No One Needs to Know by Debbi Rawlins Read Free Book Online Page B

there.”
    “Thanks. I won’t be long.”
    Annie picked up her coffee mug, then set it in the sink without taking another sip. She hesitated at the door as if she was working out what to say to him, but in the end, she stepped outside. He watched her walk down the path, his phone to his ear.
    The minute she was out of sight, he headed straight up the steps. His heart was beating too quickly, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn’t used to subterfuge. He’d always believed in facing his problems head-on. But this case was the exception to all his rules.
    He saved the obvious for last, moving quickly around the room, looking at the floorboards, the wall for any possible nook where she could have something stashed.
    With no paintings and no closet, there wasn’t much territory to explore, but he took his time. The dresser was filled with clothes, packed tight. Still, he pulled each one all the way out to look underneath the drawer. Nothing.
    The bed was intact, as far as he could tell without stripping it completely, but underneath...
    Coffee cans. Four of them. And an old-fashioned suitcase. That’s what he opened first, checking his watch, appalled at how long everything was taking. She could come back any second, and she’d have every reason to call the cops on him.
    The suitcase was full of paperback books and music CDs. He checked every pocket twice, flipped through the books and popped open the CD cases, but he didn’t find anything noteworthy. Disappointed, he shoved the case back under the bed.
    He hit one of the cans of coffee, and just to be sure, he checked. It was unopened coffee. So was the next, and the next.
    The fourth one had an unsealed envelope. Inside, it was a single sheet of paper with a typed number and password. He was certain the number was for a bank account. There was also a driver’s license in the name of Alison Bishop, with a picture that sort of looked like Annie, and a roll of cash thicker than his fist.
    After he took a picture of the license and the account number, he put it all back under the bed just the way he’d found it. Then he got the hell out of there before she caught him red-handed.

5
    T HE KIDS WERE GONE , AND WITH them, Melanie. It was relatively quiet outside, as quiet as it ever got around Safe Haven. Annie was grateful because she had to calm herself before she went in to see the pregnant mares. They didn’t need her fear and worry, and no one would ever convince her that animals didn’t respond to human energy, good and bad.
    It made perfect sense that Brennan would need to make some business calls, that he’d like to be alone when he made them, and also not have to worry about the background noises that were inescapable on the property.
    She’d already decided that the website photo had not blown her cover. She’d researched Brennan and he was legit. Even Shea had done some of her magic and given him the thumbs-up.
    Besides, a man like Brennan wasn’t the type to go snooping. And even if he did, he wasn’t going to look inside coffee cans stored under her bed, for God’s sake.
    Some deep breathing made her wince, but it also helped calm her down long enough to dismiss her concerns about him discovering her real identity. Which left her wide-open to worry about everything that had actually gone wrong since he’d arrived.
    Annie had known for a while now that wishes and daydreams were a waste of time. That didn’t stop her from wishing that she could start the day over, or at the very least ask Tucker to leave and come back tomorrow.
    She didn’t even dare think that nothing else could go wrong because that was just inviting catastrophe. She still had on her stinky, now bloodstained and torn work clothes. The man she so desperately wanted to impress had walked in on her making a fundamental mistake in caring for animals—one that could have cost them both physically, and certainly may have cost her financially. What foundation wanted to invest