Melinda Di Lorenzo - Undercover Protector

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Not when anyone can hear.”

“No,” he agreed. “When anyone can hear, you don’t call me anything at all.”

“We’re getting off topic.”

“You’re right. We are. We need to be talking about you going back upstairs.”

“No. We need to talk about the fact that I’m going home.”

“You can’t go home, Nadine. Garibaldi’s men could be watching your apartment. Waiting for a wrong move.”

Fear made her shiver. “I don’t want to stay here.”

He lifted his hand again, reached it toward his face, then dropped it to his side instead. “First, let’s go back upstairs. If you really think you can’t stay here, I’ll call the team. I’ll see what they say. We’ll find a solution. I promise.”

“You promise?” she echoed doubtfully.

“Do you think I like the idea of living my life on a bench outside your room? ’Cause I really don’t. I can’t get any further in my case if I’m playing watchdog. And I’d really like to build on what Brayden found out about Garibaldi.”

“So go work on it, then.”

“And leave you unprotected? I don’t think so. That’s not how I work. Whether you think so or not, keeping you alive is more important to me than making progress on the case.”

Another snarky reply popped into Nadine’s mind, but a trickle of conscience kept her from saying it aloud. She’d been right when she’d surmised that the detective had things he’d rather be doing. But she hadn’t really considered it in terms of a sacrifice on her behalf.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go back up. But I don’t want the IV. And I want to know that you’re going to keep that promise.”

His face cleared, a charming smile making an appearance. “I will.”

“Don’t be smug.”

“I’ll try not to be.”

“That sounded smug.”

“Sorry.”

“Can we just go?”

“Yep.” He stepped back and swept an arm out. “Ladies first.”

Nadine snorted. She moved ahead of him anyway. But as they came out from their secluded spot, she stopped abruptly. The care center’s lobby was jam-packed, and the wail of distant sirens cut through the air.

* * *

It took Anderson only a second to figure out that the facility was in the process of being evacuated. A couple of administrative staff held clipboards and were checking off names and filtering people through to frazzled-looking medical personnel. Mobile patients to one spot. Those in wheelchairs to another. He cast a glance toward Nadine. Whatever was going on, he was damned sure it had something to do with her. Which meant he needed to get her as far away as possible.

He grabbed her elbow and started to steer her away from the building.

“Well,” he said, “I guess you’re going to get your wish and not be stuck here any longer.”

She let him guide her for all of five steps before she planted her feet so hard that his fingers slipped from her arm. “Wait.”

“Seriously?”

“Don’t you think we should find out what’s going on?”

“It’s an evacuation.”

“An evacuation? Why are they still inside, then?”

“They must be confident that whatever’s happened, the lobby is secure,” he said. “And they could be doing a full head count before they escort them all outside. Easier to keep everyone straight if no one can wander off.”

Nadine’s gaze swiveled sharply to the scene. “A head count?”

“Yes.”

“So they’ll figure out that I’m gone.”

“Presumably. But I’m more concerned about making sure you’re safe than I am about reassuring the staff that they’ve got the right number of patients.”

“But it could be worse in the long run. I really think we should take a minute and ask what happened.”

Anderson’s teeth wanted to grind together, and he wondered if this new state of impatience was going to become permanent. “If I go over there and ask, will you agree to leave?”

She nodded. “It’s not like I want to stay.”

Now his teeth did grind together. “I’m going to walk you to the spot we were a second ago, and I want you to promise me you’ll stay put.”

Amusement made her brown eyes warm for a second. “Like a good girl?”

“Right. As if that’s the role you’re going for.”

A laugh escaped her lips as his hand closed on her elbow again, and for a second, Anderson was surprised into stillness. In the week since he’d met her, he hadn’t once heard Nadine laugh. It was a nice sound, and Anderson liked it enough that he almost forgot his irritation.

At least until she spoke again, her voice back to its slightly stinging tone. “Are we going?”

He jerked his head in a short nod of ascent. “Yep.”

He guided her quickly to the other side of the bushes, shot her his best stern-cop look, then moved away again. Fast enough that she couldn’t comment. As he strode toward the front of the building, though, he kind of wished he could hear that laugh of hers again. It was light and pleasant. Not quite musical. But almost.

Yeah, he definitely wanted to hear it again. Preferably soon.

He reached the automatic glass doors then, and they slid open. He tried to step through, smiling automatically as a woman in a nurse’s uniform approached him right away and stopped him from going any farther.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“I hope so.”

“Well, I’ll try. But I’m afraid we’ve got a bit of situation and can’t let in any visitors.”

“Yeah, I figured that much out.” He widened his smile. “I was actually already inside. Took a patient for a walk a short bit ago. Just a little worried about getting her back in.”

“What’s the patient’s name?”

“Nadine Stuart.”

The nurse bent to make a note, then lifted her head again and smiled back at him. “All right. She’s accounted for.”

“She is?” He couldn’t quite keep the surprise from his voice.

She laughed. “That’s a good thing. And her doctor himself noted that he saw her out here, so even better. We’re actually taking everyone outside shortly so the police can do their thing. I’m going to suggest just sitting tight for now.”

“Anything we should be worried about?” Anderson asked, relieved that if there had to be a head count error that at least it worked in his favor.

The nurse turned her head to the side like she was checking to see if anyone was listening before she leaned a little closer. “You’re probably better to hear this from me anyway. Rumors from everyone won’t be accurate.”

“Definitely not.”

“A patient saw someone in a mask sneaking around upstairs.”

Anderson stifled a frown. “Scary.”

The nurse nodded. “If it’s true.”

“You don’t think it is?”

“Who knows? No one else saw anything. But the guy was adamant. Says Mr. Mask went right past his room on the third floor. So here we are.”

“Well. Thanks for the tip.”

“No problem.”

He offered her a final smile, then turned on his heel. As he exited the door, he was glad to have left when he did—the siren was now at a high, and the familiar flash of blue and red appeared at the end of the block. He stepped up his pace to just under a jog and slid behind the bushes.

“All right, Nadine, I think we—”

His words died abruptly on his lips. The spot where he’d left her was empty.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered.

He turned back to the open space behind him, his head whipping back and forth in search of her. There was plenty to see—two police cars had driven up onto the shoulder of the road and the people inside were being moved, single file, to the exterior of the building. The one thing he saw no sign of was Nadine Stuart.