Hidden Steel by Doranna Durgin

just stared at her. For a long moment, and then another. Then he shook his head and said, “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
    “Isn’t it?”
    “Why wouldn’t you tell me—?”
    She snorted. “You can answer that, if you think about it. A partial answer, anyway.”
    He could, too. He looked away, absurdly thick dark lashes obscuring his eyes. “You figured I’d really think you were crazy.”
    “Bingo. Not to mention I really wanted to keep you out of this. But once I saw those guys cruising past—”
    “You saw them, too?” That fast, his gaze flashed back to hers, interest overriding the guilt.
    “Out back, when I was putting out the garbage. Figured they were after me. And me … I’ve got things to do. Your gym just seemed too small—and everyone there has their own problems. They don’t need letter openers flying around.”
    “Tajo shouldn’t have—”
    “No,” she interrupted. “He shouldn’t have. But enough was enough, don’t you think? Besides, you don’t need to be involved in this. I might not be your brother’s kind of crazy, but there’s nothing sane about what’s going on with me.”
    He scowled at her. Deeply. It shifted to a slow and dawning comprehension. “Damn,” he said. “So this is what it feels like.”
    “How’s that?” She eyed the shopping bag, unsettled … ready to move on. This had been a good spot for a conversation … not a good spot to hang indefinitely.
    “Being told what’s good for me. Someone making decisions for me.”
    “Oh,” she said. “That. Yes, that’s what it feels like. But if you think pointing it out will change anything—”
    “Let’s just go back to the gym,” he told her. “Talk about this in the morning.”
    “Nothing will be different in the morning. Besides, I have other plans.”
    “Not more Tank Top Woman.”
    “No. And not just because that’s a terrible name for a super hero.” She considered the thought for a moment. “Though I reserve the right to a return engagement, if I get the urge. It’s a multi-purpose charity funding activity. Keeps me on my toes, takes from those who deserve to lose … discourages them from doing their thing in the first place.”
    He frowned, his eyes going distant. “How did you—what did you use?”
    “Oh.” She wrinkled her nose in chagrin. “Something of yours, actually.” She decided against pulling out the slingshot to show him—she didn’t want to argue over it if he wanted it back. So she barged on with a little misdirection. “Look, I’m heading toward the nearest cop station. You know where it is? Because I’ll walk you there, and I’m sure they’ll get you home.”
    “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with them.”
    “Well, I don’t. I mean, who the heck knows who I am, right? I could be on the most wanted list for all I know, and considering what I’ve learned of me it seems all too likely. But you’re the one who needs to get home.”
    It didn’t take a blinking neon sign to see the stubborn crop up in his face again. It showed in his chin, in the hardened line of his jaw. He knew better than to argue, but he thought he’d change her mind between here and the station house.
    Well, let him. Mickey had gotten reacquainted enough with her own mind to know he didn’t stand a chance.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Chapter 8

    “Hey,” Steve said, and put a hand to the stitch in his side until he realized he’d hit a bruise and made it all worse. The local Community Policing Center— precinct lite , Zander had liked to call them—was just down the block. Perfect for a weapons drop-off. “How about a breather? There’s no real hurry here, is there?”
    She eyed him, no longer the blobby amorphous super hero but back to slender curves that would fill out with a few more pounds, her hair still mussed by the tank top but starting to fall back into the lines of its society cut. She still had that new look on her face, the one he was beginning to