"You're stuck with me and you know it." After a quick kiss, Pepper directed Logan to sit again but appeased him by perching in his lap. "Luckily," she said to Alice, "he's good at all the housekeeping stuff, because I don't really have the domestic gene."

Logan no sooner got settled than his cell rang, and he retrieved it from the table. Alice would have given him some privacy to take the call, but Pepper didn't move from his lap, and Reese seemed unwilling to stand again.

After a short greeting, she knew the identity of his caller: Lieutenant Peterson. She imagined working for that formidable woman could be a challenge for such alpha men, but neither one seemed to think a thing of it.

Logan said, "Reese is standing here now. I'll let him know. Yeah, shouldn't be a problem. Hang on." He lowered the phone, holding it to his chest. "Follow- up interview tomorrow. Is 8 a.m. okay by you?"

"Whatever," Reese said. "Not like either of us is working."

Pepper scowled. "Of course Logan isn't working. He needs time to heal."

And then to Logan, "They interviewed both of you at the hospital. Why do they need to see you again?"

"That was cursory because Logan was in the hospital."

Logan agreed to that with a nod.

"Tomorrow will be at the station, and more in-depth."

"You were shot."

Reese said, "Do you really think he's unaware of that?"

Logan caught Pepper before she could turn her anger on Reese. "That's the only reason they didn't call me in before this.

All this shit usually takes place within twenty-four hours."

"If he doesn't answer questions,"

Reese told her, "he could lose his job."

Aghast, Pepper gathered steam.

"Shut up, Reese." Logan cupped Pepper's face to reassure her. "Trust me, it's not a big deal. I'm perfectly capable of doing interviews-and no, I don't need you there." He softened that by saying, "I love you, but some things a man has to do alone."

Reese laughed. "So says the man recently escorted to the john."

Pepper narrowed her eyes at Reese.

"Our truce is becoming shakier by the moment."

Reese held up his hands in surrender.

"If it helps, an association rep will be around." His smile twitched. "I promise no one will abuse him."

Logan glared at him. "Soon as my arm is healed..." He let the threat hang out there.

Knowing it was all bluster kept Alice from getting too anxious over their verbal sparring. It was sort of nice to see friends indulge in harmless baiting.

She saw that as a true measure of friendship.

After whispering something to Pepper, Logan put the phone back to his ear.

"We'll be there. Yeah, Reese, too. Got it. Thanks." He disconnected the call.

Reese sat forward. "Who's doing follow-up on-" his gaze went first to Pepper, and then to Alice "-on the info we got yesterday?"

He didn't want to mention traffickers again. Given what Pepper had been through and how she was threatened, Alice appreciated the restraint. Pepper was clearly a strong woman, a true survivor, but that had to be an awful memory for her.

Alice knew all about awful memories.

For a few minutes, the men talked shop and occasionally Pepper chimed in.

Alice did her best not to intrude.

When they finished, Pepper still wasn't happy. "You can't drive, not with your arm in that sling still."

"Reese'll pick me up." He glanced at Reese.

"Certainly, as long as Pepper understands that I'm an innocent bystander."

Appeased, Pepper asked, "How long will you be gone tomorrow?"

"Could be a few hours, could be all day." Logan hugged her with his good arm. "Depends on the questions they ask and the answers we have to give.

Usually, the D.A. does the interview, and I.A. will watch on a live video feed.

When the D.A. is done, I.A. might have additional questions."

"In that case..." Pepper glanced at Alice. "We could bump our shopping trip up to tomorrow. What do you say?

Are you free?"

Since she set her own hours, it wouldn't be a problem. But was she ready for that yet?

Pepper swayed her by saying, "God knows I need some new clothes now that I'm not playing the wallflower anymore, and shopping will help keep my mind off things."

"All right, then."

Reese started to object, but Logan jumped in first. "Great idea."

Plans were made around Alice, and before she knew it, everything was arranged.

It struck her that she'd not only let Reese into her life, but Rowdy, Logan and Pepper, too. Reese and his friends swept her along with their camaraderie, their openness and caring.

She hadn't known any of them long, but they'd had such an impact on her, she already knew she didn't want to lose them. As usual, though, much was out of her hands. Everything would change once they learned of her past.

And with two detectives involved, how could she keep her secrets buried?

HALFWAY HOME, the rain slowed to a

soft drizzle. In the seat beside Reese, Alice looked drowsy, almost languid.

Hopefully relaxed.

It pleased him that she and Pepper had gotten along, but he worried about them being out and about alone together.

Logan, without knowing of their plans, had actually encouraged them.

With any luck, Rowdy would be available to keep an eye on things. He'd check with him later-when Alice wouldn't know.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

"You're so quiet."

"I was wondering about this shopping trip of yours."

She smiled toward him. "I haven't shopped with another woman in a long time." As if distracted, she fussed with the hem on her dress, now wrinkled from the rain. "My sister and I used to go out together a lot. The last time we shopped, it was for her prom dress."

With Alice, it was often what she didn't say that gave him pause. "Your mother didn't go?"

"Not that time. She and my dad were on a business trip. My sister had decided not to go to prom so Mom didn't think she'd be missing anything. Then Amy got asked by a special boy, and we had to scramble to get things together. It was pretty wonderful, and she looked so beautiful that night."

It was hard to imagine dark secrets in the soft, caring picture Alice presented.

"You're older than her?"

"By six years."

"So you two weren't close?"

Hesitation hung in the air between them. "Despite the age difference, we used to be." She turned away to stare out the window at the sodden landscape. "I don't see her very often now."

He wanted to ask why but didn't.

"Your parents?"

She held silent.

"You can tell me, you know."

More time passed. Reese heard the shushing of tires on wet pavement, the lazy, rhythmic slicking of the windshield wipers.

He heard his own heartbeat in his ears.

Shifting around to face him, Alice curled her legs up on the seat, rested her cheek against the back, folded her arms around her waist.

She let out a breath.

Reese felt her watching him, and he knew she was measuring her words.

"My family is pretty wonderful.

Supportive and caring.

Smart and friendly."

Like Alice.

"Mom is a teacher, Dad an architect.

Amy is still in college. She's going to be a nurse."

To Reese that sounded nice enough, much like a typical middle-class family.

"So why don't you see them more often?"

"Because I love them." Her voice thickened with emotion, breaking his heart. "A lot."

Though he couldn't imagine anyone not loving Alice, he had to ask. "They don't feel the same?"

"After I was kidnapped, things changed." She corrected that with a shake of her head. "That is, I changed.

They were thrilled when I returned, but it had been so long...." Her voice trailed off. "I wasn't the same person anymore."

To a captive, a day could feel like a week, a week like a month. Reese prayed that Alice had been rescued sooner than that. "You were still a daughter, a sister. I'm sure they-"

"Loved me? Yes." Expression stark, she looked away. "But he kept me for over a year."

Shock rolled over Reese, cramping his guts, locking his jaw. "Jesus," he whispered, wishing he could somehow change the reality of what she'd suffered.

"I didn't think I'd ever get away." She hugged herself, chin down, her voice breaking. "I thought that was my life."

Knowing how the memory still hurt her left Reese hurting, too. She'd survived, and she said she hadn't been raped.

What could a kidnapper possibly have wanted with her?

The silence grew heavier, almost suffocating. Reese tried to get into cop mode, to think logically instead of with emotion. "You said he. It was a man who took you?"