SEAL’s Love by Leslie North

19

Harper was standing close enough to Greg during the tour that she heard the words that made her heart leap with joy.

Target acquired.

Meaning Colin had found her sister. Serenity was safe at last.

She looked over at Greg, who gave her a tiny nod while the tour guide chattered on about essential oils and bamboo towels and inner chakras. She was doing her best to nod and smile along, but there had never been a time in her life when she had cared less about her chakras. It was time to go.

“Oh honey, look at the time,” Harper said. “If we don’t leave soon, we might be late for our reservations. You know,” Harper said, beaming at the tour guide. “I think we’ve seen enough. Thank you so much for the tour today. My husband and I have a lot to talk about before making our reservations, but you’ve definitely impressed us.”

The guide looked startled for a second to be interrupted in her well-practiced spiel, but she quickly shifted into a warm smile that only looked a little rehearsed. “Excellent. I’ll let you be on your way then, but do let me know if you have any more questions about…”

She continued rambling on as she led them back through the compound toward the exit, but Harper wasn’t really taking any of it in. Her mind was too busy chewing on the conversation she and Colin had had earlier on the way here. They’d been waiting to see Sebastian’s car go by, to show that he’d left the center for the planned meeting, and she’d asked him how he’d known his dad would be willing to help them once he’d told him the truth. And Colin had flashed her a sad smile and said that he hadn’t known. Not for sure. But that it had been their best chance at getting Serenity out safely, and that some things were worth the risk.

Those words stuck with her now. The fact Colin had been willing to take that chance, to put himself out there with his father—despite their history and problems—without any guarantee that it would work, simply because it was the best way to help someone who needed it.

That’s why she loved him.

The realization rocked her world once again. This was love. Not just some amorphous, new-agey kind of love like her mom’s commune practiced. Not the pleasant but ultimately superficial romances that she’d had herself over the past several years. But real, deep, abiding, happily ever after love.

I love Colin Parks.

And maybe, just maybe, she always would.

Hot on the heels of that revelation came another.

Does that mean we can be happy together?

It was something that had never really seemed possible to her before. But everything was different now. Maybe she should talk to Colin about it all. But then, no. Maybe that wouldn’t be fair to him. He’d offered her everything, and she’d basically thrown it in his face. Did she have any right to come back now and say “Oops, I changed my mind”?

Maybe the right thing to do would be…

She stopped abruptly because Greg had halted in front of her, and she nearly barreled right into the back of him. A quick peek around Greg, though, and her joyful mood turned sour, as did her stomach.

Logan was there, near the gate. In a moment, their tour guide would turn and see him, and there was no telling what might happen then. Maybe she’d assume he was a guest and everything would be fine.

Maybe she’d know for sure that he was an intruder, and everything would fall apart.

Crap.

Thinking fast, Harper stepped around Greg to ask a question. “I’m sorry. I did think of one more thing.”

The tour guide stopped and looked back at her as she made up some question about the guest rooms and the room service menu, saying she had allergies and required a special diet. As the woman rattled on about how the benefits of the faith healing included the ability to eat foods that would otherwise be problematic, Harper felt the tension in her chest ease enough so she could breathe again.

When she glanced at the gate once more, Logan was gone.

Whew. That had been close. They continued down the main path toward the gate, stopping at a small storage building near one of the yoga areas.

“Sorry for the interruption,” the tour guide said. “Just remembered that I opened this up earlier to get some supplies and forgot to lock it again. Let me just take care of that now.”

While the woman fiddled with her key, Greg grabbed Harper’s wrist, hard.

Harper’s gaze flicked from him to the window in the wall of the small building and spotted Logan inside. Dammit. Her eyes locked with Greg’s again as the tour guide finished locking the building.

“There we are. Well, I do hope we’ve made a good impression on you today,” the tour guide said as they reached the entrance to the compound.

Harper felt sick. All she could think about was Logan trapped in that building back there and how was he ever going to get out and now everything was a mess and—

Her dread spiral was interrupted by the sound of the larger gates squeaking open nearby, and the tour guide perked up even more.

“Ah, that will be the director of the Wellness Center, Mr. Sebastian Bone, returning early from his meeting.” The tour guide smiled. “This is good. Would you like to meet him?”

It was not good. Not at all.

Greg hadn’t brought his gun because they’d been worried about it being found if they were searched by security on the way in. But they’d seen some security guards wandering the area, and they very clearly were armed. If this resulted in a showdown, Greg would be at a severe disadvantage.

“Uh, honey,” Greg said, shoving her toward the exit. “Why don’t you go get my wallet out of the car? I’ve got a couple more questions for the tour guide before we book our stay. It’s locked in the glove box.”

“Sure, sweetie,” she said, moving away. Glove box was the code word they’d all decided on ahead of time that they’d use if things went south and they needed to abandon the mission. If that happened, the plan was that whoever made it out was to return to the rendezvous point and call for assistance. Harper turned away from Greg and the tour guide, trying to hurry but not make it look like she was hurrying.

She made it two steps before another voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Ms. Bell, isn’t it? Harper Bell?”

Sebastian Bone.

She’d watched enough of his videos online to recognize that soothing tone anywhere. Except Harper didn’t feel soothed right now. In fact, she felt downright distressed. Even more so when he walked over and took her arm, forcing her away from Greg and the tour guide before confronting her.

“Don’t look so surprised, Ms. Bell. You and your sister have such a strong resemblance. I’d be an idiot not to see it. And believe me. I am far from an idiot.”

He was tall, taller than the videos suggested, with long flowing hair and that same white suit that he wore in all his appearances for the spa. Up close, she could see now that it wasn’t an ordinary wool or linen suit, but was made out of something that resembled hemp, maybe? Honestly, she didn’t care if it was constructed from unicorn hide at that point. She just wanted the man to go away.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, leaning in so that he loomed over her, his voice taking on a harder edge now.

“I-I was just here for a tour,” she stammered.

“A tour?” His scowl darkened as realization dawned in his gray eyes. He reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a gun. “I don’t think so. I think I know exactly why you’re here.”

Harper’s eyes widened as she stared down the barrel of the gun aimed at her face. Fear clogged her throat and she swallowed hard against it, calling on every calming practice her mother had ever taught her not to panic and crumple to a heap on the ground.

“I’m going to ask you one more time, Ms. Bell,” Sebastian said, cocking the trigger. “Why are you here? And what did your sister tell you?”

“Well, she sure as hell didn’t mention what a shitty dresser you are,” another voice said, one that made Harper’s already racing pulse kick into overdrive. Logan. He must’ve found a way out of the storage building. “Put the gun down, Bone, and step away with your hands up.”

He and Colin had come armed, she knew, because they weren’t going in through the main entrance, so they weren’t worried about compound security.

Wild-eyed, Sebastian looked around him, from her to Greg, to the tour guide, to Logan somewhere behind her, then moved fast. One minute she was standing there with her hands up, then next, Sebastian had his arm around her neck, holding her back to his front, the cold metal of the gun pressed to her temple.

“Let her go, Bone,” Logan said, weapon raised. Unfortunately, with Sebastian using Harper as a human shield, there was no way Logan could take a shot without hitting Harper too.

“No. You let me go,” Sebastian countered, pressing the gun harder against her face. She could feel the pound of his heart through her back and knew he was on the edge. “Put your gun down and let me go or I’ll blow her brains out, I swear.”

It was hard enough to breathe, let alone talk, in her position, but she managed to squeak out, “Do it.”

“You heard the lady,” Bone shouted, glaring at Logan. “Put the fucking gun down and no one gets hurt.”

A single gunshot pierced the air then, and Harper braced for impact, her life flashing in front of her. Or more like the future she’d wished she’d been able to have with Colin—all the laughter and joy and tears and happiness, gone in an instant. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

Except it didn’t come. Harper peeked one eye open as the pressure around her neck eased. Sebastian’s arm fell away, and he crumpled to the ground behind her, cursing and crying, and holding his injured leg, the gun skittering away across the ground as a scarlet red spot spread across his pristine white suit.

“Actually,” Colin said, striding up to kick Sebastian’s weapon away into the bushes, his gun still trained on her assailant. “You’re wrong. You’re in for a whole world of pain, my friend. Harper, you okay?”

She nodded, scrambling backward until she hit Greg’s legs. He reached down and helped her up. She never took her eyes off Colin. Her hero. Her savior. Her everything. “I’m okay. Thanks to you.”