On unsteady legs, she headed toward her office. Normally, she would laugh at Alberto’s nickname for her, but something about Landon’s boss and friend calling her didn’t sit right. Sure, he had occasionally called to check in with her, as he promised to do while Landon was on assignment in Afghanistan for his security firm, but he never insisted on speaking with her.
She had been with Landon for over fifteen years. He was a SEAL when they began dating, although she simply thought he was a lieutenant in the navy at the time. The first few times he said goodbye before heading overseas, she worried she’d never see him again. But as the years went by, it just became a part of life. When Landon told her he had left active duty as a SEAL to take a special assignment for the private security firm, she was thrilled, knowing he’d no longer be in harm’s way. She had spent their months of separation putting her efforts into the bakery and planning their wedding slated for the following September, not to mention preparing for the arrival of their son, the result of the two weeks he’d spent visiting back in August.
Now, the unease she hadn’t felt since the early days had returned.
Closing her office door, she sat behind the desk, staring at the black phone like it had a contagious disease. Chills ran through her as she reached for it with cold fingers and picked up the receiver.
“Alex?” she answered, trying to mask her nerves.
“Rayne,” he replied in that familiar deep voice, a hurriedness in his tone. “Have you spoken to Landon recently?”
Furrowing her brows, she tried to calm her racing heart, her mind spinning a mile a minute. She thought back to the past week. She had been so preoccupied with the upcoming holiday season, working nearly sixteen hours a day at the bakery, it hadn’t dawned on her that Landon hadn’t called Sunday evening, like he usually did. That was four days ago. It had been eleven days since she’d spoken to him. What had happened in the past eleven days to bring on this phone call?
“No…,” she said timidly, swallowing back the ache in her throat, her air passage tightening. “We usually speak every Sunday evening at seven. The bakery’s been slammed with holiday orders. It didn’t even phase me when I didn’t hear from him.”
Alexander let out a barely audible sigh. Rayne could picture his normally intimidating physique sinking. She bit her lip, her pulse quickening.
“There’s been an attack,” he said in a soft voice.
“An attack?” she squeaked out, feeling dizzy, hot, and cold at the same time. “When?”
“I’m still trying to find out the details and narrow down a timeline. When I didn’t hear from him during our normal check-in time, I started asking around. I called a friend who’s deployed over in Kabul. He said he had heard rumblings about a bombing of a school or something fifty miles out of town.”
“I don’t understand,” she interrupted, holding on to all the hope she could. “How is this relevant to Landon? Where was he stationed?”
“Rayne,” Alexander continued, his voice sincere. “Landon wasn’t on the front lines of anything. It was more of a humanitarian mission, but even so, it was still dangerous. Many locals don’t like the presence of westerners, especially when they believe we’re interfering with certain customs.”
She shook her head, her stomach churning with each word Alexander muttered. “Where’s Landon, Alex?”
“I don’t know. My friend owed me a favor, so he agreed to take his unit to where Landon was stationed and check it out for me. When he got there…” There was a heavy pause.
“When he got there what?” she pushed, her voice growing louder and more unsteady.
“There was nothing left. The building had been reduced to rubble.”
Gasping for air, she felt the room spin as her world fell apart. This couldn’t be happening. They were supposed to get married. She was carrying his child. They were supposed to live happily ever after in their beautiful house and raise their son together.
“There was evidence of only one body in the vicinity. They assume it was the bomber since she was wearing a backpack that appears to have been the origination point of the explosion.”
Rayne’s mind raced. Did Landon escape with his life? Surely, even in an explosion, there would have been some sort of evidence of a body, wouldn’t there? She prayed that was the case. That he had gotten out and was just laying low, trying to determine his next move. He was a former SEAL, after all. He had served over a decade in some of the most dangerous places in the world before taking this job.
“They’re trying to determine a precise timeline and who’s responsible,” Alexander continued. “The initial guess is a suicide bomber, but they usually target large groups of people out in public. This was a building in the middle of nowhere. Even if everyone perished, it would have only killed a dozen or so people.”
“What was Landon doing for your company?”
“Rayne…” He paused. “As much as I want to tell you, Landon’s life may be in jeopardy because of his assignment. I can’t do the same to you.”
“You think Landon was targeted specifically?”
“I do.”
“By whom?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know. I’m afraid I won’t have any answers until I can get feet on the ground over there and push people to start talking.”
She nodded, closing her eyes as tears trickled down her cheeks. He’s not dead, she reminded herself. It was the only hope she had.
“Rayne?”
“Yeah?”
“He’s okay. I know it. He’s one of the bravest, smartest men I’ve had the good fortune of knowing. I promise I’ll bring him home to you.”
Placing her hand on her protruding stomach, she put all her faith into Alexander’s words. It was all she could do.
“Here ya go, Miss,” a man dressed in a long trench coat and expensive-looking shoes said, summoning Rayne back from her memories. She snapped her head up, her gaze lingering on his debonair smile, blond hair, clear blue eyes, and sexy five o’clock shadow. Her expression flat, she stared at him for a brief moment. When he gestured toward his outstretched hand, she glanced down, unsure how to react to the five dollar bill he held out to her. She returned her eyes to his.
“’Tis the season, isn’t it? Just promise you won’t buy drugs or booze, okay?” He shoved the bill into her hand, then disappeared around the corner.