“What window? Wouldn’t I have heard something?”
“Probably not. He broke the window on the door from the garage to the backyard. It was a simple matter of reaching in and unlocking the dead bolt with the key dangling from the nail beside the door.”
She felt herself blushing. “I didn’t want to lose it.”
“And you didn’t really believe you were in danger.”
“Well, no, I didn’t. I’ve been attacked and almost smothered to death, and I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around that little bit of reality.”
“There was no sign of forced entry to the door from the garage to the kitchen.”
She bit her lip, feeling foolish. “Josette and I never locked that door.”
“If I’d known that, I would have insisted on replacing the door to the outside with a solid steel one. I wanted to anyway, but Wolf and I ran out of time.”
“I’m sorry. I feel so stupid. I might as well have put a sign in my window inviting him in.”
Hotwire shook his head. “Don’t apologize. A determined criminal will find a way in. You did not invite anything. Do you hear me?”
She swallowed at the vehemence in his voice. “Yes, I hear you. I’m not the bad guy, just an idiotic house renter.”
“You are in no way an idiot. Your only crime, if it is one, is that you were too trusting in the safety of your surroundings.”
No doubt. She’d learned early in life to assess her level of personal safety. Josette’s house had always been at the top of the charts, so incredibly different from the places she’d lived in after her dad died. “I’m also not hot on revenge, so I find it difficult to imagine anyone wanting vengeance against Josette enough to try to kill me thinking I was her.”
“We can’t be sure the assailant was after Josie.”
“But it’s the only thing that makes sense,” she reiterated.
“Nevertheless, when investigating a crime, it’s good to remember that just because a chicken has wings, doesn’t mean it can fly.”
“In other not-so-colorful words, appearances can be deceptive.”
“Yes.”
“Um…Hotwire, you’re a former mercenary, turned security specialist. How do you know so much about investigating a crime?”
Chapter 5
He relaxed in the chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “It’s a hobby of mine. I’ve done some freelance work for the government between missions.”
“But how…”
“I trained in covert ops in the Rangers. I learned how to be a spy—duty first, people second, and the mission supreme.” His words were bitter, and she wondered at the story behind them.
But right now it was hard enough to keep her mind focused on the problem at hand, much less try to figure out his complex mind. She was growing tired again, though not as sleepy as before, and the pain in her head was overwhelming.
“Back to your assailant.”
“What about him?”
“You said that he stayed, holding the pillow over your face, despite the fact that the alarm was going off.”
“Yes. He was counting.”
“He was tracking the time on the alarm and your time without air. The mark of a professional.”
“But I thought you said he was an amateur?”
“I’m having trouble classifying him, to tell the truth.”
“Why does it matter if the person who came after me was ‘in the business’ or not?” she asked, using a phrase she’d learned from Lester.
“One thing about that terrorist group we took down…they were well trained. Too much about this attack does not jive with that.”
“But nothing else makes sense.” If she kept saying it, maybe he would get it. “No one could want to kill me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
She couldn’t believe he had to ask. Maybe she was naïve, but she didn’t think most people spent a lot of time worrying about getting knocked off. “I’m positive.”
“Then I guess we’re going with the theory that it’s Josie they are after. For now, anyway.”
For forever, as far as she was concerned. “That means she’s in danger.”
“Not hardly, if the people going after her are all as untrained as your assailant, but I already contacted Nitro to alert him to the situation.”
“Good. I hope they are having a great time.”
“According to Nitro, it’s heaven on earth.”
She couldn’t imagine the taciturn man saying anything that effusive, but he must have implied his version of the equivalent. And that did not surprise her. Nitro and Josette had found something that Claire thought was extremely rare…honest, reciprocal, and unconditional love between two people who could genuinely count on each other.
Hotwire paused. “He and Josie want me to stay with you until they return.”
“I…”
“If you say it’s not necessary, I’m going to get irritated.”
“I wasn’t going to say that. It is necessary. Even I can see that. I don’t want to end up a corpse in my own bed, but I don’t know how it’s going to work out for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“What about your business?”
“I’ve been working remotely from this suite for the last few days already.”
He’d said something when he first brought her to the hotel about having been in Portland a few days. It hadn’t computed at the time, but now it made sense.
Sort of. “That explains how you got to the hospital so fast, but I don’t understand why you were here. Are you on an assignment?”
“Not unless you count watching over you.”
“You came for me?”
“Yes.”
“But why? I mean, I know Josette asked you to keep an eye out for me, but I think she meant make the occasional phone call, not keep a watching brief.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t like being so far away when your alarm went off the first time. There was nothing I could do from Montana. So, I decided to take care of that.”
This man took his promises to his friends very seriously. “So, why didn’t you come and stay at the house?”
He grimaced, his gaze filled with self-censure. “I should have. None of this would have happened if I’d been there.”
Her own eyes widened. “You can’t believe that. It’s not your fault. You can’t be sure your presence would have made any difference.”
“Can’t I?”
That actually made her smile, despite the fact that her head was pounding. “Your arrogance is showing again.”
“Again?”
“You’re pretty impressed with your effect on women, too.”
“I prefer to think of it as justifiably confident. There’s a reason roosters strut, you know.”
She laughed and