Ice Blue - Anne Stuart [42]
“A safe house for whom? Are you the police?”
“Hardly.”
She sank back in the seat, closing her eyes. He wasn’t going to answer her questions, and she was going to stop asking. At least for now.
Summer awoke with a start, squinting at the digital clock on the dashboard. Three-thirteen. He’d pulled into the driveway of a house, and even in the darkness she could see the outlines of a prototypical suburban dwelling, where one had two point three children and fought with the neighbors about the state of the lawn. There were no neighbors close by—she could see identical houses farther down the road, lit by streetlamps, but this one was at the end of a cul-de-sac, far enough away to avoid prying eyes. It was surrounded by more houses in various stages of construction, all identical, huge and far too close together, but for now they would be alone, unobserved. And she wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
She watched as Taka pointed his cell phone at the garage door, and it lifted silently. He drove inside and the door slid down behind them. The overhead light had come on automatically, and it looked like any residential garage, with a riding mower, storage boxes, garden implements. Even a chest freezer. Was he going to dump her in there?
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
“The garage door opened, didn’t it?” he responded, climbing out of the car and going around the back. She thought he’d stop and get the bowl, but instead he came to her side of the car and opened the door. “Can you walk?”
Stupid question. Even if her knees were weak she wasn’t about to let him see, and she braced herself on the car door as she got out, shooting him a rebellious look. He took a step back, letting her wobble on her own. He aimed the phone at the door to the house, and it clicked open, plunging the garage into darkness as the lights went on inside.
“What the hell kind of phone is that?”
“Multitasking,” he said shortly, waiting for her.
There were a few steps up into the house, and she stumbled slightly, but he was smart enough not to try to steady her. Maybe he knew she was at the very edge of self-control and if he touched her she might start screaming. Something she hadn’t done in a very long time.
He followed her in, closing the door behind them. “There’s food if you’re hungry,” he said. “The house is kept completely stocked.”
She looked around her. The scene before her looked like the set of a perfect television show, with everything safe and ordinary and in its place. Normal, and yet absolutely artificial.
“Where is the Brady Bunch?” she muttered.
“Who?”
She glanced at him. For once he was totally clueless—hardly a cause for rejoicing when the only thing she had over him was knowledge of odd TV shows. “Never mind,” she said. “Where do I sleep?”
“Any bedroom you want. Check the closets until you find clothes in your size. There should be a suitcase as well—pack enough clothes for a week.”
“A week? We aren’t staying here?”
“We aren’t staying anyplace for long.”
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Away.”
She wanted to throw something at him. “And I’m just supposed to trust you?”
“You don’t have much choice.”
He was right about that. She didn’t want to stay with him another hour, let alone a week. He confused and frightened and upset her. Not for the obvious reasons. Given the circumstances, it made perfect sense that she would be a basket case.
No, it was more than just the patently insane situation she’d found herself in. It was the man himself, dark, disturbing, eerily beautiful. Her stomach knotted every time he came near her. She’d never reacted to anyone as she reacted to Taka O’Brien, and her response was even more unsettling than the total upheaval of her life.
She didn’t think she could survive another week.
“Why are you doing this?” she finally asked. “Why have you made it your mission to save my life?”
“I haven’t. You’re an assignment.”
It was like a slap in the face, but she recovered quickly. “An assignment from whom?”
He hesitated a moment, the first time he’d