After a tense moment, she looked back up at him. Wistfully, she said, “I want to date.” Her head cocked to the right. “I want to not be afraid to go out in public. I want to stop feeling like someone is always watching.” Her lower lip trembled. “But I guess that wasn’t just a feeling, was it? He was always watching.”
Yes, and Zander wanted to tear the bastard apart.
“I’m not asking you if I can do this.” Once again, her words were flat. “I’m telling you. I will give a statement to the media. I will speak to this killer. And then when the time comes, I’m going for the trade.” Her hand pressed right over his heart. “But I would sure feel better if you were with me. If you were at my side for the press conference. If you put the tracker on me and you followed me to the trade. Because, see, you told me…you said I could trust you, that I could count on you.”
“Fucking always.”
“Good.” The grimness of her eyes eased just a bit. “I need you.”
He wanted to scoop her into his arms. Wanted to get the hell out of there—
“Tiffany Shaw is missing. He has her. I want to get her back.” Her gaze pleaded with him. “Help me.”
Dammit. “You don’t leave my sight. Not for a minute, understand?” And he didn’t care if Randall was watching them. Zander kissed her. Hard and deep. “Because, baby, if something happens to you…” No, nothing would happen. He’d see to it. Nothing could happen to her.
Alice smiled at him. The smile did reach her eyes this time.
And the heart beneath her hands—his heart—it beat faster. Just for her.
Always, for her.
Chapter Ten
“You’re fucking her, Z.”
Zander didn’t glance away from the closed ladies’ room door. Alice was in there, and in moments, she’d come out to face the crowd. They were at the sheriff’s station, reporters were on the front steps, and it was nearly showtime. They’d planned their press conference for one p.m. It was twelve fifty-five.
“You were half-dressed, so was she, and then you kissed her…” Randall’s words trailed away. “Don’t exactly have to be a super agent to put those pieces together and get the end result.”
“I’m not fucking her.” He could feel the light weight of his holster. “I’m falling in love with her.”
“What?”
“You heard me, man. Not like I stuttered. I’m falling for Alice May, and when this shit is over, I’m going to do my best to get her to fall for me, too.” He could feel Randall’s eyes on him.
“Shit.” A quick bark of laughter came from Randall. “You’re serious. You—you are caught in that woman’s web.”
Zander turned his head, just for a moment, and locked eyes with his partner.
Shock slid onto Randall’s face. “You…you aren’t falling. You already fell, didn’t you?”
Before he could speak, there was a commotion near the entrance to the station. A tall, dark-haired man rushed inside. “Alice!” His gold gaze darted around frantically.
“Aw, damn, I recognize him,” Randall muttered.
A deputy hurried to grab the fellow. “No reporters allowed inside, buddy. You need to wait out there with the rest of them—”
“I’m not a reporter,” the man snapped back. “I’m family. Alice May’s family, and I need to see her, now.”
Zander had stiffened as recognition hit him. He knew the guy charging toward him. And, no, the fellow wasn’t Alice’s family. The guy was Jonathan Collins, and since Alice hadn’t gotten the chance to say her “I do” with Jonathan’s brother, Hugh, the man was zero relation to her.
Right at that moment, the bathroom door opened. Alice’s heels tapped over the floor as she hurried to Zander. “I’m ready,” she announced to him, “or as ready as I—Jonathan?”
Zander stepped in front of the fellow who shouldn’t have been in that station. How in the hell had he gotten past the deputies outside of the building? Probably with his BS about being family. Were the guys really that clueless that they’d let the bozo just waltz inside? Uh, yeah, probably. “You need to stop right the hell there,” Zander flatly informed Jonathan.
Jonathan Collins staggered to a stop, but his gaze darted toward Alice. “Are the stories true?” His voice had gone hoarse. “Is the Secret Admirer killing again? Is he after you?”
Randall closed in on the fellow. “Mr. Collins, I’m going to frisk you.”
Jonathan’s eyes widened. “What? Why in the hell—”
“To make sure you don’t have a weapon on you. To make sure that you are not a threat to Alice May or anyone else in this station.”
“I would never be a threat to Alice!” Jonathan’s face flushed red. “But go ahead, pat me down. I don’t have anything to hide. I’m here because I’m worried. I’m scared as all hell for Alice.”
Randall’s patdown was swift but thorough. “He’s clean.”
“Of course, I am,” Jonathan huffed. “I’m not some criminal, I’m not—”
“Your brother?” Zander supplied.
Jonathan’s chin notched up. “If the Secret Admirer is hunting again, then don’t you all see? Don’t you finally understand? You were wrong about Hugh. It was never him! That’s what I told the reporters, time and time again. My brother was set up! He didn’t—”
Alice moved to Zander’s side. Her sweet scent surrounded him. When she took a step toward Jonathan, Zander’s hand flew out and curled around her wrist. He gave a quick, negative shake of his head. There was no way he was letting her get closer to that guy. “Are you forgetting something?” Zander drawled to Jonathan. “Like, oh, I don’t know…the dead body that was in the back of your brother’s vehicle?”
The red faded from Jonathan’s cheeks. Now, he looked too pale. “I knew my brother. He wasn’t a killer. Someone framed him, the same someone I heard about on the news first thing this morning. That’s why I hauled ass to get here. The real killer is here. Unless you think a dead man is hunting Alice.”
“No.” Zander gave Jonathan a cold smile. “I know our perp is very much alive.”
Jonathan’s hands fisted and unfisted as he focused on Alice. “You should have called me. At the first sign of trouble, you should have called me. You and I—we’re family. We’re the only—”
“You’re not family,” Zander cut in flatly.
Jonathan’s brow furrowed as his gaze swung to Zander. His gaze dropped, falling to Zander’s hand as it wrapped around Alice’s wrist. The furrow deepened, and then he was studying Zander’s face. “Who are you?”
The man who will stand beside Alice for the rest of her life, if she’ll have me.
But it was Alice who answered, “He’s Special Agent Zander Todd. He’s after the man who—who has been targeting me.”
Right then, the station doors opened again. A female agent with dark red hair entered and inclined her head toward Zander. “We’re ready,” Kristy Law announced.
Show time. Zander gl
anced down at Alice. “Are you sure? You can still back out.” I can still get you the hell out of here.
But she nodded. “Just stay with me.”
Like she had to ask. “Always.”
She rewarded him with a quick smile, then her gaze slid to Jonathan. “We’ll talk after the press conference, okay? I’ll explain things, but I have to go now.”
Jonathan’s jaw clenched, but he nodded.
Zander fired a fast, hard glance at Randall. He knew his partner would get the message. Don’t take your eyes off that sonofabitch. Because Jonathan Collins being right there…oh, yeah, that looked suspicious as shit. One brother had been a sadistic killer.
Was the other brother just like him?
They were about to find out.
Zander’s hand slid down. Alice’s fingers curled around his, and together, they walked to the station doors. He could see the swarm of reporters waiting outside. A podium had been set up in front of the station. The microphone was ready. So were the cameras.
He heard Alice pull in a deep breath. And then the deputies opened the doors.
The reporters surged forward.
“Alice May—is it true that the Secret Admirer is hunting you?”
***
“What in the hell is happening?” Jonathan Collins glared at the station’s front doors. “Why is she talking to the reporters? Alice never talked to them before.”
Randall swept his gaze over the fellow. Jonathan Collins wasn’t quite as tall as his brother had been. His shoulders were a little thinner than Hugh’s. But the guy was still strong and lean. And he’d sure gotten to the little town of Sky fast. Very, very fast.
Jonathan’s head turned as he pinned Randall with an angry stare. “Is the FBI making her do this?”
Randall’s lips quirked. “No, I’ve figured out that no one can make Alice do anything. It’s all her choice.” He pointed toward the glass doors. “Alice wants to talk to the killer. She wants to speak directly to him, and this is her way.”