Free Memory Zero by Keri Arthur

protection. “And who’s picking up that tab?”
    He raised an eyebrow in surprise. “The SIU, of course.”
    The SIU obviously had a hell of a budget. “I’ll get some things together.”
    She limped to the wardrobe and opened the door. The clothes inside reeked of smoke, and she screwed up her nose. Still, she could hardly keep wearing the things she had on, and smoke smell or not, these were her only option. She grabbed a duffel bag from the top of the closet and shoved in enough clothes to last a week. Surely it wouldn’t take any longer to clean up this mess.
    But what if it did? And what if, by some vicious quirk of fate, they actually charged her with Jack’s death? What would she do? God, if the captain didn’t believe her, a courtroom filled with strangers certainly wouldn’t.
    Panic flashed white hot through her body, and for a moment, even the simple act of breathing seemed difficult. She couldn’t go to prison. Couldn’t be locked up like that. Not again.
    She frowned at the thought, wondering where in hell it came from. The only time she’d been in prison was to question suspects. And she wasn’t going to go to prison now. The truth was out there, and so was the evidence that would prove her innocence. All she had to do was find it—or at least hope they gave her the time to find it.
    With the bag almost full, she hobbled across to the stack of boxes that hid her second com-unit. After thrusting the sodden mess to one side, she bent down and disconnected the portable unit from the wall, then put it inside the bag, hiding it underneath her clothes.
    When she turned around, Gabriel was at the door, watching her.
    “Need a hand?”
    Anger surged, but she bit it back, knowing it was futile. He might say he was here to protect her, but the fact was, she was still under suspicion for Jack’s murder. There would be other cops out there, cops she couldn’t see, also watching her.
    She tossed the duffel bag across to him. He caught it deftly, a hint of surprise flaring briefly in his eyes.
    “I’m not leaving anything of value here. I know fora fact a cunning enough criminal can get past those scanners.” Jack could have, for a start.
    And she didn’t even want to think about what the hirsute stranger had said. That maybe Jack
was
alive.
    Gabriel nodded toward the sea of sodden boxes. “What about these?”
    She shrugged. “Just books and junk I’ve collected over the years and never gotten around to throwing out.” She’d have to now, though. The water and smoke damage had seen to that.
    “Anything else you want?”
    “Handbag, if you can see it.”
    He turned around, his gaze scanning the front room. She slowly hobbled across, and then stopped beside him. “There,” she said, pointing to the leather strap barely visible beneath the half-destroyed sofa.
    He walked across the room. The bag came out in one piece, which she hoped meant everything within it was intact as well. He slung both bags over his left shoulder. “Ready to go?”
    She nodded. Weariness rose like a tide, and suddenly it was all she could do to stand there. Pain was beginning to beat through her brain again, and she just wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, to rest.
    He walked over and tucked his arm around her waist. It felt good. Safe. Obviously, the last twenty-four hours had affected her worse than she’d thought, because nowhere was safe right now.
    “Let’s go,” he said, and guided her out of her apartment.
    By the time they reached his car, he was almost carrying her. Everything ached so badly, all she wanted to do was lie down and die.
    He opened the door of the standard-issue dark grayFord and eased her inside. She clipped the seat belt into place and let her head fall back against the rest. Sweat trickled down the side of her face, but she couldn’t drag up enough energy to wipe it away. Closing her eyes, she struggled against the lethargy beginning to take hold, knowing she had to stay awake, stay aware and in