His To Keep by Stephanie Julian Page B

are the ones that need us most of all.”
    Now here was something Annie was passionate about. Her eyes sparkled and her expression was animated. Then she seemed to remember who she was talking to and dropped her gaze.
    “Look, I’ve got some things I need to do. I’ll be back a little later.”
    Nic dropped her arm and watched her walk away from him.
    Dropping into the chair behind the desk, he let his gaze roam. A denim couch that looked to be a sleeper, a file cabinet and a wall of bookshelves were the only other furniture. Several orderly piles of paper sat on the desktop, while books ranging from romance and science fiction to texts on psychology and stress-related eating disorders filled the shelves.
    It bugged him that he’d never known. Hell, it almost bugged him more than getting shot at this morning. Almost.
    Rationally, he knew she had a life. But on a purely irrational level, it made him crazy to want to know her secrets. And that wasn’t going to happen, especially now.
    He’d spilled his guts in the car and she’d looked horrified. He’d told her just enough to make him look like a lovesick fool. For years, he’d kept all the emotional turmoil wrapped inside, away from her. She’d moved on with her life. Why the hell didn’t he?
    But now someone had threatened her. And it was his fault.
    Sighing, he let his gaze wander again, coming to rest on the two photographs on her desk. One was Annie and her dad, her dad laughing as he held her in his arms on the back of a camel. She couldn’t have been more than five. In the background, he saw a pyramid.
    In the second photo, a teenage Annie was surrounded by a couple he assumed were her grandparents. She smiled into the camera, dressed in a strapless white gown that would have made him drop to his knees and beg her to put him out of his misery if he’d ever actually seen her wear it.
    She never smiled at him like she was in the picture.
    “Screw this.” He felt ready to rip out his hair. It was time to do some work.
    He pulled out his cell phone.
    “Hey. I got another call.”
    Jimmy didn’t hesitate. “Gimme an hour. I’ll try and trace it.”
    “Jimmy… He was watching me. And he threatened Annie again.”
    “Oh, hell.”
    “Yeah. Find something for me, Jim.”
    “Shit, Nic. I sent her there with that damn stupid report.”
    “Hey, this isn’t your fault. It’s mine. I’ll handle it. Just get me something I can work with.”
    “Alright.” Jimmy’s frustration came through loud and clear. “Nic—”
    “Hey, let’s just figure out who this bastard is and shut him down.”
    His brother snorted in disgust. “Guess I can handle that. Talk to you later.”
    Nic clicked off the phone. Thank God for Jimmy. Nic would go crazy if he didn’t have anyone to talk to about this, but his parents weren’t an option. His dad—
    Someone knocked at the door, breaking his concentration. He was up and had the door open before he’d thought about it.
    The girl from downstairs, the one with the shiner, stood there. If she was surprised to see him, it didn’t show. Her face held no expression at all.
    “Annie’s not here,” he said.
    The girl shrugged and Nic realized she was younger than he’d thought. Probably only thirteen or fourteen. Her long limbs made her appear older if you only looked superficially. But her eyes told a different story. Especially the bruised one.
    “She said I could borrow a book whenever. I finished the ones I had.” She held out two paperback mysteries. “I need something new to read.”
    Nic nodded and moved away from the door, back behind the desk. The girl barely paid him any attention. Moving to the bookshelves, she just stood there, looking at the spines.
    The bruises on her arms and face infuriated him. But as heartbreaking as it might be, he’d rather have her show some emotion than none at all. With the other girls downstairs, at least he’d been able to ease their suffering by leaving the room. This one