His own family, his mom especially, had been secretive enough. Sure, she had her own trouble with his father, but she hadn’t once stood up for her adopted son, the boy she’d promised to care for. Instead, she’d kept secrets from him, even lying to save her own skin sometimes. Leaving his skin to be blistered from beatings.
He’d had a lifetime’s worth of secretive garbage, and he didn’t feel like dragging the same stuff from another reluctant woman.
At the outer edge of his vision, a truck accelerated, grinding first gear into second as it approached. Kristin stopped between the cars parked on an angle, her glance down the busy street telling Zane she also saw the truck coming. He waited. Should he take her on as a client?
Depends on what she says, he decided.
He glanced again at the midsize delivery truck, old and battered, with a grizzled, bearded driver. As the power train jerked into third gear, the vehicle lurched closer.
A scream sliced through the air, and Zane snapped his head back over.
Her arms flaying out wildly, Kristin was falling directly into the truck’s path.
TWO
Zane leaped forward, only to be blocked by the truck. The driver laid on the horn, adding to the sound of screeching brakes as the huge vehicle careened to a lumbering stop.
Zane slammed into its left side and after he spun once, he raced around the back.
Kristin was sprawled facedown by the right front tire, her purse beside her. Zane sliced through the growing crowd as she began to roll over.
“Don’t move,” he told her. “Stay still for a minute. You may be hurt.”
The truck driver hurried around the front bumper. “Is she all right? I didn’t see her until she jumped out at me!”
Kristin sat up. “I didn’t jump. I was pushed.”
The driver stepped back in shock. Zane took the opportunity to move in front of him. As he did, Kristin threw back her hair. “Someone shoved me!”
Immediately, Zane glanced around, stretching his vision from one end of the street to the other. Apart from the crowd that had gathered, he saw no one hurrying away. Murmurs threaded through the onlookers at her accusation, each person checking out their neighbor. He watched each surprised face. No one looked guilty.
Zane stooped to take her arm. “I told you not to move.”
She grabbed him and pulled herself to her feet. “I’m fine. A little scraped up, that’s all.” Then, with a shocked gaze, she looked around. “Didn’t you see him? The man who pushed me?”
The driver shook his head. “I laid on the horn when I first saw you,” he cried out. “It looked like you’d stumbled!”
She threw off Zane’s helping hand. “I didn’t stumble. I was pushed. I distinctly felt two hands on my back.” She looked at Zane. “You didn’t see him, either?”
“No.” Inwardly, he cringed at his short word. It wasn’t as though he suspected her of lying, but with the blank looks from the crowd gathering around them, he wondered briefly if she’d staged this to get his attention.
Was this a ploy to avoid telling her precious secret, all the while gaining sympathy and an agreement to take her case?
Zane gritted his teeth. His mother had done something similar when he’d begun to ask questions. She’d faked an illness to avoid the truth.
Kristin straightened. “Well, someone pushed me.” With a hand that was definitely shaking, she smoothed her straight brown hair. For one brief moment, he caught sight of a long white scar just above her temple. Then, as quickly as it was exposed, it slipped back into hiding beneath the straight cloak of shiny brown tresses.
And as if realizing she was creating a scene, Kristin grabbed her purse and brushed off her jeans. “I know what I felt. I was pushed, but managed to roll away from the truck in the nick of time.”
Zane moved her away from the crowd. It wasn’t such a good idea to attract this much attention. Kristin had been evasive for a reason, and while he hated secrecy, he knew she shouldn’t be standing in the middle of the street if she needed some privacy or protection. And as a private investigator, he preferred to keep a low profile, as well. Playing hero for all to see wasn’t what his profession was about. He was trained to blend into the crowd, notice things without being noticed.
To that end, he steered her around the truck and toward his car, to get away from local curiosity.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To the truck stop out by the highway. We’ll talk there.”
She followed him to his car, hesitantly, stopping short of climbing in. “I don’t get into strangers’ cars.”
“Good advice for anyone.” Then, pulling out his car keys, he handed them to her. “You can drive if it makes you feel safer. Do you know the truck stop I’m talking about?”
“Of course. I was bor— I mean I grew up here.”
He caught her correction, but decided to ignore it for now.
“But driving your car isn’t going to make it safer for me,” she reasoned.
“Let me show you my ID. But frankly, you should have asked for it as soon as I sat down in the café.”
“You’re the first private investigator I’ve ever hired. And you come highly recommended.” After checking out his ID, she took the keys and clicked the unlock button before tossing her purse into the back. With a short hesitation, she climbed in behind the wheel. Automatically, she moved the seat up to accommodate her shorter stature.
She started the car. “Does this mean you’ll take my case?”
“Maybe. Who recommended me?”
“Jake Downs. His sister and I are in the same chemistry class. He’s the locksmith who helped me open my father’s safe a few months ago. We made a mess of the wall at home because Jake had to take the safe to his shop and drill through the side of it just to open it. You know, look at the lock from the inside? When I asked if he knew any private investigators, he recommended you.” She shrugged. “And he also recommended a good drywaller to fix the wall in my father’s office.”
Zane knew Jake Downs. A good locksmith, accredited and bonded, with a cocky charm that seemed in total contradiction with the man’s strong personal faith. He was a Christian, and had even invited him to church once.
Zane had declined. For work reasons, he’d said. Truth was, the cost of believing was just a bit too high for him.
Still, he nodded. “I know Jake, but I didn’t know he had a sister.”
“Maggie. She’s the funniest person ever, so we don’t get much chem work done.” She paused a few seconds as she pulled into traffic. “She works at the lab at the university.”
She
