Page 351 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

A car stopped on the street, idling in a random spot. It didn’t pull into the parking lot. Jacob turned back to her. “Addie?”

He probably would’ve told her it was good to see her.

She crossed to him and lifted on her toes, though there was about a half-inch difference in their heights. “Want to give me your cell number?”

Jacob hesitated. Maybe it was better not to get tangled up with each other again. What if they got to know each other again and she didn’t like what she discovered?

Something crossed her expression, disappointment or hurt. He couldn’t pin down what it meant. He figured she was building a profile on him in her head. Maybe she didn’t do that with everyone, just dangerous killers. “Never mind. Maybe that’s a bad idea.”

“I’m sure we’ll see each other around.” Jacob headed for his driver’s door.

If something was going to develop, it was better to let that happen naturally. Right?

Addie pushed her cart across to the return corral. One that was farther away than the one he’d used. Like she needed all that space from him.

Jacob gripped the steering wheel and watched her, as entranced as he’d always been by her. Sure, she was different now. He was as well. They weren’t anything like the kids they’d been. And yet there would always be something about her.

The car at the curb pulled in. Addie turned and headed back for her car.

An engine revved.

Addie froze. It picked up speed. Jacob laid a hand on his horn and kept it there. The car drove directly at her.

Jacob shoved out his door too late.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Addie’s knees locked. It was all too close. Too near. Too familiar.

White—the brightest of lights right in her face—blinded her to everything but the pound of her heart and the taste of fear on her tongue.

Her life, her present, swallowed in that night years ago.

Jake. Jacob.

The roar of a car engine broke through her awareness. Addie blinked against the brightness.Car.At the last second, she dove out of the way of the oncoming car. Wind whipped her hair. She slammed on the pavement of the parking lot, jarred her hip, and cried out.

The car roared past.

She reached to her hip for a gun that would’ve been there if she wasn’t due to start her new position tomorrow. Back in her hometown. With Jake.

She blinked at the sky.

Benson, Washington. Otherwise known as the worst place ever.

“Adelyn!” His voice carried over the receding engine.

Addie glanced at the fleeing car, then watched him race to her. She held out a hand both to ward off her past, and in case he might hold it.There’s something wrong with you.Probably too much sleep lately, because nothing else in her life pointed to this kind of sudden whimsy. He was terrible for her. That was all there was to it.

Something she already knew.

“Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?”

“Just bruises.” She gritted her teeth. For a moment she’d entertained the tragically bad idea of going on a date with this guy. Her first boyfriend. First love. First…everything.

As though one impulsive hug on his part meant a summer fling—in February—would ever be a good idea.

She thumbed 9-1-1 on her phone. Resisted the tendency to report an officer down and declined an ambulance. Having her name associated with a hit-and-run wasn’t the best way to start her new job.

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