Dangerous Protector (Red Stone Security #14)(7)

It didn’t matter. Whoever wanted her dead would just have to wait.

She couldn’t die until he got what he wanted—hell, needed. Those diamonds were his ticket out of the country, away from the federal charges he’d be facing if the FBI knew he was still alive, his key to escaping his life of crime. He was tired of always looking over his shoulder, wondering who might try to kill him from day to day. He just wanted to retire comfortably. He deserved it after all.

Keeping his ball cap tugged low, he pulled out his cell phone.

His partner answered on the first ring. “Yeah?”

“How is she?”

“Good. From what I hear, she just has a mild concussion. Maybe not even that. Cops are here, though. A detective, I think, and some guy, one of the witnesses. He apparently works for a security company, but I don’t know more than that.”

Now would be the perfect time to search her place. With her damn dog that she’d stolen from him, and her schedule—and her nosy neighbors—it had been impossible to get inside. Even now it was a risk because there was no guarantee a neighbor wouldn’t see him. But if she was at the hospital he had to take this chance, since it was clear someone wanted her dead. No one was getting his diamonds. No one. “I’m going to search her place. Call me when she leaves the hospital.”

“Okay.”

He ended the call without responding further. There was nothing else to say anyway.

The drive to Tegan’s place didn’t take long even with traffic, but his heart was pounding erratically the entire time.

She could have died today. If it hadn’t been for what sounded like dumb luck, she would have. Then where would he be? Fucked, that’s where. The last eight months he’d been in hiding, she’d been setting up her pathetic little life. He thought he had plenty of time to go after her, time for her to get comfortable, to put roots down—to start using those diamonds.

Now to know that someone else wanted her dead moved his timeline up drastically. It might blow his cover and prove that he wasn’t dead, but if pushed, he’d just take her and torture the information out of her. Hell, it was what he should have done back in Chicago. He’d made a mistake with her, had thought she’d be too afraid to cross him. That was one mistake he wouldn’t make again.

After driving by her place twice, he parked a few blocks over and made his way to her townhome. Instead of going up to the front door, he kept walking around the side of the place. The townhomes were like little gingerbread houses, all lined up and perfect with clusters of palm trees in every yard. The majority of the people who lived here were in their twenties but there were some older, retirement age people in the neighborhood—including one of Tegan’s neighbors.

An old woman who was always looking out her window, clearly worrying what her neighbors were doing.

So he avoided her and walked briskly around the opposite side of Tegan’s place. There wasn’t much space in between the residences. When he reached the end of the townhouse he peered around and saw her small back porch.

Just a round table, two chairs, and a charcoal grill in front of a sliding glass door. Looked like it always did. He hurried onto the back porch and made quick work of the door. It took longer than he’d have liked to get inside but he didn’t want to break the glass and risk drawing attention to himself.

Sweat dripped down his face despite the cool weather as he finally got the latch free and quietly slid inside. No alarm went off. She didn’t have a sign outside that she had an alarm system, but not all people did. He let out a sigh of relief when everything remained quiet. He’d been avoiding breaking in in case she had a security system, but now he’d been pushed to his limit.

He shoved the long curtain out of his way and quickly surveyed his surroundings. The place looked normal enough, though certainly not high end. A couch, loveseat, big-screen television, some prints on the wall. Even though it was almost Christmas she didn’t have any decorations. None that he could see. Not even a tree. He stepped farther into the room, his pulse accelerating.

If he were in her shoes and wanted to hide diamonds, he’d keep them close. In his bedroom. In a safe.

Deeper into the house, he froze when an alarm beeped, the shrill sound grating against his nerves. That was when he saw the sensor in the corner of the room.

Damn it.

The sliding glass door might not have a security contact, but she still had a system in place. For a long moment he debated his options. It would take the police at least ten minutes to get there. But that old bitch next door might come over. He had no problem killing the woman but that would take time and would slow his escape. Not to mention if he stabbed her he’d end up with blood on him. He couldn’t be walking around with blood spattered all over his clothes. Not if he wanted to remain invisible. Plus, he wasn’t prepared for a kill today and he’d no doubt leave evidence behind if he killed someone. If his DNA got into any online database the Feds would be all over Miami looking for him. Yeah, time to get the hell out of there.

Jaw clenched, he backtracked toward the sliding glass door. He’d make a quick exit and be long gone before the cops arrived. As he passed one of the side tables, he saw a picture of Tegan smiling widely with her arm slung around a full-grown husky.

Anger surged through him at the sight. Unable to control his rage, he knocked it off the table, watching as it slammed to the ground before hurrying back the way he’d broken in.