Page 16 of Ghost

Remembering the needle he’d caught millimeters from his neck, he shoved open the door.Getting the woman to talk was the goal.The sooner he did that, the sooner he could be free of her.A little discomfort never hurt anyone.Besides, she had a choice.

Unless she was telling the truth and didn’t know shit.

He flicked on the kitchen light and yanked off his flannel jacket, tossing it on a chair.

Goddammit.

He was getting soft.Blue eyes, nice tits, and sleek legs would be his demise if he wasn’t careful.Gripping the back of the chair, he dropped his head.He needed sleep.Food.Water.Then he could think straight.

He marched to the fridge, took out a bottle of water, and tossed it back.Through the window above the sink, he spotted the open door and the glowing windows.Once again, as though a siren were calling only him, he was tempted to return to the building.

No.

He pulled out his phone and brought up the surveillance system around his property.In seconds he had a clear view of the woman curled up on the floor.At least he could monitor her.

He slammed back the rest of the bottle and climbed the stairs to the second level.After kicking off his pants and shirt, he got under the covers and sighed.Food could wait.He needed rest.The thick, warm quilt softened his muscles, and he closed his eyes.

But all he could think of was a cold workshop, blue eyes, and the way the crevice of her sex had felt along his fingers.

Buzz,buzz,buzz

Ghost jolted awake.He snatched his phone from the nightstand.Rami.He cleared the sleep from his throat.“Hello?”

“You sleeping?”

Ghost dropped back on his pillow and pinched the bridge of his nose.He’d slept about four hours.“Was.What’s up?”

“Got some intel on your female friend.”

Interest hiked Ghost into a sitting position.“Go.”

“Name’s Anna Yorke, twenty-nine years old, born in Utah.Record’s squeaky fucking clean.”

He grunted.“An alias.”

“Obviously.I’ve been running facial recognition all over the country since last night.That’s all that’s come up.”

“What about Europe?”

Rami was silent.“Didn’t check there.Does she have an accent?Anything else to go by?”

“No accent.I mean, hell.I feel like her bone structure is Slavic, but she could be from anywhere overseas.”

“Roger that.I’ll run her picture in Europe.Don’t hold your breath, though.It’ll take all day for sure.In the meantime, if you find any other clues as to where she could be from, let me know.Look for tattoos, maybe.”

He was pretty sure she didn’t have any.He’d seen her half naked.But he kept that tidbit to himself.“Copy that.”

They hung up and Ghost immediately brought up the footage of the shop.Some of the tension eased from his shoulders at the sight of her curled-up form.Had she even moved?

He got to his feet.Christ, it was going to be a long day.Unless he could get her to talk.He’d done well enough not getting triggered by her attitude.He just needed to keep shit in perspective.

But he wasn’t ready to play good cop.Everything about that woman screamed she was a lone wolf.Maybe even a survivor of god knew what.But she wouldn’t crack just because he gave her food and dry clothes.Although maybe shivering for the last four hours had given her some clarity.Shit, if she wasn’t dead from hypothermia.

He got dressed, brushed his teeth, and went to the kitchen.After drinking one cup of black coffee, he poured a second and headed outside.Stopping at the pile of snow, he cursed.

He went back into the house for his flannel and the shovel then went to work clearing a path from the cabin to the shop.Ten minutes later, he wiped the sweat from his brow and returned for his now-cold coffee.

He made his way to the workshop and entered the open door quietly.The whirring of the fans covered the noise of his boots on the cement.Stopping a few feet before the plastic, he studied her exposed skin.