Bodyguard

He admired that.

A lot.

He frowned, closing the back hatch and turning to face Esme. “Did you really think you were going to walk out of here?”

“I sure didn’t think I wasn’t going to,” she replied, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. A few strands of hair had escaped and were clinging to her throat and neck, the dark red strands gleaming in the SUV’s parking lights.

“The nearest town is twenty miles away,” he pointed out.

“I’ve walked farther.”

“Did you do it when you had a price on your head?”

She pressed her lips together and didn’t say a word.

“I’ll take that as a no.” He led her to the passenger side of the vehicle. “You keep walking on this road, and someone else is going to find you. If it happens to be one of your uncle’s hired guns, you don’t have a chance of surviving.”

“I’m not sure my chances are any higher with you,” she responded, but she didn’t walk away.

Maybe she was too tired.

Maybe the injury to her ankle was worse than she’d been letting on.

Whatever the case, she stayed right where she was as he opened the door.

“How about we discuss it on the way to the local police department?”

“Ian...” She shook her head. “I believed your organization when I was told I’d be safe. They were wrong, and I can’t see any reason to believe you again.”

“And yet you’re still standing here.”

“Because I’m tired. I’ve been running for months, and I have at least another month to go before the trial. It’s hard to sleep when you’re worried someone is going to break in and kill you. Without sleep, it’s really difficult to make good decisions.”

Her honesty surprised him, and he touched her arm, urging her to the open door. “I’ve had plenty of sleep. How about you let me make the decisions for a while?”

She laughed without humor. “You’re very convincing, but I think I’ll pass.”

“Then how about you sit in the SUV while I drive, and spend a little time thinking about what you want to do? It’ll be easier doing it in a safe place than it will while you’re out in the open.”

“Like I said,” she responded, finally stepping away. “You’re convincing, but I’m going to have to pass.”

“You’re a long way from the state line, Esme.”

“I was a long way from Florida a couple of months ago. Now I’m here, and eventually I’ll be somewhere else.”

“You agreed to testify,” he said, trying a different tactic. She was coming with him. There could be no other outcome, but he’d like her to think she’d been the one to make the decision.

“I will testify.”

“That’s going to be difficult to do if you’re off the grid and have no contact with us.”

“Just because you can’t find me, doesn’t mean I won’t be able to find you. I’ll be at the trial.” A note of weary resignation laced her tone. “I’ll provide testimony that will put my brother in jail for the rest of his life.”

“If you don’t—”

“I know what will happen if I don’t. I’ll die. I may die anyway, but that’s okay, right? A member of the Dupree crime family dies, and no one in a uniform is going to mourn.” She started walking again, the limp more pronounced.

“You’re not going to get very far with an injured leg.”

“Ankle,” she responded. “And I’ll get wherever I want to go. Just let me, okay? Tell your boss and your team and the prosecuting attorney that I refused your help.”

“I can’t.” That was the truth. He’d sworn to uphold the law. Just like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather, he’d always known he was going to be a cop. He’d worked the beat in Chicago, just like three generations of Slades had. And then he’d reached further, applying to the FBI, passing the physicals, the tests, the interviews.

His father would have been proud of him.

If he’d lived long enough to see it.

“Why? Because I signed some papers that said I agreed to witness protection?” Esme asked.

“Because you’re more vulnerable than you want to think you are,” he told her. “Because you’re injured and you need to see a doctor. Because your backpack is in my vehicle, and without it, you’ve got nothing.”

She hesitated, her gaze darting to the Suburban.

“It would be a lot easier for you to get where you’re going with that pack, right?” he continued, certain he’d finally found the key to getting her to cooperate.

“Right,” she agreed. “So how about you give it to me, and we can both be on our way?”

“How about I get you checked out at the hospital, and then I give it to you?”

“Are you bribing me to get me to cooperate?” she demanded.

“Yes,” he responded, turning back to the SUV, and to his surprise, she followed. He helped her into the passenger seat and closed the door.

She was probably hoping to grab the pack and run, but he’d tucked it in next to King’s crate. She’d have to reach over the backseat to do it.

That would take time, and he didn’t plan to give her that.

He jogged around to the driver’s side and climbed in. She was already on her knees, reaching into the back.

“Don’t,” he said, locking the doors and putting the vehicle into Drive.

“What?”

“Keep trying to run. It almost got you killed twice. The third time, you might not survive.”

Pursing her lips, she settled into the seat, yanked her seat belt across her lap and didn’t say another word. Her silence shouldn’t have bothered him. As a matter of fact, he should have preferred it over conversation. She was an assignment, a job he’d been asked to take and that he’d accepted. No matter how much he hadn’t wanted to.

He’d been after the Duprees since his parents’ murders.