If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

smile. “I just refuse to stay at your place and there really isn’t anyplace else. I figure the cabin is more secure than the hotel room, at least.”
    She glanced in the rearview mirror at the car following along. “Besides, sugar, it’s not like I’m on my lonesome. I’ve got my nice escort, remember?”
    Law said nothing, a muscle jerking in his jaw.
    She slumped down in the seat, arms folded over her chest. Misery sat in her chest, a tight, cold lump. Beneath it lurked the twin shadows of rage and guilt.
    There was something monstrous and dark in Law’s eyes.
    She’d seen it lurking there all day—the echo of something haunting him, something he wouldn’t share with her. What was it, this thing he wouldn’t share with her? She had to know, damn it.
    You can’t undo the damage—
    Tense moments of silence passed before he finally turned into the small parking area in front of her cabin. She half expected him to peel off in a fit of sulking fury.
    But that wasn’t Law’s style, apparently. He was just a few inches away as she headed up, and behind him, the deputies.
    “I don’t recall inviting you in,” she said, her voice bitchy. And she wasn’t even sure
why
—she was pissed, but damn it, she didn’t entirely understand just
why
. Did she really want whatever horror he’d seen inside her head?
    He isn’t giving me the choice to decide for myself, damn it
, she thought. That was the problem.
    “I don’t care if you invited me in or not.” He stared at her, his gaze level, flat. “I’m making sure everything is okay before I leave.”
    Nia glared at his back as he shoved around her, plucking the keys out of her hand. Then she gave one of the deputies a considering glance. “I didn’t invite him in here. Can’t you make him leave?”
    Ethan shifted from one foot to the other, then gave Law a worried look. “Well, Ms. Hollister, I … uh … he already said he isn’t staying …”
    “Not the point.” She had to grit her teeth to keep from yelling. “Fine. Screw it. I don’t want him in, but he goes in anyway.”
    Stalking inside, she decided she was going to change, then go to the Inn, and get shitfaced drunk—
    Law’s arm came up, barring her way. She went to shove it aside, but then she focused on the room. She blinked, rubbed her eyes. But the image didn’t change.
    “What the hell …?” she whispered.
    Her room was destroyed. Completely destroyed. Clothes were everywhere. Black paint marred the TV, mirror, and walls. And the bed … she stared at it, trying to figure out what was wrong, but her mind wasn’t processing it.
    “It looks slashed,” she murmured. “Somebody slashed up the bed.”
    “Ethan.” Law—that was Law’s voice. Coming from too far off.
    Hands, gentle but insistent, tugged her aside. She didn’t fight them.
    For some reason, the fight was suddenly gone. Her head was spinning. Black dots danced in front of her eyes. A hand gripped the back of her neck and she realized somebody was pushing her, forcing her away from the open doorway, then into a chair on the porch. Her head was shoved down, between her legs.
    Not helping …
    Her bed.
    Somebody had slashed her bed.
*   *   *
    “Breathe, Nia,” Law said. “You need to breathe so you can yell at me and threaten to kick my ass more, okay?”
    Finally, she stirred under his hand and when she tried to sit up, he let her, staring into glassy eyes. Her pupils were too big, her normally warm skin almost ashen. “He cut my bed up,” she said softly.
    Law blew out a breath. “Yeah. It looks like.”
    From the corner of his eye, he saw the two deputies making their way around the room, nudging things aside with a shoe, but taking care not to touch anything.
    But he’d seen some of the clothes on the floor before he’d forced Nia into the chair. The bed wasn’t the only thing that got the knife job. She’d be lucky to find anything big enough to use as a rag.
    Had he come here looking for Nia? Or was this just to scare her?
    Law didn’t know. Soothingly, he rubbed a hand up and down her back, watching as the color slowly crept back into her cheeks, watching as the shock in her eyes was slowly replaced by anger.
    He saw her body tense only a second before she went to shove him aside. He let her, but when she tried to barge into the cabin, he stopped her. “Nia, it’s a crime scene. They need to make sure there isn’t any evidence. You go in there, it makes it harder for