Page 6 of Love Undercover
He stepped carefully around spilled plastic bins containing what looked like a child’s craft supplies. His eyes froze on the strip of alphabet tracing pages. Maybe she was a teacher during the school year. The library must have been a summer gig, which made sense considering a teacher’s wages often didn’t cover all the expenses a person might have.
Two college degrees were stuffed into a discreet corner. The bachelor’s in elementary education and child development made sense. But the master’s in psychology made him pause. Neither were on display. In fact, it seemed like she meant for them to stay hidden.
He moved on, assuming that everything that had been searched wasn’t worth double-checking. They’d been fairly thorough, if absolutely barbaric. He checked the vents for recent removal and other seemingly undisturbed, but possible, hiding places.
It was as the sun was half in the embrace of the horizon, orange fingers scraping the sky, that he heard the footsteps outside of the apartment. She was home early, and he’d spent way too much time checking every nook and cranny.
He moved to the darkened corner of the room next to the only window, thinking he could sneak out that way. In the dusky light of rapidly descending evening, he saw two men walking toward the apartment building, which set his stomach rolling. There was no question whose goons they were. Santiago was easy enough to recognize on his own, but his sniveling little shadow, Travers, was a dead giveaway.
The real question was if they were the ones who’d tossed her apartment in the first place. It was likely, and he could guess why they were on their way back: they hadn’t found anything either and thought she might have answers. The Suits were probably not far behind. No doubt the feds would be all over this by now, considering Calloway had given them all the slip. Which was exactly why Chase had made his way back here.
He ducked under the windowsill and pushed himself against the wall in the dim light of the hallway, creeping closer. A key jiggled in the lock, and he reached into the back waistband of his pants for the hidden holster clipped there, pulling out his nine mil and palming the weapon. He brought it in front of him in one fluid motion as he moved forward.
The door swung open and blessedly obscured him from her view, but he was still able to peruse the feminine body as she walked into the room and froze, her hand tightening on the knob.
As he snuck toward her through the shadows, he took in the shock that threw her eyes wider and her brows toward her hairline. His gaze traced her profile, a twinge of familiarity niggling at the back of his mind. The caramel-colored hair, the short, button nose above full, unlipsticked lips.
“Oh my. . . “ The truncated phrase dissipated into a huff of air as her head swiveled slowly to take in the mess. “What the fizz?”
Chase stopped moving for a second, tilting his head at the odd lack of vulgarity in the exclamation, thrown off by the wholesomeness it embodied.
The way she shifted, as if to step back outside—likely realizing that the mess meant danger—spurred him to action, though he regretted his next move for the way it was about to send both their lives on a new trajectory.
“Don’t,” he said, just as she was reaching into her purse for what he assumed was her phone. His voice came low and gruff, just as he’d intended, though he inexplicably hated the way she stiffened.
Those pouty lips parted just slightly to release a tremulous exhale.
“Shut the door quietly,” he told her, holding the gun where she could see it without pointing it directly at her.
She didn’t turn, but the dark lashes that framed her eyes fanned down twice in quick succession as she blinked in response. She pushed the door slowly closed without turning. Just a stretch of her arm behind her.
He waited until he heard the click to step forward and twist the deadbolt, thesnickof the lock sliding into place lowering his anxiety a touch, though he imagined it spiked hers.
“Please, take anything you want. I won’t even look at your face or call the police. You can just go.” Her words tumbled out quickly, but they were less shaky than he would’ve thought they’d be.
“I’m not here to rob you.”
She released a breath that bordered on a sob. She thought he was going to do something worse, no doubt. “Then w-why did you go through my stuff?”
“I didn’t ransack your place,” he said, gesturing with his gun for her to move further into the room. “I found it like this.”
She took a few steps forward, and he drew up behind her, leaving only a hand’s width between them. He was surprised that her height brought the top of her head to his chin. Very few people, let alone women, were tall enough to hit that point standing next to him. He hadn’t realized because the sensuous curves of her body gave the illusion that she was shorter. And that particular detail was not something he wanted to dwell on at the moment.
Shaking the thought from his mind, he urged her toward the couch so he could glance out the window to check for Santiago and Travers. He didn’t see them, which meant he probably only had a couple more minutes.
“Do you know what they were looking for?” he asked her, the urgency tightening his voice.
She turned her head then, perfectly shaped brows folding low over her honey-colored eyes, and he felt it like a blow to his gut. Not just because she was beautiful—damn, there was that to add to the list undernice ass—but because he felt that inkling of recognition again, like they’d met somewhere before. He just didn’t know where or when.
“Looking for?” she asked, bringing his mind back to the situation at hand. He’d forgotten he’d asked a question. “Weren’t they just robbing me?”
He focused his thoughts and lifted a brow, jerking his chin toward the eviscerated pillows on the floor. “If they were only robbing you, why would they gut your throw pillows?”
She swallowed and looked around at the feathers strewn about the floor. “Wait.” Her eyes darted back to his, narrowing for a second as she scrutinized the planes and angles of his face.
Shit, did she recognize him from somewhere too?
“Doyouknow what they were looking for?“ The accusation in her tone was surprising and shot straight through his chest.
