Keep Me Safe (Slow Burn #1)(10)

“Would you like me to wait with you until they get here?”

Ramie didn’t even bother to do the whole pretend I don’t want to be a bother thing. She nodded fervently. “Thank you so much. You’ve been so sweet to me. And yes, I’d feel so much better if you waited with me. I was told it would be ten minutes or less.”

The librarian patted her on the hand and smiled reassuringly. “We’ll just stay inside until someone comes for you. Then I’ll lock up on my way out.”

SIX

CALEB’S entire body was tense as the plane touched down in the small municipal airport just twenty minutes from Shadow, Oklahoma. Just as Ramie had disappeared off the face of the earth, she’d reappeared just as suddenly. And she was in trouble.

He’d never given up hope of locating her, of somehow, someway, making up for what he’d done, but as more time had gone by, he’d resigned himself to the fact that he might never find her. But still he kept feelers out and spared no expense in his quest to track her down. At times, in order to assuage his own sense of guilt, he’d told himself that she didn’t want to be found and that he should just leave her in peace as a way of making amends.

But in the end, she’d come to him.

Maybe he would be able to repay his debt after all.

The desperation in her voice kept replaying through his mind. Her fear had been broadcast as loudly as if she sat in front of him. Someone was trying to kill her. Who? He was frustrated by the lack of information he had, but he could hardly risk her life by making her be out in the open answering questions he’d soon have the answers to anyway. He would get to the bottom of things and assess the danger to her, but first he had to get to her and then do whatever it took to ensure her safety. He wouldn’t fail her like he’d failed Tori.

His protective instincts were at a full roar. All he could picture was her fragile body huddled on the floor of her mountain cabin, experiencing the unthinkable. Her silent weeping had torn at his gut until his heart lay bleeding on the floor with her.

He would go to any lengths to keep her safe. There wasn’t a price too high to pay to the woman who’d gone through hell to save his baby sister.

In the year he’d searched for her, he felt as though he’d gotten to know her, as well as anyone seemed to know a woman whose life had been by all accounts lonely and isolated, even though information was sketchy at best on her. But the image of this vulnerable yet unbelievably strong woman had lived with him every single day until she’d become an obsession. While she might appear fragile, and perhaps she was—now—no woman who’d suffered countless times in her aid of victims of horrific crimes could ever be considered anything but strong and resilient.

It had gutted him when he’d gone through the case files of the others she’d helped. This time with a completely new perspective than when he’d studied up on her to assess how much help she would be in finding Tori. Because now he knew what each of those cases had cost her. He had no idea how the hell, when she endured so much pain, she could continue to offer her assistance. It certainly explained why she’d reached her breaking point.

She had nearly a one hundred percent success record in bringing sick bastards to justice. There were only two instances when the monsters had escaped. One a mere six months before she disappeared and went off the grid, prompting his desperate search for her. The other? Tori’s kidnapper was still free. Out there victimizing other women. Was the case six months before what had caused her breakdown? Did she suffer guilt for not having brought the man to justice?

A car was waiting for him and he hurried inside with terse directions to get him to the hotel he’d arranged for Ramie. What Ramie didn’t know was that he didn’t simply dump her at the hotel with no protection. Antonio plus two other men were strategically placed outside her room and in the lobby so that if anyone tried to get in her room they’d meet with immediate resistance. Until he heard from Ramie exactly what they were dealing with, he was taking no chances with her life.

Twenty minutes later, the car carrying him rolled up underneath the hotel awning and Caleb got out, striding into the entrance. He was met by Antonio, who reported that it was quiet and nothing had happened in the time since Ramie had checked in.

Caleb checked his watch, seeing that it was just past two in the morning. He hated to wake her up but then he doubted she was sleeping anyway. She’d sounded too panicked, too frightened on the phone. He didn’t imagine she’d slept in days, if not weeks.

“Maintain your post and direct the other two men to do the same,” Caleb said as they headed toward the elevator. “I want her under constant watch until I take her out of here.”

“Yes, sir,” Antonio said crisply. “We won’t stand down until you give us the order.”

“I appreciate you moving so quickly on this,” Caleb said.

Antonio’s face darkened. “Whoever the son of a bitch is, I’d say he got his hands on her at least for a few minutes. Her face is a mess. I’m surprised she was able to escape such a close call.”

Caleb’s thoughts immediately went black. Ramie had briefly mentioned that she’d had a run-in with the ass**le, but he didn’t realize she didn’t escape unscathed. He shook his head, still mystified by a man roughing up a woman so small and delicate.

When he’d seen her the first and only time they’d met face-to-face, she’d looked hollow. Almost as if she’d been dealing with an extended illness. Only now he knew it was far worse and far more draining emotionally and physically than a period of sickness.