Chapter 24

24

This was not what Gunnar had expected at all. Daniel and Marcus Deane—governor of Texas—stood there, next to a man in a Mickey Mouse tie, and a tall, pretty woman Gunnar thought he had seen around the inn a few times before. One of Charlotte's cousins, he thought.

"Great. Time to party now," Heather said a bit too sarcastically. Her patience had obviously been wearing thin a few hours ago. "Gang's all here."

Daniel shot her a look. One Heather challenged.

Gunnar wasn't stupid. He'd seen how she had subtly shifted her chair closer to his earlier. How she had kept the female deputy on her other side. He'd watched her around the inn the night before too.

He was figuring the woman next to him out.

She'd kept Gunnar between her and any threats. At all times. Instinctively. She had also kept Cara by Alex, no matter what. She was in fear mode right now. He hadn't missed that at all.

"Dan, we didn't know you were on your way up." The man should have at least texted. Given Gunnar some warning. So he could have prepared Heather. Something odd was definitely going on between those two. Gunnar wondered exactly what Heather had said that day. What made Daniel look at her like that.

"I thought it was important that I be here," Marcus said instead. Exuding that presence he had that told everyone around he was used to being in charge. "To impress on everyone the severity of what's happening."

"You are?" the blond DEA agent across from Heather asked in an almost cartoonish nasal tone. He was the one who was going to be a problem. He was all about jurisdiction and riding roughshod over the locals, Gunnar suspected. He'd had plenty of experience reading the type.

"I'm the governor of Texas actually."

Introductions took a moment, but then they were ready to get started.

Daniel stepped over to the chair next to Heather's and just made himself at home. Gunnar had to wonder what the idiot was up to. And why Daniel had that look on his face right now.

Gunnar took his seat on the other side of Heather. She shifted away from Daniel. Tried to pull back from the table. Daniel reached out, put one hand on her chair, keeping her stuck right there.

He leaned closer to her, said something in her ear that Gunnar couldn't hear. Heather's eyes narrowed. Her hands clenched on the table. If she could, Gunnar suspected she'd slug Daniel right now.

Gunnar would let her. Daniel was up to something. He knew it. He was just going to have to get the other man alone to find out what. And why.

Two hours later, he still hadn't figured out what or why.

His phone beeped. Powell's ringtone. He would never ignore that ringtone. He read her message quickly, just as Heather's phone beeped next.

—Heather's baby is hungry and fussing. Cara is out of bottles. You have time for a break in there? You okay?

Heather abruptly stood. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have a mini-crisis in the lobby I need to deal with."

"What could be more important than this?" Harnodd asked. He'd turned snide where Heather, Claudia, Miranda, and Sage were concerned.

"An underweight five-month-old baby girl who needs to nurse, actually, Harnie. And I'm the dairy factory she's waiting for," Heather said in a far too sweet tone. He suspected she'd perfected that particular tone decades ago too. It was just designed to get beneath a man's skin. "I'd better get up there, or she's going to bring the roof down on this place. Something I'm sure the Talleys won't appreciate."

"Is that your baby in the lobby? I saw her earlier. So tiny. She's utterly adorable," Claudia said.

"Thanks. I think so too. But I'm sure the rest of the guests upstairs probably aren't agreeing with that. She's my quiet one, except when she's hungry. Then all bets are off." Heather looked at the governor. She had been avoiding Daniel as much as she could as the meeting had progressed. "Half an hour? Forty-five minutes?"

"We'll all take a break," Marcus said, checking his watch and rising. "I need to check on Ariella. She's around here somewhere. I wanted her to rest, but she was determined to come with me."

"How far along is she now?" Heather asked quietly.

"Thirty-five weeks. I'm getting terrified."

Marc's first wife had died from an aneurysm during the delivery of their son. No wonder Marc was scared.

Gunnar had a knot of fear in his own gut. He'd already lost one woman he'd loved, who'd been carrying his baby. The knowledge that something could happen to Powell—no. He was probably going to be a wreck too. "I need to check on Powell. She's with her brothers upstairs. With the guards from Houghton watching over her."

"You are still watching over Powell?" Daniel asked, obvious surprise in his tone. "That assignment ended."

"You think I'd ever stop watching over her? She's not just an assignment to me." Gunnar did his best to keep a challenge out of his tone. But it was there. "Until we have that last man, I'm going to keep an eye on her, Daniel. I just am. "

"I saw Buck out in the hall," Marc said. He looked at Heather. "Guarding you, I suspect?"

"Not by my choice. If you'll excuse me." Just like that, Heather darted out of the room.

"Damn it. She moves fast," Daniel said. "I wanted to have a few words with her."

"Leave her alone, Dan. Or you'll eat my fist," Gunnar told him, only half joking, as they all filed out of the conference room. He saw several of the crowd look at him in surprise. Speculation. "She doesn't need you upsetting her right now."

"Damn it, I have no intention of upsetting that woman."

"Well, it's not like you're doing much to protect her right now." Gunnar called it like it was. But he knew people were listening. Heather deserved her privacy.

"I'll explain to you both when I get a chance."

Gunnar just grunted. Daniel liked to play his cards close to his chest and always had. "Just…don't hurt her, Dan. I think you'll regret it if you do. She's not as tough as she looks."

"I know. I've figured that out."

Gunnar led the way to the elevator as the three other women chatted about shared acquaintances behind him. He'd gotten the impression they knew each other rather well. The hulking Weatherby brothers were behind them—they were equally as tall as Gunnar but made him look almost skinny by comparison.

Heather had darted into the stairwell several paces ahead of them. That woman definitely did move fast. Buck was having a hard time keeping up with her. Gunnar suspected she was doing it on purpose.

They caught up with her in the lobby. She'd made it to her niece—two nieces, the governor's wife was there as well—and Powell. Powell's three brothers were visible. Mac was standing between Powell and Heather—holding Heather's baby out to her now, a panicked look on his face.