He wanted to hit something. Someone.

Jack rounded the corner of the brick building and spotted a small figure next to his truck. Thank God. He wasn’t going to let Lacey out of his sight again. His stomach calming, he fought the urge to shake some sense into her.

Lacey wouldn’t respond if he tried to manhandle her. She’d just shove back harder, be more contrary. If he was going to watch out for her, he had to be subtle, make her think his ideas for her safety were her own. He stepped closer and, seeing the fresh anger on her face, he promptly dumped his reverse psychology plan in a snowdrift. The woman would do whatever the hell she wanted.

Her greeting to him confirmed it.

“You and those cops aren’t going to tell me what to do.” Lacey leaned against his truck, her eyes hard. “I’ve worked my butt off to put that nightmare behind me, not let it control my life and now you’re all telling me I have to hide.”

“Not hide. Just get out of his path.”

“Damn it!” She stomped a heel. “This psychopath is turning my life inside out again. I got through it once, but now…I can’t live and be constantly looking over my shoulder. Even if I left town I’d still be doing that.”

Jack stood still, letting her vent. He wanted to touch her, calm her, but he knew she wasn’t ready. He said nothing and shoved his fists in his front pockets. Tension locked his spine in place. Wait.

She suddenly stilled and her hands flew up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened. “Where’s that baby? Suzanne ripped a hole in my heart when she vanished and now seeing that she was pregnant, the hole’s doubled in size. I feel…I feel like I lost a baby. I know this doesn’t feel remotely close to a mother who’s truly lost her child, but I’ve got to look for it. I have to at least try. I owe Suzanne that much…I shouldn’t have let go that night. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t let go.” Lacey faltered and her gaze grew haunted. “Do you think the baby’s father is the killer? Oh, God. Does he still have the child?”

Her brown eyes turned darker in her pain, and he took that as his cue.

He drew her into him and pressed her tight against his body, wanting to absorb her grief. She buried her face against his coat and drew jagged breaths. Tentative arms slipped around him inside his jacket, and he felt her heart thud against his chest. He hung on, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and gently resting his chin on her hair, breathing deep of her female scent. He closed his eyes against his stir of arousal and he wished away her pain.

How many years had it taken to heal from the emotional anguish of her attack? Her scab had been ripped away today, exposing vulnerable nerves. Jack thought of Cal and swallowed hard. Cal had been more than a friend and mentor to him. And he’d died brutally at the hands of a killer. Possibly the same person stalking Lacey.

His arms flexed tighter as he remembered the video clip of the kiss. He spun around, holding Lacey tight, scanning for a camera, a body, anyone. He felt eyes watching them. Callahan was right. Jack had to get Lacey somewhere safe. Hawaii, Fiji, Antarctica, he didn’t care.

Jack clenched his jaw as anger flushed through his veins. He would keep her safe. He didn’t have a choice. His heart was overpowering his head.

And he’d find that baby for her.

Ray and Mason watched the couple from the second-floor window.

“Fuck!” Ray spun away and kicked his chair, sending it crashing across the room. “We can’t do a thing for her.” His voice dropped an octave. “That’s such bullshit. Why can’t we stick her away somewhere until this is over?”

Mason remained silent at the window, leaning on one hand against the sill as he ignored the rare tantrum. Ray’s question was rhetorical. They didn’t have the manpower or the money. They both knew it.

Mason watched as Harper spun around to check his surroundings. Good man. Maybe you are the right person to watch over her. If she couldn’t have a cop for protection, an ex-cop would do. Harper bundled her into the truck, took one last scan of the parking lot, and sent snow flying with his tires.

The possessive vibes Harper was giving off rivaled Mason’s mutt’s behavior with his favorite chew toy. Harper would do his damnedest to keep Dr. Campbell safe. If she let him.

But what about that reporter…Brody? Mason pictured the blond man who’d hovered over Dr. Campbell like a vigilant mama bear. The man had emitted a subtle aura that hinted at a turbulent, explosive side. Mason remembered from Harper’s first interview that he’d agreed Brody was a pain in the butt.

Where’d Brody fit in this cozy threesome?

“Damn you, Jack.”

Lacey swore as she rooted through the folders on her desk at the dental school, searching for the student status reports she needed to finish. After leaving the police station, she’d convinced Jack to drop her off. He’d protested but relented when she demonstrated the tight security system, showing how she had to swipe her key card to get into the building and pointing at the nearby security vehicles. He needed to stop at his office and had made her promise to be at the school’s parking-garage elevator in a half hour. “Exactly thirty minutes,” he’d growled.

Jack had kept urging her to leave town, but she’d refused. She’d compromised and had agreed to check into a local hotel. He insisted on driving her to the dental school and then back to her house to pack. It’s just a hotel. Just for a few days. Lacey wasn’t leaving Portland, and she wasn’t about to abandon her job. Jack had muttered that she needed a bodyguard. She inferred he’d hired himself for the job.