LITMIR.BIZ

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her TV news appearance was a moot point. Circumstances seemed to point to a real, present danger. That was all that mattered. The details would eventually sort themselves out.

      “Ms. Dunne,” Isaac called as soon as he’d ended his phone conversation. “Come on. We have to go. There’s no time to waste.”

      She poked her head around the corner into the kitchen. “I can’t go yet. I’m not leaving without Puddy.”

      “Yes, you are.”

      The mist filling her eyes made them glisten like jewels in the rain. “No. Please. I know he’s here. He has to be.”

      “Unless someone let him out while they were trying to break in.” Isaac saw little chance of that but persisted. “Why don’t you leave dishes of food and water in the usual place in here, then put others in the hallway, just in case? I’ll either stop by to check or have members of my team do it. Puddy will show up as soon as he gets hungry enough. The problem is, you can’t stay here and wait for that to happen.”

      She stared at him, her hands trembling.

      He approached her slowly, hoping to keep her as calm as possible when he delivered the bad news. Stopping an arm’s length from her, he looked deeply into her eyes, willing her to continue to trust him, at least enough to heed his sage advice.

      Her eyes widened. “What are you not telling me?”

      “That call I just made? It was to our tech support. Terence Fagan has been out of prison for several years.”

      “That’s impossible!”

      Isaac lightly cupped her elbow to steady her. “I’m sorry. It’s true. His appeal was granted on a technicality.”

      She swayed as if dizzy, so he continued to hold her arm, just in case. “No. Your information must be wrong.”

      “Sorry. Our Fiona Fargo is the best computer tech in the business. If she says your father has been released, he has been.”

      “Why wasn’t I told?”

      “I don’t know. When you get in touch with the marshals’ office to arrange to be moved, you can ask them. It was probably an oversight.”

      “Oversight? This is my life we’re talking about.”

      Isaac nodded soberly. “I’m glad you realize that.” He let go and opened her cupboards to locate usable dishes. “Will these do for your cat?”

      She barely nodded.

      “Okay. I’ll fill one with water and you put dry food in the other so we can be on our way.”

      This time she not only didn’t argue, she moved to comply as if in a stupor. That state of mind wasn’t any better for her than her earlier panic, although it did make his current task easier.

      Until they could coordinate with the US Marshals office in DC, his best option would be to take her home with him, as he’d already been planning.

      There was more than one good reason for that choice, too. His injured leg was starting to really throb and the sooner he was free to take his prescribed medication the better he’d feel.

      Reasoning that a nurse would be sympathetic and therefore more compliant, he decided to tell her. “Listen, I hate to mention this but I’m starting to feel awfully sore. I couldn’t chance taking my morning meds and getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle so I haven’t had any painkillers since what you gave me last night.”

      That snapped her out of her doldrums enough to frown and caution, “You should have kept up with them. It’s not just for comfort, you know. Controlling pain will help you heal faster. Plus, one of those scripts was for oral antibiotics.”

      “Afraid I didn’t stop to look,” Isaac admitted. “When my captain called me, I didn’t question his reasons.”

      “What was he thinking? You’re injured.”

      Isaac chanced a slight smile. “Actually, it was my decision. He told me he was worried because there was no record of your past and wanted to confer with me.”

      “That’s a lame excuse if I’ve ever heard one,” Daniella said. Hoisting a bulging tote bag, she sighed as she started for the door. “I won’t be responsible if you develop an infection. Let’s go.”

      Following her out the apartment door and waiting while she carefully relocked it, Isaac couldn’t help feeling relieved and more than a little glad. She was finally thinking more clearly. That was a definite plus.

      Now all he had to do was take a small enough dose of painkiller to allow his own brain to function properly and they’d be a formidable team.

      Visualizing himself and Daniella as a team caught him by surprise. They had little if anything in common, so why was he seeing her as part of his work, let alone his life?

      Because the effects of this injury have addled me, he concluded. That aberration would surely pass.

      His smile waned. It had better. In his line of work, letting a pretty face distract him could be fatal.

      * * *

      Since there was a logo on the door of the SUV that matched the patches on Isaac’s uniform shirt, it was easy for Daniella to tell which official vehicle belonged to the K-9 cop. None of the responding agencies had pulled into the apartment driveway. Consequently, the street was blocked both ways.

      She looked to him as they walked. “How did you know to park so far away?”

      “I didn’t. I moved my car for safety when I put Abby inside.”

      “Oh. I thought for a second...”

      “That I was part of the plotting against you?”

      “I never considered it seriously,” she alibied. “I’m just jumpy.”

      “That’s perfectly understandable.”

      “What else can you tell me about my father? You’re absolutely positive he’s out of prison?”

      “Yes. His attorney filed an appeal and got his sentence reduced because of some glitch in the gathering of evidence at the crime scene. He pleaded guilty to providing the plans for the explosive device but insisted some of his cronies had actually made, planted and detonated it because they wanted to get rid of him, not your mother.”

      “Then why did he send me into the house at just the right moment to save my life?”

      “He claimed it was a coincidence.”

      That statement gave her pause. Finally, she said, “If that’s true, you know what it means, don’t you?”

      Isaac nodded as he opened and held the passenger door for her. “Yes. If he was being honest about his innocence, he wasn’t showing his love, like you thought, by keeping you away from your mother’s car.”

      As she slipped into the seat, she wished there weren’t unshed tears threatening to trickle down her cheeks.

      Daniella waited until Isaac was behind the wheel before she commented further. “Dad set that bomb. I know he did. The expression on his face wasn’t surprise or shock after it went off, it was victory.”

      She sniffled and swiped at her damp cheeks. “He killed Mom as surely as I’m sitting here.” Sighing, she stared out the SUV’s window.

      “That doesn’t really explain why he’d be causing you trouble after all this time,” Isaac offered.

      “Sure it does. That man never forgave a soul. After I testified against him he swore he’d get even. That’s why I agreed to go into witness protection in the first place.”

      “You believe he meant what he said?”

      Daniella huffed and set her jaw. “Oh, yeah. Of all the things he ever told me, that’s

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