a halt. Spotting her in the doorway, he straightened
and put on his game face, guarding his emotions. So what else was new?
“How’d he sleep?” he whispered.
She nodded, giving him a thumbs-up to keep from making too much noise. She studied
the dark circles below his eyes. He had worked through the night and needed sleep,
yet he’d stopped by the hospital to check on her dad. This was the Logan she remembered
from her childhood. The boy who’d cared. Not the nineteen-year-old who’d run from
her.
He closed the distance between them, standing near, his broad shoulders and leather
jacket so close she wanted to run away instead of being tempted by something she could
never have.
“There’s something I need to tell you, Keels,” he said, his tone somber. “I’m moving
soon. Headed out to Texas for a new job. Head of security for a big corporation.”
Hurt slammed through every cell of her body and landed in a big knot in the pit of
her stomach. So this was it. He was leaving again. Like before.
His gaze searched hers, looking for…what? Happiness? Regret?
“Good luck with that. Congratulations,” she managed to get out. It was better this
way, anyway. Her body might yearn for Logan, but she was smarter than that.
He reached forward with both hands, and for a split second she thought he would pull
her in for a hug. Instead, he clutched her upper arms gently, his warmth seeping through
her shirt and into the marrow of her bones.
“But I’m not leaving until I help Dunnigan find out who did this to Ben.”
Part of her wanted to tell him to hit the road now. But she couldn’t turn away a cop’s
help. Not when they had the same goal. “I appreciate that. Your badge can open more
doors while we investigate this than my social worker ID.”
He rocked away from her, dropping his hands from her arms. “ We ? There’s no we here, Keely. I’ll keep you updated, but you won’t be involved in the
investigation.”
She opened her mouth to object, then clamped her jaw shut. She didn’t need his permission.
The neighbors knew her. Somebody might have seen the attackers running away. She’d
do what she could to find out who did this to her dad.
Her father stirred, moaned low in his throat. The sound had her and Logan striding
to opposite sides of his bed. Ben blinked, and looked first at Logan, then to her.
He smiled, which must have been difficult since his lips were badly chapped and swollen,
but the smile went all the way to his dark brown eyes.
“Two of my…favorite people.” Her dad had to stop midsentence to catch his breath,
wincing in pain.
She bit her bottom lip to hold back her emotions. Anger at the people who hurt him
burned in her gut. But color had returned to his face and he looked more like himself.
Relief flooded through her. He’d be okay.
Ben looked around the hospital room. “What happened to me?” he asked.
“Two guys assaulted you in your house. Do you remember anything about the attack?”
He thought for a second, then closed his eyes. “Last I remember I was opening my front
door after coming home from the airport. Somebody pushed me inside, but I couldn’t
tell who. They tried to yank away my briefcase, then… Wait.” His eyes flashed open.
“What happened to Su Lin?”
Keely sighed. Damn . She’d been hoping he’d be able to identify or at least describe his attackers.
“The police are trying to find her ,” she said, reassuringly. “She never got on the flight in LA.”
Ben shifted in the hospital bed. “Why wouldn’t she? She seemed so determined, so set
on coming here to make a new life.”
“What I don’t understand is why you were home at three. I thought that’s when her
plane was coming in.”
“The first flight was canceled, so I’d changed the reservation for her. She was supposed
to get into the airport at one in the afternoon. I waited for ninety minutes, then
gave up and came