Free Doing It Right by MaryJanice Davidson Page A

make new lives for themselves.”
    The woman who spoke was astonishingly beautiful, despite the knife scar that bisected her right cheek. Far from detracting from her beauty, the scar served to accent the flawless state of the rest of her face. She had shoulder-length, rich brown hair the color of dark chocolate, eyes the color of a sea lagoon, and skin the color of a really good espresso. She was quite a bit shorter than Kara and if she weighed more than a hundred pounds, Jared vowed to eat the scale.
    “Ma’am,” he said politely.
    “Madam, actually,” she said, and tittered. “Well, former madam. But you know.”
    “Present for you, Meg.” Kara handed her the shoe box in which, Jared knew, there nestled close to half a million dollars.
    “Awwww …” Meg caught the box and tucked it under her arm like a football. “And I didn’t get you anything. Who’s the stiff stud?”
    “I happen,” he said with as much dignity as he could muster, “to be the young lady’s personal 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 inlining his or her pocket than protecting doctors from hitmen.
    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 ol’ 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 five-hundred-thousand-dollar 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. 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 5
    “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,