Page 25 of Edge of Danger

Brax had hidden himself in the shadows outside the warehouse—he’d been searching the riverbank for the presence of skid marks after a sketchy, staged car accident and happened to be around when the truck came through. Nobody had seen him in passing, and they hadn’t noticed his presence outside the loading bay.

“They don’t know who I am,” he reminded the district attorney. “But I know who they are. I know who Prince Riviera is, and I’ve seen what he’s capable of. No way I’m going to let this guy back out on the street. We both know he’s the entire backbone of that organization. With him behind bars, they lose all their clout and protection. They’ll go down in flames.”

“You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that. I was afraid the news would scare you off.”

“I don’t scare that easily, ma’am.”

She chuckled this time, though it was short-lived. “Still, I want you to watch your back. There’s no telling what these scumbags know. Let’s not underestimate them.”

Brax turned off the main road and onto the smaller, two-lane dirt road leading to his house. There it was, lit up inside, with two people waiting to welcome him home after a long day.

Now was not the time to underestimate anybody.

Chapter Ten

It had taken three days for Brax’s friend to fix Tessa’s phone. When Brax had come home Wednesday night, he’d presented it like a great treasure. “Here you go. Your key to freedom.”

She couldn’t help beaming at how happy it made him to provide her with a phone, even if she didn’t quite understand the connection between it and her freedom.

Still, she’d accepted the gesture and thanked him profusely. “Not to be picky, but this isn’t a car,” she’d reminded him. “I’m not exactly free.”

“Sure, you are. Don’t I keep telling you to use my car? In fact...” His charming grin had widened, making him almost irresistible. “I took tomorrow off so you can go out. Do whatever it is you want to do.”

Ice had formed in her stomach. “I can’t do that. It’s—”

“It’s only fair to you,” he’d insisted, kind but firm. He had that way about him. A gentleness that didn’t seem to mix with his physical size and line of work. “You’ve been working so hard. Two weeks without a break.”

“It’s nothing.”

His brow had lowered. “Tessa, we both know I know what you go through with him. You might have more experience, but still. It’s no cakewalk. Now that you have your phone back, we can both breathe a little easier. I know you didn’t want to leave the house on your own without a phone handy.”

“And you weren’t crazy about the idea either.”

“That’s true.” His smile had softened along with his voice. “Go out. Take care of yourself. Just for a day. You deserve it.”

Which was what had led her to a mall in San Antonio. Even that morning, she’d resisted leaving the house until Brax had teased her, calling her “mother hen” since she was so worried about leaving Walker.

Mother.The thought that he might know something had carried her out of the house in a blink. While he didn’t seem like the type to play games, there was no telling. After all, Brax was related to Robert, the king of game players. She couldn’t put anything past him.

For all her worrying, though, it felt good to walk through the mall. How long had it been since she’d taken the time to window shop? She couldn’t remember the last time.

When she was a kid, the mall had been the place to hang out. Even then, however, older kids and her parents had talked about the way things used to be. Back before online and big box store shopping had chipped away at mall culture.

There were a couple of groups of kids there in the late afternoon, long after school would’ve let out for the day. Otherwise, the only shoppers were older people. Some of them looked like they were getting exercise rather than paying any attention to store windows.

She paused at a baby store and smiled at a sweet nursery set, then studied a bouncy swing and wondered if it would be right for Walker. Granted, she didn’t have the money for it—all of her money was stashed in her purse, every penny Brax had paid her up to this point minus the cost of a few necessities—but she might be able to talk him into it. Walker needed to build up his legs.

She knew Brax would deny him nothing. If he had his way, her son would grow up spoiled beyond all reason.

That didn’t do anything to loosen the smile from her face. She caught sight of her reflection. She looked so happy.

All things considered, she didn’t have any reason to be unhappy.

So what if she carried all her money around with her in case she needed to make a run for it?

So what if she still entertained the idea of running away with her baby from time to time? In the dark of night, lying in bed in Brax’s guest room, sometimes that idea would sneak up on her. She couldn’t get rid of it.

She stopped in front of a boutique to admire the mannequins in their spangly cocktail dresses. What would it be like to live the sort of life where she needed a dress like this? To get all fancied up and go out on the town?

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