Free Bulletproof (Unknown Identities #1) by Regan Black Page B

with the GPS.”
    “My sources know this number.”
    He struggled for patience. “Are you expecting another story to break in the next hour?”
    “No, but –”
    The woman was too stubborn. “Take out the battery. For now. You can check with your sources when we reach a safe location.”
    “Fine.” She popped off the protective case and slid the battery from the back of the cell phone. Dropping the separate pieces into her bag, she said, “There must be something on the news already. Am I allowed to turn on the radio?”
    “Yes.” The woman was a trial. “For all the good it will do.”
    “People wouldn’t ignore two dead bodies on the same block in a town like Sudbury.”
    “One body. I told you your contact is not a victim.” He waited while she skipped through a few stations without catching any breaking news. “You’re an optimist.”
    “Not even close,” she said, dismissing the theory with a wave and a glimmer of a smile. “I’m a reporter.”
    “One who’s managed to piss off someone important.”
    The smile that had so quickly brightened her face disappeared in a blink. “It goes with the job.”
    “Tell me what you’re working on.”
    “No.”
    “Yes,” he corrected, holding up a hand when she tried to argue. “This is not negotiable. My job is to keep you safe. Knowing the potential enemies increases your life expectancy.”
    “My stories usually piss off people. I tell the truth. You’d be surprised how many people don’t like that.”
    “I imagine the people who get exposed unwillingly,” he suggested.
    “Make me the bad guy if it helps you sleep better. I’d be out of a job if people would treat each other with respect and dignity, but they don’t and the public deserves to know who they’re doing business with.”
    “And since you were doing business with someone you claim mentioned me, I deserve to know the truth about this damned story of yours.”
    “I don’t trust you.”
    “That puts us on even ground, Ms. Bennett, but it’s clear you need me.”
    “Look, the trust thing isn’t personal,” she said gently. I don’t trust anyone.”
    “Color me relieved,” he mocked gently, echoing her earlier words.
    “Still, you could have staged everything that just happened in Sudbury to scare me.”
    “Believe me, if I wanted to scare you, there are easier methods. All of them far more direct.” He checked the mirrors before aiming a hard look at her. “None of them require playing outside during monsoon season or taking a knock to the head.”
    * * *
    Amelia suppressed the automatic shudder. This guy had a knack for throwing her off balance. A technique she was sure he’d nurtured during his professional career. Whatever else he wanted from her, her trust was something she couldn’t give. Not fully anyway. She wasn’t even going to try and analyze what he’d just said. Somehow she had to regain control.
    “Why would my contact mention you?” Getting this discussion back on track was first up. In the past few minutes she’d been trying to figure out how her contact could have known she’d hired a bodyguard. And more than that, how the contact would know the name of her bodyguard.
    “Make a gut call. Is your contact a man or a woman?”
    There he went, trying to lead again. “Why?”
    “Humor me.”
    She wasn’t about to admit she didn’t have enough clues to sway her gut one way or the other. “What does gender have to do with him or her knowing about you?” She felt his eyes on her, but she kept her gaze on the wet, dreary road ahead of them.
    “Not even a guess?”
    “Again,” she crossed her arms over her chest, “it doesn’t matter. Information is information. Gender ambiguity is one more layer of protection for my source.”
    “You don’t know.” He sighed, flexing his hands on the steering wheel. “Ms. Bennett, you have no idea how few people know anything real about me. Your source used my name for a reason –”
    “It’s a common