Don't Look Back Read Free Page A

sorry.”
    “See you in a few?”
    “Yep.” She’d known she was going back.

    Around seven o’clock, Dakota shut the door to his house and peeled out of his work clothes to toss them into the hamper. After grabbing sweats and a T-shirt, running shoes, and a bottle of water, he headed back out the door and down the sidewalk of his quiet street. Jamie had arrived back at the scene within thirty minutes of his call and had done her thing.
    He’d offered to escort her home and she turned him down flat. Something was going on with her, he just wasn’t sure what. She’d acted weird all day, jumpier than normal, snappier than usual. And it started when she’d seen the handcuffs.
    Dakota pounded his frustration out on the sidewalk, the sweat pouring down his face and soaking through his shirt. It felt good. He thought about the scars on her wrists, her jumpiness, the reaction to the cuffs. He rounded a corner and stopped when he finally realized what it was he’d seen on her face.
    Pure, unadulterated fear. No, it was stronger than that.
    Terror.
    Okay, she’d been afraid. Of what?
    With that question spurring him back into a jog, his thoughts sorted through this bit of information. Now that he thought about it, from their first meeting, the only times he’d ever seen her truly relaxed and comfortable were in her home or engrossed in her work at the lab.
    Which is most likely where he’d find her if he called. Working on the bodies they’d dug up earlier this afternoon.
    A police car cruised past and Dakota lifted a hand in a wave. Several officers lived in his neighborhood, and he appreciated the sense of community, of watching each other’s back.
    Again his thoughts circled back to Jamie. And what about the scars on her wrists? He’d never asked and she’d never offered the information.
    Maybe it was time to dig a little deeper into the past of the woman he loved.

    Yawning, Jamie finally called it a day. Serena had come in to work with her, and between the two of them, they’d gotten a lot accomplished. Serena had left awhile ago, called to a homicide across town. Jamie had told her she’d finish up.
    The two older case files on her desk would have to wait. Lower back aching, she straightened, cleaned up the lab, and then glanced at her watch. She nearly shrieked. 9:30. No wonder she was starving.
    She looked out the window.
    Darkness. Not even a moon to light the way home. It was only a little over two miles to the entrance to her subdivision, and she made the walk to and from work as often as she could. But always in the light. Never in the dark. If she knew she was going to work late, she arranged for a ride from family or a coworker.
    Familiar panic stirred in the depths of her belly. She’d stayed too late, not thinking about the passage of time. The fact shocked her. Normally, she was so careful to make sure –
    Out of nowhere, the panic moved up to grip her by the throat and she forced it down, ordering her mind to work, to think.
    She couldn’t turn back the hands of the clock, so she had to decide what to do. The building teemed with people, and would all night long, but she wanted to be home safe, in her own bed. She looked at her comfortable office chair and grimaced that she would actually consider spending the night in it as opposed to walking home or calling a cab.
    Or she could ask for a ride home from someone.
    Her cell rang and she grabbed it. “Hello?”
    “Jamie? Where are you? Are you okay?”
    Samantha’s frantic questions raised the hair on her arms.
    “I’m at the lab. What’s wrong?”
    “Oh. The lab. Right. I stopped by your house and you weren’t there and . . .”
    For the past eleven and a half years, Samantha, Jamie’s sister, called almost daily. Since the night Jamie had disappeared, not to be heard from again for a little over two months, Samantha checked on her constantly.
    Lately, it grated on Jamie’s nerves. Tonight, she felt relieved. “I’m fine,