the outside, she had inner fortitude of tungsten steel. "Nothing?"
"I didn't trust him, he had rattlesnake eyes. Reptilian." She shivered. "He didn't care about the money. He knew about the checks and wanted to find out if I did. The only way he could have that information is if he was involved, because the bags were sealed. I doubt he was really FBI."
His kitten was one smart cookie. But then he had already glimpsed the sharp intellect behind those big golden eyes. "You've got good instincts, Houdini. Check out my ID."
Tessa opened the wallet. "Well, this is interesting. No wonder you use your middle name. I'm sorry, I know it's not polite, but you, of all people, to be named—" she broke off in a gale of husky giggles.
"Valentine," he finished, enjoying her laughter. "Valentine Gabriel Colton, FBI Special Agent, at your service."
"Okay, you have ID. Like I said before, so did Gregson. How do I know it's the genuine article?"
"Hey, if I made something up, I sure wouldn't conjure up that name."
"Maybe so, but when we get where we're going, I want to call the local FBI office for confirmation."
"I'm not affiliated with the locals, I'm working out of D.C. on a special interagency assignment. At the moment, I answer to one guy, work alone and go where I'm needed, doing what's necessary. Even if that means coloring outside the lines."
"The hired gun, cleaning up Dodge City all by himself?"
"And when the job is over, I ride off into the sunset. Alone." He was warning her, but also reminding himself. Keep everything on the surface, keep it superficial. Keep it safe.
"How does one get a job like that? Did you go to super-secret spy college?"
"I was a frogman for ten years."
"A what?"
"Sorry, Navy SEAL."
"That explains the affinity for water."
"My love affair with the ocean began long before that. I grew up in San Diego, started surfing when I was only seven."
"Seven?" A shudder wracked her. "Then why did you leave the SEALs? You're landlocked now, I take it."
He considered her question. "It stopped being fun." Blurting out the honest reply startled him. He was always careful not to reveal his true feelings.
"So you quit." Her brows arched. "What happened?"
Guilt wrenched inside him. You don't want to know. That's what he got for following his crazy impulse to open up to her.
Thrown off balance by his out-of-the-blue lapse of control, which seemed to happen too often around her, he focused on the business at hand. "As you've realized, this … situation concerns the checks. But it's complicated. Gregson may or may not be genuine FBI. Too much information has leaked out. Cops are involved and we're not sure how high the betrayal goes. That's why I had to pull the bank job. I couldn't just waltz in and ask to see the checks. I'd have blown my cover. The robbery got me the checks without arousing suspicions. From the local cops on up, nobody can know I'm working for the good guys. Two of our agents are already dead. We can't trust anybody. Including our own."
"But you trust me?"
Gabe had discovered the hard way he couldn't trust anyone. He'd learned the lesson early, and learned it well. He survived by holding people at arm's length, substituting adventure and excitement for relationships. A clever quip and a ready smile kept deeper emotions where they belonged. Buried.
Every day was a party. But it was a party for one.
He'd run a thorough background check on Tessa and discovered nothing incriminating. Defying logic, his gun-shy instincts urged him to trust her all the way. If he couldn't get her out of this mess, he might have to. A suffocating fist gripped his lungs. He might be forced to include her—to a minimum—on a professional level, but he'd make damn sure it didn't get personal.
"Obviously if they're after you, you're not in on it. And you saw the checks, which puts you in jeopardy." Quashing his inner turmoil, he grinned at her. "I need your cooperation, and I can't be afraid to eat or drink when you're around. Very clever, by the way. I couldn't see straight for twelve hours. Which made surveilling you since you left the hospital a little difficult. Luckily, I managed, or Gregson's abduction attempt would have succeeded."
Her cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry. I felt badly about drugging you, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I wanted to go home. But even after I escaped, nobody would let