Page 64 of Pretty Broken Dolls

It took about fifteen minutes for Katie to climb over the tree trunk, but it was much simpler for Cisco because he had trained for all types of agility moves over the years.

When Katie got on solid ground and shook off the thought of that tree sliding down the hillside taking her and Cisco with it, she realized and was grateful that someone knew that they had taken a fall.

She felt one hundred percent better as they walked to the parking lot and she saw two SUVs—one was her Jeep. Turning to Campbell she said, “Whyareyou here?”

“I was following you,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, now you know what I think?”

He laughed and turned to her. “I had some questions for you. I called you twice. Go ahead and check your cell.”

Katie had forgotten all about her cell phone. She pulled it from her pocket, relieved that it was still in one piece, and to her surprise saw that he had called her—twice. “You did call.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Why did you call, and on a Sunday?”

“I needed to talk to you,” he said calmly.

She scrutinized him for a moment, trying to decide if he was as innocent as he was making it sound. “You still haven’t told me how you found me.”

“That’s easy. I tracked you by your phone. It’s easy these days…”

“Isn’t that—”

“Illegal? No, not really. I wanted to know where a homicide detective working my cases was and I found her.”

Katie walked to her Jeep, opened the back and pulled out some water for Cisco. She looked down and realized what an incredible mess she was. “Agent Campbell, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing…”

He took a breath. “Dane.”

“Dane?”

“Yes, that’s my name. If I can call you Katie, then you can call me Dane.”

“I prefer Agent Campbell.”

“As you wish.”

She tried to clean her running pants with a towel. “Look, I’m not one that tattles, but you’re treading on thin ice. I don’t think it’s appropriate to spy on colleagues.”

“Look, Detective Scott, I’m sorry that this offends you. But I assure you it’s in good faith.”

Katie was beginning to dislike the agent even more—he wasn’t helping his case.

“I followed your cell phone signal and then I thought I’d take a trail. I heard the horrible tree crash, I came across the mountain lion, and well, I scared it away.”

Katie concentrated on cleaning her clothes and didn’t look at him. She was still deciding whether or not she wanted to speak to him again. She was angry, thankful, and annoyed all at the same time so she didn’t want to say something she would regret.

“New Jeep?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s actually the second one in a few months.”

“I see. What happened to the other one?”