His statement almost sounded like a question. Licking her lips, she said, “It seems as though you’re surprised. I’ll bet that’s something that doesn’t happen often.” The air inside her small car grew thicker and yet electrified as though bolts of lightning were ready to shoot between heavy clouds. No longer afraid of him, she knew her tone was just as snippy as his had been.
“Maggie Collins is not my concern,” he conceded.
Their gazes still had not wavered, and she felt a tingling of interest at their sparring. “Since you weren’t investigating Maggie, she wouldn’t be on your radar. But the Garzas are.”
“What were you doing there at night? And don’t give me any bullshit about visiting Maggie.”
Now it was her turn to pinch her lips together. “I’m concerned about her.”
His head cocked slightly to the side. “Why?”
“I… I’m not sure. She was fine. I was supposed to visit today, but then she called and told me that she wasn’t well. It just felt… wrong.”
“Intuition.”
She shot a glare toward him through narrowed eyes. “Don’t mock my intuition.”
The corner of his lips quirked upward ever so slightly. If she hadn’t been so focused on his face, she would have missed the expression.
He nodded slowly. “I’m not mocking your intuition. Former Army. ER nurse at a major inner-city hospital. Red Cross nurse. Believe me, I have no doubt that your intuition is finely honed.”
The air rushed from her lungs as incredulity warred with the realization that he’d given her a compliment. Deciding to go with incredulity, she said, “I didn't think that you were investigating me, but it sounds suspiciously like you looked into me. You really have done your homework, haven’t you? And more importantly, why?”
“In my line of work, doing my homework is what sometimes keeps me alive.”
“Before I tell you what I know, answer this,” she pressed, feeling more bold. “Did I get caught up in whatever you’re looking into because I was with the Garzas in Mexico?”
He held her gaze for a long moment, and she wasn’t sure he was going to reply. Finally, he nodded slowly. “Yes.”
She wanted more from him, but he’d answered her question, and she wasn’t going to go back on her word. “I was here yesterday to visit Maggie. She was fine, and we had plans to get together today. I received a message from her that said that she couldn’t meet with me and that she didn’t feel well. As a nurse, I was shocked that something had happened that caused her health to be such that she needed to continue to stay with her niece, especially since she’d been so anxious to return to her own home. The housemaid got on the phone to tell me not to come over and I haven’t had a good feeling about that woman since meeting her. As Maggie’s friend, I was curious as to why a housemaid got on her phone and wouldn’t let me speak to her, essentially telling me that I needed to leave her alone.”
“And your intelligence told you that none of that made sense.”
She realized he hadn’t asked the question, but instead, had simply made a statement confirming his acceptance of her intelligence. She nodded, saying, “Yes.”
“So, what made a woman of your experience and intelligence do something so foolhardy as to try to sneak onto the estate?”
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I didn’t have a plan other than I wanted to just come and see if I could talk my way past the guard into letting someone give me access to see her. By the time I got here, it was already dark and I was confused as to what guardhouse I should go to. I got lost on the estate the other day and that was in the daylight. Then, I thought it might be easier if I could park and sneak over to the guesthouse to see for myself that she was okay.”
He opened his mouth, but she snapped her hand up, palm forward. “I know, I know, you don’t have to tell me. It was not well-thought-out. I was just… worried about her.”
His gaze was still intense, but she could have sworn something warm moved through his eyes. Suddenly, he shifted forward in his seat again and restarted her car's engine. Tapping his radio, he said, “Intruder identified. Jeannie Carnes. We’re in her vehicle. Taking her home. Complete mission and pick me up.”
Without speaking to her, he pulled back onto the road, heading south toward Los Angeles. “I was going to ask how you knew where I lived, but I suppose that question would be ridiculous.” He gave no reaction nor spoke. Swallowing down her irritation, she knew he’d been right. If she’d been caught by Garza’s men, they might not have given her a chance to ask to speak to the Garzas or plead her case to see Maggie. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked out the window. “I feel certain that taking me to my apartment is going out of your way, Mr. Dyer. There’s no reason for that. We can stop somewhere convenient and let your coworkers pick you up. I’m perfectly fine to drive back to my place by myself.”
He kept driving.
“I’m not going back to their place if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
His gaze cut toward her before returning to the highway in front of them. “I know you’re not.”
“You do? If so, then why are you insisting on taking me home?”
“I know you’re not going back because you’ve already analyzed what you were doing and realized it wasn’t the smart play. You’re not the kind of person to repeat a mistake.”
Her chin jerked slightly, and she twisted while still buckled to face him more fully. “You have the strangest way of offering a compliment wrapped in a rather incredulous statement!”
His lips quirked upward again. At least, she thought they did. The movement occurred so quickly, and his face was only illuminated by the lights from the dashboard or oncoming cars. She felt certain he’d almost smiled and couldn’t explain why that simple action gave her pleasure.
As it seemed he was not going to suddenly become chatty, she leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes, allowing the lulling movement of the car and her exhaustion to pull her under.
10
Carson wasn’t surprised Jeannie was able to fall asleep. He figured after her years in the Army, working in a war zone hospital, and then working in the ER of the busy stateside hospital, she’d learned to grab a nap whenever the opportunity presented itself. That, plus the anxiety and adrenaline from her evening’s activities—including being captured by him. He chanced a glance toward her as they pulled off the highway, but she didn’t wake. Shit, for all she knows I could be a serial killer pretending to be an investigator, and she’s sleeping like the dead!
The desire to let her keep resting battled against the desire to shake her awake. But then, he’d already admitted that he trusted her intuition, so he could conclude she trusted him enough to sleep.
Scrubbing his hand over his face, he blew out a breath. Normally focused, everything about her threw him off-kilter, and he hated that feeling. She was as beautiful in person as he thought she would be from seeing her over security feeds or when he’d stared at her through his goggles the first time he saw her in Mexico.
She lived close to the highway exit, and he pulled into a parking space in front of her building. She was just rousing awake, blinking as she looked around, her face registering adorable confusion for a few seconds.