Page 14 of Cruel Ice

Her lips parted in surprise. “You didn’t mention that to the detective. You told him last night was stillblurry.”

Bits were blurry. True story. “I don’t remember how I got to the basement. Who tied me up. That shit is blurry.”

“But the bartender isn’t. You remember him, don’t you?”

He did.

Her gaze never left him. “Parker wanted to know where you’d been before you were abducted. You didn’t name any club or bar, but you do remember exactly which places you visited, don’t you?”

Declan inclined his head. “Place. Singular. And I thought I might revisit the location with a certain intrepid PI that I will be hiring.”

Her hands slid away from his cheeks. Thensheinched away from him. Marley returned to her original seat in the limo. “Don’t play games with me.”

“Why not? Don’t you like games?”

A negative shake of her head. “This is life or death. Not Monopoly.”

So good of her to point out the difference. He slid his index finger along his lips to hide the quirk of his mouth.

He could practically see the wheels turning in her head before she muttered, “Parker said the cops should be in charge of the investigation.”

“Um. I did hear him mention that a time or twenty.” He’d also picked up on a few things like… “The detective doesn’t like you.”

“He doesn’t like that I wouldn’t sleep with him when we went out.”

Every muscle in Declan’s body tensed.

“But I don’t screw every man who buys me dinner, and, for the record, it was a crappy dinner.”

Breathe, Declan. Breathe.A sudden, red haze seemed to have clouded his vision. Hell, maybe it was the drugs he’d been given. Because the heat flooding through his body didn’t feel normal. It actually…hell, did it feel like jealousy? Was this what jealousy was?

“He’s held a grudge since then. And…” An exhale from Marley. “I am a new PI.” A bit of a forlorn confession. “Parker has that part right.”

He doubted if Parker had anything right. “Did you know who I was when you gave chase after the van?”

“We’ve been over this before. No, I didn’t.” She didn’t even blink. “All I saw was three men. Two were trying to drag your rather large and slightly floppy self into the back of a van. I saw the back of your head. Dark, thick hair. I screamed for them to let you go. They ignored me. They shoved you inside and hauled ass away.” A delicate roll of her shoulders. “So I gave chase. I called the cops along the route, but those creeps in the van were moving helluva fast. And going down some seriously snaking roads. I lost the signal on my phone twice. Once I thought I’d lost the van. I had to be careful. I kept my lights off a lot because I didn’t want to tip them off that I was trailing. I was afraid that if they realized they were being followed, they might panic and do something foolish.”

“More foolish than kidnapping me?” Because that would prove to be a fatal mistake.

“I thought they might panic and kill you. Then they’d just toss your body out of the rear of the van and keep driving.”

He grunted. “Lovely visual.”

A nod from her. “I snuck into the cabin as quickly as I could.”

Yes, she had. “Do you often rush straight into dangerous situations?”

Her gaze cut from him. “Danger can be everywhere. You don’t have to rush and find it. Sometimes, it will find you.” Her shoulders didn’t roll in a shrug again. Instead, they straightened with determination. “You do need me.”

Yes, I do. But, darling, you need me even more.Something she did not yet realize. Soon enough, she would.

“I can find these guys, I know it. Tell me the bar you visited—describe the bartender to me. I’ll go from there. You can keep your guards in place, and I’ll track down the people who took you. Count on me for this job.”

“Oh, I am definitely counting on you.” He spread his legs out in front of him. “You’remyPI.” Was there a subtle possessiveness on those words?

She’d stiffened.

Okay, perhaps the possessiveness had been not-so-subtle.

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