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Chapter 6

ABU DHABI, UAE

Davis woke up in a foul mood the next morning. Arguing with Hollyn had always grated on him. Looked like that hadn't changed after years apart. Usually, he could keep things from getting to him, but for some reason, the aftermath of yesterday was messing with his head the second his eyes opened. It wasn't like he enjoyed saying her friends were suspects, but when the obvious was staring you down, it was moronic to look away.

Add that garbage to a shoulder he'd definitely slept on wrong, and he was about ready to punch something. Sitting on the side of the bed, he rubbed his deltoid. Gritted his teeth.

Was this thing ever going to heal? According to the docs, he shouldn't be in this much pain anymore.

"So much for that," he murmured to himself. Grabbed some meds from the nightstand and downed them dry. If his current luck held, things weren't going to get better.

The smell of fresh coffee filled the room. His stomach growled.

At the door, Fury stood ready. Tail wagging, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. A very familiar look filled the shepherd's amber eyes. This guy didn't have the intensity of the Mals some of Davis's buddies worked with, but his drive was much higher than a non-working-line GSD nevertheless.

Always liked to be moving and was choosy with the people he liked.

"I'm coming." Davis shoved off the bed. He grabbed a T-shirt. Threaded his arms in and tugged it down before he strode out to the living room with Fury.

The RMWD trotted over to the couch where Hollyn was reading a book. Rested his head on her lap.

Well, call him a liar, then. Never, in all the years he'd worked with the lug, had Fury been one for just sitting down. Especially not with a civvy. But there was no denying the dog had a thing for Hollyn.

Like I do?

Frustrated with the thought, he rammed it away.

"Hey," Hollyn crooned to Fury. She looked drained. Gorgeous, but drained. Ran a hand down the shepherd's head before glancing up at Davis. Her eyes widened. "Why do I suddenly feel the need to drop and give you fifty so I don't get sent to the brig?"

Davis roughed a hand over his face. Tried to replace the scowl he could feel. Didn't work. He sank onto the couch adjacent her with a sigh. "Don't tempt me."

A weak grin tugged at the corner of her delicate lips. Ones he should stop staring at. Good grief, she was beautiful. Davis shifted his gaze to the windows overlooking the backyard. Crossed his arms.

"Still a grizzly in the morning, I see. Rough night?"

"Something like that."

"Want some coffee or pancakes?"

"Just coffee, thanks."

Hollyn slipped off the couch and returned a couple minutes later with a steaming cup of dark roast. "I figured you Army men take it straight, but I can add creamer or something if you want."

"This is fine."

Truth was, he wasn't a huge fan of the stuff in general. But he was counting on it changing his mood this morning.

She situated herself in the chair again. Crossed tan legs that were more than a little distracting in her lounge shorts. In his peripheral vision, he could see her slippered foot bouncing up and down as she went back to reading her book.

Noted that, though minutes passed by, she didn't turn the page.

For the thousandth time since high school, he mentally kicked himself for never having been man enough to ask her out. He'd come close but had always talked himself out of it. Dating meant the possibility of falling in love. Love meant marriage. Marriage meant responsibility he had no interest in. The day he'd left for bootcamp, he'd shut the door on all things relational and hadn't looked back. It figured she'd be the one to sink a crowbar into his resolve.

Focus on the coffee.

Piping hot liquid ran down his throat. The burn felt good.

Fury pressed into his leg now. Stared him down. That was his cue.

"Okay, come on," he said to the RMWD.

Fury snapped to attention, and Davis let the lug out into the backyard. Stood at the wall of windows, waiting.

Ansel's warning came to mind again. Davis mulled it over. Scanned the perimeter for anything unusual. He'd give his life to protect Hollyn. Didn't have to think twice about that. But could he find the person responsible for all of this before they hurt her?

He played the security footage through in his head. Had to be missing something. Anything that could point him in the right direction.

"You look like something's on your mind," Hollyn said.

Understatement of the year. "Just going over things."

"I've been doing that too. I didn't get much sleep last night. Or really any night this week."

No one would be able to guess that from the way she looked.

"How you holding up?" He was surprised. Usually he wasn't much for talking about feelings. Or talking at all. But Hollyn had a way of turning his world upside down. Probably didn't have a clue that she had that kind of power.

She peered over the top of her book. Gave a one-shouldered shrug. Played with the corner of the hardcover. "I've been running through things in my head, but I still can't figure out how that guy got in the house. I've run security checks, and no tampering with the system was detected. It doesn't make any sense."

"The fingerprint scanner can't be hacked?"

Hollyn bit her lip. Shrugged. "Any piece of technology is technically hackable. But the locks use an optical scanner, not a capacitor, and the system uses AES 256-bit encryption."

She said that like it was supposed to mean something to him. "In other words—no?"

"In other words, only if they had a billion years on their hands or had the key code. And that's only up here." She tapped her temple. "Dad was meticulous with the details when setting up the system, so the code was only memorized, never written down."

Impressive, but it didn't surprise him that Ansel had been thorough.

"What about a 3D finger?"

Again she shook her head. "No. It's not as easy as just creating a mold. While the chances aren't zero, it's highly improbable. Systems these days are hard to fool with something like that." Her thumb brushed along the edge of the book. "Still. Whoever it was did get in. I just wish I knew how. And with the lab break-in on top of everything else"—he thought he saw her chin quiver—"it scares me."

Davis's hand fisted. When he found who'd broken in, the guy better pray his medical insurance was active.

Fury ran back to the door, and Davis let him in. Started back toward his spot on the couch. But instead of joining him, the RMWD bolted to Hollyn. Jumped forward. Hollyn yelped. Fear strangled her voice as Fury's paws pressed against her. He nosed her neck. Tail up. Intent.

Hollyn's eyes were wide as saucers.

"Don't move!" Panic that Fury would bite her if she hit at him surged in his gut. "Fury, no!" Davis launched forward, ready to throw his arm in the way if the GSD's strong jaws lunged forward.

He grabbed the dummy's collar and pulled him off a now-terrified Hollyn.

"You good?" he huffed out, pulse thrumming.

Fury continued to try to plow forward, though not aggressively, Davis noted.

Hollyn leaned her body as far away from the RMWD as she could. Eyes still wide, she lifted them to Davis. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. "I'm . . . yeah. I th-think so."

Without warning, Fury dropped his backside to the floor. What was with this dog lately? Maybe he'd been wrong to suggest that Crew take him on.

"Sorry." Davis shifted focus to Fury. "Fuss." He tapped his side once, and the lug flew into position. Pressed against his leg. "Af."

Fury lay down without hesitating. His body trembled and he looked up with an expression Davis had seen on nearly every mission they'd worked. He was happy with himself. Proud even.

Davis studied Hollyn, making doubly sure she was really okay. Forced his racing heart to slow down. She was fine. He lowered to the couch again.

"Reminds me of you back in high school, tackling everything on the field." Hollyn ran a hand along her shirt. Davis could practically see her telling herself to act like she wasn't rattled. "Remember?" She forced a smirk that didn't reach her blue and green eyes.

He did, unfortunately.

"All the girls were so obsessed with you. Especially the cheerleaders."

Where was this going? He couldn't think of anything he wanted to get into less than his high-school days. But Hollyn seemed to be barreling down memory lane faster than a BrahMos missile.

"They were always trying to pump me for information on how they could catch your attention, because they knew we were close." She grinned.

No chance of that happening. Only girl he'd been interested in back then—and even now—was her.

"Remember the Asheville game?" Hollyn's grin was timid.

Davis had closed the door on that part of the past. Didn't really want to rehash things now.

Hollyn rubbed her hand. "Sophomore year, and it was the first game my parents didn't make it to. I was on top of the pyramid that night. I was so disappointed they couldn't make it. And then you—" She gasped. Clamped her mouth shut.

He swallowed. Knew what she'd been about to say.

He wasn't there.

"You were lucky to have them as parents." He tried to redirect the conversation. Didn't feel like hashing out why he hadn't made it to that game. "Better than a mom who didn't really care about anything her kid did."

Her expression went soft.

Perfect. He'd just exchanged one can of worms for another.

Get your head together.

"Davis, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

He clenched his jaw for a second. "No sweat, Holly Hobbie."

The use of her childhood nickname tugged out a grin, but her eyes were pained.

Both of their pasts were littered with too many landmines to count, but even her biological parents had been a step above his mom. At least they'd cared about her. Had tried to be better. Then the Reinhardts had come along. No comparison there.

They'd been everything Davis had always wanted his mom to be. Had known she never could be.

Hollyn stood and walked over to him. Eyed Fury as she sank down on the couch at Davis's side. She rested a hand on his forearm. Heat burned between their skin.

Don't move a muscle.

If he did, knew what would happen. Disaster a thousand different ways.

"What happened that day? You never told me why you weren't at the game. Then suddenly you were off the team and basically enemies with everyone at school except me." She tilted her head.

Davis swallowed. Bounced his foot. Gave a half shrug. "Not much to tell."

Hollyn hmphed. One eye drew up like it always did when she wasn't going to let something go.

All right, fine.

* * *

Hollyn watched Davis closely. He ran a hand down the back of his neck, corded arm muscles flexing. The image was more than a little intrusive to thoughts she was trying to keep on track. She really did want to hear this story, though.

Looking back, it'd always felt like the beginning of the end for them. The one part of their story she constantly wished she could change—to be a better friend who wouldn't just let him shut down.

"Grady's folks were out of town. He spent the night at my place so he wouldn't miss the game. My mom was supposed to drive us to meet the bus the next morning. When we woke up, she wasn't around. We waited for an hour before she sent me a text saying she'd been asked out on a date and wouldn't make it."

"Davis," Hollyn murmured sorrowfully.

"By that point, it was too late to catch the bus or even drive to the game, and neither of us had our licenses. You know the rest. Second-string QB couldn't handle the pressure riding on the game and we lost."

"So . . . what? The team just placed all the blame on you? How is that fair?" She was getting upset now. It hurt that, as close as they'd been, he'd never told her about this. "It was your mom that bailed, not you!"

Davis shrugged. "Should have predicted that she couldn't be counted on."

"That's harsh."

"Is it? Holidays. Birthdays. Sports. She wasn't around for any of it. Always had a better offer."

"Still!" Hollyn balled her fist. "For the team to blame you and not her is just?—"

When Davis smirked, it caught her off guard.

"This is funny to you?" She looked at him aghast.

"No," he said with a seriousness that set butterflies loose in her stomach. "But this"—he motioned a circle around her face—"is exactly why I never told you."

"I don't get it. All these years I thought you were the one unjustifiably angry with them and blowing things up so you didn't have to stick with something. You could have told me the truth."

He shook his head, features darkening in sunlight snuffed by clouds outside. "It took you a long time to make friends with other people, Hol." He rested an arm over the back of the couch. "I watched it every day. And some of your closest friends were cheerleaders. The team was ticked at me. If I'd told you, you would have taken my side and likely would have been dropped by them too. I wasn't gonna let that happen."

Breath whooshed from her lungs as tears pricked her eyes. He'd only been thinking about how it was going to affect her? She knew full well how much being on the team had meant to him. It made this revelation even worse.

Suddenly, it registered that she was leaning in. Davis had gone silent and was staring . . . at her mouth. He was so close. Or was she? Maybe this was a bad idea. But like being locked in an invisible tractor beam, she felt herself drawn in.

Heart pounding, she swallowed. Davis was hardly more than a breath away.

Is this really happening?

Chest rising and falling swiftly, Davis cleared his throat and drew back, expression hardening. He shifted to the edge of the couch.

Spell broken.

Hollyn blinked. Recoiled into herself, feeling like a fool.

Of course he wasn't going to kiss you! What were you thinking?

Shoulders hunched, forearms on his knees, Davis sighed as he ran a hand over his face before shoving to his feet.

Emptiness flooded the space between them that anticipation had filled seconds earlier.

"Sorry. I . . . " But more words wouldn't form. What could she say? Sorry, Davis, my childhood crush on you has come roaring back, and I'm so weak I couldn't fight it?

"It's fine," he murmured.

She looked up at him, feeling like it was anything but. He wasn't even looking at her. Just continued staring out the large living-room windows. Rejection coursed through her. Embarrassment burned her cheeks. There were about a hundred reasons leaning in had been a bad idea. She could have chosen any one of them to ground herself in reality. But she hadn't. Thankfully, Davis had decided to act rationally and save her from humiliating herself more than she already had.

If only she could sink into the floor and disappear.

Likely sensing the change in tension, Fury popped up. Looked between them with a severity that made her nervous.

Davis turned. "I'll . . . be in the gym."

With that, he and Fury stalked toward the second story workout area, leaving Hollyn to wonder what had just happened. How could she have messed things up to that extent?

"Good job, Hollyn," she admonished herself.

How much was she going to put herself through before she got it into her skull that Davis was not interested in her?

Stick to science. Romance is way out of your wheelhouse.

She stood and snatched her book off the chair.

Dad's letter slipped from the pages she'd tucked it between. Fluttered to the ground. For a minute, she just stood there, staring at it like it was going to grow teeth and bite her. Then anger—at herself, at her parents' senseless and still unsolved deaths, at the ridiculous crush she still had on a man who returned her feelings in absolutely no way—bubbled up.

Hollyn grabbed the letter and stalked to her dad's office. Better to just get this over with. It was starting to haunt her nightmares, and now that she was in a terrible mood, things couldn't possibly get worse.

Opening the parchment for the first time was eerie. She broke the wax seal and tucked her feet up under herself in the corner chair. The letter was handwritten but oddly spaced. Hollyn read through the words, which repeated much of what he'd told her that night at the gala. The overwhelming urge to stop crashed against her. Tears pricked her eyes, and she could feel the floodgates about to break.

Stay strong. For once in your life!

Pressing on, she held her breath to stay the tears. When she finished the letter filled with sentiments of love for her and how much she meant to her parents, she just sat there. Reread it, willing the words to change. To tell her that this had all just been some kind of sick joke. That it wasn't real. On her third pass, the spacing between the lines was really starting to distract her. It was awkward, especially for Dad.

Wiping at her eyes, Hollyn frowned. Dad had a compulsion for uniformity, and not once had she ever seen him write something with more than a single space between lines except?—

She gasped. Quickly scanned the letter again. Chewed on her lip thinking. Was it . . .

Hollyn dashed for Dad's desk and pulled out a drawer. Shuffled the contents around before finding what she'd been after. A lighter. With shaking hands, she lit the flame and held it to the backside of the paper.

Hidden words appeared.

Hollyn bit her lip. Growing up, her parents had used notes like this as their hidden message system, and she used to think it was the coolest thing ever. Lips moving along with the words that appeared, Hollyn read:

Sparrow—even just reading the word was a punch to the gut—I hope I'm wrong about my suspicions, but if you're reading this, then sadly, I wasn't. Get to Davis as soon as possible. You're in danger. He'll protect you. I've hidden what you're looking for where you'll find it. Never forget, we love you more than life itself.

What she was looking for? What did that mean? All she wanted to know was who had broken into the house, but he wouldn't know that.

The gravelly voice of her attacker pierced her memory. "You know where it is . . . "

Her whole body shook with adrenaline now.

Could it be the same thing Dad was talking about here? And if so, what did it refer to? She didn't like this. Too many unknown variables were in play.

Spinning on her heel, she bolted for the stairs. "Davis!" she called out as she crested the landing. She dashed for the workout room, deciding she was going to put her schoolgirl foolishness behind her.

Don't think about what almost happened. Don't. Think. About. It.

Sliding through the door, her mind whirled with everything that had happened since her parents' death.

A loud clang of metal caught her attention as Davis replaced the dumbbell he'd been using. His gaze shot to her. "What's wrong?"

So much for forgetting.

Just focus!

Fury barked at her, and Hollyn froze as the menacing sound echoed off the hard surfaces of the walls and floor. Fear seized her chest. She didn't want the dog to misinterpret her rushed movements as her trying to go after his handler. She also couldn't tell whether his bark was friendly or not.

Yeah, his name definitely made sense now.

"Leise," Davis commanded firmly.

When the dog quieted, she took a couple tentative steps forward, watching for any sudden movement from the corner of her eye. She didn't want to add being turned into mincemeat to the list of other things going wrong. "I just read the letter Randall gave me from my dad. I . . . I think you're right. They were murdered."

Just saying that lifted bile to the back of her throat.

Davis reached for the letter, and she let him take it, careful not to brush his skin. She needed her mind sharp right now. Which, in reality, seemed laughable.

"Here." She lit the lighter.

For a second he frowned in confusion, then the words appeared in the margins once more. "What . . . " The rest of the sentence fell off as he read. His jaw flexed every few seconds as the silence grew unbearable. When he finished, he gave her a curt nod. "Ansel's video was a similarly coded message."

Really? Why hadn't he mentioned that?

"What do we do?" She looked up at him for answers. "Can you even stay, or do you need to get back to your base soon?" She didn't even know where he was stationed or in what country. So. Many. Questions.

A look she couldn't decipher hardened his features before he shook his head. "No. I can stay." He grabbed a hand towel from the nearby shelf and wiped at his face. Pain trickled over his expression when he rolled his shoulders. "I know someone I can reach out to. See if he can help us figure out what's going on."

Relieved didn't begin to cover what it was like knowing he wasn't going anywhere. She was safe as long as she was with him. That, she knew deep in her core. Though, looking at him was causing ten different levels of embarrassment right now.

Still, it was odd that he had the option to stay. Maybe he was on leave or something. That's what they called it right? Why hadn't she thought to ask him? She'd been so caught up in herself and her own grief this whole time that she hadn't really thought to ask him how he was feeling or about his life since they last saw each other.

Inwardly, she cringed. Was he dating? Married? After all, some guys didn't wear wedding rings. Was a relationship why he'd shoved her away downstairs? If she'd kissed a married man. . . The thought made her sick.

"Don't worry, Hol. We'll get to the bottom of this."

If only he could read her mind, he'd know just how far apart their trains of thought were in this moment. And how badly she wished they weren't.

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