Free Secret Obsession by Robin Perini Page A

minutes.”
    He studied Lyssa across the yard. She stiffened, her expression one of caution.
    “Are you planning to run?” he asked.
    She didn’t respond but returned to the gate and tugged at it again. “If he finds us, how do I escape? I’m trapped here.”
    Noah joined her. Without hesitation, he flicked open a panel painted to look like concrete. “The code is seven-nine-one-three.” He pressed the numbers. The bolts slid back.
    With an easy push, Lyssa swung the heavy gate open and peered into a small carport behind the yard. An escape vehicle waited.
    “Gassed and ready to go.” Noah resecured the backyard. “The keys are in a similar hiding place on the backside of the wall. Satisfied?”
    Her incredulous expression, then quick nod made his lips quirk. Her body seemed to relax a bit.
    “Are you going to use the code and car to leave?”
    With a sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck. “I may have lost it on the plane, but what I said was true. You’re in danger. It would be better if you and your friends let me finish this on my own.”
    She gazed up at the cloudy sky. “I want it over.”
    He could see the emotion welling in her eyes. She’d used up all her reserves.
    “I want you safe, Lyssa. You’re not a prisoner, even though part of me would like to lock you up at the North Pole until this psycho is out of your life.” Noah rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “We’re hundreds of miles away from Archimedes. You’ve been battling him solo for too long, Lyssa. Lean on me...on us. We can help.”
    She blinked several times in quick succession. “I’ve been alone a long time, Noah. I can’t promise anything. I don’t know how to trust anymore. That ability died with Jack.”
    Turning away, she walked back to the house. He cursed himself for listening to Reid and abandoning her to the system back then. When Archimedes had found her in hiding shortly after being placed in WitSec, Noah had hoped he was doing the right thing. What if somehow the killer had broken into Noah’s systems, using him to track Alessandra. He couldn’t chance it.
    He’d been wrong. He refused to let her go. Not again. She wouldn’t get rid of him, no matter what she said or did.
    He scanned the periphery then followed her inside, locking the doors and setting the external alarm.
    Lyssa hovered near the dining room table. “What are those?” she asked, staring at the six-inch-tall group of files at one end.
    “The information from WitSec connecting to Archimedes,” Zane answered.
    “I thought there’d be more,” Noah said. “Are you sure this is everything?”
    Rafe pulled up a chair. “Zane and I agree this can’t be it. Some of the files must be missing.”
    “Zane, can you bore into Justice through a back door?” Noah asked, thumbing through the documents. “Take another look?”
    “Probably.” Zane looked up from his keyboard. “I’m not just crossing the legal line on this, Noah, I’m jumping with both feet into big trouble if we’re caught.”
    “And your point is?”
    Zane grinned. “Thought you should know why we’ll end up in jail if we’re caught.”
    “No choice,” Noah said. “With Reid in the hospital, I don’t know who to trust. Just don’t leave a trail. I hate being locked up.”
    “Who do you think you’re talking to?” Zane asked. “My zeros and ones are invisible.” He lowered his head and tapped away at the keyboard.
    Biting her lip in concentration, Lyssa thumbed through the files, taking time to read each name. “There are names I don’t see here.” She looked up. “Archimedes got to someone at WitSec, didn’t he?”
    “That’s what Reid believes,” Noah said. “It’s probably how Archimedes found you.”
    Lyssa settled into a mahogany chair at one end and pulled off a small stack of files.
    “Chastity’s information isn’t here, of course.” Rafe patted the remaining stack. “And while we were on the plane I caught word of another strange death. A