“About your camera,” Gage said to her. “It’s not safe for you to go back to your place alone. We can pick it up at the end of the day.”

“I’ll be fine by myself. It’s not that far away.”

“I can take her,” Jack volunteered.

Gage’s blue gaze cooled as it traveled to Jack, then back to her. “If you’re that determined, I’ll take you myself.”

Jack grinned as if he had just discovered a secret, and Gage flashed him a look of warning.

Twenty minutes later, after weaving their way through traffic, they pulled up in front of Abby’s borrowed apartment.

“I won’t be long,” she said and cracked open her door.

Gage caught her arm. “Now that the papers are signed, I’m in charge, remember?”

“Yes, but—”

“The problem that existed last night hasn’t changed. Just because you put the gold back in the bank doesn’t mean you’re safe. There’s been at least one attempt on your life, and if the guy at the museum was the same man, he might be willing to take you by force, coerce you into giving him the map.”

A thread of unease slid through her. “So what would you suggest? I have work to do, same as you.”

“If you want this venture to succeed, at this point, you have two options: I can put a guard on your door twenty-four seven, or you can stay at my place.”

“You can’t be serious.” Superman, ha! The man was dictatorial and overbearing. How was she going to put up with him for what could end up being weeks?

But what if he was right? Was it possible the man who’d attacked her knew where she was staying? Had he followed her to the museum last night? Would he come after her again, try to force her to give him the map?

“My apartment building’s extremely secure,” Gage was saying. “It’s big enough that you’ll have all the privacy you need, and it won’t be for long. As soon as everything’s ready, we’ll be leaving for Arizona.”

The chunk of gold was back in the bank, the map in the safe in Gage’s office, but she and Gage were the only ones who knew that. Abby looked into Gage’s stern features and knew he wasn’t going to back down.

“So what’s it going to be?” he said.

“If you hire a guard, I’ll be paying for half of it. I’ll stay at your place. And you’d better remember—I still have my gun.”

Gage grinned, then threw back his head and laughed.

* * *

Gage wasn’t laughing when Abby opened the door to the apartment and the interior looked as if a bomb had gone off.

“Oh, my God!”