Past Sins by Debra Webb

minutes. She didn’t care who’d resurrected her past or what they wanted. Her goal was to keep Jeffrey safe and to disappear. Some part of her understood that her goal was in many respects impractical but she refused to think about that in the face of this ghost from her past.
    Incredibly, he looked away.
    Olivia almost laughed out loud but her insides were too twisted into knots to manage the effort. What was she supposed to make of this? Was she supposed to believe that Landry had somehow grown a conscience in the past three years? That he cared enough to rescue her?
    Yeah, right.
    Men like Landry didn’t have a conscience. Didn’t have a heart. He was nothing but a machine—find the target, eliminate the target, walk away. As easy as one, two, three. No hesitation, no looking back.
    When his gaze landed on hers once more, that impassive mask had fallen neatly back into place. “You’re right. I should have been there. But we don’t have time to rehash what should have been right now. You have to trust me, at least for a little while longer.”
    Olivia rolled her eyes and wrestled back the urge to burst into hysterical laughter. When she’d gotten a firm grip on her composure once more, she challenged, “Do you really expect me to fall for that line of crap? Are you nuts?” She shook her head. “I’m out of here.”
    This time, when she would have gotten into the Explorer, he wrapped the fingers of one hand around her arm. It wasn’t so much the pressure of his hold that held her back: it was her own body’s mutinous reaction that rendered her immobile. How could his mere touch devastate her so after all this time…after all she knew?
    “Twenty-four hours, Vanessa. That’s all I need. I can fix this, but you have to give me some time.”
    Odd, Hamilton had asked for the same thing. Twenty-four hours.
    “Olivia, I don’t know who this man is, but we shouldn’t be sitting on the side of the road like this. Whoever sent those men could send someone else.”
    Her attention shifted to Jeffrey. She’d completely forgotten he was there. Christ. She had to be unstable. And he was right. They needed to keep moving. But first she had to make a decision about Landry.
    “Jeffrey, I’ll explain everything. I promise. Just give me a minute.”
    “I’ve been more than patient. I need some answers.”
    As if her life weren’t complicated enough, Jeffrey did a total about face and went postal on her. He wrenched open his door and tried to get out with his seat belt still fastened. His outrage pumped even higher at the nuisance as he stabbed at the release button and slung off the belt. He jumped out of the Explorer and stormed around to where she and Landry stood. His nostrils actually flared. If she hadn’t been so shocked she would have been impressed.
    “Jeffrey,” she reiterated, “I’ll explain everything later.”
    He shook his head adamantly. “Later is now. I have the right to know what’s going on here, Olivia. And why does he keep calling you Vanessa?”
    That he looked ready to duke it out with Landry had her mouth gaping.
    “Did you see the rear of this vehicle?” Jeffrey pointed in that direction, almost whopping Landry across the face in the process. “I hope you took the additional insurance coverage because I can tell you that the rental agency isn’t going to be happy.”
    Shock? Mental breakdown? Olivia couldn’t be sure. But this was not like Jeffrey. And it was definitely wasting valuable time.
    “We’ve driven across the country. Broken into a man’s home. Been chased by…by thugs and invaded by—” he glared at Landry “—by some sort of madman. What’s next, Olivia?” His gaze swung back to her. “Are we going to knock off a bank?”
    “Jeffrey—”
    “Listen, my friend, we all need to calm down.”
    Jeffrey’s as well as Olivia’s gaze swerved toward Landry.
    “Shut up, Landry. This has nothing to do with you.” He had no right to speak to Jeffrey in that