She shrugged. “I don’t get it.”
“He looked like a cop, Jane. Either he was a cop, or still is. If that’s the case, he may have contacts in the precinct. Hell, he could work there for all I know, which could mean that he knows where we’re hiding you.”
Now he had her attention. She glanced nervously up and down the length of the alley. “You don’t really think he’ll come after me…do you?”
“He was looking for something when he attacked you. I don’t think he found it.”
She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth. “So I am in danger.”
Her teeth left white impressions in her rosy lip. He imagined what it would be like to nibble on those lips, like the forbidden fruit that they were. Curious as he might have been, it was out of the question, for his sake as much as hers.
“Until we figure out who did this to you and why, you’re not really safe here at this halfway house, either.” He didn’t want to alarm her. God knows she had enough to worry about already, but he couldn’t risk her taking off on him again. His instincts were telling him she’d gotten herself mixed up in something or with someone with ties to the police. Meaning, from here on in, he didn’t know who he could trust.
And until she remembered something, finding out who did this was going to be a painful process of elimination.
She tipped her head and looked up at him through narrowed eyes. “Until we figure it out? You mean you and the Twin Oaks police?”
“The truth is, I’m at a dead end. We need to work on getting your memory back. We, as in you and me.”
A smug smile curled the corners of her mouth. “In other words, you need me.”
“Yeah,” he conceded. “I need you.” Surprisingly, the words weren’t nearly as hard to say as he’d expected. He didn’t want to need anyone. Especially someone like her. One wrong move and he could kiss his badge goodbye.
“I could say I told you so, but I won’t.”
He grinned and nodded to the open window. “Anything you need to go back for?”
She shot the window a scathing look. “Nothing I can’t live without.”
“We should go.” He didn’t like the idea of hanging out in an alley, even in broad daylight. He never knew who might be watching.
“Not to another halfway house?”
“I’m yours for the day. Tonight you’ll stay in a safe house. Fair enough?”
“Fair enough.”
They started walking, but she stopped suddenly, a puzzled look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” Mitch asked.
“If I wasn’t safe here, why didn’t you come inside and get me? Why did you wait until I climbed out the window.”
“Like I said, I had the feeling you were up to something. I thought it might be fun to wait and see what you planned to do. I was going to give you five more minutes, then come in.”
For a minute she looked like she might belt him, then a reluctant smile crept across her face. “I guess I deserved that. What tipped you off, by the way?”
“You were so against coming here, I figured I’d have to drag you in kicking and screaming. When you didn’t so much as bat an eyelash, I knew you had something planned. Sneaking away seemed the logical next move, and somehow I couldn’t see you strolling out the front door.”
“And you were right.”
“Yeah, well, that happens every now and then.” He started walking again and she fell in step beside him. “I get the distinct impression that when you want something, you don’t let anyone or anything get in your way.”
“Is that a good or a bad thing?”
“I guess that all depends on what you want.”
“Oh, I know what I want. The question is, what do you want, Detective?”
He looked down at her and for a moment their eyes locked. Hers were soft and intelligent and wise beyond their years. Did she know just by looking at him? Could she tell he knew exactly what he wanted, even though he also knew he could never have it? It was all the more reason to keep his priorities clear.
He forced himself to look away. “I want to solve your case. That’s it.”
He was lying. Jane could see it in his eyes. This attraction she’d been feeling was no longer one-sided. Maybe it never had been. But she was pretty sure he wasn’t the type of cop to fraternize with a victim of a crime he was investigating. He was way too by-the-book for that.
Beside her, Mitch swore. He grabbed her roughly and threw her against the side of the Dumpster they were walking past, knocking the breath from her lungs. Covering her body with his own, he pinned her there. She cried out as the unforgiving metal cut into her back.
Fear, paralyzing and absolute, clutched at her gut, twisting it inside out. For a second she was too bewildered to react. With him plastered against her, she could barely breathe. All she could think was, not again. Please not again. Instinct kicked in and adrenaline rushed through her veins. She shoved hard against his chest and screamed. “Let me go!”
“Shhh!” he hissed, clasping a hand over her mouth. She sunk her teeth into his palm, tasting the salty tang of his skin. He grunted but didn’t let go. Then she noticed the barrel of his gun not three inches from her face and her jaw went slack. It wasn’t pointed at her, but that didn’t make it look any less intimidating.
“Are you going to yell again?” he whispered.
She shook her head and he dropped his hand. She tasted blood, meaning she’d definitely broken the skin. Oh boy, he looked mad, too.
“Keep quiet and don’t move,” he whispered gruffly. He edged his way to the corner of the Dumpster, his weapon drawn and poised in front of him. He’d barely cleared the side when she heard a loud ping. Then another, closer. He darted back, resuming his original position, cursing under his breath.
That’s when it began to sink in—the pings she’d heard were bullets hitting the Dumpster. Someone was shooting at them!
His body resting protectively around her, Detective Thompson pulled out his phone and quickly dialed 911.
Jane clutched the lapels of his jacket, shaking from the inside out, heart beating wildly. Here she’d thought he was attacking her, when in reality he was trying to protect her. He shielded her body in a way that, if any bullets flew in their direction, they would hit him, not her. And she’d given him a flesh wound for his trouble.
The next few minutes seemed to go on forever, until she heard the faint wail of a police siren approaching. The frantic beating of her heart began to cease as the sound got louder, as their salvation came closer.
Against her, she felt Detective Thompson heave a sigh of relief, then back away. She was so frozen with fear, he had to pry her hands from his jacket.
“I think he’s gone. You okay?”
She nodded, her head feeling loose and wobbly on her neck.
Through gritted teeth, he asked, “Next time I tell you to do something, think maybe you could do it?”
She nodded again.
“And the next time you feel like sinking your teeth into someone, try to remember, I’m one of the good guys.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice trembling. “I don’t know what came over me. I…I panicked.”
She reached for his hand, but he jerked it away.
“I’m fine.”
“Let me look.” After a bit of grumbling on his part, he relinquished his hand to her. There was an awful lot of blood. She wiped the wound clean with the sleeve of her jacket.
He sucked in a breath and yanked his hand away, shaking off the pain as the first squad car came to a screeching halt at the end of the alley. “I’m fine.”
Within seconds two more cars joined the first and she had the surreal impression she’d just walked on the set of a movie. This couldn’t really be happening to her. Someone couldn’t be trying to shoot her.
What had she gotten herself into?
Mitch signaled the officers with some complicated hand motion and gestured in the direction the shots had come from
.
“You saved my life,” she said, feeling a weak-kneed brand of relief that made it difficult to hold herself upright.
“No, if he wanted to kill you, he would have. He’s messing with your head.”
And doing a fair job of it. “How did you even know he was there?”
“When the first bullet hit the ground next to my foot.”
How could he stand there so calmly, like he was talking about the weather? “By your foot? I didn’t hear a shot. Come to think of it, I didn’t hear any shots.”
He leaned on the Dumpster beside her, gun still drawn and resting by his side. “He used a silencer.”
A uniformed officer appeared at the corner of the Dumpster. “No sign of him, Detective. No shells, no witnesses.”
“Of course not.” He holstered his weapon. “Canvas the area and page me if you find something.”
“Officer Martin will give you a ride back to the precinct.”
“I can take my own car back.”
“Not with four slashed tires, you can’t.”
He looked calm on the outside, but Jane could see a storm brewing behind his eyes as he turned to her and hooked a hand around her arm. “Let’s go.”
She nearly had to jog to keep up with him as he led her to one of the squad cars. “Where are we going?”
“To the precinct. I’ll have to file a report and get a new vehicle.”
“Then where?”
“Somewhere he can’t find us.”
“Detective, how are you going to find him if you’re baby-sitting me?”
He wrenched the car door open. “My main priority right now is keeping you safe.”
Safe? She couldn’t imagine the concept. She hadn’t felt safe since she woke up in the middle of this mess. “And how do you plan on doing that?”
He turned to her, his eyes dark and foreboding. “Very carefully.”
Did they really think they could hide her?
Fools.
They were wasting their time searching for him. He’d been long gone before the first car reached the scene. He was untouchable.
It made him sick, the way they doted on her, felt sorry for her. Bitch. If they only knew, they wouldn’t be trying to protect her. They would put her in a cell. Lock her away. Tonight he would make his move. And there would be no one to stop him.
“So you really don’t remember anything?” Mitch’s sister, Lisa, set a cup of coffee in front of Jane and slid into a chair on the opposite side of the small dining table.
“Give her a break, Lisa,” Mitch warned. He stood in the kitchen, cleaning the bite wound on his hand under his mother’s kitchen faucet.
“I don’t mind,” Jane said, her hands still trembling slightly as she gripped the cup. “No, I don’t remember a thing. Just vague impressions every now and then.”
Lisa leaned back in her chair, tossing a mane of bleach-blond hair over her shoulder. Her T-shirt stretched tight across her generous bust and proclaimed in bold type The Dark Is Afraid Of Me. “Wow, I can’t imagine forgetting my own name. That must really suck.”
“You have no idea.” Jane lifted the cup and sniffed, scrunching her nose. She instinctively knew she wouldn’t like it. She was finding a lot of things to be second nature. Like driving—although not the back seat kind Detective Thompson had accused her of. Though she hadn’t actually gotten behind the wheel yet, she knew what to do.
And she knew Detective Thompson, despite having met less than a day ago. There was a familiarity there that she felt deep inside her bones—some strange cosmic connection linking them to one another. Not that she necessarily believed in mystical cosmic forces. Or maybe she did, who knows? She only knew that when they were together, the air around them felt electrically charged.
There was no question he felt it, too, and he’d made it clear, in his own subtle way, that he was off-limits. And who could blame him for his caution? What reason did he have to trust her? She didn’t even know if she could trust herself.
Shelving the urge to indulge in another bout of self-pity, she gazed around the kitchen and the cozy family room beyond. If the pictures that lined the expanse of one wall were any indication, not much had changed in the past twenty or so years. She could easily imagine the detective as a teenager, slouched into one of the two plaid couches in the living room, watching television—a bag of chips on one side, the remote on the other.
Jane had to wonder if she’d grown up in a house like this. Had she been rich, poor, middle-class? Had the air been tinged with the scent of potpourri and furniture polish? Had she lounged on a plaid couch watching television or doing her homework? The need for answers was so intense it burned like wildfire deep in her soul and filled her with a fidgety frustration.
There was one thing she did know for sure, Jane realized, putting her cup down. She didn’t like coffee.
“Too strong?” Lisa asked.
She pushed it away. “I don’t think I’m a coffee drinker. Sorry.”
“How long has Mom been asleep?” Detective Thompson asked Lisa, wincing as he wrapped gauze around his hand.
“She took a painkiller at three and was out by four,” Lisa said.
He leaned against the counter, folding one long lean leg over the other. “How is she feeling? Has she been walking at all?”
Lisa turned to Jane. “If he hasn’t told you, our mother had back surgery. And yes, she’s doing much better now.” She glared up at her brother. “If you were ever around, Detective, you would know that.”
“I have a career.”
“Yeah, well, so did I.”
He snorted. “Washing dogs. That’s not a career.”
Lisa propped two combat boot-clad feet on the table. “Not anymore. And whose fault is that, you pompous ass?”
He leaned forward and shoved Lisa’s feet back down. “Could you at least try to act civilized?” He turned to Jane. “Excuse my sister, her social skills are slightly lacking.”
“And excuse my brother,” Lisa said, her feet landing back on the tabletop with a loud thud. “He has a mild superiority complex. I had to give up my job to stay with our mother—who is driving me insane, by the way. Would it kill you to take a day off every now and then and spend some time with her? I could use a break.”
He leaned forward, lowering his voice. “And suppose she needed to use the bathroom or something. What would I do then?”
“Help her.”
He looked mortified by the mere suggestion. “I can’t do that. She’s my mother.”
“She’s my mother, too, you moron,” Lisa hissed. “You think this has been fun for me?”
“It’s different. You’re a girl.”
She threw her hands up in frustration. “Ugh!”
Mitch slid into a chair and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. The poor guy looked exhausted. “Christ. I’ll try to get some time off later this week, okay?”
“I saw you on the news,” Lisa said. Though her tone was harsh, there was a distinct note of pride in her voice. “Did you get a confession?”
“We worked him over all night. Twelve hours and he didn’t crack. When the news broke, and the family found out, they hired a lawyer.”
“You look tired.”
Mitch slumped down in the chair, his body slack. “I passed tired about eighteen hours ago.”
“Why don’t you leave your prisoner here. Go home and get some shut-eye.” Lisa turned to Jane and winked. “If you’re worried about her getting away, we can handcuff her to the table leg.”
“Thanks, but I’m not letting her out of my sight.”
“What, is she a dangerous criminal?” Lisa looked Jane over with mock scrutiny. “She doesn’t look dangerous.”
“She’s in danger. Someone is after her, and I’m thinking it might be internal. So if anyone calls around looking for me, you don’t know where I am.”
“No kidding.” Lisa sobered instantly, wearing the identical grim expression as her brother. “Where are you going to take her?�
��
“I was going to take her to a safe house, but considering recent developments, I’m not sure that would be such a good idea.”
“What recent developments?”
“Getting shot at in an alley, for one. Someone knew we were going to be there.”
Lisa’s concern for her brother was clear on her face. Despite a major case of sibling rivalry, Jane could tell they were close. “Where will you go?”
“We’ll stay in a hotel tonight.”
“A hotel? What are you going to do, sit up all night guarding the door?”
“That’s the plan,” he said.
Jane drew up in her seat. The thought of spending the night in a hotel didn’t exactly give her an overwhelming sense of security. If he was right, and someone on the force was a part of this, wouldn’t it be easy for them to figure out where they were staying? And suppose he fell asleep? Who would protect her then? They would be like sitting ducks. “You can’t sit up all night. You need rest.”
“What I need,” he said, “is to protect you.”
That was just plain crazy. He couldn’t stay awake another night. She flattened her palms on the table and prepared for a fight, which is what she knew it would take to change his mind. “I won’t go.”
His eyes darkened and his brow dipped low over his eyes. “You have to trust me.”
“The hell I do when you’re acting stupid. What if you fall asleep?”
“I won’t fall asleep.”
“But what if you do?”
“Jane—”
“Mitch.”
Her addressing him by his first name made his eyebrow quirk up. For a long moment they only stared at each other. “You know, you’re not going to win this one.”
“Why not take her to your house?” Lisa suggested.
Mitch and Jane simultaneously turned to look at her.
“Why his house?” Jane asked.
“Because it’s about as secure as Fort Knox. You’d have to be Houdini to get into that place undetected.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m sure that would go over big with my lieutenant,” Mitch said. “There are certain rules I have to follow.”
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