The Shadow. Aimee Thurlo

is missing, along with a great deal of money,” she said.

      Jonas nodded. “The threat to you is too well timed to be unrelated. If we can figure out who’s coming after you, that should provide other answers, as well.”

      She sighed softly. “All I wanted was to build my inn—a place where I could always be useful and contribute to our community. It was a perfect idea, one meant to bring peace and good things. Yet all I’ve done is attract violence.”

      “No, that’s not all,” he said, brushing her face with his palm.

      The tender gesture dissolved her defenses. Feelings and needs she’d sworn to ignore tore into her, tempting her, urging her to stop planning—stop thinking.

      “You’ve got to fight for what you want,” he added.

      His words brought her back to reality. “And that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

      He made it a point not to look at her. No one would have ever accused him of being weak willed, but all men had their vulnerabilities. Emily was his.

      “We can’t ignore what’s going on between us,” he said at last.

      “No, we can’t,” she agreed, her voice a whisper. “But we don’t have to give in to it, either. It can’t lead anywhere…good.”

      “It could be good. Very good.”

      His voice was a deep rumble, and the vibrations coursed through her like fire, melting her insides. “For a while we’d find heaven. But afterward…”

      “You’d regret it?”

      Emily didn’t answer. She couldn’t. She was at war with herself, torn between logic and wanting to capture the wind—or just surrender and enjoy it while it lasted. But she needed more than stolen moments. The qualities she wanted in her future—roots, security—were the very things Jonas’s nature urged him to avoid.

      “I was sent to protect you,” he said when she didn’t answer. “And I’ll see it done—even if it means protecting you from me.”

      He’d been “sent.” He hadn’t come of his own free will. Holding to that one fact, she drew into herself and said nothing more.

      They were entering town, having turned off the truck bypass and onto Lake Street, when she felt the change in him.

      “Slump down in the seat a little and keep your head away from the window,” he murmured.

      Alarmed, she instinctively did the opposite, sitting up and looking around anxiously. “What? What’s wrong?”

      “Get down,” he insisted fiercely, his gaze on the rearview mirror. “Shortly after we left your property, a white pickup caught up to us, then passed us on the highway before we reached the bridge. Now it’s back there once more, following us, though staying well back. When I slowed down to see what he would do, the driver turned west on the truck bypass. But he must have reversed course once he got out of sight, because he’s behind us again.”

      “Do you want me to call the police?”

      “No. As careful as he’s been, my guess is that he’ll disappear the second he knows we’ve made him. Let’s play things a little differently.”

      As they entered the downtown area, Jonas turned right, on Main Street. Halfway down the block, he abruptly cut left into an alleyway between two multistory brick buildings.

      “Get ready to jump out when I say so.” They approached a small parking area set into a recess of the building. Next to it was a small loading dock.

      “Just say when,” Emily replied, feeling claustrophobic in the narrow urban canyon. She reached down, ready to press her seat-belt release.

      Suddenly he slammed on the brakes. “Now!”

      Emily jumped out, and by the time she reached the front of the truck, Jonas was already there, waiting. He grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the loading dock.

      Once they were out of sight, he motioned with his head toward the corner. “Go back there and stay behind cover. I’ll take care of this.”

      Before she could say anything, Jonas sprinted across the alley. With the pickup in the way, she lost sight of him almost immediately.

      Emily kept her back to the brick wall of the former hotel, now an office building. A second later, she heard the sound of squealing tires, a shout, then a door opening.

      Unable to suppress her curiosity, she peered around the corner. Jonas had ambushed the driver the moment he’d come to a stop, and yanked him out of the cab. Trying to get a clearer look, she turned her head, since the vision out of the corners of her eyes was better. With a gasp, she realized the other man was holding a gun.

      Jonas gripped the driver’s wrist and slammed it against the side of the cab. The blow knocked the gun free, and it flew into the bed of the pickup with a thud.

      Jonas next delivered a powerful jab to the gut, doubling his opponent up. As he bounced off the open door, Jonas instantly pushed him down on the pavement, then wrapped his arms around the man’s in a deadly hold.

      Emily knew that with just one twist, Jonas could break his neck. That’s when she saw the man’s face.

      “Jonas, stop!” she said, running out into the open. “That’s Grant, my neighbor. Remember?”

      Jonas hauled him to his feet, then shoved him over the hood of the pickup, his arm still at the man’s throat. “I remember. What the hell are you up to, Woods?”

      Jonas’s voice was nothing more than a snarl, and it made her heart freeze. The gentle man she’d had beside her just seconds ago on the ride into town was gone, and in his place was someone she didn’t recognize.