When You Dare (8 page)

Seeing it semi-fixed, soft and curling around her face, altered her appearance drastically, giving her a very feminine edge that was only enhanced by the vulnerability still visible from her bruises and tiredness.

Who knew a woman’s hair played such a major role in her looks?

It was, Dare supposed, one of the many secrets to female routines. Not that he had a lot of experience with that, since he’d never been involved with any one woman long enough to dwell on her personal-grooming habits.

With the limited means at hand, Molly’s hair was far from polished, hanging loose and shining to just below her shoulders. As Dare stared at her, she tucked one side behind her ear.

To cover his surprise, Dare said, “We’re flying out in three hours.”

Her eyes flared. “Okay. But…going where, exactly?”

As if he dragged home rescue victims on a regular basis, Dare shrugged. “My place, first. I have a few things I have to do at home. Then I’ll accompany you to your place.”

Taking his words like a blow, she went to the bed and gingerly sat at the edge. “Oh. Okay.”

“I’ll be with you.”

She tried a smile that fell flat.

“Molly. You have to go back to your place sooner or later, right?”

“Of course I do.” She put her shoulders back in telling reaction. “I need to talk with my editor and agent. I have…plants to water.” She chewed her lip. “I need my flash drives and my own clothes and…” She shook her head. “Going back will be good.”

Had she considered refusing? Dare frowned, then retrieved the first-aid kit from his bag. Given his line of work, he carried a more extensive supply of medicines and bandages than what was found in an average first-aid kit. He dragged a chair over and turned it to face her.

When he sat, he looked at her and saw again that she avoided his gaze. “That’s it? Wholehearted acceptance, but no questions?”

She inhaled, expanding that impressive chest so that she filled out the oversized shirt. Her gaze skittered up to meet his. “You don’t seem real forthcoming with information, and I don’t want to do anything to make you regret your decision to stick with me.”

An upfront answer. He should have known where her thoughts had taken her. “You think you’ve been a big imposition?”

She eyed the first-aid kit warily, but didn’t mention it. “If not for me, you’d already be home, right? Instead, you had to deal with me and my problems. I don’t like being dependent on anyone, and I really don’t like putting you out.”

“Since we’re flying out today, I was only delayed one night. And if you mean the clothes and food—”

“Well, that and…” Her tongue flicked over her bottom lip with nervousness. “Sleeping with you.”

There was that. “You had a nightmare. Don’t worry about it.”

She glanced up and away. “Logically I know I’m okay now, but at night, in the dark…”

“Yeah.” He’d saved women before, but he hadn’t slept with them. Hell, he’d had sex with plenty of women without
sleeping
with them.

“Usually,” he said, “once I have a woman out of harm’s way, she goes immediately to someone else—someone she trusts. Most often it’s the person who paid me to get her out in the first place.” And if the woman had nightmares, well, she had someone
other than Dare
to get her through it.

Molly nodded. “And with me, you not only haven’t been paid, you’re sort of stuck with me.”

“Not stuck, no.” He’d made the decision that she would remain with him. He never allowed others to coerce him, not in any way. “But understand, Molly—
for now,
I’m going to keep you safe. After I figure out the threat and decide how best to resolve it, then we’ll come to terms on our agreement.”

“Financially, you mean.”

What else? He nodded affirmation, but said, “That, and more.”

“Such as…?”

He opened the first-aid kit. “If I’m going to be in charge of your safety, you have to follow my directions to the letter. No balking, no arguments.”

She licked her lips again—and nodded.

“Good. We’ll start with me checking out some of these cuts and scrapes that you have. The last thing you need is an infection.” He looked at her. “Give me your arm.”

As if only then realizing that she might have cuts, Molly looked at each arm. “I can take care of it.”

“I can take care of it better.”

“Who says?”

“I say.” Hadn’t he already proven his capability with her hair?

Dare caught her arm and pulled her forward to reach the injury. Ignoring her protestation, he said, “This’ll sting a little.” He swiped the cut with the antiseptic and heard her hiss in a breath, but she didn’t move and she didn’t complain. The cut wasn’t deep and didn’t need stitches, but he dabbed it with an antibiotic ointment and covered it with a bandage.

The procedure was repeated on a small spot on her other arm, and when he looked down at her legs, her toes curled.

“Dare, really…” He bent to a scrape on her inner thigh, and she said in a rush, “Shouldn’t I at least know your last name?”

Her high, shrill voice amused him. It wasn’t from fear that she nearly screeched at him. No, it was…something else. But definitely not fear.

“Macintosh.”

“Well, surely, Dare Macintosh, you will admit I can reach my own legs!”

She could—but he wanted to do it. Why, he couldn’t honestly say, but a small lie would work. “I need to know it’s done right, so just hush and sit still.”

Molly had sleek, shapely legs and small feet. Her skin, where it wasn’t hurt, was smooth and soft. He cupped the back of her knee and lifted her leg to treat what looked like rug burns. Since there’d been no carpeting in the trailer, he assumed the injuries were caused during her abduction. He wanted to know more about that, and would, soon.

He found two more deep scratches on her legs, and a cut on the side of her foot. As he treated her foot, he decided she’d need more than loose sandals to keep it protected.

He sat back. “Anywhere else?”

She rolled in her lips, released them, and gave in, putting a hand to the back of her neck. “I’m not sure, but there might be something here. It stung a little when I was showering.” Lifting her hair, she turned to show him.

Dare flinched in rage. Clearly, someone had choked her, given the finger marks on her slender throat. Above the faded bruising, a deep scratch showed.

Under his breath, but not softly enough, Dare whispered, “Fuckers.”

She swallowed. “The bruises are left over from when I was first taken. I didn’t go along easily.”

And so someone had choked her?

“They’re almost gone now,” she said, as if trying to reassure
him.

“Not gone enough.” He touched her shoulder, and felt her shiver as he turned her a little more so he could better see.

While holding up her hair, she dropped her head forward, and the pose was so innocently provocative, and yet so trusting, that he felt himself stir.

Damn it, it wasn’t lust. What she made him feel was something more powerful than that—and more disturbing. He shook it off to concentrate on her injuries.

“How’d you get this scratch?” It looked deep, healed over a little, but still painful.

Her narrow shoulders lifted. “One of them wore an ornate ring.”

And the bastard had been manhandling her enough to cut her with it? Yeah, Dare decided, he’d be protecting her—but he decided against sharing solid decisions with her yet. He needed a lot more info, and it’d be best if she thought his compliance hinged on her giving full truths.

In his experience, too many people had secrets that could alter the outcome of an event.

Dare treated the scratch, but didn’t bandage it. “Done.”

“So…” She turned on the bed again, facing him as he replaced the chair. “You’ve made plans to leave.”

“In a few hours. Soon as we can get packed up, we’re out of here.”

She nodded, but hesitated. “I, um… Not that it matters in the long run, I guess, but… I feel conspicuous boarding a plane like this.” She held out the hem of the big shirt he’d given her. “Do we have time for me to just buy some jeans and maybe…a bra?”

His mouth firmed. Looking at her, he could see the need for the bra, especially with her nipples puckered, pressing against the thin cotton of the shirt.

Yeah, he could make time for that. If she knew they’d be on a chartered plane, away from any crowds, she might not think that shopping was necessary, but it wouldn’t hurt for her to get some shoes and socks, too. “We can spare about twenty minutes or so.”

“I promise I can find what I need in that time.” Hustling now, moving faster than he’d seen her move before this, she gathered up the few things he’d gotten her.

Dare nodded toward his bag on the bed. “Stow it in there.”

“What will you do about your weapons?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Chris had already cleared it with the pilots of the chartered plane.

In no time, they were checked out and leaving the motel. Dare scanned the parking lot but didn’t see anyone watching them. Making yet another trip to Walmart, he drove across the street and parked away from other shoppers.

Though she could no doubt afford to shop in a pricey boutique, Molly didn’t turn up her nose at the racks. She looked tired, but it didn’t slow her down as she located a pair of jeans, three pairs of socks, low boots, a bra, more underwear and a zip-up hooded sweatshirt in under the twenty minutes allotted.

She was a power-shopper—like him.

Impressed, Dare paid for the purchases and started back out to the lot with her.

That’s when he spotted the red Ford truck. Handing the bag to Molly, he steered her to the side of the front doors and said, “Stay here until I come back for you. Don’t move. Period. Do you understand me?”

“What? Wait.” She grabbed for his arm in a flash of panic. “Where are you going?”

Dare scanned the area, deciding on the best advantage. Through his teeth, he said, “Tell me you understand.”

She released her death grip on him. “I understand.” Fear put a quaver in her voice. “I won’t move from this spot.”

“Good girl.” Keeping his gaze on the truck driver, who hadn’t yet noticed them, Dare darted out alongside a driver looking for a parking place. Staying low, uncaring of what others might surmise, he used the parking-lot traffic to conceal him until he could get to the other side of the truck.

Using an SUV for cover, he checked to see that Molly remained near the front doors. The driver of the red truck stepped out. He’d spotted Molly, was looking right at her, and then he started searching for Dare.

The driver, a dark guy with black hair and mirrored sunglasses, held a cell phone in his hand. For backup, or to report to someone?

Darting from car to car, Dare positioned himself behind the unsuspecting driver, and then he stepped out and straightened. Luckily they were far enough away from the front of the store that most of the bustling shoppers wouldn’t notice them.

His heart beat slow and steady. His breath remained even; not too fast, not too shallow. He was in his element now, and he would damn well get answers.

Clearing his throat to draw the man’s attention, Dare watched as the driver shifted his balance in surprise. Before he could turn, Dare kicked out his supporting knee, but he didn’t let him fall. He grabbed his arm in a chicken-wing hold.

The driver cried out in mingled rage, fear and panic.

“Who are you?” Deliberately, Dare torqued the arm a little more. “Answer quick before I snap it.”

In Spanish, he muttered, “No one. I was hired, that is all.”

“Hired to do what?” And when the guy started to speak, Dare said, “In English, asshole.”

“Call when you left the store, so the girl could be retrieved.”

Ah. He’d told him to speak in English, and now that the man did, Dare didn’t hear an accent. “Who wants her dead?”

“Dead?” He shook his head. “All I know is she escaped when she shouldn’t have.”

And so someone wanted her back? But
why?
Dare released the man’s arm and jerked him around to face him. “Take off the sunglasses.”

“Fuck you.”

Moving so fast that the guy couldn’t brace for it, Dare hit him hard in the gut. The blow stole his wind, collapsing him forward as he wheezed. Dare knocked the sunglasses off his face and, with a hand knotted in his shirtfront, lifted him to his toes.

American, not Mexican.
Dare’s jaw clenched. When he’d carried Molly out of the trailer, he hadn’t left behind any witnesses to recognize him. Someone must have checked in after that, and realized she was gone. Tracking down an American woman rescued from Tijuana would be tough—unless someone had the same level of contacts as Dare. “Who are you supposed to call?”

“I don’t know.”

“Bullshit.” The man briefly tried to struggle, but maintaining his hold on the guy’s shirt, Dare drew the knife and pressed it just beneath the bastard’s ribs. “You’re really blowing my patience, amigo.”

Very still now, his eyes wide at how hard that knife pressed into him, the guy spilled his guts. “Whoever had her wants her back. That’s all I know, I swear.”

Shoving him back against the vehicle, Dare said, “Dial it.” Whoever the man was, Dare would talk to him himself. At the very least, he’d let him know the futility of continuing this pursuit.

The shaken driver punched in the numbers and started to hand the phone to Dare.

A ringing sounded over the parking lot.

Stunned, Dare’s gaze shot up and locked onto a pay phone near the front entrance to the store…right where he’d left Molly.

Fuck.
He leveled the driver with an elbow to the jaw and was already running flat out when he saw someone grab Molly from behind, wrapping an arm around her throat and clamping his other hand over her mouth.

Dare’s vision went red.

Charging without making a sound, he closed the distance to Molly. The man holding her tried to drag her toward an idling Charger, but she thrashed and fought, and her captor had a hell of a time keeping control.

People around them watched in horror but offered no assistance.

Dare didn’t need any.

Before the fuckers could stuff her in that car, he’d get them. It didn’t matter that there were two of them. It wouldn’t have mattered if there were four. He would
not
let them take her again.