Between cleaning up the blood, ordering a new back door for the spa, getting Gooch and Nipper settled, and laying plans for taking care of her stalker problem, Piper hadn't had a single moment to tell Alex what she intended to do. At least, that's what she told herself.
The truth was, she didn't want to tell him because she knew he'd try and stop her. He'd say it was his job to protect her and if that meant keeping her from carrying out foolish plans, then that's what he'd do.
Worse, based on how he'd handled himself that morning and the fact that he carried a concealed weapon, she suspected that Alex was really a cop. That meant he was moonlighting in the security business, probably to make extra money so that he could get his place fixed up and get his little girl. Since what she had planned was slightly illegal, that could be a problem.
Piper eased through the front door and into the foyer and prayed she'd make it up the spiral staircase and down to her rooms without anyone noticing. She got to the first step.
"About time you showed up," Danni said as she strolled toward her from the center of the house.
Only her grip on the railing kept Piper from careening backwards into the foyer in surprise.
"I have paperwork for you to sign." Her sister waved a sheaf of papers at her and turned around to head back toward the living room.
Piper hurried after her before Danni made any more noise. "Where's Mother?" she whispered when she caught up with her.
Danni passed through a patch of sunlight streaming down from the balcony and its row of high windows. "Still in bed. But she has an appointment to spend the afternoon at the Cosmo in Houston."
She stopped in front of the antique sideboard in the corner. "Said if she didn't get some aromatherapy and a massage, she was going to have a breakdown and you'd be to blame. Then she moaned a bit and added in something about parties for criminal elements and ungrateful children. You know, the usual."
She held out a pen. "If you hurry, you can get into your suite without being seen."
"What am I signing?" Piper asked as she scrawled her name across the bottom of several pages.
"That deal Alex put together. The buyers want the ship."
Piper stopped writing and looked up at Danni. "You mean that was legit?"
Her sister's right brow quirked up. "Shocking, isn't it? Pretty and smart."
"Me or him?"
"Take your pick. But just so you know, I'd be happy to find a place for him at Roseland Financing." She grinned. "When his services are no longer needed."
Piper straightened up and gave her the death stare. "Don't you dare!" Catching herself, she whispered, "I mean it, Danni."
Her sister gathered up the papers, her mouth lifting into a knowing smile. "There, that wasn't so hard."
"What do you mean?"
"You like him. Admit it."
"I...we have a professional relationship. Nothing more."
"Including professional, hot kisses?"
"That was a mistake."
"One I hope you'll repeat often, little sis. I have a feeling he's the kind of guy who could keep you happy and out of trouble for many years to come. Maybe even a lifetime." Danni sauntered out of the room without a backward glance.
Darn it. She was always doing that. Getting in the last word and making a fantastic exit.
Piper couldn't believe she'd fallen so easily into...well, defending her territory.
Was Danni right? Was she starting to like Alex more than a little bit? She happily admitted that she was attracted to him. Who wouldn't be? But feelings? That would be new.
She wasn't used to having anything more significant than a fling with the men she usually dated. How would she know if she was starting to really like a guy? If she was, what if the liking kept growing the longer she was around him?
She swallowed. Did her plan to pursue Alex have the potential to become an emotional disaster?
Ridiculous. She might be on the impulsive side, but she was never sentimental. At least not with men.
"You shouldn't be here," a stoic, slightly accented voice said behind her.
Piper spun around to find Lina standing in the arched doorway holding a breakfast tray. "She'll be up soon." The Hispanic woman gave her a disapproving frown. "You need to go."
She felt like she'd gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "I don't plan to stay long," Piper said hastily. "She won't even know I'm here."
Lina narrowed her eyes at her as if to say, 'You better be right,' and then continued down the hall.
Piper shrugged the emergency overnight purse Danni had tossed her higher onto her shoulder and headed in the opposite direction toward the kitchen. When she got to the hidden staircase tucked in the corner, she tugged off her shoes and crept up to her suite.
She had a lot of preparing to do if she was going to get the evidence she needed to stop Wesley.
If everything went the way she hoped, she'd soon be short one bodyguard slash fake fiancé and exploring-at-will one super hot rancher slash probably cop.
* * *
Alex cruised down Yates in the blue Ford Focus he kept stashed in town and chewed over how relieved he'd felt to leave Piper on her doorstep. He hadn't been in that particular place with a woman in a long time. Actually, he'd never been in that place, or at least not for the current reasons.
Usually a drop and run had to do with clinging, whining, cursing, or vomiting. Sometimes all four. He'd never done it because he felt like he was about to jump out of his skin with lust from just riding in a truck with her.
He'd also never felt self-conscious about being naked in front of a woman. Hell, in front of anyone. Two years ago he'd captured an arms dealer in an Egyptian sauna for God's sake. During the bust towels had been lost there, too, and he hadn't felt a twinge of discomfort when the team poured in.
But when his towel had hit the floor at her spa, he'd felt oddly vulnerable. He should be ten years past uncontrollable urges and self-consciousness. And his nervous system should not be this hyped up for Piper.
A princess like her wasn't even his type. He'd fit into her frivolous world about as well as a pig at a tea party. He didn't deny she was hot; he wasn't blind. It made sense that his body responded in a perfectly normal way; he wasn't dead either.
He worried there was something more going on. Like the way he felt compelled to distract her when she was afraid by teasing or making her smile. Or how he kept wanting to stand close to her just so he could pull in the flowery, spicy scent of her hair. Most alarming of all was the very personal fear that had shot through him when he thought she was in danger.
What the hell was all that about?
Annoyed that he was even thinking about crap like that, Alex turned his focus back to what he had planned and how good it felt to be doing something familiar and productive. He touched the trigger on the side of his sunglasses and snapped a few more pictures of the neighborhood as he rolled past.
Even having his tanned face covered with pale make-up felt more comfortable to him than dealing with that woman. Add dark sunglasses, a new white dress shirt and blue tie, his hair slicked and pinned to look short and he was just another out-of-town businessman lost in Houston.
At least after Piper's reaction to the attack that afternoon, he was dead certain she wasn't the type to go in for drug trafficking. There was still the chance Danni or the stepmother was involved, but he doubted it.
His money was on Tanesa's scrawny ex.
Alex drove past the street and pulled over two houses down, still keeping the address Tanesa had given him in view. This early in the afternoon on a Friday, few people were roaming around, but he was trained to be cautious.
If Wesley and his cousin ever suspected that someone was watching them, they'd bug out and go to ground. He couldn't afford that. He needed to discover if there was a connection between Wesley, Piper's stalker and the cartel.
He studied the layout while he pretended to fiddle with his GPS. The house was surprisingly well kept—sturdy chain-link fence, lawn mowed, paint fresh, there was even a well-used Big Wheel next to the sidewalk. Tanesa hadn't mentioned anything about family in the house, which meant Wesley's cousin was experience at hiding out using good camouflage.
Still, the possible presence of kids meant that he had to proceed with caution. He'd get as much information as he could about the situation, then he'd alert his team to the lead. If they confirmed that Wesley and his cousin were connected to the Azevedo outfit, Neil and the others would know how to proceed.
Alex mounted his GPS back on the dash and pulled away from the curb. Turning around in the next drive, he took a left onto Carmichael and cruised past the house, taking several shots including one that captured part of the backyard. A large shed at the back of the property caught his attention.
Outbuildings were the perfect place for people to hide things they didn't want the neighbors to know about. A satisfied smile edged his mouth.
As soon as it got dark, he had work to do.
* * *
In the weak glow of the streetlight, Piper looked at the yellow post-it in her hand and the address Tanesa had scrawled across it.
The night was almost balmy, unusual for Houston this time of year. The smell of garbage and lost dreams swam through the thick, dark air, adding to the suffocating, stiff discomfort of her new Gap jeans.
She didn't belong here. The jeans knew it and so did the neighborhood.
She looked at the numbers bolted to each house until she spotted the one she wanted. It sat on the far corner and seemed to stare back at her with an ominous air of challenge.
Unlike most of the other seventies-style homes, the windows of this particular modest ranch were dark; the driveway empty. The Big Wheel bike in the front yard looked abandoned and lonely, as if it had been a long time since the toy had seen a child.
She hadn't figured out the details, but after what Tanesa had told her, Piper knew Wesley and his cousin had to be involved with the note and the rash of vandalisms plaguing her.
She moved the bulky hobo bag she carried to her other shoulder. The weight of the tools in it added to the heaviness of the guilt pooling in her stomach. What she was about to do was wrong, but without compelling evidence, she suspected that the anonymous tip she planned to call in would be ignored. She couldn't risk that.
The skittish restlessness humming along her nerves increased. She wasn't completely convinced that she was up to breaking and entering no matter how many articles she'd read on the Internet that afternoon.
Maybe she'd made a mistake in coming here. She should have called the police from the safety of her home like a sensible person and trusted them to find the evidence to prove Wesley was her stalker.
But she couldn't just phone the station, announce who she was, and point a finger at him and his cousin. That kind of unfounded accusation was sure to land her in a lot of trouble.
The negative publicity might even undermine the spa and the work they did there. Worse, it would alert Wesley that the game was up and he'd get away.
No. Evidence first, then blow the whistle. It was the only way.
The cab driver leaned over and rolled down the front passenger window. "You want me to wait, lady?" Heavy-set, with a thin, gray beard covering the jowls that softened his face, he looked at her with genuine concern in his kind eyes.
She turned and gave him a grateful smile. "Yes, please. If you don't mind? You see I'm pledging a sorority and..."
He held up a hand. "Stop right there. Don't want to know. Just don't be too long. This part of town ain't safe once it's dark. 'Specially for a little thing like you."
He relaxed back into his seat muttering about crazy University of Houston kids.
"I won't be long," she reassured the him and then she set off toward the house.
The homes lining Carmichael sat quietly inside chain-link fences, their doors and gates locked tighter than a row of vaults in a bank. Behind heavy curtains, the neon white glow of television sets flickered, the only indication that human life existed on the deserted street.
A chill ran down her spine, motivating her to move a little faster. The sooner she got this over with, the better.
Just in case the house wasn't as deserted as it looked, Piper passed by the yard and continued around the corner to Yates. The row of holly bushes planted along the back of the fence looked like perfect skulking cover to her, so she plunged into them.
Sharp branches and leaves scraped and pulled at her hair and clothes, but she pressed on until she got to the center where it was more open. Crouching down, she peered out at the tiny backyard.
Unlike the front, the windows at the back of the house were lit up like New York City, but she still couldn't tell if anyone was home. In the back right corner of the yard was an old tire swing. In the left, a substantial looking shed.
Even though the postage-stamp yard looked like it could be trimmed with a pair of scissors, the shed was big enough to house three or four large riding lawnmowers. Immediately suspicious, Piper inched toward the fence to see if she could find a way in.
Her stomach jumped when the backdoor of the house opened and Wesley ambled out onto the small deck. Piper shrank back into the shadows of the bushes, her heart pounding in her throat as the light from the door shot out toward her hiding place.
Holding her breath, she watched as he grabbed a trowel off the railing and dug around in one of the scraggly potted plants standing next to the door. A moment later, he lifted out a glass jar full of what looked like crushed dried leaves, brushed off the dirt and went back into the house.
Piper waited a few more minutes and then released a tense rush of air. She'd hoped no one would be home. But at least with Wesley and his friends partying, they'd be too busy to worry about what was happening in their backyard.
Carefully, she moved toward the fence.
* * *
There was nothing but junk in the shed. He needed to get into the house.
From the gap between the dirty towel and the filthier window, Alex watched the jackass from the spa come out onto the deck, get his ounce of weed and disappear back inside. At least something was going right, tonight. The higher the men inside got, the better for him. All he had to do was wait and more pieces of the puzzle would come together.
He still needed more in-depth information from Neil on Mrs. Roseland's various accounts and income, but so far nothing indicated any motivation for wanting the Azevedo family in her business. In addition, that afternoon Olivia had called to report about Danni.
When the agent slyly approached her new boss with some false insider trading information from her "previous job," Danni had been incensed. After being summarily fired, Olivia had endured a half hour lecture on honesty and abiding by the law and then been escorted out of the building after being told she was lucky Danni didn't call the SEC.
Olivia reported that the other woman's demeanor indicated no duplicity, only sincere outrage. Before she got fired, she'd also successfully hacked into Danni's email and discovered nothing but above-board dealings and normal business correspondence.
With Danni off the list, seeing Wesley retrieving his large stash of marijuana strengthened Alex's suspicions that he was now on the right track. Once the lights went out, he'd get into the house and see what he could find.
A soft rustle of movement outside the shed caught his attention. There was a quiet scraping against the door, and he tensed. Focusing on the sound, he pinpointed the location.
Upper right hinge. Looked like he had company.
Stepping silently behind the dusty Christmas tree propped in the corner, Alex blended into the shadows and waited. The scratching at the top of the door continued, followed by a low muttering that was pitched higher than a man's voice. A boy or teenager. Possibly a woman.
Damn.
New agents tended to underestimate smaller enemies, but Alex knew better. A bullet in the chest could kill no matter who fired the gun. His best strategy was to keep from being seen and ride out the intrusion undetected, if he could.
After a minute of fiddling with the hinge on the door, the thief's attention moved to the latch. More furtive scraping sounds, then the rattling plunk of a bag of tools being dropped to the ground. Noisy rummaging followed and then a loud thunk close to the bottom of the door. The wood groaned ominously.
Great, the kid was using a crowbar to get in. He was going to get them both busted and not by the nice police force.
Mentally cursing his bad luck, Alex slid from his hiding place and glided to the closed door. With one gloved hand, he lifted what looked like a quarter from his pocket and pressed the flat of it against the inside latch.
He pushed his thumb into the middle of the eagle, dropped the "coin" back in his jacket pocket, then silently retreated to his hiding place. With luck, the kid wasn't a complete idiot and would notice that the key lock had popped open.
Several more seconds of grunting from the other side while the door heaved and creaked had him on the brink of losing hope. Finally there was a pause in activity, and he pictured the kid stepping back to wipe sweat off his face while he scowled at the stubborn door.
He heard a gasp, the clank of tools and then the lock being slipped off the ring of the catch. Maybe not an idiot, but definitely an amateur, he thought. Great.
The inexperienced tended to be noisy and messy when they robbed people. He couldn't afford either scenario tonight.
Alex pulled out the Swiss army knife from his other pocket and carefully extracted the toothpick. Pressing down on the notch at the top released a needle that injected an undetectable drug into the bloodstream. Nothing deadly, just a good, long nap and a monster of a headache in the morning.
The thief eased open the door and quickly squeezed inside, but it was enough to release a weak burst of light from the ambient glow of the house's windows.
At the sight of Piper's face, the steady beat of Alex's heart jumped into overdrive. She was dressed in a pair of black jeans and knit shirt. She even had black tennis shoes and wore snug leather gloves. As if that wasn't bad enough, a matching beret sat at a saucy angle on top of her head; a touch that was absurd and endearing at the same time. And also a great way to be identified.
Annoyance heated his gut. What the hell did she think she was doing?
She didn't seem to be aware that he watched her from the murky darkness as she set down a clanking, bulging purse and quietly closed the door behind her. Pulling a pin light out of her back pocket, she flicked it on and skimmed the thin beam over the rusty gardening paraphernalia cluttered next to the door.
Alex flinched as the light crossed the window and the rakes leaning next to it. The exasperating woman might as well set up a flood light on the roof and announce her presence from a loud speaker.
Pulling deeper in behind the Christmas tree, he looked away as the obnoxious thread of light swept over his hiding place. By avoiding the beam, he would at least retain some of his night vision.
When Piper aimed the flashlight at the tools hanging on the other wall, then tracked back toward him, he tensed, fearing that she might have seen him. But at the edge of the ornament boxes, she stopped, snapping the light back to the wall and zeroing in on a screwdriver hanging to the far left.
She frowned and crossed to the pegs of tools. Leaning in, she focused her flashlight on the tip of the screwdriver. "I knew it!" she hissed under her breath.
With agitated, excited movements, she pulled a throw-away cellphone out of her front pocket and thumbed in three digits. Alarm bells sounded in his head. Like a living shadow, Alex coasted from his hiding place.
Piper whispered the address into the phone. "Regarding the Roseland vandalism case," she continued, "you'll find the evidence in the shed out—"
Before she'd even finished flinching, he had her secured tightly against him, her mouth covered, her arms pinned to her sides. The phone clattered to the floor.
He crushed it under the heel of his boot, at the same time noticing how neatly her bottom nestled against him. She was round and firm and the urge to touch her until she melted in his arms nearly overwhelmed him.
"Keep struggling, babe. It's the most fun I've had all night," he purred in her ear.
Her body stiffened. "Alex?"
"You called the cops, didn't you?"
Her voice came out in a sexy, breathless rush. "They'll be here any minute."
She'd just destroyed the only lead he had. "You're a pain in my ass, you know that?"
He let her go and stepped toward the window. While she was still too flustered to notice, he pulled the knife out of his pocket and slid the toothpick home before he was tempted to use it.
After a quick scan of the house, he crossed to the shed door. As he passed Piper, he grabbed her upper arm and dragged her with him.
"We need to go," Alex said, opening the door just wide enough to see outside. Nothing stirred, but he eased his gun out of his shoulder holster, just to be on the safe side.
Piper tugged against him. "My bag!"
"Be quiet," he hissed over his shoulder.
"I can't leave it for the police to find."
Frustration knotted up in his gut. He grit his teeth to keep what he wanted to say from hurtling out. There would be time for blistering lectures once they were safe.
He let her go and scanned the yard for movement while she clattered around like an elephant moving through a wind chime store. "Get the phone, too," he said in a low voice, then winced when the pin light came on.
Turning away from the door, he grabbed the tiny flashlight out of her hand and killed the switch. "Every time you turn this damn thing on our eyes have to readjust to the dark. Stop it."
"I don't know where the phone is."
"You kicked it out of the way when you were digging in your heels about getting the hell out here. It's by the shovel. Forget it," he growled when she reached for the flashlight in his fist. Going to the window, he felt around with his foot and then scooped up the destroyed phone.
After shoving it in his jacket pocket, he propelled her toward the door. "Leave the same way you got in, only quieter," he whispered.
He snatched the beret off her head and stuffed that into his pocket, too. "I'll meet you two houses down on the other side of the street. Stay in the shadows as much as you can."
She gave a tense nod and darted out of the storage shed.
Alex waited a beat before he followed, making sure to snap the lock closed behind him. In a matter of seconds, he was over the fence and slipping from cover to cover until he reached the front of the house next door.
An itch started up between his shoulders as he took off his windbreaker, turned it inside-out, then removed a pair of glasses from the outside breast pocket.
For a call like she'd made in a neighborhood like this, the cops would come in silent. They weren't far off though, he could feel it.
He put on the glasses and strolled down to the sidewalk like he owned the place.
* * *
Piper jumped as a white cat prowled out from the bushes beside her and gave her a gleaming, resentful stare before continuing on its way. Wiping sweaty palms against the rough fabric of her jeans, she wished for the millionth time that she was safely home, huddled deep under the covers of her bed.
When Alex had grabbed her in the dark and pulled her against the taunt length of his body, she'd almost had heart failure. All she could think about was how stupid she'd been to throw her pepper spray in the tool bag where she couldn't get to it.
With a million regrets running through her frightened brain, it had taken her a second to realize the rapist creep whispering in her ear was her bodyguard. Her relief hadn't lasted long. She hadn't ever seen him so angry. Not even when she discovered his daughter's room.
She instinctively knew he'd never hurt her, but with most of her courage long gone, it had frightened her anyway. Now she was jumping at every sound and shadow.
Her fear kicked up another notch at the sight of a man in a red jacket and black cargo pants stalking through the thin glow of a streetlight down by the corner.
Anyone walking around this neighborhood after dark was probably dangerous, even if he looked more like a nerd in his wire-rimmed glasses than a criminal. Ted Bundy had seemed like a quiet, unassuming kind of guy and everyone knew how that ended.
When the man spotted her and veered toward her hiding place, Piper's stomach snarled up into a nauseous lump. For a moment she was too terrified to move, then she remembered the pepper spray. Dropping to her knees, she fumbled around in her hobo bag, trying to get hold of the plastic tube.
As the man came closer, her terror heightened. Frantically, Piper searched the ground for a big stick or rock, anything that would—
The wind shifted and the scent of sunshine and soap drifted over her. Confusion trickled through her fear. She peered at him, now only a few yards away and sudden recognition washed over her. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Stand up and run over to me. Pretend we know each other," Alex said under his breath as he came to a stop.
"Why are you wearing glasses?" she asked.
"Now, Piper."
"I didn't even know it was you."
Smiling broadly, he closed the distance between them and pulled her to her feet. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he gave her a long hug. The luxury of being held against his solid body and feeling safe overwhelmed her for a moment.
He stepped back, leaving her empty from the loss. "It's really good to see you, Carol," he said in a conversational tone that was a little on the loud side. "Did you drop something?"
"I—who?"
"The woman in the house next to us is looking out her window," he whispered.
He bent down and picked up her heavy purse like it weighed next to nothing. "Here you go."
"The cops will question her," he murmured covertly as he handed her the purse. "Look like you're glad to see me."
Eagerly, she launched herself at him. He stumbled back from the impact but recovered quickly. Piper pressed her cheek to his chest and sighed as his strong arms wrapped around her once more. She was so glad to be safe.
"That's pretty good," he said.
He felt so wonderful against her body. Strong, solid,...and very glad to see her. Good lord, how could he be thinking of sex at a time like this?
"You don't have your gun in your pocket, do you?" she asked, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"I'd rather not say." Alex eased away from her and stepped back. Reaching out, he threaded his fingers with hers. "Walk with me."
Her breath caught in her throat at the tender, casual touch. She immediately chastised herself for being so silly. It didn't mean anything. They were just pretending so they could get out of here without getting arrested.
She could see his smile now that they were down by the sidewalk. "Are we having a secret affair?" she asked, going for an equally light I-can-play-along tone despite the stuttering of her heart.
"I just came out of the rental unit next door to Wesley's house to meet you."
"The old lady won't wonder why she's never seen you going into the rental house?"
He started down the sidewalk moving away from Wesley's house. Piper matched his casual pace, their clasped hands making a bridge between them.
"Most people see what they want to see," he said. "They never question any further."
An anxious excitement gripped her and Piper squeezed his hand. "They'll find it, won't they, Alex?"
"Find what?"
"The screwdriver. The one Wesley raked down the side of my car. The paint on it was a perfect match to the turquoise of my Kate Spade limited edition clutch."
"Time to look in love," he said, a note of tension in his voice.
"I beg your pardon?"
He nodded toward the end of the street. Two cruisers appeared out of the darkness, one coming straight, the other approaching from the right on Schweikhardt Street.
"Look straight ahead," he cautioned. "Try to relax."
As the police cars came closer, Alex didn't react in any way, he just kept walking. Calm, casual, nothing more than a man meeting his lover on a dark street in a very dangerous part of town.
An icy nausea cramped her stomach and she shifted closer to him, pressing her shoulder against his arm. There was no way experienced cops were going to believe such a crazy premise. Relaxed was the last thing she was capable of being, but his warmth and strength reassured her. More than she would have expected.
The police cars crept past, their sirens and lights off. Piper pretended not to notice the quick scan the officers gave them on the way by.
"We're almost to my car. You're doing great," Alex said, giving her a quick, reassuring smile. Then his bicep tensed. "What's that doing here?"
At the sight of her taxi rolling toward them, she winced. "Oh no, I forgot. We have to tell him I'm okay."
"No, we don't."
"I promised."
He released a sharp curse and she sneaked a glance at him. A muscle ticked along his jaw.
"I'll do the talking," he said.
"It has to be me, or he won't believe I'm fine."
The taxi stopped and the driver leaned over to roll down the window. He gave Alex a severe once-over before his gaze landed on Piper. "You all right, miss?"
She slipped her fingers from Alex's and handed him her purse. He held the hobo bag in both hands, slightly away from his body in a practiced and familiar way. Some of the suspicion on the cabby's face eased up, though his gaze remained sharp and assessing.
Stepping over to the cab, she glanced in at the meter and then pulled the wad of cash she'd gotten out of the mall's ATM from the stiff pocket of her jeans. Counting out the amount plus a generous tip, she handed the money through the window to the driver.
She wasn't a good enough actress to hide the way her hand trembled, and she prayed he wouldn't think Alex was the reason. She'd been an idiot to risk breaking into Wesley's place and didn't have to fake the sheepish regret in her voice.
"I chickened out," she said as he took the money. "Before I got to the house I was supposed to—"
The driver held up his hand. "Don't want to know." He nodded at Alex. "Your boyfriend?"
"How...did you know?" she asked, hoping the small subterfuge wouldn't be obvious.
"Four daughters." He gave Alex a stern look. "Keep her out of trouble, boy, got me?"
"Yes, sir."
The tight set of Alex's face seemed to convince the cabby and the ghost of a relieved smile touched his mouth. "Take her home. I seen three patrol cars so far."
"We're almost to my car, sir."
The older man studied him a moment longer, then nodded. "Take care," he said to Piper as he rolled up the window. "No more pledge crap."
She watched as he turned his taxi around in a driveway and then drove off at a calm, sedate speed. Apparently, he was as interested as they were in avoiding being stopped by the police.
"Is it that easy to kidnap someone?" Piper asked, feeling a mixture of relief and vulnerability that the cabby had believed them so readily.
"No, you were that convincing. He was about to reach for his gun when you stepped up to the cab."
She gave him a skeptical look. "How do you know?"
"What else would he keep hidden under his seat? A pencil?"
The smart-aleck come-back she'd been about to let loose died as the image of Alex getting shot by a cabby flooded her imagination. A light-headed numbness squeezed her chest. It was horrible enough how she'd endangered herself. But if someone else, if Alex, had gotten hurt, she would have never forgiven herself.
She took her purse from him and slipped her hand into his. "I'm sorry. Trying a stunt like this...it was incredibly stupid."
Alex gave her palm a squeeze and guided her across the street to a scuffed up compact car she hadn't seen before. She pushed down her curiosity and climbed into the passenger seat.
He had every right to own as many vehicles as he wanted, she told herself. Tonight, he'd proven he knew what he was doing, both as a bodyguard and a detective. She needed to try and trust him. At least a little.
She knew herself too well to promise anything beyond that. In a few minutes, she'd have to think about how a cop knew how to change his appearance so fast, why he even had the stuff with him to do it, and why he kept a commonplace, nearly invisible car stashed away except for special occasions like breaking and entering.
But for now she was too tired and too relieved to be going home instead of to the police station to worry about it.
Piper curled her hands around her purse where it sat like a heavy lump on her lap. As fatigue settled over her, she wondered why holding Alex's hand had felt so good.
And why a restless sorrow had kicked up inside her as soon as he'd let her go.