He regarded her with a dark stare. “I know, and insulting the police won’t help. Nuñez may prove to be a better detective than he appeared tonight, and I’ll keep paying Cazares for leads. I’m sending you home tomorrow.”
He was used to being obeyed, but she wasn’t intimidated. “I’m not going. My contract doesn’t end until mid-August.”
“I don’t give a damn about the contract. You’re going home before a stray bullet hits you. Take me to court if you want to argue contract details.”
“A conscientious personal trainer doesn’t abandon her clients.”
“I’m used to it.”
“What, being abandoned?” He’d never been so aloof with her, and it hurt. “Then your luck has changed. You hit the floor so hard, your head must hurt too badly to make any decisions tonight. You wanted to show me the ranch. Let’s go there Thursday after you see the orthopedist.”
“You hit the floor awfully hard too.” He drained his glass and set it on the coffee table. “Cattle aren’t particularly interesting to watch.”
If he thought the prospect of boredom would be more motivating than danger, he was again dead wrong. “They would be with you.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am. You have to trust somebody sometime, and I won’t lie to you, not ever. My mother warns me I’m too blunt, but that’ll work to your advantage.”
He sighed unhappily. “I still want you to go home.”
“I’m going back to school when our contract runs out. I’m out of here before the end of August.”
“If you’re still alive.”
“Our fate overtakes us wherever we are.”
He rested his head against the back of the sofa then winced in pain. “Promise not to throw me on the floor again?”
“I’ll do it again if I have to. Let me bring you some ice.” She took a towel from the bathroom and returned with a bowl of ice. She wrapped a couple of cubes in the towel and held it to the back of his head. “I wish we knew why the shooter is so mad at you.”
“Crazy people don’t need a reason.”
“That’s scary.”
“I’ve finally scared you? Will you go home?”
“No. Let’s sleep here on the sofa again. It worked pretty well the last time we did.” When the ice had provided all the comfort it could, she took the pillows and blankets from the cupboard, but even snuggled close together, neither could rest.
“Tell me about the class that upset you.”
Someone had nearly put a bullet through his head, and he recalled a chance remark of hers. He astonished her. “The class was a requirement, and Professor Phiggs was the only one who taught it, so I couldn’t drop out. He was maybe my father’s age, but didn’t behave in a fatherly manner. He ogled all the girls, but for some reason, he was particularly fond of me.”
“So am I.”
His breath was warm on her cheek. “I’m fond of you too. Have you heard enough?”
“No, it’s just becoming interesting.”
“All right. I like to sit toward the front of a class, but I moved to the back hoping he’d forget me, but he began strolling up and down the center aisle while he lectured. He’d stop by my row and look right at me. I concentrated on my notes. We had to write several papers for the class, and he always gave me an A and added a note inviting me to come and discuss my work during his office hours.”
“Did you go?”
“No, of course not. There were rumors he’d been too friendly with girls in his classes, and I didn’t want my name added to the list. He made the whole semester uncomfortable for me, and as I said, I was trapped in the class.”
“You couldn’t report him to the department head?”
“He was the department head. All I’d wanted from the guy I was dating was a few comforting words, some support.”