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caught her good arm to help ease her back to the floor.
    She kept her head down, waiting for the vertigo of bouncing from his consciousness back into her own to pass. Her defenses were in such disarray that leveling her system took longer than usual.
    “Maybe you should wait here,” he said. “I’ll get the kit.”
    “Just give me a minute.” She pushed his supporting hand away, embarrassed by how weak she must seem in front of such a strong man. Not that she should care, but still. She was used to having perfect control of her ability, calling on it when she wanted it, not getting caught off-guard.
    “How about we compromise and go together?” Mac got to his feet and extended a hand.
    She braced herself before accepting his help up, relieved that when their hands touched, nothing from inside his head flooded into hers.
     
     
    In the kitchen, where early morning light seeped through the red-and-white-checked curtains above the sink, Mac quickened his pace to get to the first-aid kit before she did. He probably seemed way too eager, but he’d stashed her gun inside, assuming he’d be the only one making use of the kit. He didn’t want her flipping up the lid and thinking he’d tried to pull a fast one on her. Even though he had.
    He’d just stuffed the gun into the waistband of his jeans and jerked the tail of his T-shirt over it when she said, “Did you hear that?”
    He paused in the act of drawing a chair out from the table and turned toward her and the door. The anxiety in her voice alarmed him as much as the idea that someone could actually be in the cabin with them. “I didn’t hear anything.”
    Then he saw a shift in the shadows. Samantha saw it, too, because she started so violently that she wobbled. Mac stepped up behind her and steadied her with his hands at her waist just as a tall, wiry man with a shiny bald head materialized out of the darkness of the hall.
    Under Mac’s hands, Samantha stiffened, then took another step back and bumped solidly against his chest. He kept his hands where they were, noting the tremors that began to ripple through her. This wasn’t the cavalry.
    “Flinn.” Her voice was no louder than a rough whisper.
    Ah, shit, Mac thought. Wasn’t Flinn the guy she was running from?
    The bald guy smiled, showing very white, very straight teeth. Mac guessed his age as middle fifties, though the man obviously didn’t want to look his age, judging by his too-tan complexion.
    “Samantha,” he said, slow and low, almost an affectionate purr with an underlying menace. Then his dark eyes rested on Mac, flat and cold. “Hello.”
    Mac managed what felt like a sick smile. “Hello.” Harmless schmo, he thought, that’s me. All I’m doing here is keeping the storm trooper on her feet.
    Under Mac’s hands, a coiled tension replaced Samantha’s shakes, as though she’d mind-over-mattered her fear. Her strength was impressive.
    The other man’s Colgate smile didn’t waver as he flicked his dark eyes up and down her body. “ Are you all right?”
    “Watson clipped me when he took out Zoe.” The peeved woman who’d demanded her clothes earlier was back in charge. “Did he botch the shot or was only wounding me part of the plan?”
    The bald head tilted slightly in question. “Plan?”
    “You’ve never mastered playing dumb, Flinn.”
    “And you’ve never been dumb, Samantha. So let’s say you come home. It’ll be easier on everyone that way.”
    “It was never going to be easy the minute you had Zoe killed.”
    “Zoe went rogue.”
    “Bullshit!”
    Mac felt the rage vibrate through her lithe body. If she’d had her gun, he was certain Flinn of the shiny head and shinier smile would be bleeding out at their feet. He had to fight the urge to ease the weapon out of his waistband and hand it over.
    Flinn raised his hands in a calming gesture. “What exactly did Zoe tell you?”
    “I’m not playing this game with you. And I’m not going anywhere with you, either.