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cooperate with you.”
    â€œShe’s not my first challenging case,” he reminded his boss.
    Victoria blessed him with an amused smile. “I was right to call you in on this one.”
    â€œI’ll see her safely through whatever happens,” he promised.
    â€œThank you. It’s the least I owe her parents.”
    A firm knock sounded on the door and Victoria signaled for him to open it. He did, finding Frankie on the other side, her dark eyes sparking with impatience. She marched right past him to confront Victoria. “Your receptionist tells me she’s booking us on a flight to Seattle tomorrow.”
    Aidan took a position that gave him the best view of the inevitable fireworks.
    â€œThat’s right,” Victoria said. “I’m not taking any chances, and you told me you didn’t want to waste any more time.”
    â€œI need to go home first,” Frankie replied. “I’ll travel from there.”
    Victoria folded her arms across her chest. “Do you think your mother hasn’t kept tabs on you? Traveling from Savannah gains you nothing. Sophia and I are friends. She might very well call me for advice about you . We’ve both had challenges with children.”
    Frankie didn’t cooperate with the clear dismissal. “That’s not it,” she protested.
    Victoria tapped her reading glasses against her palm. “Are you having second thoughts?”
    Brick, meet wall , Aidan thought, watching the two women.
    â€œNo.”
    The internal battle Frankie was obviously waging dragged out for another long minute. She still didn’t explain herself. Aidan caught Victoria’s eye. “Frankie.” He waited for her to turn his way. “Any gear you might want you can borrow from us. I’ll show you the way.”
    Behind Frankie, he caught Victoria’s relieved expression when the younger woman finally agreed, slinging her backpack over one shoulder and retrieving her suitcase. When they were alone in the elevator, he felt a modicum of tension ease. He asked what she expected to find in Seattle.
    â€œI’m trying not to expect much of anything,” she answered.
    â€œThat limits the potential disappointment.” He’d walked through life a long while with that mind-set. “And the potential happiness.”
    She sighed, her hand flexing on the strap of her backpack. “I know I must sound like an overgrown toddler on the verge of a tantrum.”
    That wasn’t what he saw at all. He saw a woman in pain, confused and wary. “I don’t know enough about your situation to have an opinion.”
    She looked up at him and laughed, the startled, bright sound bouncing around the elevator car and spilling out as the doors parted. “Oh, you have an opinion,” she said. “Maybe I’ll ask for it later.”
    He didn’t want to be fascinated by this new client with a huge chip on her shoulder, yet he couldn’t quite stop himself. She exuded stubbornness, and he couldn’t imagine what kind of strength required to overcome her injuries.
    As an investigator, he was naturally curious about all the things she hadn’t said, but it certainly didn’t help his concentration that she made such an art form out of walking.

Chapter Four
    Aidan watched Frankie carefully choose a laptop and a cell phone to back up the devices she’d brought along. Together they decided on surveillance gear, both visual and audible, proving she understood the tech. He nearly laughed out loud, thinking he’d met the perfect woman. It was a relief that he couldn’t act on the undercurrent of attraction teasing his senses. He was more than capable of working with beautiful women as partners and clients, and he’d sworn off ever bridging the gap between business and personal again.
    As she examined some newer button cameras, he picked up a surveillance-signal jammer. When they moved toward the