Page 9 of Cruel Ice

She was fascinated by him.

“Why would I hire you?” The little line was back between his dark brows.

How many times would the man need to be reminded that she’d saved his life? But she could make her case. Again. “You probably have an army of security personnel.”

“Um.”

That wasn’t a yes or a no. “But I didn’t see that army last night. I just saw little old me.” Her palms were getting sweaty,so she casually wiped them on the front of her jeans. “I saw the men who took you. I saw their vehicle. And Iwillfind them. I will track them down. I will hunt them. I will?—”

“Marley.”

Her head swung to the right. The hospital door had been slightly ajar—one the nurses had left it open earlier—and now she realized that someone had been eavesdropping on her conversation with Declan. Such an incredibly rude thing to do.

But then, she’d found that Detective Parker Ellis was often rude.

Parker glowered at her from his position in the doorway. He had not exactly been a fan of Marley’s since…well, probably since their one disastrous date ages ago.

“Thepolicewill find the people responsible for abducting Mr. Flynn. That’s certainly not the job for some wannabe PI.” Parker marched into the room with authority and arrogance oozing from his pores.

That was typically the way he did most things. Once upon a time, Parker had been the quarterback in high school. Then the jock of the moment at the University of Georgia. But an injury had taken him off the field, and these days, he spent his time throwing his weight around at the Augusta, Georgia, police department.

“Wannabe PI,” Declan seemed to taste those words.

Her eyes narrowed as her head swung right back to Declan. “There’s nothing wannabe about me. I have my license. I’m official. And I have a hundred percent case closure rate.” No need to mention that she’d only had three cases so far. Two had been wives who wanted their cheating husbands photographed in the act. The third…that had been a pro-bono case. Caterina Robbins had vanished. Marley had found Caterina in twenty-four hours. So what if Caterina happened to be a Cheshire cat? A successful closed case was a successful closed case.

And I saved Declan Flynn last night. The Declan Flynn.Tech billionaire. Supposed mob royalty. Too gorgeous to be real…Declan Flynn. She’d saved him from getting sliced into lots and lots of little pieces. Oh, but those torture instruments were going to haunt her for days.

“How long have you possessed your license?” Declan asked softly.

“I—”

“Barely a month,” Parker informed him with a bit too much satisfaction. “Our Marley tends to pick up and discard jobs pretty quickly. You have quite the resume don’t you, Marley? Kids’ party entertainer, pastry chef, real estate agent, bartender, and now…PI.” Parker shook his head. His dirty blond hair tumbled over his forehead, and his blue eyes gleamed. “And let’s not forget Ph.D. candidate. You do like to dabble, don’t you?”

“I’m not dabbling.”But you’re being a dick.So she had some failed jobs in her past. Didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to be a kickass PI. She’d worked her butt off to get her license. She’d trained in self-defense. She’d shadowed other PIs for months. And that Ph.D. candidacy that he just liked to toss out like it was nothing? She’d nearly gotten her Ph.D. in psychology. Sheknewhow criminals worked. She knew all about the devious minds at play in the world.

A faint flicker of fear slithered down her spine as she remembered the incident that had ended her pursuit of her Ph.D.Don’t think about it right now. Focus on the moment. The present. The past can’t hurt you.

“How did I wind up in the hospital?”

Declan’s low voice jerked her attention back to him. And when she looked at him, Marley was surprised to find his eyes dead on her. Not on the detective.

“The police met us on the highway.” Did he recall that part? The shriek of sirens? The flash of blue lights?

Declan inclined his head.

“You were out cold in the passenger seat of Marley’s car.” Parker moved to her side. Gotwaytoo close, frankly. His shoulder brushed against hers.

Declan frowned.

Marley eased away from Parker.

Parker eased closer to her.

Declan’s frown grew darker.

“An ambulance was behind the cop cars,” Parker told him. His hands moved to his hips. His badge gleamed from a perch on his belt. “The EMTs ordered an immediate transport for you because you were unresponsive. Marley insisted on riding along with you.”

Declan was staring straight at her. He kept doing that. And she could have sworn she felt the weight of his gaze like a physical touch. Talk about intensity.

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