Untouched. Samantha Hunter

started to say something—anything—when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Two security guards were moving past them, a sense of purpose in their walk. The hairs on the back of Daniel’s neck stood up as his instincts kicked into gear. The two men made a beeline for the women’s dressing rooms, where Risa and Kristy had been trying on clothes.

      “Daniel? What is it?”

      “A moment, Anna…”

      His focus returned with hawklike clarity as he watched the officers approach the very dressing room where Risa was. They spoke briefly to Kristy, who’d been lounging in a chair by the entryway, blowing bubbles with her gum—she didn’t match the image of a oceanographic scientist at all. Though Daniel couldn’t hear the conversation, he could see something was wrong. Kristy looked visibly annoyed.

      “Daniel, please—”

      “Anna, play along with me for the time being, okay?”

      “Daniel, I don’t know—”

      He didn’t give her time to complete her objection, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with him as he made his way to the dressing room just in time to see one of the officers gingerly removing Risa from inside by the arm. Her expression was frozen into a mix of surprise, fear and repulsion. He knew he had to get her out of there. The last thing they needed was Risa Remington being taken to the police station.

      Risa had been given a fake background documents recording fictional previous addresses, jobs, education and the like. The government had sent her on her way with a credit rating, a bank account and a few credit cards to get her going. She had a Massachusetts driver’s license and a car that she didn’t appear to use.

      If the police checked her out, nothing would seem unusual, but Daniel doubted that she would be able to get through a police interview without drawing more attention to herself than she should. Depending on what she was involved in, if anything, drawing police attention could be dangerous. To her, to him, to anyone involved.

      “Help? With what?” Anna huffed slightly as she matched his quick pace and he slowed, but only slightly.

      “I’ll explain everything later.”

      Anna grumbled something unintelligible but fell into step beside him. She would have made a solid agent, if she’d been inclined. She was the sibling he was the closest to; Daniel was one of five, two brothers, two sisters. Anna had always been the earth-mother type; even though she was the youngest, she’d wanted to take care of everyone. He slanted a look at her again, the roses blooming in her cheeks indicating that impending motherhood agreed with her.

      The guard was gripping a resistant Risa by the forearm while the other argued with Kristy, who appeared slightly panicked while she tried to reason with the guy. Daniel and Anna cut into the fray.

      “Excuse me, is there a problem here?”

      All four people spun as he became the center of attention, and he saw the surprise reflected in Risa’s face as her eyes met his—as well as apprehension, and suspicion.

      “What are you doing here?” Her tone was far from welcoming, and he ignored the daggers she shot in his direction.

      “Officers, is there a problem?”

      “Yeah. Who are you?”

      He slipped his arm around Anna and sighed, smiling at Risa indulgently. He hoped she would see that he was here to help her and not spit in his face, like it looked as if she were ready to do.

      “My name is Daniel MacAlister. This is my sister Anna. Our family lives in Harwich. And this—” he stared at Risa with all the appearance of affection that he could muster “—is my fiancée, Risa Remington. Now, if you would you take your hands off of her, please, and tell me what’s going on?”

      

      “FIANCÉE?” Risa looked on, just as shocked as anyone. Anna and Kristy spoke in unison, shock evident in their voices, as Agent MacAlister’s eyes held hers. Risa’s voice clogged in her throat as she tried to protest, but all that came out was a strangled sound that didn’t even resemble words. MacAlister was putting on quite a show—he looked positively doting. But she read the warning behind his false affection clearly: go along, don’t make a fuss.

      She was in a jam, no doubt. But to pretend she was his fiancée? How had he managed to pop up at just this exact moment? How long had he been watching her, and who had sent him? Why was he here? She had more questions, but she knew she wouldn’t get any answers to them in a jail cell. Having Secret Agent Daniel MacAlister pop up in your life was not a good thing, in Risa’s experience.

      “Fiancée, huh?” The guard turned to stare at MacAlister. “She doesn’t sound all that pleased to see you.”

      “She’s just annoyed, and I can’t say I blame her.”

      Risa had been pissed to discover the camera in the dressing room—she didn’t like being watched—and was even angrier now that she saw who sat on the other end of the lens. She was more than capable of voicing her objections about such treatment, but no one was listening to her.

      No one would have dared to ignore her if she still had her powers. She knew ordinary women were dismissed and discriminated against in society all the time, but she hadn’t been an ordinary woman. People had always listened to what she had to say. Some had feared her, but at the very least, she’d commanded respect.

      She wasn’t commanding anything at the moment. The frustration—the overwhelming feeling of being horribly, helplessly normal—assaulted her as the three men discussed her situation as if she weren’t even there.

      “Well, your fiancée crawled up through the ceiling panel and disconnected the surveillance cameras. We had no choice but to suspect she and her friend were trying to make off with stolen purchases.”

      “My fiancée has no need to steal. I can provide her with whatever she needs.”

      Risa nearly had a stroke on the spot, so furious she couldn’t speak.

      “Why else would she shut the cameras off? Either way, she was caught tampering with store property, and—”

      “Excuse me.” Risa’s voice was an acid drip into the conversation, and everyone became quiet. MacAlister’s eyes shuttered and she could see the tension that drew his features tight—he didn’t like it that she’d interfered. Well, too bad.

      “You—” she glared at the man holding her arm “—have no right to be watching women while they are changing their clothes. You’re lucky I didn’t take that camera and cram it up—”

      Daniel interrupted, laughing loudly enough to interrupt the end of her sentence. “Sweetheart, no need to sink to their level.”

      She turned her glare on him, disliking intensely how he insinuated himself between her and the guard who held her arm, breaking the connection to replace it with his own as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She almost pulled away, but the pressure of his fingers warned her not to. The store’s manager had joined them, coming down the aisle at a near run, breathless when he arrived.

      Daniel spoke loudly enough to make sure the manager heard him clearly amid the din, inserting just the right amount of male outrage into his tone.

      “She’s absolutely right. Aren’t there laws about that kind of thing? I think the local papers would be interested in what’s happened here, and I can’t imagine the damage that would be done when the story comes out. Take her down to your offices, and I’ll contact the media about this matter right away.”

      Anna, the woman whom MacAlister had identified as his sister, popped in and said, “Yes, absolutely. I shop here all the time, and I don’t want anyone watching me dress in dressing rooms. It’s despicable!”

      Risa had no idea why MacAlister was here, why his sister was defending her or why no one seemed to think she could fight her own battles, but she didn’t need super powers to know he wanted her to