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“Why would I lie to you?” Suddenly, she couldn’t look me in the eye.
“Because you’re afraid. I’m here to tell you right now that I’ll protect you. I don’t know how many times you need to hear it before you believe and trust me.”
Her laugh was bitter. “You’re right. You’ve told me that before, but you can’t be there twenty-four hours a day. You have a life. Besides, you could be dead on the mountain in two days.” She climbed off the bed, immediately grabbing her clothes. “And I don’t want that to happen.”
“You underestimate me, sweetheart, but it’s good to see you’re worried about me.”
“No, you underestimate…” She immediately cut the sentence short. “I don’t know what I’m talking about. Just be careful.”
“I don’t need to be. I have firepower.” I wasn’t going to get anywhere grilling her about her personal life. “But in all seriousness, I need to ask you a few questions. Can you handle it?”
“I can handle anything,” she teased then her smile faded.
“Tell me everything you know about the man you saw.”
As she jerked on the tee shirt, I could see her mind going a thousand miles an hour. “I told you what I know. He was in jeans and a dark parka with a ski hat. He had an automatic rifle in his hand. I didn’t stop long enough to ask him the time of day. Okay? I was frightened.”
“Because you thought you knew him.”
She snorted, dragging her jeans from the floor. “I definitely didn’t know him.”
“If he’s the guy I’m tracking, then he escaped from prison.”
That seemed to make her take a pause. When she turned her head toward me, she took a few shallow breaths. “Really?”
“Yeah, he’d been there for years.” I decided not to tell her the guy’s name, at least for now. “Just a run of the mill asshole who found an opportunity to skip out of town.”
“Why Montana?”
“He has family here, although the marshals assured me they haven’t been contacted by the guy.” Yeah, I lied. She’d skip town otherwise.
“Okay.”
I got off the bed, watching the flow of emotions rolling through her, my anger increasing. As I pulled her into my arms, she stiffened for a few seconds then molded her body into mine. “I’ll be back before you know it. Make the call about the cabin. We’ll celebrate your new home when I get back. Can you do that for me?” When she didn’t answer, I lifted her chin, forcing her to look into my eyes.
Tears brimmed hers, but she nodded and the haunted look on her face only increased my rage.
One day she’d tell me the name of the asshole who’d hurt her. Then I’d track him down and use my greatest weapon to end his life.
My bare hands.
CHAPTER10
Lily
Foreboding.
The feeling remained in my stomach, keeping it in knots. I’d searched the internet, trying to find any information about an escaped convict to ease my concern. I’d found nothing. Maybe my fears were unfounded, but the nagging remained. But I wasn’t going to back down. Not when I’d come this far.
If I could get a little place to call my own even for a few months, that would improve my mood.
As I stepped out of my truck, I eyed the house suspiciously. It wasn’t because it was run down, which I’d expected, or because it was in a horrible part of town, because it wasn’t. The knot forming in my stomach, shoving the butterflies aside was because the log cabin was utterly gorgeous, the land surrounding it backing up to the snowcapped mountains. While a longer drive to the city than I’d hoped, the stunning location was peaceful.
Jeff stood on the front porch, studying me as I closed the door. He’d been nice enough on the phone, getting the usual details, but he’d very quickly told me he had the perfect place.
That had been the icing on the tilting cake of suspicion. As I walked closer, the entire thing began to smell of a setup.
“You must be Lily. I’m Jeff Jones.” When I didn’t immediately accept his handshake, he laughed. “We spoke on the phone?”
