Читать книгу Ranger Guardian - Angi Morgan - Страница 14

Chapter Five

Heath wanted to take Kendall in his arms until she stopped shaking, but he’d jumped out of the car to check on the other drivers. Instead of helping her now, he spoke to her through the passenger door, keeping the entire front seat between them.

Hugging your wife after an accident was allowed, in his book. He just didn’t know if it fell under the professional umbrella. He straightened, grabbing his aching ribs, worse now because of slamming into the seat belt. But he swallowed the grimace of pain, keeping it to himself. He wouldn’t mention it to the EMTs who would be arriving on the scene, judging by the distant sirens.

Kendall stretched a couple of times as she stood from the car. “I can’t believe they missed us.”

“You didn’t hesitate.”

She nodded, letting the statement stand as a compliment about their teamwork. And this time, he didn’t add the frightening picture in his head of a different outcome. If she had stopped to question why he was yelling a command at her... Damn, they would be pinned between those two cars right now.

But she hadn’t. They were unharmed. Fine to go home to Skylar Dawn. And good enough to work together tomorrow.

“The drivers are fine.” He’d walked around the hood of the car before realizing it. His hand opened between Kendall’s shoulder blades, and he might have patted her a couple of times if he hadn’t seen the tears.

But he had.

Just two, but they were enough to make her curl into the crook of his arm and stand there until they heard the first siren grow close. She broke away like someone had thrown water on them.

“Traffic needs to get through. I should probably move the car.” Her voice was awkward and strained as she looked around the intersection.

“I can take care of it.”

“Don’t coddle me, Heath.”

“Whoa there, partner.” He emphasized the last word to remind her why they were there. “I’m allocating resources. You’re the better photographer. I’m going to need every angle possible before the cars move.” He stuck his hand in his pocket.

Her mouth formed a perfect O before accepting his phone. Then she was back. Professional. Doing her job as the authorities arrived. Identifying herself as an agent and taking pictures.

Staying out of the way, the Dallas PD officer gave him the go-ahead to move the FBI sedan. It didn’t have a scratch on it. Just as he opened the door, in a moment where no one else watched, he caught a glance between the two drivers.

A knowing glance. Like they’d gotten away with something.

It took him a few minutes to get the sedan back on the same side of the street as the rest of the cars. By the time he returned, both drivers stood with officers, giving their statements. After an initial check, they’d both declined the ambulance ride to a hospital.

The woman in the pink car was crying again, her mascara smeared like his mother-in-law’s the day his world had turned upside down. It was hard not to think about it—the afternoon Skylar Dawn had broken her arm. But he pushed it from his mind.

Something was off about the accident. Maybe he’d been hanging around Wade too much lately. His friend’s intuition seemed to be rubbing off on him. Everything about the SUV guy who had nearly T-boned them screamed that the man wanted to run.

It had to be the highway patrol officer in him. He’d stopped more than his fair share of antsy drivers with drugs or weapons in their cars. The SUV driver shifted his weight from foot to foot. He kept looking around, especially at Kendall.

Okay, Heath admitted that his wife was an extremely attractive woman. Nothing about her shouted married or mom. And seeing her work again was...hot. He got why men would watch her. But this guy didn’t have a look like he was trying to ask her out.

Nope. Heath recognized the short glances. The slow quarter turns to keep her in his peripheral vision. The driver must not realize that Heath was a Ranger or anyone else significant. He hadn’t given him a second glance since Heath asked if he was okay.

Heath leaned against the pink car’s trunk, watching both the drivers through his mirrored shades. There it was again. A specific look that acknowledged the drivers knew each other. One of the man’s eyebrows rose, and the woman’s chin lifted slightly.

Indiscernible to anyone not watching them specifically. A look that confirmed his gut feeling that something was off. If he’d looked away for a split second, he would have missed it.

If the drivers knew each other, they must know the men in the white van. He took a step toward Kendall, who was wrapping up with the officers. But what would he tell her?

That his instinct told him these two apparently innocent victims had a connection to the group Kendall was looking into? They couldn’t hold the two based on his observation. His gut instinct had gotten them into this accident by encouraging her to follow the van.

If he followed any intuition, it would be to keep his thoughts and observations to himself until they could investigate. That’s what the Rangers and FBI did. They found the facts and built cases.

He’d wait.

For now, he’d make it clear about his role here. No reason to let Public Exposure know he was working with Kendall. He pushed off the trunk and marched to Kendall’s side. He pulled her close to him.

When she turned to him—most likely to express her anger—he kissed her. A full-on-the-mouth, like-she-belonged-to-him kiss. For the moment...she did. Although she may not after the next time they were alone.

“I’ll explain when we’re alone,” he whispered. Then in a louder voice, “You ready to go, babe?”

He could see the fury rising for him embarrassing her. “Gentlemen.” She nodded to the officers, excusing herself.

Heath didn’t back off. He kept his arm around Kendall’s waist as they walked to her sedan. He opened her door and tried to kiss her again.

“No way,” she said, dodging his attempt. “You better have a dang good reason for what you just did.”

He ran around the back of the car, trying to come up with something. Anything other than the real reason, since he didn’t want to explain himself. At least not yet.

She stared at him as he snapped his seat belt into place.

“Well?”

“It was time to go.”

She huffed. “That makes no sense at all. If you wanted to go, you could have said something and not embarrassed me in front of the Dallas PD.”

He let her vent as he looked through the pictures she’d taken of the scene. Once he was back in the office, he’d be able to run a full background check. Once he had information, he’d explain to Kendall.

“You aren’t listening to me.”

“What?”

Kendall slowed to a stop beside his truck. “I said, if you’re going to get possessive because someone’s looking at me, then this joint effort isn’t going to work.”

“That wasn’t... I wasn’t...” he tried. Get your information right before you tell her. “Professional. Got it.”

The awkward pause resulted in an awkward thumb gesture indicating he should get out of the car. She lowered the passenger window from her side and waited until he bent his face down to look at her.

“I’ll talk to you tonight when you call Skylar Dawn. We’ll decide what our next move is and where to meet tomorrow.”

“Good idea.”

He stood. The window went up and she pulled away, leaving him in the middle of the street. She had a right to be upset. On the surface, he’d behaved badly.

Back in his truck, he resisted the impulse to bang the dashboard. It sure didn’t appear that he’d racked up any points for moving back home. He’d do his research, and maybe his instinct about the drivers would pay off.

Drapes dropped into place at the house to his left. Blinds closed at Mrs. Pelzel’s home. There was more to this case than fraud. Every instinct he possessed told him so. Kendall was keeping something from him. He knew that before being assigned to her task force.

Fraud? Or a decision about their life—together or apart? Maybe helping his wife would give them an opportunity to really talk. But now, it was time to work some computer magic to figure out what secrets the residents of Hall Street were keeping.