Danger

D anger had no intention of giving in to her hypersensitive body and letting Mr. James have his way with her—not that he had even offered. She left the bar in a huff, meaning to drive to another town until she found an available room for the night, but instead, she just ended up back at the bar. She gave up hope of sleeping in a real bed and settled herself in the driver's seat of her SUV to catch a few hours of sleep. Knowing that Mr. James was just inside the bar had given her a sense of comfort that it shouldn't have, but it did. She knew that trusting anyone but herself usually ended badly for her, but for some reason when Declan James promised to help her find Anthony, she believed him.

Declan making her the offer of a warm bed, no matter how lumpy it might be, sounded like heaven to her. He showed her into the small room and quickly looked around. "It's not what I was expecting for a room over a biker bar," she admitted. The bed had a flowered quilt on it and the curtains were quite frilly.

"Yeah, I have a feeling that Savage's wife might have had a hand in decorating up here," he said.

"It does seem to have a woman's touch," she agreed, eyeing the bed. "Are you sure that you don't mind me taking the bed? I really could use some shut-eye. Sleeping in my car wasn't the most comfortable, and my back is killing me."

"Sure, but you've been warned. The mattress isn't the best," he reminded. She didn't waste another second, crossing the room to crawl into bed. moaned at how good it felt to stretch out.

"It feels pretty fantastic to me," she said with a yawn.

"Suit yourself," Declan said. "I'm going back downstairs in search of coffee. You need anything?" he asked.

"Just some quiet so that I can sleep," she grumbled, popping an eye open at him. She watched as Declan nodded and turned to leave the room, and suddenly felt bad about dismissing him the way that she had. After all, he was kind enough to give her his bed. "Thank you again for the bed," she called after him as he shut the door. He didn't respond and she took that as her cue to get some sleep. Before she even realized it, her heavy eyelids were shut as she let the darkness consume her.

Sleep always came fast for , but quickly became fitful as her dreams turned into nightmares. This time was no different as she found herself running through the streets of London, chasing or being chased by one bad guy or another. She was never really sure who was doing the chasing, but she always felt a sense of panic as she ran toward the center of town. It was the same dream night after night. Every time she closed her eyes, she was being pursued by her past and there was no way to break the vicious cycle.

"," a man's voice called. She felt as though the world was spinning around her as he called her name again. She knew that she couldn't keep running. Every night, she had the same dream, and it always ended the same way—with her being caught, but she could never see the face of her captor.

She let her eyes open and groaned at the brightness that had flooded the room. "Too bright," she grumbled. "How long have I been sleeping?" she asked. It felt as though she had only just closed her eyes minutes before.

"You've been out for seven hours," Declan said. He sat down next to her, and she thought about protesting but having him close comforted her to some small degree.

"Seven hours," she grumbled, wiping the sleep from her eyes and stretching. She didn't miss the way Declan's eyes roamed her body. "It feels as though I had just laid down."

"I know the feeling," Declan said, "I've been tired since arriving in the States. Have you been in America long?" he asked.

"Um, not really," she admitted. sat up and pushed her hair back from her face. She usually kept it pulled back in a tight ponytail, but she was sure that sleep had made her look quite unruly. "I arrived here about four days ago," she said. "Honestly, as soon as I found out that the Dead Rabbits had my brother here in Alabama, I jumped on a plane and got here as fast as I could," she said. "How about you," she said, "have you been in America long?" she asked.

"Just two days," he admitted. "I didn't waste any time coming to find my sister. I just hope that I didn't lead the Dead Rabbits right to her and my older brother." It was a valid fear. The Dead Rabbits had members all over the world. No one could disappear from their radar, no matter how careful they were being. "Do you plan on being here long?" he asked.

"I'll be staying in Alabama until they move my brother, or I can find him. Either way, I'm not planning on leaving here without him," she said.

"I understand that," he breathed. "If someone had one of my siblings, I'd go after them too—no matter how long it took. But I'm wondering," he said, and she held her breath worried about what his next question would be. "Why won't MI6 help you to find your brother?" That was a question that didn't want to answer. She had lied to him and all his friends and family when she met them in the bar. She wasn't on leave from MI6, chasing down her brother as she said. She was no longer with the agency. Once they told her that they refused to help her find Anthony, she told her boss that she couldn't stay with the agency if they weren't willing to help her out. How many times had she laid her life on the line for her job and fellow agents? Countless times and now that she needed help, no one was in her corner—well, except Declan and his friends and family. They were strangers to her, and they still offered to help her save Anthony.

"I might have not been completely honest with you when I said that I was with MI6," she almost whispered.

"You're not an MI6 agent?" he asked.

"Not anymore," she admitted. "I quit my job when my boss refused to help me find Anthony. He said that he couldn't waste any of the department's resources on some kid who had gotten himself into trouble. Anthony joined the Dead Rabbits on his own accord, and that bit of information didn't sit well with my boss," she said.

"That sucks," Declan breathed.

"It did, and when he told me that my only option was to take a leave of absence to look for Anthony, I told him to take his job and shove it right up his ass. I can't work for someone who doesn't have my back, you know?" she asked.

Declan nodded, "I get it," he said. "I told my boss back home that I needed a few weeks off, and he fired me. It feels like shit knowing that I'm expendable," he said.

"What type of work did you do back in Ireland?" she asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all," Declan said. "I'm an electrical engineer. I did mostly commercial work, but when things were slow, my boss had me doing a few jobs for the private sector. You know, like homeowners."

"Well, I'm sure that you'll be able to get work here if you decide to stay. I'm betting that they could use a few more electrical engineers around town," offered.

"Yeah, Cillian said that Savage had a few ties left over at Redstone Arsenal. It's a military base here in town and my brother thinks that Savage might be able to help me get a job there," he said.

"See, that sounds like a plan to me," she said. "I'm betting that there aren't too many openings around town for a former MI6 agent. I mean, I could go into the private sector and maybe do some security, but I don't know if that will actually make me happy. I loved my job and I'm afraid that without it, I won't know who I am." wasn't sure how not to be an agent. Being away from home was hard enough but losing her job was like losing her identity. But she'd do it all over again if it meant that she might be able to get Anthony back from the Dead Rabbits. Hell, she'd do anything to get him back, but was hoping that it wouldn't come to that.

"Did you ever find some coffee this morning?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"I did," he said, "would you like some?"

"I'd kill for some," she teased.

"Well, that won't be necessary," he said, standing from the bed. "You don't have to murder someone for coffee. How about you meet me downstairs, and I'll have a cup ready for you. Cillian, Lil, and Savage will be here soon to discuss plans for starting our search for your brother."

"Thank you, Declan," she said. "I'm not sure how I will ever be able to repay you all for your help." hated owing anyone anything—especially strangers. Her mother used to tell her that she needed to rely more on the kindness of strangers, but her past taught her that there was really no such thing as a kind stranger. Meeting Declan and his friends and family had her rethinking that.

"You don't have to repay me, ," Declan assured. "The Dead Rabbits are coming for my family and if saving your brother helps to also save my family, that will be all the payment that I need." watched as Declan disappeared from the room and she wondered if they would be able to save Anthony. Was he a lost cause, as her boss had called him, or was he someone in trouble? She might never know, but one thing was certain, she was going to try like hell to figure it out.