Betrayal of the Dove (Men of Action) Read Online Free PDF Page A

robber’s heaven just waiting to be hit. Shane lived in Cave Creek; at least that’s what he said when she asked him since he hadn’t listed his address on his CV. It shouldn’t take him too long to pick up whatever he needed.
     
    “Why is your car on the street and not back in one of the parking spaces behind your building?”
     
    “I like being able to look out and see my car at night. It lets me know it’s still there.” She laughed at her own reasoning. Clearly she didn’t think the Row was as safe as everybody said it was or she wouldn’t have even thought of that.
     
    “It’s not a really good idea,” he assured her. Of course it wasn’t. Her store and home was a stationary security disaster let him tell it. “When you move your car it’s real obvious to anybody that you’re not here, and when it’s there they’ll know you are. It’s too easy to learn your patterns based on the position of your car. You should park in the back. The lot isn’t visible because of the buildings so nobody would be able to easily tell when you’re out of town.”
     
    She nodded. She hadn’t really thought of that either. She never would have guessed this about herself, but she really did hate when people pointed out all the things she hadn’t considered. It made her feel stupid on so many levels. She should have thought of everything Shane had, yet she had let the location lull her into a pseudo sense of security.
     
    “Plus,” he looked at her sternly. “When you go shopping I’m sure you use the back door to come in which means you have to walk down that little alley to get to it. That’s not good either.”
     
    “Of course it isn’t,” she said dryly. “I get it,” she assured him. “I’ll park in the back from now on.”
     
    “Why don’t you go ahead and move your car now. I’ll wait until you’re done before I head out.”
     
    “Where’s your car?” She looked out at the row of parked cars lining the street. Shoppers were busy going from store to store. The tragedy in the area hadn’t deterred shoppers during the daylight hours so that was a good thing for business.
     
    “I’m the F-250 parked behind your building.”
     
    She hadn’t looked out when he opened the backdoor. She didn’t even know there was a vehicle back there. The two parking spaces behind her building belonged to her and not the building next to her so she never really bothered to pay attention to the back lot.
     
    “Go on,” he ushered her toward the door. “I want to get back to my place and pick up the stuff I’ll need to change out those locks before it gets much later.”
     
    She laughed. “I guess you’re not just bringing my video security into the twenty-first century; you’re bringing my locks too.” She laughed again. “Thanks. I feel safer already.” He opened his mouth to say something and then stopped, as if he had thought better of whatever it was. She wondered what he was going to say, but at the same time she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
     
    “How old are you?” She knew she probably shouldn’t ask. There was probably some legal rule about asking that question, but since he was already hired she didn’t see a problem with the question. He seemed old when it came to wisdom and demeanor, but his features didn’t look old at all.
     
    “Thirty-eight,” he smiled at her.
     
    “No way! Get out,” she said; her shock resonated in her tone. “I thought you were like twenty-nine, thirty at the max.”
     
    He shook his head. “I’m retired military,” he said as if she should have done the math and come up with his exact age. Well, yeah, maybe she should have put it closer, but retired military meant a lot of things. Either he had put in his twenty years plus one day, or he had come out early. Some people didn’t really emphasize the difference when talking. Maybe she should have known he would have. When he said retired he didn’t mean he put in his time and left, he