“No.” Robin rubbed her cheek on his shirt. “Me, either.”
They lapsed into a contented silence. It had to be five minutes before Seth said, “Earlier, when you asked, Dad and I were talking about my idea of putting a woman cop in your house.”
Robin pulled away, incredulous. “You think Richard’s stupid? He’ll know I’d never go back there.”
“No, I don’t think he’d fall for that, but if I can sneak you away again and the woman cop moves in here...”
“What, you’re going to abandon your father to face another attack?”
“I intend to send him with you. I’ll stay here.”
No wonder they’d been arguing. Hadn’t Seth known how insulted his father would be?
“I hate that idea,” she said fiercely.
His arm tightened around her. “I know.”
“He found us here.” The certainty had the weight of dread. “He may be back in Seattle, but somebody has to be watching. Richard will find us wherever we go.”
“I’d suspect his PI saw my name linked to the investigation and took a look at my house and then my father’s, except...”
She had no trouble finishing his sentence. “Detectives don’t take their work home with them.” Thinking about that, she scooted far enough away to let her really study him. “Why did you?”
“You know why.”
“Because you were attracted to me?”
She’d swear she saw a smile in his eyes that hadn’t touched his mouth.
“Because I knew you were going to take off. Because with Jacob you were especially vulnerable. Because you looked too much like a dead woman.” Now the smile reached his lips. “Because I felt a lot more than lust from the beginning.”
Robin made herself ask. “Are you sorry?”
“No.” His big hand closed gently over hers. “Never. I’d have been haunted by you for a long time if you’d succeeded in disappearing.”
“I...wouldn’t have forgotten you, either.” She looked away for a moment. “I knew you’d be hurt when you found we were gone,” she admitted.
“You were right,” he said quietly, eyes intent on her face. “I would have been.”
She would always feel guilt about Andrea, but she knew how lucky she and Jacob were that Seth had been the detective in charge of the investigation. He seemed willing to take any risk for them. Robin thought he’d risk a whole lot for any vulnerable woman or child. But...if his dad was right, he’d never brought one home before.
It still boggled her mind that she was able to trust him so absolutely. She could probably thank her father for that. Even at the worst with Richard, she hadn’t forgotten that steady, kind men did exist.
“Do you think Richard has given up? That...he’s hoping you’ll decide it wasn’t him who broke in here and shot your dad?”
His face hardened. “No.” He hesitated as if not sure he wanted to say this, but chose to go on. “I think he’s setting us up.”
“I can’t imagine he’d be satisfied by killing me secondhand,” she argued again. And yet... She tried to get into her ex-husband’s head. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “I can also picture how smug he’d feel if the police came to talk to him. He could be laughing inside.” She formed an expression of dismay and concern. “‘Detective, I was dining with the mayor last night. A dozen people can vouch that I was there. I don’t understand what you think I can tell you.’”
“He’d be home free, except for one little problem.”
“The man he’d paid to do his dirty work.”
Sounding grim, Seth said, “But Brad McCormick’s disappearance suggests your ex-husband knows how to solve that kind of problem.”
Robin couldn’t believe she was having this kind of conversation about her own, hypothetical murder. Seth didn’t seem to be taking it in stride, either, thank goodness; he looked more disturbed than she felt.
“The thing is,” she said slowly, “I still think he’d get a big charge out of killing me himself. I could never tell if he actually enjoyed hurting me, but...”