"He said he was going to see them?"

"Yes." She frowned, concentrated. "He said he was thinking about going to see them in Texas."

"Did he say El Paso? Did he know where they were?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm pretty sure he said El Paso. Or else when you said that, I wouldn't have immediately known that's what you were talking about."

He nodded and zipped up his bag.

"You're really leaving?" What about me? She was too proud to ask the pathetic, needy question. If Barnes had really left, she'd be okay. She'd go home.

He turned to her. "I wish I knew for sure he was gone," he said roughly. "I don't want anything to happen to you while I'm gone."

"I'll come with you." She was insane. Her business was disintegrating and here she was proposing to take off on a wild goose chase across the country.

"Marli, I can't let you get involved in this."

"You're just going to talk to his family, right? I won't get in the way." She blinked at him. "You know this is important to me. And I don't want to stay here alone."

He stared intently back at her. "Shit."

She hovered by him as he continued packing. "Are you going to fly there?"

"No."

"Why not? It's a long drive..."

"I don't have time to book flights and dick around in airports. And I don't have a bureau expense account any more. In fact, if they knew I was going there..."

"I can help drive, if you need a break. Can we go by my place to pick up a few things? I only grabbed enough clothes for one day yesterday. Or whenever that was. I'm all mixed up." She pushed a hand into her hair. God, she was babbling.

"Yeah. Let's go."

She was in.

When they got to her place, it felt like years since she'd been there. She missed her beautiful condo and all her stuff and especially her cameras. Trey followed her into the bedroom and when she threw open the closet door, he said, "Jesus Christ."

She glanced over her shoulder at him as she started pulling things off hangers. "What?"

He gaped at her overflowing closet. "Do you think you have enough clothes?"

She laughed. "No. I could never have enough clothes. Or shoes."

She stripped down, right in front of him, knowing he was watching, and put on fresh underwear, lacy red panties and a matching bra. She wriggled into a clean pair of jeans, shrugged into a snug tank top and pushed her feet into boots. She grabbed a tiny cardigan and thrust her arms into it, then started throwing some other things into her duffel bag.

"Okay," she said breathlessly. "I'm ready."


They were cruising on the freeway heading south toward San Diego, the sun glinting off the Pacific Ocean to their right. Marli lounged back in her seat. Other than the small knot of anxiety in her stomach that jumped every time she thought about what they were actually doing, they could have been on a vacation, or a weekend trip, a happy couple just getting away for a few days. She could pretend, but every time she looked at Trey's serious, forbidding expression she was reminded they weren't happy, and they certainly weren't a couple, despite the intensely intimate moments they'd shared.

"Maybe we should swing into San Diego for a couple of hours so you can see your family," she suggested, biting the inside of her cheek as she waited for him to blow.

He glanced at her, frowned, but admirably kept his cool. "Marli."

"What? I know you want to reconcile with them."

He just shook his head and concentrated on his driving.

"You're so cold," she said, trying again to push his buttons.

"Marli, not now."

"Well, when? We slept together, Trey. Doesn't that give me some rights to know a little bit about you?"

"Don't go getting any ideas about us," he bit out, not looking at her. "Yeah, we slept together, but I'm not looking for any kind of relationship. My life is fucked up enough right now."

Well, she'd gotten a response. Not exactly what she'd hoped for. Disappointment flooded over her, even though she'd known, in her head, that they had no future together. She pressed a hand to her chest and rubbed a little where her heart ached, and turned her head to look out the side window.

Trey's cell phone rang and he quickly answered it. After a brief conversation, he tossed it back onto the dash.

"Burrows?"

"Yeah. I didn't tell him where we were. He'd be pissed. Especially if he knew you were with me." He shot her a sideways glance.

"What did he want?"

"Last night Barnes stopped at the Honky Tonk Bar and Grill."

"Huh? How could he have? He was busy shooting at us."

"It was late. Two A.M. The place was almost closing, but he found someone to give him a ride home."

"No," she whispered, putting her hands over her mouth as she stared at him.

He shook his head. "He just took her car. Surprising, actually. Anyway, it does look like he's headed this way."

"Are...is the FBI officially chasing him?"

"They told me they're 'on it.' I'm going to call Bill again next time we stop and see what he knows. Or what he'll tell me."

She could hear the anger and frustration in his voice at not being in the loop on this whole thing.

"Trey, you won't get in trouble for doing this, will you?"

He was silent, but she saw his hands grip the wheel tighter. "If it all goes south, then hell, yeah. I'll be in deep shit. I may be anyway." He shrugged.

"Then why are you doing this?" He'd been away from his job for over six months, she knew. Why all of a sudden was he suddenly risking his career over this?

Could it be because of her? A faint hope grew deep within her that maybe he did care for her, more than he was willing to admit. What else could it be? After he'd rescued her that night, there was no reason he'd had to get involved. He could have just let the cops handle it and continued on his way up to San Francisco.

Of course, he was pretty serious about his career, and maybe he felt some kind of duty to finish off what he'd started. To stop a cold-blooded killer before more lives were lost. He was that kind of guy, and she loved it about him.

Oh, here we go again. She sighed inwardly. Thoughts of love and relationships had no place in her head, especially where Trey was concerned. He'd made that quite clear. She was going to get her heart stomped on, if she made it through this alive.

There was another pleasant thought.

"I don't know," he said.

"Huh?" She'd completely forgotten that she'd asked a question.

"I don't know why I'm doing this," he said, sounding almost disgusted with himself. And the tension in his big arms and hands as he gripped the steering wheel clearly said, Don't go there.

Don't go there. Don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere near anything personal or emotional. She chewed on her bottom lip, pondering the mystery that was Trey. She knew so little about him, yet what she did know was huge. He was protective, dependable and trustworthy. He was honest and committed to doing the right thing. He hated to screw up. He was serious, but he did have a sense of humor. He was fantastic in bed. She grew warm just thinking about that. Even as a lover, he was generous, taking pleasure in giving pleasure, and boy, did he know how to give pleasure. Her nipples tingled and that low-down warm glow started between her legs again, so she forced her mind away from erotic daydreams.

She stared out the window, oblivious to the passing miles as the car sped along, thoughts racing through her mind just as quickly as the car was flying.

Trey was so closed off emotionally. He was complicated, no doubt about that. Something was causing him so much pain. She hurt for him and ached to be able to comfort him.

Someone had cheated on him. That much she knew now. It must have hurt him a lot, which meant he must have loved her a lot. Maybe, still did. A knife twisted inside her. Damn.

Her head leaned back, she stared out the window, images of last night running through her mind, wildly sexy thoughts about Trey doing carnal, erotic things to her. After a while, he glanced over at her.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. "You look so intense."

"I was thinking about sex."

Trey choked. "Jesus, Marli."

"What? You asked."

He was smiling as he looked straight ahead out the front window.

Chapter 15

Once past San Diego, they turned onto Interstate 8 and stayed there for almost the next two hours. The flat highway stretched into the distance in front of them. Mile after mile of scrubby yellow desert passed by, the sky huge and wide and blue above.

"We'll stop in Brawley and talk to his mother," Trey said, glancing at his watch. "But I have this gut feeling he's headed to El Paso."

He was nervous about Marli being with him, for more reasons than one. He didn't want her to get involved in anything dangerous, although she already was. But, if they found Barnes, he wanted her nowhere near that psycho.

He was also worried about spending so much time with her in such close proximity. Her sexy body was driving him crazy, making him so horny he could barely see straight. Having her last night had just added fuel to the fire, increasing his hunger for her to the point of obsession. He had to have her again. And again. Sitting beside her in the vehicle was torturing him, testing the limits of his self-control.

It was more than that, though. She was clearly developing feelings for him that went beyond sex. He'd seen the phenomenon before--hero worship that got out of hand. Sure, he'd rescued her, but that was his job. So to speak. She was a strong, independent woman with a mind of her own and she didn't need him. The fact she was looking at him with soft eyes, worrying about his safety, and doing things like standing up for him to the FBI scared the hell out of him. Almost as much as Sheldon Barnes getting hold of her scared him.