Okay. His super hearing was bizarre, but she’d figure that out later. She scrambled up and grabbed her suitcase, fully on board with his plan. For now. “I don’t want to go into protective custody.” The killer wanted her and would keep taking other victims that looked like her until she stopped him.
Heath reached for jeans on the floor. “Agreed. Frankly, the FBI didn’t protect Loretta, and you are right. This killer is good. Brilliant maybe. I want you where I can watch you.”
While there was nothing sexual about his tone of voice, the words still tunneled through her like a wild kiss. “You don’t trust the FBI, do you?” she murmured.
“No,” he said shortly. “Loretta was too easy to find. Maybe somebody in her team shouldn’t be trusted.”
Anya paused, shoving the phone into her bag. “Man, you really don’t like law enforcement people.”
He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Let’s just say I want you with me and the few people in life I know and do trust. I’ll have my brothers set up a safe place, several really, in Snowville. They should be set by the time we get there.”
Speaking of trust. “Should we talk about what happened earlier?” What had almost happened?
He looked up from rummaging through his duffel for a faded green shirt. “There’s nothing to talk about. We had a moment, it was a mistake, and that’s the end of it.” His expression remained neutral and his gaze veiled. “I’m sorry if I scared you, and I’ll make sure to take better care from now on.”
She clutched her bag closer to her chest. He had been taking great care of her, but she truly didn’t know him, now, did she? “I’m asking one more time. Are you wanted by the law?” There was something off about him, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what. Her dad had been a cop, and she believed in the system. In the people working for the system.
“No. I’m just not a big fan of the police,” he said.
“Just like the Copper Killer,” she blurted. Her eyes widened. “Oh. I mean—Well, I know you’re not the killer.”
He grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “That’s a relief.”
CHAPTER
15
Snowville had a sweet charm that she’d discovered while staying there with Loretta, and Anya appreciated the nicely plowed neighborhoods they passed before reaching their destination. The building Heath’s brothers had chosen as a safe haven was made of older brick, which looked crumbly but sturdy in an authentic early 1900s kind of way. There were garage doors on one side, which would allow them to park on the ground level.
The idea of a clandestine operation raised her blood pressure, and yet her focus had narrowed and she seemed to notice everything. The homeless guy shuffling along the icy sidewalk with a full shopping cart. The teenagers in their ripped jeans and puffy jackets strutting toward the stores. The mom with three toddlers and an empty stroller. Were they all who they seemed?
Anya glanced at Heath’s calm expression as he circled the block. Watching him filled her with more than anticipation. Her blood sped, and her body tuned to his. The more time she spent with him, the more fascinating he became. He noticed everything, and that was quite a skill. And what was up with his super-hearing, anyway? What kind of a world had she just entered? Was she imagining things or was there more at play?
“What are we doing?” she asked, just having awoken upon entering Snowville.
“I’m taking note of alleys and escape routes from the building. You should look around, too.” His voice remained calm and steady, but an alertness showed in the line of his strong shoulders.
She studied the buildings around them. Everything in her wanted to trust her instincts, but he was way beyond her realm of experience. “I know you’re innocent, but you have traits the FBI might be interested in. You need to be careful.”
He rubbed the scruff on his jaw. “What do you mean?”
That jaw looked made of stone. Chiseled and strong. “You are smart and trained, and you could take on a trained FBI agent easily. However, you do have definite triggers about women, and you’ve been involved in the case for a while. Don’t many killers try to work with law enforcement in such cases?” she asked thoughtfully.
He cut her a look. “Yeah. Maybe I am a good suspect. If Agent Reese thinks about it, he’ll start plastering my face everywhere in an effort to track me down. That can’t happen.”
“Why not? You have a good face.” Truth be told, he had an amazing face. If she were a sculptor, she could spend weeks getting the lines and angles just right.
He flashed a grin. “Thanks. With the detective agency, I like to stay under the radar as much as possible.”
It was a good explanation, but was it the truth? Besides being strongly good-looking, he was so alert and dangerous. What was she doing trusting him? If he turned on her, what would she do? She shivered.
He circled the building once more and drove up to one of the small garage doors, which opened immediately. “Cameras are already in place and functioning around the perimeter of the entire building.” He drove into a cavernous parking area.
Concrete surrounded them, cracked and crumbling. Was the building sound? If Heath’s brothers were as careful as he was, then the building would be perfect. Well, probably. That hadn’t been a very straight answer about the law. She instinctively searched for another exit in the garage.
A sleek black truck and a nicely decked out Jeep were parked in the far corner. Heath cut the engine.
She released her seat belt and surveyed the garage area. Her breath quickened. “I guess we’ve arrived.”
