He reacted instantly, slamming the brakes and spinning the truck around and into the edge of a deserted auto parts parking lot. They came to a lurching stop, and he shoved the gearshift into park. Silence and snow descended instantly upon them. If he was going to keep her safe, she had to understand he’d destroy any challenge, even if it came from her.
Her mouth was wide open this time, and she watched him warily, turning her back to her door as much as the seat belt would allow.
He scouted the silent area outside before turning his focus back on her. “You done challenging me?”
She swallowed. “Probably not.”
His lips twitched. Her sense of humor, the honesty in it, had intrigued him from the very beginning. “I assume you called for my help because I get things done.” It made his heart speed up to just sit in danger and talk, but he could take a moment if necessary. “Right?”
She nodded.
“Do you know how I do that?” he asked softly.
Her eyes widened very slightly. “How?”
“By any means necessary.” He hadn’t allowed her to know him fully when they were together because he had wanted her tolikehim. She was good and strong and sweet and somebody he shouldn’t touch. But he’d wanted so badly to touch her, so he’d played a part he thought she’d like. For the briefest of time, he’d pretended he was a normal guy courting an amazing woman. But he wasn’t normal, and he’d get her killed if she stayed in his life. “Do you understand that I’ll stop at nothing to reach an objective?”
She studied him for several seconds. “I don’t think so.”
Fair enough. He’d have to show her with how he handled the current problem. First, he needed information. A lot of it. “Why did you track me down? Why is there a gang after you?”
A myriad of expressions crossed her face, including anger and regret. “It was a mistake to track you down. I realize that now, and I apologize.” Her polite voice, the one she used when truly irritated, filled the cab. “It won’t happen again.”
“It’s too late.” That tone made him want to muss her up—kiss her until she was breathless and needy. “I’m in this now. Tell me what it is.” He could see the struggle inside her. The one full of pride and self-preservation that told her to run from him. The other full of need and desperation, who knew she needed his help. He let her work it out without his interference.
Her stunning dark eyes were full of concern, and her paleness alarmed him. Finally, her shoulders slumped. “My foster sister, Sharon, gave birth to a baby three months ago and then died from what the authoritiesthoughtwas an accidental overdose.”
Denver’s focus narrowed. There was a huge drug pipeline into Alaska through the gangs. He started to put pieces together. “All right.”
Tears glimmered in Noni’s eyes. “Sharon was one of the foster kids who’d passed through our home more than once, and we told everybody we were sisters. We have been good friends for ten years. We felt like family, you know? I liked her, but she fought a drug habit.” Noni wiped the moisture off her face. “She had just graduated college, and she got pregnant by a real loser named Richie, who belongs to a local gang. A really bad guy.”
Denver put his hands on the steering wheel to keep from reaching for her. “You don’t think it was an accidental overdose?”
“No,” she whispered, her voice tortured. “Sharon had kicked the drugs during the pregnancy, and she loved that baby so much. My aunt and I helped her to get an apartment, and she was going to make it. She wouldn’t have risked her baby.” Noni cleared her throat. “She had cut off all ties with Richie, and he was threatening her. I think he killed her.”
Denver breathed out. If the guy was evil enough to kill the mother of his child, he needed to be put down. Now. “The baby?”
“Richie is a Kingdom Boys member, and he took her and left town. Since he’s listed on the birth certificate, I guess he has the right to do that. Even if not, I’m afraid to call the police. If they come after him, he’ll hurt the baby. He threatened to do just that if I didn’t leave him alone. I’ve been chasing him ever since.”
Denver leaned back. The woman was chasing a fucking gang member? Was she crazy? “So you have no legal claim to that baby?” Denver had connections who could create necessary papers if needed. He’d fix this. “Noni?”
“Sharon named me Talia’s legal guardian in her will. If Richie is found to be a danger, then the will trumps a father’s rights. But we have to go through the court system, and I don’t think there’s time.” Noni handed over a picture of a new baby with tons of dark hair held back in a little pink clip.
The image kicked Denver square in the gut. So innocent and vulnerable. He knew firsthand what monsters could do to a helpless child. Even if Noni hadn’t been involved, Denver would’ve stepped in. “What if Richie is found by the authorities to not be a danger to the baby?” he asked quietly, curious. Oh, he had no problem killing Richie to protect a baby. But what about Noni? Did she really understand what might have to happen here?
Noni met his gaze directly, her eyes harder than he’d ever seen them. “Then I’m taking the baby anyway. No matter what I have to do.”
CHAPTER
3
Noni stretched her aching back while walking into Denver’s safe house in Snowville. They moved through an antiquated kitchen, complete with an avocado green stove, into a small living area with an empty fireplace in one corner. “It’s weird you have a safe house,” she murmured, taking in the scarred wooden tables and computer equipment set throughout the room. No couch, pictures, decorations. Just a working room with equipment. Drapes covered the windows and kept the storm hidden.
Denver set her bag on a ripped orange office chair. “This is just a temporary safe house we rented, but we have it for the rest of the month, so I figured it’d be a good place to form a plan and hide the truck.” He looked around. “I haven’t gotten a chance to transfer all the equipment to a new place, so this will work for now.”
“Transfer? Meaning you’ve been living here?” How many nights had she wondered where he was and what he was doing? If he’d found somebody else?
“No. We had an op here.” He looked around. “The other places we used are blown, but this one is safe for the moment.”
