He looked her up and down. “You have two good legs so why not? Those boots are probably okay as long as it isn’t too slippery.”

There had been a light snowfall overnight that had made her grateful she wasn’t riding Myrtle.

“Let’s go past your place and pick up a raincoat—you own a raincoat, right?” he asked with a frown.

She couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, Agent Livingstone. I own a raincoat.”

“I thought we were on first name terms nowadays, Yael?” He lowered his voice to a soft velvety tone and leaned closer. “Considering…”

Gah. He was referring to the kiss. She couldn’t believe he’d brought it up even obliquely.

But his smile was hard to resist and Yael started to wonder why she even tried. What harm could it do to be friends with this guy? Even if she slept with him, it was no big deal—probably a good way to get this distracting attraction out of her system. As long as he never found out about her past, she could be whoever she wanted to be—and he’d need to be a lot better at digging into the cyber-verse to figure out her secrets.

Although was changing your name to hide a tragic history really deception? For her it was more about self-preservation.

She shuddered. She’d spent a lifetime moving on and reinventing herself when people she’d trusted eventually found out the truth. But, as she was stuck with this guy, perhaps she should relax her guard a little and simply concentrate on helping catch this killer.

That had to work in her favor, right? One day, she might do enough to atone for the sins of her brother.

Her mind filled with images saturated in blood and her mood soured. She’d never be able to atone for everything. All she could do was try.

11

Shane glanced over to the passenger side of the truck and his conscience felt a rare prick. He hadn’t been strictly honest with Yael, nor with the task force leader.

Lying to good people left a bad taste in his mouth, but Shane knew that if he informed ASAC Sloan of his suspicions she’d tell him to wait and see what happened in Fayetteville before sending a team out to the cabin. And if he told Yael he’d lied about getting the task force leader’s permission she wouldn’t have come. And he wanted her with him.

On one hand, it was an opportunity to bond, and to prove he wasn’t going off on his own on some lone wolf mission. He’d make sure she wasn’t in any real danger.

On the other, he could keep an eye on Yael. Watch her reactions.

Considering she’d been part of the team to identify Zenko it didn’t seem likely that she was in league with EG.