Page 46 of Three Steps Behind

“Oh. Something not in your report?”

Still snarky and rude after all his help . . . but it was for the best. She couldn’t rely on him, and he couldn’t rely on her. They were square.

She’d done her part. Informed. Given them enough to arrest Dalton. Time for her to go—with or without his permission. She’d noted the exits straightaway. Two windows in the bathroom, front door with one guard—who looked exhausted, slumped in his chair as he was—and last, a large window on the side wall overlooking the base of the mountain. Wasn’t it pretty? And all only two stories up—she’d made it farther than that numerous times. Whatever a girl needed to do, right?

“Look, I get it.” His voice held a strong yet soothing quality.

Curiosity about his personal life sprang to mind. She tossed the thought away from her. And turned her thoughts away from him. Now. She was a master of running from danger. Of running, period.

“You want to keep your guard up. You don’t trust easily,” he continued. Continued? What had she missed? She’d been lulled by the sound of his voice, her thoughts heading down a track she didn’t need to go on. In fact, it was imperative that she not go. She’d trusted one man. One. And look where that had gotten her. She cringed—the mental screech of nails on a chalkboard swarmed her mind. How could she have been such a fool? The one man she’d loved, or rather, as close to it as she was capable of. Love meant giving yourself to another. Wasn’t that what the Hallmark cards said? That, she would never do. No man was that good or trustworthy or could even love her fully. Not if he knew her scars.

But she’d gone straight for Dalton. Given up her cons. Ready to live a normal life—whatever that meant. And it’d all been an illusion. Of course it had. Her life was one big illusion.

Dalton’s flippant words about the poor woman he wanted to knock off raced through her mind. That man used to touch her—caress her cheek, hold her hand . . . Bile rose in her throat, and she bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Aubry knocked on the door. “You okay in there? Can I do anything?”

He did sound like he cared, but odds were he was just making sure she wasn’t out the window. She would be, but not with him in the adjacent room. He was too smart for that. “I’m fine.”

She got to her feet. Washed her hands. Splashed water on her face—the cool liquid soothed the flame in her cheeks. Embarrassment riddled through her.

Gathering her nerve and her sass, she exited the bathroom to find Aubry still standing by the door.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to run.” Not yet, anyway.

“You can’t blame me for thinking you might try.”

“Touché.”

“Look,” he said, still standing in front of her. “We’re going to have to work this case together, and I’m the one who will be watching your back. We might as well get this lack of trust on your end over with now.”

“One, you put me in prison.”

“Because you committed a crime. And two?”

“It’s not like you trust me.”

“I trust you to handle this case.”

Did he really? She shifted her stance, leaning against the solidness of the doorframe.

“It’s a con. You’re the best.”

“Don’t flatter.” But she was the best, though suddenly it didn’t seem like the compliment it had always been. “Besides, we don’t need each other anymore. You got me out of prison. I found the dirt on Dalton. Now swoop in and save the day, Agent Man.”

He chuckled. “Agent Man. I like that, but it doesn’t work that way.”

“What doesn’t work?” She narrowed her eyes, pushed off the doorframe and strode to him, poking him in the chest. “Don’t tell me you’re reneging on our deal?”

“Of course not. But what you heard is inadmissible in court.”

“What?” She dropped her hand by her side, surprised at how ripped Agent Man’s chest was. “Why?”

“Because technically you were breaking and entering.”

“That’s ridiculous. I was there all the time before you arrested me. I let myself in and out regularly. How is this any different?”

“Because this time he didn’t know you were coming. Didn’t invite you in. He could claim breaking and entering and then everything you overheard becomes inadmissible in court. Besides, we need more.”