you’ve decided,” she said, her voice calm, but firm. “I don’t like dragging anyone into my business, or depending on strangers. Unfortunately, I’m in trouble and I could use your help—but only if you’re truthful. I’m not interested in lies, no matter what the reason.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, his tone guarded.
“I know who you are and Lightning isn’t your name.”
Daniel studied her, saying nothing. She had guts, he had to give her that. She confronted things squarely. “Who do you think I am?”
“Your name is Daniel Eagle, you’re thirty-two years old, and you’re an investigator for Gray Wolf Investigations.”
He checked for his wallet. It was still in his hip pocket. “Okay. And how do you know all that?”
She gestured to the glove compartment. “I looked in there while you were talking. This car is registered to the agency, but it’s leased to you. The agreement is there on a piece of paper inside the owner’s manual.” She didn’t give him a chance to comment. “I’ve heard of your firm, and I know it’s supposed to be one of the best. But I’ve also heard that Gray Wolf doesn’t always play by the rules.”
“I apologize for underestimating you, Hannah. I should have kept the papers in my wallet, I guess.”
“I may have a blank in my memory, but I’ve still got a brain. I know I’m in trouble, and my life is probably hanging by a thread, but I don’t know why. I could sure use an ally, but the next move is yours. Are you my friend or my enemy?”
He considered trying to placate her with soothing, comforting words, but decided the truth would be better all the way around. Telling her a lie now would only complicate things if the truth came out later. “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll tell you this—I won’t turn you over to anyone until I’m certain who the victim really is in all this.”
“Fair enough.”
Daniel pulled back onto the highway and continued east, still trying to make up his mind about Hannah. The bits and pieces he knew about her refused to fit into one neat package. On one side there was the innocent beauty who wore panties decorated with mice—the woman whose sense of loyalty had kept her from running away in the face of danger while others fought on her behalf.
Then, there was the other side of Hannah. If the reports he’d been given were accurate, he was dealing with a woman who had a history of psychiatric disorders and was capable of bashing her closest relative on the skull, stealing a church’s money, then going into hiding.
Daniel glanced over at Hannah again, noting the bump and discoloration just beneath her bangs. He needed to take things one step at a time. “Our next stop is a free clinic I know of in Farmington.”
“I can’t go there. What if the people after me have places like that staked out?”
“I doubt they have the resources to cover a large area. The two back there weren’t high-priced talent. I figure they’ll be watching your house, and maybe places where you work. Widening the search beyond that would take a lot of manpower. Besides, we need to check out that bump on your head and see if that’s the reason your memory’s been impaired. I promise you’ll be safe. There’s a doctor at the clinic who’s on the agency’s payroll and who has worked with us before on sensitive cases when we’ve needed him. He’ll keep our visit quiet and check out that bruise to make sure you don’t have a concussion or something serious, and then we’ll talk.”
“I hate doctors and I hate hospitals. This isn’t necessary.”
“It is to me,” he said flatly. “You took a blow to the head, based on that bruise, and you’re going to see a doctor. No argument.”
“That’s what you think. Stop the car.”
He glanced over at her.
“Stop the car,” she repeated. “I’m not going another mile until you listen to me.” When he didn’t respond, she started to open the car door, but he reached over to her and grasped her arm. She kept her free hand on the door handle. “Slow down and park, or we’re both going to be statistics to the highway department.”
He wasn’t sure if she was bluffing or not, but he couldn’t keep her steady and in the car while he was still at the wheel. Muttering a curse, he pulled over to the shoulder of the road and stopped. “What the hell are you trying to do?”
“You’ve seen what I’m up against, Daniel. Sure I took a blow to my head, and there are things I don’t remember, but fear and my instinct to survive tell me that there are certain things I have to do. I need an ally, but one who’s really on my side. From what I can see, you’re not certain which side you’re on and that scares the daylights out of me. And nobody I’m unsure of is going to order me around.”
She started to get out of the car, but he reached for her arm, stopping her.
She jerked free. “I don’t care if you can fight like a martial artist, Daniel. No one has the right to manhandle me either.”
“I can’t let you go, Hannah. It’s my job to make sure you remain safe and that’s exactly what I intend to do. I’m going to protect you, even from yourself.”
“I’m not crazy,” she said, her voice trembling. “I won’t be treated as if I can’t make my own decisions.”
“In this case, you can’t. I have a lot more experience in these matters than you have. You’ll have to play by my rules.”
“And your rules are to force whatever you want on me?” Tears filled her eyes.
Seeing it, Daniel groaned. Now he felt like a heel for not having taken the time to treat her with more care. He smoothed his palm across her cheek. “I’ve been too hard on you. I should have taken more time to explain things. Don’t be upset. I really am trying to protect you.”
He saw her trying to manage a smile, and pieces of the armor he’d always kept around his heart broke off, dissolving as if they’d never been. “I’m really sorry.”
“Your apology is accepted,” she said quietly.
As he looked at her, he felt himself drowning in her gaze. His heart hammered in his chest and he ached with the need to kiss her.
He glanced away. This woman made him feel all soft and crazy inside. What the hell did he think he was doing?
“I really think you need to get that bump checked out, if you expect to make it through the next few days. Concussions are serious, Hannah. What kind of protection would I be giving you if I saved you from those guys back there, then let you get hurt even more seriously because I didn’t follow up on an injury.”
“All right. At least I know why you’re so intent on doing this. But they won’t find anything wrong.”
“Then that’ll be good news we can both live with.”
Being with Hannah was like working with nitroglycerine—there was an undeniable excitement about it, but if you got overconfident, or made the wrong move, it could spell disaster. Daniel couldn’t be sure of her, and to trust the woman could prove to be a lethal mistake. Yet, despite all that, he liked
