“Come on in. You look like shit,” she said, stepping out of the way.

He laughed, a fraction of his weariness seeming to fade. “Thank you.”

“Food?”

He winced. “Hell, no. Irina made me take a cooler full of food.”

“Me too.” It felt awkward between them, and she hated that. “Sit with me?”

He nodded gratefully, each of them taking the opposite end of the sofa in the living room. “This is a really nice place.”

“It really is.” She drew a breath. “Have you slept?”

He met her gaze. Held it. “Honestly? Not since you left.”

She gaped for a moment. “Tom, no. You can’t do that. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“Croft said the same thing.”

“Then listen to her.” She started to rise. “I’ll get the spare room ready for you.”

He reached over and gently gripped her arm. “No. Please. I need to talk to you.”

Slowly she sank back down to the sofa. That didn’t sound positive, she thought, belatedly realizing that she’d allowed Dana’s parting words to give her hope. Serves me right. “Okay.”

He released her arm. “DJ Belmont has killed five people that we know of—a nurse, an elderly woman, a young woman whose car he stole, and two cops.”

The tiny sliver of hope that remained circled the drain. This was only a continuation of the argument they’d had in Rafe’s garage. “I know.”

“That doesn’t count the five federal agents he killed a month ago. And the owner of the truck he was driving last night, who he killed the same day as the agents. So all together, he’s murdered eleven people in cold blood.”

Liza’s jaw tightened as she ground her teeth together. “I know. I can count, Tom.”

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that he’s dangerous. You could come into contact with him at Sunnyside. If you are able to talk to Pastor and DJ finds out, or he finds you planting bugs . . . he’ll kill you without a second thought.”

He cares. It was all that kept her from showing him the door. “I knew that when I applied.”

“I can’t stop you from going through with this,” he said, sounding as if he desperately wished to do exactly that.

“No, you can’t.” She rose this time, stepping back when he tried to grab her again. “Look, Tom, we’ve already danced to this song. If you want to talk about something else, I’m fine with that. But I’m not going to rehash this with you.”

“I’m hiring a bodyguard for you,” he blurted out.

Liza stared at him. “What?”

“A bodyguard. For you. If I can’t keep you out of there, I’ll make sure that you’re safe while you’re inside.”

She sat back down, keeping to the edge of the cushion. “Your boss will have me covered.”

“From outside the gates. If you sound the alarm, they’ll have to force their way in, putting your safety and the mission in jeopardy. We don’t know where DJ is. If he’s managed to hide inside and he suspects you, then you’re in danger and we’re no closer to finding Eden.”