Page 10 of Risk It All
When she finally realized that it was just Kavenski holding open her door, she rubbed her still-tingling elbow and glared. He didn’t look as repentant as he should have…not even close.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his voice a warning rumble.
“Home.” She knew she shouldn’t give information to a skip, but it was hard to be suspicious of a guy who’d just saved her life and then put himself between her and the furious bouncer like a human shield.
“Good.” His eyes narrowed, his glare getting icier, but she found that most of her apprehension had evaporated. “You need to keep your distance from Abbott—and Layla.”
She made a noncommittal sound before trying to close the door, but he kept his significant bulk in the way.
His expression switched to a glower. “I’m serious. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
Again, how could she be mad when he was so concerned with her safety? “Thank you—really—but I have a bunch of sisters to look out for me.”
Tiredness was creeping up on her, and her knee was starting to throb again. “Besides, I won’t be chasing anyone else tonight. I have a paper to finish, and I’d really like to shower after being in there.” Her gaze moved toward his grip on her door.
With a grumbly sigh, he released her door and shifted back slightly until he was no longer blocking her.
“Thank you.” She smiled at him again. “You might want to get back to your motel room and get some rest, too.” It was silly of her, but she hated to think of him being unprotected and alone.
He blinked, one corner of his full lips twisting down as if he were holding back some expression, but Cara wasn’t sure if it was a smile or a scowl. Reminding herself that it was really none of her business—and she would be better off not getting involved—she pulled the door closed and started her car.
Kavenski stepped out of the way. As she left the lot, turning onto the main street, she saw he was standing where she’d left him, wrapped in shadows.
“Be safe, big guy,” she said quietly. Pulling her gaze away from his mostly hidden form, she turned her eyes to the road. She needed to go home and let her sisters know what was going on. As much as she was dreading the lectures about to come her way, she needed backup. As Henry Kavenski had said, she couldn’t count on him to be there every time her life was threatened, and she seemed to be heading deeper and deeper into danger. It was time to get some help from the real pros.
Chapter 3
“Hey.” Cara tried to sound casual as she walked into the kitchen. From her spot sitting on the counter, Norah gave an absent wave without looking up from her phone. Molly, who was sitting in Cara’s usual spot at the small table that acted as a desk, wasn’t as oblivious. Her gaze latched onto Cara, her suspicion clear.
“What’s wrong?”
“Why would you think anything’s wrong?” Cara knew she was speaking too quickly. Why hadn’t she inherited any of Jane’s acting ability? “Everything iswonderful.”
Now even Norah was looking at her curiously. For her to have gotten Norah’s attention, she must’ve been over-the-top unbelievable.
Cara paused, considering how much of her recent escapades she wanted to share with her sisters. “Fine, maybe notwonderfulexactly.” She’d planned to tell them. It was just that this way, it felt as if her sisters were dragging it out of her, rather than Cara making the well-thought-out and rational decision to share information with her family. Pulling out a chair, she plopped down. “Where are Fifi and Charlie? I’d like to get all the yelling out of the way at one time.”
“They’re in Wyoming, chasing another lead on Mom.” Molly crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair as if bracing herself for bad news. “You’re going to get yelled at twice, so just spill.”
“How about John?” Cara knew she was just delaying the inevitable at this point. “Will he be staying here tonight?” It was strange to see Molly without him. Normally, they were joined at the hip.
“No.” Molly frowned. “He’s gone for a few days, chasing a skip who ran to Texas.”
“Ugh. Poor John.”
Although Molly made a dismissive gesture, Cara could tell that she wasn’t happy being apart from him. “Quit trying to distract me.” Molly’s laser focus returned, as did her inquisitor stare. “What’s going on with you?”
“Felicity thinks you’re sneaking around with a guy, but I don’t think that’s it,” Norah said.
Turning her startled gaze to her sister, Cara said, “A guy? What? Why would I be sneaking around with a guy?”
Norah shrugged. “She wasn’t sure about that part. Maybe because you thought we wouldn’t like him?”
Unable to hold back an amused snort at how her sister was both wrong and also weirdly right at the same time, Cara shook her head. “It wasn’t like that. Iwaswith a guy—well,arounda guy—but it wasn’t romantic. He’s a skip.”
“A skip?” her sisters chorused. Even Warrant raised his head off his front paws to stare.
“I was perfectly safe.”Except for a minor brush with death.“I hardly had any contact with the skip at all.” From Molly’s expression, Cara’s assurances were not helping. “In fact, when I realized that the first skip was going to be harder to bring in than I thought, I switched to an easier target—a harmless one. Total white-collar, nonviolent criminal.” Although after Kavenski’s warning about Abbott, that last bit didn’t feel entirely true.
