Page 11 of Allie's Shelter
“Good to hear. Get your stuff.”
Allie felt like a bobble head, but she couldn’t stop nodding. He’d saved her twice in less than twelve hours. She didn’t quite trust him, and with all these renewed feelings, she didn’t trust herself around him, but she decided dealing with the devil she knew was the better choice. For now.
* * *
Ross used the anger, let it show as he approached the woman.
“I know your brain’s working by now. Talk to me.” He asked the basic questions about identity and purpose and got only a studied lack of response.
With his phone, he took a picture and prints, sent the information up the line to Eva.
He silently cursed his overwhelming stupidity for taking this ridiculous job. He should’ve walked away when he realized it was his Allie who’d stolen from her company. Should’ve gone ahead and admitted the conflict of interest and turned down the hefty retainer when her boss, Bradley Roberts, had come to him.
But Roberts had been referred by a satisfied customer and Ross didn’t want to undermine the power of word-of-mouth advertising. Private security and recovery work was a small world populated with big organizations, effective modest teams like his own, and solo acts who were trying to make a name for themselves. Turning Roberts away meant giving Allie up to another team that might not view her as anything more than an easy paycheck.
If curiosity killed the cat, he should’ve known he wouldn’t fare better. This whole thing kept unraveling by the minute. He needed to find the unruly string and cut it off.
Without words, he ushered Allie out of the hotel room and down the back stairs to his car.
“Where are we going?”
Ross shook his head. He didn’t know yet and he wanted a few minutes to consider the options. He wouldn’t take a suspect—not even Allie—to the office in Columbia. Eva had already given him hell at the Midnight Rooster, accusing him of “shacking up with the perp”, a situation she couldn’t abide with her black and white logic.
Logic didn’t cover that stunt with the kiss. Eva had to know he’d address that crazy move at the next opportunity. He knew damn good and well she didn’t mean that sort of advance on a personal romantic level, which meant she was up to something. And with Eva’s independent and often impatient thought processes, it wasn’t likely to be something he’d appreciate.
The way he looked at it, this latest armed intrusion would prove the point he’d been trying to make to her about Allie’s safety and the security of the stolen data.
If he’d followed Eva’s rules and booked two rooms, or left Allie to her own devices, they’d be trying to pick up her trail about now. Instead, thanks to his intuition—which had nothing to do with his fond memories of her supple body—they had both the thief and the stolen property sitting right beside him.
The wail of sirens closing in on the motel offered a harsh wake-up call for the sleepy town.
“Ross, please. Tell me you’ve got an idea.”
He looked at her, looked down to the key he hadn’t managed to put in the ignition yet. “I’ll come up with something.” He had plenty of ideas, none of them he intended to share.
He put the car in gear and zig-zagged through side streets until he reached the edge of town. He considered it lucky when the last traffic light turned red and he used the few seconds to send the code phrase that ended Eva and Rick’s surveillance schedule of Allie. He didn’t want their company or opinions anytime soon. He kept the phone on, propped in the cup holder, so they could keep tabs on him via the GPS signal.
“Let’s go for a drive, see if anyone else is close enough to take a shot at you.”
“When are you going to tell me the whole truth about your part in all of this?”
Not anytime soon. “I’ve told you. I’m doing a favor for Sheriff Cochran.”
“You want me to buy the local bad boy-makes-good routine?” Her snort confirmed her opinion of the likelihood of that.
“Sort of.” The short version obviously wouldn’t hold her off much longer, but he intended to save the details for when she couldn’t run away from him. “Is it so hard to believe?”
He watched the mirrors as he headed toward Darlington. This route gave more options to anyone inclined to tail them. So far nothing, but he wasn’t holding his breath. Beside him, Allie swiveled in the seat, pulling the seatbelt snug between her breasts. He looked back at the mirrors. Please, God, let there be a tail to distract him, but when he turned again, they were the only car for miles.
“Damn.”
“What?” She looked out the back window. “Is someone back there?”
“No.” He tried to sound happier about it. “No one’s back there. Looks like we’ve got the road to ourselves.”
“Okay.”
“We’ll be out here a little while yet.”