His mouth went slack for a moment. Then he shook his head like a dog with a face full of water. “Jesus.”
She winced and tried to focus on his face. Only his face. Not lower. Definitely not any lower. “Um. Too much information. Sorry. Brain and mouth are connected.” Yet didn’t guys like to hear that? In his case, it was certainly true. He didn’t seem overly pleased with her observation, however. “Um. Sorry.” She ground a fist into her eye. This was getting beyond awkward.
He sighed. “Let’s get dressed and hit the road. We can grab something to eat on the way.”
As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. “Good plan.” Her cell phone buzzed from the side table, and she picked it up. “Hi, Reese.”
Heath’s head jerked back.
Her eyes widened. Oh no. She hadn’t thought. Her mind had been on Heath’s body and not on the moment. She wasn’t even fully awake yet.
“Where the hell are you?” Reese snapped out. “You and Heath Jones are supposed to be in my office right now. As in right now, right now.”
She bit her lip. “Well, we, ah, aren’t going to make it.”
Heath held out a broad hand for the phone. She gave him a look but handed it over. He pressed the speaker button. “Special Agent Reese? I decided to take Anya out of the jurisdiction and get her to safety, considering she all but put a bull’s-eye on her red head.”
“You think we can’t keep her safe, asshole?” Reese’s voice rose dangerously and filled the room. “We’re the FBI.”
Anya winced. The speaker on the phone was way too loud.
Heath nodded. “I don’t care who you are because you’ll use her. We both know you’ll use Anya as a decoy, and I’m not gonna let you do that.”
Silence ticked for a moment. “She made herself a decoy.”
“Yeah, because she’s emotional about this case, as are you. She’s my fiancée, and I’m going to keep her safe whether you like it or not.” Heath’s emphasis on the wordmysent funny tingles through her still-aroused body. “After I get her somewhere safe, I’ll contact you, if you’d still like to interview me. I promise I don’t have any information I didn’t share with Loretta. There’s nothing to learn from me.”
“I think you’re full of shit, Jones.” Rustling came over the line. “If you think I’m going to sit here and not start investigating your ass, you’re crazy. In fact, where were you the day Special Agent Jackson was taken? Have an alibi?”
Heath’s face hardened. “I liked Special Agent Jackson, and I never would’ve hurt her. You know that, or there’s no way you would’ve let me leave the cemetery.”
As if anybody could’ve stopped Heath. Anya watched him, her instincts flaring. He was even more dangerous than she’d thought, but that didn’t mean he was a bad guy. Unless he was, and since her instincts sucked lately, it was unfortunately possible.
Her hands shook as she rubbed her eyes again. God, she was tired. “I talked to Loretta after I met him one time, Reese.” She tried to strengthen her voice. “Loretta said that she’d cleared Heath for at least two of the earlier murders and that she trusted him.”
“She didn’t know we believe there might be two killers,” Reese shot back. “Where are you, Anya? I’ll send a car to bring you to safety.”
“Why do you think there are two?” Heath asked, frowning. “The M.O. fits one crazy bastard, not two.”
“I’m not sharing with you,” Reese returned evenly. “As of now, you’re impeding an investigation.”
Heath shook his head and glared at the phone. “You know I’m not. Why don’t you do your damn job and find this guy? Have you interviewed Carl Sparks? That guy seems sketchy to me. He could be your guy.”
“You know, maybe he is,” Reese said thoughtfully. “He didn’t show up for his interview, either. Maybe you and Carl are the killing pair I’ve been looking for.”
Okay, so Reese was pissed. Anya breathed out, her mind clicking facts into place. Intelligence and not emotion would prevail. “I understand that you’re angry, but come on. Heath has been cleared by Loretta, and while Carl is a jerk, he’s not a serial killer. Frankly, I don’t think he’s savvy enough to have evaded the authorities for this many months, and there’s no doubt the Copper Killer is a smart guy. Or guys.”
“Either way, I scheduled two interviews and neither man showed up.” Reese whispered something unintelligible to somebody. “If you ask me, Carl is on his way to find you. He seemed overly concerned that you left with Heath. And you’re wrong about me, Anya. I have no intention of using you as a decoy. I plan to put you back into protective custody. I owe Loretta that much.”
Anya shook her head, breath rushing through her. “I don’t want to be hidden away. This guy killed my sister, and I’m his end goal. Why not use that?” She tried to sound sure, but the idea of the killer finding her sent chills skittering down her spine. She shivered.
“Because you’re an untrained civilian,” Reese said, whispering away from the phone again.
Heath disengaged the call. “Damn it. Get ready to go. Now.”
“Why?” she asked, swinging her attention to him.
“They traced us. I heard a tech whisper that to Reese,” Heath said. “We need to go. Now.”
