I Know Lucy (A Fugitive #1)(59)

“Nah, it looks like she lives alone, but like I said…what if someone’s controlling her, like out of sight. I didn’t check the rest of the building.”

“What building?”

“She lives in an abandoned apartment on the outskirts of town. It looks like an old hostel or something, you know with the kitchenettes and the communal bathroom down the hall.”

“Abandoned? Creepy.”

“Totally creepy.” I sighed. “Do you think someone else might be living there with her… like in another room?”

“Possibly.” Uncle Alex cleared his throat. “Although would she have spilled the beans and even had you there if she was afraid someone lived down the hall?”

“Good point.” I scratched my head, feeling tired and edgy.

“You need to find out more. Anything about her past is useful. The more information the better.”

“I’ll try, but I don’t want to push her. She’s a serious flight risk at the moment.”

“Okay, well I’ll start quietly looking into things from this end. Find out where she used to live and I’ll see if I can hunt down murder cases from five years ago. Maybe something will pop.”

“Be careful. She’s convinced that anyone who finds out who she really is will be in danger.”

“I’ll watch my back. Hey, don’t worry bro, we’ll end this for her. Justice always prevails.”

He hung up after saying the line he so wants to believe.

But I know justice doesn’t always prevail. Plenty of innocents pay a high price for other people’s crimes. Dani was case in point. But not anymore. She would have her justice.

One day Dani would be free and maybe then she’d tell me her real name.





Chapter 28





ZACH


May 2014





Much to my relief, Dani was at the pool the next morning. She’d already started laps by the time I got there. I dove into the pool and captured her ankle.

Her body jerked, splashing in the water and kicking me off her.

“Sorry! It’s me!”

What a dumbass move. I winced as her steely gaze wracked over me.

“You scared the crap out of me.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” I grimaced.

With a little grin, she pushed a wave of water at me. While I was coughing and spluttering, she lunged towards me, dunking my head under the water. I wrapped my hands around her hips and pulled her down with me before we bobbed to the top and laughed. I gripped the edge of the pool, while pulling her towards me with my free hand. The air between us sizzled as our laughter died away. I pressed her between me and the wall, kissing her mouth with a heated passion I was now allowed to show.

It felt good.

My body responded immediately and if I’d been allowed to, I would have stripped off her bathing suit and explored every inch of her.

She jerked away from me when she felt my arousal. Her lips quirked to the side and her right eyebrow shot north. My cheeks felt like they were on fire as I sheepishly chuckled. “I’m not the only hottie in this pool, you know.”

Her sweet laughter echoed in the cavernous space.

“Come on, let’s start laps before we both get in trouble.” She winked and ducked under my arm. Pushing off the wall, she got into her lane, her sleek body carving through the water with its usual grace.

We raced the last few laps. I won and pulled her from the water, wrapping my arm around her as we headed for the towels. It felt so natural and easy between us now. It would have been easy to forget that my weekend ever happened.

But it jumped forward in my brain as I watched her wrap the towel around her body. Her blue eyes caught me, making me realize I wanted to do this every day for the rest of my life. She trusted me. I could tell by the open look in her eyes, her carefree grin. Yesterday had released some kind of coil within her and she looked happy. I didn’t want to damage that.

I scrubbed the towel over my face, hiding my guilt at letting Uncle Alex in.

Maybe I shouldn’t have done it.

But it was too late now. I had.

And if I was going to help him do his job, I had to get on with it.

I flung my arm over her shoulder and walked her to the changing rooms. “So, where’d you grow up?”

She flinched. “Zach, you promised you wouldn’t say anything.”

“Yeah, which is why I’m asking you in a place that no one else is in. There’s no way I’d raise this around our friends. I’m just curious about you. I want to know you.” I stopped and turned her towards me. “And there’s no hurry to do that, but I’m gonna ask you questions, Dani. I can’t help it. Just tell me what you want to.”

She hesitated, her carefree smile disappearing. “Okay.” She finally sighed. “Sorry, it just felt like you were probing for more on my parents, that’s all.”

I shrugged, trying to work out how to get around that one. “I want to know more about it, yeah, but I know you don’t want to tell me. Just, whatever you wanna give is great.”

I pushed an innocent smile over my lips and she finally relented with a sigh. “L.A. I grew up in L.A.”

“Nice. I spent my first eight years in Sacramento and then we moved here when I was thirteen.”