Page 33 of Allie's Shelter

“Do not say things like that on an open line.”

“Yes, boss.” She made obnoxious kissing noises and disconnected.

“Thanks for letting me hear your end of that.” Allie was at his side before he’d returned the handset to the charger. Her fingers were laced and she was flexing and extending them in a nervous pattern he recognized from grade school. “Eva’s okay?”

“Always. She took what we found on the shooter to Sheriff Cochran. He probably already had it, but it shows him we’re cooperative.”

He didn’t tell Allie that Eva had also handed over a copy of the report giving Allie the solid alibi she needed for the Roberts murder. Hopefully Allie would never know exactly how his profession had intersected with hers.

He wasn’t ashamed, he took great pride in his work, but he didn’t think she’d appreciate how his work had infringed on her privacy.

“You don’t have to call in a favor for me. I don’t want you to do that,” she said.

“If not for you, then who?” He took her hands in his because he simply had to touch her. He’d felt that way for as long as he could remember. Something about her drew him in, made him feel better no matter the situation.

“You’ve done enough already.”

He caught the way her eyes darted around the kitchen, skipping over the breakfast nook where she’d feasted on him moments ago. He resisted the urge to get back to that pleasurable activity. “Allie, we may need more help to get this resolved the right way.”

“I’m an adult, I should be able to handle this myself.”

Yes, she was definitely an adult. On his lap, pressed against him, his body had catalogued every change as a sexy improvement over the younger Allie he remembered with such affection despite the way they’d parted.

“Everyone needs help occasionally,” he said. “Especially adults. As for the FBI, I’ve made some friends along the way. Calling on them won’t be a big deal.”

“If you say so.” She trembled and he gave her arms a quick rub to ward off the chill he knew was coming from the uncertainty inside her. “What now?”

He had some ideas, starting with a few more hot kisses like the one she’d planted on him. But he kept that fantasy to himself. “We wait.” He didn’t like it, but it was the only real option. “Eva needs time, Rick is still en route.”

“Rick?”

“Another member of my team. I sent him to Virginia. He’ll talk to the coroner and check on your friend as well.”

“Thank you.”

He heard the smidge of guilt mixed in with the gratitude and when she stepped away, he let her go. He could hardly fault her for not telling him everything when he was holding back some pertinent details himself.

Once more, he went through the pros and cons of letting her know she had an alibi for the murder. It would relieve one stress, but it would add another.

Her reaction to him in the car, when she’d thought he was there to take her out…it tore him apart. He didn’t want her looking at him like that ever again. There had to be a way to tell her, without adding to her fear or risking her wrath and poor opinion. What would it take to earn enough of her trust that she’d believe him when he explained he was hired to follow her, to recover the data, but he’d never agreed to hurt her?

He supposed it didn’t matter, since he didn’t have the words for explaining any of it yet.

“Did you and Nicole work together?”

“Only once in a while. We met in college and were so excited when we both found work with the same company. Nicole works in packaging and design, but since she moonlights as a photographer, she usually joins me on the charity events. She takes the publicity shots and candids to go with the articles I send—sent—to our company newsletter and other industry journals.”

“And you think someone has her computer?”

“Or hacked her IM looking for me.”

He didn’t like either scenario. Whenever he prodded, whenever he thought he was making progress, this case kept folding in on itself rather than opening up.

“What are you thinking?”

He was thinking there were details he needed to know. Important details Allie might not even realize she knew about her trouble. “I think we’ll have to wait for more intel.” He wanted to push the issue, to push at the barriers she’d put up to protect herself. He’d been hired to recover specific data, but that client was dead and the data needed to find its way to someone with the authority to stop the launch of the faulty product. “I need to make that call.” He turned toward his office.

“Ross…”