door open for them when Jake pulled her back inside.
“What are you doing?”
“This way.” He lengthened his stride, pushing a broad path through the guests in the lobby.
“But the SUV we rented is parked out back.” Robin had to quicken her pace to keep up with him. “I don’t mind a little rain.”
“We’re taking the scenic route.”
“No, we’re not.” Robin tried to slow down, but he simply pulled her against his hip and cinched his arm around her to keep her moving at his speed. She was starting to learn how to read these sudden defensive maneuvers of his. “What did you see? What’s happening?”
The rain hit her face and soaked through her hair to her scalp. Jake barely gave her time to pull the blanket over Emma’s head before pulling the carrier from her grasp and hurrying them into a jog around the corner away from any main entrances.
“Jake,” she protested as they crossed a gravel alleyway and entered the rear parking lot. “You’re scaring me. I thought we agreed that you’d let me in on whatever’s going on in that mind of yours.”
“The empty place that can’t remember anything? Or the scary part that thinks we’re being followed.”
“Followed?”
He punched the remote to unlock the car and set Emma in the backseat. “Get this thing attached.”
With a soft curse, Robin moved in front of him and situated Emma in her car seat while Jake turned a slow 360 degrees behind her. She tried to steal a few glances around them, too, but saw no one. Just empty parked cars. “Who’s following us? Mark? I’d be happy to tell him he’s fired again.”
“It’s not Riggins. It...may have nothing to do with you.”
“What?”
“You get in, too.” As soon as she finished, Jake pulled her back and shut the SUV’s rear door. In the same fluid movement, he opened the passenger door and lifted her onto the seat. “I thought I recognized someone in front of the church.”
Robin latched on to his hand before he could pull away. “You said you don’t remember your past.”
“Not that far back. Ever since that Ghost Rescuer stuff hit the papers, I keep seeing someone watching me. And I don’t think he wants my autograph.” He set the diaper bag in her lap. “Is your cell phone in there?”
“Yes.” While she unzipped the bag and pulled her phone out, she tried not to let his vigilant sweep of the parking lot and streets beyond unnerve her too much. “Who is it? The Rose Red Rapist? Does he think you can stop him? Is it a reporter? The man Mark sold the pictures to?”
“I don’t know.” Once she had her phone in her lap, Jake dropped the car keys into her palm and curled her fingers around them.
Rain drops beaded on his face as he stood just outside the door and his icy eyes searched her face. “Jake?”
He brushed the damp hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Just remember. I tried to be a good guy for you and Emma.”
She turned her cheek into his palm. “You are.”
He nodded, but she didn’t think he looked like he believed what she did. When she opened her mouth to argue the point, he leaned in and kissed her. He stamped his possession on her lips and she gladly accepted the claim. The kiss was hard and brief, and filled with something more poignant than goodbye.
“Lock this tight and stay put,” he ordered as he pulled away. “Call 911 if anything spooks you before I get back. If you don’t see me in five minutes, drive to KCPD and show Montgomery the doll.”
“If I don’t see you...?” She reached for him, but he was already closing the door. “Where are you going?”
“To introduce myself.”
Robin watched Jake head toward the corner of the building. The rain made dark stains on the shoulders of his T-shirt. He shifted his gun from his ankle holster to the back of his belt. He looked dangerous and determined and she wanted him back with her now. So she felt safe. So she knew he’d be safe, too.
Once he was out of sight, she checked her watch and marked the time. Five minutes.
What did he mean by I tried to be a good guy for you and Emma? Had he decided not to be a hero? What was he planning to do with that gun, anyway? Why was he kissing her goodbye?
She knew how to be alone. She knew how to take