by Cynthia Eden
He laughed. “I know you. I make a point of learning all about my enemies and my allies.”
“Oh, yeah? Then which one am I?” Enemy, you fool. I am—
“Detective Shayne Townsend... I believe you knew him, rather intimately, correct?”
She stilled at that name. “Shayne is dead.” Pain knifed through her at his memory.
“He went out in a blaze of glory, didn’t he? Tell me, did you realize that your ex-lover had twisted the law so many times?”
“No.” Absolutely not. And that was what she’d told Internal Affairs again and again when they’d grilled her. Guilty by association. But she hadn’t been guilty, and she’d known nothing about the secrets that Shayne kept.
“I don’t know that I believe you, and if your superiors—or those pencil pushers at IA—were to find out about that ten grand in your account...” He laughed once more. She hated that grating laughter. “What do you think they’d believe?”
Anyone who discovered the money in her account would assume she was on the take. “You—”
“That money can be a token of appreciation or it can be a nail in your coffin, Detective. The choice is yours.”
“I can prove I didn’t take it!” She was a good cop. She’d worked hard all of these years to earn her place on the force.
“I doubt it,” he said, sounding almost bored. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
Her gaze flew around. She’d backed across the street. Plenty of people were swarming in the area, but no one was close enough to overhear her conversation.
“Just make sure too much time isn’t given into the investigation of Elizabeth Snow’s death in that fire,” he said.
“What? Elizabeth Snow isn’t dead!” Had the bastard meant to kill the woman?
Silence.
Melinda knew she’d said the wrong thing. Oh, hell. “Don’t you think of it,” Melinda ordered. “You stay away from that woman.”
He sighed. “You don’t sound like you’re being a team player, Detective.”
“I’m not on your team!”
He hung up. She ran back toward the fire, looking desperately for Elizabeth. She’d been there just a few moments before. Where was she?
* * *
SHE WASN’T DEAD?
Rage boiled inside him. Elizabeth Snow had been in the house! She shouldn’t have escaped that blaze. He’d watched her go in. He’d called—he’d planned everything!
But she was still on the loose. A wild card that had to be contained. He wasn’t sure how many times Steve Yeldon had contacted her before he took out that fool reporter. Elizabeth could know too much. She could remember too much.
And that was why she couldn’t be allowed to live.
As for the detective...he’d warned her, too. Either she would be his ally or his enemy.
His enemies had an unfortunate habit of winding up dead.
* * *
“THIS ISN’T MY HOUSE,” Elizabeth said as she leaned forward and peered through the windshield.
Mac’s car was a little scraped on one side—courtesy of flying debris from the explosion—but he’d take care of that damage later. Right then his priority had just been getting Elizabeth away from that scene and to safety.
“I know it’s not your place,” he told her, and he didn’t let his lips curl. Odd that, after everything, she actually made him want to smile. “It’s mine.”
Elizabeth turned to look at him. “Why am I at your house?”
“Because you’re spending the night with me.”
He easily heard her sharply indrawn breath.
“Look, Mac,” Elizabeth said, “that kiss was a heat-of-the-moment thing. Adrenaline and craziness. It wasn’t me offering—offering—”
“To jump into bed with me?” Mac asked as he pulled the car into the garage. He’d moved to that home on the edge of the city just a few weeks before. He’d felt closed in, and he’d wanted a new place.
“Right.” Her voice was sharp. “I wasn’t offering to jump into bed with you.”
He killed the engine. “Pity.”
“Mac—”
“You’re here for your protection.” They’d get to the jumping in bed and heat-of-the-moment part again later. “In case you missed it, someone is gunning for you.”
“It’s rather hard to miss.”
Yes, it was. “I’ve got top-of-the-line security here. Cameras on the outside and inside. No one will get within twenty feet of the place without me knowing about it. You’ll be safe here, and after everything that has happened, don’t you want a safe place to crash?” Crash with me, baby. I won’t let you down.
Her shoulders sagged a bit. “Yes.”
“Good. Then let’s get inside.” The garage door had already closed behind them. He hurried around the vehicle and opened her door. “You’ll be safe here,” he told her once more. “Count on that.”
His hand lifted, and he brushed against the soot on her cheek. Would he ever forget seeing her in that room, surrounded by fire? Hell, no, he wouldn’t. He hadn’t thought they’d get to that window, not in time.
“You can shower, if you want.” Because they both smelled like ashes and fire. “You’re welcome to use the master bath.” He led the way inside, making sure to set his alarm system. He’d installed that system himself, modeling it after the security he and his family had set up at the McGuire ranch.
“You keep doing so much for me.” She stopped in his den, looking fragile and lovely and making him want so many things that he shouldn’t, not then. “How am I supposed to pay you back?”
“I thought we covered this,” he told her gruffly. “We’ll deal with payback later.”
“Why?” It was a stark question. “Why me? Why did you decide to get involved in my life this way?” She laughed, but it was a ragged sound, not the sweet melody he’d heard before in the library, when she was doing her story times with the kids. “Do you just have some big desire to help lost causes?”
His gaze flickered at that, and Mac moved closer to her. She was about a head shorter than he was, and her body was so much smaller. He’d have to use care with her, always. “You’re not a lost cause.”
She smiled. “You don’t know that for sure. You don’t know—”
“You think I don’t?”
Surprise flashed on her face.
“You think that I didn’t investigate you, right away? Baby, I work for a security company. Our business is discovering secrets. You were tangled up in a murder. Did you think I’d really walk into all of that blind?”
He saw the tremble that shook her.
“I made it my business to know, all right? I pulled up all the police records. I went through all the old news stories. I learned as much as I could about Nate’s death...and your involvement.”
She took a step back. “And you still want to help me?”
“You were a victim back then. I believe that. You were—”
“I wasn’t always a victim. And I sure wasn’t always the good girl.” She looked away from him. “Do you know how many times I was in juvie back then? Bouncing around, going back and forth. I was pretty much on my own at sixteen, and trouble was something I was very good at finding.”
“Until Nate died.”
Her lips quivered, then she pressed them together. “Everything changed after that. I became someone new.”
“No more finding trouble?”
“No more danger. No more risks. No more walks on the wild side. I couldn’t be that person anymore.” Her voice seemed hollow. “It was hard enough to just keep going, every single day, knowing that Nate was dead and it was my fault.”
Her fault? “It wasn’t—”
“I was in the cabin with him. We heard a noise that night, a car coming
toward us.” Her arms wrapped around her stomach. “We’d broken in to that cabin. Two crazy kids. We thought it was abandoned. That we’d be safe there. We just...” Her gaze fell to the floor. “We didn’t have much in the way of families. My mom cut out when I was a kid, and my dad passed away. Nate—he never talked about his family. Never. It was cold that night, and we were just looking for some shelter.” A tear trickled down her cheek, cutting through the ash there. “A shelter from the storm.”
He waited, hating the pain that he could feel gathering around her.
“We’d made it to Colorado, but we weren’t prepared for the snow storm that hit. We broke into that cabin because there wasn’t a choice. We thought we’d die if we stayed outside.”
But Nate had died.
“When we heard the car...the footsteps coming... Nate told me to hide. He said he’d deal with things. I just— I was eighteen. I panicked. I didn’t want someone calling the cops on us, so I hid.” She swallowed. “But... I think the guy knew Nate. I heard them talking. It wasn’t some cabin owner. It was a guy who’d followed Nate out there.”
He’d read that account in the police files, but he didn’t interrupt. He wanted to hear the full story, from her. It was important—it showed that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to trust him. I hope the hell so.
“I was going out there to join them when I heard Nate scream.” She rocked a bit, rolling back on her heels. “Nate yelled for me to run and then—then there was an explosion. A gun blast. A blast and then...silence.”
He wanted to pull her into his arms.
“I screamed when I heard the gunshot.” She confessed this in a whisper. “I screamed for Nate, but he didn’t answer, and I could hear footsteps, coming toward me.” Her gaze lifted to his. “I knew the shooter was coming to kill me, too.”
“But he didn’t.”
“I ran out the back door. It was so cold out there. So cold. The snow was coming down, and I didn’t have on a coat. I was there, shaking and trying to figure out what to do.” She exhaled. “There was firewood near the back door. I could hear him coming behind me. I—I just reacted. I grabbed the wood and I hit him, as hard as I could. The gun blasted again. I guess it went off when he fell. He hit the ground. I—I grabbed the gun and I ran back inside.”
He had to touch her. His hand lifted and skimmed down her arm. “You stayed alive.”
“I locked the back door. Dragged a chair over and angled it under the door so he couldn’t get it open. Then I did the same thing with the front door.” Her words were coming faster. “Nate was on the floor. So much blood was around him. He was still and just—dead. I touched his throat, and there wasn’t a pulse. The last thing he ever did was warn me to run.”
He pulled her against his chest. “He cared about you. He wanted you safe.” I can understand that.
“I ran back inside because I knew I’d die in the cold. I had to stay in that cabin, but the killer knew I was trapped in there. He—he busted one of the windows. I heard the glass shatter. That’s when I ran into the closet. I put my back against the wall in there, and I aimed the gun.” She was so stiff in his arms. “I was hiding, but if he’d found me, I would have shot him.”
And she’d stayed in that closet, all night long. Trapped in the cabin with the body of her dead boyfriend. What the hell kind of nightmare must that have been for an eighteen-year-old?
“But I guess...” Elizabeth murmured. “I guess you knew all that, huh?”
He’d known the cold, hard facts. That Elizabeth and her boyfriend had taken shelter in what they thought was an empty cabin. That an unknown assailant had shot Nate. That Elizabeth had been found the next day, still in that closet. Still holding the gun.
She’d been the suspect at first. But there had been no gun powder residue on her fingers. Then they’d found the killer’s blood outside, on the wood that Elizabeth had hit him with. They had the killer’s DNA, but not him.
For years, he’d eluded police.
“I knew,” Mac said softly. But it wasn’t the same. Hearing her pain and her fear just gutted him.
She pushed against his chest and he backed away, though he really wanted to just keep right on holding her. “Maybe one day, I’ll get you to bare your soul to me,” she said.
He’d do it in an instant, for her.
She glanced to the right. “But for now, I think I’ll take that shower.” She headed for the door, her steps slow.
“Elizabeth!”
She stilled.
“You’re not the only one with demons. Trust me on that.”
She gave that ragged laugh that tore at him. “My demons won’t leave me alone. They’re trying to kill me.” She looked back at him. “Kill us.”
“Not going to happen.”
Her lips curved. “There you go, thinking you’re some kind of superhero again.”
No, not a superhero. Just a man desperate to keep her safe.
A few moments later the bathroom door closed behind her. He headed to his desk. He called Sullivan, keeping an eye on the hallway just in case Elizabeth came back. His brother answered on the second ring. “We’ve got a big damn problem,” Mac told him.
* * *
ELIZABETH SNOW WASN’T at home. Melinda Chafer glared at the dark house. Elizabeth and Mac had both vanished from the fire scene, and she’d figured they’d gone to this place.
Guess I figured wrong on that one.
She’d tried calling the number Mac had given her before, but no one had answered there, either. She didn’t know if Mac was deliberately avoiding her or if something sinister might have happened.
I need to find them, now. She pulled out her phone. But this time, she called the PD. She’d get Mac’s home address and try his place. She’d explain about the tangled mess that was happening with the killer and her bank account and then she’d—
A rustle sounded behind her. Melinda whirled around.
She didn’t get to scream. A hard hand slapped over her face, and something sharp jabbed into her neck. She tried to claw out, tried to kick—
But her body already felt weighted down. Far too sluggish.
She was falling—and someone was catching her.
“After our little talk,” he murmured, “I realized that I just couldn’t count on you to be an ally. Pity. You’re about to see what happens to my enemies.”
She had to get her gun. She had to fight...
“You should’ve just been a team player.”
She couldn’t go out like this.
She wouldn’t.
Chapter Five
He knows everything.
Mac knew about her run-ins with the law. About her family—a mother who had just wanted to throw her away. He knew she’d looked for trouble, wherever she could find it.
But that stopped with Nate. He cared about me. I cared about him. We were going to change everything. Together.
Then Nate had been taken away. And she’d been left in that cabin with his ghost.
“Elizabeth?”
She jerked when Mac rapped on the door.
“Elizabeth, are you okay?”
She pulled his robe around her body, holding the lapels a bit tighter, and then her left hand reached for the doorknob. When she opened the door, steam from her shower drifted in the air. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stay in the shower so long.” And that was such a lie. She’d been hiding from him.
His hair was wet—he must have used another shower—and he was just wearing a pair of low-slung jeans. His muscled chest rippled, and yes, she couldn’t help but notice that hard strength. She’d known he was powerful, but seeing him that way...
Keep your control in place.
She already felt far too ragged around the edges. Emotionally exposed and coming off an adren
aline crash. Oh, that did not make a good combination. Pain filled her, and she wanted that pain to stop.
The girl she’d been would have known exactly how to escape from pain.
By doing something wild.
Only she wasn’t that girl anymore. She’d decided that girl had died with Nate. Someone new had taken her place. Someone who didn’t take risks. Someone who tried to always play things safe.
She’d gotten her GED. She’d gone to college. Worked day and night, scraping by to pay her tuition. She hadn’t dated much, and only men who were safe. Men who didn’t make her feel so out of control. Men who didn’t push her for more than she wanted to give.
She saved her adventures for her books. Books were her haven. When the rest of the world made no sense, she turned to them. She’d always done that, even before Nate. Tried to get lost in other worlds because they made the one she actually lived in fade away.
The perfect escape.
Elizabeth cleared her throat. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
“Just checking in with Sullivan.” He backed up so that she could slide past him. Their bodies brushed, and she felt that sharp pull between them. The awareness that was always close when he was near her. “He’s going to monitor the arson investigation at Steve Yeldon’s place and let us know what’s happening.”
“So...Sullivan knows everything about my past, too?” Shame burned through her again. She hated to have her past so exposed. A life that she’d wanted to forget. And she had forgotten...
Why had this started again?
“He knows.” Soft. Grim.
They were in his bedroom. His bed—a massive beast with a big, sturdy-looking headboard—was just a few feet away. The wild girl she’d been couldn’t help but think of Mac in that bed, with her.
The woman who was trying to keep her control...she edged away from the bed. “Sullivan scares me.”
“Sully scares a lot of people.”
That wasn’t exactly reassuring.
“Don’t worry,” he added, “you don’t have anything to fear from him. Sully is on our side.”