Delilah didn’t like the forest at night. She never had. There were too many unidentified noises, too much evil that could happen under cover of darkness. In daylight, you could see who was stalking you, and could gauge how fast and how far you would have to run. Once the sun set, it got a lot harder. She hoped she remembered enough of her father’s lessons to get Mary safely away tonight.
Kimberly had given her landmark-based directions to an old homestead that had been reduced to a tumbledown chimney and some barely visible rotting logs. Delilah sat on a rock she’d carefully checked for snakes and waited, a prepaid smartphone in one hand, her gun in the other. She remembered her father proclaiming that women didn’t need technology—though he and Aaron carried cell phones—and shook off her irritation. The past wasn’t her priority tonight. If she couldn’t convince Mary to come with her, a possibility she’d be foolish not to consider, at least Mary could call until Delilah blackmailed John Henry into letting her go.
She stared at the night sky, visible only in small patches above the trees. Since Kimberly had set the meeting for 10:00 p.m., the family’s new campsite had to be fairly close. Otherwise, how would Mary get here alone at night? Sneaking out of the camper was nearly impossible.
But her biggest worry was that her sister wouldn’t show. Except for glimpses across the farmers market and the birthday and Christmas cards Delilah secretly left for her there, they hadn’t spent any time together since Delilah left. Would Mary still trust her? Or did she feel her big sister had abandoned her?
She glanced at her watch and her heart sank. It was 10:45. Mary wasn’t coming. Maybe she couldn’t. If their father had gotten wind of their plan, he would have put a stop to it. Delilah wouldn’t think about how he might have done that.
A slight rustling sound came from behind her. She froze. There it was again. Nothing more than the whisper of a breeze. Even so, her heart leaped.
“I’m here,” Delilah whispered.
The shadow stopped, and Delilah held her breath, afraid Mary would turn and run. “Delilah?” Mary whispered.
She slowly rose to her feet but didn’t move toward her sister. Not yet. “Yes, I’m right here.”
Mary ran toward her and crashed into Delilah with enough force that she almost tumbled backward over the rock. She reached out to wrap her arms around her sister, but instead of the hug she hoped for, Mary started pounding on her chest. “You left me and you didn’t come back. You said you’d never abandon me, but you did. You did.”
Delilah’s heart shattered into jagged pieces. After a few minutes, Mary stopped pounding and burst into tears. Delilah held her while she cried, murmuring, “I’m sorry, Mary Lou Who, I’m so sorry. I never meant to leave you.” Over and over, she said the words, hoping the silly nickname Delilah had coined from the Dr. Seuss Grinch movie they’d seen at the community center years ago would somehow get through.
Eventually, Mary’s sobs turned to hiccups, and as they pulled back, Delilah was surprised they were at eye level. It was eerie how much Mary resembled her at that age. Long brown hair in a braid to her waist, no makeup, the long-sleeved blouse and ankle-length denim skirt paired with hiking boots underneath.
“Why did you want to meet?”
“It’s almost your birthday,” Delilah said quietly, then waited for a reaction.
Mary hung her head, nodded. “Yes, sweet sixteen and all that.” The sarcasm was unmistakable. But it gave Delilah hope.
“I found your doll.” She reached into her backpack, handed her the plastic bag.
Mary took it, crossed her arms over it. “He burned her, said it was time to grow up.” Her voice dropped to a desperate whisper. “But I don’t want to get married. I want to go to college and live somewhere besides the camper. But Papa won’t listen.”
“That’s why I’m here. I’ve come to take you away.”
Mary froze. “To live with you?” The hope in her voice was unmistakable.
“Yes. I’m working on a research project with the monkeys, and you can help me. But we have to go now, tonight.”
Worry filled Mary’s face. “Now? But what about Mama?”
What will Papa do to her if I disappear? She didn’t say the words aloud, but Delilah heard them anyway. Guilt clamped her heart like a vise, and she wanted to rail against the terrible choice Mary faced. It was the same one Delilah had faced eight years ago.
Tonight, she could save Mary or protect Mama from John Henry’s fury. She couldn’t do both, and the knowledge tore at her. She gripped Mary’s trembling shoulders, anger at her father burning her from the inside out. Nobody should have to make choices like this.
“We’ll get a message to her so she knows you’re safe.” That wasn’t what Mary meant, but it was all she could offer. “But we have to go right now.”
“I-I don’t know if I can—”
Gunfire shattered the night.
Mary glanced over her shoulder, eyes wild with fear.
Delilah reached for her. “Come with me.”
“I can’t just leave Mama.” Mary slipped through her grasp and disappeared into the woods.
Delilah didn’t give the shooter a single thought. She raced after her sister.
* * *
Josh had been wandering in ever-widening circles for hours, using his night-vision goggles to locate trail cameras in the area. If they could track down the owners and get a look at the SD cards, they might show someone coming or going around the time of the hunter’s death. After he texted Hunter that he was calling it a night, he decided to swing by Delilah’s camper. He’d had plenty of time to think, and every cop instinct he possessed said she hadn’t killed anyone. Or spread honey to lure a bear.
But that was where his certainty ended. Though she denied a connection to the dead hunter, there was still something off about her response. Same with her reaction to the Atwoods, whom she’d claimed were friends.
Still, he had a need to see her, make sure she was okay. Finding a dead body rattled a person, no matter who you were. Hopefully, they could get past whatever had spooked her and made her shut him out. He wanted things to go back to the easy, flirty way they were before. He missed their spirited conversations, the way her eyes lit up when she saw him, and the low, husky laugh that made him say ridiculous things just so he could hear it again.
And from a purely practical stance, he wanted to make sure no one was hanging around her camper who didn’t belong. Her remote spot and dark-green paint hadn’t escaped his notice. He just wasn’t sure if that was to keep her safely inside or to keep other people out.
As he reached her campsite, he watched her leave, flashlight in hand, but it wasn’t turned on. All his senses went on alert. Where was she going?
He followed her deeper and deeper into the forest. She stopped every so often to turn the flashlight on, scan the area, then turn it back off. She was obviously looking for something.
When she finally stopped and sat down on a rock, he positioned himself behind a tree so he could keep an eye on her and the small clearing around her.
Mosquitoes buzzed around his head, and sweat trickled down his back by the time a young woman stepped out of the shadows.
The teen was wearing the long skirt and boots typical of the ultraconservative, fundamentalist families who lived here in the forest. When she launched herself at Delilah, he was shocked. Who was she? And how did Delilah know her?
Before he could make sense of that, rifle fire erupted, and the dirt at their feet exploded. The young woman disappeared, Delilah hot on her heels.
Josh took off after them, gun at the ready.
* * *
Delilah raced after Mary, ignoring the gunshots spitting sand up at her. She’d pulled her weapon from her waistband, but she didn’t fire, wouldn’t risk hitting Mary by mistake. She just had to find her, fast.
If Mary disappeared now, Delilah might never see her again. Her family would disappear, and their like-minded friends would make sure no one could find them. She couldn’t bear the idea of her sister going through what she had.
She ran despite the bullets that just kept coming. Some part of her brain was surprised she wasn’t down on the ground, bleeding, but whoever it was knew exactly where they were placing those shots. They were trying to keep her away, not kill her.
The moon slid behind some clouds, and Delilah momentarily lost sight of her sister. One minute, Mary was ahead of her, and the next, she’d disappeared.
Delilah ran farther, heart pounding, until the gunshots stopped and the silence told her Mary was gone. Panting, defeated, she collapsed against a live oak tree and slid down to the ground. Bark scraped her back, but she didn’t notice. “Oh God. Mary.”
She’d hoped once her sister knew she’d come to rescue her, she’d meekly follow and they’d get the heck out of Dodge. Easy-peasy. She snorted at her own naïveté. What had made perfect sense in her Tallahassee apartment she now saw for the same childlike thinking that had gotten her trapped eight years ago.
Frustrated, she climbed to her feet. She wasn’t that scared girl anymore, but she understood Mary’s thinking. Her sister had no doubt been rigorously indoctrinated into the importance of family and sticking together against the outside world. Her reaction tonight said she’d also seen enough to want to protect Mama.
But given the gunshots, Mary’s cooperation was only part of the equation. Either Aaron or John Henry obviously didn’t want her to leave. They didn’t go to that much trouble for a “mere woman” without good reason.
Which meant she not only had to find them, she had to find out exactly what they were planning so she could use that as leverage, too.
* * *
When Delilah stopped behind a tree, Josh deliberately made noise as he approached so as not to startle her. He was shocked to his toes when she stepped into view, Glock held in front of her, hands rock steady on the grip, eyes hard. “Hands up and move closer so I can see you,” she ordered.
He froze, stunned. Her confidence hit him square in the gut and made the attraction he felt for her burn even hotter. Damn, she looked good like that.
“It’s Josh Tanner, Fish and Wildlife. Please put down the gun, Delilah, for my safety and yours.”
Through his night-vision goggles, he saw her eyes narrow in surprise and suspicion, but she immediately holstered the gun.
He stepped into the small clearing, hands on his utility belt, in reach of his own weapon.
She gave his uniform a quick once-over, then fisted both hands on her hips. “What are you doing here?”
“I was going to ask you the same question,” he responded, her attitude fueling his own. He pulled off his goggles. “Why are you sneaking around out here in the middle of the night?”
She huffed out a breath. “Seriously? Since when can’t people go outside at night without being interrogated by Fish and Wildlife?”
He almost laughed at her belligerent tone. Almost. But then he noticed the pain shadowing her features. He softened his voice. “Who were you meeting with?”
Her chin came up, lips pursed. “I’m not sure that’s any of your concern.”
She was dressed in black from head to toe, the fabric of her T-shirt clinging to her curves, her hands propped on a utility belt that looked a lot like his own. He’d thought her beautiful when she was sipping coffee. But whoever the girl was, she’d sent Delilah into full-on protective mode, reminding him of Xena, the warrior princess. He felt the jolt all the way to his toes.
He took a step closer, and she stilled. When he reached out and plucked a leaf from her hair, she captured his wrist, questions swirling in her huge blue eyes. Seconds ticked by as they watched each other, her mix of strength and vulnerability drawing him closer. He ran his thumb along her jaw, and her grip on his arm tightened. He studied her lips, lush and full, and the urge to taste had him inclining his head. Inches before their mouths touched, their eyes met, held. She blinked, effectively breaking the spell as she eased out of reach.
He shook his head to clear his muddled thoughts. Focus, Tanner. “Who was the girl?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him steadily. “And if I said, again, that it was none of your business?”
“I would say I was making it my business, since you are considered a person of interest in a recent death here in the forest.”
Her eyes narrowed right before she huffed out a laugh and called his bluff. “Seriously? You and your FWC buddies have declared me a person of interest because some poor hunter got killed by a bear?”
Josh had to tread lightly. He couldn’t discuss an active investigation, but that death scene wasn’t right, which was why he was out here in the middle of the night to begin with.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t like being backed into a corner, Officer Tanner.”
She scanned the forest as though looking for answers, and he wondered again where her obvious distrust of law enforcement came from. Finally, she turned and glanced at him over her shoulder. Moonlight slid over her short dark hair and left her eyes in shadow. Tension vibrated off her in waves. “Her name is Mary.”
Josh propped his fists on his hips. “Are you going to make me drag this information out of you one word at a time?”
“Never answer a question you haven’t been asked. And never offer more information than what is required.” She tossed the words out in a way that made Josh think they had been drilled into her from childhood.
He pulled back his irritation. There was something else at play here, something that clearly worried her. “I am not your enemy, Delilah. But I do need answers.” He paused. “How about a last name, if that won’t offend your sensibilities too much?”
He watched one side of her mouth kick up in a half smile. Then she sighed. “Atwood.”
“Any relation to John Henry Atwood?”
She looked away. “She’s his daughter.”
His mind spun as everything he knew about the Atwoods raced through his mind. “How do you know her? There’s quite an age gap between you two.”
The silence went on so long, he thought she wouldn’t answer. Finally, she seemed to come to some decision and let out a breath. The eyes that met his held challenge. “She’s my sister.”
The word hit Josh like a slap. Delilah was John Henry Atwood’s daughter? He searched his memory and found no mention of her anywhere. How had they managed to hide a daughter? Of course, he was gone for a few years after college, flying for a small commuter airline in Alabama. And given the way the Atwoods kept to themselves and avoided law enforcement and local government officials, it wasn’t really surprising. Especially since they moved their campsite regularly. The sheriff’s office and the Ocala FWC squad kept an eye on all the militia and survivalist types who lived in the area, but they usually went no further than that. Not without good reason.
He studied the woman in front of him, trying to reconcile all the bits and pieces that were Delilah Atwood. There were far too many gaps for him to see her clearly. But by the light of the moon shining down on the clearing, two things became abundantly clear. Delilah Atwood was not only worried; she was spitting mad.
“Do you know who was shooting at you?”
“Not definitively, no. Though I have a couple guesses.” Flames practically shot from her eyes.
Josh suddenly realized the shooter had taken great care not to hit either woman. “John Henry or Aaron?”
She spared him a glance before she spun on her heel and walked toward the edge of the clearing.
Josh hurried after her as she melted into the forest. She retraced her steps to where she and her sister had been talking and scooped up a cell phone and a plastic bag with what looked like a bundle of fabric inside it.
“Talk to me, Delilah. Please. Let me help.”
She stopped and stared at him. By the light of the moon, he saw myriad emotions cross her face. Besides the anger, he caught a flash of longing, layered with worry and a plea for understanding, all swirling in her big blue eyes. But then she looked away and clenched her jaw as though holding words back. “I appreciate that, but you can’t. This is a family matter, something I have to deal with myself.” She squared her shoulders and set off again.
He easily caught up to her and matched his steps to hers. “You don’t have to say a word to me if you don’t want to, but if you’re heading back toward your camper”—he hitched a thumb over his shoulder—“you’re heading in the wrong direction.”
* * *
Delilah glanced up to see Josh grinning at her in the moonlight. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him and laugh at his absolute audacity. And the other part wanted to shove him away with both hands because he kept turning up, kept looking at her like he wanted to kiss her senseless, and seemed completely impervious to all her attempts to push him away. “Since you’re about as hard to get rid of as a deer tick, you might as well lead the way. The faster we get there, the faster I’ll be rid of you.” She couldn’t help smiling as she said it.
But then her smile faded. Delilah was discovering that under Josh’s laid-back exterior and sexy grin, he had a stubborn streak.
And therein lay the danger. No matter how affable he seemed, he was still FWC. She’d been a fool to tell him as much as she had. She couldn’t risk him or anyone else digging around in her family’s business. Not before she had Mary with her. If they connected the Atwoods to the guns she’d seen and started making arrests… No. She couldn’t allow that. No matter how tempted she was to explore the heat that flared whenever she was around Josh, she had to keep him at arm’s length.
Her focus had to stay on Mary.
* * *
Josh considered Delilah’s acquiescence a small victory. He threw his left arm out with an “after you” motion and then put a casual hand at the small of her back. He expected her to step away, but eventually, she loosened up enough that they walked in companionable silence.
Questions crowded his tongue. He wanted to know why she was meeting her sister alone in the forest at night, why he’d never heard of another Atwood daughter, why she called herself Delilah Paige, why shadows crossed her eyes when she didn’t think anyone was looking. The sadness especially called to him, something they had in common, and he wanted to know its cause.
But the woman wore her secrets like a winter coat. What was she hiding? He had to assume part of it was being raised under John Henry’s iron control and mistrust of law enforcement, but what was the rest? Why had John Henry or Aaron been trying to scare the two women?
By the time her small camper came into view, Josh hadn’t voiced a single one of his questions. The fact that she’d allowed him to walk her home seemed a major victory. If he pushed hard right now, he had no doubt that the next time he came by, her camper would have disappeared.
He walked her to the rickety steps that led inside.
She paused, hand on the door latch. “I know you want to help, and I appreciate it, but what you saw tonight has nothing to do with the dead man I found in the forest. I can’t help your investigation.”
He studied her. Interesting. Who was she protecting? Her sister?
“Thank you for walking me home, Officer Tanner.”
The blatant attempt to keep distance between them made him grin. He picked up one of her hands and raised it to his lips, watching her eyes widen. “When I’m with you, I’m just Josh, okay?”
Their eyes met and held, attraction sizzling like a live wire, pulling them closer. She looked down at his thumb rubbing the back of her hand, then met his eyes and tightened her grip. She took a step toward him, their chests a hairsbreadth from touching. “Can you separate the two?” Her voice was low, husky.
He swallowed hard, then opened his mouth to insist that of course he could, but the lie wouldn’t come. Josh the man and Josh the cop were one and the same. “I’ll do my very best.” He deliberately stepped back before he blurred the lines even further. “Lock up behind me, Delilah,” he said and walked back into the forest.