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He passed her the bag of nails "Do this with the other buckets while I fan out and work on the first line of protection This will be our second ring of defense"

"I’ holes around the cabin at the ht approach Drop these inside, cover each hole with a layer of pine needles and leaves over thin twigs When a foot goes in, it’s not cothy process and a lot of pain Even if he works free before we get there, he’ll be slowed from the injury"

We Funny how one word could speed that tickle in her stos work as spikes, too" He tore the duct tape with his teeth A hank of hair fell over his brow, and he could have been the boy building a rocket out of hisWare

She started to reach to brush aside his stray lock of hair

He jammed the completed bucket trap in her hand as if he wanted space between the so brusque? Hadn’t he spent the past days trying to convince her to stay? Of course that was before he found out what she’d been hiding

She would have kno to break the tension eleven years ago Now she wasn’t so certain

Mary Elise hopped up to sit in the back of the SUV She set to work on a second bucket while Daniel hefted out rope, fishing wire and a bag of electronics that looked as if they should have been gifts for the boys

Wind rustled through the trees, shaking loose a shower of pine needles in the widening silence between theone who’d kissed her on the porch? She should be relieved This Daniel offered fewer complications

"Where did you learn all of this?"

"Survival training Study It’s … wise to stay up-to-date" He kept his eyes off her and on the unloading "There are countless options Chinese Chopper, Cuban Water Trap, Sheepeaters’ Rockfall But we have to adapt to the situation andand then you’ve wasted time on one line of defense"

The reality of it all washed over her again He was ar in the new Zelda gaoing to use the Malaysian Hawk on the h, attached to a trip wire On the twothis"

He slid a canoe paddle out of the back One swift ht it down on his knee to snap off the handle "The paddle will be fixed inside a twisted-tight rope tied to a tree lih here to cover A stick trigger sets this sucker to spin fast and hard enough to crack ribs If he finds us before we can nail him with traditional evidence, we’ll be ready"

That ord again Strange how it stirred the sae mix of hope and trepidation as the traps

Noabout all those ht

Danny’s determined strides down the main road took him farther away from her No surprise, her eyes devoured the look of him She accepted the attraction, yet in a day full of revelations a final realization settled

She ht not know about tomorrow And while she felt safer, she knew better than ever to underestiain

All she could control were her decisions in the here and now She was through running fro life, and she damn well intended to make full use of that water bed at the first opportunity

Sunrise fingering through the bulletproof panes, Danny hooked a foot on the rung of the bar stool He clicked through conified secured co, Daniel kept his back to Mary Elise A power nap, cold shower and two PBJs had recharged hi her sleep was a torturous hell, and he wasn’t interested in incinerationWell, maybe he was interested

But he couldn’t afford the distraction, and no question, the woman was one endless distraction At least the security preparations had worked her into an exhausted sleep through the night Guilt nicked, but Mary Elise at her pit bullOf course she’d been right in asserting they would work faster together

He glanced at the second laptop sitting alongside, this one set up with security ed two video ca alar radio pulses back to his computer

His credit card bill would be hell next month, but when it came to Mary Elise, his peace of mind was priceless

"Coseven possibilities for underworld types orked the Savannah area All fit the profile and description in Mary Elise’s initial police report

The fact that no one followed the too-dao turned his vision red And why the hell had no one questioned the nu off on Mary Elise’s reports?

Red turned scarlet

Daniel channeled his anger into productivity, best line of defense for Mary Elise Any second now he hoped Max would fill in the next block with his feedback on McRae’s overseas bank accounts

The ed "Thanks, Spike"

Daniel opened the file and scrolled through Max’s notations, lists of suspicious bank transfers fro multiple state and country lines McRae would burn for this once Max turned the findings over to the FBI

Scanning, his eye snagging on a line iteh three accounts before finally ending … in the Middle East four weeks ago

McRae had tracked her to Rubistan She’d been that close to death Could that have been why his father had called? Because of a heightened threat level to Mary Elise?

Unable to resist looking at her, hungry for reassurance that she still breathed, lived, Daniel kicked his heel to spin the revolving bar stool to face her

Protectiveness fired into afterburners Thank God she slept deeply and he didn’t have to hide anything for once While waiting for Max’s response earlier, Daniel had cruised the Internet for information on endometriosis--a painful, chronic disease he no affected at least ten percent of all women

Had he invaded her privacy? Maybe No doubt Mary Elise would be pissed But he needed to reassure hi herself

And yeah, being locked up with Mary Elise made him think of sex and he wanted to be certain he didn’t make a lame-ass mistake that would hurt her Heaven knew the woman went out of her way to downplay hersex could be a side effect for some Talk about a splash of cold water And how exactly would he bring that up if the situation arose where they happened to find thee he did not need but wanted, so much his teeth hurt