Aaron Hoades arrived the same time Detective Ryan Dole did. Tori directed her dad upstairs. Dole eyed her, nervously hitched his pants up by the waist and sighed.“You got any ideas who could have done this? See anyone?” he asked.Tori shook her head. No.Dole poked the letter with the end of his pen. “You use these to open it?” He pointed to her crumpled pile of rubber gloves.Tori nodded. Yes.“You see anyone outside last night or this morning?” he asked.“Nope. But around midnight I thought I heard the mouth of the mailbox open. Thought maybe my Dad put something in there.”“Your Dad put something in?” Dole was frowning, alert with concern.“No. Didn’t see him. Just heard the flap squeak. It was too dark to see who it was.”“What made you think it was your dad?” Dole wanted to know.“Who else would put something in there or take som

He recalled Tori’s tale about the cat. How angry he felt as she was telling him. Bad guys were one thing. He could deal with those, no problem. But he was not trained to deal with a sick, twisted individual, a crazy person who hurt animals. He knew about zealots, evil men who knew only death and destruction. It was easy to send them back to the source as they called it. But someone with his own private war against a family, against Tori? He felt ill prepared. But he damn well had to try, even if it wasn’t wise.Dr. Hoades was at the opened front doorway. “Sean. The detectives here need to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”“No, sir. I don’t mind. Someone going to tell me what’s going on?” Instinct made him take Tori’s hand as he followed the doctor into the house. He smelled coffee. Rachel called to him from the kitchen and, yes, he certainly did want a steaming cup. Black.He was led to the living room, where he took a s

Tori woke up in Sean’s motor home hearing the gentle roll of the waves in the distance. She could feel the soldier was in a deep sleep. She remained nestled in his warm embrace; her body spooned in front of him, her back resting against his chest. Air whistled through his teeth. She turned to look at him over her shoulder. His deep rose-colored lips were smooth and just waiting to be kissed. She squirmed to roll over and face him and his arms tightened around her waist at first, then his hands lowered to the cheeks of her ass as he allowed her to turn in the bed. The sheets were musty, pulling up from Sean’s corner, exposing the mattress underneath.He pressed her to him, his large hands on the back side of her waist, pulling her toward him. She felt his hardness as she played with the hair around his ears and kissed him. Several kisses later, he adroitly encased himself in a condom, moved on top of her, on his hands and knees, making entry into her swollen s