make a joke out of it. But not really, especially with Darius looking like a thundercloud leaning against the wall. “Jesus. Where was the bodyguard?”
“He was just a part-timer, it was all I could afford. Anyway, at that point I decided that I needed to leave town. My career was in shambles anyway. I didn’t feel safe anywhere I went in LA. I wanted to get as far away as possible, and Lost Harbor, Alaska, fits that description. I sold my condo and bought a plane ticket here, where no one has ever heard of Catriona Fletcher. Until now. Now, I’m screwed.”
Darius came over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, reassurance radiating through its weight and warmth. “Are you worried that Ethan James is working for those criminals? I don’t think so.”
“You don’t know that. Criminals hire lawyers too. If I wanted to represent bad guys, I could make a fortune.”
He absorbed that with a flicker of his eyelids. “He seemed like a decent guy. He said something about wanting you to testify in a case. He left me his card. How about if I act as a go-between so I can find out more from him? If I get any hint of anything suspicious, I’ll drop it.”
She chewed at the inside of her mouth. If the scammers from LA were involved, would they really give her a head’s up by sending a polite man with a business card?
“I want to find out who he’s working for. That will tell me a lot.”
He scanned her face closely. “You’re thinking of meeting with him?”
“I can’t exactly ignore him. It’s a small town, and if he’s any good, he’ll keep on popping up. Unless I want to flee into Lost Souls Wilderness, I should probably just face him. And believe me, I’m not the roughing-it-in-the-wilderness type. Jess and Maya can confirm.”
“Let’s do some research on Ethan James and his agency first.”
He pulled out his phone, but she reached out a hand to stop him. “You don’t have to do that. This is my problem. You have a whole firehouse to worry about.”
His blue-gray gaze clashed with hers. “Oh hell no. You’re not pushing me away on this. I’m in the middle of it and I’m not going anywhere.”
A sneaky thrill of pleasure shot through her at his words. Not just his words, but his manner, like some kind of Highland warrior ready to take up arms to defend her.
“Fine,” she conceded. “You can look up Ethan James while I make a few calls.”
He did more than that. While she curled up on her couch and talked to her contact at the DA’s office, he wandered into her kitchen and came back with breakfast.
A plate of blueberry pancakes, to be exact. Which he must have made from scratch, because she didn’t have any pancake mix on hand.
Impressive.
The pancakes were the perfect balance between hearty and fluffy. She gorged herself as she listened to the ADA talk about a class-action suit filed against the doctor who had vouched for the fake supplements.
“These are amazing,” she told Darius when she’d finally completed the call. “How’d you learn to make such good pancakes?”
“I always make pancakes when I work an overnight shift, so long as I’m not out on a call. My crews expect it now. I’ve spoiled them. We don’t work a lot of overnight shifts here, just in the summer. But the tradition continues. So what’d you learn?”
“Sounds like they’re busy with other things. My contact thinks the chances that they’ve sent someone to Alaska are zero. Anything on this Ethan James?”
“Clean as a bottle of detergent. Excellent reputation. Stellar record. I forgot to mention that he’s friends with Padric Jeffers. You could also contact him for a reference.”
“Oh sure, just call up Padric Jeffers out of the blue.” She was familiar with the rock star, but only through Zoe Bellini, his fiancée. “That’s okay, I’m willing to take a chance and meet him for myself.”
“Good.” He tugged a business card from the pocket of his sweats. “Want me to call him or do you want to call him yourself?”
“I’ll call him myself, of course.” She plucked the card from his hand and looked at the name and contact information printed on it. The James Agency. Los Angeles, California. The words gave her a sudden chill. They brought back those fearful moments during her last days in LA.
And she realized…she didn’t want to do this alone.
“But I…would be grateful…I mean, if