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Walk in, get the information the suspect offered, try to get him to say something incriminating, but only if she thought she could get it without making him suspicious.
Last, give him the cash and walk out. They’d take care of it from there.
If at any time she felt the blackmailer presented a physical threat, she could give the signal and they’d be there in less than a minute. Yeah, sure. It wasn’t that she didn’t have faith in the officers who’d been sent to the house and were currently following them to the job site, but she knew she could reach her ankle in a matter of seconds.
Yeah, she’d brought her gun. It’d been easy to walk out with the detectives, then claim she needed to go back inside to use the bathroom.
Her loose-legged running pants hid the gun tucked into her sock, though Justin’s glance when she returned told her he knew what she’d done. Surprisingly, he hadn’t said a word.
“Promise me you won’t try to be a hero,” Justin insisted.
She lifted a mock-offended brow. “Hero?”
His jaw clenched. “You know what I mean.”
“After last night there should be no question as to my gender.”
“I’ll treat you like a woman when the time calls for it,” he growled. “Quit avoiding the subject, dammit.”
Damn, he knew her. “Okay, okay, I promise.”
Or maybe not damn. Her spirits lifted a little more. Her life might have changed almost beyond recognition, but that silver lining shone with promise.
Chapter 22
Justin shifted the truck into park, left it running as he stepped out, then watched Marley slide over behind the wheel while he shut the door. She reached for the gearshift and an overwhelming surge of emotion choked him up. He rapped on the window.
After a quick surprised glance, she rolled it down. Before she could say anything, he leaned forward and cupped the back of her head to draw her into a searing kiss. Pulling back, he stared into her beautiful green eyes.
God, it killed him to send her in there alone.
“I—” It came out as a croak. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Marley, I—”
She reached up to place her fingers over his lips. “I’ll use the signal.”
He searched her eyes and saw nothing but truth. And something else that swelled his heart. Could it be…?
“And you don’t lie,” he murmured.
“That’s right,” she stated, focusing her attention on the road in front of her as she shifted into drive. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Her taillights drew away into the near dark of dusk, then slowed and made the final turn a half block away. Once the red lights disappeared, his heart beat with fear. He wanted to run after the truck, wanted to go in with her so she didn’t have to face this scumbag alone. Fists clenched hard, he forced a deep, calming breath.
He had to let the police do their job; Marley’s gun aside, that’s why they’d called them. With that in mind, he hurried to the unmarked car the detectives waited in and slid into the back seat.
Marley’s voice crackled over the wire. They could hear her, but she couldn’t hear them. A safety precaution for her sake, so she didn’t react to something the detectives might say and alert the blackmailer.
“There’s one vehicle,” she said. “A black blazer, I’ve got the license plate…”
Justin listened to her rattle off the number as he marveled at her calm tone. Oddly enough, her confidence scared him even more. He worried her cockiness would make her careless.
Detective Powell keyed the license plate number into the onboard computer. While they waited for the information to come up, Marley continued the dialogue of her movements.
Something niggled Justin’s memory. He couldn’t pinpoint why, but his uneasiness multiplied beyond his initial concern. Dread deepened and took hold, shortening his breath. Suddenly he wished with his entire being that he’d told her how much she meant to him.
****
Marley looked around carefully as she made her way toward the building. It had changed since her last visit. All the walls were enclosed and the multi-level roof of the two story structure was in place. The shadows created by her truck headlights loomed large on the plywood sheeting lining the wall in front of her.
