Assumed Identity by Julie Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

back on and tipped the bill to her before tugging on the dog’s collar and giving a command in German that prompted the dog to its feet and into step beside him.
    Left alone for a few quiet moments, away from the chaos that had descended on her shop and the parking lot outside, Robin inhaled a steadying breath. Part of her wanted to go after Hope to find out what had upset her so, and part of her wanted to curl up in bed with Emma so they could get some sleep and recapture the serenity of their life before the man with the baseball bat.
    But Robin knew she wouldn’t be much help to her friend, nor would there be any real relaxing, until she finished her interview with the police and got her life back to its normal routine. If normal was even possible.
    While she considered herself infinitely practical, and was used to dealing with the problems in her life on her own, something in Robin’s world had shifted tonight. Her confidence had been rattled and, for the first time, she wondered if she’d been selfish to bring Emma into her life. She’d wanted a family to fill her big house and empty heart so badly that she’d jumped at the chance to adopt Emma when her birth mother had terminated her parental rights. But maybe she had no business being a single mom. Tonight she’d been terrified—not just for herself, but for Emma. She’d been helpless to defend herself or her daughter.
    And then Lonergan showed up out of nowhere. Despite his ghostlike appearance, he was solid and real. She’d leaned on him when she’d been too weak to stand and too frightened to think, and he hadn’t budged an inch. Robin didn’t doubt that he could kill a man with those big hands of his—he’d tossed that creep aside like a bag of trash. Yet he’d cradled Emma as though she was the most fragile treasure in the world.
    He’d been growly and gruff and overwhelming, and had no interest in accepting the proper thanks he deserved. Still, Lonergan’s sudden disappearance left a void in her world. Any real sense of security was gone. She was usually such a good judge of people. Hadn’t she sensed some sort of interest in his icy gaze? Even if it wasn’t sexual, she was certain that there’d been a connection between them.
    But gone was gone. She had no idea why one man would come after her, and another would run away.
    “Ms. Carter?” Spencer Montgomery was at the doorway again, waiting for her to come in to finish answering his questions. “Is the baby settled?”
    With a nod that was more a surrender to the inevitable than an answer to his question, Robin followed him back into her office.
    “CSI Hermann needs to process you.” Detective Montgomery introduced the petite brunette woman wearing a blue CSI vest. “Is it all right if she does that while we finish our interview?”
    “Of course.” Since shooing them out and holing up with her daughter for a couple of hours wasn’t an option, Robin offered them a cooperative smile, instead. “Did you find that woman I saw earlier? Did she get home safely?”
    Detective Montgomery shook his head. “Your description was pretty vague, but there have been no other assaults reported. I’ve got street patrols keeping an eye out for her, just in case, but they haven’t spotted anyone else.”
    “It looks as though the attack tonight was all about you.” Oh, goody. Spencer Montgomery’s partner, Nick Fensom, pulled out the chair behind her desk and invited her to sit. He was shorter than his partner, dark-haired and stocky. Even his jeans and leather jacket were a contrast to his suit-and-tie associate. “You were about to tell us why you stayed late after work tonight?”
    Right. That mess. Numbers that wouldn’t balance seemed insignificant compared to her daughter being thrust into danger and nearly dying herself.
    “I’ve been on maternity leave for a couple of months,” she explained, squeezing her fingers between her knees in her lap to stop their sudden trembling. “When