SEAL’s Redemption by Leslie North

18

“What?” Logan asked when she didn’t continue, her expression shifting from excitement to fear in an instant. His pulse tripped and his throat dried. “Hope? What’s wrong?”

Her hand was shaking as she handed him the phone. “It’s from Diana Lauren. Begging me for help. But how is that possible? She’s been missing twenty years, Logan.”

“It’s not possible,” he said, scowling down at the screen as he scrolled through the message. The person claiming to be Diana didn’t want Hope to contact the police, of course, claiming she would be in trouble if the authorities got involved. That was warning number one that it was a scam.

“But they know details about the case, things only Diana would know. Look, she says what her room number was at the hotel—that’s not info that ever came out in the press,” Hope said, looking pale and scared and thoroughly spooked. “I wouldn’t know it myself except for the note from that maid that was in the bag of things Desmond gave us.” Logan’s first instinct was to hold her close, not that she’d let him now. “How would anyone else know that?”

“I don’t know,” Logan answered honestly. “But this feels fishy as hell to me, and I don’t want you or the baby anywhere near it.” He pushed to his feet and went to grab the car keys. Scam alert number two was the fact whoever was impersonating Diana Lauren claimed they had to meet today, that it was a matter of life and death. Number three? The rendezvous point was a rest stop an hour outside Baltimore—somewhere secluded and difficult to secure. Yep, that sounded shady as fuck. Dangerous too. No way in hell would he let Hope anywhere near that place until he’d cleared it. He grabbed the keys and headed for the door. “Forward me that email, please. I’m going to the rest stop. You stay here and lock all the doors and windows. Don’t open them for anyone until I get back. Understand?”

Hope stood too and stared toward him and for a second he feared she might fight him on it, but then she stopped before him, her expression resigned even though her eyes still sparkled with a hint of defiance. “Fine. Go. If you find Diana, call me ASAP. And be careful, please.”

“I will. I’ll call Glen and have him meet me there for backup.” He opened the front door then turned back to her, feeling like for the first time in a long time, he had a purpose again, and damn if he’d let her down. “Sit tight. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

He started out the door when she called to him from behind.

“Logan, wait!” Before he could react, Hope was in his arms and kissing him hard and deep. He clutched her waist, wanting her close, closer, but then she was gone again, stepping back to look up at him. “That was for good luck.”

But as he headed out to the SUV, texting Glen as he went, Logan knew it was because she was worried about him, and damn if it didn’t warm him from the inside out, regardless of whether he was walking into a trap or not.

Ninety minutes later, he was parked at the edge of the empty parking lot at the rest stop, watching and waiting. Not a single car had pulled in off the highway, and his anticipation was slowly morphing into frustration. Glen was on his way from work and there wasn’t much else to do, so Logan started the engine, then slowly drove around the parking lot, in case he misunderstood where Hope and “Diana” were supposed to meet. But nope. Nobody was there.

He parked again and this time went inside the building, catching a couple employees inside and asking them if they’d seen a woman who fit Diana Lauren’s description lurking about—tall, dark hair, in her late thirties now—but no one had seen her. In fact, no one had seen anything suspicious at all.

Fuck.

Cursing, he went back out to the SUV. He’d known it was a long shot, but still. He’d figured Diana wouldn’t show, but maybe someone else would. If not, why the hell would they want Hope to meet them out here at some random rest stop if not as part of another attempt on her life? He pulled out his phone and went over the original email Hope had forwarded to him for a clue. As he read it through, he noted that whoever had sent it had used the same sign off as the weird email they’d received from Desmond the day of the accident. But the real Desmond had denied ever sending that one, so…

It could be coincidence, except Logan didn’t believe in those.

The sick knot in his gut tightened. Shit, shit, shit. He cranked the engine then peeled out of the parking lot, his SEAL instincts going haywire. They weren’t trying to lure Hope into a trap at all. The trap was for him. They wanted to lure him away from the house, so he’d leave Hope unprotected.

He raced through traffic on the highway heading back toward Baltimore, using his Bluetooth to try to call Hope and warn her. Logan’s call failed to connect with the reception being so shitty out here. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel and passed some slower moving cars, not caring that he was going about twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. If the police tried to pull him over, he’d lead them all the way to Hope’s house. He hit redial, but the call didn’t connect. That was probably another reason whoever was behind this had picked the location.

Fuck it all to hell and back.

He couldn’t be too late. He couldn’t. If anything happened to Hope or their baby, he’d lose his shit. Literally. He couldn’t lose her forever. Not like this. Not ever. If they made it through this, he’d never walk away from her again. Never. He just had to get to her first and make sure she was okay.

Please God, let her be okay.