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She shut out images of another scar like hers on the lifeless body of the woman from the woods and gripped the hem of Cannon’s white coat. Heat seeped into her chilly fingers as she brushed his thighs. “Annie. She seems like family.”
He raised his eyebrows. “She is.”
She dipped her fingers into his coat pockets and fisted the material to steady her racing thoughts. “Malgor didn’t pick the snowman nurse for Logan to kill at random. He knows she means something to you. Malgor’s watching us to choose who he’s going to target.”
“Why?”
“To hurt you, but that doesn’t add up. Why target someone you care about? You didn’t botch his kidnapping plot.”
Cannon squeezed her hip. “What kidnapping plot?”
She winced as his fingers grazed her bruised ribs.
“Sorry.” He settled his hand lower. “I’m examining you when we get inside.”
“Fine.” Maybe she should get that injection he’d mentioned earlier. Her head and ribs ached like a bitch. “Two years ago, Malgor kidnapped a tech genius named Devon and planned to use his intel to take down critical national infrastructure.”
Cannon crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, is that all?”
She shrugged. “I told you Malgor was really bad news. I pinpointed his location, and my father, an FBI special agent, and I devised a successful rescue plan before Malgor got any classified intel. Or the ransom.”
“Jesus Christ, Rosalie. You pissed off a terrorist and now he’s after you?” He looked over her shoulder as if he could see through the hospital walls and across the street to the Mountainview Inn. “I’ll call Grady and arrange protection for your family.”
“They’re safe.” His concern touched her heart. “I’ve arranged an FBI detail for my mother and another one for my cousin and her fiancé, Devon.”
Cannon gripped her hand. “The kidnapped tech genius?”
She gave him a brief recap of how the man who’d brought a terrorist into her life was about to marry her cousin. “Sounds unreal, but it’s true.”
Cannon whistled between his teeth. “Unreal is right. Are you sure Devon and your cousin aren’t in danger?”
“I’m not sure, hence the protection, but I don’t think they are his targets.” She’d thought Malgor had been behind the attack on Easton’s company, but it had turned out to be a two-bit cybercrook who’d got caught last month. And the trouble that had found Devon after his kidnapping had been the work of an unrelated organization. “Malgor hasn’t tried to touch anyone close to me since he killed…”
She sagged against the wall. For the past two years, she’d analyzed Malgor’s attacks until her vision blurred. She’d come away with nothing except a festering sense of failure.
“Tell me, Rosalie. Who did Malgor kill?”
She closed her eyes and placed her hand on his chest. A fast but steady rhythm thrummed beneath her palm. She rarely talked about the night her father had died, but Cannon deserved to know the details about their twisted enemy. She hated adding to his worries, though. He already carried the burden of an entire town’s well-being on his shoulders. That was the kind of guy Dr. Cannon Ford was. The kind a girl could share her nightmares with. The kind who would hold her when she woke crying and then make love to her until she felt whole again.
Nice fantasy.
She didn’t stand a chance of feeling whole until Malgor languished behind bars or rotted in a grave. Bella had told her that when she’d met Devon, he still slept with a light on. Being blindfolded for three days had left him afraid of the dark. Could he turn off the light now that he’d fallen in love?
“Talk to me, Snow Angel.”
Cannon’s gritty demand skated down her spine. She opened her eyes and pulled in a deep breath, powerless to deny him. “Malgor killed my father.”
He pulled her into a crushing hug. “I’m so sorry.”
She pushed him away. Crying to Cannon wouldn’t find Malgor, and tears were a form of payment she wouldn’t surrender.
A gust of wind penetrated the courtyard. Cannon wrapped a hand around hers. “Let’s finish this conversation inside.”
“No.” Cold kept her alert and sane, and she desperately needed both right now. She rested her head against the wall and absorbed the chill from the bricks. “After Devon’s successful rescue, Malgor had my father… murdered.”
She blew out her breath and looked up to the dark sky. “We’re not sure who pulled the trigger, but he took responsibility for the crimes.”
Cannon wrapped his arm around her waist. She gasped as he tugged the tail of her blouse from the waistband of her pants and touched her scar. “He did this to you.”
