Page 58 of Trap ’N’ Trace

“Why? What’s happened?” His stiff body posture told her something was up.

“The tech guys just pulled something critical from Becca’s phone.”

…

Dayne alternated between the rear and sideview mirrors, keeping tabs on the gray sedan that had stuck with them for the last few minutes. He tested his theory by pressing his foot down on the accelerator and…shit. When he sped up, so did the sedan. Sure enough, when he eased off the gas, the other driver slowed. Could be nothing. Then again, maybe they really were being followed.

He kept watching the vehicle, trying not to let Kat see. He’d finally gotten around to telling her he thought someone had been on the property yesterday. She was edgy enough as it was. The last thing she needed was his paranoia making it worse.

“Where are we going?” Kat plucked another raspberry candy dot from the roll of paper. She’d been popping them like a drug addict craving a fix, cleaning off more than four inches of paper.

“Englewood. The Sylvus Corporate Center. It was the last location Becca entered into her GPS phone app the day she was killed.” He shot another look in the rearview mirror and tightened his grip on the wheel. Still there.

Delicately, she put the candy in her mouth and crunched. Remy stuck her head through the opening, her nostrils flaring as the scent of raspberry filled the SUV’s interior. Yep, his dog had a sweet tooth. Angus whimpered, and his little paws hooked over the ledge as he tried unsuccessfully to peer into the passenger compartment.

Kat twisted to pet Remy and give Angus’s little paws a quick squeeze. She wore gray slacks and a lavender sweater. The only jewelry she had on was a pair of amethyst studs that matched the color of her eyes. She really did have the prettiest eyes and—

Don’t think about how pretty the rest of her is, either.

“Who exactly will be at this party?” She plucked off another dot.

“Just my parents.” He made a left turn and checked the mirror. The sedan hung back, creating more distance. “And Lily.”

Kat tore off two more inches from the roll and plucked off several dots at once, shoving them into her mouth. “Why do you keep looking in the rearview mirror?”

“Because,” he said, flicking on the wipers as raindrops dotted the windshield, “somebody might be following us.”

“What? Who?”

“Don’t know.” He could easily flip on the lights, hang a uey, then pull over the sedan to find out, but that went against every rule of protection in the book. If the killer were actually following them, pulling the asshole over would only put less distance between the guy and Kat, which would be monumentally stupid.

Plus, he still couldn’t be certain about the sedan. And Lily would macerate his balls if they were late for the party. He cued up the universal police department frequency then grabbed the mic to make an official request for a marked unit to pull over the sedan.

“Is he still back there?” Kat twisted in her seat to look behind them.

“Don’t.” He shot out a hand to clasp her upper arm and, in the process, unintentionally copped a feel of her warm, perfect breast. “The rear window is pretty well tinted, but I don’t want the driver to know we’re checking him out.”

Kat settled into the seat but he glimpsed the pink stain creeping up her neck. She was as much affected by his clumsy faux pas as he was.

Her nipple puckered against the lavender sweater, jutting out like a plump little berry. If only his peripheral wasn’t so good, because he really, really didn’t need to see that. All the more reason to keep things from getting physical between them again.

Refocusing, he glanced in the mirror again. “Shit.”

“Now what?” Kat made an exaggerated gesture with her hand.

“He’s gone.” The road behind them was empty.

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah.” Except that he’d been totally, inexcusably distracted and missed which road the vehicle turned onto. His feelings for her were affecting his job. He could still ask for reassignment, at least for inside-duty at the castle, but he didn’t want that, either. Didn’t trust anyone else to keep her safe. Problem was, after last night, his awareness of her was exponentially over the top. Now she was 200 percent off-limits.

What he needed was distance. As soon as the killer was caught, he’d be outta there. Meantime, he needed to keep a lid on his libido. They both did.

He noted the time and their location. If a marked unit didn’t catch up to the sedan which, at this point, would probably be the case, another agent could run the same route they’d taken and check for video cameras. If they were lucky, the car would be on one of them.

“We’re here.” He turned into the parking lot of a four-story building then rolled down his window to snap a photo. Nothing’s ever easy. According to the sign, half a dozen companies maintained offices here. Three law firms, one marketing company, and two accounting firms. He forwarded the image to Paulson’s email then drove slowly through the lot.

“What are you looking for?” Kat asked.