodyguard.

Thea strained her ears. Windows rattled as gusts of wind from the storm still raging outside blew against them. She could hear him moving around outside the door. Was he thinking up lies to tell her? She dismissed it. He hadn't lied to her yet. He'd kept things from her, yes, but she didn't want to think he'd actually lie outright.

“I was a bodyguard for your brother for a short time, but not as a member of the Royal Guard,” he said on a frustrated sigh.

Her mind raced. “I'm not sure if that really answers my question.”

Thea waited, unsure if she would have to repeat herself or if he would finally get around to answering.

“The people who have been protecting you and your brother for the past several years haven't exactly been working for the king.”

“Because the king could be the one who wants me dead.” She sighed. He'd said as much earlier, but it still seemed so impossible. The man was family. Not closely related, but still family. That he could be the one behind her father's murder and the attempts on her life was unthinkable.

“Yes.” Through the closed door she sensed the frustration in his voice. “The Guard sides with the king. Not that there aren't a few of them who doubt the legitimacy of his claim to the throne, but he is the king. There are those who work in secret, keeping you safe and waiting for the right time to bring you both home.”

“Your brother's company?” she asked.

“Yes, and a few others who remained loyal to your father.”

“But if the king is the one who is behind all of this, how can we ever go against him?” Thea questioned. She had always held tight to hope, but in this instant everything seemed hopeless. Thea tiptoed slowly toward the door.

Her own people meant to kill her. Those who had once vowed fidelity to her father were now the ones trying to end her life. Yet Ronin had protected her. “Then who sent you?”

“This is not a conversation to have through a door.”

“It actually seems to be working just fine,” she replied. It was probably one of their longest conversations. If not, at least the one that actually answered some of her questions. “Who sent you?”

“I sent myself, Thea.”

Thea mulled his reply over in her mind.

Leaning against the door, she asked, “Why?”

“To bring you home safe.” His answer was quick. Almost too quick. It sounded rehearsed. There had to be more to it than that.

“You said only a handful of people knew about my brother and I still being alive. Who else knows?”

She heard his sharp inhale. Then he began the pacing again.

“My father told me.” She could hear him pacing in long strides. “My father was the head of the Royal Guard at the time of your father's murder. He told only a few of his most trusted men. Some of the people who kept you hidden didn't even know who you were. It was better that way.”

“My bodyguards haven't been Royal Guard, then?” She thought of the men who had protected her, always following her, always watching. She had trusted them.

“No. They were private contractors.”

She had thought they had protected her out of loyalty to her father and to her. To find out that they'd only done it for money somehow cheapened it.

Thea wasn't sure what to say. Learning the past fourteen years she'd lived not in the protection of her countrymen, those who cared for her and felt a devotion to her father, but those who had just been paid to do so left her speechless. It had been a lie of her own creation, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

Thea placed her ear against the door. Partially to listen for him, but also because she needed the support it offered. The events of the past few hours hit her like a sledgehammer to the stomach. Her legs went limp. She slid down the door, leaning against it as she collapsed into a sitting position on the floor. She wrapped her arms around her body and willed herself to let go of all the pain that had been building. She hated crying, but it always made her feel better.

No matter how badly she wanted a good cry, though, no tears would come. She'd cried herself out years ago. Tonight had been a test of her faith. She'd always believed prayer was stronger than whatever could come against her. But tonight she'd felt real fear. She wasn't supposed to have fear. Fear was for people who didn't have faith to believe all things were possible. Yet she'd survived something that many people could have only imagined. In one night someone had tried to kill her not once but twice. That had to count for something.

Thea sat there in a heap of physical and mental exhaustion. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she heard rustling outside the door.

“I'm going downstairs,” Ronin muttered from the other side of the door.

He hadn't left yet. She wondered briefly if he were listening at the door as she had done, if he waited for her to make a sound. Part of her wanted to believe he was there because he cared for her. But now that the truth was coming to light, she could only believe he was there for the same reasons all the other men had protected her. She was nothing more to him than a job.

“I'll be down shortly,” she replied to break the silence. She needed time alone before facing him.

There was mumbling from the other side of the door. She strained to listen but couldn't make out anything that he was saying. She probably didn't want to know.

She'd been a fool to think he considered her more than a paycheck when he'd held her and comforted her earlier. That he might actually really care what happened to her as a woman. She wouldn't let foolish thoughts like that blur her judgment again. If that was the way he wanted to be, she could play the part well. She could be the little princess who needed rescuing.

At least long enough to rescue herself.

She was through with people viewing her only as a parcel to be protected or delivered. She was a capable woman who could get herself to Denver. It couldn't be hard to find the royal estate. Once her people saw her, they would accept her and she could take her rightful place as an heir to the throne.

Thea pulled the towel from her head and ran her fingers through her damp hair.

The men in the woods had said they'd be back when the storm passed. She didn't doubt that for a second. If they came here, Earl and Lizzie would be in danger. Now there were more lives at risk than just her own and Ronin's. She couldn't let that continue.

They were safe for now, but as soon as possible she needed to get out of here and get herself to Denver, where she could put an end to this once and for all. If the king really was behind her father's death and the attempts on her life, there was only one way she could see to reveal it.

He would have to be caught in the act.

No one would believe it otherwise. Not without proof.

Those who had killed her father and tried to destroy her family would receive the punishment they'd for so long deserved. She would see to that.

On her own.

Ronin might think she needed him, but he was going to learn soon that she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

* * *

Ronin headed to the stairway. On the way downstairs, he checked every window, every door. Thea's voice stuck with him. She sounded scared and alone. She hadn't liked the answers to her questions, but she needed to prepare herself for what was to come. She'd be wise to continue to question. The men who worked for the Royal Guard now were not her friends. Despite the position of high honor, they could not all be trusted.

Being a member of the elite group had always been his dream. He might not be recognized as Royal Guard now, but in his heart it would always be his title. Just like his father before him and each of his two older brothers. They had all been raised to someday serve the king and his family. He had just turned seventeen and begun his first months of training in the junior guard when word had arrived that the king and his family had been killed. He remembered that night. He and his brothers had been reeling over their deaths, and then Thea had arrived. Her first stop on her journey to a new life had been his home. He doubted she remembered it.

She'd been in a state of shock, but she'd tried to hide it. Even then she'd been brave.

After a careful survey, he made his way down the staircase. The wooden steps creaked with each footstep. It wouldn't be easy at all for anyone to sneak up on them. Not that he planned on letting his guard down.

He took the steps slowly, learning the sound of each one. The room below was open to the bottom half of the stairs. His eyes swept over it, taking in every detail as he moved down into the spacious living area. Throw blankets and pillows covered a plush sofa, two smaller love seats and a recliner.

An eight-point deer head was mounted over the mantel of a large stone fireplace. A fire crackled in the hearth. Its warmth flooded the room. An empty rifle rack hung to the left of the deer. Various photos of younger men in uniform dotted the mantel and walls along with family pictures.

Earl stood by the fire, jabbing logs with a poker. A rifle with a long-range scope sat propped up against the wall next to him.

“Everything locked up tight?” the older man asked.

Ronin studied him. Earl didn't turn away from the fire, but Ronin didn't need to look into his eyes to read him. His back was straight, his shoulders tensed. Ronin knew age was not a determiner of ability. Despite the man's apparent lack of attention, he was very much aware of what was going on around him. He'd heard him checking the house and probably knew what he was up to.

“Is there anything you'd like to tell me, son?”

“I have a gun with me. It's loaded.” Lying was not even an option. He'd come into this man's home. He had every right to know; Ronin owed that much to him for the kindness they'd already shown.

“That's quite the coincidence. So do I.” The older man motioned toward the rifle.

“I noticed.”

“Thought you might.”

“I have no intention of using it. Or of giving it up,” Ronin added.

“I might think less of you if you did.” The older man took another jab at the fire, then turned to look at him. “Does this have anything to do with the accident or the lady upstairs?”

“It has everything to do with the accident. There are men after her who will stop at nothing to kill her.”

“I thought it might be something like that. You both had that hunted look in your eyes when you first showed up.”

“We don't mean you any harm, and we're very grateful to you and your wife for taking us in.” Ronin hoped Earl would hear the sincerity in his voice and not throw them out into the cold. Leaving now would not be in Thea's best interest, but he felt he had to give the man the option. “But if you'd like us to leave, we will.”

“Nonsense,” the man retorted. “I'm a good judge of character. I wouldn't have let you through the door if I hadn't already decided what I needed to know.”