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.”
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