When Lightning Strikes. Aimee Thurlo

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СКАЧАТЬ did. She was an enigma hidden in beautiful packaging. But he would have been a fool not to realize how dangerous that made her to him. His attraction to her was already undermining the control he always exerted over himself and his emotions. That fact alone made him uneasy and guarded. An investigator needed to know himself and depend on his reactions. Without that, he was headed for trouble.

      IT TOOK LESS THAN AN HOUR to reach the free clinic in Farmington. He parked in the small graveled lot, and walked inside with Hannah, guarding her back with his body. He’d left the windows down in the SUV for Wolf, knowing that with him inside the vehicle, there was no danger of a break-in, even in this poor neighborhood.

      As they walked inside, Daniel saw the waiting room was nearly empty. As soon as he identified himself to the nurse at the desk, they were shown to an empty examining room.

      “Do you plan to stay in here with me?” Hannah asked irately.

      Daniel considered it. “I’ll give you some privacy once the doctor gets here, but I’ll be right outside in the hall.”

      A short time later, the doctor came into the room. Hannah didn’t recognize him, and he apparently had no idea who she was either.

      After enduring a thorough examination, and having generous blood samples drawn for tests, Hannah was left alone in the room to dress. Hearing Daniel call out to the doctor in the hall, she went to the door and listened. The doctor was telling Daniel that he’d check for drugs and for any serious injury that might have affected her memory, but that the blood test results wouldn’t be available for a few days.

      She already knew that they’d find nothing, but understood that Daniel had to make sure. The sad truth was that he couldn’t be sure about her, and that uncertainty would undermine their partnership.

      Hannah tried to face the situation squarely. Without his trust, she was better off without him and he without her. It made no sense for Daniel to risk his life for someone he didn’t truly believe in.

      What she needed to do now was catch a ride or walk back to the church. She’d wait until no one was around, then go inside and try to reconstruct the missing pieces of her life. She was convinced that everything she needed to clear herself was there. All she had to do was find some way to trigger her elusive memory.

      As Daniel and the doctor’s voices moved away from her down the hall, Hannah slipped noiselessly out of the room. A door marked Emergency Exit was only a few steps away.

      This was her chance.

      She hurried toward it and was nearly there when Daniel stepped around the corner. Hannah ran right into his chest, and before she could take a breath, he clasped her wrist, holding her fast.

      She stared at him in mute shock. She wasn’t going anywhere and they both knew it.

      “I… I was just going to—”

      “Save your excuses,” he said with barely disguised anger. “I’m here to take you to talk to the doctor.”

      The young physician looked at them both curiously as they came into his office. The new tension between them was impossible to miss. Hannah sat down in a chair across from the doctor, and Daniel stood behind her.

      “The results of your blood test won’t be back for three days or so,” the doctor began, “but from your pupil reaction and reflexes, Miss Jones, I don’t think there are any drugs in your system now. You also don’t have a concussion. Your memory lapse, as far as I can tell, isn’t being caused by any physical trauma.”

      “Then that leaves psychological, right?” Daniel pressed.

      “That’s a fair guess, but you’re going outside my area of expertise. All I can say is that I found no sign of an injury that would explain her inability to remember recent events.”

      Daniel reached down and took Hannah’s hand, holding it firmly but without hurting her. “Then we’ll be going on our way. You know how to bill the agency for this,” Daniel said.

      “Good luck,” the doctor answered with a nod. “I’ll send the test results along when they come in.”

      As they walked to the door, Hannah felt her stomach sinking. Daniel would never understand why she’d wanted to get away, and why it would have been the best thing for them both. The only thing he’d see in what she’d tried to do was another reason to distrust her. Trying to make things better, she’d succeeded in making them far worse.

      She let out a small sigh. For years she’d prided herself on not needing anyone for either her comfort or safety. Depending on a stranger now, and putting him in mortal danger because of it, went against everything she believed in.

      “It would have been better for you if I’d managed to get away,” she said simply.

      Daniel laughed bitterly. “You were doing it all for my sake, right?”

      “No, but what I said still stands. It would have been better for you.” He walked her to the SUV, and opened the passenger door, waiting until she was in and buckled up before he walked around to his side. Wolf looked at her from the back seat, but sensing something was wrong between her and Daniel, remained still.

      They drove away silently, Daniel concentrating on the traffic as they headed west.

      She could clearly sense that what disturbed Daniel the most was that she’d tried to trick him. He’d never lower his guard around her again but, unless she could somehow gain his trust, he would be as much her keeper as her ally.

      “Where are we going?” she asked.

      “To a safe house about halfway to Shiprock. It’s the best place I can think of for us right now.”

      They’d gone a few miles out of town before he spoke again, keeping his attention fixed on the road and not even glancing at her. “Is there someone who has known you for a long time who I can talk to—preferably a person who sees you a lot.”

      “What do you want, a character reference?” There had been no sympathy or caring in his tone. Daniel was all business now that she’d shaken his trust.

      He glanced at her coldly. “Answer my question, please.”

      She thought of responding that he hadn’t answered her, but changed her mind. She’d pick her battles carefully from now on. “I wouldn’t drag either my friends or clients into this. I’m not sure why those men were after me, but this is a deadly business. I don’t want anyone I know getting hurt on account of me.”

      “We need to find someone trustworthy who might have seen you during that time you can’t account for. They might be able to shed some light on what happened during those hours.”

      “My guess is that only someone who works at the church could do that, but I doubt they’d speak freely to you if you came in asking questions. They don’t know you. And I obviously can’t vouch for you right now.”

      “Tell me about your clients and your business.”

      “I run a small bookkeeping firm out of my home. I don’t have employees—so basically, I’m it. My firm is my livelihood and I’ve worked hard to get it off the ground. Being accused of stealing is about the worst thing that can happen to someone in my profession. Make the victim СКАЧАТЬ