Free Dangerous Memories by Angi Morgan Page A

searching and seeking. His toned body came to mind without thinking. Who wouldn’t admire that? She’d mentionedit to her father once and he’d said Levi had a great gym membership.
    It was hard to remember the “friendship” between her dad and the “new kid at work” hadn’t been real. It seemed very sincere at the numerous dinners Levi had joined. None of that mattered. Her father was just a case number to Marshal Cooper. She was an obligation and Levi felt guilty for not keeping her safe. He sat nextto her because of a promise to her father. And she let him because she needed his assistance.
    Nothing more.
    She should remember their being together had nothing to do with feelings or friendship. No matter how many kisses they shared, he’d made it very clear two years ago that nothing else could happen between them. In the many hours they’d spent together during the past two days, therehad been no attempt to assure her things were different.
    There wasn’t a future between them.
    Period.
    Jolene’s insides were in knots. The tension wrenching her muscles caused an achy tightness like she’d just run a half marathon. She loved running, but never experienced this sick feeling of dread.
    Maybe it was just the part she was to play. She wasn’t sure she could pull itoff, but Levi had insisted that the owner not know her true association with the house. Her dad always had a plan. And a backup. “Always be prepared for the first to fail,” he used to say. So flying by the seat of her pants was not only new, it just felt...wrong.
    “What do you expect to happen? What am I supposed to do?”
    Levi moved as if he was going to hold her hand, but she quicklylifted hers to rub the back of her neck. The close proximity of him was hard enough to control. Touching was out of the question. He might insist on sharing a room, but he was definitely pushing the two chairs together and not sleeping in her bed. All six-plus feet of him.
    “You aren’t supposed to do anything.” He used the hand originally headed her direction to push that stray curl off hisforehead. “Just see if you remember anything. Don’t try too hard, just let it happen.”
    “And how is my character supposed to act?”
    “I think you could act as normal and natural as you always do.”
    She had her doubts about that last statement. They turned onto the street where she’d lived, he’d given her the address, she could see the house numbers, knew when they passed it. Nothinghappened.
    No recognition. No feeling. No spark of emotion.
    “It’s a pretty little house,” she said, turning in her seat to stare longer, trying hard to remember. “Do they know we’re coming?”
    Levi’s hand covered hers and she snapped around, yanking her hand back to her lap. The warmth lingered longer than she wanted to admit.
    “What do you remember about your mother?”
    “Impressions.Dark hair, tall, she spoke in whispers. LuLu was actually the one who took me to the park. I remember her catching me at the end of the slide or darting under my swing as she pushed me high in the sky. Childish memories that abruptly stop. It’s like another life.”
    “Did you ever overhear her talk about cases?”
    “Cases? What do you mean?”
    He opened his mouth, then flattened his lipsand scratched his freshly shaven chin. The car was stopped at an intersection. He took another quick look around and then twisted in his seat to look at her. “Your mother was a defense attorney with some very high-powered clients.”
    “I had no idea. I’ve spent my entire life with my father who avoided the subject of my mother. No matter how many times I asked, he never spoke of her. Ever.”
    If she had to describe Levi’s actions, she’d say the line of questioning made him extremely uncomfortable. He was practically squirming. She’d never seen him this indecisive. He hesitated, clearly struggling with how to answer.
    “Not to you, but he did talk about her.”
    “Really, Levi.