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the middle of an important meeting.”
    He did? “Thanks for coming over, James. As you can see, I’m fine. It was just a freak accident.” Don’t phone Corey because you will be too busy for at least the next two weeks .
    “I’ll give you a call sometime.”
    Corey plastered a smile on her face, even though she ached at the possibility of never seeing him again. Whatever the outcome, he was inside her soul now and no one would ever take his place. “Sure thing.”
    She stepped back and grasped the door handle. The gentle touch of his hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.
    “I can’t leave without first doing this.” He cupped her face and kissed her. Smiling, he pulled back and turned away, walking towards his car. Corey touched her tingling lips as she watched him drive away, one small tear sliding down her cheek. Please stay safe.

Chapter Four
    The phone rang as James entered his office. He cursed, hoping like hell it wasn’t anything important. He had a mountain of work to catch up on, so why the fuck did he spend so much time worrying about Corey? She’d been around the traps. She knew the score and how to look after herself. She certainly didn’t need him.
    He threw his mobile phone down on the partners’ desk and sat down before snatching the desk phone from its cradle. “Barrington.”
    “Jimmy boy, I’ve been trying to find you.”
    “Dave. I’m glad you called. I was just about to call you.”
    “Glad I saved you the trouble. I wanted to bring you up to speed with the investigation.”
    “You didn’t find anything, did you? I thought as—”
    Dave cut him off. “No, that isn’t it. I’ve got a lead on the car that almost ran your girlfriend down.”
    “Don’t worry about it, Dave. It was just a coincidence. Must have been a kid joyriding.”
    “No, I don’t think so.”
    “Had to be. It was some kid in a stolen car, not used to driving, and the car got out of control.”
    “Nup. It’s not that. Your girlfriend is obviously a deliberate target.”
    James stood up, his grip on the phone tightening. “What do you mean?”
    “We found the car abandoned.”
    “So?”
    “It had a picture of your girlfriend in it, with her studio address on the back. It was definitely no accident.”
    Running his fingers through his hair, he moved back to the desk. “So have you questioned any witnesses? Do you have her under surveillance?”
    “We would if we could find her.”
    It took a few seconds for the implication to sink in. A strong belief of how it was all a coincidence warred with his natural instincts to protect her, and the persistent gut feeling that something was very wrong. His brain hurt and the urge to throw up increased with every passing second. The gut feeling won. She was in danger and he’d left her alone, unguarded.
    Idiot!
    “Fuck. You lost her? Bloody great detectives you are. Shit!”
    “Fair go, mate. A minute ago you told me to drop the whole thing. After you arrived at her studio, I figured she was safe for a while, so I went back to the station and started tracking down the car. I got half of the plate from the coffee shop owner, plus he was pretty sure of the make and model, so it wasn’t long before we found the car. By the time we found the evidence and went back to question her, she’d gone.”
    What had possessed me to leave her? “Did you try her home?”
    “Well, duh. Of course we did. She wasn’t there either. I thought she might be with you.”
    She should be with me, but I left her alone.
    “I left her half an hour ago. She was fine.”
    “And you have no idea where she might be?”
    He had an idea, but after this stuff-up, there was no way he wasn’t getting involved himself. “No, not really. I don’t know her very well.”
    A loud snort sounded through the handset. “Yeah, right. Like you two haven’t been fucking ever since you met.”
    “I’m her solicitor, Dave.” Although this was true, why did he feel it was hell of a lot