Page 17 of Mine to Protect

With my crazy ritual completed, I eased back against the seat, feeling more at ease.

“Directions say about five miles from here. I wanted to find something in the park, but it was too late notice, I guess. Nothing was available.”

“Yeah, those cabins go quick, and those who donate to the park itself get top priority. A little ‘I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine’ action.”

“Sounds nice.” Peters glanced to the rearview mirror, a small smile forming at whatever he found. “I like my back scratched. How about you, Officer Johnson?”

I smiled at Peters’s lame attempt to flirt, and he shot a welcoming smile back. A low growl of warning from the back seat made me turn to scowl at Benny. What was his deal?

“Anyway,” Peters said, drawing my focus back to him, “it’s a small cabin community just up ahead.”

Keeping one hand on the wheel, he tossed his cell phone into my lap and nodded to the screen. I didn’t need to look at it to know where we were going. I knew the community because it was mine.

“Looks like we’ll be neighbors,” I said. Catching myself peeling at the cuticles around my thumbs, I tucked both anxious hands beneath my thighs.

Neighbors. Great.

That meanthe’dbe close. Way too close, or not close enough?

My thoughts and emotions clashed as we continued to drive.Of all the places in Estes Park, of course they end up by me. Fine, I’m okay, no biggie.Except it was. There was no way I could stay away with them being within walking distance. I already wanted to see more of him and he was in the back seat. The way he made me tense, excited, scared, hot all at the same time was exciting—electric even.

I inhaled deeply to clear the wandering lusty thoughts that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Potential serial killer.

FBI.

Missing women.

That was my focus, not the brooding man whose eyes were burning a hole through the back of my head with his laser stare.

“Good,” Peters said, still smiling. It irked me, like I was left out of an inside joke between the two men. “I’ll want your help when reading through your notes and pictures from the two cases here. The close proximity will be beneficial for everyone.”

Another low growl had me shooting daggers at Benny. Really, what was his problem?

“If you’re open to it, I could use your help sorting through the Smoky Mountains case files too.” Peters shifted in the driver seat, alternating hands on the wheel. “Without the special agent here, I’ll have to decipher her notes, and I noticed in your file that you worked in that park for a while. You’d have a better point of reference when going through them than me.”

“Of course. I’d love to—”

“No.” The word was curt and commanding from the back seat.

I whipped around with narrowed eyes, finding Sergeant Mathews glaring right back. “No?”

“It’s a great idea.” Peters’s light tap against my shoulder jolted me toward the window, my muscles’ natural reaction to pull me away from the touch. “Mathews is the muscle of the operation, not the brains.”

“Fuck you,” Mathews grumbled.

“Why do you say no?” I asked, crossing both arms across my chest and leaning against the window to monitor both men at the same time.

Sergeant Mathews’s dark eyes burned into mine, inching up the heat flowing through my veins from his closeness and the anger his comment raised. Reaching over, I flicked off the seat heater, which I never did unless it was over a hundred outside.

“Yeah, buddy,” Peters chimed in. “Why not?” An undercurrent of humor laced his words.

“Am I missing something?” I asked, glancing between the two men.

“Do both of you fail to remember that the last woman who worked to catch this fucker went missing? Is still fucking missing?” Mathews hissed. “Since I’m the damn security around here, I won’t take any unnecessary risks. This is a hard no for me.”

His tone, completely void of emotion, and aversion to me working with them sank me lower in my seat. Disappointment swirled in my chest until it ached. I’d begun to think he felt the same undeniable pull between us.

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