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Then he let her go. Backed away. Paced to stand behind the desk. He didn’t look at her but focused instead on the small window that looked out over the water. The bar had a prime location right next to the river. And the interior of the warehouse had been beautifully revamped into a trendy bar. Every tourist in a hundred-mile radius would want to visit. Correction, they did visit. There had been a line stretching outside full of people eager to get in LeBlanc’s. She’d had to bribe a bouncer in order to slip inside. LeBlanc’s was currently the place to be.
But she wasn’t there for the atmosphere or the great booze. “I have questions.”
His shoulders stiffened. “I was at the right place at the wrong time. I went into the fire. We both came out. End of story.”
“It was actually the right time for me,” she corrected. “Just so we’re clear. If you’d been a little later, I would have been dead.” That window had not been opening fully. Would she have broken the glass the way he had? Crawled out and grabbed that old drain?
Fallen and broken so many bones…
He looked back at her. For the life of Avalon, she could not read the expression on his face. So she kept talking. “My parents were at a charity ball that night. I was alone. Someone moved that bookshelf in front of my door. I couldn’t get out because it was too heavy for me. I shoved and shoved, but it wouldn’t move.” Did he have any idea what it was like to know that you were trapped and would be dying? “The window was jammed. I couldn’t get it higher than a few inches?—”
“Nailed. Not jammed.” Groused.
Her shoulders lifted. Fell. She took a step toward him, then caught herself. “You remember me.”
“Hard to fucking forget.” His hand rose and rubbed along the back of his right shoulder. “Got a permanent reminder that I see every single day.”
She flinched.
His hand dropped. “That’s not what I—dammit, you should not be near me. You should not be in my bar.” His brow furrowed. “Why the hell are you in my bar?”
They’d get to that, later. First, “Where did you go? You left the hospital. You only stayed a few days. You weren’t healed. You were still wearing a cast, you had so many broken bones, and your shoulder was covered in burns. You needed medical treatment.”
“I got treatment. Just someplace else.”
“I looked for you.” Her quiet confession. “I couldn’t find you.”
He slowly turned to face her fully. “You were better off without me.”
Not something she would ever believe. “They never caught the arsonist.”
His lips thinned. “But your parents got guards for you. You never went anywhere without a bodyguard until the day you graduated high school.”
“H-how do you know that?” The faint stutter showed her surprise.
His gaze cut from her. “I know a lot of things about you.”
She took a slow, gliding step toward him. “Then you have me at a disadvantage, Beau LeBlanc. Because I know next to nothing about you.”
“It’s my real last name.”
“And the one you gave me before wasn’t? The one you gave at the hospital wasn’t? Why would you lie about it?”
He didn’t blink. “Why are you here?”
Fine. “I’m here because someone left Everett Thomas handcuffed and unconscious and put a bow on him so that he could be a present for local cops. I’m currently trying to find that someone.” And, important question, was she staring directly at that someone?
He laughed. “Why would I give a shit who did that? From the stories I read, Everett was making a run for it. Cops were too slow. If he hadn’t been stopped, another woman would probably be dead. Several women.”
Yes, quite possibly. “This wasn’t the first time a dangerous killer was detained in such a manner.”
“Do tell.”
His mocking tone had her jaw hardening. “The cops have kept the other details from the press. Not like they want everyone knowing a vigilante is targeting killers.”
“I’m still not seeing a problem.” He scraped his hand over his jaw. “And I’m not seeing why this involves me. Now, our walk down memory lane was certainly hot and entertaining, but I do have places to be. Got people to intimidate. Lives to ruin. You know, the usual.”
“Are you trying to be funny?” She couldn’t quite get a handle on him.
