“She said there were rumors that the G.B.I. is investi- gating Sheriff Metcalf’s office. That he might somehow be involved in the leak that caused the undercover operation to go wrong last night.”
“That’s probably a mistake,” he murmured. He seemed lost in thought as he rubbed his hand over his jaw.
“What? You think it’s a mistake to suspect the sher- iff?”
“I think it’s a mistake to let him know they’re investi- gating him. That’s undoubtedly what his announcement is going to be about. He’s defending himself. Without meaning to, the agency has given him a chance to make the first move. I don’t think that’s the way I’d have handled it.”
Sarah lifted her eyebrows and grinned at him.
“See…you seem to know an awful lot about law en- forcement procedures.”
He only grimaced and shook his head doubtfully.
Sarah recognized the sheriff’s voice as he began to speak.
“I have a statement about the undercover operation in our county, which resulted in the tragic death of a young police officer named Cynthia Harper. I would like to put a stop to any rumors circulating about whether or not the Ware County Sheriff’s Department is fully involved in this investigation. We are cooperating completely with the G.B.I. and the F.B.I., as we always do in such circum- stances. We will continue to work with them to find Ms. Harper’s murderers.”
Sarah winced at the words and turned to look at her mystery man. He was transfixed, sitting tensely, com- pletely unmoving as he listened.
The sheriff’s voice went on.
“Deputies from Ware County assisted last night in the raid on the Satilla River Compound and will continue to assist wherever we are needed. That’s all I have to say, folks. Thank you.”
“Sheriff…Sheriff!” the reporters shouted. “What about the other G.B.I. agent who’s reported missing? Can you give us any information about him? His name or where he’s from?”
”Until the case is solved, our office will have no further statements.”
“Well,” Sarah said, her eyes wide with curiosity. “What do you think about that? Did any of what he said mean anything?”
“No, I can’t say it did, although…”
“What?”
“Nothing.” The flashes of light behind his eyes…the memories of running through the rain didn’t mean any- thing concrete to him. Not yet, anyway.
Sarah couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
“You said earlier that you saw a van,” he said.
“Yes, I did,” she said.
“I’m not saying this van was the one the law is looking for,” he said. “Or that it had anything to do with what happened to me. If I was ever in a van I don’t remember it. But let’s suppose it was the one. Let’s suppose you’re right and that you scared them off and gave me a chance to run. If you saw them, then they saw you, too. They know the kind of vehicle you drive. If they come back looking for a body it could be only a matter of time be- fore they see your car and put two and two together. They could come knocking at your door and this time they’ll make sure they finish the job.”
Sarah listened speechlessly. His words brought a feeling of impending doom. She hadn’t expected this. Somehow, without even knowing who this man was, she had felt safer with him here. And now, hearing that might not be the case, she felt more scared than she had since the whole thing began.
“I hid the truck,” she said, her mind whirling as she tried to think.
His gaze turned on her as if for a moment he didn’t un- derstand.
“You what?”
“I was driving a truck. I hid it…for the same reasons you just mentioned. Last night…it was still dark and I…I locked it in the garage. I don’t know why exactly. I just didn’t think it was a good idea to leave it out in plain view.”
“Good,” Hagan said. “Good thinking.” He breathed an audible sigh of relief. “It’ll buy a little time at least. But look, I can’t let you become any more involved in this than you already are. It’s too dangerous. I have to get out of here before someone comes looking for me.”
“You can’t possibly leave,” she protested. “You have a fever and you’ve lost too much blood. You wouldn’t be able to walk a hundred yards.”
Hagan sighed heavily, but he didn’t argue.
“Besides, where would you go? You have no name. You can’t remember where you live. I could give you money, but it wouldn’t last long. It looks as if you have only two choices. Call the sheriff’s office…or stay here.”
“Listen to me,” he said. “You have no idea how dan- gerous this could be for you. If someone wants me dead, they’re not going to stop until they’ve accomplished that. And I don’t want you in the way when that happens.”
Sarah’s eyes widened, sparkling now with some hidden fire.
“If,” she said fiercely. “If that happens. Besides, I’m not going to let someone just walk in here and kill you,” she declared. “And whatever I have to do to keep that from happening, that’s what I’m going to do. Between the two of us, surely we can figure out who you are before anything else happens.”
Hagan saw the determination in her eyes and he knew she meant what she said. Her small body was tensed and ready for action. But he was afraid she had no idea what she was getting herself into.
What he saw in her eyes now made him curious. She had said she didn’t care about anything anymore. But right now he would swear that she did care. That her eyes were filled with concern and compassion and a burning deter- mination.
He wasn’t sure anyone had ever been willing to give him so much before.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The con- stant pain in his head was making him weary and he found that despite the dilemma he faced, he hadn’t the strength to fight sleep any longer.
“I don’t like it,” he muttered. “But I’m afraid you’re right…I’m just too damn tired right now to argue.”
“Good,” she said.
He watched through narrowed, sleep-filled eyes, as she touched the scar on her face. He had noticed that she did that a lot when she was thoughtful or distracted.
“Sarah…come here,” he said.
She looked surprised at his softly spoken command. But slowly she moved from the rocking chair so she could stand beside his bed.
Hagan took her hand and pulled her down until she was sitting beside him.
“I have no right to ask you to trust me,” he said. “Blind trust is really what I’m asking. But I swear, I would never hurt you, or intentionally involve you in anything that might put you in danger.”
Sarah nodded, but the sudden lump in her throat kept her from answering.
“If something happens…if someone comes for me, you have to do exactly as I say.”
A look of alarm leapt into her beautiful blue eyes and for a moment he thought about changing his mind. He should just leave here and take his chances. No matter what she thought or how much she protested.
“Sarah…” he said gently.
He thought it must be the effects of the fever that made him feel the way he did. He let his gaze move over Sarah’s auburn hair and over her face. He had hardly been able to miss her slight, deliciously formed figure, from small perfeet breasts to slightly curved hips. For a small woman, her legs, encased in snug jeans, looked long and shapely.
When his gaze moved back up to her face, he saw that sad, almost self-defeated look in her eyes. It was one he’d seen before and he found himself wanting to change it more than he’d ever wanted anything.
“You just say the word,” he said, “and I’ll find some other way out of this mess.”
“No,” she said quickly and firmly. “I can help you…I know I can. And I want to help you. Besides, you don’t have much choice about it, considering your amnesia and the condition you’re in. So just stop worrying about me and concentrate on getting better.”
His gaze was so intense…so personal that she had to pull her eye
s away. But he continued to study her. Her gaze darted toward him, then away as she got up and began to smooth the covers on the bed.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not polite to stare?” she said finally, her voice soft and quiet.
She was close. So close that Hagan caught the scent of her hair. The same scent of wild roses he’d smelted be- fore. He didn’t know if it was that or her sweetness, her willingness to help a total stranger, that touched him. But he was surprised to feel his body responding so quickly and so hotly after all he’d been through.
“You are one beautiful woman,” he said. “You must know that by now. It would be hard for any man not to stare.”
She shook her head and gave him a look of disapproval as if she didn’t believe him. Again, as if it were an auto- matic response, her hand moved up to her cheek.
“Don’t,” he said. He reached out and put his hand around her wrist. “Don’t do that. You don’t have to hide anything from me.”
Hagan’s husky voice sent shivers down Sarah’s spine. She looked down to where his fingers held her wrist. His hand was dark in contrast to her paler skin, and surpris- ingly strong. She couldn’t fight the wild tingles of alarm that raced through her body.
His eyes were bright and there was a flush on his dark skin.
It was the fever, she told herself. That was the only rea- son he was looking at her with such intensity.
Hagan pulled her down beside him again and Sarah, looking into those expressive, mysterious eyes, found she couldn’t resist. So many things had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Was it the danger that caused these confusing feelings to wash over her?
For the briefest of moments she wondered how it would feel to touch him the way a woman touches a man. To lie next to him and feel herself encased in those strong, mus- cular arms. To touch his face…and mouth.
“Stay here with me,” he whispered.
Sarah could feel his hand shaking from the fever. And as his eyes closed, then opened again, she warned herself against attributing his actions to anything else. He was very ill and close to exhaustion.
Somehow she knew it wasn’t his nature to give in to neediness, or to ask anyone for anything. Tomorrow, he might not even remember asking her to stay.
“Just for a while,” he whispered, his voice growing rough with weariness. “Until I’m asleep.”
Sarah blinked her eyes. Somehow this vulnerability touched her as nothing else could. He was so changeable. So unpredictable that she hardly knew what to expect from him from one moment until the next.
She had not expected the danger in his eyes to retreat so quickly, or for it to be replaced by something even more compelling.
That little-boy quality moved her. And the need she saw in his eyes. It was the one thing about a man she couldn’t resist.
She tried to warn herself that he was probably a very clever man. Used to charming people to get his way, she thought. Was that all this was now? Was he such a master at reading people that he’d seen from the beginning what it took to get her cooperation?
Somehow Sarah’s mind wouldn’t let her answer that question, or examine it too closely. She sat on the bed be- side him, looking into eyes that were growing glazed and sleepy. She didn’t pull away from his grasp, but sat qui- etly, feeling the heat from his fevered body through the sheets where her hip touched his.
“It’s all right,” she whispered as he closed his eyes. “I’m here. I won’t leave.”
She watched the way a slight smile tugged at the corner of his sensuous mouth, the way his lashes moved, then were still. But even after he was asleep, she didn’t pull away.
Without thinking, she reached out to brush the dark hair away from his forehead. Now that it was dry, she could see golden sunstreaks in it. His hair felt soft and rich against her fingers as she traced those pale glints.
With a bemused look, she let her fingers move lower, not touching his long thick lashes, but hovering just above them. She moved her hand toward his mouth and felt the whisper of his breath against her fingers.
She shivered as unexpected visions and fantasies shot quickly through her mind.
How would it feel to bend and kiss those lips? To have him open his mouth beneath hers? Open his beautiful eyes and gaze at her with surprise and pleasure?
The thought made her close her eyes and take a long shuddering breath. In her mind she could see it all so clearly. A vision of them together. Kissing, touching, moving on this very bed in a quick, heated dance of pas- sion.
It was a forbidden fantasy. Impossible. But one mo- ment in a lifetime to daydream about and remember when he was gone. One exciting, forbidden memory to cherish when she was old and alone.
The thoughts were making it difficult for her to breath.
She opened her eyes quickly and moved her hand away from him. Suddenly, as the realization of what she wanted struck her, she stood up, stumbling back in the room until the back of her knees hit the rocking chair and sent it into a ghostly motion.
“My God,” she whispered, horrified at her own mind’s treacherous thoughts and visions.
She had never felt this way in her life. Never experi- enced such a delicious, hot feeling of spiraling completely out of control. She had come close with Joe, but some- how had never made it over that sweet, mysterious preci- pice.
Her wonderful, precious Joe, whom she had loved since childhood.
Thinking of him shook her and brought a terrible bleak cloud of guilt crashing down over her. How could she even compare this stranger…this tough-talking loner to her sweet, gentle husband?
She had to keep her distance from this man. And not just because he was a stranger without a past.
How could she possibly think she knew him or knew what he was? Just because she wanted him to be this miss- ing agent didn’t mean that he was. Just because she looked into those eyes and thought she could trust him didn’t mean it was true.
It was obviously her mind’s way of trying to fool her, to make her think it was all right to flirt with such fantasies. Simply because he was handsome and charming…and sexually appealing.
All of that bothered her, it was true. But not nearly as much as the idea of betraying Joe’s memory so quickly and so easily with the first man who came into her life.
This man was a rebel. Even without knowing him she sensed that much. He was an extremely masculine man who liked adventures and knew a lot about guns and women.
It would be so easy to fall into his arms and into his bed. He would welcome her; she’d seen that much in his eyes.
But for how long? Until tomorrow? Until someone came to arrest him…or kill him? Until she woke up one morn- ing and he was gone with no goodbye and no explana- tion?
She had thought she could never be with another man after Joe died. But now, with the disturbing realization that she was wrong confronting her, she had to step back. Had to think about what she was doing and where her life was going from here.
She would have to regard this man as untouchable. As a stranger who came into her life one rainy Georgia night only because he needed her help. Under other circum- stances, he probably wouldn’t look at her twice.
He was a stranger. A handsome forbidden man and one far too dangerous for any woman’s peace of mind.
Chapter 5
The stranger slept most of the afternoon and Sarah was glad. It would give her time to think and to put everything into perspective.
She was troubled about her surprisingly intense re- sponse to him. She didn’t know what had made her have such erotic thoughts about someone she hardly knew.
She was very tired from lack of sleep, but she went out- side to work in the garden anyway. She needed the sun- shine and fresh air to give her a sense of reality again. She needed the feeling of accomplishment that seeing the neat rows of sprouting seeds brought and the tranquillity that digging in the rich black dirt always gave her.
Tom followed her to the small patch of garden, rubbing a
gainst her legs. When she paid him little attention, he plopped down in the damp soil and rolled around play- fully before lying still, sleepily watching her work.
The ground was much too wet to work with, but Sarah pulled weeds. The rain had made that task easier, anyway.
As she worked, she tossed small clumps of dirt at the cat and laughed when he batted the pieces back and forth.
“Hey, you silly cat,” she said. “What do you think about this dilemma I find myself in?”
Tom meowed and rolled over, his eyes half closed against the bright sun. Sarah reached out and stroked his warm fur.
“My patient is certainly a mystery,” she said softly. “And I don’t think he trusts anyone very much. Kind of like you when you came here…remember? He could be lying. He could have been involved in what happened last night and knowing that this agent is missing, he could simply be faking his amnesia so I won’t turn him in.”
Sarah glanced at the house and a shiver ran down her spine.
“I don’t really think that’s the case, but…”
She didn’t want to believe it was anyway. She knew in her heart that she wanted to believe this man was good and decent. She wanted to believe everything her instincts told her about him. But in her head…that was a different matter.
Was she being foolish? Too trusting and idealistic?
“I don’t know, Tom,” she whispered. “I just don’t know.”
Tom meowed again and Sarah smiled, then went back to pulling weeds from around the neatly spaced patches of herbs. A few moments later, when she heard the sound of a car, she stopped and glanced toward the highway. What happened last night had made her apprehensive and acutely aware of every car that passed on the seldom used road in front of the house.
This particular car sounded as if it were slowing and when the brown-and-gold car with the star on the door came into sight, Sarah gasped softly and looked toward the house.
Normally seeing the sheriff’s car wouldn’t make her feel so nervous, but today her insides were trembling.
When the car stopped in her driveway, Sarah stood up and with the back of her glove, brushed her hair out of her eyes.
You Must Remember This Page 6
