“Then—” Alan said.
But Kelly continued, her voice very soft and trembling. “I gather you’re from the ID Division.” She looked up into his face once more and saw him give a brief, curt nod. “And you clearly know who I am. You must know why I ran away in the first place.”
Another nod.
“I came back here because I learned that my nephew, Eli—you’ve met him—he’s in danger here, being abused by his father.”
“If you’re familiar with how the ID Division works, you know that I’m here to find the hard evidence against Stan that you weren’t able to gather. I’ll work on protecting Eli, too. But you need to leave.”
“Not until I’m certain that Eli’s okay.” No matter who Alan was and what discipline he might be able to get the ID Division to rain down on her, she had to do this.
She had to save her beloved nephew, notwithstanding any consequences to herself.
“That’s your final answer?” he demanded, still staring down at her.
“It has to be. I—”
He leaned down and stopped what she was going to say with another hot, incredibly wonderful kiss. This was ridiculous. This was wonderful.
Did he really think she’d start obeying him because she was turned on by him?
“Here’s what we’re going to do, then,” he said, holding her close and whispering into her ear. “We’re going to work together to find that evidence and bring Stan down. But if you’re here, you’re going to have to listen to me so I can both train you and protect you. Got it?”
He punctuated it with another kiss that took her breath away.
On one level, she wanted to shout “No!” and run away.
But on another level, she realized that two of them working directly together might be more effective than either of them working alone.
“Got it,” she said and reached up to pull his head down to hers for another kiss.
* * *
This was merely adding to their cover, Alan assured himself as he finally pulled his head slowly back, away from Kelly’s mouth. Her kiss. And then he took a step backward, too, to distance his body from her soft, enticing curves.
He had to think. To make himself remember a similar situation between a CIU operative and the person the ID Division was protecting that had worked out, even though the result of that case would be quite different from this one.
“As enjoyable as this is,” he said, “and as helpful as it may be to ensure that anyone paying attention to us believes we’re together now and thinks they know why, it isn’t helping us accomplish what we need to.”
“You’re right.” Kelly sounded breathless, but as he regarded her in the low light between street lamps, he saw that her smile was wry. “I agree that, since I’m staying here, we need to work together. Your main goal is to get proof against Stan, and I’m all for that. But my real focus now is to make sure Eli’s okay, then I’ll go after Stan.”
“I get that.” He reached out for her hand once more and started walking slowly down the wide sidewalk again, away from the bar since a few patrons had just come out. “And you’re right. Young Eli needs a guardian angel.”
She stopped, pulled herself in front of him. Her lovely face twisted into an expression of concern and fear. “What do you mean?”
Maybe he shouldn’t reveal this to her here. Maybe he shouldn’t reveal it to her anywhere.
But she had a right to know.
“There’s actually a good reason for you to be here,” he said in a tone that was more compassionate than the one he usually used. “Let’s walk some more and I’ll explain.”
“No,” she said. “Explain now.”
He’d suspected it wouldn’t be easy to work with this woman. For one thing, he had been affiliated with the military, and now government agencies, long enough to believe that orders were orders, and disobeying them only brought trouble. You could discuss them, maybe, depending on the circumstances and factors like time, in case there were better alternatives or ways to comply. But disobey them completely—never.
And here he was, about to risk his career to work with a woman who disobeyed a direct order that she’d had to expressly agree to in order to get the benefits and protections offered to her by the ID Division.
Yet as much as he disliked the concept, he could understand, under these circumstances, why she did it.
She needed to know that, and why he was actually considering making an exception in her case.
“This isn’t the right time or place to get into detail,” he said. “If necessary, I’ll do so later, when we’re truly in private and can talk.”
“What?” she demanded, but at least she continued walking with him.
“Well...since I’ve been here I have seen indications that Stan Grodon isn’t always kind to his son, Eli. I mean, I’ve seen—”
“That bruise on Eli’s face.” It wasn’t a question but a statement, and Alan wasn’t surprised she focused on that.
“Right. And more.”
“Like what?” She snapped to a halt and stared up at him.
“As I said, we’ll talk about it later. Right now, I’m just going to express regrets that I probably haven’t handled this as well as I should have.” He would never admit it to her—he even hated admitting it to himself—but his job here might become a little easier if Stan increased the cruelty to his son, particularly his criticisms while the city council security detail was in his presence. Alan had been around enough to observe some of that. And if the SOB did more, even if Alan hadn’t yet found evidence he could use against Stan for possible murder, he might obtain enough to have him arrested for child abuse.
Then, maybe more physical evidence of what had happened to his wife could be found when Alan got the right to enter Stan’s home to seek evidence of child abuse to keep the guy incarcerated for a while.
But really? He couldn’t, wouldn’t wish any more of that on the kid. He would find a way to succeed no matter what. And certainly would never admit to Kelly these cruel and nasty thoughts.
Even the idea would undoubtedly make her hate him enough to draw away immediately and refuse to work with him despite her own precarious situation.
Which would be justifiable, under the circumstances.
“What are you talking about?” Kelly demanded.
“Let’s just say that, on reflection, I can see why Eli Grodon needs someone on his side, no matter what else is going on around him—and around this town. I’ll certainly cooperate—” now “—but I’m probably not the right person to protect him. You, on the other hand, are—”
“The perfect person to protect him,” Kelly said. “And you can be sure I will. Now—are we meeting somewhere away from here for dinner tomorrow, on a supposed date if anyone asks?”
“That’s probably the best plan,” Alan acknowledged.
“Fine.” Without asking his permission, she turned, grabbed his hand and began leading him back to the bar.
He admired that she was, to some extent, playing the role he had created for her.
He only hoped she wouldn’t come to regret it—and make their working together here for a somewhat common purpose completely ineffective.
He regained at least some hope after they hurried back down the driveway