didn’t argue. Instead, she leaned against the wall and dropped her pack to the ground. It was obvious the stress of the day’s events were weighing heavily on Kat. It spoke to her incredible strength that she’d survived three years of this kind of tension with her spirit intact. It made him want to hurt somebody bad for doing this to her.
With luck, he’d have a handy target for his anger soon. He eased up to the last turn and peeked around the corner. Clear. The stairs up ahead led to a regular door. Good. With the time it took for a secret door to slide open, they’d be more vulnerable to attack.
He’d check it out first, though, unwilling to expose Kat unnecessarily. Climbing slowly, he listened hard for any sign that someone was waiting upstairs. With his gun drawn, he turned the knob and cracked the door far enough to see through.
Good, no one in sight. He pushed the door open farther and was relieved to see that the room was indeed empty. It held little more than a twin bed and a chest of drawers, neither of which looked as if they’d been used recently. Certainly the air in the room had a musty smell to it.
He didn’t want to leave Kat alone for much longer, but to be on the safe side, he crossed the narrow room to try the door on the opposite wall. It led to a short hallway. It was one of the narrow homes that were common in the area. If the layout were typical, there’d be another bedroom on the second floor, with a kitchen, bathroom and a living room on this level.
He went back to the steps and walked halfway down. He called her name softly. “Kat, it’s clear. You can come now.”
It didn’t take her long, although she took care to move as quietly he had. He led the way back into the bedroom. She looked around with curiosity. “Who do you think lives here?”
“My guess would be Dwayne offers it to friends as a safe house for a price.”
She crossed to the single window and pulled the curtain aside far enough to look out. “Any idea where we are? I lost track of directions as soon as we left the restaurant behind.”
“We’re about three blocks due east of where we started. I want to check out the transport Dwayne said we could borrow to make sure it runs before I leave you to go do some hunting. If I don’t return, you call Rafferty and do exactly what he tells you to.”
Kat immediately frowned. “You’re not planning on leaving me behind.”
That clearly wasn’t a question. Damn, he didn’t want to fight about this. “Kat, it’s better if I go alone. Those guys are watching for a couple, so they won’t pay as much attention to me. Not to mention that I’ll have a better shot at catching one of them if I don’t have to worry about keeping you safe at the same time.”
She nodded slowly, clearly not happy. “Fine, but don’t stay gone long, and don’t take stupid risks.”
Conlan shoved his gun back in the waistband of his jeans and held out his arms. When she walked into his embrace, it was a perfect fit. They held on for several seconds, content to let touch and proximity say what neither of them had words for—or at least he didn’t. Not ones he was ready to say.
She was the one who broke it off. “Go. Hunt. Get back here.”
“You’re a bossy little thing, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, but you like me this way. You wouldn’t want a woman you could walk all over. In fact, I suspect you and Joss are such good friends for the same reason. She won’t let you get away with anything.”
He gave in and grinned. “Busted.”
The fact that they were both teasing didn’t make the truth of her statement any less true. The least he could do was admit it.
“Yeah, I do like you, Kat.”
Then before he could give in to the urge to admit how much he liked her, he headed for the garage.
* * *
Outside, the day had grown warmer, but not so much that his jacket would look odd. He’d been carrying it when they entered the restaurant, so hopefully any of the mercs who were watching wouldn’t immediately recognize him. Besides, the jacket hid the gun he had stuck in the back of his waistband.