She rubbed her hands down her jeans. “Good enough. Check in the second you have news.”
“I will.” He slowed the truck around a chunk of ice in the road. “You do the same.”
“Sure.”
That didn’t sound like the truth. Man, she really didn’t trust him. Oddly, all of a sudden he wanted to prove her wrong. Yet his instincts bellowed for him to get the green-eyed beauty somewhere safe and definitely away from him. Her skin tempted him to explore, and her mouth looked delicious. He couldn’t be distracted like this—especially when he had a job to do.
Her apartment came into view. The front entrance was empty, but he’d seen an FBI agent inside the lobby and out of the storm. “Hey. Do me a favor and don’t let the FBI know about the fake marshals, would you? That’s a private case, and we really need the FBI to concentrate on your sister and not lose traction by following irrelevant leads.”
She studied him. “I’ll think about it.”
That’s all he could ask her to do. “Let the FBI keep you safe.” As if they could.
She nodded. “Where are your offices located?”
“They were in Cisco, Wyoming, but we’ve closed those down. We’re working on relocating to the Pacific Northwest,” he said easily. They hadn’t found a place as of yet.
Her face was still too pale. “Promise you’ll call if you find out anything. And if you’re lying about Loretta . . .”
“I wish I were. But I’ll find her.” He studied Anya. Delicate bone structure, bruised skin, terror-filled eyes. After she exited the truck, snow dropped onto her flaming hair, and with the gray building behind her, she was all light and color. “I promise.”
She shut the door and turned to run into the building.
He waited until she’d reached the agent inside, looked around the quiet area to make sure nobody had followed them, and then took off.
Leaving her didn’t feel right.
CHAPTER
3
Anya settled back in her seat as the too-silent female agent drove her through Snowville toward the FBI offices. The woman had barely confirmed that Loretta had been kidnapped. For any more information, Anya needed to speak to a superior.
Kidnapped. Anya leaned her head against the window, not minding the chill. Where was Loretta? Was she hurt? Scared? Still alive?
Closing her eyes, Anya said yet another prayer. Heath’s cece filled her mind. Strong lines, intelligent eyes, determined jaw, sculpted lips.
What would those lips feel like? With that thought, she flashed back to almost five months ago, when her life had started to unravel.
“Leave me the hell alone, Carl,” she snapped, struggling with both the lock on her apartment door and her luggage. Her laptop case fell off her biggest suitcase, landing with a thunk on the plush carpet of the long hallway. How was her taste in men so terrible when she’d been raised by a single father who had been an amazing person? “Damn it.”
Carl sighed and stepped away from her. “We have to talk about this.”
Talk about this? She whirled on him. “You’re kidding me. You’re actually kidding with me right this second.”
His sizzling blue eyes dimmed. “I’m sorry. You have to know how sorry I am.”
“I don’t care.” She turned and unlocked her door, heat and hurt filling her chest. They’d dated for nearly six months before they’d won a grant to study abnormal psychology at an institution in southern Washington and had taken sabbaticals from Ocean City College in western Washington, where they both taught. It had seemed like such an adventure. “We’re through.”
“Come on.” He shook his head. “It was one mistake.”
“Right.” They’d been on a research sabbatical for two months, with ten to go. She’d do her own research without his help. She struggled to shove her suitcases inside. Was it only the night before that she’d found him in bed with his research assistant? The idiot should’ve never given her the key to his temporary apartment. The bastard must’ve broken speed limits to get here so quickly.
He cleared his throat and reached for her laptop bag.
“Don’t,” she hissed, shoving his hand away and grabbing it herself.
He sighed. “You are so dramatic. Listen. We’ve been dating for months and there has to be a way to salvage this.”
