Free Thief of Hearts by MaryJanice Davidson Page A

physician.
    I started by advising her that this neighborhood is bad for her health, but—”
    Meg brayed laughter, cutting him off. “Her? There’s nothing in this neighborhood bad for A.A. She’s safer here than anywhere.”
    Click. Everything fell into place. But instead of being shocked, he felt like nodding thoughtfully.
    Shocked? Hell, he wasn’t even mildly surprised. The only reason he hadn’t figured it out earlier was, he’d always thought A.A.—whenever he thought about A.A. at all—was more interested in lining his or her pocket than protecting doctors from hit men.
    Kara turned to leave. “I’ll see you, Meg.”
    “I know. Can’t stay away, can you? Good for us.” Meg’s smirk switched off and she abruptly looked haggard, old. “Bad for you.”
    Kara shrugged and left without another word. Jared offered his hand to Meg, who only looked at it, amused. Then he hurried after Kara.
    “I’ve got it,” he said on the street.
    “Whatever it is, put it back,” she said reasonably, opening the car door and sliding inside.
    Jared realized with a start that she hadn’t bothered to lock the car…and it had remained unmolested the entire time they were inside. Well, no wonder. Given who she was.
    “You’re the Avenging Angel,” he said, jumping into the passenger seat. “I’ve read about you. You’ve been doing a Robin Hood thing…stealing from the rich and corrupt, then donating the money to homeless shelters and such.” He felt like clapping, he was so pleased at having figured it out. Then it hit him and he didn’t feel like clapping anymore. “But this is terrible.”
    “I warned you,” she said quietly, driving back to his apartment.
    “This is why you can’t testify against ole One Eyebrow. The D.A. is at least as interested in putting you in jail as he is some mob hood. Jesus, there’s—didn’t I read somewhere that there’s a $500,000 reward for your capture? The guys you’ve been stealing from put up a pot?”
    She didn’t say anything.
    “Well, hell, this is totally unacceptable! The D.A. should thank you, not issue warrants for your arrest.”
    She looked at him and, in the poorly lit car, all he could see were her eyes. They were huge. He tried not to yelp as she ran a red light. “What?” she whispered. “What did you say?”
    “I said, why don’t you let me drive? Seriously. Kara? What’s the matter?”
    She didn’t answer. He didn’t get another word out of her until they were back at the apartment.

CHAPTER FIVE
    “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.” She glanced at her watch. “Later this morning, I mean.”
    He folded his arms across his chest. “Forget it. You’re coming inside with me so we can finish talking about this.”
    She snorted. He looked so stubborn, so determined. It was cute, if irritating. “Don’t make me throw you out of this car, Jared. I’d try not to hurt you…but you wouldn’t like it, just the same.”

    He wasn’t, she saw with surprise, fazed by her threat. “If you do, I’ll stand on the street corner, waving my arms and telling everyone that Carlotti is the only man on the planet with penis envy. That he used to have two eyebrows but quit plucking them when his tweezers broke. That I saw him assaulting my future wife and I’m going to tell the world, take out an ad, camp out in the D.A.’s office. How long do you think it’d take for him to come get me?”
    She stared at him. Her throat had actually gone dry; she swallowed to force moisture. “You wouldn’t—never mind. You’re crazy enough to do it. Fine. We’ll go in.”
    Once inside, he absently locked the front door—not that it would do any good against anyone like her—took their jackets and tossed them on the couch. She turned her back to him and wondered, once again, if she had lost her mind. What was she thinking, showing this strait-laced doctor a piece of her life?
    And why hadn’t he thrown her out, or at least threatened to turn her in? He’d pretended