Free Unbound Pursuit by Lindsay McKenna Page A

her quietly. “Your dad and Wyatt need to know what just happened. Can I help you get things straightened up around here so we can leave?”
    Mattie gave a jerky nod, wiping her cheeks dry. “Y-yes, Dad and Wyatt need to know what happened,” she whispered unsteadily, pushing the chair back. “You stay put, Tal. It will take me about ten minutes to get everything in order. I don’t want you trying to run around on that bum ankle of yours.”
    *
    Wyatt sat with his father at the kitchen table, listening to what Mattie had to say. Daisy and Cat were in the kitchen, preparing dinner, their ears keyed to the conversation. The kitchen smelled of lamb and rosemary, but Tal’s focus was on Mattie and her story. She saw Hank’s face become hard as stone as Mattie told him what had happened. Glancing up, she saw Wyatt’s gray eyes darken with concern, but he said nothing, not wanting to interrupt Mattie’s story. When she finished, she gave her father a sad look.
    “I’m really sorry this happened, Dad.”
    Hank reached across the table and gripped his daughter’s long, slender fingers. “This is not your fault. And I’m not sorry about it, baby girl. It’s all right. I’m just sorry he showed back up in your life to make you cry like this all over again. That’s what hurts me . . . hurts all of us.”
    Sniffing, Mattie whispered, “I-I thought I was finally over him . . .”
    “Mattie,” Wyatt asked, “you said Mark’s never done this before? Shown up unexpectedly?”
    “No . . . never. It’s so strange, Wyatt. Not ever .” She looked at her brother, her voice stressed. “Why did he do that? Why?”
    Taking in a deep breath, Wyatt said, “He’s warning us about something, Mattie.”

CHAPTER 5
    D inner turned into a serious discussion of the incident with Mark. Jake, who had been a Marine, was quiet, but Tal could see he was thinking a lot about it. Mattie ate like a bird, pushing the food around on her plate, her appetite gone. Tal felt sorry for her; she understood that women like her had no defense, no way to protect themselves from life’s harsh side. Mattie finally excused herself halfway through dinner and left for her bedroom. Hank’s expression was grim. His face was hard, his eyes alive with a lot of emotions. Daisy’s gentle voice intruded.
    “Now, listen, the best we can do right now is support Mattie. Don’t bombard her with more questions. I think you asked plenty of her before dinner.”
    Cat snorted. “How I wish I’d been there! I’d have decked the son of a bitch.” She stabbed at her lamb like it was Mark Reuss on her plate instead. “If he only realized what he did to Mattie! He should be hung up, drawn, and quartered.”
    Tal said nothing. Each member of the family was reacting differently to this new threat. And it was a threat. Wyatt remained silent, but she could feel that genius mind of his churning at light speed. And because he held so many clearances beyond top secret with different federal agencies, she knew he couldn’t share with his family much of what he knew or suspected. He could with her, but Tal remained patient, because they’d have to talk about that behind a closed bedroom door. Already, the family office had been turned into what she called an operations center for Wyatt. Earlier he’d gone in there and closed the door to privately take a call on his satellite phone, which went everywhere with him. She knew he’d tell her everything later. Right now, it was important to just be here for his upset family. Tal wished she could do more but knew that because she was an outsider, she couldn’t.
    Jake finished his meal and quietly got up, taking his dirty dish and flatware to the sink, rinsing them off, and then placing them in the dishwasher. His face was grim and shadowed as he picked up the coffeepot, coming over to fill everyone’s cup, including his own. Returning to his seat, he sat down, the chair legs scraping against the oak hardwood floor.