“You don’t owe him anything.”

“Yes, I do. Vicky is alive because of him. That crazy Indian killed Grace and Nellie, and if you had been anybody else, he would have fed Vicky to those things…”

She shuddered and pressed against him.

Jack closed his eyes and remembered the nightmare… Kusum Bahkti had traveled from Bengal to honor a vow of vengeance against the Westphalen family stemming from an atrocity during the Raj. With her aunts Grace and Nellie gone, Vicky was the last of the Westphalen line.

Kusum had come this close to fulfilling his vow.

“I think ol’ RJ owes Gia an equal debt. If you hadn’t come back here that night…”

Jack had been cut up pretty bad saving Vicky. He’d lost a lot of blood, and was too weak to cross the room to the phone. If Gia hadn’t come looking for him and taken him over to Doc Hargus…

“I’d say we’re even,” he said.

He felt Gia shake her head against his shoulder.

“No. Anybody off the street could have found you and got you to a hospital. But saving Vicky… if you had been a carpenter or a copywriter, or even a cop, anyone but who you are… she’d be gone. And that’s why I feel like such a hypocrite when I tell you to hang up your Repairman Jack suit—”

“Hey, now. You make me sound like Batman.”

“Okay, you’re not into spandex, but deep down inside, that’s who you are, aren’t you.”

“A crime fighter? Gia, you’re one of the few people I know who’s not some sort of criminal. I run a business, Gia. A business. I charge for my services.”

“You didn’t charge for last night.”

“And see what I get for it! One freebie, and suddenly I’m Batman. Or that do-gooder who used to be on TV—”The Equalizer.” That’s why I never do freebies. Once the word got out, everybody would expect me to put my butt on the line simply because they need me.”

Gia raised her head and grinned at him. “Oh, yeah. You’re so tough.”

Jack shrugged. “Money talks, bullshit walks.”

“And you’re only in it for the money.”

“If they’ve got the dime, I’ve got the time.”

Her grin broadened. “And you don’t get emotionally involved.”

Jack fought a responding smile. “If you don’t stay cool, you act like a fool.”

Gia placed her palm over the bruise on his chest. “One more rhyme and I push the purple button—hard.”

He tried to roll away but she had him. “Okay. If you stop, I’ll stop.”

“Deal. But admit it: You do get emotionally involved.”

“I try not to. It’s dangerous.”

“That’s my point. You identify with everybody you take on as a client.”

“‘Customer,’ please. Lawyers and accountants have clients. I have customers.”

“All right. Customers. My point is, you don’t hire out to just anyone who happens to have the necessary cash.”

“I go case by case.” Jack was growing uncomfortable.

He wanted off the subject. “I mean, I’ve got to feel I can do the job, otherwise we’re both wasting time. I’m just a small businessman, Gia.”