Carol Ericson - Brody Law

And if this guy wanted to continue playing games with him, he’d have the pleasure of bringing him down.

“Try not to get it wet.” The doctor was peeling off her gloves. “And you should be fine.”

Fifteen minutes later, Sean was escorting Elise out of the hospital. “I’m assuming your car’s still parked in Chinatown.”

“It’s still at the station.” She turned and wedged her back against his car. “Why did he do it? Why did he come after me again if he wasn’t planning to kill me?”

“I think it’s obvious.”

“Why didn’t he take the opportunity to kill me?”

“In the middle of Chinatown? That would’ve been a little more noticeable. He sliced your leg in the crowd, knowing you might not register the pain right away or wouldn’t immediately identify what had happened. Then he made his getaway.”

“But why did he bother? Why take that chance if he wasn’t going to finish the job he’d started last night?”

“He’s toying with you, Elise. He’s sending you the message that he can get to you.”

She shrugged off the car and yanked the door open before he could reach for it. “Let him try.”

Sean chewed the inside of his cheek as he went around to the driver’s side of his car. He understood Elise’s anger, but a healthy dose of fear wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

He started the car. “I didn’t ask, but I take it your friend wasn’t with you at the time of the attack?”

“She had an emergency with a client—she’s a therapist.”

“I hope you asked if you could stay at her place.”

Elise reached into the side pocket of her purse and dangled a key ring from her finger. “I’m all set, but I have to go back to my place to pack a bag and get my stuff for school.”

“Does your friend live closer to you or closer to Chinatown?”

“Closer to Chinatown. Why?”

“How about if I drive you to your place first and then take you to your car at the station?”

“Are you a cop or a chauffeur?”

“Sometimes I ask myself the same question.”

She tapped his arm. “No, really, I don’t want to put you out.”

“No problem.” Problem? Sean was reluctant to let her out of his sight. If she thought she’d been looking out for a tail when she’d left the bridge and this guy managed to follow her anyway, he must be good.

Elise’s temporary digs had better be secure, or he didn’t think he’d be able to leave her. She’d gotten under his skin, not that he hadn’t felt protective about witnesses before. That was in his DNA. It was in the Brody DNA.

Something about Elise pushed all his buttons. Her prettiness had a different quality from the rest of the drop-dead-gorgeous women in the city. Her fresh face and quick smile had an irresistible openness—irresistible to him, anyway.

He had to admit that his attraction to her stemmed, in part, to her ignorance about him, about his family. About the dark cloud that hung over his head. Couldn’t she see it following him around?

When they got to her house, he stepped in front of her at the door. “Let me check it out first.”

He did a quick sweep of the small house, including the bathroom, where the note on the mirror still mocked him. “All clear.”

“I figured that.”

Crossing his arms, he blocked her entrance into the living room. “Don’t let down your guard, Elise. He’s out there. He’s watching you. He’s already proved that.”

“You’re right.” She swept past him. “I just don’t like the idea of this guy controlling my life. I don’t want anyone controlling my life.”

“I get it, but you still need to be careful.”

“I know.” She banged a few cupboard doors in the kitchen and emerged holding a bowl and a carton of milk. “I’d better leave something for Straycat.”

She tucked the milk in the crook of her arm as she slid open the door to the patio. The dish clinked as she set it down on the porch. “Straycat!”

“Does he actually come to that name?”

“No, he’s very independent.”

“I guess he doesn’t want anyone controlling his life, either.”

She jerked her head up and studied his face. Then she opened her mouth, snapped it shut and stepped into the room. “I’m going to throw some things in a bag. Would you like something to drink or eat? A banana?”

“Banana?”

“I just bought a bunch and I don’t want them to go to waste if I have to leave them for several days.”

“I’ll take one.” He walked into the kitchen and snapped a banana from the bunch. Peeling it, he strolled to Elise’s room, where she was pulling clothes from a hanger and stuffing them into a suitcase, and he leaned against the doorjamb.

“How’s your leg feeling?”

Without looking up from her task, she replied, “Fine.”

“Do you need me to do anything? Check your locks? Leave a lamp on?”

She stood back from the overflowing suitcase, hands on her hips. “You like to help, don’t you?”

Heat crawled up his neck and he took a big bite of the banana. Chewing allowed him to avoid the question. He swallowed and shrugged. “I’m a cop. That’s what we do.”

“Ah, but which came first?” She plunged her hands into the suitcase to flatten the clothes. “Did your desire to help people encourage you to become a cop, or once you became a cop did you just naturally develop that trait?”

He swung the banana peel back and forth. “You know, I never analyzed it. The career runs in the family.”

“Really?”

“My brothers are all in law enforcement.”

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Three.”

“That’s a coincidence. I have three brothers, too.”

Great. He needed to change this subject. If he spent much more time in Elise’s presence, he’d be revealing all his secrets. Secrets better kept to himself.

He backed out of the room, waving the banana peel. “I’m going to toss this.”

When he returned to the bedroom, he took up his position at the door. “So, what do your brothers do?”

“Make my life miserable.” She leaned on the suitcase with one hand and used the other to yank at the zipper.

Sean took two steps into the room, hunched over and held the suitcase down while she zipped it. “Mine can do that, too.”

Still bent over the suitcase, she turned suddenly and her golden hair brushed his arm. “Nice to see a human side to you, Detective.”

He didn’t move an inch. The ends of her ponytail tickled his arm. The pulse in her throat beat out waves of her floral perfume. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with curiosity and humor.

Time seemed to freeze for a few seconds, and in those few seconds he had an overwhelming urge to take possession of her plump lips. To lose himself in the rush of senses that her presence stirred in him. To find out what it felt like to taste sunshine.

The over-the-top thoughts running through his mind must’ve shown on his face.

Her eyes widened and her lips parted as she lodged the tip of her tongue in the corner of her mouth.

He didn’t need a body language expert to tell him what her response meant. Hell, he was a body language expert. If he kissed her now, he’d meet no resistance.

He smacked his palms on the lid of the suitcase and straightened to his full height, feeling as if he were emerging from a spell. “School stuff?”

“What?” Elise blinked her eyes.

“I can take your suitcase out to the car while you get your school materials.”

“Oh, yeah. I keep them all together in a bag.” She swiveled her head from side to side as if lost in her own house.

Sean hoisted the suitcase from the bed, pulled out the handle and stated the obvious. “I’ll take this.”