CHAPTER : 23“No,” Jenny Linton said. She opened her eyes quickly and sat up. “No,” she repeated.
“You serious?” Lieutenant Bestoso demanded.
“I’m very serious, indeed,” Caxson Reeves said.
Then Lieutenant Bestoso, a plain man, spoke plainly.
“Look, sister. You spent the night with the guy here last night. What’s poison about him now? It’s just a couple of weeks of the same thing. Nobody’s asking you to marry him for keeps. It’s just a . . . a ruse to protect your reputation at the same time we’re taking care you don’t get killed that’s all. Unless you’ve got some other place that’s safe you’d rather go.”
“I . . . I don’t have any other place,” Jenny said unsteadily, the tears suddenly coming out along her lashes. “My stepmother’s in Europe. The house is closed.”
Bestoso and Reeves lo
