Read Online Twin Targets by Marta Perry - Free Book Online

library science. She was retired to Florida by then, but she wouldn’t miss that. We still talk often.”
    She should call her. Tell her about Ruby. Or at least, tell her as much as she could.
    “So she’s why you became a librarian.” Micah sounded satisfied at having one piece of her history organized.
    “She’s certainly the kind of librarian I want to be…the sort of person who is a resource to her whole community. Not the stereotypical old maid with glasses and her hair in a bun, saying ‘Shh’ all the time.”
    He chuckled, reaching out to touch the wild tangle of her hair. “I don’t think you’d ever be that.”
    She smiled back at him, the smile lingering for a moment, like his hand on her hair, and then fading. “Thank you, Micah. I don’t…I don’t know how I’d have gotten through today without you.”
    “You’re welcome.” His gaze warmed, and the back of his fingers touched her cheek, heating her skin. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. She could only look at him, seeing the awareness in his eyes that must surely be written in hers, too. There was no sound, but she imagined she could feel the beating of his heart, as she had when she’d been in his arms.
    He drew his hand away slowly, and it seemed to take an effort for him to turn, looking at the road ahead. He cleared his throat. “I guess we should get going.”
    “Yes.” Her voice didn’t sound natural to her. “We have a long drive.”
    And every mile of it, she’d be denying to herself that she felt anything at all for him.
    The background checks on Jade Summers had come through promptly. Micah sat at his desk the next day, scanning them carefully, aware as he did so of how much Jade would hate having her life laid out that way for him to see.
    She was a private person, very different in that respect from her twin. Even when life was beating her down, Ruby had remained outgoing and feisty. Maybe that had been her defense against the world that hadn’t given her much of a fair start.
    Jade had reacted to that same beginning by turning inward, taking her refuge in books. He’d guess she trusted rarely, if ever.
    That made her breakdown in his presence all the more remarkable. Today she was probably regretting that bitterly. He’d guess the next time they met she’d be at her iciest, in order to deny those moments when she’d wept in his arms.
    And what about that other moment, when he’d touched her and they’d seemed to see into each other’s souls? What did she do with that? More to the point, what did he do with it?
    He didn’t need anyone to tell him the answer to that one. It would be professional suicide to get involved with a woman who was part of an active investigation, whether she was perpetrator, victim or innocent witness. So the only thing he could do was to shut down his feelings.
    Too bad he wasn’t better at that. He ought to take an example from his big brother. As far as he could see, Jackson had been shutting down his feelings for most of his life. He closed the file on Jade and opened the much more cursory report on Edie Summers, mother of the twins. Just as he was telling himself that there was no earthly reason to waste time looking that far back in their lives, he saw one.
    He let out a low whistle. Edie had been involved for a time with a low-level soldier from the same crime family her daughter later testified against. Did it mean anything? He did some rapid mental calculations. The twins would have been about twelve at the time, certainly old enough to remember Georgie Messina. He couldn’t see how it fit in, but he couldn’t ignore it, either. He’d have to talk with Jade—
    “Hey, Micah.” Mac Sellers rounded the corner by his desk. “Somebody here you need to talk to.”
    Micah’s brows lifted in a question. “Who? Something to do with the case I’m working?”
    “Nah. Probably just a crank, but the woman says she needs to talk to someone in Witness Protection.” Mac ran a