will be going to the police station.”
“You don’t believe I killed anyone, do you?”
“I think you need to talk to the cops.” He reached for her hand. Time to cuff her.
“Don’t.” Breathy. Desperate.
He’d rarely seen Rose be desperate. Come to think of it, this might be the first time he’d ever heard that particular note in her voice.
“You don’t get what’s at play here, War.”
“Sure I do. Twenty grand is at play.”
“What?”
“Twenty. Grand.” A nod. “That’s how much Dylan is paying me to bring you in. Remember Dylan? Oh, I am sure you—”
“Don’t be an ass. We both know I remember my producer. But why is he paying you anything?”
“Because he is worried about you.” Instead of snapping the cuff around her delicate wrist, his hand lifted, and the back of his knuckles slid over her silken cheek. “Another dumbass who got obsessed with you.”
“You were never obsessed with me.”
His hand fell. “Of course not.”
“Dylan isn’t, either. He knows nothing will happen between us. I’ve made it abundantly clear—as I told you at Finch’s.” Her breath huffed out. “Why on earth would he go to you if he was worried about me? He is aware that you and I are no longer together.”
“Right. Not together. Not at all.” She smelled delicious. Like some kind of fancy cream that he wanted to lap up. “But you must have been singing my praises at the station because he said you told him I was the best PI in town. That I could find anyone.” He wiggled his brows at her. “Not that you were wrong. Case in point, I found you.”
“You are being a dick. This is serious, War!”
“I don’t remember laughing.” Certainly not when she’d shoved him in the stinking pile of garbage. Which reminded him…she smelled delicious, and he probably smelled like shit. No wonder she kept huffing and twitching that cute little button nose of hers. “Your producer wants you brought in—he wants it to look like you’re willing and cooperating with the cops.”
“Right. Because being brought to the station in handcuffs just screams cooperation.”
He shrugged. He still hadn’t put them on her. He also still had his body way too close to hers. “You shouldn’t have run.” That part he just didn’t get. “I’m not talking about running from me at the restaurant, though you shouldn’t have done that, either. But you shouldn’t have run from the crime scenes.” No, he didn’t believe she was a killer. Those vics had been strangled, and he could not imagine Rose doing that to another person. “You should have cleared things up, you should have—”
“You have no idea what is happening.” Her words rushed out. “I had to run. I had to hide. If I hadn’t, I’d be dead.”
For a stunned moment, War didn’t move. Not so much as a muscle or flicker of an eyelid.
“Did you hear me?” Impatience sharpened her voice. “Or do you just not care?”
War shook his head. “Playing your games, are you? Nice try, but it won’t work. You won’t get killed at the police station. You won’t—”
“I’m tracking a serial killer. It started out as the biggest case of my career, but it has spiraled into something altogether different. I’m tracking him, but he’s tracking me, too. If he finds me, I am dead.”
“That’s not fucking going to happen.” An immediate denial. He shoved back his shoulders.
And just like that…hope flashed on her face.
Shit. She played me. She—
“It won’t happen if you help me,” Rose said excitedly. “You and your special ops skills—I need them. I mean, I need you. You can help me.”
He slapped the cuff around her wrist.
“Wait! Stop! What are you doing?”
He thought it was obvious. He tugged her across the room. Toward the bathroom. He tested the towel bar. Found it surprisingly secure. Satisfied that it would hold her, War snapped the second cuff around that bar.
“You said you’d cuff me to you! Not to the bathroom!” Rose wailed.
“Shh.” He put one finger to his lips. “You don’t want our nosey next door neighbor coming in.”
Once more, her cheeks were flushed a dark red. “I ask for your help, and in return, you cuff me in the bathroom? The breakup was bad, War, but was it this bad?”
He wasn’t touching that one. “I’m going to my car. I have a change of clothes in there. Since someone pushed me into a pile of garbage, I smell to high heaven. I’ll get the clothes, then shower—”
“What? Are you planning to shower with