Assumed Identity(67)

“Followed?”

He punched the remote to unlock the car and set Emma in the backseat. “Get this thing attached.”

With a soft curse, Robin moved in front of him and situated Emma in her car seat while Jake turned a slow 360 degrees behind her. She tried to steal a few glances around them, too, but saw no one. Just empty parked cars. “Who’s following us? Mark? I’d be happy to tell him he’s fired again.”

“It’s not Riggins. It...may have nothing to do with you.”

“What?”

“You get in, too.” As soon as she finished, Jake pulled her back and shut the SUV’s rear door. In the same fluid movement, he opened the passenger door and lifted her onto the seat. “I thought I recognized someone in front of the church.”

Robin latched on to his hand before he could pull away. “You said you don’t remember your past.”

“Not that far back. Ever since that Ghost Rescuer stuff hit the papers, I keep seeing someone watching me. And I don’t think he wants my autograph.” He set the diaper bag in her lap. “Is your cell phone in there?”

“Yes.” While she unzipped the bag and pulled her phone out, she tried not to let his vigilant sweep of the parking lot and streets beyond unnerve her too much. “Who is it? The Rose Red Rapist? Does he think you can stop him? Is it a reporter? The man Mark sold the pictures to?”

“I don’t know.” Once she had her phone in her lap, Jake dropped the car keys into her palm and curled her fingers around them.

Rain drops beaded on his face as he stood just outside the door and his icy eyes searched her face. “Jake?”

He brushed the damp hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Just remember. I tried to be a good guy for you and Emma.”

She turned her cheek into his palm. “You are.”

He nodded, but she didn’t think he looked like he believed what she did. When she opened her mouth to argue the point, he leaned in and kissed her. He stamped his possession on her lips and she gladly accepted the claim. The kiss was hard and brief, and filled with something more poignant than goodbye.

“Lock this tight and stay put,” he ordered as he pulled away. “Call 911 if anything spooks you before I get back. If you don’t see me in five minutes, drive to KCPD and show Montgomery the doll.”

“If I don’t see you...?” She reached for him, but he was already closing the door. “Where are you going?”

“To introduce myself.”

Robin watched Jake head toward the corner of the building. The rain made dark stains on the shoulders of his T-shirt. He shifted his gun from his ankle holster to the back of his belt. He looked dangerous and determined and she wanted him back with her now. So she felt safe. So she knew he’d be safe, too.

Once he was out of sight, she checked her watch and marked the time. Five minutes.

What did he mean by I tried to be a good guy for you and Emma? Had he decided not to be a hero? What was he planning to do with that gun, anyway? Why was he kissing her goodbye?

She knew how to be alone. She knew how to take care of herself—and Emma. But that didn’t mean she wanted to be alone. She’d opened up her heart to the secretive, wounded beast who was different from any other man she’d known. He was passionate. Protective. Moody. He could be gentle as a lamb or ferocious as a lion. She trusted him. She needed him. She might even love him.

No. There was no might about it. “He needs us, Emma,” she whispered out loud. “And we need him.”

Emma squealed her agreement.

But what kind of woman put her faith in a man who was so—?

“What the...?” She saw the young woman coming up behind the SUV in the side-view mirror and the internal debate stopped. Strange. Despite all the cars parked around them, there wasn’t another soul around. And suddenly this woman was here, standing in the rain when everyone else had dashed inside. Where had she come from? What did she want?

Robin’s pulse kicked up a notch as the woman’s sunken blue eyes locked on to hers in the mirror. There was something familiar about the dripping swing coat and straight dark hair. But she couldn’t place her as one of the Vanderhams’ guests. The woman touched her fingers to the rear fender of the SUV and trailed them along the wet black metal as she walked along its side.

Was she homeless? Had she been in accident?

“How do I know you?” Robin breathed. Even the rain falling around her seemed familiar. Outside the shop. The night of the assault. “That’s it.”