It was hard to believe that she’d been back in Charlottesville for two weeks already. However, she wasn’t surprised that she hadn’t seen or heard from Roland at all during that time. She had felt him putting distance between them their last day together.
Granted they’d slept together the night before and had awakened that morning and made love. But she had picked up on little ways their relationship had started to change. He’d been quietly withdrawing.
He had certainly warned her that things would end up this way. She might have loved him, but at no time had she assumed he had fallen in love with her. Although she believed there were always possibilities, she was also realistic enough to know that some things just weren’t meant to be.
But still…there were days when she thought the least he could do was call to see how she was doing. When he hadn’t, she figured he’d decided to cut all communication with her. The intimacy they’d shared all those days and nights had obviously meant more to her than it had to him. Maybe it had just been a sex thing. She understood that, but that didn’t have to mean she liked it.
Lennox was well aware that as long as she continued to live in Charlottesville, at some point in time their paths would cross. She just hoped when it happened, she would be prepared. But there had been no way she could have dealt with seeing him today, which is why she had turned down Striker and Margo’s invitation. Since Roland was her uncle, she was sure he would have been there, but she just couldn’t face him yet.
She dropped her purse on the sofa before going into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. Aggie had told her about a great movie on the Hallmark Channel and she was anxious to watch it. It seemed like watching romance movies would be all the excitement she would get for a while.
But then, that wasn’t exactly true. She would be going to church tomorrow, then would fly out on Monday for New Orleans. She was practically packed and ready to go. She planned to stay there for a week, using the time alone to do some serious thinking. She had even mentioned the possibility that she would move away from Charlottesville to Aggie. There was no way she’d return to Boston but maybe she would go home to South Dakota. She still owned her parents’ home there.
When she heard the sound of her phone, she pulled it out of her purse and frowned when she saw it was Special Agent Warner. She had picked up on the man’s interest when they’d met again, once she was back in town. Then he had called her one night last week, just to chat. If this was another one of those calls, she honestly wasn’tin the mood. Nor did she want to give him the impression that she returned his interest. The next time he called, she would break it to him in a nice way, but didn’t feel up to it tonight. So, instead of taking the call, she returned her phone to her purse.
Deciding to change into something more comfortable while the water heated for her tea, she went into her bedroom. Frowning, she glanced around, knowing immediately that something wasn’t right. Her closet door was open. But she never left that door open. Suddenly, an eerie feeling came over her and she began to slowly back out the room. When she saw a movement out the corner of her eye, she was about to run when suddenly, a deep male voice commanded, “Don’t move! Stay right where you are.”
In the doorway that connected her bedroom to the ensuite was a strange man. And he was pointing a gun directly at her.
ROLAND HADN’T PLANNED TOstay this late at Striker and Margo’s place, but time had slipped away while spending time with his grand-nephew and getting to know Frazier’s Rylee.
Roland thought she was a nice woman and could see why she’d captured his brother’s eye. It wouldn’t surprise Roland if she had managed to capture Frazier’s heart as well.
Just like Lennox had captured his.
Funny how two brothers, who’d been dead set against falling in love for different reasons, had done just that. The more he thought about it, he knew in his heart that he truly loved Lennox. Even Becca apparently knew it. Though Becca would always hold a special place in his heart, what she had told him that last time he’d seen her in his dreams was true. It was time for him to move on. It had taken him years to finally accept that, but he had done so. Mainly because he had found someone worth loving again. Someone he wanted to share the rest of his life with.
Though it was late, he was on his way to Lennox’s place. He needed to see her and tell her that she had been right about those possibilities. She had done what no other woman had managed to do--defrost his heart.
When his cell phone rang, he pressed a button on the steering wheel connected to the Blue-tooth. “This is Roland.”
“Roland, this is Special Agent Warner. Is Dr. Roswell with you?”
Roland frowned at the urgency in the man’s voice. “Why?”
“I tried calling her, but she’s not answering her phone.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Roland said before he could stop himself.
“This isn’t the time to act territorial, Summers. Her life might be in danger.”
That got Roland’s attention. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. “What do you mean her life might be in danger?”
“The police department in Texas made a mistake. It wasn’t Sam Meadows who was killed in the shoot-out with their police. It was one of his men. They’d switched identities.”
“What the hell!”
Special Agent Warner then added, “We have reason to believe Meadows is in Charlottesville and plans to harm to Dr. Roswell.”
The hell he will!“I was just on my way over to her place. Less than five minutes away.” Disconnecting the call, he then placed one to Lennox. When she didn’t answer, hecalled Stonewall who was still at the cookout with the others.
“Yeah, Ro?”
“Lennox’s life might be in danger. That man the Texas police shot, the one they assumed was Sam Meadows, wasn’t him. Let me talk to Joy.”
“Damn!”
“I was on my way to see Lennox, so I’m less than five minutes away. Both me and Special Agent Warner tried calling her, but she’s not answering.”