How is she?”
Cruz craned his neck to look out the window. “Physically? She’s a trooper. Arm’s in a sling for a few days but she insisted on starting with Atlas at oh-five-hundred this morning.”
That despite his assurance to her that it was completely fine for her to have started later. She’d mentioned she might be late, damn it. She should have taken the time for herself.
“That so?” Beckhorn’s voice held equal parts surprise and admiration. Cruz shared it. “How’s Atlas doing?”
“He’s acknowledging her existence.” And didn’t that chafe his ass just a little bit. “She’s out walking the perimeter with him now.”
Speaking of, the pair came into view finally, far out across the grounds. Atlas kept pace with Lyn’s short stride, adjusting to her changes in speed and coming to heel when she paused to check out flowers or whatever.
Dog still maintained an air of disinterest, but he was out there with her and not laying on his belly in the kennel.
“So he’s making progress.” Beckhorn pressed for more.
“Baby steps, my friend.” Cruz chuckled. “Don’t go reporting him as recovered any time soon.”
“This mean you don’t want me to keep digging into who sent her?”
Cruz leaned back in his chair, considering. Her fear had been real the night before. Terror, really. “She was damned shaken up last night. Take a look at the debrief I sent you, off the record. Someone was looking for info she didn’t know she had. Or maybe she didn’t have it yet.”
“She’s a liability.” His friend made a grim noise.
“I had her check out of the hotel and gave her a place to stay here where I can keep an eye on her.” He didn’t entirely trust her yet but he was sure she hadn’t been faking anything the evening before. Her reactions had been genuine.
“You’re going to keep her around?” Beckhorn whistled, low and long. “Is she that hot?”
“It’s not about that and you know better.” Of course, Lyn chose to bend over right about then, checking out a pretty wildflower or weed or something, and he got a faraway view of her shapely rear.
Okay, she was hot.
But he wouldn’t keep a liability around just for that. He had Atlas in mind.
“Yeah, yeah,” Beckhorn continued, oblivious of the view. “What’s the plan now?”
“We both know there was something to the way Calhoun died.” It was a big part of the reason Beckhorn had called Cruz so soon for Atlas. He’d needed someone he could trust to oversee the dog’s recovery before something unfortunate occurred. “Accidental friendly fire, my ass.”
“It’s the ‘accidental’ part in question. We both know it wasn’t friendly even if the round did come from one of ours.” Beckhorn’s tone went flat. “What we need to do is both prove it and find out why. Calhoun reached out to you just before he died and whatever drunk text he sent you pointed to Atlas.”
“At the time, the message hadn’t made any sense so I assumed it was a drunk text.” Cruz swallowed hard on the guilt and self-recrimination there. Not sure what he could’ve done from across a damned ocean but he still felt he should’ve realized something was wrong and helped his friend stay alive.
“It still doesn’t make any sense.” A string of curses followed. “Look. No ripping ourselves up for what we would’ve, should’ve, could’ve. We do the right thing now.”
“Yeah.” Cruz nodded even if Beckhorn couldn’t see.
Lyn resumed her stroll and Atlas took up position by her side. Dog might play like he wasn’t interested in the woman but he was engaged and Cruz would take whatever help there was to be had.
Of course, he might have more in common with the dog than he’d prefer to admit.
Last night, she’d suffered a bad scare. Things could have been far worse if he hadn’t shown up when he did. He’d been ready to rip her a new one when he’d come to her door, ajar only because her phone had landed in the entryway. It’d taken seconds to change gears from being angry with her to charging in to help her.
He’d have still gotten through, but it would’ve taken longer for him to realize what was going on and to break down the door. She’d been very lucky.
In those moments, he’d become someone else. The man he used to be. The stranger he’d locked down after he’d returned from deployment. When he’d heard her in danger, he’d gladly embraced the old rage and the cold calm to rush the door. Eliminate the threats.
“You still there, man?” Beckhorn brought him back.
A cold chill passed through Cruz as he realized he’d come to his feet. Maybe he hadn’t completely put the other him to rest yet, but it’d take some time to ease back and he hadn’t been all too relaxed as it was. It’d been why he’d come to spend time at Hope’s Crossing. “Yeah. Here.”
Now. Just a minute ago? Not so much. Seemed like Miss Evelyn Jones had a way of pushing all sorts of buttons with him without even trying to.
“You wanna share what you’re thinking? I can almost hear the gears turning in your head.”
Way across the field, Lyn had come to a halt. It was Atlas’s posture that got Cruz moving. “I’m going to have to call you back.”
* * *
Atlas noticed the stranger first. Lyn thought it might be one of the other trainers, but in seconds it was clear he wasn’t. She’d met both through the course of the day and neither of them had the same build or stance. Dressed casual in dark jeans and button-up shirt, the stranger came through a thick grouping of trees out of nowhere. He caught sight of her and grinned. She recognized it. Oh God, she’d recognize that grin anywhere.
Fear rushed through her and she stumbled back a step, instinctively bringing her hands up to ward off the stranger without thinking.
A deep growl broke through her shock and Atlas surged forward, ripping the leash off her wrist before she could close her hand securely back around the leather.
“Atlas!” Oh no, no. She couldn’t leave him, wouldn’t. Last night, the intruders didn’t seem to have any weapons on them, but this man might.
But he blanched white at the sight of the oncoming dog. He backpedaled a few steps and then turned and ran straight back through the copse of trees.
Atlas plunged through after him.
Lyn ran after them both.
“Are you crazy?” The bellow came from behind her but Lyn ignored David and kept going. His angry shout was gaining on her. “Stop! I got this.”
Reckless, more afraid for Atlas than anything, Lyn sprinted through the trees and came out in another field. The stranger lay on his back, yelling in pain with Atlas over him. He’d only made it halfway to the fence.
“Los! Los!” David caught up and passed her by. “Los!”
Atlas didn’t let up.
“I’m just lost! I came in here by accident!” The man was shouting.
David let loose a curse and turned to her. “Lyn, come here.”
Her heart in her throat, she ran to his side. She should say something, tell Cruz who the man was.
The man’s screaming became shriller and words scattered from her mind.
“Here, focus here.” David’s words cut across the awful sound. “You can do this. Go to Atlas, grab his collar, tell him ‘Los.’”
“What? I…”
He grabbed her good arm and gave her a light shake. “Quick. Before he gets through this guy’s guard. Atlas can and will kill. You need to do this.”
His gaze caught her, steel blue and hard. Not cold. Urgent.
She nodded.
He let her go then and she stumbled toward Atlas. She needed to get to him before he killed this man.
“Not on his left, go to his right.”
Obeying David’s instructions, she changed the direction of her approach.
Atlas was so fast, he was a blur. He had the man’s forearm between his teeth and was shaking his head back and forth. As she hesitated, there was a sickening crack.
“Los!” The word fell out of her mouth as she lunged forward and grabbed for Atlas’s collar. “Los, Atlas, los!”
Atlas released his hold and she dragged him back as the man crab-walked away from them on one good arm. David was on him in a split second.
“I’m going to sue! You’re all crazy here! I’m going to sue!” The man babbled as David hauled him to his feet.
He was covered in blood and his arm hung at an awkward angle.
Lyn swallowed back bile and knelt down next to Atlas, keeping a firm hold on his collar. She couldn’t stop shaking. “Good boy, Atlas. Good boy.”
Atlas’s attention was on the man and he whined with eagerness but stayed with her.
“Lyn.” David sounded calm, completely ignoring the threats of the injured man. “Take Atlas back to the kennel and check him over.”
“What about…”
“Police are en route. The silent alarm went off when he broke the perimeter. I’ll wait here for them; you take Atlas back. Go around the trees so I have you two in my line of sight.”
That, she could do. The farther away she could get from the man, the better. “Okay.”
She fumbled for Atlas’s leash with her bad arm, ignoring the ache in her shoulder. Didn’t want to chance letting go of his collar until she had the leash in hand. When she stood, she had to tug twice for Atlas to come with her, but he did.
They made it a couple of yards before she noticed Atlas was walking funny. She turned to look him over, bending to run her hands over his chest and shoulder.
“Oh no.” She’d thought the blood splashed across his chest belonged to the man. But as she ran her hands through his fur, her fingers found a gouge in his flesh.
Sirens approached in the distance and two men came running from the main building. David’s partners.
“What happened?” Forte skidded to a stop next to her and Atlas gave a warning growl. Rojas continued on past, toward David and the intruder.
“Easy,” she murmured to Atlas. Not good if he went for one of the trainers. Not good. They needed them. “He needs help. He dove through the trees over there and must’ve gotten torn up on his way through.”
“Seriously?” Forte started to kneel but halted and straightened as he took in the dog’s posture. “Okay, Lyn, he’s not going to make this easy. I need to talk you through this.”
“What do I need to do?” Too much time was passing and Atlas was hurt.
“Kneel down and get your arms around him. Don’t lift him. Don’t hurt yourself. Just hold him. Talk to him. Let him know it’s okay for me to take him from you. If you don’t, he’s not going to let me touch him.”
It wasn’t what she’d been expecting. But she didn’t waste time waiting for an explanation. She squatted in the grass next to Atlas, murmuring soothing nonsense phrases as she did. His growl quieted but he didn’t take his gaze off Forte. Copying what David had done the day before, she wrapped her arms around Atlas’s chest and hindquarters. Her shoulder ached but she ignored it. Instead, she kept talking to Atlas, coaxing him to calm and listen to her.
When his posture relaxed, Forte kneeled next to them both, nice and slow.
“It’s okay. He’s going to help.” She kissed Atlas’s head, whispered against his fur. “Good boy. Good boy.”
It wasn’t what the dog was used to hearing, but his ears turned back in her direction. He was listening.
Forte got his arms around Atlas, keeping up a steady soothing monologue of his own. The dog remained still with the handoff, heavy panting the only sign of his distress.
“Let’s get him to the main building. We’ve got a triage room.” Forte’s words were grim. “Grab the phone out of my back pocket. Vet’s on speed dial.”
Embarrassed, Lyn fumbled at his backside as he strode across the field. “Which…?”
“Left cheek, my friend. We’re friends now, right?”
A laugh slipped out before she had too much time to think. One more fumble and unintentional grope and she had the phone. It was easy to find the vet on speed dial. She was in the top five favorites on the front screen and labeled as “Vet.”
Easiest thing to do in the last twenty-four hours.
* * *
Cruz strode through the doors of the triage room they kept on site. Atlas lay on the table and Doc Medicci was shaving away the fur around a nasty slice across his shoulder.
Forte stood by, helping with the now calm dog.
And there was Lyn.
He zeroed in on her. “Is any of that blood yours?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her gaze locked on Atlas. “He went right through the trees and must’ve tore himself up on a branch. It didn’t even slow him down.”
“It’s not the first time we’ve seen something like this.” He was concerned. Of course he was. But the intensity and prey drive these dogs had resulted in accidents like these in the past. In this case, Atlas had moved to protect Lyn.
Currently, Cruz was fairly overwhelmed with the need to take care of her himself.
“Relatively superficial this time.” Medicci didn’t even glance up from her work. “I’m not finding any other damage. I’m going to put on a dissolving suture. Keep it clean and restrict him to light exercise until it heals. If it gets red or irritated, call me.”
In short order, Atlas was back on his feet.
“Go get cleaned up, Lyn. He’s fine now and you’re swaying on your feet.” Forte’s tone was gentle, not angry.
Cruz caught Forte’s attention and his friend gave him a brief nod.
“Let’s go.” Cruz reached out for Lyn and herded her toward the door, careful not to touch her.
Did she realize she was shaking?
“The man. He was the same from yesterday.” Lyn’s voice trembled. She took a breath and the rest came out in a rush. Atlas padded over and leaned against her leg. “He had a ski mask on but I recognized his grin. The way he looked at me. It was the same guy, I swear.”
Cruz clenched his teeth against the wave of anger as it washed through him. He sucked in cooler air as he struggled to rein in his temper. He hadn’t recognized the man, possibly because the man’s expressions through the ski mask the night before and the grimace of pain he wore today when Cruz had gotten a good look at him were vastly different. But he could understand why Lyn had recognized the grin. And he wanted to wipe the guy from the face of the earth for putting that kind of fear into her with just one expression.
“I’ll update the police.” Forte’s cool helped anchor him. “You go on and wash up or Sophie will have all our heads for not showing up to dinner.”
His heartbeat pounded in his ears, but he focused on Lyn. “They’ll handle it for now. Let me take care of you.”
Not going to think about his words too much. It was what he meant, so he said it.
The cabin he’d put her in late last night wasn’t far. Its proximity to the main building and kennels was the reason he’d given it to her in the first place.
When she fumbled at her pockets for the key, he reached up behind the lamp fixture high above the door and pulled out the spare. Once he had the door open, he kept an eye on Atlas. The dog didn’t signal that he detected any humans.
In fact, Atlas had simply walked along with Lyn calm as you please, as if he hadn’t broken training and gone after a man not so long ago.
They entered the cabin and he flipped on the light, then nudged her toward the kitchen.
Once he had her there, he turned on the brighter kitchen lighting and turned to her. “Let me get a look at your wrist.”
She held both hands out to him, palms up.
“Don’t strain your shoulder.” He tucked her left arm back in its sling. As gently as he could, he touched the angry red abrasion around her right wrist.
“He didn’t mean to do it.”
“He had other things on his mind.” Cruz agreed. She must’ve tried to hold Atlas when the dog had lunged after the intruder. Atlas had literally ripped the leash off her wrist. “Any sharp pain when I do this?”
He bent her hand at the wrist, carefully testing the range of motion.
She shook her head. “I don’t think anything is broken. Only lost a couple of layers of skin is all.”
“Well, let’s make sure it heals up quickly.” He put a hand on either side of her waist and hoisted her up—hiding a grin as she squeaked—and sat her on the kitchen counter. First of all, he liked her sound effects. Wondered what others she might have. Second, she didn’t flinch at his touch. A good sign she was recovering from the previous night’s scare even better than she might notice herself.
Atlas gave a short bark.
“Af.” Cruz watched as the dog’s ears came forward, considering. Then he lay down on his belly, head up, watching.
Dog definitely had a thing for Miss Lyn Jones. And wow had Atlas woken up. The difference between yesterday and right now was night and day.
Cruz shook his head.
“I’m sorry.” Lyn shifted on the counter.
“No. Not you.” He turned and pulled a go bag from under the sink. A quick rummage inside and he pulled out one of his personal med kits.
“What is that? How do you know where things are?” Lyn craned her neck to see around him. “Is every cabin stocked like this?”
“No.” Setting the kit on the counter beside her, he opened it up and pulled out a few supplies.
“Then how do you know where everything is?”
“This was my cabin.”
She paused. “Oh, um.”
He waved a hand toward the rest of the cabin. “It was more secure, so I put you here and I moved out to the guest cabin closer to the edge of the property.”
“But you had to move all your stuff?” She sounded uncomfortable.
“Not really. I don’t keep much aside from essentials.” He realized he was starting to scowl, but it wasn’t because she was making him angry. Why was it that the woman could be attacked twice in less than twenty-four hours, hurt both times, and worried about him having to move his stuff? “It really is okay. I prefer to be farther away from the main house anyway. Too many guests on the property once the basic obedience classes get started.”
“Okay.” She was chewing on her lower lip, still concerned.
Saying more would only make her think on it harder so he decided to drop the topic. Nice to know she did care about putting others out of their way. He’d have done it regardless, all things considered. But it made it better to not be taken for granted.
“We’re going to clean your wrist and get the blood flowing a little. Then I’ll get some antibiotic ointment on it.”
She didn’t comment. Her dubious frown made him smile though.
“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”
“You’re not going to tell me it’s not going to hurt, are you?” She narrowed her eyes.
He shrugged. “It’s not gonna tickle exactly.”
“Joyful.” She held out her wrist to him.
It took less time to clean her wrist under cool running water in the sink than it had to patch up Atlas. Her skin was delicate, smooth and silken to touch. If her wrist was this soft, he couldn’t help but wonder about other, more tender places.
Nope. Keep on task, he ordered himself. He patted the area dry and spread the antibiotic cream over the abrasion as gently as he could.
“For such big hands, you’ve got a really light touch.” Her words were slurred a little. She must’ve been coming down off the adrenaline kick. Considering last night and today, she had to be exhausted.
“Yeah?” He wrapped sterile gauze around her slender wrist, mostly to remind her not to bump it into things.
“Your fingertips are calloused, a lil’ rough.”
That didn’t sound like a compliment. “Sorry.”
“No, I like it. It feels kinda good on my skin.”
Her heart rate had picked up, fluttering at the pulse point under his touch.
“Yeah?” The urge to slide has hands over more delicate areas increased and he couldn’t help running his thumb along the inside of her arm.
Awareness grew in her gaze and she bit her lip as she nodded.
He leaned toward her, focused on her plump lip caught under her teeth.
“What else do you like?”
She opened her mouth to answer but he didn’t plan to let her get a word out. Maybe later. He bent his head to capture her lips.
And seventy-five pounds of fur jumped up on his side.
“The hell?”
Lyn gasped. “Atlas!”
“Af.” Mindful of the dog’s injury, Cruz gave Atlas a gentle shove.
The dog dropped back to all fours, his tongue lolling. Looking from him to Lyn and back again, Atlas lay back down on his belly.
Jealous. Damn dog was jealous.