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“You can intend anything you want, but I’ll do what I need to do, just like you.”
Point taken. Molly Evans was no damsel in distress. She was a strong, smart, quick-thinking woman, who also happened to be funny and sexy. Fucking lethal combination.
“I’m not trying to go protective caveman on you. But I have a responsibility since I got you into this.”
She turned her head to look at him. Her eyes still held the dreamy aftereffects of her orgasm. “I’m not saying you can’t protect me. I appreciate that. But you’ll have to do it while I take care of my responsibilities.”
“To this kid you just met a few hours ago.”
“Yes,” she said simply. “I am assuming responsibility for him. Once I do that, nothing can shake me loose. Just ask Lila or my other friends. Or my enemies, for that matter. Courtroom enemies, only,” she clarified. “Personally, I avoid the gunfight thing.”
He let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and sigh of frustration. “Speaking of that gunfight, you didn’t seem as fazed by it as I would have thought. Are you used to being around gunfire?”
“I wouldn’t say that I’m used to it, no.” She was quiet for a long time, and he thought maybe she’d fallen asleep. Fine with him; she deserved some rest after everything that had happened. “When I was sixteen, there was a school shooting at a track meet that I was supposed to be at. Lila made us all skip it, me, her and two other friends. She gets feelings about things, and don’t ask me how or why, but she’s very often right. Don’t even bother arguing about it.”
She paused, as if waiting for him to argue, but he didn’t. He was much too interested in her story.
“It was interesting, we all had different reactions to what happened. I needed to know everything about the shooter—he was the ex-boyfriend of someone on the track team—his weapons, how he planned it, the trial, his defense, his prosecution. I always hated guns. My mother had one and I used to sneak into her closet and take out all the bullets so at least when she had an episode she wouldn’t kill someone, or herself.”
Another thing she’d said came back to him. I don’t trust anyone anyway. He was starting to see why.
“But after the track meet shooting, my older cousin took me to a range and I learned about every kind of gun they’d let me. I don’t own a gun and never will, but it gave me a sense of control just to know about them. My other friends thought I was crazy. Charlie started going to anti-gun marches, and Ani became a doctor. Everyone’s reaction was different.” She shrugged one sleek shoulder.
“What about Lila?”
“Lila…she spiraled. Sometimes I think she’s still spiraling. She saved us, but she didn’t save the others. She couldn’t have, because they wouldn’t have listened to her. We were the only ones who really knew her and trusted her.”
Trust. That word again. “You said you don’t trust anyone.”
“I did, didn’t I?” One corner of her mouth curved upwards. “It’s mostly true, but I do trust Lila. I also worry about her and would do anything for her. She’s almost like a little sister to me, although we’re the same age.”
“That’s why you feel responsible for her too. Despite the fact that she’s a grown woman.”
“I’m a full grown woman too. Weren’t you just trying to be responsible for me?” She nudged him in the side with her elbow. He ran his hand down her arm and watched her shiver.
“I guess we’re a lot alike,” he murmured. “Now what am I going to do with you?”
Her smile grew more wicked. “Do you want some suggestions, or…”
“No.” He clamped a hand on her hip and squeezed. “None of that. We have a kid waiting for you in a cabin. I have an investigation to pursue. And we have someone shooting at us. Me, you, us, I’m not sure which. I need to figure out the next best step here.”
“We,” she corrected.
“We?”
“We need to figure out the next best step. We’re in this together now, Sam. I just had to hide under a table, you’re not leaving me out.”
“You ate a sandwich under there,” he pointed out dryly.
“Yeah, and I could use another one right about now.”
He laughed, then she joined in, and the release of tension was so sweet that it nearly rivaled the orgasm he’d just experienced.
“Be right back,” he told her. He slid out of bed and made a quick stop in the bathroom to clean up. Then he stepped cautiously into the kitchen, knowing it would be the last time for a while. He couldn’t stay here, it was too exposed. In fact, once he told Bradley about it, they’d probably pull him off this case entirely. If the Chilkoots were behind this, that meant they were turning on him, and he was of no use to the investigation anyway.
As quickly as possible, he threw together a backpack of food for them to take to the kid. Maybe he’d have better luck than Molly had had in terms of getting some information out of him.
At any rate, that boy was the only solid lead he had right now.
