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It was another endlessly boring night at the dental clinic Shanna Whelan leaned back in the squeaky office chair and gazed at the white ceiling tiles The water stain was still there What a surprise It had taken her three nights to conclude that the stain was the exact shape of a dachshund Such was her life
With another loud creak, she straightened in her chair and glanced at the clock radio Two-thirty in theSix hours left on her shift She turned the radio on Elevator music droned forth to fill the office, an uninspired, instruht" Yeah, like she was going to er and fall in love Not in her boring life Last night, the pinnacle of her evening had been when she learned how to make her chair squeak in tiroan, she folded her aro? Be careful what you ask for because you , and boy, did she have it In the six weeks she&039;d been working at the clinic, she&039;d had one custoht, a wire had coht him here so she could reconnect the wire Otherwise the loose wire could have stabbed the inside of the boy&039;sin blood
Shanna shuddered Just the thought of blood made her woozy Memories of the Incident swelled in the dark recesses of her brain, grueso to coht No, she would not let theed to another life, another person They belonged to the brave and happy girl she&039;d been for the first twenty-seven years of her life before all hell had broken loose Now, thanks to the Witness Protection Progra loft in a boring neighborhood and spent every night at a boring job
Boring was good Boring was safe Jane Wilson had to remain invisible and disappear into the ocean of countless faces in Manhattan for the sole purpose of staying alive Unfortunately, it seemed that even boredom could cause stress There was just too much time to think Time to remember
She switched off the hteen chairs, upholstered in alternating hues of dusty blue and green, lined the pale blue walls A fra on one wall in an effort to inject calm serenity into nervous patients Shanna doubted it worked She was as edgy as ever
Usually busy during the day, the clinic was a lonely place at night Just as well If anyone caer sure she could deal with it She&039;d been a good dentist before the Incident Don&039;t think about that But ould she do if soency? Just last week, she&039;d accidentally nicked herself shaving her legs
One tiny drop of blood and her knees had shaken so badly, she&039;d been forced to lie down
Maybe she should give up dentistry So what if she lost her career? She&039;d lost everything else, including her family The Department of Justice had made it clear Under no circumstances was she to contact any family members or old friends Not only would it put her own life back in jeopardy, but it would endanger those she loved
Boring Jane Wilson had no faned US ained ten pounds in the last twowas about the only thrill left to her That and talking to the handsouy She quickened her pace as she circled the waiting rooht, she&039;d puff up like a whale, and then the bad guys nize her She could be safe and fat for the rest of her life Shanna groaned Safe, fat, bored, and lonesoht her skidding to a stop Probably the pizza delivery guy, but even so, for a second her heart had lurched in her chest She took a deep breath and ventured toward the front s She peeked through the white ht so no one could see inside
"It&039;s ot your pizza"
"All right" She unlocked the door The clinic ht, but she still took precautions She only unlocked the door for legitimate customers And pizza
"Hey, Doc" Torin For the last teeks, the teenager had ht, and Shanna enjoyed his adolescent attempts at flirtation as ht of her day Jeez, she was on the fast track to beco?" She went to the office counter to locate her purse
"I&039;ve got your giant pepperoni right here" Too The jeans slid slightly down his narrow hips, revealing three inches of silk Scooby Doo boxer shorts
"But I ordered a s about the pizza, Doc" To wink and set the pizza box on the counter
"Right Well, that was a bit too cheesy for me And I don&039;t mean the pizza, either"
"Sorry" With pink-tinted cheeks, he gave her a sheepish sotta try, you know"
"I suppose so" She paid for the pizza
"Thanks" Tommy pocketed the ht to try so new"
"Maybe I will Tomorrow"
He rolled his eyes "That&039;s what you said last week"
The phone rang, splitting the air with its shrill sound Shanna jumped
"Whoa, Doc Maybe you should switch to decaf"
"I don&039;t think I&039;ve heard that phone ring since I started working here" The phone jangled once again Wow, a pizza guy and a ringing phone at the same time This was more excitement than she&039;d seen in weeks
"I&039;ll let you get to work See you toered toward the front door
"Bye" Shanna adoing on a diet After the pizza The phone rang again, and she lifted the receiver "SoHo SoBright Dental Clinic May I help you?"
"Yes, you ruff voice was followed by a heavy breath Then another
Oh, great A pervert to brighten her evening "I believe you have the wrong number" She started to lower the receiver when she heard his voice again
"I believe you have the wrong naasped It had to be a mistake Yeah, and Shanna is such a co for Shanna Who was she kidding? Should she hang up? No, they already kneho she was
And where she was Terror jolted through her Ohfor her
Calm down! She had to re nuht Dental¡ª"
"Cut the crap! We knohere you are, Shanna It&039;s payback tihtmare was back
"Oh no, oh no, oh no" She dropped the receiver in place and realized she was ed screarip! She mentally slapped herself and punched in the numbers 911
"This is Dr Jane Wilson at the SoHo SoBright Dental Clinic I we&039;re under attack!" She gave the address, and the dispatcher assured her a squad car was on the way Right With an ETA of ten minutes past the tiasp, she remembered the front door was unlocked She sprinted to the door and locked it As she dashed through the clinic to the back door, she grabbed her cell phone froned US"Come on, Bob Pick up" She reached the back door All the deadbolts were secure Second ring
Oh no! What a stupid waste of ti the door wouldn&039;t keep anyone out They&039;d silass Then they&039;d shoot her She needed to think better than this She needed to get the hell out of here
The third ring was followed by a click "Bob, I need help!"
She was interrupted by a bored voice "I&039;m away from my desk at the et back to you as soon as possible"
Beep "This is bullshit, Bob!" She ran back to the office for her purse "You said you&039;d always be there They knohere I a for me" She jabbed the END button and dropped the phone back into her pocket That daovernment could protect her She&039;d show hi her taxes Of course, if she was er be a problem
Focus! she repriet her killed She skidded to a stop at the desk and grabbed her purse She&039;d escape out the back and run till she found a taxi Then, she&039;d go where? If they knehere she worked, they probably also knehere she lived Oh God, she was so screwed
"Good evening," a deep voice rumbled across the rooeous eous? She was really losing it, if she was checking out a hit ainst his ht her attention and didn&039;t let go His gaze swept over her, his eyes a golden brown and tinged with hunger
A spurt of frigid air jabbed at her head, so sudden and intense, she pressed a hand against her teet in?"
He continued to stare at her, but with a slight movement of one hand, he motioned toward the door
"That&039;s not possible," she whispered The locked door and ere intact Had he ed to sneak in earlier? No, she would have noticed this man Every cell in her body are of this olden, th black hair curled slightly on the ends A black sweater accentuated broad shoulders, and black jeans hugged his hips and long legs He was a tall, dark, and handsoiving her wildly erratic heart palpitations In fact, that was probably what he did He wasn&039;t carrying a weapon of any kind Of course, those large hands of his¡ª
Cold pain pierced her head onceher of the times she&039;d slurped down a frozen Slushee too fast
"I have not come to harm you" His voice was low, almost hypnotic
That was it He lured his victiolden eyes and honeyed voice, then before you knew it¡ª she shook her head No, she could fight this She would not give in
He frowned, dark brows drawing closer together "You are being difficult"
"You better believe it" She fumbled in her purse and whipped out her 32-caliber Beretta Toistered on his rugged face, only a slight hint of irritation "Madam, the weapon is unnecessary"
Oh, the safety catch With treun back at his broad chest Hopefully, he hadn&039;t noticed her lack of expertise She widened her stance and used both hands like she&039;d seen on cop shows "I&039;ve got a full clip with your na down"
So sparked in his eyes It should have been fear, but she could have sworn it was aun, please And the draave hilare "I&039;ll shoot I&039;ll kill you"
"Easier said than done" He took another step toward her
She raised the gun an inch "I mean it I don&039;t care how incredibly handsome you are I&039;ll splatter you all over the room"
His dark brows rose Now he looked surprised Slowly, he inspected her once old
"Stop looking at me like that" Her hands treain "I will not harm you I need your help" He lowered the handkerchief from his mouth Red splotches stained the white cotton Blood
Shanna gasped Her hands lowered Her sto"
"Put the gun down before you shoot yourself in the foot"
"No" She raised the Beretta again, and tried not to think about blood After all, if she shot him, there&039;d be plenty more
"I need your help I lost a tooth"
"You¡ªyou&039;re a customer?"
"Yes Can you help un into her purse "Sorry about this"
"You don&039;t norunpoint?" His eyes twinkled with eous Just her luck that the perfect man would waltz into her life two minutes before her death "Look, they&039;ll be here any second You&039;d better get out of here Fast"
His eyes narrowed "You&039;re in trouble?"
"Yes And if they catch you here, they&039;ll kill you, too Coo out the back"