as though she thought he was fishing for her credentials, she added, “Long enough to be good at my job.”
“So you like it.”
She shrugged, keeping her eyes straight ahead. “Sure. Andy and Gretchen are great.”
Suddenly she whipped around a corner and they were at the front office of the complex.
“You can drop me here,” he said.
“Are you sure?”
Truthfully he didn’t know which apartment was his yet. It was his first trip there, so he had no idea where to direct her. “Definitely. No problem.” He scooted out of the cab and handed her a slip of paper. “My phone number. So you can call me when the car is done.”
“Thanks.” She flapped the paper in agreement before accelerating out of the parking lot.
Nate chuckled. She was one strange girl. Evasive with every answer. Obviously a pro under the hood. And adorable as could be.
After checking in at the office and finding his new, temporary home, he sank down onto the dark brown couch in his living room. Flipping open his phone and the assignment folder at the same time, he speed-dialed the number 9, and a familiar voice immediately sounded on the other end of the line.
“Andersen. What’s your status?” Mitch Hollingsworth, his supervisor, asked.
“Just got to my apartment. My car broke down just outside of Crescent City, but I’m here now. The car’ll be fixed in a couple days.”
“What are you going to do until then?”
“I’m going to enroll in the community college. Our guy on the inside said that the Shadow has been snooping around the campus. He’s obviously a step ahead right now, and I can’t afford not to know what he knows. It’s the biggest entity in town, so most of the grapevines will run through there. I’m bound to pick up something that either leads me to the Shadow or Nora.” He scrubbed a weary hand across his face. “I’m also going to try to find the church she attends and see what’s going on there. I’ll check into bike clubs and such. It’s not that big of a town so it can’t be that hard to find the girl.”
Mitch sighed. “Parker James could be the most important witness the state has ever had against Goodwill. His daughter has to be found.”
“I know, sir.” Nate felt the weight of reality settle once again on his shoulders. He knew the gravity of the situation. They’d already lost one man to a stray bullet in pursuit of Goodwill’s conviction in that dark alley a-year-and-a-half before.
Mitch exhaled and said exactly what Nate already knew to be true. “If you don’t find the James girl and the Shadow, he’ll make sure Parker won’t testify against him. Ever.”
TWO
The phone in her kitchen rang obnoxiously as Danielle heaved two bags of groceries on the counter. “Hello?” she panted into the receiver.
“Danielle, it’s Andy.”
She almost returned the smile she always heard from her boss through the phone line, but this time his voice was quiet, sad. Andy McDougal’s typically exuberant self didn’t produce a smile this morning.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well…” Andy’s voice trailed off, tattling that he was going to ask a favor. He never failed to start requests in the same way, but whatever he needed, she’d gladly offer it. “See, my mom’s had a fall. Broke her right wrist and sprained her ankle bad.”
“Oh, Andy. I’m so sorry to hear that.” Danielle had often wondered if Andy was still a bachelor at forty-seven because his mother needed him so often, and he never complained about dropping everything to travel two hundred miles to help her. “I’ll be happy to cover the shop for you if you need to go visit her.”
“Thanks. I knew I could count on you.”
“Anything you need. You know I’m here for you.” Andy had been her only family since she moved to Crescent City, and she had only loved one man on earth more.
Blinking furiously at the tears that sprung to her eyes at the sudden reminder of her own failure, she cleared her throat. Her cowardice had cost her her entire world.
She’d failed in the past, but not this time. Swiping at her eyes with the back of her hands one more time, she rubbed against the burning in her eyes. “Is there something else you need me to do while you’re out of town?”
Andy sighed softly and started another sentence. “Well…actually there is something else. You know how I’ve been teaching the Intro to Auto Shop class at the college?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Andy left work at four-fifteen every Tuesday and Thursday for the last two weeks to teach at the Crescent City Community College. She knew firsthand that he was a great teacher, but what could it possibly have to do with her?
“While I’m with my mom, there’s no one at the college to cover the class, so I was wondering if you might be able to fill in for me. You could close the shop early, and it should only be for a couple a weeks. Just four classes or so.”
“Oh.” It was the only sound that Danielle could manage in her shocked state. Andy knew her better than anyone. After all, it was Andy who gave her a place to live and a job, teaching her how to be a mechanic when she’d had to start over. He knew just how long it had taken her to open up to him, to get comfortable talking with him.
She hated talking in front of people. Hated being the center of attention. What if someone recognized her? What if someone knew her past? Knew that she’d left her father to die in an alley more than a year before?
Her life was all about blending into the crowd, matching the flowers on the walls. It had to be.
Teaching a class in the largest community in town, wasn’t blending. Not by any stretch of her imagination.
She hated letting him down, but she just couldn’t risk putting herself on display.
She’d had dreams of the gunman in the alley night after night when she first arrived in Crescent City. It had taken her months to realize that he probably wasn’t coming after her. Whatever Goodwill had wanted from her had died with her dad.
But what if she was wrong? What if there was someone out there still looking for her?
“Andy, I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
“Danielle, I know this isn’t easy for you, but I’m begging you. Please. There’s no one else even remotely qualified to fill in for me, and there’s no one else to look after Mom. I have to go.”
Taking a deep, calming breath, she said, “Let me think about it a little while. I’ll call you back.”
After hanging up, she plopped onto a kitchen chair and stared at the receiver in her hand. What could Andy possibly be thinking asking her to teach a class?
He was her best friend. Her only friend. And she really wanted to help him.
But
