LITMIR.BIZ

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She pointed to Wade Jenkins and then to Teresa Walters. “The way I see it, I’m in a real mess here. What if some secret’s trapped in my head, and you want me around just long enough to get it? What if you kill me the minute I tell you what you want to know?”

      Agent Walters threw her hands in the air. “I give up. Let me know when you can talk some sense into her.”

      Leigh was about to tell the woman exactly what she thought of her when Sanchez broke in. “You can trust me, Leigh.” The offer had not come effortlessly. It came with a scalpel-sharp glare.

      “Why? Because you saved my life?”

      He didn’t answer, but after a moment Jinx did. “Not just that. You can trust him because Gabe Sanchez is your husband.”

      Chapter Two

      Gabe could almost feel her gaze crawl all over him. He braced himself for the storm he was about to face. And there would be one heck of a storm when Leigh got going with her questions. No doubt about it.

      “My husband?” she repeated.

      He nodded but didn’t add more than that. The details of their marital status were among a mile-long list of things he didn’t want to discuss with her. Too bad he’d probably have to do just that before this was over.

      “Is it true?” she asked. “Are we really married?”

      He eased onto the edge of the narrow gurney and stared down at her. No sense standing for what would basically be an interrogation. “I’ll answer that if you’ll tell me the truth. Is this memory loss all an act?”

      “No.” Aggravation danced across her eyes. “I wish it were, because I can promise you I wouldn’t be here. I don’t like being here.”

      “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Gabe made a sweeping glance around the room. “I don’t care much for it myself.”

      Leigh made the same sweeping glance, and when she finished, their eyes met, coming together until they held. “Are you really my husband?”

      Well, this was one part of the conversation that he obviously couldn’t put off. Not that it surprised him. If their situations were reversed, he’d want to know the same thing. “Afraid so. You’re not happy about that?”

      “The jury’s still out. It’s hard to know if I’m happy about it when I don’t even know you. So, how long have we been married?”

      Ah, a test. He’d expected that, too. “Four years, six months.” He paused, thinking. “And eighteen days.”

      He could have given her the hours if she’d asked. Gabe cursed himself. It didn’t please him that he could recall something so painful in such detail.

      “That long,” she mumbled.

      Yeah, that long. But half of that time she’d been gone. Now, here she was—right back in his life. It had taken him too long to get over her the last time. She’d turned him upside down and hung him out to dry. He didn’t want another dose of that.

      Even with the dye job, she hadn’t changed much. A little thinner. And maybe there was something different about her expression. The old Leigh had been so self-assured. Not now though. There was a good reason for that. After all, someone had tried to kill her. That murder attempt no doubt had something to do with what had brought her back to him. Fate working overtime again.

      Sometimes fate didn’t know which end was up.

      Well, he wasn’t about to buy into anything that dealt with fate.

      She continued to stare at him as if sizing him up. “Why didn’t you say something earlier about being my husband?”

      “There wasn’t time. You were unconscious when I brought you here.” He knew that wouldn’t be the last of her questions, and he didn’t have to wait long for her to verify that.

      Leigh glanced at his hand. “Why isn’t either of us wearing a wedding ring?”

      Hell. The woman could certainly open old wounds. Gabe pulled the neck chain out of his T-shirt so she could see the simple gold band that it held. “I’m left-handed, and it catches on the holster. I’m not sure where your ring is. Maybe it slipped off in the lake.”

      Or maybe she’d thrown it away. He wouldn’t put it past her. Obviously their marriage vows hadn’t meant much to her. He couldn’t say the same. And that was probably the only explanation he had for why he still wore his wedding ring. One thing was for sure, as soon as he got out of there, he planned to get rid of it. It was something he should have done months ago.

      “I have to go,” Jinx announced, the sound of his voice slicing through the heavy silence. “I need to update a few people about what’s happened and try to figure out what we’re going to do. Gabe, you wait here with Leigh.”

      Of course. Gabe hadn’t expected it to be any other way.

      “I should head out, too,” Agent Walters added after checking her watch. She gave Gabe’s sleeve a tug. “No improvising, all right?”

      Gabe didn’t concur either verbally or otherwise. Nor did he disagree with the woman who was coleader of this so-called task force. He just kept his rebellious thoughts to himself. “I’ll walk you two out.” He stood and looked down at Leigh. “Stay put.”

      Her unbandaged eyebrow winged up. “Do I have a choice?”

      “No,” he clarified over his shoulder.

      “I told you to be nice to her,” Jinx said the moment they were outside the door. “I told you to gain her trust.”

      Gabe wanted to laugh. “I don’t perform miracles.”

      “No, but you will do your job.”

      Jinx’s words hit him like a heavyweight’s fist, even though Gabe had tried to brace himself for it. “And what exactly do you mean by that?”

      “It means you’ll protect her until we can make other arrangements.” There was no hesitation in Jinx’s tone, and that tone drew a clear line between their friendship and his role as Gabe’s boss.

      Gabe scrubbed his hand over his face. “It means you want me to be her bodyguard.”

      “If necessary,” Teresa piped in. Jinx gave a nod of agreement.

      It would be necessary. No doubt about it. That was the only way Gabe could see this playing out. Heck, if he hadn’t been on the receiving end of this assignment, he might have even considered it a good idea.

      There were just a couple of problems with this particular plan that Jinx and Teresa had come up with for him. It would mean he’d have to spend a lot of time with his wife. A wife he didn’t want. A wife who didn’t want him. But she was also a vulnerable woman with a killer after her.

      Hell.

      He’d do what the Justice Department wanted him to do, and then he was out of there. Leigh could go back to whatever the hell she’d been doing, and he would get on with his life. All he had to do was keep her alive, catch the bad guy and leave. Especially, leave.

      There was no way he’d allow himself to be drawn back into her life. No way.

      LEIGH WAITED until Sanchez and the others walked out of the room. “Stay put,” she said, repeating the terse order he’d just given her. “As if I had a choice.”

      In fact, her choices were extremely limited. Possibly even nil. She had amnesia, was hurt and didn’t know where she could go to get out of danger. That didn’t mean she trusted the three people who’d just left the room. Or that she believed them. She was almost positive they hadn’t told her the truth.

      It’s what you have to tell her, Agent Teresa Walters had said before they knew she was awake. People didn’t usually make remarks like that if they planned to tell the truth.

      The

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