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“Come. Let’s go inside where I can keep you safe.” When I reached for her hand, she didn’t object but I sensed there was much more on her mind.
“Is there any such notion in your world of being safe?”
“Usually, yes. What are you thinking?”
She tilted her head, inching closer. “This Death Squad is people who want to take over the world. I have no doubt that includes the mayor, a judge, and several councilmen from Sitka. I have a feeling they called out those men who allowed themselves to be killed. I also believe that the people who died from overdoses were murdered. That’s why I was looking for the connections between them.”
“If that’s the case then these men you mentioned have a wide network of people who can provide assistance.”
“Even here?”
“Even here.”
“It’s my belief that if you find their connection together, other than just retiring to Alaska, maybe you’ll have a trail. Then again, maybe we could set them up in their own web.”
“Interesting proposition but I’m not going to put you in danger. Not ever again.”
“You need to think of me as an ally, not a hindrance or a damsel in distress.” Her insistence would ordinarily infuriate me but everything with regard to her brought entirely different reactions.
“Alright, Ms. Lawman. What do you suggest?”
She brushed her finger down the side of my face. “Do you have a whiteboard?”
“A whiteboard. I think so. Why?”
“Because I’m going to teach you the ins and outs of being an investigator. But you’ll need to trust me. Do you think you can do that?”
I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her closer. As I lowered my head, drinking in the perfume I’d purchased for her, my senses were awakened as they’d been before but this time the emotional rollercoaster was entirely different.
Because I could admit that this woman, the one who’d haunted my dreams was not only the light I’d needed in my life but the woman I’d fallen in love with. “Only if you can place your trust in me.”
“Trust is earned, Mr. Santos. Or should I call you Mr. Santiago?” She laughed, teasing me about my identity as I’d done to her.
“Well, I think saving your life not once but twice qualifies. And how about just Diego.”
“Okay, Just Diego. I’ll accept that. For now.”
“You’re a very bad woman.” I fisted her hair, pulling her onto her toes. “And I’m your master. Keep that in mind.”
“Only time will tell. We need to get to work.”
“Answer me a question first. Where did you go on the day of the attack?”
“I disappeared for a little while because I was certain I was being followed.”
“You were and not just by me.”
“I know. I tried to find out where they were, but they obviously knew I’d been looking,” she said, no longer angry with my interference in her life. “Then I had a meeting with the mayor. That was after seeing Judge Sam Callum on your boat with the senator from California interested in running for the presidency.”
I hadn’t checked the list of passengers, but the fact Michael Crawford was on my boat wasn’t necessarily surprising since he was a patron of the arts, but the timing was. “What else? Something else happened to scare you.”
The way she was biting her lower lip meant I was right. “The mayor threatened me. He acted as if he and his buddies owned the town and I’d been lured there for a purpose.”
“They thought you were controllable.”
“Maybe. That’s what I was trying to figure out.”
No matter the outcome, I would have my time with the mayor. He would learn that threatening my woman didn’t bode well for him in my world. The names were adding up as possible members of the notorious society.
