CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

WHITNEY GAZED AT Adam from the armchair where she was sitting. He was walking Romberg to the door of his uncle’s home. The detective had interviewed Whitney, asking her questions about Miranda. Since Whitney had lived in the cottage less than a week, the investigation was focused on Miranda. Whitney had not brought up Saffron Blue. She felt a little guilty about not disclosing this information, but Adam had helped her so much already and she trusted him.

She leaned down to give Lexi’s head a quick pat. The cloying smell of smoke and the commotion of firefighters had spooked the dogs, especially Da Vinci. The Chihuahua was huddled against Jasper on the sofa with Maddie nearby. At least they were all safe.

Lexi’s disappearance had prompted Whitney to keep all the dogs at her side. If she hadn’t, they would have been in the cottage and died in the fire. She couldn’t imagine a worse fate for a helpless animal than to be trapped in an inferno.

What about Miranda? she asked herself. Whoever had thrown the pipe bomb hadn’t cared what kind of horrible death she suffered. How could Miranda have gotten herself involved in something that would result in this?

Adam closed the front door behind the detective and walked back into the living room.

“I’m sorry about the fire,” she told him.

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s your cousin’s fault-not yours.” He dropped down onto the sofa where he’d been sitting when Detective Romberg had questioned her. The motion caused Da Vinci to leap up on his short legs and look around anxiously. Seeing nothing troubling, he lay down again and snuggled up against Jasper.

“I would never have guessed Miranda was in this much trouble.” Whitney twisted the hem of her shorts between her fingers. She’d been doing it since she’d sat down. She told herself to stop.

“I want you to be very careful,” he told her. “You look a lot like your cousin, right? They could come after you by mistake.”

She nodded. “When do you plan to visit Saffron Blue? I’ll need to reschedule some of my walks to go with you.”

Adam shook his head. “I’m going alone. Cabral isn’t the easiest man to talk to. Cops make him antsy because he’s sure they’re looking for an excuse to bust him, which is true. He won’t open up in front of a woman.”

Whitney started to protest then the reality of her situation hit her. “I don’t have anything but the clothes I’m wearing. I guess I’ll have to go shopping first thing in the morning. Luckily all my client info was in my BlackBerry, and I always keep it in my purse.” Another wave of reality crashed over her. “My Jeep-”

“The fire started in the bedroom where the pipe bomb was thrown, then leaped backward toward the carport and garage before the wind kicked up and sent it toward the front of the house. If the fire didn’t destroy your SUV, then it suffered a lot of smoke and water damage. We’ll know more in the morning when it’s light enough to see.”

She stared at him and blinked, her mind suddenly becoming focused. She’d been thinking about Miranda and who might want to kill her. She hadn’t given much thought to her own plight. She had no place to live. No car.

Nothing.

Suddenly, the spacious living room seemed too tiny. The walls were closing in on her. She tried to breathe but her lungs refused to take in air. Throbbing started in her temples, then exploded through her head.

Her anxiety must have been reflected on her face. Adam rose to his feet and came up to her. Without a word, he pulled her into his arms. She tried to draw back but his arms tightened around her. After a moment, he took her face in one hand. One finger gently brushed her cheek. His other hand skimmed soothingly over her back.

“Don’t worry about anything.” He rested his cheek against the top of her head. “We’ll work it out. I’ll help you.”

Adam seemed so strong, so supportive, and she felt so lost. She permitted herself to savor the moment, the comfort he offered.

But as tempting as it was to nestle in his arms and let him take over, Whitney asked, “Why? You hardly know me.”

“I know all I need to know. When you saw your place was on fire, you weren’t concerned about yourself. You cared more about the dogs.”

Whitney didn’t know what to say. She had always loved animals. When she’d seen the flames, her first thought had been relief. The dogs were safe. She didn’t know how she could have faced their owners and told them their pets had been burned alive.

“You can stay here as long as you want,” he told her. “The maid’s quarters are off the kitchen. You’ll have room for the dogs there and a lot of privacy.”

She almost told him she couldn’t stay here, then asked herself where she could possibly go. Who could she turn to? Not Ryan. Trish Bowrather was a possibility, but their friendship-if she could call it that-was new, untried. She wouldn’t feel comfortable asking Trish for help.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice choked.

He brought her over to the sofa and pulled her down beside him. “Escaping death does something to you,” he told her. “It alters the way you see the world.”

He was right, of course, but until he said it Whitney hadn’t quite come to grips with her own close call. The bombing had been a devastating shock. All she could concentrate on was Miranda and the dogs. It was just now sinking in. She’d narrowly missed being killed by whoever was determined to murder her cousin.

If she hadn’t come here for a barbecue, she would have been in the cottage, asleep in the bedroom where the pipe bomb had been thrown. She would have died. In a delayed reaction, her composure started to crack.

“Why didn’t Miranda warn me?”

“She probably didn’t realize what she was involved in would have such deadly consequences.” His arm was around her, his tone comforting. A minute passed while she tried to calm herself. In the aftermath of her divorce, Whitney’s emotions were unstable. Knowing her only relative had betrayed her made something inside Whitney shatter into a million jagged pieces.

There was no way to sugarcoat this, she decided. “Miranda must have known. No matter how happy she seemed, she vanished without a trace for a reason. She should have warned me.”

Mind-numbing disbelief brought the sting of hot tears to her eyes. The tight rein she’d kept on her emotions collapsed. She refused to cry, but her body began to tremble so hard that she had to clutch her bare knees with both hands to keep the shaking under control.

“Try not to be upset,” Adam said. “Things will get better. Time will help. I know.” He squeezed her shoulders, but she didn’t feel any better. “I know what you’re going through.”

“How could you? I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but I just lost everything I have on this earth. Not that things matter, but I almost died.”

Adam didn’t reply. She fought back the tears, then took a minute to let her painful breathing return to something near normal. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He studied her a moment. His expression darkened with an unreadable emotion that revealed something she couldn’t decipher. He’d shared almost nothing about himself and had shown little emotion. She had no idea what was going on in his mind.

“We have a lot more in common than you might think. My uncle was the last of my family. At least you have your cousin.”

At this point Whitney couldn’t honestly say that was a good thing. Family protected each other, didn’t they? Miranda should have said something, done something so Whitney could protect herself.

“I had a brush with death that was even closer than yours.”

His tone brought her up short. She’d never seen him this intense…this serious. She waited for him to continue but he didn’t.

“You did?” she prompted. “When?”