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"Okay Model? Make?"

She grappled for the ht while it was fresh

"Sorry" She shook her head "It’s gone now"

"That’s all right" His hand cupped her shoulder "You did well Don’t force it It’s a positive sign you’re reht of his hands reassured her enough to push out the question she’d been afraid to ask but had to have answered "Did you see Mr Smith’s car when he checked in?"

Jacob’s broad hand cupped her shoulder "White Suburban I checked , and he had dealer plates, in-state"

"Not great, but maybe the police can still track hireeted her hourly during the night

With a final squeeze, Jacob’s hand fell away "Eot the front desk until Grace arrives in another half hour Let’s hit the road"

Her shoulder felt bare without his co touch She hadn’t known to o How silly to mourn its loss now

"Are you ready, Dee?"

"What?" Dee roused herself from a blatant stare at his bare head with its beautiful hair and reddened ears "Yeah, just let ripped the rail for balance as she dashed up the steps Without giving herself tiht for the coatrack and snatched Jacob’s hat

Chapter 6

"W ho’s your doctor friend?" After over a half hour of ten-ton silence, Dee tried yet another atteuy had pensive down to an art for up her stolanced fro in the truck cab beside him The knit cap lay between them on the tan tweed seat

"Tell " She shifted to face Jacob

Jacob hooked his wrist over the steering wheel For a moment, it seemed he wouldn’t answer, merely let the telephone poles whiz by at a monotonous pace A toolbox in the backseat rattled in the silence "Like I said before, she’s the wife of an old crewmate from South Carolina He’s stationed here at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma now Actually they both are since she’s a military doctor--Kathleen Bennett"

From the solemn set of his jaw, he probably wanted to drop her and all her proble considered littleto chat it up with his annoying aht to the police station"

His gaze slid from the road to her with the slow shake of his head "Your health co for answers I need a name, a real name" She couldn’t stop the notion that she wanted to , as an independent wo, sexy man, rather than the whole dependency scenario "Besides, I won’t have insurance until we knoho I a I already called ahead"

Frustration made her want to clench her fists and pitch an unholy tantrum "While I appreciate your help, I should have some say in my own life"

"Sorry" His mouth curved into one of those rare, one-sided smiles "Of course you should"

What would a full wicked smile that twinkled in his eyes look like? This wasn’t the kind of distraction she needed "Let’s go to the station now, please"

"Think for a minute You’ve been in contact with the Tacoh They’re running the license plate from the Suburban now I didn’t want to scare you e discussed it before, but we need to be sure nothing’s seriously wrong Finding out who you are won’t be worth a damn if you pass out on the precinct floor"

Perhaps his one-word answers hadn’t been so bad after all "But wouldn’t I have already--"

"That’s for the doctor to say"

"Fine" She waved a hand "You’re right, and I’rasping at any little thing I can ether "Yeah"

Back to one-word answers So much for conversation

Dee stared out over the endless stretch of snow road,She monitored the mile markers, city lih her at the notion of discovering her identity and hopefully answers about a possible child Even so, she couldn’t stop a sliver of regret fro her oodbye to Jacob

Jacob wasthee

The snowy haze made it difficult to keep track of cars around theh soupy weather But he’d seen the saain He couldn’t be sure of the paint job with all the sludge on the vehicle, but he also couldn’t stop thinking about Mr Smith’s white Suburban

Of course with soslush-covered Suburbans were high It could be coincidence He’d tried slowing, speeding up, even taking a side road and still he could swear they had a tail

He didn’t want to stress out Dee further, especially not before a doctor’s okay on her health At least she wasn’t pressing for conversation any sure they h the front gate without proper identification

He checked the rearviewbut snow and a sedan now Still, the unease itched Maybe he was being overly cautious