Page 19 of Cops and Robbers

“What a pleasant change of pace,” he muttered under his breath.

“So how’d you find me?” she asked, wanting to bother him.

“How’d you escape the field office?”

She looked up in the rear-view mirror. As if sensing her look, he met her gaze. She sent him a saucy grin that said, Wouldn’t you like to know?

He rolled his eyes, and they returned to their tense silence. When popular songs filled the space, she tapped her foot along. As he jumped onto the interstate and headed north to Chicago as if back to the field office, she frowned.

When he split off to head east toward Michigan instead of west, she rose in her seat.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“Somewhere safe where we can talk in private, princess.”

She hid her inner excitement again. She couldn’t believe she might have found one of the Dragon SEALs. “This isn’t treatment for a princess. I’m still handcuffed, and these things aren’t comfortable.” She scratched under her irritated wrist.

“Is Kate your real name?”

She peeked up at him. “Yeah. I didn’t want to give you a false first name.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. He didn’t need to know that she preferred to make a decent impression since she needed his help. At least, if he really was a Dragon SEAL. Bracing her shoulder against the door, she rested her head against the window. Darkness had fallen over the flatness of the Midwest. Feeling sluggish, she closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was sleep, but it had evaded her ever since she left the field office. Reminded of the fissures of care and protectiveness in his personality, she felt safe enough to drift off.

Honk.

She jerked awake at the sound and her neck gave a twinge. She rubbed at the sore spot as grogginess faded. Raz had parked in a dark area.

“Rise and shine, princess,” he teased, turning back toward her with his face highlighted by the overhead light.

How long had she been asleep? “Where are we?”

“I brought you to my place,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Really? Trees silhouetted the darkness behind him, and the smell of pine filled the car. Even as a thrill coursed through her for her luck, trepidation stomped it out. She was in the middle of nowhere with a strange man who believed her a criminal.

Raz pushed something through the top of the safety glass between them. Clanking keys hit the ground at her feet.

“If it makes you feel safer, you can take the cuffs off,” he said, leaving the car. “But please don’t run.”

Surprised, she filled her lungs with air and worked the smallest key into the cuffs to release herself. She exited the car, feeling pine needles crunching under her shoes. When he shifted toward her, the car’s overhead light cast a glow over his features. His reassuring grin made her heart sigh.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks,” she murmured, tucking the now loose key into her back pocket.

He eyed her with a frown. “Come on.”

The light from inside the car flicked off, plunging her into darkness. She halted with her hands outstretched. Her fingers brushed against Raz’s warm shirt.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, and a rustling sound came as if he searched his pockets before he lit up the area with a flashlight. A rocked road lay ahead of them; a few stumps on the left side of the path kept him from parking closer. A little way ahead, a single-story log cabin with an attached garage sat. When he seemed to wait for her, she walked past him.

As they approached the cabin, a bright security light illuminated the area. The long porch had a pair of rocking chairs, and chestnut-colored logs made up the rest of the home besides the display window.

Her hands shook with nerves. To bring her out here meant he had to trust her on some level, or that he wanted to catch her off guard. She wasn’t the only one looking for information. She’d just have to play it safe with what she shared.

“You live out here?” she asked.