The Defender's Duty

He eyed her for a moment, his jaw set, his gaze hot. “We’re not going anywhere. You are staying here. I am going to talk to the driver of that car.”

“I think we’ve been down this road before, and I’m pretty sure we both know where it leads.”

“It leads to you getting fired. Stay put until I get back or forget about having a place of your own for a month.” He stood and limped away, not even giving Lacey a second glance as he crossed the room and headed into the kitchen area.

Probably heading for a back door.

Lacey gave him a one-minute head start and then followed, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end and issuing a warning she couldn’t ignore. Danger. It was somewhere close by again, and there was no way she was going to let Jude walk into it alone. If he fired her, so be it. As a matter of fact, if he fired her, it might be for the best. Jude wasn’t the kind of client she was used to working for. Sure, there’d been other young men, but none of them had seemed quite as vital or alive as Jude. She told herself that it made her uncomfortable because he didn’t seem to need her, and Lacey didn’t want to be where she wasn’t needed. Told herself that, but didn’t quite believe it. Jude was trouble. And not just because someone was trying to kill him. On the other hand, she’d felt absolutely certain moving to Lynchburg was what God wanted her to do.

“So, which is it, Lord? Right or wrong?” She whispered the words as she slipped into the diner’s hot kitchen. A cook glared at her, but she ignored him. Until she knew for sure why God had brought her to Lynchburg, Lacey could only do what she’d been paid to—make sure Jude was okay. Even if that meant putting herself in danger.

Lacey took a deep breath, prayed that whoever was in the car didn’t have a weapon and pushed open the door. The area behind the diner was dark and silent, the shadow of the building hiding her as she stepped into the parking lot. There were no cars there, just empty spaces ready for the breakfast rush. The emptiness should have comforted Lacey. Instead, it reminded her of how alone she was. Maybe waiting inside the diner would have been a better idea, but Lacey wasn’t good at waiting and didn’t believe in leaving others to fight their battles alone. Jude was about to face his enemy. She had every intention of being with him when he did. Heart slamming in her chest, pulse racing, she hurried around the side of the building and headed toward whatever trouble waited.

FIVE

Jude eased around the corner of the restaurant, the dark alleyway offering him perfect cover as he peered into the parking lot. The car he’d spotted through the window of the restaurant was still parked beside Lacey’s. Black. Four-door. Honda. It matched the one that had pulled up in front of his house and the one that had run him down in New York.

He needed to get closer.

A soft sound came from behind him. A rustle of fabric. A sigh of breath. Spring rain and wildflowers carried on the cold night air. Lacey.

Of course.

“I told you you were going to be fired if you didn’t stay where you were.”

“Do you know how many times someone has threatened to fire me?”

“Based on what I’ve seen so far, a lot.”

“Some of my clients fire me ten or twenty times a day.”

“Then I guess I’ve got a ways to go.” Jude reached back and grabbed her hand, pulling her up beside him.

“Is the car still there?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me see.” She squeezed in closer, her hair brushing his chin as she jockeyed for a better position.

Jude pulled her up short, her wrist warm beneath his hand. For a moment he was back in the restaurant, Lacey’s creamy skin peeking out from under her dark sweater, white scars crisscrossing the tender flesh. She’d shoved her sleeve down too quickly for him to get a good look, but the glimpse he’d gotten was enough. There was a lot more to Lacey then met the eye. A lot she hid behind a quick smile and a quicker wit. She’d been hurt before, and he wouldn’t let it happen again. No way was he going to drag her into danger. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever. As soon as they got back to the house, he was going to do exactly what he’d threatened—fire her.

“It’s not the car.” She said it with such authority that Jude stepped from the shadows and took a closer look.

“Why do you say that?”

“The one back at the house had tinted glass. Really dark. This one, you can see in the back window. Looks like there is a couple sitting in the front seat. Unless you’ve got two people after you, I don’t think that’s the same car.”

She was right.

Of course she was.

Jude could see inside the car, too, see the couple in the front seats. If he’d been thinking with his head instead of acting on the anger that had been simmering in his gut for months, he would have seen those things long before now. “You’d make a good detective, Lacey.”

“You think so? Maybe I should make a career change. Give up home-care work for something more dangerous and exciting.” She laughed as she pulled away from his hold and stepped out into the parking lot, but there was tension in her shoulders and in the air. As if she sensed the danger that had been stalking Jude, felt it as clearly as Jude did.

“I’m not sure being a detective is as dangerous or as exciting as people think. Most days it’s a lot of running into brick walls. Backing up, trying a new direction.” He led Lacey across the parking lot, his body still humming with adrenaline.

“That sounds like life to me. Running into brick walls, backing up and trying new directions.”

“True, but in my job the brick walls happen every other day. In life, they’re usually not as frequent.” He waited while she got into her car, then closed the door, glancing in the black sedan as he walked past. An elderly woman smiled and waved at him, and Jude waved back, still irritated with himself for the mistake he’d made.

Now that he was closer, it was obvious the two cars he’d seen weren’t the same. The one at his place had been sleeker and a little more sporty. Which proved that when a person wanted to see something badly enough, he did.

“That wasn’t much of a meal for you. Sorry to cut things short for a false alarm.” He glanced at Lacey as he got in the Mustang and was surprised that her hand was shaking as she shoved the key in the ignition.

He put a hand on her forearm. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

“For someone who is fine, your hands sure are shaking hard.”

“How about we chalk it up to fatigue?”

“How about you admit you were scared?”

“Were? I still am.” She started the car, and Jude let his hand fall away from her arm.

“You don’t have to be. We’re safe. For now.”

“It’s the ‘for now’ part that’s got me worried. Who’s trying to kill you, Jude? Why?”

“If I had the answers to those questions, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about it.”

“You don’t even have a suspect?”

“Lacey, I’ve got a dozen suspects. More. Every wife who’s ever watched me cart her husband off to jail. Every son who’s ever seen me put handcuffs on his dad. Every family member or friend who’s sat through a murder trial and watched his or her loved one be convicted because of the evidence I put together.”

“Have you made a list?

“I’ve made a hundred lists. None of them have done me any good. Until the person responsible comes calling again, I’ve got no evidence, no clues and no way to link anyone to the hit-and-run.”

“Maybe he won’t come calling again. Maybe the hit-and-run was an accident, and maybe the sedan we saw outside your house was just someone who got lost and ended up in the wrong place.” She sounded like she really wanted to believe it.

He should let her, he thought. That was what he’d done with his family. Let them believe the hit-and-run was a fluke thing that had happened and was over. He’d done it to keep them safe. He’d do the opposite to keep Lacey from getting hurt.

“Have you ever walked outside at night?”

“Sure. Who hasn’t?”