LITMIR.BIZ

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their effect was difficult to resist.

      She let out a breath. “You’re right. It’s the least I can do to help an old friend.”

      The chief nodded, the matter settled to him. “Good.”

      Shiloh could feel Adam’s eyes on her and knew if she looked she would read his thanks in them. But the fact that she couldn’t bring herself to intentionally hurt him like he’d hurt her didn’t mean she was ready to buddy up to him, either. Without another word to either man, she started for the door.

      “And, Officer Evans?”

      Shiloh turned.

      The chief leaned back in his chair, folded his arms behind his head and grinned. “Try to keep this car intact.”

      She made a face. “I’ll do my best.”

      Adam followed her to the parking lot. At least, Shiloh assumed he did so. She certainly didn’t wait for him, but when she unlocked the car doors, they both climbed in. She turned the key in the ignition and drove toward the area she had been assigned to patrol.

      At least her shift today was seven to three. She’d be home well before dinner, safely inside before darkness sneaked in. Logically speaking, she was no safer during the day, as the attacks on her so far had already proved. But darkness reminded her of the night Annie had been killed.

      “Beautiful scenery.”

      What was he, Chatty Cathy? Why did the man feel compelled to talk?

      She grunted in response. Men could do it, so maybe it would work for her.

      “Shiloh...” He shifted in the seat beside her, and his tone said more than a dozen words could have. He touched her arm. Her breath caught and she stiffened. “Look, it was years ago. Whatever happened, can’t you let it go? Or do you hate me that much?”

      * * *

      Adam hadn’t realized how much touching her—even on the arm—would affect him. His heart drummed a crazy rhythm in his chest, and he knew reaching out to her had been a bad idea.

      But how was she reacting? Did he still affect her at all? She’d gone rigid when he had first rested his hand on her arm, but she was softening now, relaxing. No, whatever she was telling herself, he knew the truth. She didn’t hate him at all.

      Relief battled with tension in his shoulders. Her not hating him made this much more dangerous. All he wanted was to make sure that she stayed safe. Maybe be friends with her again.

      He’d already experienced firsthand the heartbreak she was capable of inflicting. He wasn’t eager to sign up for round two.

      “Can’t we forget the past?” he asked.

      Her pause was so long that he was sure she’d say no or have some kind of comeback for him. But, instead, after a minute of ear-deafening, heart-pounding silence, her answer stunned him.

      “Okay.” She let out a breath. “I’ll try.”

      Adam wanted to say so much more but only nodded and said, “I’m glad.”

      He glanced over at her, as he thought about how much had changed since the past he’d just promised to forget. She wasn’t the Shiloh he’d known. That Shiloh had been a bit of a risk-taker, sure. She’d loved to go rock climbing and whitewater rafting, and she had even talked him into hang gliding up in north Georgia once. But she’d been sweet, gentle and not at all the intimidating, in-charge woman she appeared to be now. It seemed she’d left that personality in the past along with her history-professor job.

      Something niggled in his stomach. Gut instinct told him the changes in her personality, her job, were somehow tied to whatever reasons she’d had for breaking up with him five years ago. Adam had never considered himself dumb when it came to women, but those few months of Shiloh’s life, the last few months of their relationship, had been so hectic with Annie’s death and Shiloh’s reaction to it that he’d never known what had made them hit their breaking point. All she had said was that they weren’t right for each other. At the time he’d been too stunned to press for more of an explanation, but now that she was back in his life, he intended to get an answer eventually to replace the question mark that hovered in his mind, if only to satisfy his curiosity.

      Riding along with her would help him achieve two goals. He’d finally get some answers—and he’d be close at hand to help if any more attacks materialized. He may have put the past behind him and moved on from his feelings for Shiloh, but he was still determined to make sure she stayed safe.

      Shiloh pulled the car off into a secluded parking area next to another stretch of Hamilton Creek. In town, where he’d seen the creek before, it looked like any other creek. A little marshy but pretty civilized in general.

      Here the water flowed freely through the reeds and grass. It was guarded by centuries-old oak trees—whose creaky branches were draped with gray Spanish moss—and Georgia pines taller than he could guess. Adam could smell the salt in the air coming through his rolled-down window and figured they must be close to the coast.

      “Is the ocean near here?” he asked Shiloh.

      She nodded. “A hundred yards or so through some of the thickest coastal forest you’ve ever seen.”

      “Ever walked to the beach from here?”

      Shiloh raised her eyebrows. “It’s not a beach like you’re thinking. Not sandy like Tybee. There’s a little sand, but mostly the water meets the marsh, and that’s the end of that. And, no, I’ve never walked from here. There are some trails not too far from here, half a mile or so away, but it’s too dangerous to try from here. The woods are chock-full of snakes, and it’s so thick it would be easy to get lost.”

      “That doesn’t sound like my adventurer.”

      She speared him with a look before turning away and opening her car door. “I’m not your anything anymore, Adam, except maybe your friend, and that’s still kind of probationary.”

      Probationary? She’d always liked big words, but they’d been words like historicity. She even talked like a cop now.

      “I see.” He opened his door to follow her. “So, where are we going?”

      “I’m not sure you should be going anywhere.” She frowned, looked at the car and then back at him as if deliberating what she should do.

      “Worried I’ll slow you down?” He couldn’t resist the urge to tease her. She’d always been competitive, and it had grated on her anytime he had managed to finish a hike before her, which was often. Shiloh was in great shape, but his boxing days had made him even more fit, and since exercise was a stress reliever for him, he hadn’t lost much muscle tone since.

      “No, but aren’t you supposed to be riding along and getting out if I’m talking to a townsperson? This is more like investigating.”

      “I’ll be fine. Tell me about where we are.”

      Shiloh seemed to consider it, then shrugged. “It’s your call. This is one of the areas closest to Widow Hamilton’s home. She’s kind of town royalty, I guess, or as close as we get in south Georgia. Her family was among the founders of the town, and their homestead is almost as old as the dirt it’s built on. Anyway, she’s had trouble lately—prowlers, or so she thinks.”

      “What do you mean, ‘so she thinks’?”

      Shiloh frowned again.

      What was it about him that made the woman frown so much? He was going to have to work on ways to get her to flash that brilliant smile she had.

      “Honestly, I think she’s probably a lonely old woman with a big imagination. But I feel bad that I can’t do more to make her feel better, so I’m hoping that telling her I checked out this area—since it’s adjacent to her property—and came up empty will put her mind at ease.”

      Adam nodded. “Got it. Sounds fun. Let’s

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