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"It’s not advisable to be here when Dawg Mackay arrives either"

"Who is Dawg Mackay?" The nurse was all but laughing at her "His name is Jed"

"You really don’t want to know Trust s, sis That just wasn’t nice"

Piper came to a slow stop no more than a few feet from the bathroom door when Jed stepped slowly into the rooentle, amused, and patient The look in his eyes was dah

Scary, that was, if her attacker ever had the misfortune to stare into them

She could see murder in those eyes As Jed took in the bruised, swollen condition of her face, the hesitancy in her stance as she stood before him, then the livid bruises on her are

Shaking his head slowly, he advanced on her, all lean-hipped, predatory ?" Resignation slumped her shoulders

If she had been on a leash before where her brother was concerned, no doubt it would feel like prison even before they left the hospital

"Oh, I’d say about twelve hours or so," he drawled, then leaned close, staring into her wide eyes as he whispered, "He doesn’t knoeet pea Want to keep it that way?"

Piper nodded Oh, God, she really wanted to keep it that way

"Then you’re going to cooperate, right?" he suggested softly

Piper nodded again

To keep Dawg in the dark?

Oh, hell, yes, she would cooperate

At least to a point

After all, she’d hate toonly when it suited their own interests

Right now it suited every single interest she could think of, though

"Good then" He straightened, his hands settling with airy gentleness just above her shoulders "Turn around, ht back to that bed, and we’ll just wait for the doctor, shall we?"

She irl," he coirlishness Piper found nauseating

Good girl, was she? she thought, sitting back on the bed carefully as she glared up at the s, far too self-satisfied Jedediah Booker

Oh, she’d just show hiirl she wasn’t

As soon as the doctor released her, that was

SEVEN

Jed hadn’t prayed in years, but as he drove fro, he found hi for patience

He’d found a chance to question Bret Jordan and his friends Matthew Grace and Olivia Ca in the suite next door and had coate Her door had been opened and aon Piper as though he intended to beat her to death

He also had the bastard’s description The three had been aly observant and were able to provide several valuable details in regard to the assailant’s appearance One of his contacts in the city had oing to the roo what evidence of the attack had been left

And there was the reason for the prayers Patience wasn’t his strong suit The second he had Piper safely at hoation God help the bastard who had dared to touch her

Once the assailant was found, Jed prayed he could keep fro the "mountain" what itwhere I was?" Piper finally deigned to speak to hi she hadn’t done since they’d left the hospital unless he’d simply left her no other choice

"I pro at her, he drove the truck he’d parked at the airfield theI know you’d want ht back had been short, but Jed hadn’t wanted to arrive back in Kentucky until well afterher ready to leave and ensuring so there and why she had been attacked

He hoped--hell, no, he was praying--that Daouldn’t be anywhere near the inn when they arrived

She shifted against the leather seats, no doubt trying to find a co wheel as he fought back the anger he was deter?" She obviously didn’t want to believe hied into New York City with Rowdy, Natches, and no doubt Chaya, Natches’s wife; the chief of Somerset’s police force, Alex Jansen, and Pulaski County sheriff Zeke Mayes; as well as Special Agent Timothy Cranston and Piper’swouldn’t have left the city until Timothy had buried her attacker If that attacker hadn’t been found, then Piper would have returned under such heavy guard she would have been sain