A desperate search through Alaska leads to danger—and undeniable passion!

Bounty hunter Chase McKinley will do anything to locate his missing brother—even kidnap the man’s girlfriend. But Haley Adams has no leads on her ex…other than a mysterious package that brings murder in its wake. Handcuffed to the sexy tracker, she’s stunned when her outrage turns to attraction…

With only an Alaska postmark, Chase follows the trail—with Haley. He put her in danger; only he can protect her. But who’ll protect him from the woman he desires and can never have? With every step, they get closer to his brother…and to a killer who sets the perfect trap—with them as bait.

“Touch me. Please.”

She pressed his hands to her and Chase ignited. If he didn’t stop now, there would be no stopping. And he had to.

“I can’t do this, Haley. Not when you belong to someone else.”

He saw the wounded expression in her eyes. “It’s not me your brother owns. It’s you, Chase.”

It didn’t make sense. No one owned him.

“Haley—”

“Just go back to your room.”

He did as she asked. But he didn’t sleep. He had to admit snatching Haley without any authority and forcing her to go with him to find his missing brother had been reckless.

Now it was too late. As long as there was any risk to her, he had to remain at her side. Which was a big problem when she was a walking temptation. And now it looked as if she was also attracted to him.

So, what the hell were they going to do about it?

***

Dear Reader,

Have you ever heard of Svalbard? I hadn’t either until a few years ago when I learned it’s an archipelago halfway between Norway and the North Pole. There, on an uninhabited island, is located what may well be mankind’s most important structure—a state-of-the-art storage facility built inside a frozen mountain. To store what? Seeds. Millions of varieties of seeds collected from around the world. If a monumental disaster, natural or man-made, should ever occur to our crops, here are preserved in this Global Seed Vault the seeds to begin anew.

The more I read about Svalbard, the more intrigued I became. Those who have read my romantic suspense books know that I like to build my stories around unique subjects. The Bounty Hunter’s Forbidden Desire is one of those stories. It concerns a man and a woman who race to save an international seed vault threatened with destruction by a megalomaniac—a seed vault that in my novel is situated in Alaska, not Norway. As fast-paced as the plot is, this is not its major theme. That deals with a guilt-ridden hero searching for his missing brother and the romance that was never supposed to happen. Here’s a hint before you take this journey with Haley and Chase. You won’t need a dogsled. It can be quite warm in Alaska in the summer. And with Haley and Chase heating up the environment…well, you get the idea.

Jean Thomas

The Bounty Hunter’s Forbidden Desire

Jean Thomas

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Jean Thomas, aka Jean Barrett, lives in Wisconsin in an English-style cottage on a Lake Michigan shore bluff. The view from her office window would be a magnificent one if it weren’t blocked by a big fat computer that keeps demanding her attention.

This author of twenty-six romances was a teacher before she left the classroom to write full-time. A longtime member of Romance Writers of America, Jean is a proud winner of three national awards and has appeared on several bestseller lists. When she isn’t at the keyboard, she likes to take long walks that churn up new story ideas or work in the garden, which never seems to churn up anything but dirt. Of course, there are always books to be read. Romantic suspense stories are her favorite. No surprise there. Visit Jean at jeanthomas-author.com.

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chase McKinley sat behind the wheel of his black SUV, watching the couple in the gray Chevy. The sedan was parked diagonally across the street from him, its position allowing him to observe the occupants without giving them a reason to be suspicious of his presence. In any case, they were too engrossed in what appeared to be an intense dialogue to be aware of him.

There was no way for Chase to hear what they were saying. Nor did he worry about that. What the woman looked like was his only real concern at the moment. At this angle, and with the width of the street between them, that was hard to tell.

The PI whom Chase regularly used had emailed a photo of the brunette, but it had been a blurry, disappointing result. Far more interesting was the investigator’s description in his report. He’d referred to her simply as “a hot number.” An exaggeration? Maybe. Chase looked forward to finding out.

The Chevy’s front passenger door opened. A pair of long, shapely legs swung into view. They were followed by the rest of the woman who owned them. Chase sucked in a lungful of air. Holy crap! The PI had been right on target. Haley Adams was one dark-haired, gorgeous filly.

She was joined by the guy behind the wheel of the Chevy, who had rounded the rear of the car to meet her. Chase couldn’t say much for her taste in men. Not bad looking, he supposed, but too ordinary to make any impression. And with an extraordinary-looking woman like her, he would have expected something more.

Whoever he was, he had his hand on her arm, prepared to escort her across the street to her door. The place was one of those row house affairs, nothing to distinguish it from its adjoining neighbors. Like the homes above it on the ridge, it looked down on the valley where Portland’s downtown high-rises were packed along the Willamette River rimmed with cargo ships at anchor.

Chase cared about neither the boats nor the office towers. His only focus was Haley Adams and the guy close at her side, who, now that he had a better view of him, wore an unhappy expression on his narrow face. Chase got a look at their parting at her front door. Enough of it, anyway, to tell it involved an embrace. A spiky evergreen blocked the rest of it. Damn shrubs grew like weeds here in the Pacific Northwest.

Chase was willing to bet, though, the embrace ended in a kiss of the passionate variety. Who’d part from a woman like her without one? After his farewell, the guy retreated to his sedan and drove off down the street.

Chase didn’t wait until he was out of sight to emerge from his SUV, race to Haley Adams’ door and ring her bell. He was counting on her thinking her anxious boyfriend had returned. He’d used this kind of tactic before with success, and it didn’t fail him this time.

Her wide blue eyes registered a concerned surprise when she opened the door to find a strange man on her doorstep. Chase had his foot in the opening before she could close the door on him.

* * *

Haley realized at once that she’d made two careless mistakes. She had failed to secure the chain on the door behind Bill Farley’s departure, and she neglected to check the peephole before opening the door. Not that the neighborhood—or Portland in general—had a reputation for crime. But still...

Make that three mistakes. Bill had left in such a state that she’d assumed he was back for a last session of pleading. Wrong.

“If you’re selling,” she brusquely informed the rangy figure, “I’m not interested. And if you’re collecting for a charity, I prefer to do that by mail. Now if you’ll take your foot out of my door...”

“I’m not selling or collecting.”

No, she decided, he didn’t look the type. Too tough for anything like that. More like a longshoreman. He still hadn’t removed his foot. He was making her uneasy. Did she have something to worry about here?

“Look, whoever and whatever you are, you have no right to push in here like this. I’m going to ask you again to take your foot out of my door so I can close it after you. Because if you don’t go away, I’m going to call the police.”

“You do that. I may need them here to conduct my business with you.”

“I think you’ve made some kind of mistake.”

“They all say that. You are Haley Adams, aren’t you?”

She was surprised he knew her name. “Yes, but I may very well not be the only one in a city this size.”

“Any other Haley Adams living at this address?”

“Of course not.”

“Then you’re the Haley Adams I want.”

“How do you know me and my name? And just what is this so-called business you’re supposed to have with me?”

“About time we got around to that.”

He moved the rest of the way into her foyer. Before she could tell him to leave the door open behind him, he’d nudged it shut with his elbow and was opening a folder tucked under his arm.

She didn’t like this. Didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t anything he might have in that folder that had her nervous. It was the presence of the man himself inside her house—when she hadn’t let him in. Why hadn’t she called the cops immediately? That tall, solid figure could be anything, anybody. Bad things happened to women in situations like this.

He must have understood she was concerned. “Relax,” he said, the timbre of his voice deep and husky, not at all conducive to relaxing. “If you don’t give me any trouble—and believe me, plenty of them try it—then you have nothing to worry about.”

Nothing to worry about? Give him any trouble? Who was he? What was this all about?

“Come on, Haley,” he said, “you shouldn’t need any explanations. You know what this is all about.” Did this guy read minds? “No? You want to play hardball, do you? Well, we can do that.”

He had an official-looking document inside the folder. He held it out to her. “This is your copy. Mine stays inside the folder.”

She hesitantly took it from him, looked down at it in her hand and scanned it in disbelief. It was a legal order for the apprehension of Haley Adams, residing at this address, who had failed to appear in court on the scheduled date of her arraignment and was therefore in violation of her bail bond. She looked up at him in bewilderment. He nodded solemnly.

“I need to bring you in, Haley. Afraid that’s my job. Says so right here. See?”

He’d produced a wallet from the back pocket of his jeans, folded it back for her inspection and was now tapping at the identification it contained with his forefinger. “Chase McKinley,” he read, “licensed bond enforcer. That’s me.”

She looked at the ID, then at his square-jawed face. For a moment she had no reaction. Then she understood. “You’re a bounty hunter.”

“Well, that’s one term for it. There are others. Skip tracer. Fugitive apprehension agent. Take your pick.”

“You’re a bounty hunter,” she repeated, “and your name is Chase. I get it now. Chase, hunter.” She began to giggle. This was exactly the kind of prank her friend Kelly was forever pulling. Her giggle escalated into outright laughter.

She waited for him to grin, to snap a “gotcha” at her.

That didn’t happen. He wasn’t grinning. He was staring at her in mild astonishment. “I’ve got to hand it to you, lady,” he drawled. “I’ve seen all kinds of reactions when I show up, but you’re the first to try something like this. Have to warn you, though, it isn’t going to work. So why don’t you just stop stalling and come with me peacefully.”

He was serious. This was no joke. “There’s been some kind of mistake,” she insisted. “I haven’t committed any crime. And I certainly haven’t applied to any—any—”

“Bail bond agency,” he supplied for her.

“Yes, if that’s what it’s called to post bonds for people in order for them to keep out of jail while they wait to go to trial.”

“That’s what it’s called.”

“You have to believe me. This is all crazy.”

“No, Haley, I don’t have to believe anything you tell me. My only assignment is to bring you in. You got arguments, you save them for police headquarters.”

This man had no patience and no sympathy. If he’d ever had them, they had been drained out of him long ago. But there was someone who would listen to her, who would straighten out this whole absurd mess. She started to reach for her purse, but he anticipated her move. “Nuh-uh-uh,” he cautioned, snatching it away before she could claim it.

“But my cell phone is in there. I need to call my lawyer.”

“No phone calls until you’re booked down at the main station, and then you get to call your lawyer. That is, if you behave yourself. Meanwhile, I’ll take charge of your purse.”

What was going on?

* * *

Everyone knew Portland was famous as the City of Roses. But with all its bridges across the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, it could just as easily be the City of Bridges. Or, for that matter, Chase thought, the City of Fountains, since water attractions were everywhere in the parks and squares. It was a beautiful place.

Which should have been a reason for him not to be distracted by the woman beside him in the SUV. Trouble was, Haley Adams was a hell of a lot better looking than the gorgeous streets he was driving through. He couldn’t help casting glances in her direction, admiring that alluring body in the summer T-shirt and clinging jeans; the clear, ivory skin; and the deep blue eyes that, whenever they turned his way, unfortunately looked at him as though he were something that had slithered out of a hole.

Yeah, Chase could see why Josh had fallen so hard for this tempting package, but he wasn’t going to let himself be fooled by all the wrapping. She was plainly cheating on Josh in his absence with this other guy. That tight squeeze he’d witnessed at her door when they’d parted was evidence of that. His PI, too, had caught them in a couple of similar cozy sessions.

Bill Farley. That was the man’s name, and according to the investigator’s report, Farley was connected with some very questionable people. There was no proof Haley Adams was associated with the same crowd, but Chase wouldn’t be surprised to learn she was.

Josh will have my ass if he ever finds out I hired a PI to spy on his girlfriend, he thought. Tough, because right now she was his one and only link to Josh, and he wasn’t going to hesitate to use her.

Once the traffic thinned, sweet little Haley was bound to notice she wasn’t going where she thought she was. So far she hadn’t been particularly observant about their route. Too busy silently smoldering over her situation and the man who was responsible for it—him. But any minute now, her fuse was going to ignite.

A couple of blocks farther on, he sensed her sudden awareness. Here it comes, Chase thought, bracing for the blast.

“What are you doing! This isn’t the way to the main police station!”

“I know where I’m going,” he told her serenely.

“I’m telling you, this isn’t right! You’re going in the complete opposite direction!”

“Don’t think so.”

“But you’re wrong! Don’t you suppose I know my own city? Turn around,” she insisted, “and go back!”

Chase kept on driving.

“Why aren’t you listening to me? If you keep on going this way, we’ll be headed out of Portland!”

“That’s the general idea.”

Her gasp wasn’t a loud one, barely audible in fact, but it was sufficient enough to register her alarm. “Just where are you taking me?”

“Like I said, police headquarters.”

“That can’t be possible! You lied to me!”

“Oh, Haley, Haley, accusations like that hurt me. I wouldn’t lie to you. It’s not only possible, it’s true. If you’d taken the time to read the order for your apprehension carefully, you would have seen that is exactly where I’m taking you. Seattle Police Headquarters.”

“Seat— Are you out of your mind? Seattle is hours away!”

“Uh-huh. Well, there’s nothing unusual about that. You wouldn’t believe the considerable distances I’ve had to travel to haul FTAs back to the right places. Means ‘failed to appear,’ in case you’re wondering. Once I had to go all the way to Chicago. Man, was that guy a pain.”

“You still aren’t listening to me, are you? Why aren’t you listening? Why aren’t you understanding that if I didn’t break the law in Portland, I certainly didn’t break it in Seattle?”

“Take it easy, Haley. You go on like this and you’re apt to pop a blood vessel. And that couldn’t be good. How about some music? You want some music? Great way to relax.”

* * *

Useless, Haley finally decided. He wasn’t listening to her pleas and arguments. She was simply wearing herself out trying.

He was actually taking her to Seattle. Portland was already behind them. They were in Washington now, rolling north on Interstate 5. There were mountains and lush forests of hemlocks, firs and pines on either side of the highway. Far ahead, off to the right, it was possible to make out what was left of Mount Saint Helens after its famous volcanic explosion.

Magnificent, all of it. If you cared to gaze at it. Haley didn’t. She was too busy thinking what a nightmare she’d landed herself in when she had so innocently opened her front door to the man at her side. He was currently whistling under his breath to some old Frank Sinatra song on the radio. Casual as a barefoot boy headed down to the river to land himself a mess of fish.

Not a very sensible analogy, she told herself. Chase McKinley was a bounty hunter, wasn’t he? Something she only knew about from movies and television. What did that require? Probably all the qualities of a roughneck. Things like a well-built, long-limbed body, big hands made to deliver a punch, a deep, commanding voice. Yeah, he had all those and more. Rugged features, dark hair that could use both a trim and a comb. Even darker eyes that had the sexy—

Stop right there.

Whatever he was or wasn’t, she refused to permit herself to think of him in those terms.

But there was one thing...what? What was it that had been bothering her every time she glanced at him? A vague familiarity, wasn’t that it? Only that was nonsense. She couldn’t possibly have encountered him before. She would have remembered someone as distinctly different as he was.

None of this mattered, of course. Because familiar or otherwise, Haley had made up her mind. Whatever it took, she was getting away from Chase McKinley at the first opportunity.

Chapter 2

The more Haley thought about it, the more she was convinced there was something wrong about this whole thing. She knew she wasn’t guilty of any wrongdoing. Then why was she being made to go to Seattle, of all places?

An error of some kind. Had to be. So why not just go on to Seattle and straighten it all out? Why this resolve to give Chase McKinley the slip? It wasn’t because she was no longer afraid of him. And that was another puzzle. She should be terrified in a car with a strange man on the way to another state. Why wasn’t she more than just worried about being with him? She couldn’t figure that out, either.

Haley had only one certainty about this man. It would be a mistake to underestimate him. He wasn’t going to stand by and let her just walk away from him. He would take measures to prevent that. Did he have a gun? she wondered. He probably did and would use it if it became necessary.

Well, maybe he wouldn’t need a gun. Not with a woman. For a man of his size and strength, there were other easier ways to stop a woman from running.

Better not think about those, Haley, she instructed herself. They would just bring up unpleasant images. Things like physical overpowering. He didn’t seem violent or dangerous. Just determined to control his...what did he call them? FTAs. A polite term for fugitives.

Anyway, it didn’t pay to speculate about what might happen. All she could do was be ready to act whenever the chance to escape came her way.

That such an opportunity could actually occur was not very likely. Haley knew that, but she refused to surrender the possibility. Meanwhile, she kept as much space between her captor and her as the seats permitted, speaking to him only when he addressed her. She tried not to fret as the SUV ate up the miles, putting Portland farther behind her with every one of those dismal miles.

It was difficult, though, not to worry. She had a life, job commitments, friends who would wonder about her. What would they think, do when they couldn’t reach her? She would have to contact them somehow when she got the chance. Probably through her lawyer. Hadn’t Bounty Hunter here said she was entitled to a phone call when she was booked? After which she’d be slapped behind bars. Maddening, all of it. And for something she didn’t do—whatever it was.

Minutes later, Haley was shaken out of her reverie by his grumbled curse of displeasure. “Damn it all to hell, wouldn’t you just know it?”

This was the first time in over an hour he’d spoken to her. Only he hadn’t, really. His curse was directed elsewhere.

“What? What’s happened?”

He didn’t answer her. He didn’t need to. All she had to do was follow his gaze up the highway to realize something was happening ahead of them. The traffic seemed to be backing up on both lanes. They themselves had no choice but to slow to a crawl.

“An accident?” she asked.

“I doubt it. Wanna bet it’s a construction tie-up? I swear, there isn’t a road in this country that isn’t being worked on somewhere along its length.”

He sounded like it was all a conspiracy directed personally against him. Were men always this grouchy when they were inconvenienced by road repairs?

“I didn’t see any signs announcing construction,” she said.

“You will.”

He was right. It took some considerable stop-and-go before they spotted it, but eventually they were advised by an orange caution sign that, within a half mile, they would need to move into the left lane.

The heavy traffic eased forward at a frustrating pace, seemingly inch by mere inch, each vehicle waiting its turn to squeeze over into the designated lane. But long before that shift arrived, the lines halted altogether. They sat there without moving.

The unexpected. What she’d been waiting for. If it worked out.

“This has got to be eating up the gas,” she commented.

He grunted. She waited. The stalled traffic waited.

“Hope you’ve got enough in your tank that we don’t get caught out here on empty. It could be a long while yet before we move out of this trap.”

“You let me worry about that.”

But he looked down at his gauge. And, hallelujah, the gas must have been just low enough for him to decide it might be smart to conserve it. That was what the expression on his face seemed to register, anyway.

Come on, McKinley, act. Don’t just think about it. Do it.

She restrained herself from a sigh of thanksgiving when, after lowering the window on his side, he turned off the engine.

The keys sat there in the ignition, beckoning to her.

Perfect. Or would be, if—

Ah, another break. He had his head out the window, muttering as he tried to see around the line in front of him in an endeavor to learn what was holding them up.

This was the moment she’d been waiting for. And feared she would never get. But somebody upstairs must have been listening to her prayers. Haley didn’t hesitate.

Unsnapping her seat belt, she leaned forward, snatched the keys out of the ignition and, with a pitch worthy of the Seattle Mariners, sent them flying out the open window, managing to just miss his head. With satisfaction, she heard them striking the pavement.

“Whoops.”

Chase’s ears were red with righteous anger when he withdrew his head. “Why, you little—”

He must have choked on whatever would have followed, because she never heard it. He couldn’t have been thinking clearly, or for that matter thinking at all, when he opened his door and exited the SUV. On the other hand, there was no other way for him to recover the keys. Haley had counted on that.

Chase was quick, but she was quicker. Before he could get the keys and stop her, she was out the door on her side, dashing across the shoulder, plunging into a ditch and scrambling under a rail fence. She was busy losing herself in the pine woods on the other side before it struck her that he had her purse. She had no money. No cell phone. What was she going to do on her own in a place where she knew no one?

Her escape hadn’t been so clever after all.

* * *

Chase ignored the blasts of the car horns behind him. Now that his brain was functioning again, he figured those blasts meant the traffic was rolling once more but the vehicles stuck behind his SUV weren’t.

Too bad. Let them squeeze around the SUV when they got the chance. He had a task more important than going back and moving it out of the way. He had Haley Adams to hunt down. When he caught up with her, and he would, he was going to blister her with language she wouldn’t forget. And that was the very least he was going to do.

She had disappeared into the woods on the other side of the fence. He had seen that much and was able to enter the forest at the same spot. Beyond that, he didn’t know. From here she could have chosen any direction, weaving her way through the ranks of the tall pines.

He looked for some flash of movement ahead of him. There was none. That slim figure was nowhere in sight.

Where are you, Haley?

The dense canopy of the trees cast a cool, damp shade below. Chase stood still, hoping to catch some sound that would betray her. All he heard was the distant call of a dove. Sounded like a dove, anyway. But what did he know? He had a limited knowledge of birds.

Silence followed. Nothing to hear now. And nothing to smell but the sharp fragrance of the pines. So it was his sight he needed to depend on.

Training in the army rangers had taught him tracking. He used that now, walking in a circle, gazing down at the forest floor for signs. It wasn’t long before he picked up the partial footprint of a tennis shoe in the moist earth. The toe pointed the way for him.

After that he was able to spot other signs, several places where the pine needles had been recently disturbed, sticks just as recently snapped underfoot, more prints where there was clear earth.

He figured she wanted to leave the forest behind her as soon as possible. It looked like once she’d chosen her direction, she had managed to stick to it. It didn’t take Chase long to discover bright sunlight ahead of him.

Clearing the last of the trees, he reached another rail fence. On the other side was an open pasture. He was disappointed not to see her in the pasture or the field beyond it. Damn. Had he lost her altogether?

He stood there, trying to decide what to try next. Off to one end of the pasture was a horse shelter, enclosed against the weather on three sides, with the fourth side left wide-open for the animals to enter.

No sign of any horses in the pasture now, just the silent shelter. Chase wondered. Did it bear investigating? With no other alternative, it seemed like a good idea.

Hand on one of the fence posts, he vaulted over the top rail, cleared the barrier and strode toward the shelter. The dung in the pasture, though not recent, was evidence horses were grazed here at one time and apparently had been moved elsewhere.

He reached the shelter and looked inside. It was deserted. Nothing in there but a stack of hay keeping dry under the roof. Wasted moments, he told himself. He needed to get back to his search.

Chase was just turning away, ready to look elsewhere, when out of the corner of his eye he saw the hay quiver slightly. Or had he imagined it? Must have. All the same...

He went back inside and squatted on his heels beside the mound, waiting quietly. There was no further movement. He was about to get to his feet when he heard it. A faint rustling inside the pile.

Probably a small creature. Maybe a mouse. At least he hoped it was nothing large.

Willing to take the risk, he plunged his hands into the stack, where his fingers probed around in the vicinity of the rustling. Almost immediately he encountered warm flesh. Yep, something wild had burrowed into the hay all right. Except it was of the human variety. No doubt of that when his hands closed around a pair of very nice, smooth-skinned ankles.

Grasping them tightly, because the body they were attached to began to resist, he dragged Haley Adams out of the hay where she’d been hiding.

“Now just look what we’ve turned up here,” he gloated.

He was pleased with what he’d hooked, but once she spit the bits of hay out of her mouth, she was anything but a docile catch. Managing to twist her legs free of his grip, she flipped over on her back, and when he tried to grab her again, she fought him like the animal he’d been worried about.

She kicked, she clawed, she punched, she jabbed, she writhed and rolled and heaved. She even managed to yell language at him that he hadn’t heard since the army, though never from the women in the ranks, tough as some of them were. No question of it. Haley Adams was one pissed-off female.

The only way Chase could subdue her in the end was to pin her down by lowering his body full length on hers. She went totally still then. Maybe because she was as instantly aware of their intimate contact as he was. And God help him, that soft, womanly flesh beneath his weight not only felt good, it smelled good.

There was a long silence. Their gazes met and locked in a battle of wills. Or was it that? Was it maybe not so much a conflict as it was a shared desire? Chase’s gaze drifted down to her parted lips. He might not have even considered kissing those lips if she hadn’t used that moment to start squirming.

It was a bad movement. He felt himself beginning to grow hard.

“Let me up,” she whispered. “You’re suffocating me.”

His only defense against her breathy plea was a dry “You could have suffocated inside that hay.”

“The hay wasn’t heavy. You are.”

He was suddenly angry with his arousal. Angry with himself for his urge to kiss that seductive mouth just inches under his. And angry because he had to remind himself he’d forgotten to give her hell for her escape.

Levering himself off her, he got to his feet. Once he was standing, he reached down, caught her by the wrist and pulled her up.

“You can let me go now.”

His laugh was a husky one. “What? And watch you take off again?”

“Oh, now, you’re not going to hang on to me all the way back to the car.”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do, sweetheart. Only it’s not going to be by the wrist.”

Before she could object, Chase shifted his grip higher on her arm, whirled her around, bent his knees low enough to collect and balance her weight and slung her up and over his shoulder.

When he came erect again, she was swinging headfirst down his back with her lower half dangling down his chest. It was a maneuver he’d learned in the rangers and used effectively a couple of times to transport wounded soldiers to the nearest dressing station.

Holding the load in place was achieved by splaying the fingers of one hand firmly over the rump. It was just a position when it came to a wounded buddy, but it took on a whole new meaning with this cargo. Haley Adams had one hell of a spectacular bottom for a man to hold on to.

“I’m not going to ride like this! Put me down!”

“Not a chance.”

He struck off across the pasture, knowing she couldn’t be comfortable bouncing along with each of his steps. Too bad. She didn’t deserve comfort.

“How you doing back there, Haley? Comfy enough?”

He missed her muffled reply, but from the sound of it, it couldn’t have been very friendly. Managing to scramble across the fence while still bearing her over his shoulder, he achieved a more or less direct path through the woods. She was just as tightly in his possession when they crossed the second fence and arrived back at the highway where his SUV safely waited for them. Thankfully, the cops hadn’t gotten there yet to tow it away.

Nor did he release her until his free hand produced the keys from his pocket, unlocked the doors, opened the front passenger one and flung her down into the seat with a warning.

“You try any more dumb stunts like that, and I’ll handcuff you.”

* * *

His promise had merit, Haley reluctantly decided when they were rolling up the highway again. It had been stupid of her to make a run for it without money, then hide in a pile of hay like a child.

She would do better the next time. Like, for instance, avoiding his body on top of hers. There had been something much too effectively sensual about both that and his hot hand pressed against her backside afterward. She much preferred him in an unpleasant mood. Safer, right?

But she wasn’t certain of that. There was an element of danger about him.

It was better not to look at him. She turned her head away, staring out the window. Off both sides of the four-lane were high, forested slopes. Even though many of them had been denuded in long, vertical swaths by lumbering, there was a beauty about them enhanced by the majestic Cascade Range behind them.

“You feeling okay?”

He hadn’t spoken a word in miles. His deep voice coming out of nowhere like this startled her. She stole a glance at him. The man had no heart, and yet she swore she could see a guilty expression on that square-jawed face.

She assumed he was referring to the way she’d been treated when he caught up with her at the horse shelter. “How would you feel if you’d been tossed around like a sack of potatoes?”

“You saying the merchandise ended up bruised?”

“Let’s just say it’s a bit tender.”

She hoped she was wearing a wounded look on her face. There was nothing frail about Haley, but he deserved to think he’d been too rough on her.

“I did warn you.”

She kept up her pretense, this time with a martyr’s sniff. Had she gone too far? Was that suspicion she read in his sidelong gaze?

They were silent again. Haley returned her attention to the view. They didn’t go far before Chase spoke up once more.

“I’m pulling off at the next exit.”

“Is there something wrong?”

“Yeah, my stomach. It’s empty. I can’t remember when I’ve last eaten. How about you? You hungry?”

Haley admitted she could do with a meal. Counting the long backup with the construction tie-up and her break for freedom, they had been on the road for hours. They had left Portland this morning, and it was now midafternoon.

She wondered at first if this stop would provide another opportunity for her to escape. Not a chance, she quickly realized, because it was a fast food restaurant he selected. They never left the car. Chase ordered takeout from a drive-up window. They ate their food in the parking lot.

He was working on fries and a hamburger when, looking at her thoughtfully, he asked, “Is it true you’re self-employed?”

“How did you hear that?”

“I have my sources.”

“Uh-huh. So, tell me, is it part of a bounty hunter’s job to know what the FTAs he grabs do for a living?”

He shrugged. “It can be.”

He was being evasive, Haley thought, inserting the straw into her drink and drawing on the soda.

“What is it you do specifically?” he wanted to know.

She had no reason to conceal anything. “I’m an independent contractor.” The expression on his face told her he thought she was messing with him. “No, not that kind of contractor. What I construct I do at home on my computer.”

“Such as?”

“Whatever I’m hired to do. Like, for example, report development for public school systems or creating detailed websites for professional, private outfits looking for my kind of training and certification.”

“How do these people find you?”

“Online, of course. Most frequently on sites where you post things like your training, your credentials and your recommendations.”

He actually looked impressed and that pleased her, although she couldn’t exactly say why. Maybe just because it would make him question whether someone with her record would have needed to post a bond for breaking the law and then failed to appear in court. On the other hand, she supposed anyone could be guilty of something like that.

Letting herself be pleased by this man for any other reason was not a good idea.

“Satisfied?” she asked him.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Haley wanted him to know she wasn’t hiding anything about herself, but that wasn’t true of him. There was a secretiveness here, as if this sexy roughneck was protecting something. And that’s when it struck her again. Crazy as it seemed, he was somehow, someway familiar.

* * *

Haley seldom traveled in this direction. When she did, she always hoped to see that Mount Rainier for once was free of cloud. It never was on any of her visits.

She was prepared to be disappointed again, and instead was treated by nature to a splendid sight. Twilight was already closing in, but still some distance away, far off to the right, the head of the perfect cone that was Rainier was bathed in a golden glow. Haley was enchanted.

She turned her head to see Chase’s reaction. He had none. She could only suppose this meant he lived in Seattle and Mount Rainier was a familiar sight. Or maybe he simply wasn’t moved by nature. Either way, there was no reason why it should make any difference to her.

What did matter was the decision he made fifteen minutes later. “I’m taking us off at the next exit.”

“Are you hungry again?”

“No, sleepy. We’ll spend the night at a motel.”

“We are what?”

“You heard me. It’ll be morning before you know it.”

Haley knew it was true that early summer at this latitude meant long days and short nights. But even so...

“I don’t want to spend the night at a motel,” she announced stubbornly.

“Oh, you don’t? I suppose instead you’d have me fall asleep at the wheel.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ve been dozing, and I’m perfectly capable of taking a turn at the wheel.”

“While I what? Go bye-bye?”

“Why not?”

“Sure, why not? Listen, sweetheart, we both know what destinations you get off to when you’re turned loose.”

“All right, you don’t trust me. But Seattle can’t be far now. Can’t you just go on?”

“It’s farther than you think. We’ve still got the traffic of Olympia, then Tacoma, and after that the whole long urban crawl into Seattle. And all after dark. No, thanks. We’re going to a motel.”

The last faint glow of twilight was leaving the sky when they exited the interstate. There were three motels to choose from. Chase selected the nearest one, pulled up in front of its office and shut off the engine.

Haley drew back when he reached for the glove compartment, holding her breath as his hand brushed across the side of her breast. As brief and innocent as the contact was, it was like a flame licking across her.

When she was breathing normally again, he had extracted a pair of handcuffs from the glove compartment. Haley stared at them. This was going too far.

“Oh, you’re not going to—”

“Handcuff you to the wheel here while I go into the office? That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“But that isn’t necessary. Just take me with you.”

“And have you make another break for it the minute I turn my back? I don’t think so. Of course, I could always handcuff our wrists together and drag you in there. Might scare the attendant, though. Nope, you’re safer out here.”

Before she could raise another objection, he had snatched up her hand and clicked one of the bracelets over her wrist and the other one to the wheel. It was a humiliating situation, made worse when he removed the keys from the ignition and dangled them in front of her nose with a little grin. He was reminding her of earlier when she’d thrown away the keys, taunting her.

Haley fumed while he was gone. She had counted on this mix-up getting settled sometime today. Then she might be released so she could go home. Now that wouldn’t happen before tomorrow. The more she thought about it, the more insane the whole thing seemed. None of it made any sense.

When he finally emerged from the motel office, he was carrying a plastic sack loaded with something. Opening the door on her side, he dumped the sack into her lap.

“Here, you take charge of it,” he ordered as he leaned across her to unlock the handcuffs.

Whatever the sack contained, the lumpy contents weren’t heavy enough to crack him over the head with. Because that’s what she would have liked to do to this insensitive gorilla.

“I suppose it won’t be enough to just lock me inside my room. You’ll insist on handcuffing me to something in there, too.”

“That won’t be necessary. We’ll be sharing a single room.”

“Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Naw, just kidding. I was able to get you a room of your own with no windows and only one steel door I get to lock from the outside. Kind of like a cell.” His voice changed instantly then from pleasantly jocular to something that sounded like the crack of a whip. “One room, Haley. That’s what we’ve got. And guess what? It has only one bed, too. Should be fun, huh?”

Chapter 3

Like most motels, there was little to distinguish it. Clean and impersonal. And, as promised, just one bed.

Chase had brought his athletic bag in from the car. A wary Haley watched him place it on the desk chair, open it and remove a tube of toothpaste and an unopened toothbrush.

“Here,” he said, holding them out to her.

She hesitated to accept them.

“Go on, take them. I have a spare toothbrush for me.”

“Thank you,” she murmured coolly, taking the two items.

She watched him cross to the bathroom and spread the door wide, his hand reaching around the jamb for the light switch. He looked inside without going in. He’s checking to make sure I can’t get out.

He must have been satisfied, because he stepped to one side, sweeping a hand in the direction of the open doorway. “You take it first.”

Chase could have given her a little more room to enter—but he didn’t. The man knew that any contact with him, even a slight one, made her nervous.

“And don’t lock the door behind you,” he called after her. “Unless you want me busting in there on you.”

Jerk!

Even if she’d wanted to escape, Haley realized she couldn’t have managed it. The solitary frosted window was too high and too small. She used the toilet, cleaned up at the sink and brushed her teeth.

When she emerged from the bathroom, he was seated on the edge of the bed. “Join me,” he said, patting the spread on his side. “Come on. You’re safe.”

She wasn’t so sure of that, but she didn’t want him to think she was afraid of him. Nervous, yes, but not afraid. She sauntered over to the bed. He’d left room for her between himself and the railed footboard. She perched on the spot, making sure to leave several inches between them.

“I have a little job for you,” he said before she could ask him why he wanted her sitting here. “Something to keep you occupied while I take my own turn in the john.”

That’s when she noticed he had the plastic sack she’d brought in from the car. Turning it upside down between them, he dumped its mystery contents out on the spread.

“I’m afraid it’s the only supper we get. You get to divide it out for us.”

This was the explanation for his long absence in the motel office. There must have been snack and soda machines in there. It looked as if he’d bought at least two of everything.

“And while you divide and I visit the john...”

The hateful handcuffs, of course. She should have realized he wouldn’t leave her alone in here without cuffing her to something. In this case, it was the footboard rail, leaving her with one hand to divide the haul and the other hand secured and useless.

She was half-afraid that when Chase reappeared a little later, he would be stripped down to his underwear, ready for bed. Or something more extreme. Because there was the possibility he was in the habit of sleeping in the raw, in which case... Well, in other circumstances, that might have been an interesting, even enjoyable spectacle. But not in her current situation, even if she still didn’t feel afraid of sharing a room with a stranger.

As it was, she needn’t have been concerned. He was fully dressed when he walked out of the bathroom. And eager.

“Time to eat!”

Haley rattled the handcuffs. “Do I rate both hands for that?”

“You do.”

He unlocked the cuffs from her wrist and the rail, pocketing them along with the key. Together, they carried their separate piles of food to a table beside the front window, seating themselves in chairs across from each other.

“Not exactly a nutritious meal,” Chase apologized, “but it’s the best the chef could manage.”

The machines he’d taken advantage of in the motel office had provided packaged crackers filled with cheese and peanut butter, nuts, chocolate bars and cans of cold soda.

“I was thinking,” Haley said, biting into one of the cheese crackers, “that since there’s only the one bed, and since you need the rest more than I do, why don’t I curl up in the easy chair there?”

His slow reply couldn’t have been more wry if he’d rehearsed it beforehand. “Now that’s a plan.”

“You didn’t let me finish. Naturally, you aren’t going to just turn me loose.”

“Naturally. How do you recommend we handle that?”

“You can handcuff me to the pole of the floor lamp.”

“Right. Problem with that is, I can see you walking out of here in the middle of the night dragging the floor lamp with you. Maybe even managing to flag down a lift from a truck going south on the freeway. Bet you could even invent a believable story for the driver just why you happen to be attached to a lamp.”

She adopted an injured tone. “I was only thinking of your comfort.”

“And I’m touched by that. But this is how it’s going to be, Haley. You’re going to be attached to me, my right wrist to your left. Both of us flat on the bed side by side, not under the covers but safely on top of them. Hope you can sleep on your back. What do you think?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Hey, if you’re worried about seduction, you can relax. Any other time I’d be happy to oblige, but tonight all I’m interested in are some hours of solid sleep. The only thing we’ll be removing are our shoes.”

She might have believed him...if his gaze wasn’t fastened on her mouth as if he’d like to own it before he took possession of a few other areas of her body. And to her surprise, she realized she might not mind.

* * *

As it turned out, Haley couldn’t accuse him of not behaving himself. He fell instantly and deeply asleep and remained that way. She, on the other hand, didn’t behave herself. Not emotionally, anyway.

She wasn’t happy with herself for the way she was letting him affect her. His necessary nearness to her on the bed had her far too aware of the disturbing heat of his hard body. Conscious, too, of the distinctive, masculine scent of him.

Not happy, no.

Haley didn’t expect to sleep at all. She kept picturing what she had discovered when he’d leaned toward her during the latest cuffing. He had a small scar on the outside corner of his right eye. Funny she hadn’t noticed it before then.

She could see it now just by turning her head in his direction. It was a roguish thing, the kind of souvenir a scoundrel would get in a duel.

What is wrong with you? You’ve been reading too many pirate novels.

This was ridiculous. She turned her head away from the tempting sight of him, shut her eyes and willed herself to relax. It took a while, but eventually she drifted off.

Haley had no idea how long she slept, but when she came awake, the first thing she did was check on her captor. He was still hard asleep, breathing softly. Without any evidence of snoring, she was pleased to note. The lamp on his bedside table continued to burn.

What time was it, anyway? She glanced at the watch on her unrestrained right wrist. It was probably an hour or so until sunup. She’d slept longer than she had imagined.

If it hadn’t been for that breathing, the rhythmic, slow rise and fall of his broad chest, she might have thought he had died on her in the night. Because there was no sign he had moved so much as an inch either way since he had stretched out beside her. How did he do that? Eerie. As far as she knew, Chase McKinley was legitimate. And unless she gave him any real grief, she didn’t think he was a danger to her. All the same, her resolve to get away from him was stronger than ever. And if by some miracle that chance should present itself again, this time she’d need to be smarter about it.

What did she need most of all? Money. She’d have to get her hands on some cash if she were to get back to Portland and the people she could count on to help her out of this mess.

Money, she realized, that was waiting for her on his bedside table.

Chase had locked her purse, containing her wallet and cell phone, inside the SUV, placing it far out of her reach. But his own wallet, which he’d removed from his back jeans pocket, presumably because it would have been uncomfortable to sleep on, he’d placed on the edge of his bedside table.

What’s more, the handcuff key was inside the change section of that wallet. She had watched him tuck it there.

Had she any prayer of getting the wallet without disturbing him? It wasn’t very likely, but nothing ventured...

Concentration. She would have to exercise extreme concentration, starting now. Her first step was to lie there quietly while she formed a plan. By necessity, it had to be a rough, simple plan.

She began by willing her left arm to go limp, absolutely motionless, as if it were no longer a part of her body. Only this way could she prevent the wrist of that arm from tugging in the slightest fashion on the cuffs, a fatal action that would be almost certain to rouse Chase.

This achieved, and bracing herself with her right elbow, Haley slowly elevated her body from the waist up. She was satisfied when she was sitting without having stirred any part of her lower body.

Now comes the hard stuff.

In slow, patient degrees, she twisted herself in Chase’s direction until she was facing the wallet. Could she manage this next challenge, leaning over his body while stretching her right arm out far enough to snag the wallet?

All, she reminded herself, without the use of her left arm to prop herself in place. Even though that arm had been available, there was such strain on it from holding it steady, it had gone to sleep. Like it was no longer her own limb.

What Haley needed right now was the skill of a contortionist. The best she could do was to will herself across the gulf with a combination of balance and strain. Out went her right arm, reaching, reaching.

Contact. Her forefinger on the surface of the wallet. Applying pressure, she was able to drag the wallet toward her just far enough to capture it with both forefinger and thumb. Holding her breath, she lifted it off the night table and drew it slowly, carefully toward her.

Apparently not carefully enough. She watched in horror as it slipped and landed on his waistline. She expected him to surge up off the bed, yanking on the chain between them. To her relief, there was nothing from him but a low grunt. He didn’t move, didn’t open his eyes. He was still asleep.

She waited a few seconds before plucking it off him and dropping it into her lap. Victory! She could breathe again. Her fingers were trembling now, which was why, when she parted the wallet, it fell open not to money or the handcuff key but a photograph in a clear plastic sleeve.

Haley wasn’t interested. She was ready to move on when something about the picture captured her attention. The photo showed two boys, one a teenager and the other much younger. Although the two of them were looking out at the camera with almost identical grins, it was not a posed shot. It must have been taken in midaction, with the teen just having boosted the younger boy up on a horse, where he was helping him to stay firm in the saddle.

Funny how the picture seemed to tell a story. Even odder was that it should mean something to her at all. Like, for instance, what? Haley took long seconds she couldn’t afford to examine it more closely. First of all, she could tell these two kids were related. But although they resembled each other strongly enough at that stage, the resemblance hadn’t followed them into full adulthood.

Wait a minute. How did she know that?

The explanation struck her all at once. There was just enough of a slight likeness remaining, maybe in their similar grins, to tell her why Chase McKinley should have seemed familiar to her from the beginning.

The man beside her and Josh Matthews, the man she’d dated before he left Portland, were brothers. She didn’t know how she could be certain when their surnames were different, but she was sure of it.

An unrestrained hand reached out and snatched the wallet away from her.

He was awake, was he? Good!

“Get these handcuffs off me, you son of a—”

She was so angry she choked on the rest.

* * *

Son of a bitch was right, Chase thought. He’d messed up by placing his wallet where he had thought she couldn’t possibly get at it. He had forgotten, too, that the snapshot was in there.

The mistake with the wallet, although bad enough, was nothing by itself. This whole effort was a disaster. He hadn’t been thinking clearly when he’d taken her. Crazy of him. On the other hand, it had seemed the only way to get the truth out of her. She was all he had, and now he’d blown his cover.

She rattled the handcuffs binding them.

“Take these cuffs off of me before I shout the motel down!”

Since there didn’t seem to be any wisdom in hesitation, Chase got the key out of his wallet and removed the bracelets. She couldn’t thrust herself away from him fast enough. Springing feetfirst off the bed, she whirled around to confront him, her blue eyes sparking with fire.

“I want answers, and I want them fast!”

“Hey, take it easy.”

“Do I get my answers, or do I go to the office and ask them to call the cops?”

“Look, you’ll get your answers, but don’t you think they might wait long enough for us to take turns in the bathroom? I don’t know about you, but, uh, I could use the facilities.”

Eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, she seemed to think about it a minute before deciding. “All right, but make it quick.”

Quick was exactly what Chase needed. Flushing the toilet afterwards, he washed his hands at the sink, splashed cold water on his face and was drying himself when he glimpsed his reflection in the mirror. Jeez, he looked like hell, bleary-eyed, unshaven, clothes rumpled from a night of sleep.

She was waiting for him when he emerged. “You took your time,” she grumbled.

She had a comb in her hand. As a matter of fact, it was his comb. She held it up. “I helped myself to this in your bag. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, sure, why not? Come to think of it, there’s some shaving cream in there you might like.”

She sailed by him into the bathroom, rounding on him just before she shut the door behind her. “You will be here when I come out, won’t you?”

Now that was funny, considering that until a short while ago, this was exactly the kind of question he would have been asking her. But then she no longer had a reason to escape.

Chase was ready to handle her when she came out of the bathroom. Or maybe not. He knew he looked crappy. She looked great. His comb had done wonders for that mass of dark hair. And although she might figure she could benefit from makeup, he felt her beauty was natural enough not to need it.

That face of hers was the kind a man yearned to—

Don’t go there, McKinley. This is no time for getting all worked up.

He’d left their room long enough to bring her purse from the car, passing it to her now in hopes she would regard it as a peace offering. Apparently not. She swiped it out of his hand without a word of thanks.

Damn, she was still mad as blazes.

“Your cell is there in your purse,” Chase assured her.

“Do I make my calls right now, or wait until after you talk?”

“I’m going to explain everything to you, I promise, but could we—”

“Are you going to start stalling again?”

“Hell, no, I’m— Well, yeah, I am, kind of. But, look, can’t we do this over breakfast? Haley, I’m starving. There’s a diner next door already open and serving. What do you say?”

It took Chase some time to convince her, but he finally had them in a corner of the diner seated across from each other in a booth where they could talk in privacy. She was ready to listen, calmer by then. To a degree.

Haley waited until the waitress poured coffee and retreated with their orders to accuse him. “You’re not what you say you are, and there is no legal order for my apprehension, is there?”

“Half-right.”

“And which half is that?”

“I am a licensed recovery agent. The ID I showed you is genuine.”

“Which makes the apprehension order a forgery.”

“Afraid so,” he admitted solemnly.

“Why? What is this all about?”

“It’s a little...complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it for me. There are a couple of things I need to know. We’ve established what you are. What we haven’t settled is who you are.”

Chase nodded, understanding her confusion. “The photo in my wallet. You’re wondering why Josh is a Matthews and I’m a McKinley. We’re half brothers.”

“Mmm, I kind of thought that might be the case. You look alike.”

“What else? You said there were a couple of things.”

As if fortifying herself, she brought her coffee mug to those beguiling lips of hers. He watched her swallow the brew, following it down that perfect throat.

“Yes, the second thing,” she said, lowering the mug. “About what you’re going to tell me... I want to know right now if I have a reason to think I’m being involved in something I’ll have to worry about just by hearing it. Of course,” she added quickly before Chase could reply, “you could lie about it. You did before. Only then I didn’t have a choice about going with you.”

“And now?”

“Now if I decide you’re not telling me the truth, I’m going to get up from this booth and walk out of here.”

“Then I hope this time you’ll believe me, because I need your help. No risk to you.” It was true—he had no reason to think she was in any personal danger.

There was no denying she was suspicious of him and his motives. Who could blame her? He could tell that by the way she gazed at him silently and how her fingertips beat a slow tattoo on the edge of the table before she made up her mind.

“All right, let’s hear what you have to say. Just what is this help you need from me?”

“Josh is missing.”

Her blue eyes widened. “Says who?”

“I do.” He bent toward her. “Look, you know Josh is a freelance investigative journalist. I know you know because no one could spend any time with him and not learn that. He would have talked your head off about it.”

Haley nodded. “He did.”

“I bet he also told you that for years he’s been looking for the big story that will make his reputation.”

“He mentioned it.”

She’s being cagey, Chase thought. Unwilling to give me more until she hears just what I have to say.

“Some weeks back,” he said, “Josh emailed me that he’d found that story. He was excited as hell about it, but he didn’t share any details. He would, eventually—but he always kept it to himself until the words poured out on the page. All he told me was that he’d be gone for a while. Not where or for how long. Not even the subject of the story. Just that he was following a trail, but he’d keep in touch.”

“Only he didn’t.” She was perceptive.

“I haven’t heard from him in all the weeks he’s been gone. Not a single word. When I started to worry seriously, I tried to reach him on his cell. No response.”

“Did you stop to consider he could be out of the country? Maybe in some remote area where there’s no reliable service.”

Chase shook his head. “Believe me, I thought of all the possibilities. No, something is definitely wrong. I can feel it.”

“And that qualifies as missing?”

Before he could answer her, the waitress arrived with a tray. There was the delay of the soft-spoken young woman setting out their orders—fresh grapefruit and steaming oatmeal for Haley, bacon and pancakes drenched in melting butter and maple syrup for Chase.

Before she went away, the girl poured more coffee into their mugs, leaving him aware that Haley was staring at his plate. “I don’t know how you all do it,” she said, making a face.

“Who?”

“Men. Well, most of the men I know, anyway. You eat all those calories and don’t gain an ounce. We women add pounds just looking at it. I’m surprised you didn’t ask the waitress to add a glazed doughnut to your order.”

“I might get around to that yet,” he said, tucking into his breakfast.

She waited until he’d put away a couple of slices of bacon and half of one of his pancakes before reminding him, “You still owe me an answer.”

He cleared his mouth. “Hell, yeah, I think he’s missing.”

“And you think I can help you? Why? Why would you suppose I might have information you yourself don’t have?”

“Why not? Why wouldn’t Josh have shared his plans with you? Isn’t that what lovers do?”

Chapter 4

“What in the world,” she demanded, dropping her spoon into the oatmeal in startled surprise, “made you think your brother and I are lovers?”

“Well, aren’t you?”

It was what Josh had implied in his last emails before he’d disappeared, that he was crazy about the woman he’d met in Portland on one of his assignments. Sweethearts. That was the quaint word he’d used to describe Haley Adams and him. That they were sweethearts.

It was this eager confidence to Chase, the brother Josh loved and trusted, that had gotten Chase into trouble. You weren’t supposed to be attracted in any measure, even minimally, to the woman your devoted brother deeply cared for, maybe even hoped to marry. Chase had felt like a heel, still did, for thinking lusty thoughts about her.

“I can’t imagine what impression Josh gave you about us,” Haley said, “but it seems to be an exaggerated one. We went out often, that’s true, had a lot of fun together, even became very good friends, but it didn’t go beyond that.”

Not as far as she was concerned, but he was convinced his brother felt otherwise. Poor Josh. He apparently didn’t know about that other guy in Portland, the one who might have been hanging around her before Josh and who, after Josh left the scene, had moved in on Haley. He’d seen it himself.

Haley sighed. “If you wanted my help, why didn’t you just ask me? Why all this elaborate nonsense about bringing me in because I’d violated a bond on some fictional court appearance?”

She would smell a lie if he didn’t tell the truth. “Simple. I didn’t trust you.”

“You didn’t tr—” She broke off there, looking very confused. “How could you mistrust me when you’d never met me?”

“I had a reason.”

“What reason?”

“I’d learned you had connections with some very questionable people.”

“Me? What? That deserves explaining. Like, exactly what did you learn and from whom?”

“You want the long version or the short?”

“Make it brief, but don’t leave anything out.”

Now there was a challenge, Chase thought. He had no choice but to answer it. “There’s this private investigator I use sometimes whenever the bail bond company I work for back in Seattle overloads me with FTAs and I need his help in locating the tough ones.”

“Wait a minute.” Haley wore an expression that said she was not pleased. “Are you telling me you actually had a PI following me?”

“After Josh vanished, yeah.”

“You think I had something to do with that?” No, she was definitely not pleased.

“I didn’t know what to think. I just wanted information.”

“You had some nerve! And what did your PI tell you?”

“For one thing, that you were cheating on Josh with this Bill Farley. My PI had photo evidence of the two of you being cozy around Portland, and I saw it for myself when I arrived and took over.”

“Uh-huh. And what else?”

“That your boyfriend, Farley, is actively associated with some Vegas-type racketeers.”

“Well, thank you for that very incisive report.” Her voice had turned to ice. “Now if you don’t mind hearing some advice...”

“I’m always open to suggestions,” he drawled.

“That’s good, because that’s exactly what I have. When you get back to Seattle, McKinley...when you get back there, the first thing you should do is fire your private investigator, because he definitely stinks. Then after that, I think you need to find a good ophthalmologist and have your eyes examined.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know I have twenty-twenty vision.”

“I don’t see how either you or your PI possibly can. Because the both of you have badly judged the relationship between Bill Farley and me.”

“Yeah? What is the truth?”

“That poor Billy happens to be desperately in love with my friend Jennifer Donaldson. Only she’s given him back his ring and refuses to see him until he’s broken all contact with the crowd he’s been hanging around with. That much is fact.”

“So, why have you been meeting him? And don’t tell me you haven’t.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Yes, I’ve been meeting him. For one reason only. Bill knows how close I am to Jennifer. He’s been pleading with me to intercede for him. But Jennifer is right. He needs to break away from these people. They’re a rough bunch, though, and Bill is afraid of how they’ll react. Anything else?”

“There was that intimate parting on your doorstep.”

“What? The hug of sympathy? Oh, no, don’t tell me you assumed it involved a kiss behind the shrub.”

Chase raised both hands in surrender. “I give up.”

“Not yet you don’t, mister. I gave you the truth. How about yours? Were you ever going to tell me before I discovered that photo in your wallet?”

“I was waiting until Seattle.”

“Why Seattle? Why force me to come all this way? Why didn’t you just explain everything in Portland and save us the trip?”

“I didn’t trust you.”

“You didn’t trust me in Portland, but you would have trusted me in Seattle? How does that make sense?”

“It doesn’t,” Chase admitted. “All I wanted...all I had in my mind was to get you on familiar turf where I was in control, away from any possible interference from what I was convinced were your mob friends who would rush to your rescue with big guns. Look, the fact is I just wasn’t thinking straight.”

“And now? Are you thinking straight?”

“Let’s hope so.”

Chase looked down at what remained on his plate. It had to be cold by now. Neither one had touched their breakfast after the conversation had become so intense.

“I’m not hungry any longer,” he said. “What about you? You want them to bring you a fresh oatmeal?”

She shook her head. “I’m ready to leave.”

“Good. I was hoping for a chance to stretch my legs before we headed back to Portland.”

“You’re in the mood for exercise?”

“It wouldn’t hurt after all those hours yesterday and today that we’ve been sedentary. Also...”

“What?” she urged him.

“I was hoping for a chance to explain to you just why I haven’t been thinking straight.”

“And you feel a walk would be suitable for that?” The look on her face told him she was considering it. “I wouldn’t mind,” she decided.

Chase left a tip on the table, paid the bill at the counter and accompanied Haley out of the diner.

* * *

Considering the wild circumstances that had landed her in both the company and control of Chase McKinley, Haley could have been making a mistake willingly going off with him like this in a lonely place. She sensed, however, that she had nothing to fear. She remembered that she hadn’t feared him this entire time. Despite his bounty hunter swagger, there had been a gentleness lurking within him.

On the other hand, her trust could have more to do with the morning than the man. The sun had risen over the mountains in the east while they were in the diner, promising another feel-good day for Washington. It was still cool, though, with dew on the grass.

Just past the diner, on the access road off the interstate that had brought them first to the motel, was a posted trail to a nature preserve. It was the perfect place for a stroll, lined with the glossy-leaved rhododendrons that were native to the Pacific coast. Even now, past their bloom, they were magnificent shrubs.

“Before you begin,” she said, “there’s something I’d like to know. Josh told me he had this half brother who was an army ranger and stationed overseas. And here you are, a bounty hunter and not overseas.”

“Yeah, well, that’s past tense.” Hands shoved into his pants pockets, he paused to watch a bald eagle circling slowly high overhead. “The thing is, our dad—Josh’s biological father to put it accurately—died from a ruptured aneurysm just a couple of weeks before my current enlistment was up.”

“I’m sorry about your father.” She paused. “They sent you home for the funeral, I suppose.”

“That and to help Josh settle affairs. By the time that was done, I’d decided not to reenlist.”

“I see.” Haley nodded, and then almost as a part of the same action shook her head. “No, I don’t see. Didn’t you care for the army?”

“Sure, I liked it just fine. It was my career.”

“Then why...”

He walked on, changing the subject. Or seeming to. “I bet Josh never mentioned to you that after I quit the army, I joined the ranks of the bounty hunters.”

“Come to think of it,” she said catching up to him, “he never spoke at all about you after that one time.”

“No, he wouldn’t. Josh liked to boast of his big brother’s service record, but I think he thought there was something just a little disreputable about being a bounty hunter. But it suits me. I was trained in search and recovery, and I needed something temporary until I could decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

“Fascinating, McKinley, except I don’t see what any of this has to do with you not thinking straight.”

“Hold on, we’re getting there.”

Chase stopped again on the trail, this time to discover a willow goldfinch flitting from holly bush to holly bush.

“Waiting,” Haley sang.

He turned his head to favor her with a grin. “I’m gonna bore you with some more history.”

“How much?”

“Probably more than you’re going to like, but it’s necessary.”

“Going back how far?”

“To when I was very young. I have no memory of my biological father. He walked out on us when I was a baby. The only father I knew was the man my mother married when I was about four. Brian Matthews was everything my biological father wasn’t. I got every kind of attention a kid could want from both him and my mother. That all threatened to change when I was eight years old. Are you cold? It’s a little chilly out here still.”

“I’m fine. Go on. What happened when you were eight?”

“Mom and Dad told me there was going to be a baby, that I was going to have a brother. I figured I wouldn’t have all the attention anymore. Or maybe any attention at all. I hated this kid before he was even born.”

“I detect that didn’t last.”

“I had very smart parents. They knew I was jealous, and they knew what to do about it. Not long after the baby came home from the hospital, they sat me down and placed him carefully in my lap. They said his name was Josh and that I was to be someone very important in his life. I would matter to him. Matter? I wanted to shove the little intruder right back at them.”

“And did you?”

“I would have, except before I could do that, this tiny thing looked up at me with...well, I don’t know that I could call it anything like trust. I don’t suppose the vision of a baby that young is developed enough to be capable of any sort of recognition of that kind.”

“Probably not.”

“Didn’t matter. He looked up at me, I looked back at him, and I was lost.”

“Magic?”

“Yeah, an instant connection. You understand it, huh?”

“I don’t know why I should. I’m an only child. No siblings.” But she did understand. She remembered the photograph he carried in his wallet of a teenage boy helping his young brother to ride a horse. “So, from then on?”

Chase nodded. “I looked out for him. Came to his rescue when he needed it.”

And you’re still doing that, she thought. No wonder you came home and stayed home.

Josh had mentioned that his mother had died of breast cancer some years ago. Now their father was gone, and the brothers were the only family left.

The whole thing was clear to her now. Chase was convinced his brother was missing and in trouble, and that had him wild with worry. He was willing to do anything to find him—including what could easily be defined as kidnapping an unarmed woman.

* * *

After checking out of the motel, they filled the SUV with gas and started back to Portland. Now that Haley had her cell phone back, she called a couple of her closest friends who might have been worried about her absence. She was ready to explain it as business, but they hadn’t known she was gone.

Chase was silent during these calls and silent for some minutes after. She couldn’t be unaware of his sidelong glances and the speculative look in his eyes.

“I seem to be the subject of your thoughts. You’re wondering something about me. Do I get to know what it is?”

“It’s just that I shared practically everything with you about my past except the crush on Miss Sheldon I had in the second grade. Heck, I still remember how I admired her breasts in a certain blouse she wore.”

Haley affected what she considered to be a genuine case of shock. “In the second grade!”

“What can I say? I guess I was a budding lech even back then. But Miss Sheldon did have an impressive bust. Anyway, to get back to the moment... It occurred to me I know nothing about your background.”

“What’s to know? It’s nothing as dramatic as yours. I already mentioned I’m an only child. Both my parents are retired high school teachers living now in Arizona where it’s dry. My father used to complain about the damp, raw climate in Portland. Living in Seattle, you know what that’s like.”

“Yep, going whole winters without seeing the sun.”

“Exactly. Dad is as happy now as a hound on the scent of a possum. You see, all very ordinary and boring.”

“Maybe, but I think there are depths to Haley Adams she’s not sharing.”

“She aims to fascinate, all right.”

In truth, Haley concluded, Chase McKinley was the one who currently fascinated. She still wondered about that scar near his eye. It would have been easy enough just to ask him about it, except she didn’t want him to think she was interested in him like that. Bad enough she couldn’t stop inhaling that heady, masculine scent of his and she liked the way he quirked one eyebrow whenever he was questioning the veracity of something.

They were silent again. Haley might not consider it safe to get personal with him on any man-woman basis, but she couldn’t stop thinking about his relationship with his brother. She had told herself earlier it wasn’t her business or something he would appreciate discussing in any depth.

Now she couldn’t resist risking it.

“Chase?”

“Huh?”

“About Josh.”

“What about him?”

“I was just wondering how he feels about you still playing the big, protective brother. I mean, he’s—what?—well into his twenties and on his own now. I was just, you know, wondering.”

“Don’t wonder.”

There was a bite to his words that bordered on the severe. She’d been right. He didn’t like anything that approached criticism about his concerns for Josh.

Haley immediately dropped the subject.

* * *

Chase parked in front of Haley’s terrace house, shut off the engine and went around the SUV to see her to her door. The trip back to Portland had been as uneventful as the one before it had been action-packed. As far as he knew, she had been honest with him, giving him everything he’d asked for about Josh and his brother’s departure from Portland. Chase had no reason to linger, but he suddenly found himself reluctant to part from her.

He knew that examining that reluctance would be a mistake. It was better just to apologize for having wrongly apprehended her, thank her for helping him and leave her here and now before making a fool of himself.

She was digging her house keys out of her purse when he remembered something. “Would you mind taking this?” he asked her, removing one of his business cards from his wallet and handing it to her. “My address and phone number are there. I’m thinking that if you should hear from Josh, you’d do me the favor of contacting me. There’s no guarantee that he’ll write or call me, but you...”

“Yes, of course,” she said, accepting his card. “And having my own address and number as you did before you turned up here yesterday, maybe you’d return the favor if Josh should get in touch with you first. I would like to know he’s all right and how he made out with the big story he was so eager to hunt down.”

“I’ll do that,” he promised her.

She had the key inserted in her door and was unlocking it when a woman with a helmet of tight curls and a long nose flew out of the house adjacent to hers. She had a packet in her hand and was waving it as she hailed Haley. “Saw you pull up and decided I’d better run out and deliver this. Old Faithful went and pushed it through the wrong slot in the wrong door.”

“This is my neighbor, Phyllis,” Haley introduced Chase, accepting the packet. “Don’t tell me we’re having that trouble again, Phyl?”

“Yep, we’re going to have to talk seriously to that man.”

Haley turned to Chase, explaining, “Our postal carrier is forever mixing up our mail.”

The neighbor lifted her hand in farewell. “Gotta fly. I promised Eddy I’d be on hand for his soccer game.”

“Thanks, Phyl,” Haley called after her.

Chase was prepared to make his own farewell when his gaze was caught by the address on the front of the packet in her hand. The sight of it locked him in place where he stood.

“Can I see that?” he asked.

“It is my address,” she assured him.

“It isn’t that. It’s the handwriting.”

She passed the brown packet over to him so he could look at it up close. There was no mistaking the familiar scrawl. “This is from Josh.”

“I never had any occasion to see his handwriting, so I couldn’t have recognized it. You’re sure of that?”

“Positive.” He gave the packet back to her.

“You’d better come in, then, while I open it.”

He made an effort to contain his excitement as she pushed the door open, scooped up the rest of her mail from the floor of the foyer where it had landed from the mail slot and indicated he should follow her into the house.

It was a modest-sized place. Comfortably furnished, Chase noted, with appointments that spoke of its owner’s tastes. Country-style fabrics, traditional art work on the walls, potted green plants and a minimum of ornaments.

Chase permitted himself no more than a quick visual sweep. He was too eager to see the contents of the packet to be interested elsewhere. Haley placed her mail on the living room coffee table and perched with the packet in hand on the edge of the sofa while Chase hovered over her. He watched as she slid open one end of the thin package with a sharp fingernail.

Upending the packet, she shook it to dump out its contents. Three clear, very small plastic envelopes slid out onto the surface of the coffee table. They could have been sealed pill pouches for traveling. But they didn’t contain pills.

Chase and Haley stared down at them, neither one of them speaking. It was Chase who found his raspy voice first.

“Seeds! My brother sends you three little pouches of seeds? What in hell! Does this have any meaning for you?”

Haley could only wordlessly shake her head.

“There must be an explanation. Look inside the packet. See if there’s something else.”

Her fingers burrowed into the packet, withdrawing a folded note. She spread it open, scanned it silently and then thrust it at him. “I can’t read this scrawl of his. See if you can make it out.”

“It’s worse than usual. He must have been in a big hurry when he wrote it.” Chase read it aloud for her. “‘Take care of these for me, will you, sweetheart? Believe it or not, they’re very rare and valuable. I don’t want to take any chances with them. I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind locking them away at the bank in your safety deposit box. Please.’ And that’s underlined.”

Haley gazed up at him, mystified. “And that’s all? Not even a signature?”

“Afraid that’s it.”

“Well, I have to say this is the damnedest gift I’ve ever received. This half brother of yours...he couldn’t be half-baked as well, could he?”

“I don’t think Josh meant these seeds as any kind of a joke. I think he was totally serious when he sent them.”

“I’d like to go on sitting here trying to figure out what they mean, but right now my brain could use a stimulant.” She got to her feet. “Would you drink some coffee if I made it? It’ll only take a couple of minutes.”

“Coffee would be welcome.”

“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

He watched her walk away toward the rear of the house, the slow sway of her perfectly rounded backside sending a shaft of arousal to his groin. Presumably she was headed to the kitchen, and he was headed to hell if he didn’t learn to control these desires for his brother’s girl.

He was starting to settle himself on one of the easy chairs when a revelation struck him. A return address! Had Josh included any kind of a return address? Neither one of them had thought to look for that. If he could find a return address, learn where Josh was...

Chase snatched up the empty brown paper packet from the sofa where Haley had discarded it. He searched both sides of it. Haley’s address was there on the front, yes. But no return address either there or on the reverse of the packet. He even felt inside in case Haley had missed something. Nothing.

It occurred to him that, considering how rare and valuable Josh claimed these seeds were, he’d been very careless in getting them to Haley. They had arrived by ordinary mail. No special delivery, nothing registered or requiring a signature.

There was something Chase suddenly realized he was overlooking. A postmark. He turned the packet back over to the front. Yeah, there it was, a little blurred but still readable.

Anchorage, Alaska.

Josh was in Anchorage, Alaska! Or had been when he’d mailed this. What in the world was he doing way up in Alaska? And connected with seeds of all things?

A reasonable theory right about now would have been nice. He didn’t have one. Or even a few seconds to come up with one. He was startled by the sound of breaking glass from the direction of the kitchen, followed by a sharp cry.

Chase discarded the packet and raced toward the noise.

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