Kitabı oku: «Hard To Handle», sayfa 3

Her eyes closed for a moment in a gesture of pure frustration. “Look, I have business with him, okay? Business I’d like to finish so I can go home to my nephew.”

“Your nephew lives with you?” The interest in his voice was genuine.

“I’ve been named his guardian.” A less observant man might have missed the flicker in her eyes as she delivered the words. A less observant man also might not have focused on the way her blond waves framed her face or the interesting rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. Her blue eyes narrowed at him then, and he cleared his throat self-consciously. It was considered poor form for a trained observer to be caught staring.

“Yeah, I read about what happened to your sister. Sorry for your loss.”

It was as though his words had pierced her with ice. Voice frigid, she replied, “Yes, everyone’s sorry, Detective. But that doesn’t make Sandra any less dead, does it?” She used her elbow to wedge her way past him and walked away, anger steeling her spine. Gabe watched her go, draining his beer musingly. His hope of gaining her cooperation in his current investigation seemed to be fading by the moment.

A few games of pool later, Gabe’s mood was no better, and his pockets were considerably lighter. He handed his cue to a nearby man and shrugged into his coat, amidst some goodnatured jeering.

“Hey, Connally, you’re a little off your game tonight. Must be worn-out from that second job you’ve taken on.” Fiskes grinned at him from across the table.

“Yeah, but you wouldn’t believe the benefits.”

The other man laughed. The jeers were actually preferable to the truth, Gabe thought, as he wended his way to the front of the bar—that his concentration had been shredded time and again while he’d tried to keep an eye on Wadrell’s table. He’d missed a crucial shot when he’d seen the man move his chair closer to Meghan’s, put an arm around her shoulders. And it hadn’t improved his game any to wonder whether she’d shifted away from the man purposefully, or if she’d really been reaching for her drink. At any rate his concentration hadn’t improved in the twenty minutes since she’d left the bar, alone. Not while Wadrell was still sitting at the table, looking so damned pleased with himself.

Instead of passing the seat Meghan had vacated, Gabe pulled out the chair and sat down. “Wadrell, how’s it going?”

“Connally.” The other man’s voice held an edge of wariness. “Oh…you know. Still chasing bad guys.”

“Yeah, I heard about your big case.” Gabe looked around, signaled the waitress to their table and ordered a couple of beers. “Got a lot of press on that one, didn’t you?”

The man shrugged. “You know how the media is. Warring gangs are good for headlines, especially when drug dealing is thrown into the mix.”

“Not to mention the sensationalism of using a psychic to help round up the leaders.” The waitress delivered the beers, and Gabe nudged one of them toward the other man, then handed the woman some bills.

Wadrell eyed him for a moment, then lifted the bottle to his lips. “That didn’t hurt any, of course.”

“Yeah, that was a different angle.” Gabe scratched his jaw. “Can’t say I’ve ever worked with one. Was she really any help?”

There was still a note of caution in the other man’s voice. “Yeah, Barton gave us some good leads. She called in and said she’d run into two of our guys in a dive they frequent. She was referred to me and came up with a couple leads about their activities that checked out. We started using her.” He shook his head and reached for a cigarette. “I don’t care if you believe in that kind of thing or not, the broad knew things, okay? We’d run a suspect in, place Barton behind the one-way glass. She’d observe for a while, give us some tips, and then we’d interrogate them. We put away most of the members of the gang that way. Slick operation. With her help we nailed them in the questioning. They never knew what hit them.”

Gabe tried not to covet the cigarette the other man was smoking. He failed miserably. “You’re telling me she read their minds or something?” He didn’t bother to keep the disbelief out of his voice. He’d never put much stock in that kind of hocus-pocus. He still wasn’t convinced that Wadrell believed in it, either; he was just as likely to have grabbed the opportunity to make headlines. “How do you suppose the press caught wind that you were using a psychic? And her identity?”

Setting the bottle down in front of him, Wadrell said, “You know how the media is. Can’t even call them leaks when the department itself is like a sieve.”

“Yeah, I know how it is. Just plain bad luck that the lady up and died before you made cases on all the guys involved.”

“Who, Barton?” Wadrell leaned back in his chair, visibly more relaxed now. “Yeah, too bad she bought it, but she really wasn’t much help there at the end, anyway. The last few things she gave us didn’t pan out. We’ll round up the others. It’s just a matter of time.”

“That was her sister in here earlier, wasn’t it? Meghan Patterson.”

Wadrell’s hand froze in the act of reaching for his bottle. “Yeah, so?”

Gabe lifted a shoulder. “Recognized her. She claim to be psychic, too?”

With a leer, the man said, “If she is, I hope she didn’t read my mind tonight. You know what I mean?”

“Way I hear it, this Patterson’s got a major beef with the department.”

Wadrell nodded. “She’s got some crazy notion her sister’s car accident was no accident at all—that the gang we were busting set it up to get her out of the way. Nothing to that, of course, but she won’t let it go.”

Comprehension dawned, and with it, a shimmer of anger. “Oh, so that’s the angle.” At the man’s silence, Gabe lowered his voice conspiratorially, buddy to buddy. “C’mon, Wadrell, you gonna pretend you’re cherry on this? You’re stringing the sister along like you might be able to get more information on the accident for her, all the while hoping she’ll throw a little action your way.”

The smirk that settled on the man’s lips was an open invitation to a clenched fist. “Well if there’s any action to be thrown, I’m gonna be the one to catch it. That is one fine piece of woman.”

Gabe leaned back in disgust. “Yeah, and why wouldn’t she be interested in a prince like you? Did you have something going with this Barton, too?”

The other man drained his beer, and set the bottle back on the table. “Naw. Not that she wasn’t a looker. But there was a hard edge to that one, you know? Compared to her, this Patterson is a babe in the woods. The sister was downright spooky.” Catching the scowl the bartender was aiming at him, he ground his cigarette out in the ashtray.

A few more minutes convinced Gabe that Wadrell had no more information that was of interest, which was good, because his tolerance level had lowered alarmingly. Gabe threw a couple bucks on the table and rose. Self-serving jerks like Wadrell gave him the heaves. There was no doubt in his mind that the other detective had been the one to alert the media, anonymously, of course, that a psychic was helping with his case. Wadrell would hand over his grandmother to get some exposure. It had been unprofessional and, once the media had dug up Barton’s identity, downright dangerous for the woman. With guys like Wadrell in the department, it was no wonder Meghan was down on the CPD.

He pushed open the door, the cold slap of wind in his face a wicked contrast to the heat in the bar. Given the circumstances, he could understand why Meghan was convinced Wadrell’s suspects had arranged to get rid of her sister. It could have happened just that way. But according to the detective, it hadn’t.

There was a movement to his left, alerting him to the figure huddled against the building. He took his time reaching into his pocket and unwrapped a piece of gum.

“Buses stopped running a couple hours ago.”

Meghan pulled the collar of her coat up closer around her throat and refused to look his way. “I’ve got a cab coming.”

“It must be taking its sweet time. How long have you been waiting?” He figured it had been at least a half hour since she’d left the bar.

Determinedly she kept her gaze fixed on the street. “I’ve called twice. It won’t be much longer.”

Resting his shoulders against the brick building, he studied her. “Be a lot warmer to wait inside.”

Finally she turned to him. Even the darkness couldn’t prevent him from noting that her gaze wasn’t friendly. “I’m fine out here. I don’t need company. You’re free to be on your way.”

Those words were delivered with just the right amount of haughtiness—duchess to serf. He supposed with her background she’d grown up giving orders. Too bad he’d never learned to take them.

“I’ve got my car. I could give you a lift home if you want.”

She’d returned to face the street. “That won’t be necessary.”

He nodded. “Your choice. Hope for your sake that cab arrives soon, though. Some men might be forgiven for thinking that your hanging around out here means you’ve changed your mind about ending the date so soon.” He heard a slight sound in the darkness that he fancied was her teeth clenching together.

“It was not a—”

“Date. Right. You said that.” Giving a shrug, he pushed away from the wall. “Well, if the cab doesn’t show, I’m sure Wadrell would enjoy escorting you home.”

He started in the direction of the parking lot. He’d gotten only a dozen steps when he heard her voice again.

“Wait. Maybe…maybe you’re right.”

He looked over his shoulder. The frigid breeze was combing reckless fingers through her hair, and she pushed it back over her shoulder with an impatient hand. “Those are words every man likes to hear, ma’am. Exactly what was I right about?”

Her chin lifted to an imperious angle, and it took little imagination to guess the effort it took to keep her tone civil. “I guess I will take that ride, after all. That is, if you’re sure it won’t take you out of your way.”

He masked his surprise at her sudden change of heart and dug in his pocket for his keys. Risk management, he figured, silently leading her to his car. She’d considered her options and decided that at the moment he presented less of a threat than Wadrell. He wasn’t sure whether to be amused or offended. But he’d seize the opportunity to spend some time with her. He didn’t mind driving a few extra miles, especially if it got him closer to gaining her trust.

He was truthful enough to admit, at least privately, to a fascination for the woman; an interest in more than her cooperation. But that was as far as it would be allowed to go. Work came first with him, it always would. And if the unlikely day ever came that he actually got serious about a female, it wouldn’t be one with shadows in her eyes and secrets on her lips.

He didn’t have to be psychic to realize that a woman like Meghan spelled the kind of trouble he’d spent a lifetime avoiding.

Chapter 3

It was a mistake. Nerves scrambled in Meghan’s stomach. In her eagerness to avoid Wadrell, with his increasingly slick lines and smooth advances, she’d considered Connally the lesser of two evils. Too late she’d remembered all the reasons she would be wise to shun his presence, as well. In the shadowy interior of his car, on the near-silent ride to her apartment, he exuded a danger all his own.

His voice rumbled out in the darkness, startling her. “Who’s taking care of your nephew tonight?”

With effort she kept the anxiety from her words. “My neighbor, Callie.”

“The woman who came to the door this afternoon?” He glanced her way, caught her nod. “Is she your baby-sitter?”

“Her son, Alex, and Danny are friends. We trade off duties. That way each of us can get away when we need to.”

“Sounds handy.”

That deep bass of his sounded even more gravelly in the shadowy interior of the car. His natural timbre was low, always sounding as though he’d just awakened. That thought elicited an accompanying mental image of him just rousing from sleep, his hard jaws shadowed and those whiskey-colored eyes still drowsy. She could feel her cheeks warm at the intimate thought of him, and turned her face to the window, glad that the darkness would hide her reaction.

She could blame the odd path her thoughts were taking on the upset she’d had earlier today, and then again tonight. She didn’t normally spend much time thinking about men’s voices. And especially not a man who was intent on pulling her nephew into the middle of a criminal investigation.

The memory firmed her earlier resolve. At all costs Connally and his partner had to be kept away from Danny. The boy was too young to be well schooled in keeping secrets. And Meghan was determined Connally would never learn about his ability.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. When he pulled up in front of her apartment, she lost no time exiting the car. “Thank you for…what are you doing?”

Gabe put the car into park and turned off the ignition. He didn’t answer her until he’d rounded the vehicle and cupped her elbow in his hand. “Walking you up to your apartment.”

She tried, in vain, to pull away from him. “That isn’t necessary. Besides, you left your car in a no-parking zone.”

His teeth flashed in the darkness. “Don’t worry. I know someone who can fix tickets for me.”

“An admission of corruption,” she muttered as he steered her toward the door of the building, “from one of CPD’s finest. My, my, how surprising.”

“I can also spring that security code for you if you’re not going to punch it in. Lose your key? The inside lock will take ten seconds, tops.” He gave a shrug. “Some talents never leave you.”

She gave him a sidelong glance as she tapped in her code on the security panel. “Rather odd ‘talents’ for a detective to admit to. Did you pick them up from your days in the academy?”

He scanned the street quickly, then opened the door and ushered her inside. “No, from my days as a delinquent.”

His answer succeeded in keeping her silent all the way up to the fourth floor. Knowing it would be fruitless to try and leave him at the elevator, she suffered through having him accompany her to her door, take the key from her and open it.

“Thank you. Again.” She snatched the key away from him and dropped it back in her purse. There was no gratitude in her tone, and she was certain he realized it.

His lips quirked slightly. “No problem. Again. Where’s Callie live?”

“Why?”

His smile grew wider at the thread of caution in the word. “That’s where Danny is, right? I figure she wouldn’t leave her son and maybe her husband to come over here and sit, so Danny must be over there.”

She heaved a sigh. It had been an impossibly long day, and this man was partly responsible for that. The sooner he was on his way, the sooner she could get her life back to normal. Or what passed for normal these days.

“She just lives a few doors that way. Now if you…” Her words tapered off as he began to stride in the direction she’d indicated.

She trailed in his wake like an obedient puppy and didn’t care for the feeling. “Detective, I’ve thanked you for the ride, but it’s time for you to leave.”

“The kid’s probably asleep. You shouldn’t be carrying him. Which door?”

“I’m perfectly capable of carrying him—no, God not that one.” Meghan managed to catch his arm before he could pound on Edna Hathaway’s door. “All you’re liable to find in that apartment is a seventy-eight-year-old lady with an eye for expensive vodka and anything in pants.” The warning wasn’t exaggerated in the slightest. “I heard that it took three days to resuscitate the last man who went in there.”

He grinned at her over his shoulder. “Sounds interesting.” He’d managed to surprise her. He could see it in her eyes and the way her mouth tilted in response. He watched closely, wanting, more than he should have, to see her smile break free. And then he stared, staggered when it did, lightening her expression and softening her eyes. His stomach jittered oddly, and he couldn’t take his gaze off her, not even when her smile faded to be replaced by her earlier coolness.

She moved past him to a door on the opposite side of the hall and tapped lightly. A few moments later it opened and a woman Gabe recognized from that afternoon appeared in the doorway. “Hi. I thought you’d be later. I went ahead and put Danny down on the couch. They begged to stay in Alex’s room but I knew my chances of getting them to sleep there were nonexistent.”

“It didn’t take as long as I thought.” Meghan moved through the doorway, with Gabe right behind her. Spotting the boy curled up on the couch, he crossed the room, bent down and lifted him easily in his arms.

“He gave me a ride home…it’s a long story,” he heard Meghan murmur to her friend.

“Well,” Callie replied, turning to follow the three to the door, “you can tell me about it tomorrow. All about it.” As the door closed behind her and Meghan hurried to catch up with Connally’s long strides, she tried not to imagine the conversation she was going to be in for the next morning.

She caught up with the detective in her living room, where he was waiting patiently for her. “Which is his room?”

“Really, you’ve done enough. If you’d just put him down…” When the man continued to stand there, clearly with no intention of complying, she gave in with ill grace and led him down the hallway. She picked up his treasured Pokémon backpack and tossed it to the end of the bed, before pulling the covers down. Connally moved past her without a sound and gently laid the boy down on the lower of the two bunk beds.

Pulling the covers up and tucking them around her nephew, Megan paused an instant. His breathing was even and deep, and there was a slight flush on his face, which still held some baby fullness. There was an unexpected catch deep in her chest, and in an unconscious gesture, her hand reached out, hovered.

“He’s a good-looking kid.”

The deep voice rumbling in her ear made her start, and she snatched her hand away. Putting a finger to her lips, she walked to the door and waited for Connally to follow. Then she flipped on the hallway light, being careful to leave Danny’s door open. By the time she’d led him back to the living room she’d run out of both patience and composure.

“It’s been a long day. I’m going to follow Danny’s lead and retire soon myself.”

Her attempt at a dismissal failed sadly. Connally’s mouth quirked. “Could I get a glass of water before you throw me out?”

“I’m not—” Pressing her lips together midprotest, Meghan turned and marched to the kitchen. There was something about that man, she fumed, snatching a glass from the cupboard and waiting for the water to run cold, that had her stuttering and stammering like an adolescent. She seemed to have difficulty finishing a sentence around him, and she suspected that he deliberately tried to keep her off balance.

When she returned with the glass, Connally wasn’t where she’d left him. Instead, he’d poked into her study, and seemed quite at home surveying the works in progress she had tacked up on the walls.

The sight stoked her temper further. She’d never enjoyed having people look at her work before it was finished. Even her agent didn’t see her sketches until she’d painstakingly redone them to her satisfaction. Privacy was something that had been hard fought for, hard won. She didn’t relinquish it easily.

“Your water, Detective.” Her voice was several degrees cooler than the liquid in the glass. He didn’t turn at her voice. He was shaking his head slowly.

“Wow. These are yours, right?”

The admiration in his tone slightly soothed nerves that were scraped and raw. “Yes. I’m currently working on illustrations for another Milton Cramer book. It’s about a lonely monster who’s looking for friends, but I’m going to have to scale some of these drawings back. I’m afraid they might give the children nightmares.”

Gabe walked from one large sketch to another, studying each carefully. “You’re probably right. They kinda give a chill.” He sent her a measuring glance. “I read you had something to do with art, but I figured maybe one of those high-priced galleries or something. The ones where they hang pictures that don’t look like anything.”

Her earlier calm shattered as she grasped the meaning behind his words. “You ‘read’?” He’d used those same words earlier, she remembered, when he’d spoken about Sandra. Her eyes narrowed. “Am I correct in assuming you’ve been checking up on me?”

He seemed unfazed by the fury on her face, in her voice. “Hazard of the job.” He approached her and took the glass from her hands and drank. “You didn’t seem to want to explain any further about your sister, so I did a little checking.”

The ease with which he explained away prying into her life, her family, with all its twisted, dysfunctional fragments, made her shake with anger.

“Well, I have to hand it to you, Detective. You move fast.” She went toward the door, her movements jerky, and yanked it open. “I’m sure they have quite a file on Sandra at CPD. The cops always liked to do a background check before they decided to use her in any way they could.”

He sipped from the glass and watched her, his pale eyes giving nothing away. “If there’s a file, I haven’t seen it. I pulled up the Tribune’s archives. You’ve gotten a fair amount of press yourself over the years.”

His words were like a blade, tearing through the fragile shroud of privacy she’d sought for so many years. Seclusion had always proved elusive for her family. The huge gates around the family estate had seemed more effective at keeping them in, than in keeping the rest of the world out. Her hand clenched on the knob, longing to slam the door shut with a resounding bang, preferably on him.

“You’re mad.”

“It must be your excellent deductive skills that earned you the rank of detective.” He didn’t appear about to leave. When a neighboring tenant walked by the open door and glanced in curiously, Meghan swung it shut, wishing the detective’s big foot were caught in it.

“I can understand why you might blame the department for what happened to your sister.”

She regarded him warily from her position by the door. For some reason she was loath to get any closer. “Thanks. You can’t know what your validation of my opinion means to me.”

He thought it wise to ignore her sarcasm. “I’ve pieced together enough to figure out how it went down. Your sister offered to help Wadrell with his investigation. Word somehow got to the press that a psychic was being consulted. The media dug up her name and that was made public, too. Your sister wound up dead and you think the gang Wadrell was investigating is responsible.” He watched her soberly. “And you blame the police.”

The brief dispassionate narrative made Meghan’s mouth go dry. The words, honed with truth, arrowed with painful accuracy. “They didn’t protect her. She put herself at risk to help them and then ended up with her name in headlines. It was an open invitation for those thugs to go after her.”

Interest flickered in his eyes. “Do you know for certain that she was threatened?” Wadrell, when pressed, had claimed otherwise.

Meghan looked away. “Sandra didn’t mention anything, no.” In masterful understatement she continued, “But then, we weren’t particularly close.”

He was silent for a moment. “In any case, I think you had a legitimate fear. One that deserved to be looked into.”

“According to your department, it was looked into. Are you going to spew the party line, too, and tell me that her car accident was just a coincidence?”

Her words were delivered like a dare. Because he recognized the pain underlying them, he kept his tone even. “Is that what you were told?”

Voice brittle, she said, “I was assured that a thorough investigation of the accident was conducted. Sandra supposedly went over that embankment because she misjudged the curve, not because the car had been tampered with. It was just plain old bad luck, but gee, the department sure regrets our loss.” She stopped then, and pressed her lips firmly together.

“But you don’t believe that.”

“Would you?”

He set the glass down on a nearby table and then straightened again. “If I were in your shoes? Probably not.”

Her gaze swung back to him. She’d expected him to ridicule her beliefs, or to hotly defend his department’s ethics. His failure to do either took her off guard. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He unzipped his battered leather jacket and slipped his hands in the pockets. His stance drew her eyes to the width of the shoulders, the narrow waist and lean hips. The body was as impressive as the face. He radiated strength, determination and heat. She had no doubt that countless women had been attracted to that combination, had sought to warm themselves with his fire. She was equally certain that each of them had ended up badly burned.

He shrugged, snagging her attention again. “Since you’re blaming the department for your sister’s name being made public, you’d be apt to question the investigation of the accident.” Taking a step backward, he leaned one shoulder against the wall. “I’m still having trouble trying to figure out why you’d go to Wadrell for help with this. I’d think with the grudge you’re carrying, he’d be the last one you’d trust, seeing that he was primary detective on the case your sister was involved with.”

Because he owes us!

The hot words blazed across her mind, but remained unuttered. She had no intention of explaining herself to this man. “Yes,” she replied flatly. “He was.”

She crossed to the couch and sank down on it. She didn’t like the way Connally watched her, as if he could read her emotions, the jumbled pain, anger and regret, all too clearly. His scrutiny made her uncomfortable, although it shouldn’t have. She was a master at shielding her thoughts. She had her childhood with Sandra to thank for that.

“Detective Wadrell naturally feels badly about my sister’s death.” Only the slightest hint of irony tinged her words. “He’s offered to look into the accident report himself, double-check the conclusions by running them by another investigator he knows.”

Connally said nothing, only continued to watch her. A sense of unease slid down her spine. There was a stillness about the man that had her nerves prickling. All his concentration, all his considerable energy was focused on her, and the intensity was unsettling. She wondered if he used this brooding contemplation to effect, when staring down a suspect. There was something about the simmering silence that made her want to fill the void with words, though she’d never been one to babble.

With effort, she glanced away, crossed one leg over the other and smoothed her skirt. She’d expected the detective to chide her for her lack of faith in the CPD, rather than express understanding. But it didn’t matter. Nothing he could say would sway her from her goal, at any rate. She’d use Wadrell just as he’d used her sister. There was no question of feeling guilty about it. The cost of Sandra’s cooperation with the department had been high. Danny had lost a mother. Meghan had lost a sister. She’d never believe that a simple accident was the cause. Nothing about Sandra had ever been simple. Certainly not her death.

“Is Wadrell hoping you’ll take your sister’s place in his investigation?”

Her head jerked up. Gabe’s expression was inscrutable. “No. Sandra’s ability isn’t exactly something that runs in the family, like blond hair.” She held her breath, wondering if he’d accept the blatant untruth.

He nodded, and she breathed a little easier. She doubted whether he was convinced of the authenticity of Sandra’s talent, at any rate. He struck her as a very pragmatic man. He’d believe only what he could see, could prove.

“Wadrell’s a decent cop, but there’s not a considerate bone in his body. I can only think of one other reason he’d offer to help. And that’s to get close to you.”

“Do you think I don’t know that, Detective?” It was her turn to surprise him. She took a grim satisfaction in his reaction. “I’m not naive. I know exactly what motivated your buddy’s offer of assistance. And I don’t care what his intentions are, as long as I get what I want.”

With slow, deliberate movements he pushed away from the wall and approached her, one methodical step at a time. He set the glass down and braced his hands on the coffee table. Face close to hers, he murmured, sotto voce, “He’s not my buddy.”

His proximity leeched the air from her lungs. She’d underestimated the man. His presence was even more compelling up close, close enough for her to see the flecks of gold in his pale eyes, near enough for her to reach up a hand and trace every hard angle of his face.

Her fingers curled into her palms. She refused to let him see the effect he had on her, the cost of her careless shrug. “Sorry. From what you said it sounded like you knew him well.”

He gazed at her a moment longer, then slowly straightened. Her strangled lungs drew in much-needed oxygen. “I know him well enough to realize he’s not the type to do a favor without expecting something in return.”

He wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t already figured out for herself, but the words, spoken out loud, made her hesitate. She’d taken grim satisfaction in the idea of using Wadrell to answer the questions she still had about the accident. It was, she’d thought, no more than was due them. And if he expected more than she was willing to give in return, rejection was exactly what he deserved. Although, she remembered, with a faint shudder, having to dodge his interest tonight had filled her with nothing short of revulsion.

“I can handle Wadrell,” she said with more assurance than she felt. Her words clearly failed to convince Connally. He was regarding her with something like derision in his eyes.