He pulled away and bent down. She didn’t know what he was doing until he started rolling up her jeans leg and strapping something to her calf.

“What are you doing?” she objected.

“Giving you my backup weapon and ankle holster.”

“What if you need it?”

“I have my service weapon.” He tightened the straps and slipped the handgun in the holster. Pulled her jeans over the contraption.

Her jeans were fleece-lined for warmth and looser than what she generally wore for the rest of the year. “Good thing it’s winter.”

Eban frowned. “Dammit. You’ll have to keep it in your bag when you have your boots on.”

He looked so stressed she wanted to reassure him she’d be all right, even though this was the stuff of nightmares. “I can do that, but maybe I should go buy my own gun or some sort of shoulder holster—”

“Later.” He stood and held his hands out to draw her to her feet. “I want you to practice drawing the weapon when you get the chance. It can be awkward.” He checked the back door and made sure it was locked, then handed her her coat.

Her heart sank. “Where are we going?”

From the expression on his face, she wasn’t going to like what he said. “I’m going to have to drop you at the police department while I attend this vigil Pastor Regis is holding for Adele Surrey. It’s a common occurrence for killers to attend such gatherings. Some of them get a kick from seeing the emotional destruction they’ve wrought. Others want to see if they can discover anything more about the police investigation.”

Darby refused to budge. “I’m not going to the police station.”

“It’s for your protection. I can’t take you to the vigil without risking you being attacked by a mob.”

“Take me to the lab at UAF. I’ll lock the door and work there.”

“I don’t have time to drive that far. You’ll be at the police department for protection, not for questioning or under suspicion. It shouldn’t be for long—”

She backed up a step. “I don’t care.” She could see him losing his patience, but he hadn’t been treated like a criminal there. She had. To expect her to hang out with them now, armed… “What about my lawyer?”

“I thought he’d left town?”

She clasped her hands in front of her. “Couldn’t get a seat. He’s back at his hotel. He called me earlier.”

Eban narrowed his gaze at her. “Okay. Come on. You can call him on the ride over. I am going to call the Chief of Police and get an officer assigned for your protection.”

She bristled.

“Darby. Please. If you don’t cooperate or you don’t want to do this, that’s fine but…” She watched his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. “Then I will have to either quit my job to become your full-time bodyguard, which might be a lot of fun.” He forced a grin. “Or disobey orders and get on a flight with you back to Quantico so we can keep you safe.”