Page 53 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

“He’s really out of it,” he said after carrying Sam to his bed. He didn’t even wake up when Matti removed his clothes and put on his pajamas.

“No kidding. He had a blast at the museum.” She covered Sam, then they left the room. “So did I. More than I expected.”

“What? You don’t like dinosaurs?”

“That little one was cute.”

“You mean the Chaoyangsaurus?”

“How do you remember the names of them, much less how to say it?”

“I’m smart like that.” He tapped the side of his head. “Ask me anything you want to know about dinosaurs.”

“Actually, there’s not anything I want to know about them. Wait, there is. Why do you know so much about them?”

He followed her into the kitchen. “When I was in high school, I read Eragon by Christopher Paolini. That was the start of my fascination with dragons, which led to wanting to know everything there was to know about dinosaurs.”

“Never heard of that book.”

“You should read it. It’s the first book in an ongoing story, and it’s seriously good. Get this. Christopher was fifteen when he started writing Eragon, and the book hit number one on the New York Times Best Seller List when he was only nineteen. Crazy, huh?”

“Very impressive. I’ll see if the library has it. You want a drink?”

“A beer would be great. You want one?” When she nodded, he got two bottles from the refrigerator. “Want to sit outside?”

“I was going to suggest that.”

He liked her backyard, liked sitting out there with her, liked talking to her. He just liked everything about her. They sat on her patio for a few hours talking about their lives, their childhoods, their dreams. He hadn’t even had soul-deep conversations like that with Cassie, and he had planned to marry her.

Although they’d been engaged, they’d actually not spent much time together. He was in med school, and she was in law school. Long hours of classes, interning, and studying made for tired puppies, and when they did see each other, they fell into bed, made love, and then slept. Sometimes they were even too tired to do anything but fall asleep. She’d broken his heart when she ended the engagement, but looking back on it, she’d done them both a favor.

If they’d followed through with the marriage, they wouldn’t have lasted. He knew that now. And if he had married Cassie, even if they’d divorced, he doubted he’d be sitting on Matti’s patio on a moonlit night while enjoying a conversation the likes of which he’d never had with another woman. And when the night grew chilly, he took her hand and led her inside, to her bed, where he made love to her and wondered if he was falling in love with her.

* * *

Ryan opened his eyes, not sure what had woken him. He listened but didn’t hear anything. Yet, alarm bells were ringing in his head. Thinking it was better being safe than sorry, he slipped out of bed. Whatever had disturbed his sleep was probably nothing. He’d check just to be sure, then crawl back into bed and curl himself around Matti’s warm body.

Enough moonlight was coming in through the window that he could see well enough to make his way to the chair where his jeans were. He put them on and was halfway to the bedroom door when he heard a noise. He stilled. What was it? Maybe Sam was up and getting something to drink. What if it wasn’t Sam?

Ryan wished he had a baseball bat. He was a doctor, for heaven’s sake, not a cop or soldier. He didn’t think in terms of weapons, but he sure would like to have something now. No, his imagination was getting ahead of him. It had to be Sam. He went to the bedroom door and opened it.

Sam screamed.

Chapter 23

Matti sat straight up in bed, her heart pounding. At first, she thought she’d dreamed hearing Sam scream until he did it again. Oh, God, not a dream. She turned to wake up Ryan, but he wasn’t in the bed. What was going on?

A thump sounded, as if someone hit the wall. That was followed by grunts. Someone was fighting. What they’d feared was happening. Sam’s mean men were here to take him, and Ryan was fighting them. Her first instinct was to run out to help, but her better sense overruled that. She scrambled out of bed, grabbed her phone, and as she was doing her best to dress with one hand, she called 911.

“911. Do you need fire, police, or an ambulance?”

“Police.” She gave them her address. “Someone broke in. They’re here now. Please hurry. And call my brother, Detective Wyatt Colton.”

“Police are on the way. Stay on the line with me.”

“Call my brother.”

“We’re doing that now.”