good.”
Wyatt nodded to the EMT, then looked back at Nina. “Your mother was killed?” He could see the sadness in her eyes. He’d never seen that undercurrent of grief in her before. Apparently she was as good as he was at keeping things light. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Nina glanced at Parker for a second. “It was a very long time ago. I came here trying to find out what happened. To say I’m getting the runaround is an understatement.”
Parker took a step closer to them. “Sienna and I said we’d help.”
“Sienna said she’d help. I wasn’t even aware you knew.” Nina sighed. “And I might have to take you up on your offer since I’m not getting anywhere. I wanted to do it myself, but I might have to face the fact that I’m in over my head with this.”
Nina glanced around, still sitting on the sidewalk. Wyatt moved to help her up, but Parker beat him to it. Held out his hand and hauled Nina to her feet while Wyatt just stood there looking inconsiderate.
She gifted Parker a small smile. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” His eyes were dark, but he had that undercurrent of a happily married man that had for a long time been absent in his partner. “Wyatt is going to take you home, okay? Watch your six.”
Finally Parker said something right. Wyatt nodded to his partner, since Nina couldn’t see him. She snapped a salute with her good hand. “Yes, sir.”
Wyatt shook his head. “Where’s your car?”
She turned from Parker as he walked away and said, “I walked here.”
“You did?”
She shrugged. “I only live around the corner.”
Parker, already ten feet away, spun back. “I’m headed to the office. When you see her home, make sure she eats some lunch.”
Nina rolled her eyes.
“My car is this way.”
He held out his hand, but she didn’t take it. She walked gingerly, and he wished he’d parked closer. She’d hit the sidewalk pretty hard, and she was leaning toward the opposite side. Wyatt put his hand on the small of her back like he was leading her, when the reality was he needed to give her support and comfort even if it was in that small measure.
He’d done the same a million times with witnesses, or women he’d dated, but he’d never felt like this. It was as though a spark of electricity had arced from her to his hand. She probably wasn’t even aware of the action, whereas all of his senses had lit up. The lingering rush of adrenaline at watching her almost die wasn’t helping. She’d nearly been flattened on the concrete by that car.
She needed support and protection, but from what? The police could track the car, but it was likely stolen. Maybe they would never find out who had been driving. Nina would live the rest of her life under a cloud of impending danger.
Nina’s cell phone chimed from inside her purse. She pulled it out and looked at the screen, but he couldn’t read the tiny text. What he could read was her reaction.
The flinch.
The quick intake of breath that meant the danger was far from over.
Maybe it was just beginning.
“Everything okay?”
Nina looked up from her phone. “Yes.” She cleared her throat. The text had come from a contact saved in her phone as Baltimore Public Library. How was that even possible? Had someone hacked her phone just to send a message?
Next time I won’t miss.
She had to talk to Sienna. She’d know what to do. This man whom Nina knew as a friend only, despite the unwanted feelings she had for him, didn’t want all of her baggage. No one actually wanted to know what another person’s damage was. Every time she’d tried to tell a man she was attracted to about her past, he’d run away in response. She didn’t need that all over again. But Sienna was different, best girlfriends were always different.
So Nina kept the text message to herself. Meanwhile Wyatt didn’t look like he believed her that it was nothing, but thankfully didn’t say anything.
The drive to her building took two minutes, but it was full of awkward silence nonetheless. Nina waved to the doorman and Wyatt did the leading thing again, with his hand on her back. It probably meant nothing. He probably did it with suspects and witnesses all the time. He probably didn’t feel the same awareness she did.
They took the elevator to the twenty-second floor. He’d never been to her condo. And why would he have? They’d only hung out at Parker and Sienna’s house. What was he going to think? Nina sighed, trying to dispel her ridiculous thoughts. Why did she even care what Wyatt thought? It wasn’t like she was looking for a relationship. He was only here because Parker had told him to bring her home.
Nina unlocked her front door. The steady beep of her security system chimed, and she entered the code to silence the alarm. Wyatt was still by her door, eyes wide as he stared at the expanse of her foyer.
“Come in.” There were a few boxes she still hadn’t unpacked. But the place wasn’t unlivable.
Wyatt shook off whatever had stalled him and shut the front door. “Nice place.”
“Doesn’t have a lot of character, but it’ll do for now.”
“You’re not staying?” He stuck his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, which pulled his shirt taut over his arm muscles.
Nina looked away. “I thought about buying a house, but who wants to mow a yard? If I want to have a country experience I’ll go to Sienna and Parker’s house in the sticks.”
Wyatt eyed her. “Some people like that kind of thing.” He glanced around. “So this is home?”
Home. There was a concept Nina didn’t know all that much about, unless he was talking about her friendship with Sienna. They’d been each other’s family for years. Instead of answering, Nina went to the kitchen and pressed the button on the side of her coffeepot, where it heated water. After the morning she’d had, she needed hot chocolate, stat. Maybe even marshmallows.
“Do you want coffee?”
He was looking at her like she was a puzzle he hadn’t realized was five thousand pieces and not six simple ones easily slotted together. “Sure. Parker said something about lunch.” He sauntered to her fridge and pulled it open. “How about eggs?”
“Sure.”
She made the drinks while he pulled ingredients from the fridge. “Where’s the sausage?” His eyes narrowed. “The fancy cheese I get, but you eat meat, right?”
Nina smiled. “Bottom drawer.”
Wyatt muttered “thank you” and stuck his head back in the fridge. Nina chuckled
