him for a criminal like Michaels.
So why did he want to take her at her word now? Because he wanted to believe the best about her. Always had. He prayed she wasn’t entangled in this.
“I have my own business. My own home. You can dig all you want—you won’t find anything.”
That was what he was banking on. Luke was aware Piper owned a karate dojo in Jackson. That she’d competed in international championships. And won. She’d gone from scrappy to stealth. Beneath the still-raw pangs of betrayal, he hated to admit he was proud of her in that area. Unfortunately, just because her nose seemed clean didn’t mean it was. He refused to let tender feelings for Piper—though unwanted—cloud his judgment on this case and ruin his shot to move up.
“They, Piper, not me. But if his murder leads me back to you, I can’t let it go. Not this time.” He brushed past her and out the door. If Piper had connections to this burglary, and ultimately Christopher Baxter’s death, he wouldn’t be played. Luke had wised up since his rookie days undercover with the theft unit. A pretty face wasn’t always an innocent face.
Piper had proved that.
The moment he’d laid eyes on her, when she was eighteen and he was only twenty-one, a fierce need to protect her gripped him. But he’d always been a protector—a fixer, like Granddad—whether it was a stray cat, a broken bird or a hungry dog. Piper had been broken, wounded—a stray—when they met inside that pool hall. Turned out the one thing Luke should have protected, he’d left vulnerable.
His heart.
Eric Hale, Luke’s partner, stood with a cup of coffee in his hand. “You were in there awhile. Did she wake up?”
Eric had given Luke a few minutes to see Mama Jean. The woman had always cared about him. He’d checked in on her over the years, and she’d promised never to tell Piper. Looked as if she’d kept up her end of the bargain.
“No. Her granddaughter showed up. I asked her a few questions.” Eric had no idea about his connection to Piper, and until he could figure out what to say about her, he’d like to leave it that way.
“She offer anything useful?” Eric finished his coffee, trashed it, then fell into step with Luke as he zipped up his black leather jacket.
“Useful? No.”
“You believe her?”
That was the question. Could he trust her again? Time would tell. “Let’s throw the flashlight on Baxter’s history and see if it lands on her. I’m not ruling her out.”
Eric chuckled. “You really are a hardnose.”
He had Piper to thank for that.
“Must want that sergeant’s promotion bad, huh?”
Luke had worked tirelessly to be where he was. Paid penance every day for his prior mistakes. He wanted this promotion. Needed it. Piper wasn’t going to get in the way this time, but his gut screamed everything about this case would track back to her. And it terrified him because the instinct to defend and shelter her had resurfaced the second she’d marched into Mama Jean’s room. It’d been difficult to keep a tough exterior, but then, he had plenty of old hurts to fuel him.
Luke would do his duty to serve and protect and nothing more. He wouldn’t allow Piper to rob him of his heart again. No getting tangled up with emotions. But as he resolved the issue, a sliver of doubt wiggled like a splinter in his chest.
* * *
“Did I see who I thought I saw?” Harmony asked as she and Piper breezed through the glass entrance doors. The wind picked up Harmony’s shiny blond hair, blowing it in her face.
“I think I should stay the night in the waiting room,” Piper said, ignoring the question.
“Mama Jean is gonna be out cold all night. You need some rest. Come back early. Fresh.”
Harm was right. But there was no way Piper was going to sleep well. Her nerves tingled on edge already, but something else wafted in on the night’s current. She paused and scanned the parking lot. Only a few lit posts dotted the area. The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention.
“What’s the matter with you, Pipe?” Harmony paused and followed Piper’s gaze. “You looking for Luke?”
Piper put her arm out to block Harmony. “Something’s off.”
“What do you mean? What did he say to you? Was something stolen?” She removed Piper’s arm from across her middle.
“He’s working homicide now. Investigating Christopher Baxter’s murder.”
Harmony rifled through her purse and plucked her keys. “He know anything?”
“I don’t know.” Piper swallowed; a knot swelled in her abdomen. “I guess I’m just freaking out.”
“So what did he say?”
Slowly, Piper started toward her car, Harmony at her side. “Not much, and I doubt he’d offer any additional information. He thinks I’m involved. Of course.”
“That’s ridiculous and he knows it.” She pointed across the lot. “I’m over there. See you at the house.”
“Okay. Be careful.” Piper watched as Harmony hurried to her car, unlocked the doors and climbed in. When she safely drove away, Piper strode toward her own car. Could Chaz have reemerged and hurt Mama Jean? He was that evil.
Piper pressed the fob on her key ring to unlock the doors to her car. She rounded the hood to the driver’s door.
A shadow leaped from the side of the car, throwing Piper off guard, her bag falling to the ground.
Something heavy struck her thigh, sending a blinding pain up her side, clear to her teeth. She stumbled backward, tripping over the concrete parking bumper, and landed on her backside.
The attacker, dressed in a dark hoodie, mask and gloves, lunged forward. She jumped to her feet, landing a front kick to his chest.
Grunting, he faltered and dropped his weapon.
The tire iron clattered against the asphalt.
Piper gasped. Same weapon used to assault Ellen Strosbergen—the woman nearly killed in that last burglary Piper had been a part of a decade ago.
Her assailant hunkered down and came at her full force, but she dodged and kicked him into the side of the car. He bounced off the back door with a thud, leaving a dent, then grabbed the tire iron and hightailed it through a line of parked cars.
Where was the parking security?
Piper gave chase, weaving through the vehicles. A dark van squealed into the lot, and the shadowy figure hurtled in before speeding away. She rubbed her thigh and fisted her hands to control the shaking. Hobbling back to her car, she scrambled in and locked the doors, heart beating out of her chest.
What to do? Find Luke? She peeled out of the lot. Would he even believe her? No. He wouldn’t. She was on her own.
