Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            She squared her shoulders. “Yes, I did.”

            “Why?”

            She wasn’t sure what he expected her to say. “Because you weren’t willing to support me.”

            His fingers tightened in his hair, yanking on it hard. He was hurting himself and she needed him to stop. But she said nothing, waiting for the flood of words that she could sense coming.

            But when he finally spoke, it wasn’t in a shout, but in a hoarse whisper. “Why are you doing this? Why is this so important?”

            She told him the same thing she’d told him Thursday night. The same thing she’d told Molina and Raeburn. “If I can make contact with Pastor, I might be able to get him to tell me where Eden is. Then, once everyone in the compound is safe, you can use Pastor to lure DJ to the rehab center and arrest them both. Then this will be over. I can help Mercy this way. I can keep Abigail safe.”

            He dropped his hands to his sides, looking defeated. “Because you couldn’t save your sister?” he asked quietly.

            Her mouth fell open in stunned surprise. “What? No.”

            “Yes,” he said, shocking her further when he gripped her upper arms, his hold firm yet gentle. “You couldn’t save Lindsay. You couldn’t save your mother. You couldn’t save Fritz. So you’re saving Mercy and Abigail. Don’t tell me that I’m wrong.”

            She started to tell him exactly that, but the words wouldn’t come. Was he wrong? Was she trying to play savior because she’d failed so many others?

            “Do you know when I saw Mercy for the first time?” she asked instead.

            He frowned. “That day we saw Burton’s mother at the nursing home.”

            “That was the first time I met her. I saw her for the first time a few days before that, on the news. She’d nearly been abducted by Burton at the airport when she returned to Sacramento.”

            He nodded, not sure where she was going. “She was in shock.”

            “She was terrified.” Liza swallowed hard. “I saw the look in her eyes, the knowledge that someone she feared had just tried to hurt her again, and I thought of Lindsay. Of how terrified she must have been.” Her voice broke. “Of how she died alone, because nobody was there to help her. So, yes. I’m doing this because I couldn’t save my sister. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m doing what I believe is right.”

            He tilted his head to stare at the ceiling, his fingers kneading her arms, his touch still gentle. Finally, his gaze met hers again. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

            “I don’t want you to get hurt, either.”

            He frowned. “I won’t be.”

            “You don’t know that. DJ tried to kill Gideon yesterday. When he finds out you’re on the case, he might go after you. Don’t tell me that I’m wrong.” She echoed his words deliberately and his small flinch told her that she’d hit her mark. “Tell me this, and be honest. If you had the skills, would you have volunteered for the position?”

            “Yes,” he said without hesitation. “But I can’t. Too many people know my face.”

            It’s such a nice face. “But you would if you could.”

            “Yes.”

            “Then tell me this. What training have you had that makes you so sure you wouldn’t be hurt if you were able to go undercover?”

            “I went to the Academy. We were trained in—” He stopped abruptly, his eyes narrowing as he realized she’d set him up.

            She smiled up at him sadly. “I went to boot camp. I’ve been trained as well. In addition to that, I’ve been in active war zones. That’s more experience than you have.”

            He stared at her helplessly. “I want to shake some sense into your thick skull.”

            “But you won’t,” she murmured.

            He frowned. “What?”

            “You won’t shake me. You won’t hurt me. Ever.”