"Evelyn Blade, damn boy, you know when to call one in." Stevens whistled through the phone.
"Yeah? So." He didn't want to let her out of his sight, especially not after the way his old friend said that. He turned off the burners and pushed the skillets to the back.
"Bounty Hunter by trade. Lethal, girl's bagged and tagged a few, all on the up and up of course. Prior service, Marine Corps, applied to the FBI but couldn't get in. Her old man's a real piece of work. Should I go on?" Stevens had spent all morning tracking this information down, and the places he was led made his blood curl.
"Please do." Joshua felt a new sense of danger, and yet there was no way that little fawn with doe eyes sitting in his recliner could actually kill a man. He couldn't believe it, though his old friend said she had.
"Social Services received her when she was eleven. There's a sister, but no history of her after nine years old. No death certificate, records, it's like she vanished into thin air. Their old man, Martin Blade, was a cop in Kentucky, prior Navy. He left the force when he was tried for his wife's murder. He got off on some botched evidence. Evelyn's file is straight out of a horror movie. The case worker moved her through three homes and then took her in herself, says she has problems with males. From there she seemed to straighten up, no juvenile records. Your girl's one of the best bounty hunters in the Mid-west by reputation. She is a sniper, trained with crossbow, black belt and some other martial arts shit."
"That's enough." Joshua's head was overflowing with the information. That sweetness wasn't her; it was her cover. His need for a female companion had made him blind. Well, that was all blown now. He wanted to know what happened to her, and he was going to find out. "Thanks man."
"No problem, oh hey, Josh." Stevens pulled at the collar on his shirt, tucking the file away.
"Yeah?"
"Sleep with your door locked and your weapon ready." With that the phone line disconnected.
"Who was that?" Evelyn felt his eyes all over her. At first they were light and concerned. Now, they were full of fury, pure heat.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Joshua didn't yell, but he suspected she misinterpreted his rage at the situation as rage toward her the way she grabbed the fork.
"Eating." Evelyn assessed the silverware on her plate. Fork, check, spoon, no knife, oh well, fork will do in a pinch. She didn't know what happened, but Dr. Jekyll just turned into Mr. Hyde
"Do not lie to me." Joshua's voice was more of a growl. Each word rumbled in turn.
"You see me eating. How is that lying?" Evelyn was on full alert. "Who was that on the phone?" For the first time since she saw him she felt threatened. And though he wasn't charging at her, his energy belted her in waves. It was confusing, just like this morning.
"Evelyn Blade, you have one more chance to tell me. What are you doing here?" Joshua knew she was trouble the minute he laid eyes on her. And that trouble kept getting worse. Instead of turning away from this, putting her out on the street, he did the honorable thing, took care of her. And now he would have to step back into a life he wanted to leave behind. It pissed him off in a major way.
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