And she still had no doubt it was only a matter of time before he caught up with her. Until she was resting at the bottom of a riverbed, just like her friends.
Her cheek throbbed and she raised a hand to it, wincing when she touched it.
Whats wrong? Jacks voice was sharp with concern. And his vision must be equally sharp to have seen her expression of pain in the darkened front seat.
Im fine. I just need some ice. Guys like him know how to hit a woman just hard enough to avoid serious damage. Niko had mastered the art of the backhanded slap, too. That was only the beginning of the many unpleasant discoveries shed made about him.
If you have that much experience with guys who hit women, youre hanging around the wrong kind of men.
Tell me about it, she muttered. There was something in his voice she couldnt identify, but his words struck a chord. They didnt get any more wrong than Niko Rassi. They didnt get any deadlier.
A wave of fatalism swamped her, a sensation she usually fended off during long, sleepless nights spent staring at the ceiling. Niko might not have found her yet, but in a manner of speaking hed already won. Hed robbed her of any sort of real life. Robbed her of any chance of family. Had her constantly watching over her shoulder. She knew him well enough to realize how much hed enjoy that.
To distract herself from that line of thought, she asked, What does Ava do on the squad?
Shes a marksman. Her nicknames Cold Shot. A tinge of humor entered Jacks voice. Youre only slightly less dangerous than she is. Fallon had a lucky escape.
Moments later Jack slowed the car to a stop. Looks like a nice house.
The house is nice. I live over the garage. Releasing her seat belt, Lindsay opened the door. I appreciate the ride she began.
But Jack was already out of the car. Slowly, Lindsay rounded the hood, mentally rehearsing a way to get rid of him. All she really wanted right now was a hot bath and a cold pack for her face. Given the contents of her apartment, shed be making due with a tepid shower in the minuscule stall and a package of frozen peas held to her cheek.
Like I said, thanks for everything Her second attempt was no more successful than the first.
Youre not getting rid of me until I see your injuries in the light and make sure you dont need to go to the ER. So save your breath and get your key out. Openmouthed, Lindsay could only stare as Jack strode ahead of her to ascend the narrow exterior stairway leading to her apartment.
It wasnt much. Jack threw a quick, all-encompassing look around the small space. The fresh paint on the walls only made the secondhand furniture look rattier. There was a sagging easy chair and a fairly comfortable-looking daybed situated around a small TV in one corner. A midget-size kitchenette was placed opposite, with a small countertop eating area and a couple doors that had to open to closets or a bathroom.
But it wasnt the meagerness of the space that struck him. It was the total absence of any personal items in it.
There were no pictures on the walls or on the tops of the mismatched end tables. There werent any of the useless things women were forever hanging up or setting around for a clumsy guy to knock into. No magazines. No books. No CDs or, for that matter, anything to play them on.
How long have you lived here?
Six months or so.
So she hadnt just moved in. Wasnt in the middle of unpacking her things. Lindsay Bradford didnt have anything to unpack. His curiosity deepened.
She brushed by him and went to one of the doors and pulled it open. Looking past her, he saw a bathroom barely big enough to turn around in. She stepped inside and swung the door shut behind her. But it didnt latch and swung open again several inches. He was honorable enough to avert his eyes, male enough to resent needing to.
Half a dozen scenarios occurred to him. Was she recently divorced? Jolie and Dace hadnt mentioned an ex, but maybe they didnt know about one. Or maybe shed just gotten out of a bad relationship. Yeah, that could be it. Maybe hed been abusive. That would explain the comment shed made in the car.
He found he didnt much like the idea of someone raising a hand to her. Hell, hed still be beating on Fallon for doing so if Lindsay hadnt stopped him.
A hard smile crossed his lips when he thought of what the man had in store for him. His bruises were going to be the least of his worries. Jack had heard rumors that the guy had a reputation for roughing up women. There might even be a misdemeanor or two in his past. Once he convinced Lindsay to make a statement backing up the womans complaint, Fallons career was in the trash heap. It was about damn time.
Second nature had him crossing to the window in the kitchenette, checking its security. Cool air seeped in at the seam where the sash met the sill. Frowning, he jiggled the window. Despite the lock, it rattled easily. A five-year-old armed with a toy screwdriver could jimmy it open in two minutes flat.
You need to have the landlord spring for a screen. And a new lock for the window, he called over his shoulder. Or else I could just The words died in his throat.
From this angle, he could see her in profile through the opening of the bathroom door. Shed stripped off the ripped shirt and the wide pants. Once again it occurred to him that Lindsay Bradford was a study of contrasts. She dressed as sedate as a nun, but what nun wore a matching black-and-white-striped bra and panties? What nun had a silver hoop piercing her navel and a tiny tattoo of a butterfly on one smooth shoulder blade?
She turned around to reach for something, saw him watching her and froze. The oxygen abruptly backed up in his lungs.
Because a nun wouldnt look at him with naked desire in her expression, either. Desire that he fully, achingly reciprocated.
The moment spun out. Neither of them moved. Hell, he couldnt move. Couldnt breathe. Could only stare like a lovesick teenager. Want like a sex-starved hermit.
An instant later she stepped closer to the door and closed it firmly.
The pent-up air in his lungs released. He turned back to the window, shaken. He needed to get out of here. Lindsay had made it pretty damn clear in the bar that she wasnt interested in casual entanglements. And while ordinarily he might test her resolve a bit, he sure as hell wasnt going to do it after what shed been through tonight.
And if that left his more insistent body parts aching, it was too damn bad.
To distract himself, he crossed to the apartment door, yanked it open and jogged down the steps toward his car. The blast of cool air was welcome against his heated skin. It was time to back the hell up. His response to the woman was all out of whack.
Opening the trunk lid with his remote, he reached in for his toolbox and shut the lid again. He headed back toward the steps to her apartment. Okay. The lady had had a rough night. Hed fix her window, make sure she was steady on her feet and head in to the precinct alone. She could make her statement in the morning. Maybe if it wasnt too late, hed even head back to the Blue Lagoon. The bar was filled with females who would be far more interested than Lindsay had been earlier.
And sometime between now and then, hed work on summoning a little interest in them in return. Because he wasnt a man who welcomed complications in his life. And if there was one thing Lindsay Bradford had written all over her, it was complication, in big, bold capital letters.