“There was an explosion at Mr. McCall’s training camp. The subsequent fire destroyed the entire compound.”

Nitro’s hold on her tightened, and he spoke again. “No one else was hurt in the fire?”

“The school was on hiatus between sessions. McCall was supposedly staying there alone, but that was something we hoped Miss McCall could verify for us.”

Josie finally found her voice. “But you said an accident.”

“Yes. We believe the explosion was accidental. Mr. McCall was known to have explosive materials on hand at all times. It was part of his teaching curriculum. The subsequent fire burned uncontrolled until an anonymous female trucker called it in on her CB radio.”

They’d assumed she was a trucker. That made sense. She hadn’t identified herself and had called it in on the citizens band radio, which anywhere but Tillamook County, Oregon, would be operated almost exclusively by truckers.

“And you believe Dad died in the fire?”

“If you can verify he was at the compound last night, unfortunately I’d have to say yes, Miss McCall. No one could have survived in the fire that followed the explosion. Was your father staying at the compound last night?”

“Yes,” she replied automatically.

He nodded, his expression not changing. “I’m sorry.”

Nitro put his hand out to the patrolman. “Thank you for coming by. I’ll take it from here.”

The patrolman shook the offered hand. “You’ll be staying with her, Mr…?”

“Yes.” Typically, Nitro didn’t tell the officer his name. He and her dad really did have a lot in common.

“A shock like this can have unexpected side effects.”

“She won’t be alone.”

“I have a roommate,” Josie offered.

Taking in Daniel’s proprietary hold on her, the officer nodded. “Can you be reached here if we have any further news or questions for you?”

“Yes.” She gave the officer her number, which he wrote down on a small pad he kept in his breast pocket.

“Again, I’m sorry about your father, ma’am.”

She bit back the urge to tell him the truth. “Thank you.”

Nitro waited until the patrol car had pulled away from the curb before turning to her. “If your dad’s enemies think he’s dead, they won’t be looking for him.”

“You’re right, but they’re going to figure it out soon enough when they don’t run across any bone fragments in the ashes. And it feels funny letting them think he’s dead when he’s really MIA.”

“It would feel a lot less comfortable if it became a reality. The longer we can keep Tyler’s circumstances from whoever is trying to kill him, the better. We don’t know how muddled his thinking or strong his survival instincts are at the moment.”

“I don’t know. I think Dad could be out of his mind and in a fever and still act on the need to survive. It’s been the driving force of his life for years.”

“You read the early diaries.”

“Yes.” Her eyes burned with the same overwhelming sadness she’d felt in reading her dad’s sporadic journal entries. “He witnessed so much brutality.”

“And he was determined neither you nor your mother would be at risk like the women and children he’d seen hurt in Vietnam.”

“Mom refused the combat training. They fought about it. He didn’t want her to get pregnant. They fought about that, too.”

“He wanted you, Josette.”

“I know. He just didn’t want to bring a child into a world capable of the brutal cruelty he had witnessed.”

“He changed his mind about being a father.”

“But he did everything in his power to raise me not to be vulnerable. He protected me the only way he thought he could.”

“By training you to be a soldier.”

“Yes. Mom wouldn’t let him really train me while she was alive.”

“He hated that.”

“It made him feel helpless, like he’d felt in Vietnam.”

“Yes.”

“They had a strong marriage.”

“Your dad may be paranoid, but he’s not stupid.”

“No. And he loved my mom.”

“He loves you, too.”

“I always knew that, but my life makes a lot more sense now.” Her dad hadn’t trained her to be a soldier because he’d somehow seen her as less feminine than other girls, or because he’d secretly wanted a son instead. He’d done it because he loved her more than his own comfort.

“You wanted me to read the journals. Thank you.”

“So did your dad. He told you to read them, remember. You were his priority, even more than finding out who tried to kill him.”

She’d always known her dad loved her, but after reading the diaries, she realized she’d pretty much been the center of his world since the day her mom had died. She’d shared that spot with her mom before then.

“You were right about there not being a clue to who destroyed the compound.” She bit her lip in thought, but the same reality she’d faced in her bedroom stared her in the face now. “Unless I’m missing something, I can’t see any reason in those journals for someone to try to kill him.”

“And burn down the school.”

“Maybe that was incidental.”

“I don’t think so. Your dad could have been neutralized with a sniper bullet a lot easier and with less chance of discovery than setting the explosives and fire. Whoever did it wanted the compound destroyed as well.”

“Then I guess the next place to start looking is the computerized files.”

“After…”

“After what?”

“After you let me take you to heaven and then lay you gently back down on earth.”

The words made her shiver from the tip of her head to her toes. They were incredibly beautiful as well as sensual. “You sure don’t sound like a soldier right now.”

“I was a Sioux before I was a soldier.”

“You’re Sioux?”

“Yes.”

She reached out and touched his jaw with her fingertip. “You look like a warrior chief to me.”

“I am not a chief.”

“That’s good because I’m not exactly an Indian princess.”

“You are going to be my woman. That’s all that matters.”

“Will I?”

“What?”

“Be your woman?” She’d never considered the possibility he might feel possessive about her while he was trying to rid himself of his obsession for her.

“Do you want to go from me to another man?” he demanded sounding really irritated by the possibility.

What a ridiculous idea. “No, but I didn’t know if you saw making love as a one-off deal.”

“An obsession is not satisfied in one encounter.”

“How many will satisfy you?” And once he was satisfied, would it be over? Would he walk away from her and go back to his solitary soldier ways?

“I do not know. Do you need a number?”

“No.” She’d rather not know D-day. It would only give her something concrete to dread, and she didn’t want anything marring the time she had with him. No matter how short or long it might be. “I don’t need a number.”

“How soon can you be ready to go?”

“Where are we going?”

He named a historic hotel downtown known for its romantic ambiance.

“Why are we going there?”

“I do not want there to be any distractions when we come together for the first time.”

“You want to go to a hotel to make love for the first time?”

“Yes.”

“But Claire—”

“You don’t need the distraction of wondering if your roommate can hear the noises you make when I touch you.”

She forgot what she was going to tell him about Claire for a second. “You think I’m going to make noise?”

“Oh, yeah.”

She shivered deep inside again. “Enough noise that I’m going to be worried about Claire hearing in the other room?”