Witness Protection (Defenders of Love Book 1) (6 page)

So he hadn't forgotten. She had half hoped that the sight of her in a towel would have distracted him. No such luck. Logan smiled at her and turned on his heel exiting the small room quickly. Lucy dropped down on to the edge of the bed and laid her head in her hands. She was suddenly so very exhausted. All she wanted was her own bed and some cozy flannel pajamas, neither of which were readily available.

She had to get some clothes on before Logan returned. Running into his arms practically naked had been awkward to say the least. Not that it wasn't

pleasant; she was almost ashamed at how good it

actually felt. Maybe it was all the adrenaline coursing

through her veins. She had nearly died twice in as many hours. Logan had been her rescuer, her protector. It was normal to feel some sort of gratification toward him, wasn't it?

Pulling open a drawer, she found neatly folded piles of men's pajama bottoms. No tops, just bottoms. There were several pairs in silk, a couple in satin, and the pile she liked best—flannel. They weren't hers, but they would work. She needed warm and comforting right about then. She also needed to call Mulholland and give him a heads up on what had happened. Maybe Logan would let her borrow his cell phone.

Grabbing up a blue and green plaid pair, Lucy slipped the pants on and had to laugh at how long the legs were. It took several cuffs to get them up over the top of her foot. The pants looked ridiculous but at least she would be clothed when she saw Logan again. A long sleeved, oatmeal colored waffle-knit tee from the next drawer down covered her enough to almost hide the fact that she had no bra on. The idea of strapping herself into something so unforgiving made her body hurt almost unbearably.

Returning to the bathroom, she found a comb and ran it through her thick, tangled hair. When there was absolutely nothing else left for Lucy to do to delay the inevitable, she opened the bedroom door and stepped into the main room.

Chapter Six

Logan paced the small cabin. His body was tense with unexpected energy. Having Lucy in his arms, wearing nothing more than a towel, had been a shock to his system. Emotions and sensations, long since buried deep, had broken free and flooded his body and his mind with an overwhelming physical response to her nearness. Never before in his adult life had he felt such a physical draw to a woman.

He shook his head as though the motion could remove the image of Lucy's damp curves wrapped tightly in that towel. How had they gone from squabbling over a parking place to being shot at to...what had just happened? She annoyed him, someone had blown a big hole in the tailgate of his Jeep, and Logan could
still
feel the moist heat of her in his arms.

"Damn it!"

"I...I'm sorry about your car. I'll pay for the damage."

Logan stopped pacing and turned to look at her, noting the slight pink that colored her otherwise pale features and the wary look in her eyes. She had

overheard him cursing and must have thought it was

about his Jeep.

"Honestly, Lucy that is the last thing I am worried about right at this moment." He looked her up and down, noticing how his oversized shirt and baggy pants seemed to skim her frame in just the right way. He had never seen anything so sexy in all his life. She caught his eye and blushed even more deeply.

"I must look ridiculous. You are a little...taller...than I am." She waved the long sleeves of her top in the air to make her point. They both laughed nervously.

"You look fine, Lucy. Alive. In one piece. The rest is incidental." He surprised himself with the feeling in his words. He didn't know this woman at all. So, why was he breathing so deeply at the thought of what could have happened if he hadn't gotten them away from that hospital parking lot?

"Well, alive is one thing. Living is another." Lucy mumbled so softly he wasn't sure he had heard her.

"Come on over here and let me take a look at those ribs." He opened the first aid kit on the coffee table and patted the cushion of the futon style couch.

Lucy joined Logan in front of the oversized stone fireplace. For just a moment, he imagined the two of them there, Lucy back in her towel, with a fire blazing and the room filled with candles. The image struck a chord deep in his gut. He hoped she didn't notice the bulge in his khakis that always seemed to show up when she was in his sight.

"I don't think this head wound is going to require stitches. Now that you have washed away all the

dried blood and dirt, it looks like it's just a scratch. There is a nasty looking bruise forming though."

"I know, I saw it in the bathroom mirror. That knot looks like someone smacked me with a two-by-four."

Logan tilted his head to the side, studying her thoughtfully. "Did someone?"

She looked confused. "Did someone what?"

"Hit you with a two-by-four?"

"Are you serious?"

"Hmmm...no, of course not. I just thought I would ask since it appears someone ran you off the road and fired a very large semi-automatic weapon at you. I was just considering the possibility that other things may have happened before I happened upon you in the ravine."

"No, no one hit me with a piece of wood or anything other than their car. When my car hit the tree, I hit the steering wheel. Just like I told you."

He reached for her side, gently probing the injured area with his long fingers. Lucy jumped at the contact.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't," she said too quickly. Her eyes dropped to the floor. "I mean, not too much anyway."

Logan nodded slightly as he slowly lifted the hem of the oversized shirt to peer at her torso. Her breathing seemed to speed up as his fingers gently probed the already bruised tissue. His own heart was racing in his chest. He was absolutely certain she could hear it slamming against his chest wall as he felt for any breaks or other soft tissue injury.

"How did you hurt your side? It's an unusual place for an injury under the circumstances."

"I tried to climb back up the slope but I slipped and fell and rolled against a tree." She sounded

breathless as she spoke.

"Well, I don't feel anything broken but you should probably see a doctor tomorrow."

He let go of her top, letting it fall back past her hips, slightly ashamed at the feeling of disappointment he had as the creamy olive skin of her abdomen disappeared from view.

What the heck was wrong with him tonight?

It had to be the adrenaline making him feel crazy things. She wasn't even his type. She was obstinate, unfriendly, and kind of annoying the way she insisted he stay away from her parking spot. Not to mention being with her almost got him killed and pretty much did his Jeep in.

"What is this place, anyway?" she asked, glancing around at the sparse yet almost elegant furnishings. "It's too nice to be department owned and way too fancy to be an actual hunting cabin."

"It's my safe house."

"Safe house?" She tossed him an odd look.

He nodded. "I bought it about ten years ago. I come here when I want to escape the world, forget about work, life, you know."

"What would a pretty boy history teacher need to escape from?"

She thought he was a pretty boy? That didn't sound like a good thing to him. Not the way she laced the words with disgust.

"Sit down, Lucy. Let's have that talk now."

A shadow of fear passed over her eyes but she sat gingerly at one end of the couch. Logan settled next

to her, almost close enough for their knees to touch.

Heat smoldered in his abdomen with her nearness. She shifted ever so slightly, removing any chance of contact

between their bodies and then looked up at him, eyes clouded with emotion. It was obvious that she was afraid of something. He only hoped it wasn't him. Maybe she would feel better knowing who he really was. There was little chance of him finding out who she really was if he didn't spill the beans first.

"You were right, I am not actually a teacher. I am a cop, working undercover at St. Mary's."

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. Her glee at finding him out disappeared almost instantly. Her next words were barely a whisper. "You were there because of me, weren't you?"

His head snapped up. "Why? Should I have been?"

Lucy stared back at him. "No."

"That's wasn't very convincing, Ms. Taylor."

She looked away for minute before she spoke again. "You may have noticed someone wants me dead."

"The thought did cross my mind," Logan joked halfheartedly.

"I'm a cop too."

Logan was stunned. He knew she was hiding something but he wouldn't have pegged her for being on the job.

"Are you undercover?" He recalled that this was her second year at St. Mary's. That was a long time for an undercover job but he had heard of longer.

"Sort of."

Now he was getting impatient. "What do you mean 'sort of'? Either you are or you aren't."

"Then I'm not. I'm...well, I'm in witness

protection."

That was
not
what he had expected to hear.

Logan could see that she struggled with sharing this information. People in witness protection were not supposed to tell anyone—ever—about their identity. It was part of the agreement to enter the program. He reached over and took her hand, a gentle gesture that surprised even him.

"It's okay, you can tell me. I'm here to help. If someone is trying to kill you it's likely that your location has been compromised anyway."

She looked up at him with the blue eyes that didn't seem to fit her complexion and suddenly he knew. "Your eyes, they aren't really blue, are they?"

She half smiled. "No, they are actually green. The blonde hair isn't mine either."

"I didn't think so." He traced his thumb across the back of her hand in tiny, soothing circles.

"It used to be dark brown and curly. I have to keep it straight and bleached as part of my disguise. I am in a lot of trouble, Officer Smith."

***

Lucy really wished Logan would stop rubbing her hand. It was distracting. She couldn't focus when the heat from his thumb warmed her blood like no other man ever had with such a simple touch. He watched her with such intensity her mouth suddenly went dry and she forgot how to form words. When she made her big announcement about being in trouble, Logan laughed drily.

"What gave that away? I mean, aside from your totaled car and the gaping hole in the back door of mine?"

She tried to pull her hand away so that

she could think, but Logan held on just a little bit tighter, instead reaching for her other hand. He

continued to study her intensely, curiosity and the faintest hint of something else clouding his crystal blue eyes. Salvatore had never looked at her like that. It was unnerving and exciting at the same time. It had to be the adrenaline spike they were both coming off of. But then why did he hold her hands? Why was his touch both calming and exciting at the same time?

She took a deep breath as much to settle her nerves as to build them up for what she was about to do. Breaking the confidence of witness protection could get her kicked out of the program. Under the circumstances, however, she thought that Logan had the right to know what he was up against for as long as he stayed with her. And she couldn't let that be for very long. It wasn't safe for him. Come morning, she would get out of there, have Mulholland meet her, and get as far away from Logan as she could.

"I grew up in New York City. Much to the dismay of my very proper mother, I joined the New York City Police Department the day after I turned twenty-one. Five years later, I worked my way up to detective. My specialty fell in with organized crimes. You know, like
The Godfather
type of crime families. About two and half years ago, I went into deep cover and infiltrated the Ricci crime family."

Logan let out a low whistle. "That stuff is real? I mean, I know gangs run the country but I thought all that Italian mob stuff was history and legend."

Lucy shook her head. "No way. Crime families run New York City. There is so much freshly laundered money in the city that everyone carries crisp, clean bills in their pockets whether they realize it or not. Anyway,

the Riccis were a business family. In the old days they were typical monopolies with trash removal, slum

lording, things like that."

"Sounds like the stories on television. Hit men breaking knee caps over gambling debt?"

Lucy chuckled despite herself. "Yeah, something like that. Until old man Ricci—who fancied himself the Godfather by the way—discovered big money in the import-export business."

She stopped to take a breath and organize her thoughts. She had done nothing but think about the Riccis for most of the last year but all those thoughts and memories had become a big, messy jumble. Lucy had never told anyone except her handler any of the details of what she had seen undercover. Sometimes she still woke up drenched in sweat, her muscles clenched in fear from what she had seen. She wasn't sure she could tell it all now. She decided to keep it simple.

"What exactly did Godfather Ricci import and export?" She could tell Logan already had a good idea of what her answer would be.

"Guns. Big guns. Little ones. Anything that he could move for a price. Countries in the Middle East that hated America paid top dollar for them. They found it nothing short of delightful that Salvatore Ricci would broker sales of items that would be used against his own countrymen."

"That's not exactly original. I expected more from the Godfather." Logan chuckled.

Lucy shifted, the movement causing a sharp pain in her side. Pulling her hands free from Logan's to stabilize her sore side while she searched for a comfortable position left her feeling a little cold where his heat had just been, much to her own chagrin.

"I think that as soon as it hits first light, you need an x-ray. I could have missed something in that

side." There was worry in Logan's voice. It warmed her a bit knowing he cared.

It would serve her well to remember that Logan was a cop, not Prince Charming on a white steed there to rescue her from the tower. In the morning, she would be off on her own again.

She grunted as she shifted again. "I'm fine, really. Just sore. A good night's sleep is all I need."

"Why don't you finishing telling me why someone was shooting at us before you go to bed? You know, in case it happens again." It was hard to resist Logan's charm. It made her want to tell him her entire life story but she just wasn't sure she could share the whole truth.

"I thought we were safe here?"

He grinned. "Okay, so I'm just curious then. Nature of the beast and all that."