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Coming down the hall, she saw what he was carrying. “Oh, those are—” She eyed him warily. “I keep them packed. You know.”
“Go bags.”
“Something like that,” she admitted.
He shook his head. “Should I bring in just the boxes?”
“No, I need the bags, too, but I can help.”
“Won’t take me a minute.” He went back outside before he had to get mad at her again for planning to run out on him.
Once everything was inside, he went into the kitchen, where she was rinsing dishes. “I’m going out to get my laptop,” he told her.
“Where are you parked?”
“Alley behind Mrs. Wilbanks’s house.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Sneaky.”
He just smiled. Once he’d returned, he pulled up a list of hospitals and urgent care facilities in King County and when he read it aloud, she identified six places where she’d been treated.
Six. Seth wasn’t smiling anymore.
Since this was Sunday, it wouldn’t do any good to send off the requests before morning, especially since he’d need her to come into the station to sign a permission form he could scan.
In the meantime, he had no intention of going anywhere. Which was fine today as long as he didn’t get called out, a possibility even on his days off. If that happened, he’d have to figure out what to do with Robin and Jacob. He wouldn’t leave them unguarded.
Speaking of which... He closed his laptop and said what he was sure were her favorite words: “Let’s talk.” Seeing her anxiety, he shook his head. “Nothing bad.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t want you staying here,” he said bluntly.
Her mouth tightened. “Then you should have let me go, shouldn’t you?”
“I need to know where you are.” He hoped she didn’t understand how sincerely he meant that.
She only frowned. “I guess I could go back to the Lookout Inn. The security there is probably decent. Better than a bed-and-breakfast.”
“But not good enough. You’d be easy to find. It’ll be best if you just disappear. We’ll leave your car here, slip out the back door during the night.”
Now she looked wary. “Where would we go?”
He wished he could take them home—and the force of that desire was good reason to nix the idea. Along with the fact that, unless he took some vacation, she and Jacob would be unprotected while he worked.
“To stay with my father,” he said. Although maybe he should have called Dad before proposing this, Seth realized belatedly. “He’s a retired cop, has lots of room.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
Helen—damn it, he didn’t like being so confused—Robin shook her head. “We can’t descend on your father. I’ve never even met him! And with a two-year-old...? Have you asked him?” she queried with spot-on suspicion.
“I’ll call him right now.”
Robin jumped up. “There’s got to be someplace else we can go. I’ve gotten to be friends with one of my coworkers—”
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Can she protect you? Does she have family you’d be endangering?”
“Oh, God.” She plunked back down onto the chair, looking dazed.
Seth said gently, “I’m sorry, Robin.”
Her eyes truly focused then. “Maybe you shouldn’t call me that.”
“Why not? It’s safe to say your ex knows what name you’ve been living under.”
Her mouth tightened.
Seth took out his phone and tapped his father’s number. Robin leaped up and said hastily, “I’d better check on Jacob. And let you talk to your dad without me listening in.”
“It’s okay—”
But she was gone. She was probably right, he thought, just as his father said, “Son?”
“Hey, Dad. Ah, listen, I need to ask a favor of you.”
There was a pause. “What is it?”
“I’m looking for someplace for a woman and her toddler son to stay for a few days. She’s in a tough spot.”
“This somebody you’re seeing?”
“No, nothing like that.” Did he sound as falsely hearty as he thought he did? “We talked about the Realtor who was murdered. She was killed in a rental house. This woman is the renter. I think Ms. Sloan was killed by mistake. She looked a lot like Ms. Boyd.” He caught himself. “Hollis. Crap. She’s living here under a false identity to escape an ex-husband.”
