Keep Me Safe(6)

Tori’s brow furrowed and she stared up at him with a puzzled expression. “Someone like me?”

“Well, not exactly,” Caleb said, injecting a smile just for her. “After all, there’s only one you. But I went to Ramie St. Claire. She’s been helpful in finding missing persons before. I gave her your scarf and she was able to locate you.”

Tori looked stunned. Her mouth drooped open in astonishment and confusion wrinkled her brow. Then tears filled her eyes.

“If only she could have helped sooner,” Tori whispered.

Caleb swallowed and avoided the gazes of his brothers. No matter that he’d just told them what Ramie endured and why she refused, they were condemning her for not being available earlier.

“I owe her so much,” Tori choked out. “I’ll never be able to repay her. Can I at least thank her? When this is all over with and I go home?”

Caleb swallowed the knot in his throat and he wiped at a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “We can only try.”

“I’m scared,” Tori said, her voice cracking.

Her fingers dug into the thin sheet covering her, but Caleb could see how badly her hands were shaking.

Caleb gently pried the sheet from her fingers and then curled his hand around hers. “What are you afraid of, honey?”

Her grip tightened on his hand, her torn nails digging into his skin. “That he’ll come back for me.”

Her words fell ominously over the small room and his brothers glanced Caleb’s way, fury—and fear—evident in their gazes. Her kidnapper hadn’t been arrested. He was even now out there, free, possibly hunting his next victim. Or would he come after Tori since she was the one who got away?

“Listen to me,” Caleb said in a low voice. “I know you’re scared. God only knows you have the right to be. But me, Beau and Quinn are going to protect you. You’ll be under constant guard until this asshole is found and arrested and he pays for what he did to you. I swear it on my life.”

“You can’t all put your lives and jobs on hold for me,” Tori said.

“The hell we can’t,” Beau clipped out. “You are our number-one priority, Tori. Nothing else is as important.”

“We won’t let that bastard near you,” Quinn said firmly. “And we’re going to use every available resource to find him and put him away for life.”

Tori didn’t look convinced but she nodded and then closed her eyes, the medication pulling her into its embrace.

Caleb kissed her forehead. “Get some rest, honey. We’ll be here when you wake up. You need to focus on getting better so we can take you home.”





FOUR




CALEB stood in the doorway of the cabin where he’d last seen Ramie, a grim expression marring his face. The cabin was completely empty. Abandoned and looking as though no one had ever been there. She’d left no stamp or fingerprint on the place. Nothing that signaled her presence. He dragged a hand through his hair and closed his eyes as frustration took hold.

He’d fulfilled his vow to Ramie—and himself—to return for her. But she was gone.

He couldn’t blame her. Didn’t fault her for running hard and fast. If he’d found her, who was to say others wouldn’t? And while before he’d considered her selfish, now he understood fully why she was no longer willing to put herself through the agony of finding missing people.

The question plaguing him was whether he should let it go and walk away, leave her to the peace she wanted. Or did he pursue her again, find her and atone for what he’d done?

He wasn’t the kind of man to ever give up. His entire life was a study in relentless pursuit of his goals.

Born to an extremely wealthy, old oil money family whose fortune had only grown for generations, Caleb had taken over the reins of the family at a very young age.

His parents had openly flaunted their wealth. Been involved with society, lived larger than life, and he was convinced that at least his father was involved in shady activity. Their deaths had been suspicious, clouded by the question of whether they were accidental or actual murder. It was a question that to this day wasn’t answered.

But from the moment Caleb had taken over the family and inheritance, he’d systematically begun removing them from the grid. Lowering their profile and maintaining avid secrecy. He’d always maintained an extremely high level of security, but it was obvious that it hadn’t been enough. Now his focus would be on security and tightening it so that what had happened to Tori would never happen again. Or to Ramie if he could help it.

Caleb’s gaze swept over the interior of the cabin, looking for any clue, any sign to point him in the right direction. He already knew the answer to the question he’d posed to himself. He would go after Ramie and from there she would be in the driver’s seat. Whatever she wanted, whatever she needed, would be at her disposal. If Caleb had his way, she’d never lift a finger for the rest of her life. Nothing was too much or too big in light of the fact that she’d saved Tori at great personal sacrifice.