Snowed In

Before she could ask why, he was striding down the hallway, and she had to run to catch up. At the other end of the B and B was a reading room with computer hookups that linked into a landline phone system. Wi-Fi was unreliable at the B and B, as were cell phones. Opposite the reading room was a game room. At the far end was the largest bedroom suite with an attached parlor.

After they’d checked the final door, she rested the baseball bat on her shoulder and asked, “Is it safe to bring Emily inside?”

He nodded. “It doesn’t look like there’s been a break-in. Just to be safe, I’ll go upstairs. How many bedrooms are up on the second floor?”

“Eight,” she said, “four single and four double. And the third floor is an open dormitory with twelve single beds. It’s mostly used by scout troops and nature groups.”

“What’s your total capacity?”

“I’ve handled forty, but that’s really too many.” She didn’t want to get sidetracked by a discussion of the B and B. “I have a couple of questions.”

“Go ahead.”

When he pulled off his cap, his dark brown hair fell over his forehead. Stubble outlined his chin, and she knew his look wasn’t meant as a fashion statement; he just hadn’t had time to shave. He was undeniably handsome but distant. His eyes were cool as glass.

As he gazed at her, Sarah realized she was still wearing her practical but unflattering wool knit cap with the earflaps. She must look like an idiot with her cap and her snow pants and her baseball bat. She yanked the cap off and made an attempt to fluff her hair. She unzipped her parka. Big mistake. Underneath, she was wearing flannel pajamas with puffy clouds and naked cherubs.

He raised an eyebrow. “Your questions.”

“Right,” she said. “Back at the clearing, how did you stop those guys?”

“They weren’t expecting resistance, and I got the drop on them. I wounded two of them, shot one in the arm and the other in the leg.” He shrugged as though that was nothing. “It’s unfortunate they got away.”

“Who were they? What did they want from us?”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure.”

“If you had to take a guess, what would you—”

“Waste of time.”

She tried a different tactic. “When I wanted to call the sheriff, you said it was covered. Did you talk to him before?”

“Thanks for the reminder.” He took out his cell phone and punched in a number as he went down the hall toward the front door.

Sarah had no choice but to jog behind him. His big, tough ranger routine was wearing thin. She was tempted to tap him on the head with her Louisville Slugger. “Who are you calling?”

“I contacted Deputy David Kovak as soon as I arrived.”

“He’s a good man.”

“You know him?”

“A little.”

“Didn’t think I’d need his assistance tonight, but I guess I was wrong.”

While Blake had a terse conversation with the deputy and told him to come to the B and B, she planted herself on the staircase so he couldn’t dash upstairs without talking to her first. As soon as he ended the call, she demanded, “You need to be honest with me. What’s going on?”

“What time does Jeremy get in tomorrow?”

“Not until after noon. He’s coming from D.C. with his father.”

“And Emily’s father?”

“The senator doesn’t arrive until the day after tomorrow,” she said.

Blake smirked. “When the two of them meet, all hell is going to break loose.”

“Maybe it already has,” she said. “Is what happened tonight related to the general or the senator?”

“Both men have enemies.”

He came toward the staircase. Though she was standing on the second step, she was only a few inches taller than he was. His composure was truly disconcerting.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “What kind of enemies?”

His gaze met hers. For a moment, she caught a glimpse of concern in the depths of those very blue eyes. “The general has received death threats.”

Chapter Three

Blake looked beyond Sarah’s shoulder to the darkness at the top of the staircase. Since the doors to the outside remained locked and the windows intact, he doubted that he’d find any intruders hiding in the second-floor bedrooms. A greater potential for trouble came from the woman blocking his way. She didn’t appear to be scared, but the pink blush on her cheeks betrayed a high level of emotion. She was angry. And he didn’t blame her. Asking her to remain calm in the face of potential death threats was a lot. She loved this B and B and wouldn’t want to see it turned into a battlefield.

“You should have told me.” Her chin jutted out. “As soon as you arrived, you should have told me about the danger.”

“I didn’t know how serious it was.” Not a valid excuse. “But you’re right. You should have been informed.”

“Who’s making these threats?”

“We don’t know.” He glanced at his G-Shock wristwatch. Kovak had promised to be here in half an hour. Blake had given him the license plate number on the van, and there might still be a chance to catch the four men in ski masks. “I should make a sweep of the upstairs before—”

“Whoa.” She braced the baseball bat in front of her chest. “You’re not going anywhere until you explain. Why is the general being threatened? Are we talking about terrorists?”

As a ranger, Blake had been trained in how to do an interrogation and how to withstand questioning. He could stonewall with the best of them, but those tactics didn’t apply to a conversation with a pretty innkeeper. He and Sarah were on the same side.

“I’ll be as truthful as I can,” he said.

“That’d be a change of pace.”

“What? I haven’t lied.”

“But you haven’t told me everything.”

“There wasn’t much to tell. The threats haven’t gone beyond the level of harassment. The general had his home office ransacked and his computer hacked. There was a bullet hole in one of his vehicles. He’s been getting hate mail. It started when he was put in charge of a budget committee deciding which military bases and which hospitals will have their funding cut.”

“A budget committee?” She sounded shocked. “These threats are about funding?”

“Everything in D.C. eventually comes around to money.”