LITMIR.BIZ

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and older sister. Not a thought he’d linger on when he’d just managed to lighten his mood. He needed to be more like Dani. Upbeat. Cheerful.

      “It’s showtime.” Enthusiasm bubbled through her voice as she turned into an older neighborhood.

      He caught her mood. “You’re as excited as a rookie on her first case.”

      “Actually this is the first investigation I’ve taken lead on since starting our agency.” She shot out a hand. “And before you get worried because you don’t think I can handle your case, I’ve been lead agent on many cyber crime investigations for the FBI and had no complaints.”

      “I’m not worried in the least,” he said and meant it. But when he spotted the homes in disrepair and unkempt yards surrounding them, concern nagged at him.

      Not Dani. Her eyes alight with anticipation, she eased slowly down the street and pulled up to a home with peeling white paint and a sagging front porch. A lawn covered in knee-high weeds surrounded the small bungalow. Just the kind of place a criminal might live. She turned the engine off, and he reached for his door handle.

      “Wait.” She punched numbers on a safe bolted between the seats, then pulled out a Glock 45 and seated an ammo clip.

      His mouth dropped open when she easily chambered a round like one of his SEAL team members. He didn’t know why seeing her handle a gun like a pro surprised him, but it did. “I didn’t expect you to carry.”

      “You never know what might be waiting for us behind that door.” Her focus turned deadly serious, and for the first time, he saw Dani Justice, former federal agent, and his respect for her doubled.

      “I feel a little naked,” he said, hoping she might have another gun for him.

      “Just stay behind me and I’ll protect you from the big bad man.” She winked at him and her lips curled up in a grin.

      He imagined this slender woman gracefully strolling up the walkway, his big, hulking body following. Seemed like something he’d see in a cartoon and he couldn’t stem a burst of laughter.

      “Care to share the joke?”

      “Just that you’re so...I don’t know, fragile-looking that it’s hard to picture you as my protector.”

      She holstered her gun with a firm snap of her wrist and met his gaze, her eyes filled with disappointment. “I’m tougher than I look, Luke. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating me.” She clipped her holster on her belt. “Stay behind me, and at the door stay away from the peephole while I work my girlish charms on Eggleston to see if we can get him to come out.”

      He still didn’t like letting a woman put herself at risk for him, but he followed her up the stairs and stood to the side of the door as she directed. A quick stab at the doorbell and she stood back. The soft breeze carried her fresh coconut scent his way, making the home seem not quite as dismal.

      “Hello,” she called out in a sweet tone. “Is anyone home?”

      Luke watched the transformation from a gun-toting, tough investigator to this very feminine woman. He suspected she’d taken down a suspect or two using her femininity over the years. He’d gladly fall for it, and he wasn’t an overly trusting guy.

      She smiled at him, and that now familiar zing of interest kept his eyes fixed on her. She really was something else. He couldn’t help but think dating her would never get boring and wished that he was up for the challenge.

      “Hello,” she called again.

      Luke heard footsteps coming toward the door. Whisper-quiet, though, as if the guy didn’t want them to know he was home. When Luke saw the peephole in the door darken, he shot out a hand to pull her away. She deflected it, put her hand on her hip and faced the door again.

      “I’m having car trouble,” she said loudly. “Do you have a phone I can use?”

      Luke waited, listening for any sound, especially the chambering of a bullet.

      Seconds ticked by. Slow, tense, weighty seconds.

      Something was wrong.

      If Eggleston bought Dani’s story, he should be opening the door by now. Luke couldn’t abide her standing in front of the door any longer. Made her too vulnerable to gunfire. He slipped his hand around her elbow and pulled her to him.

      “What’re you doing?” she whispered and jerked free.

      He heard a screen door slamming in the backyard.

      “He’s running.” She bolted down the steps, and it took Luke a second to react.

      By the time he moved, she’d raced through the weed-filled yard to a chain-link fence. He charged after her, nearly stumbling over a stump hidden in the weeds. She leaped over the fence, landing with the grace he’d come to expect from her. He hurdled the fence, all of his injuries from yesterday screaming at once, stealing his breath and stopping him in his tracks. When he could breathe again, he pounded around a building and into a narrow alley littered with trash.

      Dani neared the mouth of the alley and he heard her shout, “Freeze.”

      Luke kept running, clamping down on his teeth to stem the pain as he charged over the crumbling asphalt.

      “Don’t,” he yelled when he saw her make a diving attempt to stop Eggleston.

      She landed with hands on his shoulders and dragged him to the ground. By the time Luke reached her, she’d wrenched Eggleston’s arms behind his back and was sitting back, breathing deep. Luke dropped down beside her and tried to take control of Eggleston, but she glared at him so he backed off. Still, he stayed close by in case Eggleston tried anything.

      “Let me go,” Eggleston whined, and tried to sit up. “I didn’t do nothing.”

      Dani pressed his face into the ground. “Then why did you run?”

      “It’s instinct to run from cops.”

      “We’re not cops.”

      “Right,” Eggleston said disbelievingly.

      “I’m a private investigator, and my friend works for a computer company,” Dani said. “All we want is information about a computer found in your possession when you were busted last week.”

      Eggleston snorted. “I tell you anything and you’ll go running to the cops.”

      “We have no reason to do that. We just want to know where you got it.”

      Eggleston craned his neck trying to see Dani. “Let me up and I’ll tell you.”

      Luke doubted the creep was telling the truth, but Dani seemed inclined to let the man go.

      “You try anything,” Luke warned, “and I’ll come after you.”

      Eggleston cast an appraising eye at Luke, then nodded. Dani released Eggleston and sat back on her haunches. Luke remained crouched, ready to pounce if he needed to protect Dani.

      Eggleston sat up and, rubbing his wrists, he winked at Dani. “You’re mighty tough for such a pretty little thing.”

      Luke wanted to silence the guy, but Dani ran a hand over her hair and smiled, obviously using Eggleston’s interest to get the information she needed. “You didn’t say where the computer came from.”

      “I bought it off a homeless dude I deal with sometimes.”

      “Where’d he get it?” Luke jumped in.

      Not taking his eyes off Dani, Eggleston shrugged.

      “What’s the man’s name?” Dani’s tone was far sweeter than Luke’s had been, and it grated on his nerves that she’d be so nice to a man she’d had to tackle to the ground.

      “Don’t know him by anything other than Smash.”

      Dani looked

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