If You Hear Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense by Shiloh Walker Page A

Lena wasn’t always patient with people—she didn’t mind people asking her questions, but too many people would rather stare than ask. She knew when people stared—she could feel it. She was too attuned to people, too sensitive.
    She wore the dark, tinted lenses because she had some idea that it might keep people from looking at her as much. Law could have told her it was a waste of time—people had a habit of staring at what they didn’t quite understand. And then there was the case that with Lena, she was just one of those women that people noticed—she was attractive, yeah—but it went deeper than that. She had that … spark.
    Logically, he knew he wasn’t looking at her from unbiased eyes; he thought she was absolutely beautiful. But she had something special, she had a way about her. People noticed her. The way she moved, the way she held herself, the way she laughed. Her confidence. Everything.
    And right now, he couldn’t help but notice the strain on her face, and the very unfamiliar look of self-doubt. “It’s because of me,” she said quietly. “I know Sergeant Jennings at least made the effort to look around, but Prather? He didn’t even bother. And it’s because of this.”
    She passed a hand over her eyes and shook her head. “If I could see, he would have paid a little more attention to me.”
    “Oh, bullshit.” He snorted. “Then he would have written you off because you’re female. ‘You know, a woman really shouldn’t live in that big house all by herself …’ some crap line like that. Don’t tell me you can’t hear him saying something just like that.”
    “Oh, I can totally see him saying something like that. He already implied I should have some sort of
companion
.” She all but spat it out, fury vibrating in her voice.
    Law narrowed his eyes. “Companion?”
    “Yes.” She sneered, the derision dripping off her words. “It’s a big house, too spooky at night. Somebody with me might help.”
    If he thought it might help, he might have voiced the rage that made him feel. But he knew it wouldn’t help her. Still, he had a vision of meeting up with Prather, telling the fool a thing or two, assuming he’d understand. “I suppose you disabused him of that idea?”
    “There’s no point.” She shook her head. “You know, he isn’t that old. Why does he act like a dinosaur? I wonder if his folks were dinosaurs.”
    “Some people just have it in their genes, maybe,” Law said, shrugging.
    Leaning forward, he covered her hands with his, stilled the nervous twirling of her glasses. “You can’t let him get to you, Lena. You know what you heard, and you did what you could. You can’t do any more,” he said quietly.
    “If I could see …” She tried to pull away, averting her face. A muscle twitched in her jaw.
    “If you could see and you went outside without knowing what was going on, I’d have to wonder about your intelligence, honey. That’s one of those TSTL things—too stupid to live. You don’t go plunging headlong into something without knowing what kind of environment you’re putting yourself into. Not smart, Lena. If it’s a dangerous environment and you’re not absolutely convinced you can handle it, then your best bet is to do just what you did—call for help.”
    She made a face.
    Law laughed. “It’s the truth. When you dive into something, if you can’t handle it, then you risk making two victims instead of one—how does that help anybody?”
    “You’re right.” She sighed and rested her head against the padded bench. She closed her eyes, the thick fringe of her lashes lying against her ivory skin. “I know you’re right. I just wish … I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about this, Law. Really bad.”
    All over town—damn it. They were talking about it all over town.
    How could she have managed to cause this much trouble?
    Fuck, it had been two A.M . and miles outside of town. One neighbor—only one. But that one neighbor