Shadow Hawk by Jill Shalvis Page A

wasn’t breathing, because there, revealed for him to see, was such pain he nearly staggered backward.
    In the loaded silence came the startlingly loud click of the gas pump, signaling that the tank was full, and she blinked and turned away.
    Moment over.
    By the time Hawk got back into the truck, with her hurriedly scooting over so that he wouldn’t have to touch her, she’d regained her control.
    And reestablished her silence.
    He started the engine, but she cleared her throat and rattled the handcuffs.
    Right. Hoping he wasn’t being an idiot, he pulled out onto the highway before he tossed the key into her lap. She wouldn’t do anything stupid at sixty-five miles per hour, he figured.
    Hoped.
    Abby grabbed the key. Bending her head, she set herself to the task of unlocking the cuffs, her hair falling over his forearm, her breasts inadvertently brushing his bicep. She’d probably have a heart attack if she realized but he had another reaction altogether.
    Freed, she rubbed her wrist and stared out the window. Reaching over, he brought her hand close until he could see her skin in the dim light of the console display. She was bruised, abraded and raw.
    â€œDon’t you dare say you’re sorry,” she told him.
    He closed his lips on the words and pressed his lips to her skin.
    She didn’t snatch her hand free, which he considered an excellent sign. Instead, her breath caught as if maybe she liked his touch after all, as if maybe she was finally going to surrender her aggression and fear, and soften toward him. At least in his dreams.
    â€œWhy would he show himself to you?”
    His eyes met hers. So she hadn’t decided that he was completely full of shit. He’d take that. “I think it was sheer cockiness, to tell you the truth. Sort of like, look what I pulled off.”
    â€œBut to play both sides…It’s so crazy dangerous.”
    â€œHe’s dying tonight, remember,” he reminded her. “In essence, retiring.”
    â€œAfter getting rid of his loose ends.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œLike you.”
    â€œYes.”
    She nodded, clearly holding it together by a string, and he wanted to touch her so badly, just to let her know she wasn’t alone.
    â€œI keep going back,” she said. “To when I was working on the Kiddie Bombers in Seattle.”
    He slanted her a glance. “Something clicking?”
    â€œThere were several times when things went down like tonight, when Gaines showed up at raids no one expected him to be at. To watch the takedowns, he always said.” She shook her head. “Once I questioned him on that.”
    â€œAnd he was thrilled.”
    â€œHe brushed me off.” Abby shook her head. “And I let him. I discounted all of it until now. But I’m thinking that on the off chance I was getting too close…” She closed her eyes. “I’m a loose end, too.”
    â€œYes, but you’re an alive one,” he reminded her. “Let’s keep it that way. First, your computer.”
    â€œAnd then what? We draw him out in order to prove he’s alive?”
    It was the first real sign he’d had that she might believe him. “I like the way you think, and yeah. He needs to be drawn out.”
    Which Hawk would do alone, because no way in hell did he plan on letting Gaines anywhere near her. In fact, he needed to find a safe place for her until this was over. And yet…and yet there was a small part of him that couldn’t deny what it felt like having her with him.
    Because with her here, he wasn’t alone. As disastrously bad as the night had gone, as bad as it could still get, he wasn’t alone.

10
    Cheyenne Memorial Hospital
    L OGAN WOKE UP IN A WHITE ROOM filled with beeping equipment and a sterile smell that made him groan in disgust.
    A hospital.
    He hated hospitals, always had. His asshole father had put him in several, until the state had finally