More Than Meets the Eye

“You look like you slept in your car,” she exclaimed.

He grinned, that half-crooked, devilish smile that set her on edge. “I did. It beats the price of a hotel room.”

She scowled. “I told you, Kevin, that I needed some time to think and that means I need time away from you.”

“No problem,” he said and raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. “If my presence bothers you, I won’t walk with you, I’ll just saunter along behind you,” he said, then grinned. “Besides, you’ve got a nice back view.”

She had no idea why he felt the need to be here at all. Rather than ask him, she whirled around and headed for the hospital, painfully conscious of him walking several paces behind her.

From the moment he’d appeared in her office the day before, she felt as if her life had spun crazily out of control, and she didn’t like it. She knew she had to make a decision about going to California, but she found rational thought next to impossible when Kevin was around.

She was a devoted doctor, in control of her surroundings. She was strong and independent, but when with Kevin, he somehow reminded her that she was a woman besides being a doctor.

She rounded a corner next to an abandoned building, her thoughts filled with Kevin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of movement as somebody shot out of the shadows and grabbed her.

The attack was so swift, so unexpected, she didn’t have time to scream, she didn’t have time to do anything. She fell to the sidewalk. Pain. It shot through her as he followed her down to the ground, his weight crashing on top of her, forcing her breath from her lungs.

His breath was hot and fetid and his hands ripped and tore at the skin of her neck. She fought him, trying to scratch his face and knee him in the stomach.

His face was a contorted mask of rage as he grappled with her. Somewhere in the back of her terror-laden mind, she catalogued his features, knowing somehow it was important that she remember what he look like.

“Hey!”

Phoebe nearly sobbed in relief as she heard Kevin’s shout. The man on top of her jumped up and took off running as Kevin raced to her side.

“Phoebe, are you all right?” He knelt down beside her and helped her to a sitting position.

She shook her head. “He…he came out of the building and just jumped on me.” She rubbed her neck and felt the welts his fingernails had caused. Her hip ached where she had hit the ground with such force.

“You’re hurt,” he said, his blue eyes filled with anger. He started to scoop her up in his arms, but she stopped him.

“No, really, I’m fine. I’m just sore.” And scared beyond any fear she had ever experienced before.

He looked at her for a long moment. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

She forced a smile. “I’m a doctor, I’d know if I was really hurt.”

He stood and carefully helped her to her feet and when he pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, she didn’t fight him. Instead, she leaned into his strength and closed her eyes for just a moment.

“I was afraid something like this might happen,” he murmured, as if speaking more to himself than to her.

She stepped away from him and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“I was hoping that last night’s break-in at your place was just a coincidence.”

“But now you don’t think it was?” A new fear iced the blood in her veins as she saw the worry that darkened his eyes.

“No, I don’t think it was,” he said. His gaze held hers intently. “I think maybe I wasn’t the only one looking for you, and in finding you, I’ve brought danger into your life.”

Chapter Three

Kevin sat on a stone bench just outside the hospital’s main entrance, waiting for Phoebe to exit the building. Dusk was falling and she’d called him on his cell phone moments before to let him know she was on her way out.

After the attack on her that morning, he’d tried to talk her into going back to her apartment and not working that day, but she’d insisted otherwise.

However, she had agreed to call the police, and she and Kevin and one of Kansas City’s finest had sat in her office as she’d given an account of the attack and a description of her attacker. They had agreed not to tell the police what had brought Kevin to Phoebe in the first place. Kevin was afraid it would only complicate matters.

Kevin had given a description of the car the attacker had jumped into at the end of the block, a car that had apparently been waiting for him.

After the officer had left, Phoebe had shooed Kevin away, insisting that what she needed more than anything was to get back to work.

Reluctantly he’d left her, assuming she would be safe surrounded by co-workers, then he had spent much of the day trying to get answers. Unfortunately, he’d managed to gain very few.

Even though he’d been relatively certain that Phoebe would be safe that day at work, when she walked out of the building he was glad to see her, although she looked stressed and exhausted.

“Bad day?” he asked.

“No worse than usual,” she said as he guided her toward where his car was parked in the lot.

He frowned as he noted the red marks that still marred the creamy skin of her throat. “Did you put something on those?” he asked.

“Yes, I used half a bottle of antiseptic and I used heat and ice on my hip, which is now sporting a bruise the size of a large grapefruit.”

Kevin frowned, momentarily feeling like a heel as he was gifted with a mental flash of a long shapely leg. He opened the passenger door for her and she slid in, wincing slightly.

Frustration, along with a healthy dose of anger swept through him as he thought of the attack on her. If only he’d been following her more closely, if only he hadn’t allowed her to get out of his sight for a single moment.

After he’d left her apartment the night before, he’d had a bad feeling in his gut, a feeling that had prompted him to sleep in the car outside of her building.

“Other than the obvious, are you feeling all right?”

She nodded. “A little jumpy, but okay.” She glanced at him curiously. “You didn’t sleep in your car last night because you wanted to save money on a hotel bill, did you? You thought something might happen, didn’t you?”

“My instincts told me it was possible, but I was hoping my instincts were wrong.”

He got into the driver seat and put the key into the ignition, then turned to face her once again. “I’ve spent the day trying to figure out what in the heck is going on.”

She looked at him, her expression vulnerable, her gaze intent. “And what have you figured out?”

He started the engine, then gazed at her once again. “I wish I could tell you exactly what is happening and why, but I can’t.”

“That man this morning…I think he was after my necklace.” She fumbled with the chain inside her smock and grasped the charm in her palm.

“That’s the conclusion I reached the minute I saw the scratches on your neck,” he said. “And I think it’s possible whoever broke into your apartment last night was also looking for the necklace.” He pulled out of the parking space and headed toward her apartment building.

“But, why? What does the necklace mean? It’s been with me for as long as I can remember. Why would somebody be after it now?”

Kevin tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Like I told you this morning right after the attack, I think maybe I brought this to your doorstep. When I found you, I found the necklace for somebody else.”