“No. I wasn’t in love with Cassandra.” But selfish bastard that he was, he hadn’t ended things when he should have.
“But she was in love with you,” Abby guessed.
He glanced away, trying not to remember her sweet, trusting face. “She thought she was.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, felt the bruises on his knuckles and the roughness of his evening beard. “I didn’t love her, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Cassie’s dead because of me.”
Abby opened her mouth to ask him what had happened, but Gage just shook his head. “Subject closed. If you’re determined to go, I’ll take you. But you have to trust me to keep you safe. That means you do what I tell you.”
He wasn’t sure what he read in her face, but finally she nodded. “I’ll expect to have some input, but if there’s trouble, I’ll do what you say.”
“I want your word.”
With a resigned sigh, she nodded. “I give you my word.”
CHAPTER NINE
THE NIGHT WAS CLEAR AND DARK.AFAINT WIND RUSTLED THE LEAVESin the street, but the sound was muted by the Friday night revelers in the bars and restaurants of LoDo.
Abby made coffee while Gage phoned the police. Officer Noland, young, with broad features and curly brown hair, and Officer Riggs, older, with a touch of silver at the temples, arrived at the apartment.
Noland took a statement from her and Gage, then asked a few additional questions.
“Aside from the men’s height and build, what else can you tell us about them? Any distinguishing marks? Scars, tattoos, that kind of thing?”
“They were covered head to foot in black,” Abby reminded him. “So there wasn’t much to see.”
“I can tell you they were damned determined,” Gage said. “People were starting to notice, or I don’t think they would have backed off.”
Abby felt a chill. “Gage fought them. If I’d been alone, I would have been in real trouble.”
“You get a plate number?” Officer Riggs asked.
“Couldn’t make it out,” Gage said. “I’m guessing they had it covered.”
“Any idea why they went after Ms. Holland?” Officer Noland asked.
Gage cast Abby a glance, warning her not to mention the map. “What do men usually want from a beautiful woman?” he said.
Noland’s gaze went to Abby, from her long russet braid to the toes of her leather ankle boots. He wrote something in his notepad, but made no reply.
Abby’s mind was stuck onGage thinks I’m beautiful. She tucked the words away to examine later and focused on the conversation.
“I know it isn’t much,” she said. “We couldn’t see their faces. We know the car was an SUV, but neither of us could tell what model. It was black, dark gray, or blue. It was too dark to tell for sure.”
“At least there’ll be a report on file,” Gage said. “In case something else happens.”
“Nothing else is going to happen,” Abby said firmly, wishing she could convince herself.
Officer Noland closed his notebook and handed her a card. “If you think of anything else, you can call this number.”
She accepted the card. “Thank you.” Gage walked the policemen downstairs to the door that led outside.
“That was kind of a waste of time,” Abby said when he returned.
“It’s on record. If we have to deal with whoever came after you, we’ve laid the groundwork.”
Her head came up. There was something in his voice, the same hint of violence she had heard when he’d told her to run. She wondered how far he would have gone to stop the men from abducting her. They wanted the map. She wondered what they would have done to her in order to get it.
A shudder ran through her as she looked at Gage. “You don’t think they’ll follow us to Arizona, do you?”
