Rogue's Passion by Laurie London Page A

hadn’t.
    As much as she distrusted this stranger, her intuition told her he wasn’t responsible. What it did tell her was that these army people were dangerous. Not Asher.  
    The woman asked Olivia for her name and address. Since they already knew her first name, she gave them a fake last name and address. If they went so far as to cross-check it with Marco’s records later, she’d be long gone. As soon as she got home, she was packing up her things and leaving again.  
    “Okay, got it. And your name?”  
    “Asher.”
    “Is that your first or last name?”
    “First.”
    Her stylus was poised over her screen. “Last name.”
    “Smith,” he said.
    “Spell that, please.”
    Panic flashed in his eyes so quickly that when it was gone, Olivia couldn’t be sure it was ever there in the first place. Must not be his real last name either. That was another thing they had in common.  
    She gave his hand two little squeezes for encouragement.  
    “It’s just like it sounds,” he told the woman.  
    She looked up from her screen. Her partner leaned slightly forward at the waist as if he were ready to pounce. “There are several spellings.”
    Could he really not know how this common last name was spelled?  
    Olivia debated jumping in and answering for him, but she’d done that once already and worried it would look fishy.  
    Maybe if she got him started, he could figure it out himself. She moved their clasped hands out of sight of the army interrogators. With her pointer finger, she traced out the letter S on his palm.  
    “ S .” She could almost hear the relief in his voice.
    When he didn’t continue, she scratched out an M , holding her breath that he wouldn’t think it was a W .  
    “ M ,” he said.
    The woman turned her attention back to her handheld. Olivia gave him two little squeezes. He squeezed back, which she interpreted as needing more help. She traced the rest of the letters, thankful that he’d picked a short name, and he slowly recited them aloud.  
    “And your address?” the woman asked.
    When he hesitated again, Olivia had enough. “Can’t you see he needs medical attention? He’s lost a lot of blood and is obviously lightheaded and having trouble concentrating.”
    The woman was not impressed. She held her ground and repeated her question.
    Olivia signed loudly. “It’s the same as mine. We live together.”  
    Draping his arm over her shoulder, she ignored her own exhaustion and rose from the stool. She was going to walk Asher out of here, and these AIU agents were going to let her.
    The woman reluctantly stepped out of the way.
    “Come on, honey,” Olivia said, smiling up into Asher’s face. “Let’s go find you a doctor.”
     
     

Chapter Five
     
    “Okay, I’m fine now,” Asher said as they made their way slowly down the sidewalk. He tried to shrug her arm away but she was having none of it.
    “Like hell you are,” Olivia replied.
    The further they got from the explosion site, the more the chaos and noise faded behind them. The walk to his car was taking longer than Asher would’ve liked, but his ribs and collarbone still hurt every time he took a step. He tried whistling for Conry, but because he was using his opposite hand, it came out more like a forceful exhale.  
    “Here. Let me try.” Olivia made a C with her thumb and ring finger and lifted it to her mouth. The sharp burst rang through his head like a gunshot.  
    “Bloody hell, woman,” he said, giving her an are-you-kidding-me glare. He would never have guessed she could whistle like that.
    She looked pleased and a little mischievous. “What?”
    “On top of all my other injuries, now have to deal with pierced eardrums, too? ”
    She groaned. “Such a baby.”  
    It hadn’t been his idea that Olivia come with him, though he hadn’t protested too much when she insisted on helping him find Conry, but he’d refused to let her fix the rest of his injuries. The healing she’d done for him in