shaky when she added, “I think we both needed that.”
That was a relief. He ran his hand up and down her arms to reassure himself that she was back and mostly unharmed. “We need to get back to business. That was smart thinking on your part to throw the coffee at the guy who tried to grab you.”
She blinked. “How did you know about that?”
“When I got out of the shower, I couldn’t find you and went looking. Once I spotted the empty coffee cups and breakfast sandwiches on the ground, I realized what had happened and headed up to the deli to see if I could learn anything. Luckily, they have security cameras.” He swallowed hard. “Once I knew for sure you’d been there, it wasn’t hard to figure out that transport wasn’t driving up and down the street taking in the local sights.”
He had to hold her again to reassure himself that she was all right. For the second time, he picked her up, this time settling them both on the sofa. She leaned against his chest, still shivering.
“When I spotted you coming this way, I was on the phone with Rafferty and Ambrose to get them to run the identification on the vehicle. I still want to do that, but I want details first. What happened?”
Her voice was little better than a whisper at first but gradually gained in strength as the story poured out.
Finally, she leaned away from him far enough to look him straight in the eye. “Go ahead and yell at me. I know going to the deli was stupid, even though I was careful. All I wanted to do was get us some breakfast.”
“I’ll put yelling at you on my to-do list for later. Right now I’m too busy being glad that you managed to get back here safely. The real puzzle is why they didn’t attack the condo directly.”
Kat frowned. “Unless they were headed here for that exact reason and then realized it was me out there on the street. Maybe I just made their job easier.”
“Or else they’re patrolling anyplace they think we might have gone to ground. If they know this place belongs to Joss, they might hesitate to make the grab here and start a feud with Rafferty. Snatching you—or us—out on the street would be neutral territory.”
“How do you think they recognized me in the dark and with my hood pulled up?”
Conlan thought about it. “These guys are some of the best-equipped mercs I’ve ever seen. If they had night-vision equipment, they would’ve been able to see your face clearly even in the dark. Or, hell, maybe it was simply just bad luck that they spotted you.”
Then he frowned. “Okay, time for some of that yelling. What were you thinking by taking off like that?”
Before she could answer, his phone starting ringing. Since he’d left Rafferty hanging, he figured he’d better take the call. He lifted Kat off his lap, careful not to jar her any more than necessary.
Before getting up, he kissed the tip of her nose. “We’ll be continuing this discussion in a minute.”
* * *
Kat leaned against the back of the couch and tried to shake off the last effects from her scare. The sex had definitely helped. But as great as it had been, there were other things they needed to take care of, and soon. She still hadn’t had anything to eat, and neither had Conlan. She’d only taken a couple of sips of caffeine before she’d had to turn her cinnamon-flavored coffee into a weapon.
Conlan was in full investigative-chancellor mode at the moment, the calm in his voice belied by the complex mix of emotions running hot in his eyes. She had to wonder if Rafferty was picking up any of that from the other end of the line. It wasn’t hard to guess what the vampire and his wife thought about her right now. Obviously they cared a lot about Conlan and no doubt hated that he’d gotten mired in her mess again.
If so, she didn’t blame them one bit. Even if he’d made the decision himself, she still felt guilty about it. When he got off the phone, she had every intention of telling him to write her off as a bad investment and go back home while he still had a chance.
It was the right thing to do, even if she hated the idea of being left alone with killers prowling the streets looking for her. Even now, they