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Liam knew the type. This was the practiced lurk of a professional, someone who would kill Maura without remorse or hesitation. To keep from drawing attention or tipping off his location, Liam stayed still. The small lamp by the couch was enough of a problem. Surely, if he sensed movement in the hall, the man out there could see a light that shouldn’t have been on.
Maura mouthed a word. Liam immediately understood the question. “Police?”
Liam shook his head in response. No, not this guy. There was nothing legitimate about what was happening here.
Liam tried to shift his weight for a better shot. The floor groaned and Maura’s panicked gaze went wild with terror.
There would never be a better time. Liam threw open the door. The move left the stranger grabbing for air. Also gave Liam the two-second start he needed to knock the man’s arm to the side and get him to release his weapon. But the guy didn’t go down easy. He kicked out at Liam’s gun and sent it skittering across the floor, then landed a sucker punch right in the center of Liam’s stomach.
Doubled over with air wheezing out of his lungs, Liam dove for the other guy’s midsection. Knocked him back into the wall, slamming the man’s head hard against the door across the hall and sending his gun spinning. The crash sounded like an explosion on the quiet floor. No one came running, but lights flicked on under several doorways. Liam felt the shocked stares through the peepholes. He had to bring this to an end and get Maura out of there before the police streamed through.
Fists flew. Liam landed as many as he missed. This guy was quick. He dodged a left swing and kicked out, sending Liam to his knees. When the guy dove for his gun, Liam threw his arms around the man’s legs and dropped him to the floor with a loud thud.
A neighbor’s door opened. “What’s going on out here?”
“Get back inside.” Liam yelled his order through grunts and punches.
“I’m calling the police.” The neighbor slammed the door as he ducked back in his condo.
“No!” Maura screamed.
Liam forced his concentration back to the man shifting and squirming beneath him. Liam was on the receiving end of a shot to the jaw that had his head rocking back and a shot of pain racing around his head. To subdue the guy and prevent another hit, Liam pounced, reaching up and screwing the man’s arm behind him.
The advantage didn’t last long. Using all of his weight, the guy shoved back, almost knocking Liam in a sprawl across the tile. With Liam off him, the guy tried to scoot out of reach. He slithered out from under Liam and crawled down the hall trying to use the slick tiles to pick up speed. But he couldn’t get traction. After only a foot, Liam performed a second tackle. He grabbed the man’s legs, avoiding a kick to the head, but just barely.
In the middle of the bruising fight, Liam saw two sneakered feet appear out of the corner of his eye. Maura stood in the danger zone.
The brief distraction gave the other man an opening. He landed his heel right under Liam’s chin. The shot slammed his teeth together. Made his head spin and his vision blur. He saw a flash and then a lamp flew over his head in the direction of the other man. Maura’s effort lacked a punch because the heavy end smacked against Liam’s shoulder before flipping and landing on the other guy. Liam didn’t even feel the punishing blow. He was too busy scrambling to his feet, trying to catch the other guy as he jumped to a standing position and bounded down the stairs at the end of the hall.
“Liam, no!” Maura called out, her voice filled with fear.
Liam ignored her desperation, fought against the urge to rush to her. He had to catch this guy or Maura wouldn’t be safe.
Energy thundered through him, fueling his run and pushing out the residual twinges of pain from the fight. With his hands sliding along the banister, Liam whipped down the stairs. Heavy footsteps pounded in front of him. A shoulder slammed into the wall. The guy wasn’t quiet now. The fight took care of that. Liam relished the idea he had injured the guy.
Instead of turning right and running out the front door, the man slipped to the left. The emergency alarm sounded a second later. Liam hit the landing in time to see the guy race into the dark alley. The horn blared through the building. Doors opened. People muttered. Liam felt a tug on his sleeve.
“We have to get out of here. No one can see me.” Maura pleaded with him with her eyes and her voice.
Still, it took a moment for her words to register. Then he heard the yelling at the top of the stairs. Listened as the building came to life in a fury of confusion and anger.
She was right. They were out of time. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Four (#ulink_9bffdf90-d379-58c0-b07a-50886d1ad516)
By the time they got back to Liam’s house, the police were at his front door. Only quick reflexes and expert driving skills kept them from pulling into the driveway and being seen. Liam circled the block a second time and parked the car two streets over instead.
“They followed us here?” Maura struggled to understand how her life had veered so far off course in the last two days.
“This isn’t related to what happened in your condo.” He got out of the car and slammed the door behind him.
Not knowing what else to do, she followed him onto the sidewalk. “How can you know that?”
“We drove straight back and they’re already here. They couldn’t have beaten us.” He shook his head. “No, this is something else.”
“You don’t think it’s about me?”
He stopped studying his feet. “Oh, it’s definitely related to you.”
“What if they’re going through your house right now? If they see the—”
His eyes narrowed. “The what?”
She bit her bottom lip as she tried to figure out how much to tell him. “It’s nothing, really. I mean, it matters, of course, but they won’t understand what they’re seeing.”
“You know you’ve lost me, right?”
She waved her hand in front of her face. Motion helped clear her mind, and she sure needed clarity now. Without the data, figuring out Dr. Hammer’s scheme and false reports bordered on impossible. That meant she’d be blamed for the fire. For a kidnapping that never happened. Dr. Hammer’s work was too important to the government, too integral to NIH. They’d make an example of her. She’d lose everything.
“I need them. If the police take them, I won’t be able to get them back or track this mess down.” She didn’t realize she spoke her thoughts out loud until she saw Liam’s scrunched-up brows. “What?”
“You’re talking in circles.”
“I know.”
“So, it’s on purpose?”
She shrugged. It was either that or babble some more.
He rested his palms on her shoulders. “Look, I think I’ve earned the right to hear the truth. I’m following you all over the county based on your hunch.”
“It’s a theory.”
“I’m not turning you in to the police, not talking to your brother even though I want to ease his misery.” Liam massaged her tight muscles.
At his touch, her tension drained away. “I know.”
“Forget the personal crap between us. For now, if you want to get out of this you’ve got to tell me everything.”
Once he brought up their shared past, that’s all she could think about. This close with his hands on her. The memories came back: being fifteen and sporting a crush on him that she mistook as love; getting rejected; retreating even further into her books and plans for the future; sacrificing all the fun of her teen years on a dream that would take her years to fulfill, and take Dr. Hammer only a short time to destroy.
This wasn’t about her feelings nine years ago. This was about her career.
“There are papers at your house,” she blurted out.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I hid them.”
“Try explaining one more time.” Liam dropped his hands to his sides.
She immediately missed the warmth of his caress. Rather than mourn his touch, she shoved all thoughts about his eyes and expert fingers out of her head and concentrated on the disaster in front of her.
“I stole some documents from the lab before it went up in flames. They’re at your house. Under the deck.” Having that piece of information out eased the heavy weight in her stomach.
He actually smiled. “Interesting choice.”
“I put them under there before you came home. Checked on them right before we left for my condo, while you were in the bathroom.”
“So much for thinking I’m in charge around here.”
If he needed to think that, she’d let him, but she knew better. “You’re police. You should know.”
He blew out a long, ragged breath. “Let’s not go back to that thing where you ask questions and make statements, and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Sometimes her thoughts bombarded her faster than she could say them. She tried to communicate, but not every sentence came out right before she moved on to something else. “Knowing what you know, would the police look there?”
“Former,” he said in a distant voice as if his mind had wandered somewhere else.
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind and probably not.”
Not the most comforting response, but helpful. A quick risk assessment led her to one conclusion. “I need to run. I can find a place with computer access and hack into my work account.”
“Wrong.”
The plan unspooled in her brain. “You can talk to the police, get a sense of what they’re thinking and relay it back to me.”
“Actually, I’m going to the house and you’re staying here.”
The words screeched to a halt on her tongue. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“No way. Someone could see me. Turn me in.”
He glanced at the houses around them. “It’s two in the morning. Every normal human being is asleep.”
It was obvious he had no intention of backing down. Fine, she’d adjust. “I’ll ride in the trunk. You can pull into the driveway and I’ll listen in. The conversation will probably be a bit garbled, but I should be able to follow along.”
“Are you kidding?”
“If there’s a chance to do it, I’ll slip into the house and hide out there until you make the police go away.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been watching too much television. Bad television, I might add.”
She walked around to the driver’s side and hit the button to pop the trunk. “This will work.”
She stared into the dark, stale-smelling spot. She wasn’t a fan of cramped spaces. Intellectually, she knew she’d have enough air. Common sense told her she’d be fine. Still, her heartbeat kicked up to Big Band proportions at the thought of being trapped and vulnerable. Her instincts told her to stay out and free. Ignoring that voice bellowing inside her took all of her strength.
Liam put his hand on the top of the trunk. “That is not going to happen.”
As he pushed down, she pushed up. “It’s the only choice.”
“No, it’s not. There are three hundred other ways to play this. I know you’re blessed with a big brain—”
“There’s some debate, but overall brain size does seem to correlate with I.Q.”
“But you stink at everyday stuff. Tactics and strategies? Not where you excel.”
She refused to let that insult slide. “I managed to survive a fire and save evidence.”
“And along the way did something that had a guy attempt shooting his way into your condo.”
Her energy spurt crashed. “That’s not fair.”
“I’m in charge.”
She lifted her leg and scurried into the trunk as fast as possible without hurting herself. “Then start driving.”
LIAM CUT THE ENGINE and swore under his breath. His unwanted guest stood at the top of the driveway, just under the sensor light. Seeing the police arrive wasn’t a hardship, or even a surprise, but getting rid of this detective might be.
This was all Maura’s fault. She had him driving in circles, stuffing her into his trunk and otherwise acting like a man without a drop of common sense. The more she talked, the more confused he got. And the more he wanted her.
The officer met Liam as he stepped out of the car. “It’s a bit early for a visit, isn’t it?”
“Where have you been?” Detective Spanner asked.
Liam knew the man. With three hundred or so people in the Alexandria Police Department, Liam had never worked with Rick Spanner, but he was the detective who showed up at Dan’s house the day before. While Spanner’s partner had dropped disturbing hints about Maura’s part in the explosion, Spanner had played good cop. Liam wondered which role he’d try this morning.
“I’ve been out,” Liam said.
“With anyone in particular?”
He tried not to think about Maura curled up in his car. “Do we have a problem here?”
“Why don’t we move this discussion off the street and into your house?”
From the reasonable tone and calming hand gestures, Liam guessed the detective was aiming for friendly. Didn’t matter to Liam since he didn’t plan on talking with or trusting the guy. If he were going to tell someone about Maura, it would be Dan.
“I think we can talk just fine right here,” Liam said.
“You have something to hide, Officer Anderson?”
“It’s Mr. Anderson, but I think you know that.” Hell, everyone knew that. It wasn’t as if that part of his life stayed private. Liam had the six-inch scar on his leg to remind him every single day.
“I have some questions,” Spanner said.
