The Girl Next Door

“Not yet...” That whisper told her once more.

Then she didn’t hear anything else.

* * *

SHE HADN’T ANSWERED HIM.

Cooper rushed forward, running fast. She’d just been out of his sight for a few minutes. The cops were close by. Gabrielle couldn’t just vanish.

A crumpled form lay curled near a garbage container.

Gabrielle.

He didn’t realize that he’d bellowed her name. But in the next instant, he was on his knees beside her, frantically searching for a pulse at the base of her throat.

The pulse beat slow, steady, beneath his fingers.

He brushed back her hair. Her head slumped weakly against his hold.

What in the hell had happened?

His gaze flew around the alley. It was too dark to see much.

And he didn’t hear anyone.

“Gabrielle?” His fingers shifted through her hair. When he found the bump on the side of her head, he swore.

Then he stood, holding her carefully in his arms. She needed help.

“Freeze!” a male’s voice shouted.

He wasn’t in the mood to freeze. He was in the mood to get Gabrielle help.

Light from a flashlight hit him in the face. That light was so blinding that it made viewing the person connected to that voice hard. The man was little more than a shadow.

“Gabrielle?” The guy’s voice roughened. “What the hell did you do to her?”

“Nothing,” Cooper growled. “When I found her, she was unconscious. I’m trying to help her.” And you’re slowing me down.

The light came closer.

“I’m not armed,” Cooper told him. That wasn’t true, but the man wouldn’t notice the weapons he carried. They were too well concealed. “We need to get her help.”

He could see the man’s face now. It was the detective from the other night, Lane Carmichael.

“I remember you,” Carmichael said, obviously placing him. “You were at the other crime scene, too.”

Great. Not the connection Cooper wanted the detective to make. If he wasn’t careful, the cops would start looking at him for the kills.

He wasn’t sure his P.I. cover could stand up to their perusal.

Carmichael yanked out his radio and called for backup—and an EMT.

A moan slipped from Gabrielle’s lips. Under the flashlight, her lashes began to flutter. She blinked a few times then seemed to focus on him. “C-Cooper?”

“It’s all right,” he tried to reassure her. “I’ve got you.”

A faint smile curved her lips. “S-saving me...again? You’re making a h-habit of it...”

Yes, he was.

The EMT ran toward him. The man reached for Gabrielle.

For an instant, Cooper had the crazy urge to keep holding her. I don’t want to let her go.

But he never got too close to anyone or anything. That was the way he wanted his life to be. The way it had always been.

He let her go.

As she was taken away from him, Cooper’s shoulders tensed. He was going to find out exactly what had happened to Gabrielle in that alley.

Once more, his gaze swept the area, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

With this killer, I wouldn’t.

The ambulance’s siren blared, and Cooper found himself hurrying toward that sound.

* * *

HE HADN’T BEEN able to resist. The woman had been right there. All alone.

She was the one who kept digging into his life.

So he’d thought it would only be fair that he started to play with her life.

The fact that she was connected to Cooper Marshall was just bonus. The connection made things even more interesting.

I can use her.

But not yet. She didn’t matter enough. Not yet.

He whistled as he walked down the street. Plenty of tourists were still out. Even this late, the streets were full of people.

It was easy to blend with those people. To walk right past the overworked cops.

Cooper had climbed into the ambulance. He was playing hero. That wasn’t a role well suited to the man.

He and Cooper were a lot alike. That was why Mercer had Cooper hunting him.

Darkness clung to them both. They were loners. Killers.

In the end, though, only one of them would survive this game.

It wouldn’t be Cooper.

Pity. He’d once called the man friend.

Now, he just thought of Cooper Marshall as a target.

Chapter Three

Gabrielle took a deep breath. She squared her shoulders, smoothed her skirt. Then she lifted her hand and knocked soundly on Cooper’s door.

She had a proposition for him, one that she very much hoped he’d accept. She wanted—

The door swung open. Only Cooper wasn’t the person standing on the other side of that door.

A very pretty woman with glass-sharp cheekbones and shoulder-length black hair stared back at Gabrielle.

A date. He’s on a date. The kiss—the one she ridiculously thought about far too much—had been fake. As good-looking as Cooper was, of course, the guy had a pretty girlfriend.

“Can I help you with something?” The woman asked. Her voice was smooth. Friendly. Her smile was a little uncertain.

“I was looking for Cooper.”

“He’s in the shower—”

The floor could truly open up and swallow her. She’d been indulging in some serious fantasy time with Cooper, and he’d been...busy...with this lady.

“—but you’re welcome to come in and wait for him, if you’d like.” The woman backed up, pulling the door open a few more inches. “You’re his neighbor, right? The reporter?”

She didn’t want to cross that threshold. She didn’t want to, but Gabrielle still needed Cooper’s help. “Yes. I am.” She offered her hand. “Gabrielle Harper.”

The woman’s shake was firm and warm. “I’m Rachel.”

You weren’t supposed to dislike people you didn’t know. She’d just met pretty Rachel. Rachel seemed friendly. Rachel also seemed to be eyeing her with a gaze that was a little too assessing.

Then Cooper appeared. He strode down the hallway, a pair of jeans hanging low on his hips. No shirt. His hair was wet. Fresh from the shower.

When he saw Gabrielle, he came to a very fast and hard stop.

“Company,” Rachel murmured as she dropped Gabrielle’s hand. A faint smile curled her lips. “I was just getting acquainted with your nice neighbor.”

Cooper’s blue gaze narrowed. Then he started walking again, a determined stride that carried him right to Gabrielle. “How’s your head?” His hands lifted, as if he’d touch her head. “I’m sorry I left you at the hospital—I’m not family, so the doctors wouldn’t let me stay with you.”

She caught his hands, flushed. “I’m fine. My dad always did say that I had a hard head.”

He didn’t smile. “You were unconscious in that alley. When I first saw you, I was afraid that you were dead.”

She was still holding his hands in front of his girlfriend. This scene was so awkward. She stepped back. “I didn’t mean to interrupt when you had company. I can come back later.” She sidled toward the door. “It was, uh, nice to meet you, Rachel.” Total lie.

Cooper gave a rough bark of laughter. “Rachel isn’t company. She’s—” But then he broke off, frowning. “Wait, who do you think she is?”

That was a weird question, but Gabrielle blurted, “Girlfriend?”

Rachel was the one to laugh then. “He should be so lucky.” She bent and scooped up a designer bag. “We’re just friends. No worries on that score.” She winked at Gabrielle. “Maybe that makes it nicer to meet me?”

It did.

Rachel inclined her head toward Cooper. “And maybe you can meet up with me and Dylan later? I know he’d love to get an update on you.”

Cooper gave a quick nod. “Will do.”

It had to be her imagination, but Gabrielle could have sworn the enthusiasm in his voice was faked.

Rachel slipped away a few moments later, and Cooper locked the door behind her.

Gabrielle’s hands twisted in front of her. It had been almost two days since she’d last seen him. She’d thought about him plenty during that time.

Especially when the flowers arrived at the hospital—lilacs, her favorite. There hadn’t been a card, just the flowers.

“You sure that you’re okay?” He took her elbow and guided her to the couch.

She’d be better—less distracted—if he put on a shirt, but Gabrielle nodded. “I needed to thank you, both for finding me in that alley and for the flowers. I, um, lilacs are my favorite.” She wore a lilac-scented body lotion, because she loved the smell so much.

His blond brows lifted. “How do you know they were from me?”

She blinked. Embarrassment burned through her. Since she wasn’t dating anyone, she’d just assumed they were from him. “I—”

He laughed. “You sure are pretty when you blush. And, yes, they were from me.” His fingers brushed back a lock of her hair. “I’m glad you liked them.”

She had those lilacs upstairs, sitting in a vase on her kitchen table. Every time she looked at them, she smiled.

But you’re here on business. Don’t get distracted. Gabrielle cleared her throat. “I need to ask you a few questions.”

His hand lowered. She was hyperconscious of the strength of his body next to hers. “Sure. Give me just a minute, okay?” He rose and disappeared down the hallway.

She didn’t move. She wanted to move. She wanted to pry and search—

Hold that curiosity back.

She stayed locked to the couch. He returned quickly, pulling a black T-shirt over his head. The man certainly seemed to enjoy wearing black.

“I was about to make some dinner. Want something?”

Gabrielle shook her head.

A half smile lifted his lips. “Come on, I make a mean spaghetti. It’s a recipe I stole from Rachel. Her family’s Italian, and no one does spaghetti better.”

Her stomach growled.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he murmured.

Then he headed into the kitchen. She heard pots and pans clanking. Gabrielle rose and followed after him. “I didn’t come here so that you would fix me dinner.”

He already had the water set to boil. Tomatoes were spread out on the counter.

“That’s right,” he said easily. “You came here to ask me questions. So ask.”

While he cooked? She’d expected something a little more...businesslike.

“Ask.” He sliced the tomatoes. Fast and with almost fanatical skill. She’d never seen anyone be so good with a knife.

“I...um...” She exhaled slowly. Stop being frazzled with him. “Did you see anyone else in that alley with me?”

He stopped slicing. He glanced at her, held her gaze. “It was dark. I could only see you.”

That didn’t mean that no one else had been there. “Did you hear anything?” Gabrielle asked carefully.

He dropped the pasta then came toward her while the sauce simmered. “No, I didn’t hear anything.” He propped against the counter and studied her. “Why?”

“Because I don’t remember falling.”

“After a head injury like yours, I know it’s common to forget—”

“What I do remember,” she said, speaking quickly and cutting through his words, “is a man’s voice.”

“What?”

“I told Lane—Detective Carmichael, but he said the alley was searched thoroughly, both before and after my ‘accident,’ and there was no sign of anyone else there. Anyone else other than you, anyway.”

Lane wasn’t exactly a fan of Cooper’s. In fact, he seemed pretty suspicious of Cooper. But then, Lane was suspicious of most folks. That was his nature.

“If you’re trying to ask me if I slipped into the alley and slammed your head against a wall...” She saw Cooper’s knuckles whiten as he clenched the edge of the countertop. “The answer is no, I didn’t do that.”

Gabrielle quickly shook her head. “That wasn’t the question I was asking. I know you didn’t do it. You’re the guy who keeps rushing in to save me, not hurt me.”

He blinked. A furrow appeared between his brows. “That’s a whole lot of trust to give someone. You don’t know me that well.”

“I know you well enough to realize you aren’t a killer.”

He gazed steadily back at her. “Do you?”

What kind of response was that? It almost sounded as if he were trying to scare her. “Look, it wasn’t your voice.”

Cooper held up a hand. “You’ve lost me.”

“I remember hearing a man’s voice. It wasn’t your voice.”

Now there was doubt in his blue eyes. Lane had looked at her with the same doubt when she’d tried to explain this situation to him.

His hand fell back to his side. “There was a lot going on that night. It would be easy to get confused. Especially with that bump on your head.”

“A minor concussion.” She waved it away.

He stepped from the counter and caught her hand. “You don’t shrug away an injury like that. Head injuries can be dangerous.”

When he touched her, her heart beat faster. An electric current seemed to run through her body. Just from a touch. “That’s why I stayed in the hospital. To make sure everything was okay.” And because her boss at the paper had insisted on it. Hugh had told her she either stayed or she looked for a new job.

He didn’t take kindly to his reporters being hurt.

She didn’t take kindly to being hurt. “I know what I heard.”

His gaze turned guarded. “Then tell me.”

“A man grabbed me in that alley. He told me that I was in the wrong place.” The memory of that rasping voice rolled through her mind. “And then he said...not yet.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. “You don’t remember his face?”

“I remember the feel of his hands grabbing me. I remember the rasp of his voice, but his face?” If only. “No, I don’t remember that. I’m not even sure if I saw him. I was hoping that maybe you’d seen something.”

“You were the only thing I saw.”

He turned away from her. Cooper spent a few moments in silence as he finished preparing their meal.

“It could’ve been a mugger,” she said to his back, as he reached for some plates. “I didn’t have a purse with me, so maybe that’s why he ran after I passed out.”

“It could have been.” He shut the cabinets with a rough motion of his hands.

“It could also have been the killer.” That was her fear. Her suspicion. “I think he escaped the apartment by climbing down the fire escape. He fled through that alley. Maybe he dropped something. Maybe he had to go back for it.” She followed him to the table. “Or maybe he was just one of those guys who enjoys going back to the scene of the crime. Someone who likes to watch the cops spin their wheels and come up with nothing.”

He pulled out a chair for her. “Is that what the cops have?”

She eased into the seat. “Lane says there aren’t any suspects. No prints, DNA or any other evidence was left at the scenes.”

He sat across from her. He picked up his fork.

“I went back to all the crime scenes—” Gabrielle began.

The fork clattered against his plate.

“I didn’t break in,” she rushed to clarify, realizing how he must have interpreted her words. “I looked behind the buildings. Kylie Archer’s place had a fire escape, too. The killer could easily have escaped on it.”

“Lockwood didn’t have a fire escape.”

“No, he didn’t.” The spaghetti smelled fabulous. “But then again, maybe that’s the reason why Lockwood’s front door was smashed in. The attacker didn’t have any other way to get inside, so he had to use force there.”

Cooper ate in silence.

She took a bite of the spaghetti. He hadn’t been lying. It was fantastic. “I’ll have to make you one of my cherry pies,” she said, sending him a nervous smile. “You did dinner, so I can do dessert.”

His head tilted. His eyes heated, the blue getting even brighter. “Sounds like a date.”

“I—” She nearly choked on the spaghetti. “I have a proposition for you.”

That half smile flashed again. Did he have a dimple in his cheek? It looked like he did.

Sexy.

“I’d love to hear the proposition.”

He made it sound...hot. It wasn’t. She put her fork down. “I want us to work together.” She tried not to let the words come out as desperate.

He kept eating.

“I think we could make a good team. We could keep investigating the cases and find the killer—”

“I’m not in the market for a partner.”

Okay. He was going to make her lay everything out for him. She’d have to show that desperation, after all. “But I am in the market for some protection.” Because she was afraid, and Gabrielle didn’t want to let the fear stop her from doing her job. “I think someone has been watching me. I think he has been watching me.”

* * *

“TELL ME AGAIN...” Dylan Foxx began as he narrowed his eyes on Rachel Mancini. “Why is Cooper having a cozy dinner with the reporter? He’s supposed to be keeping her out of this mess and not—”

“—seducing her?” Rachel finished. She’d seen the way Cooper looked at the other woman. She knew exactly what was on his mind.

Dylan shut the door of his office. They were in the EOD headquarters, a place most civilians would never visit. Actually, most civilians would never even know of its existence.

The EOD was a hybrid organization, one composed of former members of various military branches. The EOD had been founded and was still led by Bruce Mercer. The EOD was far off the books, and the agents took jobs that no one else could handle.

Jobs that often ended in violence. Death.

The EOD agents were the ones who went out after the hostages that couldn’t be rescued. They were the ones who eliminated the most dangerous threats in the world.

Right now, unfortunately, one of those threats came from within.

A rogue agent.

Suspicion was rampant in the EOD. Trust, the cornerstone of the agency’s success, was being shattered. If you couldn’t trust the agent who had your back in the field, how were you supposed to complete the mission?

Rachel sank into the chair near Dylan’s desk. She trusted him 100 percent. But she wasn’t ready to extend that trust to all of the agents at the EOD.

They all knew how to kill, lie and keep secrets.

Someone was using those deadly skills.

“I could see them through the window,” Rachel murmured. Not that she enjoyed the Peeping-Tom bit. “They went into the kitchen and the guy cooked.”

“Cooper?” Dylan’s dark brows shot up.

She nodded. “Maybe he’s just trying to get under her guard. The lady has proven to be pretty resourceful.”

“The lady’s dangerous.” He threw himself into the chair near her. Leather groaned. “I ran down her bio. She’s got a trail of awards behind her and a reputation for being a real bulldog when it comes to her stories. She’s latched on to our killer, and I don’t see her just backing away now.”

Not even after a trip to the hospital.

“The more time she spends with Cooper, the more likely she is to discover that his cover is a lie.” Dylan ran a hand through his black hair. “The last thing we need is her trying to air a story on the EOD.”

“We aren’t on her radar.” Rachel had done her own research on Gabrielle Harper. “She works to help victims. She’s not even thinking about us.”

“Not yet, she isn’t. But if she’s used to uncovering secrets, how long do you think it will be before she senses Cooper is hiding something from her?”

“Well that depends,” Rachel said as her gaze held his, “on just how good Cooper is at lying. It’s been my experience that some men are extremely talented when it comes to deceit.”

There was a sharp rap at the door.

Dylan held her gaze for a moment longer. “You know you can trust me.”

Yes, she did, as a partner, as a friend.

As a lover?

No, she couldn’t risk that. She’d gone down the wrong path with a lover before. She still had the scars to prove it—scars that marked her on the inside and out.

She cleared her throat and called, “Come in!”

The door swung open. Aaron “Deuce” Porter stood on the other side of the threshold. His green gaze swept between them. “Didn’t mean to interrupt anything.” His voice was low.

“You’re not,” Rachel said flatly.

Deuce’s lips twisted a bit. Deuce had been with the EOD for years—long before Rachel had come aboard. She’d worked several missions with him and learned quickly why the brown-haired agent had earned the moniker of Deuce.

The man could blend like no other. Undercover missions were his specialty. He often joked that he hadn’t been born with just one face—but two.

Deuce. He could be two people in an instant, and had been, on missions in Rio, South Africa and the Middle East. He could drop an accent, change his walk, even change all of his mannerisms in an instant.

Two men—in one lethal body.

“Mercer briefed me on the case,” he said as he came inside. He closed the door behind him. “I’m supposed to provide backup for your team.” His smile faded. “Seems a reporter is getting a little too close on this one.”

“Yes...” Dylan sighed out his answer. “But Cooper is working on her.”

Now Deuce did laugh. “Well, Cooper has always had a way with the ladies.”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed.

“Love ’em and leave ’em,” Deuce said. “If anyone can get the reporter under control, I’m sure it will be him.”

Rachel’s hands clenched into fists. “I think you’re underestimating this woman. A little seduction isn’t going to put her off track.”

“Well, if that doesn’t work—” Deuce’s shoulders straightened “—option number two is a whole lot less pleasant for her. According to Mercer, the woman isn’t to interfere in EOD business. Stopping her is a priority, even if we have to use containment.”

Containment? On a civilian?

Mercer must really be worried. They hadn’t crossed that line, not since—

Rachel cut off the thought. She didn’t want to go into the darkness of her past. Not then.

But Dylan was staring straight at her, and she knew that she’d given herself away.

Sometimes she worried that Dylan was coming to know her too well.

And that scared her to death.

* * *

“SOMEONE’S BEEN WATCHING YOU?” Cooper repeated carefully. He made sure his expression reflected surprise. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, I am,” she told him. “You think I don’t know when I’m being tailed? I could feel someone following me for the past day, shadowing me. But every time I turned around...” Her breath blew out. “No one was there.”

He made himself say, “Maybe because no one was there.”

She shot to her feet. “Look, I’m trying to hire you, okay? You don’t have to believe me in order to take the case.”

“I thought you wanted us to be partners—”

Her dark eyes flashed at him. “I’m going to pay my partner for protection.”

She was really afraid. He rose to his feet, slowly uncurling his body until he towered over her. “Are you sure nothing else has happened?”

Her lips pressed together then she said, “I think he was in my apartment.”

Hell.

“My computer... At first I thought it was just some kind of glitch, but I had a tech I know take a look at it. He said my files were deliberately corrupted.”

“Maybe you got a virus—”

“I’ve got top-of-the-line virus protection software. Whatever was done to my system, it was done by a professional.”

Sydney definitely counted as a professional.

“All of the data that I’d had on that computer, all of the files on Archer and Lockwood—they were destroyed.” She lifted her chin and her gaze glinted. “It’s a good thing I had backups, because if I hadn’t, I’d be in serious trouble with my boss.”

His fingers locked around her shoulders. “You have backup files?”

For a second, she almost looked insulted. No, she did look insulted. “I’m not an amateur. This is what I do. I work these cases. I help solve the crimes that cops have to let go cold.”

Why?

“Someone was in my place,” she said again, dogged. “I know he was there.”

“How? Did your alarm go off—”

“No, but my computer...it was moved. Just a few inches, but I could tell.”

It figured she’d be that observant.