Page 11 of The Prey
“We’ve been approaching the Lawrence case from the wrong angle. Want to stay for dinner? We can discuss it after Ryan’s in bed. Or better yet, I can see if he wants to spend the night with his aunt.”
She climbed the front steps despite her better judgment. She wasnotgoing to be alone with him at his lair,ever.“There’s nothing wrong with our approach.”
“I disagree. The circumstances are too similar.”
“Only if you ignore half the facts. That case was about evidence obtained during an illegal search.” She wasn’t so certain that the search in the Lawrence case had been legal. The Barrattville City Police officer who had done it had not seemed very reliable. Something about him set her teeth on edge and just…he didn’t feelrightto her.
“Which is exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“Hidrensondoesn’t apply because the search was conducted without proper jurisdiction. The search was conducted without a valid warrant in Lawrence.” She had alreadytoldhim that. He had copies of her case notes right there in front of him. She’d put that pink posty note right there in the middle of it.
“Not according toMartinell.”
“That case is from 1946. The pursuit exception wasn’t even established until 1967.”
He smirked, taunting her. When he got so close. He moved. She felt the railing behind her. “Which is whyMartinellapplies. It establishes the boundaries of jurisdiction that was never overturned.”
“That’s absurd.” His good arm came up, his hand rested on the railing just beside her hip. Not quite touching her, but close enough that she could feel the heat of him. Could smell him all around her.
What was he doing?
That’s when she figured it out. The man wastrappingher there. He seriously was messing with her, wasn’t he?
She spun slightly and booked it back down the steps.
Of course the big beast followed her. “Are you running from me now? Did I scare you at the ranch?”
Yes. And she was just escaping the lion before she became the prey. It was as simple as that.
She just glared at him as his sister came back out on the porch to see what was taking her so long. Gia looked toward theroad, towardescape—just as a car pulled into the drive. It was a long drive. And it was a familiar car.Greer.
Her sister was pulling down the drive.
Reinforcements had arrived. Hallelujah.
He just kept arguing. That was Hudson Hanan for you—the man always had to have the last word.
“If it was a legal warrant. I don’t think Lawrence was a legal warrant, you big cretin.” She actually felthis cast on the back of her waist now. When had his hand ended up there? It was actually happening. Hudson was stalking her around his own front yard. And she had let herself get caught.
“You’re going to have to do a lot to convince me that it wasn’t a valid pursuit. More importantly, you’ve got to convince twelve jurors that it wasn’t.” He was just smirking down at her like the arrogant asshole that he was. He was so close she could smell the warm, spicy man-scent of him, she could feel his heat against her chest. He surrounded her. Completely.
Damn him, what was he doing? He always had that smug look on his face when they argued case law. It drove her crazy.
She just could not escape this man. He’d even been in her dreams last night. He’d just been watching her. Waiting to pounce.
A small crowd had gathered at the bottom of the porch steps—her sister, his, and their friend Ayla. They were just watching Hudson. And her. Gia ignored them. She knew better than to take her eyes off this particular foe.
She had been tangling with Hudson Hanan for years, after all.
They just kept arguing. He was taunting her, and she knew it.
Ass. The man was an utter ass.
He was enjoying pushing her buttons, just because the big lunatic could.
“You are being dense on purpose.” Her hands spread over his chest. He had an FCU: LAW T-shirt on. It was so soft beneath her palms. Unlike the man wearing it. He felt…perfect, actually. Hard and muscled and strong—he was veryfitto be a paper-pushing attorney. It was almost unreal.
“Officer Bernard has a spotless record,” he said, pulling her closer.
