LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Trouble,” she replied, glancing to her right as if calculating the likelihood of dodging out of his reach.

      “Better to face it with a support system than alone.”

      “I can’t involve anyone else. It’s too dangerous.”

      “You can explain that to your brother when you see him.”

      “Returning to Maryland isn’t an option.”

      Kane shook his head. “From where I stand, it’s the only option.”

      “Well, if you’d just back up about a foot and take a few steps to your left, my preferred option will become a little clearer to you.”

      He could have laughed if he’d let himself. Jace had said his sister was brilliant. He hadn’t mentioned her sense of humor.

      “Sorry. That’s not going to happen. I promised Jace that I’d find you and bring you home.”

      “You should never make a promise you can’t keep.” Her back against the door, she slowly edged her way toward the right corner of the shed.

      He grabbed her left arm just below the elbow, and stopped her in her tracks. “We’re wasting time,” he said. “I found you—it’s safe to assume someone else will, too. If you don’t want to tell me why you’re running, maybe you can tell me who you’re running from.”

      “I’m running from so many people, it would almost be easier to tell you who isn’t after me.” She tucked a few strands of hair under her hat, her gaze shifting from him to a point beyond his shoulder.

      “Go ahead.”

      “And leave? I was thinking about it, but it’s hard to do with you holding onto my arm.”

      “Go ahead and list the people who aren’t after you.”

      She sighed, tried to yank her wrist away. “Look, I know you’re trying to do what Jace wants, but I can handle this alone. I won’t drag him, Grayson or even you into this.”

      “We’re already in it,” he pointed out, and she frowned.

      “You don’t have to be. You can walk away and let me go back to what I was doing.”

      He was tempted to do just that.

      He didn’t have time for games. After twelve years of active duty, he’d left the army in August and spent the last three months getting his and Jace’s fledgling business off the ground.

      Shadow Wolves Security, named after their Army unit, was finally up and running. It had taken a lot of work. With Jace’s tour not up for another four months, the bulk of it had fallen on Kane. He’d spent countless unpaid hours making certain things were ready. He’d even managed to land their first contracts, set to start in less than a month.

      With that under his belt, he’d planned to leave the business in the hands of his other business partner and Chief Operations Officer, Silas Blackwater, and take a long, relaxing weekend. Jace’s phone call had changed his plans. When he’d asked Kane to help Grayson locate their sister, Kane couldn’t refuse.

      Yeah. He might be tempted to walk away and let Arden deal with her problem alone, but he wouldn’t do it. He owed Jace a lot. More than he could ever repay.

      “Let’s go.” He still had his hand around her wrist, and he started walking, dragging her along beside him, not caring that she was yanking against his hold.

      “You don’t understand the ramifications of me going back,” she muttered, digging in her heels and putting all her weight into trying to stop their forward momentum. There wasn’t a whole lot of weight to her, so it barely slowed Kane down.

      “Explain it to me then.”

      “The people who are after me are dangerous and they’ve got deep pockets. They’ll stop at nothing to get what they want. They don’t care who they hurt in the process.”

      “Grayson can work with the FBI to clear your name and protect you.”

      “I trust Grayson, but I can’t ask him to put his career on the line and take my side against the FBI. Besides, there’s no way to be sure they don’t have someone in the FBI on their payroll.”

      “Who, exactly, are these people, and what do they want from you?”

      “That information is need-to-know.” She tucked another loose strand of hair beneath her hat. A nervous tic? he wondered.

      “I need to know.”

      “You are an intermediary. You only need to know that I’m not returning home. Not yet. Tell my brothers—”

      A loud chirp interrupted her words. Two more followed in rapid succession.

      He didn’t ask what it was.

      He knew.

      She’d set up a perimeter alarm and it was going off.

      “What quadrant?” he asked as she pulled a cell phone from her coat pocket.

      “West. Looks like the same way you arrived. You’d better go—”

      The phone chirped again.

      “Sounds like they have an army coming for you.” He sprinted back to the shed, pulling her along with him. She’d been trying to get inside since he’d arrived.

      Now, she seemed determined not to enter.

      She tried to twist away, but his fingers easily locked around her slender wrist. He dragged her into the shed, easing the door closed and sealing them inside. It smelled like sawdust and gas fumes.

      “You have a vehicle in here?” he asked, keeping his grip on her wrist tight. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he wasn’t going to let her leave. Not on her own.

      “That would be a likely scenario, since I’ve been trying to get in here since you arrived,” she grumbled, jerking away and moving toward the center of the shed.

      “How about you show it to me so we can get moving?” he demanded, his gaze shifting to a lone window that looked out over the beach. It was too dark to see much, but a light bounced along the shore. He doubted it was a beachcomber looking for treasures.

      “It’s under the tarp,” she responded, motioning to the center of the room.

      “Then let’s go.” He crowded in beside her, blocking her path to the door. She had her reasons for continuing to run. He had his reasons for bringing her home. They could hash all that out, come up with a plan that would work for both of them. Later.

      After they escaped whomever it was she was running from.

       TWO

      Someone had breached her security perimeter.

      Someone else was on the beach.

      Through the shed window, Arden could see the light moving along the shore—a small dot of white in the blackness. She doubted it was just one person. And she doubted it was the FBI.

      Grayson probably told Kane to monitor the PetID database for a potential hit on Sebastian’s microchip, but there’s no way her brother would have shared that information with the FBI.

      Arden’s ex-boyfriend Randy Sumner was another story.

      He knew about Sebastian, and he’d have no qualms about tipping off GeoArray Corporation. He was in this deep and had just as much to lose if the company went down. And he, more than anyone, knew Arden could bring them all down.

      She hadn’t been exaggerating about GeoArray’s power, resources and reach. The corporation was an army of sorts, and it would send its best soldiers to bring her in.

      Soldiers? Thugs was probably a more

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