Finding Home (23 page)

“Yeah.  I fly out tomorrow
around lunch.  Tag should be here by the time you get off work.  Then
it’s up to you whether you want to stay here or go up to the ranch to do the
interview.”

She reached for his hand, giving it a
squeeze.  “I don’t think I want to do it without you there.”

“I’ll do my best to get done by
Saturday but I don’t know if I’ll be able to.”

“Don’t worry about it.  I told
Tag I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it this weekend so he said he would look at
other dates they had available.  Have a seat, I’ll fix your plate.”

He gave her a funny look.  “I
can fix my own plate.”

She smiled and gave him a quick
kiss.  “I know, but I’ll do it for you this time.  So sit, relax.”

A corner of his lips tipped up. 
“Yes, ma’am.”

She served him a plate piled with
steak and baked potato slices and steamed broccoli, and opened a bottle of beer
and sat it before him.  He waited for her to sit next to him with her
plate and then took a bite of his steak, finding it melt-in-the-mouth tender
and seasoned just the way he liked it.

“This is really good, babe,” he told
her.

“Glad you like it,” she said, then in
the next breath, she decided to push him a little.  “Have there been any
specific threats against me since all the press coverage hit?”

Several seconds ticked by while he
ate but didn’t answer her.  Sarah knew him well enough now to know he was
weighing his words, making sure that when he did speak, he wouldn’t be
revealing too much.

“Nothing specific,” he said, echoing
Tag’s words,  “just your run-of-the-mill crazies who attach themselves to
people in the public eye.  There hasn’t been any contact from anyone that
the authorities feel are or are connected to your original kidnappers.”

“But you and Buck and Tag think there
will be problems?”

He took a sip from his beer. 
“We’re just being cautious.”

She studied him for a few moments,
then raised her own glass to her lips. “You promise?  You wouldn’t keep
anything from me?”

“Baby,” he said, leaning over and
gently kissing her, “I promise.  I would tell you if there was something
to worry about.”

“OK.  Thank you,” she said,
clearing their plates when they were done. 

Colt watched her for a few moments,
then got up and went to her, lifting her up on the counter and spreading her
knees wide so he could get close to her.  He cupped her face in his hands
and kissed her hard, and deep and long, until she was panting and clinging to
him. 

“Are you OK?” he asked, his thumbs
stroking her jaws.  “You seem…I don’t know, a little off.”

She offered him a little half
giggle.  “I’m fine.  Go kick back and relax.  I’m just going to
load the dishwasher then I’ll be in there.”

“You cooked, I’ll clean up,” he
offered.

“No, no, I got it.  You have
been really stressed today.  Go relax,” she said, kissing him then giving
his shoulder a light shove. 

He looked down at her hand on his
shoulder then up to her under his brow.  “Are you forgetting what happened
to you the last time you shoved me?”

She leaned forward, “But I’m not mad
at you this time, so it doesn’t count,” she said with a wink.  “Now,
shoo!  The sooner you are out of here, the sooner I can get done and join
you.”

A corner of his mouth tipped up in a
smirk and he stepped back from the counter, then helped her down.

“Hurry up then.”

She watched him go, shaking her
head.  While she loaded the dishwasher she heard that he’d changed the
music on the stereo to something quiet and soothing, acoustic guitar. 
Letting the notes drift over her, she finished up, refilled her glass of wine,
then went to find him in the living room…and stopped dead in her tracks. 
It wasn’t the stereo.  Colt sat on the sectional, playing a guitar! 
He didn’t see her at first; he had his eyes closed, so she stood there and
watched, spellbound as he played.  He was good! 

“Come in here, babe,” he said, eyes,
still closed.

She smiled, shaking her head. 
“How silly of me to think I could sneak up on a former Ranger.”

“Indeed,” he said, opening his eyes
when she sat next to him.  He shifted so he was facing her as he continued
to play.

“I didn’t know you could play the
guitar.”

“Chicks dig music,” he told her, his
face deadpan.

She cracked up laughing, nearly
spilling her wine in the process. 

“What?  Don’t you like it?” he
asked, smiling.

“I do!  And you’re right. 
Chicks dig music.  So, what’s the story here?  How did you learn to
play?”

He shrugged.  “My dad plays, so
I grew up with it.  He started teaching me and Claire when we were little. 
I don’t play often, but when I do, it helps me relax.”

“You’re very good,” she
complimented.  “That piece is beautiful.”

He gave her that lopsided grin she
adored and slightly ducked his head, as if she had actually managed to
embarrass him.  She started to tease him more when the song he was playing
changed into something she vaguely recognized, and then she stopped breathing
all together when he began to sing. It was “Memories of Us” by Keith Urban, and
Colt’s voice was amazing!  Chills ran up and down her spine as she
listened to him sing about how he would love her like no one else, his eyes
stealing to her at certain parts, closing them at others.  It was the most
intimate, sexy moment she’d ever experienced.  When he finished singing,
he gave her a shy smile and a shrug but kept playing. 

“Oh, my God,” she whispered, tears
pooling in her eyes, “that was…” her voice trailed off.  In truth, she
didn’t have the words to describe how his singing to her made her feel.

“That bad, huh?”

She gave him a stern look.  “You
know better than that.  You have an amazing voice, Colt.  That was
beautiful.”

“That song describes how I feel about
you,” he said simply.

Sarah climbed up on the couch on her hands
and knees and crawled to him, smiling when his brows raised as he watched her
but kept playing.  When she got close, she leaned over the guitar and
planted a kiss to his ear.

“You are so getting lucky tonight,”
she purred into his ear, making him chuckle.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.  I thought watching
you be an umpire was hot, but that was nothing compared to this.”

“Well, then,” he said, sitting the
guitar aside and pulling her so that she was laying on top of him, “I’d say,
mission accomplished.”

“You have to promise me something,
though,” she said, licking at his lips.

“Whatever you want, baby.”

“You have to sing that again so I can
record you and have it on my phone to watch and listen to whenever I want…and
you have to do it shirtless…in bed.”

He laughed, his body shaking both of
them.  “Whatever you want.”

“I want that.”

“Then I’ll do it…later,” he said, his
hands exploring under her shirt.  “Lose the shirt,” he told her.  She
sat up, straddling his waist and lifted her shirt over her head.  “Bra,
too.”  Gaze locked on his, she reached behind her and unfastened her bra
and tossed it aside with her shirt.  “Oh, hell yeah,” he groaned in
appreciation.  “Now lean down here and give those to me.”  She
scooted up his abs then leaned down so that her breasts were level with his
mouth.  He wasted no time, feasting on one while his hand kneaded the
other.  Sarah braced herself on one arm and buried her other hand deep
into his hair clutching him to her, reveling in his attentions.

In his home office, Lewis stared at
the screen and felt a thrill run through him.  He’d gotten an alert about
an hour or so ago.  One Colton Harris of Waco, Texas had just made airline
reservations for the next morning to fly out to LAX.  It was just for him,
so Lewis could only figure that it was work related.  Which meant that for
the first time since finding her, Sarah Sauter, aka Christine Bainbridge, would
be all alone.  Looked like their time had finally come.

Going to Colt’s house that night
after work, knowing he wasn’t there felt a little odd to Sarah.  Tag was
on a flight down from Wyoming to DFW and then hopping a flight to Waco but
there would be three hours before he arrived.  He did not want her to pick
him up from the airport.  Colt didn’t want her out of the house on her own
except to go to work, which caused a bit of an argument but she’d eventually
yielded.  The whole point of him leaving was that she didn’t want him
putting his life on hold for her more than was necessary.  He was behind in
his own work and needed to address issues personally; if what he and Tag said
was true and there had been no specific threats, she should be fine, even
without Tag coming to babysit her.

Going into his house, she walked into
the kitchen and immediately felt his absence.  The house was too quiet;
too still.  Colt’s presence was so powerful that his absence was obvious;
the house felt cold and empty.  She sighed. 

“Get over it, Sarah,” she told
herself.  For goodness sake, she’d lived the last eight years by
herself.  She could handle being by herself for three hours until Tag got
there. 

She decided to bake some cookies for
her brother to keep her occupied.  Going to the stereo, she turned it on
and then froze when she heard Colt’s voice.  He’d recorded himself singing
Memories of Us and loaded it into his stereo to surprise her.  Smiling,
she went back into the kitchen and picked up her phone and sent him a text.

Just turned on the stereo; what an
awesome surprise.  Thank you so much.  I was just feeling lonely for
you, now it’s like you’re right here with me.  Hope you can take care of
the problems quickly out there.  I miss you already. XOXOX

She knew it would be a while before
he could respond; he was still in the air.  When the song ended, she hit
the button that would make it play on a continuous loop then went into the
kitchen to get started on the cookies for Tag.

Outside the house, Wayne and Sammy
sat in a van watching the house and scoping out the neighborhood.  They’d
seen her pull into the garage and knew she’d armed the alarm system already.

“This neighborhood is too risky,”
Sammy said.  “Not like where she lives.”

Wayne nodded.  “Yeah, we
probably already have the neighborhood watch eyes on us.  And I’ve checked
out Harris’ specs on his security systems.  We aren’t going to get past
that easily.  Probably best to shadow her as much as we can and look for
an opportunity.”

“You’re probably right,” Sammy
agreed.

Wayne slammed the heel of his hand on
the steering wheel.  “Damn it!”

“Should I call Lewis?”

“No need to stress him out over the
details.  We’ll have her soon enough.  I’m not leaving here without
her.”

“Think the Bainbridges will pay?”

“Are you kidding me?  You saw
all those emotional interviews they did.  They’ll pay even more now than
they would have when she was a baby.  Plus, we can go after Harris. 
He’s not hurting for cash, either.”

Sammy rubbed the back of his
neck.  “I’m not so sure I wanna tangle with Harris.  He was a Ranger,
man.  That could be bad.”

Wayne gave him a scathing look. 
“How stupid are you, Sammy?  Just by taking her, we’ll be going up against
him.  If things go south, we will be dealing with him.  You gotta be
prepared for that.”

“I’ll let you deal with him then.”

Colt checked his messages as soon as
he got off the plane and smiled when he saw Sarah’s text.  He’d known she
would turn the stereo on at some point while she was waiting for Tag.

Thought you might like that. 
I’ll finish this up as fast as I can. Don’t want to sleep without you longer
than I have to.

Her reply came immediately. 

Same goes.  I’ve gotten used
to snuggling up to your chest.  Sleeping without you is going to
suck!  How was the flight?

Long.  Have you heard from
Tag yet?

His flight landed at DFW. 
He’s waiting for his connecting flight here. 

OK.  I left my keys for him
at the desk so he won’t have to rent a vehicle.  I gotta head out for now. 
I’ll call you when I’m done for the day.

OK, Colt.

I love you, baby.  Shoot me a
text when Tag gets there.

Will do.

Colt stared at the screen a minute
then shook his head.  She simply could not do it.  She couldn’t even
type the words out.  He knew she loved him, but he needed the words. 
He needed to hear it from her like he needed air to breathe.  And it
wasn’t even for himself; he needed her to say it because she needed to allow
herself to say them, to allow herself to love and be loved.  He knew that,
but damn it, he was not a patient person.  He wanted to badger her into
saying it.   Shoving his phone into his pocket, he made his way to
the rental car counter so he could get over to Presley Preston’s house and get
the system fixed so he could get back home.

Tag was impressed with Colt’s house
when he pulled up to it.  At least he knew his baby sister was being well
taken care of.  Colt had proven so far to be a good man and good for
Sarah.  He and his dad felt much better knowing she was in such capable
hands; even if they weren’t thrilled with the fact that she was practically living
with the man after only knowing him for a short period of time.  He waited
in the driveway while he texted her to let her know he was there and waited for
her reply before opening the garage door.  When he did, he saw Sarah at
the back door waving to him.  He waved back and parked the truck.

For a second, he just sat and stared
at her, not long enough to make her uncomfortable, just long enough for him to
take her in.  It was so surreal to finally see her and know her.  She
looked so much like his mother. 

Getting out, he crossed to her and
scooped her up into a bear hug, making her laugh.  It was like music to
his ears.  She really had a great laugh.

“I’m so glad you came,” she told him,
and he thought for the first time, her voice sounded genuine, like she really
was happy to see him.

“I’m glad I could come help
out.  I missed you,” he said, putting her back on her feet.  “Let me
grab my bag.”

He got it out then followed her
inside.

“Something smells really good,” he
said, following her into the kitchen.

She shot a smile at him over her
shoulder.  “I made you some cookies.  And you should feel
special.  I haven’t even made these for Colt yet,” she said with a wink.

He laughed.  “I do, indeed,
then.  There should be some things a big brother has an advantage over the
boyfriend with.”

Sarah stopped and placed her hand at
the base of her throat for a moment.  He saw a tear fall down her cheek
and reached out to quickly wipe it away.

“I never thought,” she began but
stopped and took a deep breath, reaching for his hand to give it a
squeeze.  “I’m really glad you’re here, Tag.”

“I’m going to be here for you from
now on, Sarah,” he promised. 

“I’d like that…now, no more sappy
stuff…let me show you to your room and then you can freshen up and come help me
eat these cookies.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said.

“Tag Bainbridge just showed up,”
Sammy reported to Wayne.

“Are you kidding me?” Wayne bit
out. 

“Guess Harris is paranoid; didn’t
want her to be alone.”

Wayne cursed again.  Bainbridge
showing up would definitely mess up their plans.  He’d need to re-think
and re-strategize.  No way he was letting her slip through their fingers
once again. 

“Guess we need to call Lewis in, get
his take,” Wayne said, clearly not happy about it.

“I’ll let you do the honors.  I
don’t wanna deal with his High and Mighty-ness,” Sammy replied dryly.

“I really don’t want to, either, but
we may need him for damage control.”

Lewis wasn’t happy with the turn of
events but he did agree with Wayne; taking her now while Colt Harris was out-of-the-picture
was their best bet.  Tag was no one to be trifled with, either, but he
didn’t have the extensive training that Harris did.  It would be easier
for Wayne and Sammy to grab her under Tag’s protection than it would be under
Harris’.  Although he hadn’t been happy about it, he’d given his approval
of Wayne’s revised plan, then adjusted his own accordingly.  It wasn’t
ideal but it would have to do.  The time for Buck Bainbridge to pay up was
almost at hand.