Read Online Assumed Identity by Julie Miller - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Julie Miller
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attacked her? Someone else?
Since she couldn’t see his face, for all she knew, the man could be sleeping and was no threat at all. Still, that possibility of danger, that hypercharged suspicion of the unknown, prompted her retreat. Keeping her eyes on the car, she backed up beneath the awning until her fingers brushed against the reassuring hardness of hard, cold steel.
“Ma’am?”
Robin screamed. A dog barked and she screamed again as she spun toward the uniformed officer and his German shepherd. She clutched her hand to the quick rise and fall of her chest, unable to summon anything resembling relief. “Officer Taylor. You startled me.”
“Sorry.” He held up a gloved hand in apologetic surrender and backed away a step. “I don’t make a habit out of scaring people, I swear. Detective Montgomery asked for a volunteer to patrol the neighborhood and I...I just...” His blond eyebrows arched into a frown as he fumbled for the words he wanted to say. “I felt so bad about your friend earlier, Hans and I wanted to hang around to make sure you got to where you’re going.”
“I’m only going across the street.” When she pointed toward Hope’s apartment, and Pike Taylor’s attention shifted to the bridal shop, the engine of the car that had alarmed her turned over and roared to life. Pike’s shoulders straightened, taking note of the green car pulling out and disappearing over the rise of the intersection at the top of the street.
Had the uniformed officer scared off the driver? Or was the sudden departure a mere coincidence?
Pike Taylor wasn’t taking any chances. “Across town or across the street, we’d be happy to walk you, ma’am.” Clearly, his vow to serve and protect was no joke to him. “I wanted to do the same for Miss Lockhart, but she wouldn’t... I mean, she was more comfortable with Officer Wheeler. Maggie’s a good cop, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not a horrible... I’m rambling, aren’t I?”
Her terror eased into something approaching motherly concern at his struggle to express himself. Robin inhaled a deep breath that seemed to calm them both. “I’d be relieved to have you walk me over to Hope’s apartment.”
“Okay.” With a brusque command to Hans, the three of them crossed the parking lot. Robin noticed how Pike Taylor’s gaze scanned up and down the street with every step, just as Lonergan’s had when he’d taken her and Emma inside the shop.
Robin, too, searched the lights and shadows as they stepped off the curb. “Did you see him?”
“The guy in the green sedan?”
“No, the...” Lonergan was gone. Again. He was a mystery who fascinated as much as he frustrated her. But the message was clear. For whatever reason, he wanted nothing more to do with her. He’d said he had only one good deed in him, and she’d already taxed his quota for the night.
She tried to block out her curiosity about her rescuer and concentrate on the young man beside her. “So staying late is Hans’s idea, too?”
Pike Taylor grinned. “The two of us think a lot alike.”
Robin smiled at the idea of a man and his dog thinking as one. “My friend Hope bought the bottom two floors of this building from the same man who sold me my space across the street. She’s converted the entire level above her bridal shop into storage and a generous-size apartment.”
“I remember her, from interviews and security sweeps early in our task force investigation. She usually wears her hair all up in a bun so I didn’t recognize her tonight. I thought she was older.” He followed Robin through the parking lot gate to the building’s side entrance. “She’s not.”
Robin was beginning to wonder if Pike’s interest in Hope had to do with something other than guilt. “She’s younger than me,” Robin assured him. They reached the brick archway framing the door and she pulled out the keys to unlock both the outer entrance and the inside door that led upstairs to the private
Since she couldn’t see his face, for all she knew, the man could be sleeping and was no threat at all. Still, that possibility of danger, that hypercharged suspicion of the unknown, prompted her retreat. Keeping her eyes on the car, she backed up beneath the awning until her fingers brushed against the reassuring hardness of hard, cold steel.
“Ma’am?”
Robin screamed. A dog barked and she screamed again as she spun toward the uniformed officer and his German shepherd. She clutched her hand to the quick rise and fall of her chest, unable to summon anything resembling relief. “Officer Taylor. You startled me.”
“Sorry.” He held up a gloved hand in apologetic surrender and backed away a step. “I don’t make a habit out of scaring people, I swear. Detective Montgomery asked for a volunteer to patrol the neighborhood and I...I just...” His blond eyebrows arched into a frown as he fumbled for the words he wanted to say. “I felt so bad about your friend earlier, Hans and I wanted to hang around to make sure you got to where you’re going.”
“I’m only going across the street.” When she pointed toward Hope’s apartment, and Pike Taylor’s attention shifted to the bridal shop, the engine of the car that had alarmed her turned over and roared to life. Pike’s shoulders straightened, taking note of the green car pulling out and disappearing over the rise of the intersection at the top of the street.
Had the uniformed officer scared off the driver? Or was the sudden departure a mere coincidence?
Pike Taylor wasn’t taking any chances. “Across town or across the street, we’d be happy to walk you, ma’am.” Clearly, his vow to serve and protect was no joke to him. “I wanted to do the same for Miss Lockhart, but she wouldn’t... I mean, she was more comfortable with Officer Wheeler. Maggie’s a good cop, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not a horrible... I’m rambling, aren’t I?”
Her terror eased into something approaching motherly concern at his struggle to express himself. Robin inhaled a deep breath that seemed to calm them both. “I’d be relieved to have you walk me over to Hope’s apartment.”
“Okay.” With a brusque command to Hans, the three of them crossed the parking lot. Robin noticed how Pike Taylor’s gaze scanned up and down the street with every step, just as Lonergan’s had when he’d taken her and Emma inside the shop.
Robin, too, searched the lights and shadows as they stepped off the curb. “Did you see him?”
“The guy in the green sedan?”
“No, the...” Lonergan was gone. Again. He was a mystery who fascinated as much as he frustrated her. But the message was clear. For whatever reason, he wanted nothing more to do with her. He’d said he had only one good deed in him, and she’d already taxed his quota for the night.
She tried to block out her curiosity about her rescuer and concentrate on the young man beside her. “So staying late is Hans’s idea, too?”
Pike Taylor grinned. “The two of us think a lot alike.”
Robin smiled at the idea of a man and his dog thinking as one. “My friend Hope bought the bottom two floors of this building from the same man who sold me my space across the street. She’s converted the entire level above her bridal shop into storage and a generous-size apartment.”
“I remember her, from interviews and security sweeps early in our task force investigation. She usually wears her hair all up in a bun so I didn’t recognize her tonight. I thought she was older.” He followed Robin through the parking lot gate to the building’s side entrance. “She’s not.”
Robin was beginning to wonder if Pike’s interest in Hope had to do with something other than guilt. “She’s younger than me,” Robin assured him. They reached the brick archway framing the door and she pulled out the keys to unlock both the outer entrance and the inside door that led upstairs to the private
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