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Her head angled to the side, toward the coffee table where the bottle rested. Her hand inched closer to graze the numbers handwritten across the label.
He forced himself to say the words, even knowing they would frighten her.
Whatever it took to keep her safe.
“You can talk about walking away to protect me all day long, but McRae has already made the choice for you.” Daniel pointed to the penciled scrawl across the label on the medicine bottle. “That’smysocial security number. He’s not just after you anymore.”
* * *
Time passed in a haze.
Standing by the queen-size bed, Mary Elise sorted through the laundry basket, folding the boys’ clothes into a suitcase, her body on autopilot. Beside her, Daniel jammed gear into a big green bag—a webbed vest, canteens, knife.
A gun.
His stark announcement about his social security number on the bottle still thundered through her head. She’d brought Kent’s wrath to Daniel. She would never be able to forgive herself.
Danny had insisted on calling the cops and filing the official complaint. Prints had been lifted. A restraining order requested. She’d been this route before.
At least the boys would be protected, safely hidden away with Darcy and Max until the threat passed. The engaged couple had already planned to spend Thanksgiving with Darcy’s sister stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The boys would be ensconced in a family full of service members and an OSI special agent. She would stay alone with Daniel in a secluded fishing cabin Max kept for his “cave time” as Darcy called it.
Totally alone.
Daniel had calmly explained this would give him and Max time to track information through CIA and OSI internet files. The remote locale would also keep the threat away from others if Kent found them.
Mary Elise willed her hands to keep folding little boy boxers and pairing up socks. Darcy and Max would finish their own accelerated packing soon. It still boggled her mind that Daniel could ask this of them and that they wouldn’t even hesitate to help. The level of friendship went beyond anything she could fathom.
Made her question the depth of her friendship with Danny.
She tunneled a hand into the basket and came up with…one of Daniel’s shirts. Hard Rock Café: Bangkok.
Once they’d shared so much, and now there were countless unshared memories and experiences between them. She smoothed a hand over the logo, then tugged the shirt inside out for Danny before folding it.
Theyhadbeen close. She’d only turned to his father because she’d known Franklin wouldn’t ask too many questions. Or had she secretly been hoping Franklin would notify Danny? A disturbing notion that left her swaying on her feet.
Daniel palmed her waist, stirring embers barely banked after their kiss earlier. “Would you quit before you fall over?”
The two of them would be alone together soon. No more secrets. Well, not many. Already she could feel the inevitable draw they hadn’t been able to resist eleven years ago.
She didn’t want this. Especially not now.
Mary Elise ducked from under the temptation of his broad palm. “It’s only a little laundry. Do you really want to subject Darcy and Max to the sonic shriek that will come if you forget Austin’s blanket?”
Daniel jammed a pen and paper in her hands. “Make a list. You’re great at details. There’s plenty of stuff Darcy and Max don’t know about the kids that you didn’t need to include on my lists.”
What? He didn’t think she could even handle climbing Mount Washmore? Being relegated to nonactive roles stung on a day where she’d taken a few too many hits. “I’ve already written everything out.”
His hands landed on her shoulders, urging her to sit on the bed. “Do you have any idea how pale you are?”
Yes, she did. The mirror didn’t lie as well as she could. “It’s been a rotten day. Maybe I’m a little shaky, but then, who wouldn’t be?”
Slowly he shook his head. “What else aren’t you telling me? Why would your ex leave a medicine bottle in your bag? And you’d better come clean now because I don’t want any more surprises knocking me on my butt for at least another twenty-four hours, if you don’t mind.”
Two fingers slid from her shoulders up to the bare skin of her neck. “No lies.”
Mary Elise swallowed her anger. The last thing they needed was more sparks. She stared into his smoky-brown eyes and found plenty of anger… and concern. The guy genuinely thought there might be something wrong with her.
She’d pushed him far enough. “I mean it when I say I’m fine, Daniel. I told you already that the bottle was linked to fertility drugs. I just have a…condition…called endometriosis. A chick thing, and you really don’t need to hear all the details. I hadn’t planned on this trip back to the States, and my meds are still in Rubistan. But it’s not like I’m terminal. Women lived with this for centuries without any more medical help than herbs and a warmed brick.”
