fought to come up with a new plan on the spur of the moment.
“You know, Jordan,” she said as she stared around the house again. “I’ve been on the run, one way or the other, since I was five years old. I never attended a normal school, I didn’t have playmates, and I never had a home.” Her gaze met his as her eyes flashed with pain. “Changing my hair, my looks, my name, my fingerprints, or my location never helped. They always found me eventually and they always will. Delaying the inevitable will only give them the chance to surprise me. What you should do is take your men and just leave. Let me face my past and deal with it for good. I know what I’m facing and I know how to deal with them.”
Hell.
Leaning back against the barstool, he regarded her silently. Tehya was putting down roots and now she was determined to stand and fight for those roots. He had to admit, he hadn’t expected that of her but perhaps he should have expected.
Tehya had never been predictable.
“If I were in danger, Tehya, would you just walk away?” he asked then knowing the answer, just as she should realize he could never walk away either.
“That’s different,” she answered softly. “As you suspected, I care more for you than I should.”
Damn her, she had the ability to slip past his defenses in ways he could never have expected and never failed to surprise him.
“Do you believe I don’t care for you?” How the hell had she managed to come to that conclusion?
“Observation,” she snorted. “So, did you discuss my phone with Commander Reece?” Pushing away from the center island, she moved to stand across from him. Her brows lifted inquisitively as he fought to find a way to deal with her last comment as well as her abrupt change of subject and the memory of Killian’s betrayal.
Jordan felt the familiar anger rising inside him at the thought of what his former friend had done. “Your ability to call the team wasn’t affected,” he informed her. “There was a tracker pin attached to the programming. He swears the default kicked in and kept calls from sensitive numbers from coming in which is possible, but doesn’t change the fact he did it.”
Her lips parted, her tongue touching the tip of her upper lip for a second in a gesture unique to Tehya. Mocking disbelief and an edge of hurt.
“Killian definitely believes blood will tell, I guess,” she said impassively. “Are we shocked?”
Actually he had been. Shocked and furious. Had Killian been there with him when Jordan learned what he had done, then blood might have been spilled.
“You never called any of us either, Tehya,” he reminded her, his voice tight. “You knew you were being followed, you knew someone had found you.”
She shook her head, her lips tightening for a second as the long ponytail her hair had been gathered into brushed against her back. “I honestly thought it was paranoia,” she admitted bitterly. “I’d never been in one place longer than a few months until I joined your group.…” She gave her head a brief shake. “Base was so secure, my suite there completely protected. I worked where I lived. There was no possibility of any danger.” Her breath hitched for a moment. “I thought it was a product of being away from that security and being on my own.”
She had ignored her instincts and that could have been fatal.
Jordan exhaled roughly at the thought of the danger she could be facing.
“John and Travis are heading in with their wives,” he told her. “We need to find out who’s behind the search for you and why. The team that’s heading here are no more than flunkies. Ira Arthurs and Mark Tenneyson aren’t leaders. Someone has to be backing them.”
“I don’t need your help with this.” Her expression became closed. “I’ll deal with it. I told you Jordan. I’ve been-here-done-this. I don’t need your help.”
“And you think I’m going to let you?” He was almost amused to think that she would believe that. Amused and fucking offended. “Stop wasting your damned breath.”
Her arms crossed beneath her breasts. “What do you care? You were more than eager to walk away nine months ago. Do you really think I need you around now? Trust me, I don’t.”
No one was able to make him mad faster than Tehya could. Son of a bitch, she was staring right back at him, actually believing