Banged Up Read Free Page A

wouldn’t have needed a house-sitter if she was only on a date.”
    “She’s on her honeymoon.”
    Mace straightened up, his eyes narrowing. “Honeymoon?” He tried to read her expression but it was nonexistent. At the moment, she was a rock.
    “Yes, you know, the trip you go on after you get married?”
    He ignored the dig, thinking her humor was no better than his. “She got married? To who? When? Where did she go?”
    Colby leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Mace wanted to protest because he could no longer see the hard pebbles of her nipples through her shirt.
    “If you’re her brother, why don’t you know about this? Why weren’t you at the wedding? Did you have a falling out or were you really in prison?”
    “Neither. We were separated by necessity.” The half-assed explanation sounded lame even to his ears.
    “Separated by necessity,” she said slowly, the words rolling around in her mouth like she could taste them. “And how long was this so-called separation ?”
    “I don’t know.” Of course, he knew. But saying it out loud made it sound worse.
    “Two years,” he mumbled.
    “Two years,” she repeated with a frown. “Then you’ll just have to wait until she gets back. I don’t feel I should tell you her personal details.”
    With a weary sigh, Mace rubbed a hand over his eyes. Too tired to argue, he said, “And when will that be?”
    “In two months.”
    Mace cursed softly. Two months? Who goes on a honeymoon for two months? “I might not be here that long.”
    “You won’t be here at all. I wasn’t given any instructions about letting visitors stay while she was away. So you’ll just have to hide out somewhere else.”
    “Think again. I own this house.”
    He grinned when Colby stiffened in her chair and her hands landed back in her lap.
    Her knuckles whitened, her grip tightening on the empty gun.
    —
    Colby stood and laid the gun on the table, studying the man across from her. Mace Walker’s presence alone was enough to rattle her at first, but now she was torn by conflicting emotions. He said he was Maxi’s brother. This house was his, not hers. Why hadn’t Maxi told her? Could she trust him? He certainly didn’t look trustworthy.
    His intensely dark, almost black eyes and his unshaven face unnerved her. His dark clothes seemed suspicious since his bulky leather jacket was oversized, perhaps large enough to conceal something. Creeping into the house after dark made him even more suspect. Maybe she should call the police anyway. Possibly he was just trying to get her to let her guard down, only to rape and murder her in her sleep. Then again, maybe he was telling the truth. He did sort of look like Maxi, but in a more beefy, masculine way.
    “I still want to see some ID,” she repeated, more firmly this time.
    With a grumble he pulled out his wallet, flipping it open. A photo ID was tucked in the clear plastic front pocket, but he didn’t remove it and she couldn’t see it clearly from where she stood. He dug until he found something specific. He handed her an old, expired driver’s license, one in which he looked much younger … and his expression was worry-free. No frown lines marred the man looking at her from the photo, but it did prove he was Macen Jeffrey Walker and the address was for the house they were sitting in.
    “What, you haven’t had a driver’s license since you were…” Colby glanced at the date. “Eighteen? Been in the slammer that long?” She did some quick figuring. He was thirty-six. She now had serious doubts he had ever been imprisoned, but she wanted to pay him back for scaring her earlier. It was only fair.
    “No. Not any with my real name on them.”
    “Ah. So what do you do,” Colby read his name off the license, “Mr. Macen Jeffrey Walker, that you haven’t seen or even talked to your sister in two years, don’t have a current driver’s license with your own name on it and have to creep into your own