They’d all been too far away.

Brodie’s gaze swung back to the house. “Whoever is after her...that guy was here, taking pictures, days before our parents died. Either he was here his own damn self or he had some flunky doing his dirty work. Maybe her stalker is the one who killed them. Or maybe he saw who did. Either way, I will find that man, and I will make him talk.” Two men had been there the night Brodie’s parents were murdered. The stalker and his flunky? Or someone else?

Brodie marched toward the house.

“She’s planning to leave.”

He swung back around to face Davis.

“She wants me to help her vanish, and I...I gave her the impression I would.”

He stalked right back toward his brother as fury pumped through him. “Want to tell me why the hell you’d do that?” Jennifer can’t vanish. I won’t let her.

I...need her.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you.” Davis rolled back his shoulders and stood toe to toe with Brodie. “Because you keep getting caught in the cross fire when she’s around. I lost my parents. I don’t want to lose my brother, too.”

“You’re not helping her,” Brodie snarled, fighting to keep his fury in check. How could Davis not see the danger? “If she leaves, she’s dead.”

Davis shook his head. “Only if we aren’t keeping an eye on her. Maybe she leaves, and that sicko out there thinks she’s easy pickings. If he goes for her, then we move in on them both.” Davis’s words came out in a rapid-fire burst. “And when we do that, maybe we’ll finally close in on the people who ripped our lives apart.”

“You want her to be bait.” He had to unclench his back teeth in order to force those words out.

Davis didn’t deny the charge. “You got a better idea? I mean, you could always try nearly getting blown to bits again for her, because, you know, that worked out so well for you before.”

His hands were fisted, and it took all his self-control not to take a swing at his twin right then.

“We’d have eyes on her,” Davis continued quickly, as if sensing how close to the edge Brodie might be. “It’s not like she’s a civilian. That woman has training. Let’s use it. Let’s—”

He grabbed Davis by the shirtfront and jerked his brother toward him. “I’m not using her!” His words blasted out. “So come up with a new plan!”

Did Davis really think he’d just put Jennifer at risk? She’d nearly been blown to bits, too. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that explosion, only in his mind he hadn’t pulled her back quickly enough. She’d screamed for him, and then the world had erupted.

“She is our best plan.” Davis’s voice was soft.

Brodie’s hands fisted in Davis’s shirt. “She’s not yours to risk.” He shoved him back.

Davis swore. “You’re too caught up in her.”

He turned away from his brother. He wasn’t going to argue on this point. Jennifer wouldn’t be put at risk like that. End of damn discussion.

“Why?” Davis called after him. “Why won’t you even consider that this could work?”

“Because she can’t be hurt!”

The lies that she’d told...yeah, he felt the burn of that betrayal. He wouldn’t be trusting her again. But Davis didn’t get it.

I can’t risk her.

He pounded up the steps and shoved open the door. He was aware of Davis following behind him, but he didn’t slow down. He hurried down the hallway and turned toward that second door on the right.

Brodie didn’t waste time knocking. He grabbed the knob, turned it—

Locked.

“Jennifer!” His fist pounded into the door.

She didn’t answer.

Has she already left? “Jennifer!”

Still no response.

So he kicked in that door.

But the room was empty. He ran inside, looking around, searching for her—gone.

He rushed back through the house and nearly knocked Davis to the floor. “She’s gone!”

Davis’s eyes widened. “No...she can’t be—”

She’s gone. “Were you supposed to keep me out there, keep me talking, while she vanished?”

Davis swallowed quickly. “I was going to distract you, but not yet. She would need a ride to get off the ranch and she doesn’t—”

Davis just didn’t seem to understand how determined Jennifer could be. Brodie pushed his brother to the side and ran for the garage. Jennifer didn’t need them to give her car keys. The woman’s whole life was a lie—so Brodie was betting that she knew plenty of handy tricks that would surprise most folks.

Tricks like taking a security system off-line.

The alarm hadn’t sounded when she fled the ranch house, and he’d damn well bet the woman went out one of her bedroom windows.

Tricks like hot-wiring a car.

He ran into the garage and saw a shadow moving inside his SUV. Brodie flew toward that vehicle. He yanked open the driver’s-side door.

Jennifer didn’t even cry out in surprise. She was crouched under the dashboard, her hands working feverishly with the wires. Her head turned slowly toward him.

“Uh, hi there, Brodie...” Jennifer mumbled.

Davis burst into the garage.

Brodie tried to get a stranglehold on his fury. “Going somewhere?” he demanded.

“Um, no.” Her fingers pulled away from the wires. She sat up, rolling her shoulders a bit.

“Jennifer...” Her name was a warning.

“I...might have been going for a little ride.”

Davis hit the lights, and illumination flooded the garage.

Jennifer took one look at Brodie’s face and winced. Then her eyes locked on Davis. “I thought you agreed to keep him busy,” she snapped.

Brodie fired back, saying, “You both thought wrong.”

Her fingers tapped against the wheel.

She looked so damn cute and sexy right then...and he was furious with the woman.

“You walk away from me,” he gritted out, “and you’re a dead woman.”

Jennifer inhaled a sharp breath.

“You came to me because you needed help.” His hands were fisted as he fought the urge to grab her and hold on to her as tightly as he could. “Now you’re running?”

Her gaze rose to meet his. “Now I’m trying to protect you because it seems...” She gave a sad shake of her head. “It’s seems I may have already hurt you enough.”

He stared straight into her eyes. “Leave.”

She blinked. “I, uh, was trying to—”

No, sweetheart, you’re not going any place. “Davis, get out of here now,” he ordered without glancing at his brother. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“Brodie...” Davis wasn’t leaving. Brodie could tell by the sound of his footsteps that his brother was coming closer. “I was going to watch her. I was going to—”

He spun toward his brother. “She wasn’t going to wait for you to follow her! She was going to vanish. She was either going to rush right into a trap that stalker has for her out there or she was just going to disappear completely. Become someone new, someplace new.” How could his brother not see that?

Davis’s eyes narrowed. “I just want to help you.”

“Leave us alone, bro. Just leave us alone.”

Davis gave a curt nod and shuffled back. He stopped near the exit and glared at Jennifer. “Not the plan.”

Then he was gone.

Silence.

Brodie tried to yank back his self-control.

“Your brother is angry with me.”

He caught her wrists. Curled his fingers around the delicate bones and pulled her from the vehicle. He had to touch her. Had to know that she was still there, that she hadn’t vanished from his life. “You don’t need to worry about him. Worry about me.”

She yanked away from him.

Brodie slammed the SUV’s door, and before she could flee, he pinned her against the side of the vehicle. “You aren’t going to disappear.”

Her dark gaze searched his. “Even if that’s what is best for you?”

“Let me worry about what’s best for me.” His body pressed to hers. Fury was tight within him, but desire was there, too. Whenever he was close to her, need, hunger, lust built within him.