SEVENTEEN
The sound of Bran’s phone signaling on the nightstand awoke her. Jessie sat up as he fumbled, grabbed it, then cursed softly and swung his legs to the side of the bed.
The red numbers on the digital clock read 6:45 a.m. Bran was usually up by six, a little before she was, but they hadn’t gotten much sleep last night.
Heat slid through her as she thought about what they had done. She’d only had a couple of serious boyfriends. Sex with them was nothing like sex with Bran. There was just something about him.
Maybe his amazing body, or maybe just that he was such a virile male. He had taken his time, been careful not to push her too hard. She’d never flashed back to her abduction. Her mind was too full of Bran.
She sighed into the morning light seeping into the bedroom. She was going to have a very hard time forgetting him when all of this was over.
A thought that had her good mood slipping away.
Yawning, she focused on the call that had just come in.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Bran was saying. “I’ll get right on it. I owe you one, Tab.” The seriousness of his tone as he ended the call snared her attention. He slid on his jeans while Jessie slipped on her terry cloth robe and followed him into the living room.
“What’s going on?”
“That was Tabby. She’s been looking into Petrov and Graves, trying to find Weaver. Petrov’s real name is Janos, not Vladimir.” He raked back his sleep-mussed dark hair. “Yesterday afternoon Janos Petrov turned up dead.”
“Oh, my God.”
“It gets worse. The murder was reported on the local five o’clock news. At the end of the broadcast, the sheriff put out an appeal to the public, looking for any information on the victim. According to an internet news site, the woman from the resort recognized his picture, called in and told them about the fight. I checked us into the resort under my name, so now the sheriff has a BOLO out on me as a person of interest.”
“They thinkyoukilled Petrov?”
Bran just shrugged. “They’re looking for me, which means unless I want to dodge police cars all over the state, I need to turn myself in.”
“I’m your alibi. I’m going with you.”
“Oh, you’re coming with me. People are still hunting you. I need you where I can keep you safe. We’ve got time to shower, but we need to get going.”
Jessie cast him an interested glance and he grinned.
“As much as I like the idea, we definitely need more time for a shower like that.”
She laughed.
“While you’re gone, I’ll see what I can find out on the internet.”
Jessie spun and headed for the bathroom. “I’ll hurry.”
Thirty minutes later Bran pulled into an angled parking space in front of the El Paso County Sheriff’s office on East Vermijo Avenue. He got out and checked their surroundings, which was probably second nature after so many years in the army, then motioned for her to join him.
They shoved through the front doors and walked up to the counter, where an eager young deputy in a dark gray uniform shirt and black uniform pants sat behind a computer.
“May I help you?” he asked.
“My name is Brandon Garrett. This is Jessica Kegan. I’m her bodyguard. I understand the sheriff is looking for me in regard to a man named Janos Petrov.”
The deputy, Hillman, his badge read, looked up at Bran in surprise and quickly came to his feet. “Yes, sir. You said bodyguard. Are you armed, Mr. Garrett?”
“Not at the moment.”
A second deputy appeared to assist Hillman. They definitely weren’t taking any chances, and as Jessie thought of what Bran was capable of doing, she didn’t blame them.
“If you’ll both come this way.” The second deputy, Crowley, was older, a slight paunch over his belt.
