Page 40 of Peril in Piney Woods

Okay, back it up. She took a breath. “It means I took something that belonged to him, and he’s spent nearly a year and a half trying to find me so he can have his revenge. Now, because of Ernie running my prints, he knows where I am.”

A scowl claimed his face. “You stole something from him?”

“In a manner of speaking.” She wasn’t prepared to explain. She’d already told him too much.

“You want me to go along with whatever this is, but you won’t tell me the whole truth.”

She braced her hands on the counter on either side of her. “I’ll be out of here by morning. I just need you to give me until then.”

He stood, turned his back on her and walked to the door. “I need some air.”

She hated like hell to say this, but she had to. “Leave the keys to your truck.”

He glared at her for a moment before tossing the key fob on the sofa, then he walked out the door.

That move hadn’t gained her any ground either.

Nothing she could do about that. Maybe he would understand later.

Doubtful. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips there. How the hell was she going to keep him safe from what was coming? If she took off, Lorenzo’s people would just find him and torture him to death in hopes of getting information on her.

Really, how could she possibly save him now without taking him with her?

He had family. A mother. A sister. Friends. A life. He wasn’t going willingly. She was a fool to even consider he might.

But if she left him here...

She knew what would happen. There was no question.

He would die, and his death would be her fault.

GRIFF WALKED TO the end of the narrow drive that twisted through the trees along the creek bank. He and Ernie had come here as kids. Had poker nights here once a month to this day. It was quiet, way off the beaten path and very few people knew about it. It was their getaway. Their man cave. Only now it felt like a prison, like hell on earth. Griff wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to help Meg.

But what if trusting her was wrong?

Ernie wasn’t so sure about Griff bringing Meg—or whatever her name was—here, but he’d deferred to Griff’s judgment. So far, no one else had shown up asking for Meg. At least not as far as Ernie knew at this point. The woman, Darlene—Lizbeth, Meg had called her—wasn’t talking. Ernie hadn’t given her a phone call yet. He intended to put it off as long as the law allowed. All because Griff had asked him to trust him.

But what if trusting Meg and, by extension, him was a mistake? What if he got Ernie killed?

His gut twisted hard.

If Griff still had his phone, he’d call and ask Ernie what the chances were that the criminal record he’d pulled up on Meg was somehow faked. She insisted that wasn’t her name and that she wasn’t a hired killer.

Griff had to admit he believed her, but what if his emotions had clouded his judgment? He had feelings for her, feelings not so easily dismissed.

Damn it.

She said she needed until morning and then she would be gone. Could he let her go like that? Pretend she never existed? Go on with his life like he hadn’t met her?

He thought of the way she took care of the animals, of how she took care of the people around her. What he knew about her just didn’t fit with what he’d witnessed the past couple of days. It sure as hell didn’t fit with what Ernie had found.

Griff paused and recounted the facts.

She had dropped that guy—Ted—from a serious distance with a handgun. She was no amateur when it came to firearms. Then there was the way she’d handled herself. Having him secure the woman to that steering wheel. The way she’d taken down the guy in the Gas and Go. Then, she’d taken down the two in her shop without a weapon.

No question her actions could fit with a hired-gun type. On the contrary, she could just as easily fit the description of a well-trained cop. He toyed with the idea for a moment. Made sense. Fit with her caring personality more so than the idea of an assassin.

If she had been a cop, why not just tell him? Why all the lies and the running?

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