“Logan!”
He grimaced, not looking pleased to see her. “Sorry about your Jeep, Dani.”
At the mention of her name, the suited man gave her a curious look. Who was he? Relief flooded her when Logan said he was only worried about her reaction to the damage to her car. Needing to touch him, she lightly rested her palm on his shoulder. When he didn’t wince, she let her hand remain there. He had several cuts on his face and arms, but thank God they seemed to be superficial.
“Bloody hell, Logan, I don’t care about the damn car.”
Logan gave a half smile and looked at the other man. “She writes historical romances, thus her liking for words like ‘bloody hell.’”
The man grinned. “My wife reads them. Sometimes she reads a paragraph or two out loud. You romance writers sure know your stuff. I’ve had some interesting evenings thanks to you and your like.”
Dani laughed. Logan was okay, and everything in her world was right again. “Dani Prescott,” she said, offering her hand. She liked this man, whoever he was. She guessed him to be nearing forty, possessing alert, watchful eyes and a sense of humor.
“Kevin Langley, Detective, Asheville Police Department.”
“Oh.” Why had a detective responded to a car accident?
Logan rubbed his head. “Sorry. I should’ve introduced you two.”
Dani studied him. He didn’t look good. His face was pale, and his eyes didn’t seem quite in focus. “Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”
“No reason,” Logan said, and stood, only to sway.
She slipped under his arm to help support him. One thing she had learned from Evan, these blasted SEALs had their pride. As expected, he tried to push away, wanting to prove, she was sure, that he could stand on his own.
“Please, I’m attached to you for my sake,” she said. “You scared the daylights out of me.”
He sagged against her. “All right.”
She turned to the detective. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight worrying about him. You’re a cop; can’t you make him go to the hospital? Jared and I will follow the ambulance and bring him home if they say he’s okay.”
Logan’s protest was miniscule, telling her she was right to insist he get checked out. “Where did they take the Cherokee?” she asked Langley. Logan and the detective shared a look she didn’t much like.
“Show her,” Logan said.
Reluctantly letting go of Logan, she followed the detective to the edge of the drop-off, where down below her Jeep rested nose first in a creek. A massive tree branch dissected the car in half.
“He could have died.” The detective caught her when her knees gave out. He let her slide down the side of his body until her butt planted itself firmly on the ground, and then he sat next to her.
“But he didn’t, Miss Prescott. The branch punctured the airbag, and he thinks his head hit the steering wheel. Seems a black Ford truck came up behind him and pushed him over the edge.”
Oh God. Oh God. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and pressed her forehead against her knees. Because of her, Logan had almost been killed.
“So you have no idea who this character is?”
Dani lifted her head and stared down at her car. Whoever he was, he had meant to kill Logan. “No, but I wish I did. I would kill him myself.”
Langley chuckled. “I didn’t just hear that. Can’t say I blame you for wanting to, but you need to leave catching the perp to the police.”
“Logan’s not going to sit around twiddling his thumbs waiting for you to catch this guy.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, considering who he is.”
“He told you?”
“This morning when I had the gall not to take him as seriously as he thought I should. Don’t get me wrong. I believed him, but your boyfriend thought I should make this my top priority.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“If you say so. Anyway, Kincaid’s got top-secret clearance and knows things that would give me nightmares. Add to that, he’s got access to the kind of toys my department doesn’t even bother dreaming about, they are so far out of reach. So yeah, to some extent, I’m gonna look the other way where your ninja boy’s concerned.”
He glanced down the ravine at her Cherokee. “Whoever this nutcase is, he upped the stakes with this little stunt. But, Miss Dani, if your not-boyfriend so much as puts a scratch on this character except in self-defense, I’ll throw his ass in jail. I’m trusting you to see he toes the line.”
Like she could stop Logan from doing whatever he thought necessary to protect her. Keeping the thought to herself, she put her hand on the detective’s shoulder and levered herself up.