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She cut loose with a series of elbow strikes to his kidneys and midsection in a targeted barrage that made her realize that her medical training was as important as her exercise routine right now.

The man doubled over and grunted in pain. Before he could recover, Celine grabbed his wrist and flipped him over to the ground. She pressed her knee onto his throat and bore down with her entire weight.

She leaned down and stuck her fingers in his eyes and he screamed with pain, reaching out with his fist to strike blindly at her midsection. Time to get away before he fully recovered and decided to go after her again.

She jumped to her feet and ran back toward the art studio.

She heard him screaming and cursing behind her as she flew down the street.

Then she reached the back entrance and threw open the door. “Celine?” Barnaby was suddenly beside her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I just ran into a little trouble with some jerks out there. I guarantee they got a hell of a lot worse than I did.”

“Where is she? I’m going to kill her.” The door was flung open again and Celine saw the man who had been chasing her burst through the doorway. “You bitch! You could have blinded me.” He was wiping the blood away from his eyes and nose. “And I think you broke my nose.”

“You attacked me,” Celine said coldly. “I think we’re even.” She gestured to Barnaby. “My friend here doesn’t like to have women threatened by strangers when his job is to keep the clients of the art institute safe while they’re creating their work.”

“You’ll pay for this.” He was still almost screeching as he wiped the blood from his face.

Barnaby shook his head and stepped between the attacker and Celine. “Not one step more.”

“Or what?” the man snarled.

“You don’t want to know. The police are already on their way, but trust me, I’m your biggest problem right now.” Barnaby’s fingers closed around the nightstick on his belt. “Turn around and cut your losses.”

“You’ll stay out of my business if you know what’s good for you.

” He turned on his heel and strode toward the door.

His lips curled as he glared over his shoulder at Celine.

“And this isn’t the end. No one treats me like that.

I’m going to see that you suffer for it.

” He turned and threw open the door, and then he was gone.

“Ugly,” Barnaby murmured. “Did you really do all that damage?”

She shrugged. “It wasn’t my fault. I’d never seen him before tonight.

I did what I had to do to protect myself.

He followed me and then he attacked. I don’t allow anyone to touch me.

So I showed him that he should keep his hands to himself.

” She frowned. “But he might have seen me before tonight. He looked a little familiar.” She remembered something else.

“And he called me Celine when he made his move on me before I had to almost punch his eyes out.”

Barnaby chuckled. “I’m certain he deserved it. We wouldn’t want him to be too familiar. But where did you learn to mete out that kind of punishment?”

“My father was a colonel in the army. I was an army brat who traveled all around the world with him before he was killed in Afghanistan. Some of the places were fairly rough, and he wanted to make sure that I could take care of myself if he wasn’t around.

Everywhere we went, he made sure I learned from one of the locals before we moved on to the next place.

He taught me everything I needed to know about the fine art of self-protection. ”

Barnaby nodded soberly, his gaze studying her face. “I can see why he’d want you to know how to protect yourself. You’re so damn stunning, he probably had to contend with the entire U.S. military by the time you were grown.”

“Don’t exaggerate.” She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess he had a few problems with me because of something like that. But he made sure I knew that the outside meant nothing if I wasn’t smart enough to have people admire me because of what I’d studied and knew, not what I happened to look like.

That was just window dressing.” Her eyes were suddenly twinkling.

“Just to remind me, he always had a photograph of Einstein set up in my bedroom at whichever base we were sent. We studied his work together.”

Barnaby chuckled. “Wasn’t that a bit extreme?”

“Maybe for some people. But I kind of liked it. Haven’t you noticed how much Einstein resembles a distinguished grandfather?”

“It never occurred to me. All I remember is that he was very good at making bombs.”

“I guess you had to have been there.” She was still smiling in reminiscence. “Einstein and I became very good friends. I preferred him to any of my schoolmates’ latest rock stars.”

“That must have been pretty tough competition.”

“But excellent training. I’ve found most people prefer not to have to deal with people who they might have to compete with on any level. They find it uncomfortable.”

“They find it uncomfortable? Or you do, Celine?”

“Let’s just say I’ve been taught to appreciate the value of staying in the background from all those years of learning how to protect my independence. It’s much easier to keep a low profile by ignoring conflict.”

He grinned. “You make the attempt, but you don’t succeed.

You obviously can’t even walk down the street without causing a riot.

” He held up his hand as she opened her lips to protest. “But it’s not your fault.

The world is just full of scumbags who think they have a right to reach out and grab when they see something they want.

I hate to see him just walk away.” He frowned.

“Will you at least let me walk you back to the subway and then call me when you reach the hospital? It will make me feel better.”

She hesitated. “I think you’ve intimidated him. It’s probably not necessary to—” She saw his expression and stopped. Why not let him be the hero who chased the villain away? “Of course. Thank you, Barnaby.”

“Good. Wait here until I go tell my boss I’ll be gone for the next thirty minutes or so. But it’s really you who intimidated that bastard.”

“It’s not too late. I find I’m very curious why he went to the trouble of finding out just who I was.

” She was already reaching for her sketchbook.

“I’m also a pretty good artist, remember?

I’m not nearly as good as Jean Paul, but there’s no reason why I can’t do a fairly decent job of sketching that asshole.

His face is practically engraved on my memory.

” She suddenly giggled. “Particularly his eyes! Lord, he was angry! I bet that I can have this sketch done by the time I finish my shift at the hospital tonight. I’ll drop it by here tomorrow night, and you can turn it in to your friends at the police department and see if you can get a name for us. Okay?”

He nodded and headed down the hall. “I’ll look through the mug books myself. We’ll get him, Celine.”

She smiled wearily as she watched him hurry down the corridor.

Barnaby to the rescue, she thought. It was good to know that after those moments of ugliness that she could turn to a man as solid and good as Barnaby and have him there to help.

It was almost like having her dad back again.

It just went to show that the ugliness would fade away, but men like Barnaby would still be there.

She opened her sketchbook and then closed her eyes for an instant, trying to remember every detail of that face. Then her lids flicked open and she started to draw…

DELANO APARTMENTS

KEVAR, MASSACHUSETTS

Ezra Caldwell gazed at Jossland with disbelief as he threw open the door of the suite and stormed in. “What the hell happened to you? I sent you to get the Kelly woman. You look as if you’ve been mauled.”

“Shut up.” Jossland was still trying to stanch the flow of blood seeping from his nose. “You’ll have to choose someone else. Celine Kelly isn’t going to be available.”

“The hell she’s not,” Caldwell said. “She’s perfect. Do you know how long it took me to find exactly the right woman to complete the mask? The minute Zakira saw her photo, he said he had to have her.”

“Ask me if I care,” Jossland said. “You said I was your partner. It’s my money, too, and I have something to say about this choice. You can’t have Kelly.”

“Why can’t I?”

“Because I’m going to kill the bitch. Very slowly.”

Caldwell gave a low whistle. “She did this?” He started to laugh. “I thought there was a real problem. We can solve this. Let’s talk about it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Jossland said. “I told her that she was going to suffer, and I’m not going to let you talk me out of it. She broke my damn nose,” he said between set teeth. “And she almost clawed my eyes out.”

“I didn’t say that you weren’t right,” Caldwell said soothingly.

“Of course we’ll take care of her, but let’s not rush it.

Perhaps you haven’t thought this through.

” He smiled. “Yes, that must be it. I’ve let you go through this terrible experience and not explained the importance of what we’re doing and why every piece of the puzzle has its place.

That ends right now, because you have to realize how important you are to this job.

” He was nudging Jossland toward the library.

“Let me get you a drink to soothe the pain, and I’ll show you the entire picture.

Do you want to clean up a little and get rid of that little whore’s bloody marks on you before I show you how rich you’re going to be if you just have a little patience? ”

Jossland jerked his arm away. “Just talk to me and tell me when I can have the bitch. And why can’t I have her now? Why do you have to use that damn bitch. Why her?”