she stepped out into the hallway, Daniel stood surrounded by several young, college coeds. And the jerk was smiling at them.
One batted her eyes and took his hand, penning her phone number on his palm. When she’d replaced her pen in her purse, she lifted her thumb to her ear and her pinky to her mouth and mouthed the words call me.
Shelby’s fingers curled into tight fists, her fingernails digging into her skin. She walked away without looking back. It wasn’t as if he was her boyfriend. She was the job to him.
So what if he’d seen her naked? As a Secret Service agent he’d probably seen lots of naked women. A girl on every job, like James Bond.
She heard him behind her say, “Sorry, ladies, I have to go.”
He had a job to do.
Her.
Shelby’s teeth ground together. As she passed the elevator the doors were closing. She ducked in before they closed all the way. Daniel ran the last couple steps, but didn’t make it in time to jam his hand between the doors and stop its progress.
Thankfully, the elevator was going down. But it stopped at the second floor. Damn.
If she gauged it right, Daniel would assume she would get off on the ground floor. What he didn’t realize was that there was a walkway across to the next building on campus from the second floor. And the entrances to that building led to the parking lot where she’d left her car.
Her grandfather had left it there, more worried about her return than bringing her car home. She kept a spare key in a magnetic box on the undercarriage of the vehicle. If she could get there before Daniel, she would take herself to the Outer Banks and collect her own clothing. Maybe she could help her grandfather out for a few hours at O’Hara’s Bar and Grill.
She stepped off the elevator and crossed the glassed-in walkway to the next building and took the stairs to the exit, all the while glancing over her shoulder for Daniel. Once outside the building, she hurried toward her car, sitting where it had been the night she’d been attacked.
The closer she got to the car, the faster her heart beat. She told herself there was nothing to worry about. The sun shone down on her, there were other people in the parking lot and she wasn’t a lone student asking to be abducted in an empty parking lot.
A white SUV backed out of a parking space, blocking her path to her car.
Shelby stopped and waited for the vehicle to move on.
The longer it took to complete the reverse, the more impatient she became. She glanced behind her, worried Daniel would figure it out and come after her before she reached her car.
The SUV turned, still backing toward her. Then when the driver should have shifted into drive, it continued backward, sliding up alongside the position where Shelby stood.
A door swung open.
Something clicked inside her, her heart rate skyrocketed and her senses jumped to full alert. Shelby backed up a step, turned and ran, daring only one glance over her shoulder.
A man in a black ski mask leaped out of the vehicle and gave chase.
Heart racing, she ran for her life, the nightmare happening all over again. “Help!” she cried.
Students stopped and stared, too shocked by what was happening to be of any use.
“Help!” Shelby cried, adrenaline the only fuel powering her legs. She refused to be caught; she couldn’t go back to a dark cellar where all she’d had were her thoughts to keep her from going insane.
She ran around a vehicle and headed for the building she’d just exited. Pushing through the glass doorway, she ran into a solid wall of muscle.
Shelby screamed and fought, every instinct geared for survival.
“Shelby, it’s me!” Daniel yelled. “Stop fighting.”
When she realized it was Daniel, she fell against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Don’t let them take me.”
“Shh…it’s okay.” His arms circled her, drawing her close. His hands ran down her back, stroking her to calm. “Now, tell me what you’re talking about.” He pushed her to arm’s length and stared into her face.
“A man in a ski mask.” She pointed toward the door as the white SUV raced past. “He came out of that SUV.”
Daniel shoved her to the side and sprinted out the door. Shelby followed behind him, refusing to let him out of her sight.
He didn’t go far before he stopped. “Damn. No license plate.” Daniel pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and hit one of his contact numbers. “Why the hell did you run from me?” He glared at her as he put the phone to his ear. “How can I protect you if you don’t cooperate?”
“I didn’t think it would happen in broad daylight.” Shelby stood like a recalcitrant child, her head hanging low. “Why is this happening to me?”
He shook his head, the anger melting from his face. He gathered her against him with one arm, while he held the phone to his ear. “Do us both a favor and don’t run from me. I might not find you in time if it happens again.”
Shelby nodded, thankful for his arm around her and completely terrified by the thought that it could happen.
Again.
When Jed Kincannon picked up on the other end, Daniel didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “Henderson here. There’s been another attempt to kidnap Kate Winston’s granddaughter.” He gave the details and a description of the white SUV. “It didn’t have a license plate.”
“I’ll get on the horn with the local police immediately. Stay with the girl,” Kincannon said. “You’re headed back to the Winston Estate?”
He could feel Shelby trembling against him and his arm tightened around her. “Yes, sir.” Damn right he was taking her back where there were pretty stiff security measures in place, and not only would it be difficult for someone to get in, it would be almost impossible for someone to leave unnoticed.
“Good,” Kincannon said. “Keep her there as much as possible.”
Daniel wanted to laugh at the man. That would be like caging a wild cat. She’d eventually find her way out and he’d be running to keep up with her. His bum knee throbbed in anticipation. Daniel clicked the off button and pocketed the phone. “Come on. We should be getting back to the estate.”
“I’m not going back,” she said into his shirt, the tremors subsiding. She pushed back and stared up into his eyes. “I’m going home.”
“Like hell you are. It’s not safe.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m going home to get my own clothes. Then you can take me back to the Winston Estate.”
He didn’t like the idea of driving all the way over to the Outer Banks. It would take a couple of hours to get there from where they were and even longer to get back to Raleigh. “It’ll put us getting back after dark.”
“I’m not going back without my own clothes. I’ll take my own car if I have to.”
Anger and frustration mixed and boiled over. “You were almost kidnapped again. Don’t you get it?”
She stared up at him. “Yes, I get it. I was stupid to run away from you.”
“Then why did you do it?”
She looked away. “You’re pushy, and I’m not used to someone telling me what to do and following me around like I’m a child to be coddled.”
“Then stop acting like a child.” He gripped her chin in his fingers and tipped her head up. “I can’t