Run to Ground(135)

And that was when the second cop showed up.





Chapter 4


As Hugh drove away from the VFW, his discovery ate at him. The last few days, he’d just dismissed the feeling that he was being watched as paranoia, so finding evidence that someone quite possibly had been spying on him was deeply disturbing. Lexi whined from the passenger seat.

“It’s okay,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. By the dog’s anxious expression, he wasn’t succeeding very well. “It’s probably nothing. After all, who’d want to stalk me? I’m just not that interesting.” Drumming his fingers against the wheel with frustration and pent-up adrenaline, he frowned and glanced at his injured leg. “Especially lately.”

His spare radio—the radio he was not supposed to have—beeped, and Hugh jumped. Immediately, he felt like an idiot. Since when did the radio startle him? He was normally calm and steady. This whole mess was turning him into a nervous, trembling Chihuahua. On the radio, Theo informed dispatch that he’d be taking his lunch break and gave his location as Jules’s address. Without hesitating, Hugh made a U-turn and headed in that direction. If Theo thought he’d be getting some alone time with his hot girlfriend, then he was in for an unpleasant surprise. Hugh needed to talk to Theo about the situation immediately. He smiled a little. For some reason, ruining Theo’s fun made Hugh just a little bit happier.

Lexi was staring at him from the passenger seat.

“What?” he asked defensively. “I need to talk to my partner about this whole potential stalker deal. Besides, I haven’t seen Jules’s rug rats in a while. I’m trying to be a good uncle Hugh, that’s all.”

The dog turned to look out the window.

“Whatever,” Hugh grumbled. “You’re always so judgmental.”

Lexi ignored him, her attention focused on a Lab playing in a yard they were passing.

After bumping across the extremely long and poorly maintained driveway that led to Jules’s house, biting back curses every time his leg was jostled, Hugh parked behind Theo’s squad car. As he turned on Lexi’s window fan, he saw Theo standing in the open doorway, facing in. Hugh bounded up the steps, ignoring the shooting pains in his thigh—as well as the unwelcoming glare Theo shot him—and tossed an arm over his partner’s stiff shoulders.

“Jules wouldn’t even let you in?” he asked in mock concern, taking great pleasure in Theo’s obvious irritation. This was so much more entertaining than he’d expected. “Well, we all knew it couldn’t last. I mean, look at her, and then…well…” Hugh dropped his arm so he could gesture at Theo’s unamused form. “There’s you. And you can’t even say you have a good personality.”

“Hugh, stop,” Jules scolded, although he could tell she was holding back a laugh.

Hugh winked at her and then glanced at the crowd of kids. His smile of greeting slipped away as his gaze locked on the woman standing on the stairs. He didn’t know her.

If he’d ever seen her before, he would’ve remembered.

She was gorgeous, tall and sleek and just Hugh’s type. Her hair was true black, the kind that showed blue highlights in the sun, and her tan skin emphasized the unusual light-brown color of her eyes. They were lioness eyes. Terrified eyes.

Eyes of a woman with a secret.

Hugh bit back a curse. Something wasn’t right. He’d only recently agreed to quit looking into Jules’s background, and now another mystery woman had landed in his town, with scared eyes and a gorgeous body and…no! The last thing he needed was to get sucked into this woman’s mess, whatever it may be.

Shaking off the strange spell that had come over him, Hugh mentally hunted for words, even as he marveled at his tongue-tied silence. Hugh didn’t do silence. Even in life-or-death situations, he’d never had words fail him before. Right now, though, with those lioness eyes watching him, he scrambled to find something to say until finally settling on the very lame “You’re new.”

“Yes.” Even her voice was beautiful. Husky and low and hinting of late-night, sexy things.

Hugh cleared his throat. Focus. “That was a hint. For you to tell me your name.”

“Grace Robinson.”

Lie. He’d always been good at sniffing out lies. It was a useful talent to have as a cop. For some reason, though, when the lie came from her mouth, it stung. His eyes narrowed. If she wanted a battle, he’d give her one—and he’d win. “And where are you from, Grace?”

“Lots of places.” She pushed her thick fall of hair over her shoulder without dropping eye contact, and Hugh had to fight not to get distracted. It was just that her hair was so shiny. It was like she’d stepped out of a shampoo commercial, all gloss and attitude. With a huge effort, he kept his gaze locked with hers and focused on the fact that she had just dodged his question.