Lara might not believe in Travis’s dreams, but Tate did. He’d seen proof of the strange phenomena several times. At one time, he hadn’t believed it. But he did now. “I’ll think of something. She’s an FBI agent, so I’m not sure she’ll go for me telling her the truth.”
“You’re in love with an FBI agent?” Travis asked. “Why am I not surprised? Can she kick your ass?”
“No,” Tate denied. “But she can put up a damn good fight.”
“Good for her. She sounds like your kind of woman.”
“She is,” Tate agreed. “I’ve never felt like this before, Trav. How do you live with feeling the way you do about Ally?”
“It’s hell, buddy. But you’ll get through it. If you love her, and she loves you, it’s the most amazing feeling in the world.”
Tate shook his head even though Travis couldn’t see him. “She doesn’t love me.”
“Then change her mind,” Travis answered gruffly. “If anybody can wear a woman down, it’s you. Don’t give up. And try telling her that you love her. You’re willing to take chances with everything else, including your own life. Take a chance on her.”
Tate wanted to, but he was too damn scared that she’d tear his heart out. “She hasn’t told me she loves me.” And he was pretty certain she didn’t if she was willing to just walk away from their relationship.
“Did you tell her?” Travis questioned bluntly.
“Nope.”
“Then how do you know how she feels? Talk to her,” Travis suggested. “And keep her with you for now.”
“I plan on it,” Tate answered hoarsely, thinking about the horror of losing Lara completely. He’d never live through it.
“I’ll call later and see how things are going,” Travis told him, his voice concerned.
“Thanks, Trav. Seriously. I appreciate the warning.” Tate knew Travis didn’t talk to anybody about his strange talent. But they’d been friends for a long time, so he’d taken that chance.
“Stay safe,” Travis rumbled.
“You, too.” Tate disconnected. His mind whirled as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket.
Lara would never believe him if he told her that he had a psychic friend. She’d still get on that plane, and she’d die. He felt it in his gut, the same way he knew that Ally would have been dead had Travis not spirited her away during the time of her possible demise.
“Let’s go, boy. I’ve got some planning to do.” He pulled on Shep’s leash, and urged him back to the house as soon as the puppy had watered the edge of the woods.
He thought as he walked back to the house, finally pulling his phone out of his pocket as he reached the porch. Tate had a plan, but it was a little drastic. Lara would be mad, but it was much preferable to her being dead.
He made the calls.
Lara had cried as she hugged Shep for the last time. She had cried when she said good-bye to Aileen and Chloe, too. Damned if she hadn’t felt like a damn leaky bucket all day long.
She sighed as she settled into the passenger seat of the helicopter, looking over at the closed-off portion of the airport.
Obviously, the investigation still wasn’t finished and the area was still shut down.
If not for the investigation, Tate and I never would have met.
Try as she might, Lara still couldn’t regret meeting Tate and being with him during this stolen time. He’d opened up her eyes to so many things, namely her own sexuality. The problem was, she didn’t have any desire to explore that newfound desire with anyone except him.
Tate had been quiet most of the day, telling her he had to go out and take care of some things. It had hurt that he hadn’t wanted to spend her last hours in Colorado with her, but it was probably better that way.
They’d fly to Denver, and she’d say a hasty good-bye, never letting him see her tears until she was well away from him.
They lifted off quickly. Lara felt as though her stomach had stayed on the ground while the rest of her body was still in the helicopter. She looked down at the huge pine trees and the open spaces with no people. She could see Blake’s ranch in the distance, and it spread out in most directions as far as she could see. The only thing next to Blake’s spread was Gabe’s home and horse farm.
She rode along in silence, looking at the Colorado scenery for a long time, nervously trying to keep herself occupied. Finally, she looked at their position and where the helicopter was headed.
And it wasn’t to Denver.
“Where are we going?” she squeaked as she realized that Tate was actually landing.
“I want to show you something,” he answered in a graveled voice.
“I don’t have much time to catch my flight.” She needed to get there early, and she had lingered for a while with Tate’s mom and Chloe.
“That won’t be a problem,” Tate answered nonchalantly.
“Of course it’s a problem. It’s listed as being an on-time flight right now. I take off in less than two hours. We have to head to the airport now.” She was anxious as he lowered the helicopter into a mass of pine trees. Not that she was worried about him landing safely, but she was concerned about the area in which he landed. They were nowhere near the airport.
“It’s not an issue,” Tate repeated.
“Why?”
“Because I’m not taking you to the airport,” he said in a husky voice in her ear.
Lara looked around frantically, seeing nothing but mountains and trees as they landed.
She pulled off her headphones as Tate shut down the aircraft. “What in the hell are you doing?”
He pulled his headphones off and looked her straight in the eyes. His eyes were dark gray and incredibly intense as he informed her, “I’m detaining you temporarily.”
Lara stopped and gaped at him before he hopped out of the helicopter without further explanation.
What the hell was he doing?
She opened the door, turned in the seat and looked around, seeing absolutely nothing but wilderness. The landing pad had been cleared, but everything else was buried in snow.
Tate appeared, lifted her out of the seat, and closed the door behind her after he lowered her to the ground.
Luckily, she wore boots, and they were buried, the snow up to her knees. “Tate, we have to go. My flight—”
“Will be leaving without you,” Tate concluded her sentence. “Something is going to happen on that flight. Something bad. You’ll be as far away as possible.”