Free Deceptions by Cynthia Eden

us.”
    â€œNot going to happen.”
    Her lips curved. “There you go, thinking you’re some kind of superhero again.”
    No, not a superhero. Just a man desperate to keep her safe.
    A few moments later the bathroom door closed behind her. He headed to his desk. He called Sullivan, keeping an eye on the hallway just in case Elizabeth came back. His brother answered on the second ring. “We’ve got a big damn problem,” Mac told him.
    * * *
    E LIZABETH S NOW WASN ’ T at home. Melinda Chafer glared at the dark house. Elizabeth and Mac had both vanished from the fire scene, and she’d figured they’d gone to this place.
    Guess I figured wrong on that one.
    She’d tried calling the number Mac had given her before, but no one had answered there, either. She didn’t know if Mac was deliberately avoiding her or if something sinister might have happened.
    I need to find them, now. She pulled out her phone. But this time, she called the PD. She’d get Mac’s home address and try his place. She’d explain about the tangled mess that was happening with the killer and her bank account and then she’d—
    A rustle sounded behind her. Melinda whirled around.
    She didn’t get to scream. A hard hand slapped over her face, and something sharp jabbed into her neck. She tried to claw out, tried to kick—
    But her body already felt weighted down. Far too sluggish.
    She was falling— and someone was catching her.
    â€œAfter our little talk,” he murmured, “I realized that I just couldn’t count on you to be an ally. Pity. You’re about to see what happens to my enemies.”
    She had to get her gun. She had to fight...
    â€œYou should’ve just been a team player.”
    She couldn’t go out like this.
    She wouldn’t.

Chapter Five
    He knows everything.
    Mac knew about her run-ins with the law. About her family—a mother who had just wanted to throw her away. He knew she’d looked for trouble, wherever she could find it.
    But that stopped with Nate. He cared about me. I cared about him. We were going to change everything. Together.
    Then Nate had been taken away. And she’d been left in that cabin with his ghost.
    â€œElizabeth?”
    She jerked when Mac rapped on the door.
    â€œElizabeth, are you okay?”
    She pulled his robe around her body, holding the lapels a bit tighter, and then her left hand reached for the doorknob. When she opened the door, steam from her shower drifted in the air. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stay in the shower so long.” And that was such a lie. She’d been hiding from him.
    His hair was wet—he must have used another shower—and he was just wearing a pair of low-slung jeans. His muscled chest rippled, and yes, she couldn’t help but notice that hard strength. She’d known he was powerful, but seeing him that way...
    Keep your control in place.
    She already felt far too ragged around the edges. Emotionally exposed and coming off an adrenaline crash. Oh, that did not make a good combination. Pain filled her, and she wanted that pain to stop.
    The girl she’d been would have known exactly how to escape from pain.
    By doing something wild.
    Only she wasn’t that girl anymore. She’d decided that girl had died with Nate. Someone new had taken her place. Someone who didn’t take risks. Someone who tried to always play things safe.
    She’d gotten her GED. She’d gone to college. Worked day and night, scraping by to pay her tuition. She hadn’t dated much, and only men who were safe. Men who didn’t make her feel so out of control. Men who didn’t push her for more than she wanted to give.
    She saved her adventures for her books. Books were her haven. When the rest of the world made no sense, she turned to them. She’d always done that, even before Nate. Tried to get lost in other worlds because they made the one she