Chapter One

Connor had the taxi drop him off a few blocks from the address he held in his hand. The spring air was a little nippy, at least compared to the balmy air he had left this morning. It had taken him less than a day to decide to follow up on what was so important to Samara that she hacked into the IRS to find him.

It had taken him considerably less time to find her than it had taken her to find him. A few phone calls and he had her phone number, address, college transcript, as well as her parents' names and address.

A car that matched her registration was in the driveway. He knocked on the door of the little blue cape. There were bulbs popping up in the flowerbeds, gutters in need of cleaning, and a spring flag hanging off a wooden pole fastened to a shutter.

There was also nobody home.

"Hell, it's Friday night, she's probably out drinking some wine with ice. Probably out with some nerdy academic with glasses and a tan sport coat."

He should find himself a hotel and call her in the morning. The last thing he wanted was to see her giving some jerk a goodnight kiss. Even though they didn't have a relationship, the thought of her kissing some other guy made his gut clench with annoyance.

Connor waited until 9:30 before his patience ran out. He'd just walked around the side of the house to look for a way in when he saw headlights turn into driveway. He ducked back into the shadow of the breezeway and watched her step out of the car.

"Thanks for the ride home, Chad. No really, you don't have to walk me to the door, really." Samara had an edge of panic in her voice. The guy, Chad presumably, got out of the ca

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