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they landed on the ground. Lace and satin littered the ground. His mind once again traveled to forbidden lands as Katie scooped it all back into the tattered plastic.
    "I'll wash these out in the hotel," Katie said. "At least they weren't pawed by a panty thief."
    Allowing Kaiden to help her to her feet, Katie held the bag close to her and started back toward the truck. She tried to hide it but Kaiden saw the slight tremor in her step. He suspected the case was more convoluted than the agency first thought.
    "I wonder why that car tried to run me over?"
    "It could have been an accident," Kaiden replied.
    "I don't know—seems sort of strange for an accident like that to happen the same day government agents kidnap me and someone trashes my underwear drawer."
    "It is strange. Are you sure there isn't something you are neglecting to tell me?"
    "What's that supposed to mean?"
    "Relax. I am not insinuating you are involved in the case, just wondering if maybe there is something you are forgetting?"
    She fell into silence. It looked like she was considering the past months with Nathan. "I don't think so. We had a totally normal relationship until I found him with Mandy."
    Kaiden stopped for a red light and turned to glance at her. "Give it some thought. Maybe something will come to you."
    "I told you—" Her words were cut off as something slammed into the back of Kaiden's truck.
    "Not my new truck!" Kaiden yelled at the headlights in his rearview. Snapping on the hazard lights, he reached to undo his seat belt when the vehicle behind him backed up and crashed into the truck again.
    Before he could react, what looked like the same car that had tried to run Katie down in the parking lot pulled around him and sped away. Kaiden jerked the truck into gear and gunned it through the red light.
    "We need to find out what that dude's issue is. Hang on!"
    Thankfully the streets were mostly empty. They sped after the car but whatever the other guy drove had the advantage with its little size. The car quickly disappeared in the maze of intersecting streets that filled the ocean front area of Virginia Beach.
    "Damn it!" he shouted, waving a fist at the dark surrounding them.
    "What is going on tonight?" Katie managed between trembling lips.
    "Damned if I know. Let's get back to your place so I can find someplace safe for you."
    Once he parked in the garage, they took the elevator up to her floor. When they had left the apartment earlier, a uniformed officer had been told to sit on the place until morning since her apartment had technically become a crime scene. As they walked from the elevator to the apartment, the little hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Something didn't feel quite right.
    Motioning Katie behind him, Kaiden reached for the .45 caliber Glock at his ankle for the second time in as many hours. Thank God he always carried, even in a tux at his cousin's wedding. The door to Katie's apartment stood open; the space beyond eerily silent.
    Holding his gun in front of him, finger on the trigger, Kaiden flattened against the outside wall and listened. Silence. Either the watch officer had fallen asleep or… a moan sounded from inside the apartment.
    Oh crap.
    Kaiden stepped around the door frame, gun pointed, and did a sweep of the living area. Katie followed him in and started to rush toward a crumpled form by the sofa but Kaiden stopped her with a hand on her arm.
    "But he's hurt…?"
    "Shhh!" Kaiden whispered, with a nod toward her bedroom, "We might not be alone."
    Katie nodded her understanding and stood still as Kaiden made his way through the living room and into the bedroom. After a quick search, he determined the room and adjacent bathroom were empty.
    "Clear!" he called out as he returned to the living room.
    Katie had dropped to her knees beside the injured officer. From the trickle of blood on his face, it looked like a nasty blow to the head had taken the young man out. The officer mumbled something Kaiden couldn't