Maxine by SUE FINEMAN Page A

friend. I need you, Nick.” As she spoke the words, she knew she needed him for more than the trip to California. She needed his friendship and his strength.
    It took him several seconds to answer simply, “I know.”
    Nick finished putting the new name on the boat and stood back to admire his work. Maxine. It was a great boat, a whole lot nicer than the one he’d owned before. Max and Company didn’t need a boat. He knew damn well that Cara had bought it for him. It was her way of thanking him, a considerate, generous thing for her to do.
    Gerry’s phone call that morning had her tied in knots, and her husband had her scared half to death. Nick wanted to smash the guy’s pretty face in, but that wouldn’t help Cara rise above her fear. She had to face those demons herself and deny Lance the power he held over her. She said Lance was driving her car when she left. Time to take it back.
    Nick walked up to the house and called, “Hey, Cara, do you want your car back?”
    She walked out of the bedroom. “Yes, of course I do.”
    “Then let’s go get it.”
    The color drained from her face. “Oh, no. If I have to see Lance now, I’ll—”
    “You won’t have to see him.” He explained his plan and watched her face light up. In seconds, her smile turned into a full, throaty laugh. He wanted to grab her and kiss her senseless. Couldn’t she see what she was doing to him?
    “I love the way your mind works, Nick.”
    If she knew what he was thinking, she wouldn’t say that. Every day he spent with her, every time she smiled at him, Nick felt himself growing closer to her. He struggled to keep his hands off her, afraid he’d take advantage of her and betray her trust. If he pushed her into having sex, it could ruin their friendship, and right now she needed a friend more than she needed a lover.
    Nick cleared his throat and concentrated on her husband. “Where’s he getting the money to pay informers and run all over the country looking for you?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t think the accountant would release money to him without my approval, but who knows.” She lifted her hands in a shrug and dropped them in her lap.
    “Credit cards?”
    She hit her forehead with the heel of her hand and groaned. “That’s what I forgot to do. Cancel his credit cards.”
    She pulled four cards from her purse and Nick took them from her hand. “Let Gerry take care of it.”
    “Better coordinate this scheme of yours to get the car with him, too, Nick. I have enough trouble already without doing something illegal.”
    Nick didn’t want to do anything against the law either, but if Lance put one finger on Cara’s curly head, the bastard would be history. Nobody was going to hurt her again, not if he had anything to say about it.
    <>
     
    Saturday morning, Cara boarded the boat with Nick. Tony and Angelo picked them up at the dock in Gig Harbor, and Tony drove to Seattle while Nick sat in the backseat with Cara.
    After Nick spoke with Paul Rosenberg, the private investigator, on Cara’s cell phone, he told the others, “Paul is watching the house. Lance is still there, and the limo is due in fifteen minutes.”
    “Too bad we can’t just cream the guy,” said Tony. “I want to punch his lights out.”
    “Not this time, Tony.” Lance had a temper, and Cara didn’t want Nick and his cousins to get hurt. She leaned forward and rubbed Tony’s shoulder. “Let’s get what we came for and get out quickly, so he can’t identify you.”
    Angelo held up a pair of surgical gloves. “We won’t leave fingerprints this way.”
    Cara burst out laughing. “You guys have been watching too much television.”
    <>
     
    Lance whistled and admired his physique in the mirror. The black silk T-shirt he’d chosen to wear for his meeting with Cara outlined the well-developed muscles in his arms and chest. He smiled and ran the brush through his hair. No doubt about it. One look at him and Cara would run right back home. Flowers and