Page 14 of The Devil's Pair

“Ohhh,” he said as they walked to the twins’ shared room. “Job? House?”

“House. Well, a location of one at least.”

“Out of the whole state of Pennsylvania, you have a direction to aim at now, huh?”

“I do.” She smiled again as he opened the hotel room door with a flourish and ushered her in, like a devastatingly sexy doorman. “And I think I found my dream home to boot.”

“Yeah?” Dux was sprawled on the bed closest to the window, and he looked up from his phone at her. “You did? Where is it?”

“Small town called Bellefonte,” she told him. “About an hour west of here, so I set up a viewing tomorrow morning at nine.”

“Show us!” Dux demanded, handing her his phone. “Let’s see it!”

While Briley scrolled through the site’s property listings, Drake mixed her drink, handed his brother a beer from the minibar, and twisted the cap off his own beer bottle. Then he sat at the desk and started putting ice into a plastic bag.

“So,” he said. “Let’s take a gander at this place, darlin’.”

“It’s this one.” She handed the phone back to Dux, and the brothers peered down at the photos. “I love it.”

“Wow,” Dux said. “That is some gorgeous, babe.”

“Right?” Briley took a sip of her drink, settled deeper into the chair as the alcohol hit her bloodstream. “And I quickly checked jobs for RNs in the two closest cities, and it seems that they’re crying for help in all the healthcare systems, both publicandprivate. I should be able to cobble together enough work to get by, even if I don’t get anything full-time right off the bat.”

“Yeah, about that.” Dux took another pull of his beer. “I just talked to Wolf about you buying a house and getting medical work, and he’s wondering how best to keep you safe.”

“What do you mean?” she asked him. “Safe from what?”

“From being tracked down,” Dux said bluntly. “Listen, if some cop is working with that dickhead Michael – we’re not saying one is, but Wolf always assumes the worst and plans accordingly – then can’t they find you through property ownership? Or your work records and tax filings? I mean, nurses are on official, legal registers in every state, right? Wouldn’t they be able to just… I don’t know. Justfindyou?”

She smiled. “I know you guys are worried about that, OK? I do. But it’s not as simple as typing my name into a computer, and suddenly everything popping up.”

“But for a cop?” Drake demanded. “Don’t you guys have wider access than normal people?”

“Sure. But cops still need to have the right information to begin any search.”

“You need to expand on that, babe,” Dux said. “Because right now, Wolf is debating buying you a whole new identity that would stand up to a pretty rigorous background check.”

She lowered her glass, stared at Dux in shock. “He’s – he’swhat?”

“Yeah. Believe me, if you need to disappear with a whole new name, Wolf’s the guy to help you do that. He’s done it for people before.”

She thought about those ferocious, wolf-grey eyes, thought about all the secrets and keen intelligence that gleamed out of them even while the man was at rest. “I havenodoubt that’s true.”

“So.” Dux stared at her, unblinking and intense. “You need to explain why you’re so sure that you can just waltz on into Bellefonte and buy a house, and produce your RN license and collect a paycheck, andnoneof that will send upanyred flags. No joking here, babe. If Wolf thinks you’re going to be rumbled, you’ll become someone new before you can say a word, I promise you that.”

“OK, OK. I get it.” She paused, gathering her thoughts to make her case. “Well, first, my nursing license isn’t in the name Briley Cross.”

Thatstartled them, and they stared at her with identical stunned expressions on their drop-dead stunning faces.

“So – what name is it in?” Drake said. “Wait… are youalreadyliving under a secret identity?”

“Nope, nothing that dramaticorexciting. My name is legally Annette Briley Morris. That’s the name on my driver’s license, passport… and RN license.”

“It – it is?” Drake asked. “How come you go by Briley Cross, then?”

She shrugged, sipped her drink. “I was named after my Dad’s sister Annette, but she was a real nightmare. By the time I was about ten, she and my parents had completely fallen out, so I started going by my middle name. I liked it better, anyway.”

“Ohhh-kay,” Dux said slowly. “That all makes sense. But from Morris to Cross?”

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