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have a chance.”
    “Okay.”
    Gabe rolled over and got to his feet, offering a hand to Lea. He didn’t want to give her a chance to talk about the mindblowing kiss they’d shared. Maybe Lea would just chalk it up as a welcome distraction. If that’s all it was, then why does she have such an effect on me? Lea had shown such tenderness when she touched him. Maybe. No, he wouldn’t risk another woman’s life. He’d get her to safety and then disappear from her life.
    Gabe led her back down the hall to the museum room and out into the courtyard.
    Everything smelled fresh and clean. The clouds were breaking up to show moonlight and stars in places. Gabe watched Lea climb into the Jeep’s front passenger seat. She leaned her head against the window as he got back on Highway 43 and headed toward Florence. A slow melting ache settled over him, begging him to draw her close to his side. Did her lips throb silently, begging for his kiss? Remember who you are. When this is over you’ll go back to the agency. She’s a schoolteacher. What kind of life could she have with you? Lonely dinners, late nights sitting up waiting for you grading papers to keep from worrying? Days or even weeks when she wouldn’t see you or even know you were safe? It wouldn’t be fair to either of you.
     

 
    Chapter 4
     
    Gabe looked over at Lea. She’d fallen asleep with her face pressed against the foggy window. They had crossed the state line into Tennessee about an hour earlier.
    A shiver racked her frame. She must be cold, even though the Jeep was warm. Gabe reached over and cranked up the heater. She seemed softer in sleep. Maybe he could trust her. Serena had.
    Lea slept soundlessly in the bucket seat next to him. He was so tired. It was midnight when his eyes began to droop and he got off the main highway. He hadn’t seen the goons who’d shot up the cabin since they had hit the highway heading out of town toward Phil Campbell, Alabama. One way or another, he would have to stop for a few hours. Maybe it was time to call in some backup of his own. Gabe kept his eyes on the road ahead while he hit the keys on his cellphone to bring up his address book, punched the down arrow key three times and hit send , knowing that a call would go through to his sometimes partner, Mac Graves. He could trust Mac.
    “Your rental is ash, Spiller. Where the hell are you?” Mac asked in a gravelly voice.
    “About half an hour north of the Tennessee state line.”
    “Tell me what’s going on. I thought you were hiding out from Smythe.”
    “I was. Things changed. I’ve got baggage.”
    “Roarke’s sister found you.”
    “Yes, and I found the diamonds. I’ve just got to stay alive long enough to get them to you. Smythe didn’t cause the cabin fire, or if he ordered it, he wasn’t there to see it through. None of the men I saw fit his general physical appearance unless he’s grown two feet and added a hundred pounds. I think they could be working for Smythe. Roarke hid the diamonds in a small ceramic statue and gave them to her sister.”
    “Did she know about them?”
    The million dollar question. Lea’s future hinged on what he would say. Gabe thought over his answer carefully. Had she known? Was she guilty of concealing evidence along with a host of other charges, or had her own sister played her for a dupe just like she had her husband? “No, Leannan O’Neil had no knowledge of the diamonds or that the statue was anything more than an ugly keepsake given to her by her sister.”
    “How many men?”
    The change of topic meant Lea was off the hook. Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. “There were two when she lost them at a truck stop outside of Birmingham by hitching a ride with a truck driver, but when she got to Jasper and rented a car, that probably put them back on her trail. She’s been running on credit cards. They tracked her right to my front door. So we know these guys have someone techie enough to do that much.”
    “Not very