Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

the table, set down her food and then slid into the seat directly across from him. His eyes remained on the laptop.

She didn’t say anything because that was the technique he always used. Give her absolutely no information, even when she asked a direct question. Say only what he wanted to, and when.

So, she ate, saying nothing else, and it about killed her. She hated the silence that settled over them like an oppressive weight. She hated not peppering him with constant questions, she hated not being able to just dive in and figure out what the heck was going on.

But she didn’t trust herself not to reach across the table and pummel him if he gave her another nonanswer.

“Why did you question Herman?” Ranger Cooper said at last. “According to Captain Dean you always follow the rules. Never once stepped out of line. What was going on in the interrogation room that caused you to ask questions?”

Natalie didn’t tense. She’d spent enough time around cops to know how to keep herself immobile and unreadable. She kept her gaze level, and when his gray-blue eyes met hers, she tried not to shudder. She tried not to feel the guilt that was washing through her. She tried to ignore all of the emotions threatening to take over, and most of all, she tried to lie.

“As a woman, I find cases about kidnappings very disconcerting.” She never once looked away, because she knew that would give her away more than anything else. She stared straight into his eyes and willed him to believe her words.

“That wasn’t your first kidnapping case,” he said, all calm, emotionless delivery.

She swallowed before she could will away the nervous response. She had worked a kidnapping case before, but just one. It had been the abduction of a little boy in the middle of a custody battle. It had been nothing like her sister’s case, and she’d known that from the beginning. “He was a small boy. I couldn’t see myself as a victim.”

“Herman said he keeps girls. Last time I checked, you were a woman.”

Natalie’s pulse started thundering in her wrist and in her neck, panic fluttering through her. “Obviously you’ve never been a young woman in a rough part of town,” she returned, proud of how steady her voice sounded.

He held her gaze, but he didn’t say anything. He simply looked at her as though if he looked long enough, he could unravel all her secrets.

She almost believed he could.

“What do you know about The Stallion, Ms. Torres? I won’t ask again.”

“Good. Because I don’t know anything about him. I don’t even know what he is. So, please, don’t ask me again, because this is the truth. I have no clue.” She managed to swallow down the “trust me, I wish I knew more.” But only just.

“Lies could get us killed at this point. Remember that.”

It struck her hard, because he was right. Some lies could get them killed in this situation, but not her lies. All she was doing was not explaining why she’d been superinterested in this case.

Her interest in the girls had nothing to do with why her house had been burned down, and had nothing to do with why she was stuck in this little place in the middle of nowhere with this Texas Ranger.

Her lie was personal, but it was...incidental almost. She didn’t know anything about The Stallion or what he might be into that would make him the kind of man to kill people and burn down houses.

She reached across the table, not sure why it seemed necessary to touch him, but she thought she could get her truth across if there was some sort of connection. She touched her fingertips to the back of his hand and looked him in the eye.

“I have no intention of getting us killed. I have no intention of lying to you. All I want is to be able to go back to my life.” She slid her fingers off his hand, and something shimmered to life inside of her. She didn’t understand that odd feeling, and why she felt off-kilter and short of breath. Why the warmth of his hand seemed to stay in her fingertips.

So, she looked down at her soup as she said, “And if we’re going to discuss honesty, why don’t you tell me what you know about why we’re being chased? Because I think it’s a whole heck of a lot more complicated than you’re letting on.”

She brought a spoonful of soup to her mouth and then slid a glance at him. He had narrowed his eyes, and he was still studying her, that intensity never leaving his face.

And Natalie wondered just how long she could keep her secret...

Chapter 6

Vaughn still didn’t trust Ms. Torres. There was something she was hiding, he was sure of it. Despite his absolute certainty though, he found himself inclined to believe she didn’t know anything about The Stallion. She wasn’t scared enough. If she knew what that man was capable of, she’d be petrified.

“There’s nothing about this case that seems to directly apply to you. The Stallion is the head of an organized crime ring that deals mostly in drugs. Human and sex trafficking is also a possibility.”

He noted the way she paled. It could be that fear he thought she needed, but he tended to think that the mention of trafficking didn’t make people pale unless they had some sort of personal stake in the matter.

He could question her again. He could keep interrogating her until she finally gave in and told him her secret.

And he would. Yes, he would, but first he needed to finish his soup and get a few hours of sleep. That was just common sense, not caring about her feelings. He certainly didn’t care about those.

“We have at least four unsolved cases we think might be connected to The Stallion and his cronies. Not to even begin to mention the current cases. Getting Herman on the