Set Me Free (A Fugitive #2)(3)

He could hear Dani...Lucy's...voice finally admitting her real name to him, his insides sizzling. Running a hand through his hair, he squeezed his dark locks and pushed off the door. He walked to his room and started hunting for some clothes that would fit her. For the first time in his life, he wished he had a sister. At least Dani was nearly the same height as him.

Dani. He just did it again. Lucy. Her name was Lucy. Is that what he was supposed to call her now?

Pulling out a pair of jeans, he held them up and instantly realized they'd slide right off her skinny frame. He yanked open his bottom drawer and searched for his dark grey sweat pants with the drawstring waist. He then grabbed out an orange Nike t-shirt.

"Underwear," he mumbled.

She'd just have to go commando.

He rolled his eyes, knowing what that would do to him, but he wasn't about to go hunting through his Mom's underwear drawer. She may be out of the country with his father for the summer and she probably wouldn't mind one bit, but the thought of the girl who could turn him on with one look wearing his mother's underwear was just a little too much to handle. He'd just have to take Dani...Lucy...shopping tomorrow.

Bundling the clothes up, he placed them just inside the bathroom door. Dani was still soaking in the shower. He thought he heard her crying, but couldn't be sure. With a heavy sigh, he silently closed the door and shuffled down the stairs. What he wanted to do was head back to his room and yank out those files, pull Lucy Tate's free and scour it for every piece of information he could absorb. When Zach had been trying to figure out who Dani really was and what had happened to her, his Uncle Alex, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle had done some digging for him and brought him a few potential candidates. There was no way his girlfriend was a murderer, but now she was at his door...giving him a name he knew was true.

It couldn't be possible. There was just no way she murdered her own parents. Yes, she was an expert liar...but not with him.

Not with him.

He had to keep believing that.

In spite of his need to pull it out, that tempting file on Lucy Tate would have to remain in his closet for now.

That girl in his shower needed food. She was scared and hungry. Right now, he didn't give a rat's ass who she really was or if she had killed someone. He just needed to take care of her. He could deal with the rest later.

Striding into the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator and stood for a few minutes trying to decide what he was capable of making. He grabbed bacon and eggs, placing them on the counter before tugging out a cardboard slice of bread from the freezer. His mom had left everything well stocked, plus given him a stash of food money so he could look after himself. He'd planned to spend most of it on take out. He knew basically nothing about cooking, but he could scramble a couple of eggs, fry up some bacon, and no doubt burn a piece of toast.

He fluffed around the kitchen, pulling out everything he needed and feeling completely inept at the same time. He was just reaching for a mixing bowl when Dani entered the room and cleared her throat. He jerked, bumping his arm and nearly dropping the bowl as he pulled it out.

Placing it on the counter with a blush, he leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen and smiled at her. She looked cute in his baggy clothes. Her straight, wet hair hung long over her shoulders, creating wet patches in the fabric. He was glad the shirt was a really dark orange.

"Thanks for these." She swallowed, tugging at the bottom of his shirt before crossing her skinny arms over her chest.

"You're welcome. Sorry about the underwear thing. I'll take you shopping later if you want."

"That's okay." She flicked her thumb over her shoulder. "I just need to do some laundry."

"Oh yeah, yeah sure." He'd forgotten about her bag at the door. Moving past her, he snaffled it up then walked back into the kitchen and led her to the adjoining laundry room.

Dumping the bag on top of the dryer, he unzipped it.

"I can do it if you like." Dani gently nudged him out of the way.

"Okay." He stepped back and quickly pointed out the different detergents. Laundry was one thing he did know how to do. It had been his household chore since he turned twelve.

She nodded at his instructions and he left her to it, slowly making his way back to the eggs. He'd cracked three into the bowl and was just measuring out the milk when she returned. She slid onto one of the kitchen stools and watched him whisk up the eggs and then dump in some salt and dried herbs. He hoped that was right. That's the way his dad always made them.

The silence became unnerving, he sensed more for her than him. That lip biting could not be good for her wasted mouth. Clearing his throat, he leaned the whisk against the edge of the bowl and looked at her.

"So, where've you been?"

Yeah, it was an awkward question, but no more awkward than their silence. He figured they may as well get it out now and then they could work out what was going to happen next.

Dani's hands began to shake again as she ran her finger along the edge of the counter.

"I headed south." Her lips puckered for a second. "When you broke your promise, I had to go. I had to..."

She trailed off and Zach closed his eyes, hating himself briefly. When he'd discovered how she'd been living the life of a con artist, collecting identities as if they were baseball cards, he'd been furious. She betrayed him pretending to be someone she wasn’t. But then she'd told him the truth about why she did it, about how she'd had to lie and steal to survive. The story of her parents' murders had near killed him and he'd wanted to fix it. He'd ignored her pleas for confidentiality and spilled the beans to his uncle.