Chapter Fifty

Lena dressed for bed and climbed between the cool sheets with a shiver. There was no heat in the cabin and it was chilly, despite having the windows closed. Even with the extra blanket from the closet she couldn’t seem to get warm.

The chill was coming from deep inside her.

She’d actually pulled a gun on someone. She could have killed an innocent man. The father of an adorable little baby. Someone’s husband.

Her fingers flexed as she remembered feeling the gun in her hand.

Another shiver racked her body as she heard steps on the tiny front porch of the cabin. Her heart began to race. The door was locked, but it was flimsy, and half the door was glass. It wouldn’t keep anyone out if they wanted to get in.

There was a knock, and her heart slowed as she turned on the small lamp next to the bed and crept out from under the covers to answer the door.

It was Dane.

He let out a sigh and shook his head. “I was going to come up with some reason why I needed to talk to you so you’d let me in, but I don’t want any more lies. I’m not in a good place right now. I don’t want to be alone. I might do something ridiculous like break down and cry.”

She smiled in understanding, and opened the door wider. “Well, we can’t have the tough deputy marshal crying, now can we?” she said gently as he walked into the cabin.

“I wasn’t cut out for this tough-guy thing. I was a financial officer in my past life. Finance officers can cry if they need to. There aren’t a lot of expectations.”

She laced her hands uncertainly, not quite sure why he’d come. He hadn’t exactly been warm and fuzzy when they parted. “I guess not. How did you get this job?”

“You mean agree to fake my own death?” he asked wryly.

She nibbled on her lip. “That couldn’t have been an easy decision.”

“I did it for the sake of my family. I’d promised to testify against my bosses in exchange for witness protection, but I was dealing with a lot of guilt about how I’d handled things. I hadn’t come forth right away, and found out later that two people had died as a result of my inaction.”

“My God. I’m so sorry.”

He swallowed and ran his hand through his hair. “One day Thorne showed up and asked if I wanted the chance to redeem myself. It was as if he’d read my mind.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised. He’s a little scary.”

Dane laughed. “True. I thought it would give me something meaningful to do while I waited for the case to go to trial. I owed two lives. So, I joined Task Force Phoenix. I figured if I saved two people, I’d have paid my debt.”

“Did you?”

He nodded. “But then I didn’t just want to be even. I wanted to have Karma credit.” He winked at her. “Eventually I stopped counting. It just became me. It’s what I do now.”

She went to him and wrapped her arms around him. He enveloped her in his warmth.

“Now, I’m hoping Karma kept count,” he whispered. “Because I need a big favor.”

She wanted to tell him everything was going to work out and be okay, but he’d said he didn’t want any more lies between them. She hoped it wasn’t a lie, but she just wasn’t sure.

Tomorrow they would be preparing for the raid on two of Viktor’s holdings to rescue their children. Tonight, they were simply a man and a woman who didn’t want to be alone with their thoughts.

She leaned back enough to look up into his face. As she attempted to remember how to make a move on a man, his lips came down on hers.