Part 18 (1/2)

”I'll come with you.” He started to step into the elevator.

”No.” Her clipped response stopped him.

”Skye...”

Someone else brushed by him. Maneuvered into the elevator.

”I need a break,” Skye said, her voice hoa.r.s.e, as if she were trying to fight tears. ”Send one of your agents with me, but I need a break.”

From you.

He forced himself to step back.

He held her gaze until the elevator closed.

Then Trace pulled out his phone. In less than five seconds, he had an agent ready to go. ”Be her d.a.m.n shadow,” he ordered. ”She doesn't take a step without your eyes on her.”

She might want her s.p.a.ce from him, but he wasn't about to risk her life.

Chapter Eight.

It was gone. Her second chance had turned to ash.

Skye stared at the charred remains of her studio. There was nothing she could salvage there. Everything was just...gone. Destroyed by the flames.

She'd already called her students. Skye had tried to rea.s.sure them that she would find another s.p.a.ce.

She hadn't mentioned that she didn't have the money to rent another building.

”Are you all right?”

She glanced to the left. As soon as she'd arrived at the scene, she'd realized that Alex Griffin was there, waiting on her. He'd come straight toward her.

He watched her with a guarded expression that made her tense. ”Please don't ask me if I'm about to have a breakdown.” Because that was the way he was staring at her. As if she'd just shatter apart. ”I promise, I'm much stronger than I look.” The female cop, Carol-the one who'd given Skye a ride home the previous night-stood a few feet behind Alex.

And Skye's newest watchdog from Weston Securities, a guy named Adam Longtree, waited about ten steps to Skye's right. She'd quickly discovered that Adam was the strong and pretty much utterly silent type.

”I'm sorry about your studio,” Alex said as he inclined his head toward her. ”But I didn't think you were about to breakdown. I figured if you were, well, you would've done that last night.”

She squared her shoulders. ”Then you make one person...”

”Pardon?”

Skye blew out a hard breath. She was so seeing her dreams covered by black and gray ash. ”You make one person who doesn't think I'm on the edge of some major meltdown.”

His eyes had narrowed. ”Did you do like I asked? Did you think about Weston-”

She had to laugh. ”Trace isn't doing this to me. h.e.l.l, he thinks I'm doing it to myself.” Her arms felt chilled so she roughly rubbed them. ”Trace, the cop up in New York, Loxley-”

”Uh, yeah,” Alex cut in, ”I don't know who the h.e.l.l Loxley is, but you should know that I did some more talking with Detective Fuller first thing this morning.”

”You did?”

”He got another mechanic to look at the car. There was still no sign of a rear-impact collision, but this guy did find something else.” Her image was reflected back in his dark sungla.s.ses. ”All of the brake fluid was gone.”

”What?” The chill Skye felt got worse.

”With all the fluid gone, the car couldn't stop. That night, you were headed into the curve, and you must have tried to brake.” He raked a hand through his hair. ”You couldn't, and the car lost control.”

It wasn't just her arms that felt chilled. Her cheeks felt the same way. ”Someone sabotaged the car.”

Carol Jones stepped closer.

Alex darted a glance at Carol, then he focused once more on Skye. ”It certainly looks that way.”

Someone had been trying to kill her, for months. ”I want this to stop.” What did she have to do? What? ”I can't live this way.” Being afraid. Having a constant guard-no.

”We'll find him,” Alex said. ”Don't worry.”

Easy for him to say. It wasn't his life on the line.

”With the new evidence, Fuller is re-opening the investigation in New York,” Alex continued. ”The jacka.s.s doing this is going down.”

Carol gave a hard nod.

Skye's gaze darted between the two cops-and over to Adam Longtree. She wasn't surprised to see that he had his phone out and at his ear. The guy was probably briefing Trace on this new development right then. Trace... Her gaze snapped back to Alex. ”You think that jacka.s.s is Trace.”

He didn't respond.

”It's not.”

Carol whistled and rocked forward on the b.a.l.l.s of her feet. ”Having too much faith in the wrong man could be dangerous.”

”Everything I do is dangerous these days.” She gave Carol and Alex a curt nod. ”Thanks for your help.”

She started hurrying away from them. Longtree immediately fell into step with her. Her big, six-foot-plus shadow.

”Skye!”

Pausing, she glanced back at the detective's call.

”Tell me you aren't staying with him.” Tension had hardened Alex's face.

”I won't tell you that.” Because she wasn't planning to return to Trace then. She hadn't lied when she told Trace that she needed a break.