Guardian (11 page)

“David? Were you in court today?” Certainly she would have seen him.

“No, I’ve been out here waiting for you.” He rocked back on his green flight boots.

A warm whisper of awareness rippled through her veins. “For me?”

“We need to talk about the case.”

His words cooled the heat in a flash. “Why would you think that?”

“Rather than working against each other, we should work together.”

“Do you really believe you can persuade me that your guy’s not responsible?”

“All I care about is finding the cause. Period. So no more kids like that,” he pointed to Ricky Vasquez being helped into the car by his parents, “get injured. All that matters is knowing what caused that accident. Isn’t that what you want? The truth?”

Temper heated the ice inside her right up again. “Oh, right, I just need to
want
the truth. Why didn’t I think of that before?”

“Funny. I get your point.” He canted closer. “But you haven’t heard mine. We need to look at the evidence together rather than just interrogating each other.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Are you trying to wrangle information out of me for your friend?”

He cupped her shoulder. “Sophie, I’m trying to find out what happened so it doesn’t happen again. That’s what a test program is for. If that means Caleb’s guilty of negligence on the job, then that’s something he and I both will have to learn to live with.”

“And can you accept that?”

“We protect innocents. Now let’s do our jobs.” He squeezed her shoulder once, lingered, then let his arm fall away.

She couldn’t miss the intensity, the sincerity in his eyes. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“Complete immersion in the data. What those in the business world would call a ‘deep dive.’ Let’s put our heads together and pore over all the information. One of the most important things I’ve learned in the test world?
Brainstorming with different people, in different combinations, can bring new answers.”

Working together? She considered the ethics of that and quickly dismissed any problems. Anything she would share with him had already been seen by Caleb’s defense in the interest of disclosure. And David might have new insights to shed on data she might not have fully comprehended.

His idea had merit, although she wasn’t so sure what they would uncover at this late date. She shifted her briefcase more securely in her hand. “Let’s make an appointment for Monday.”

“Why wait? We have all weekend long to work together.”

All weekend long? With David? “What exactly do you mean?”

“I’ll come over to your place. The kids can play together while we work. I’ll even spring for pizza so no one has to cook.”

“I thought you were worried about the kids playing together?”

“Maybe I spoke too quickly. Playing with your kid may be helping her get past missing Hunter.” He clasped her elbow and guided her toward her car as if it was a done deal. “What is there to argue with? Everyone’s happy.”

Happy? She wasn’t sure about that. But she couldn’t argue with his logic. Her case was teetering right now, with a verdict that could go either way without any real sense of certainty, of closure. They needed to uncover the truth.

And she couldn’t delude herself into ignoring the flutter
of excitement in her stomach at the prospect of spending more time with David.

*    *    *

David followed Sophie’s gold sedan, weaving through the Friday rush-hour traffic. Would their weekend together actually bring him the answers he needed? And would those answers convict Caleb? Or implicate someone else?

He only knew that seeing Ricky Vasquez had swept away any reservations. This had to be done. It was the right thing, the only option left.

And it wasn’t like he could act on the rogue attraction to Sophie anyway, not with two children and her grandmother underfoot. They would work all weekend long. Period. End of sentence. No more getting worked up over the scent of jasmine. For God’s sake, he wasn’t some out-of-control teen.

He clicked on his turn signal and changed lanes. Billboards littered the roadside with everything from casinos to alien Area 51 propaganda. Flying test missions in this area was actually easy with so many wack jobs eager to write off anything out of the ordinary as an outer space phenomenon.

If only he could write off Caleb’s flight catastrophe to little green men.

Hauling his focus back to the present problem—a blond bombshell lawyer who drove like they were on the lawless roads of Iraq. He pinned his eyes on her car and stayed close to her bumper. Easier said than done between rush-hour traffic and tourists driving haphazardly. Even Sophie seemed to be weaving in her lane as she powered down the road. Was she still suffering ill effects from the
bump on the head? She’d definitely missed most of last night’s sleep.

Damn it, he should have insisted on driving her again. They were still fifteen minutes from home. He considered calling her cell…but that would be more likely to distract her.

The stoplight turned red just as Sophie cleared the intersection. Shit. He hit the brakes and watched her surge forward.

And swerve sharply.

Her back tire blew out, sending her fishtailing into oncoming traffic.

Sophie snapped back in her seat, her vision full of air bag blossoming in front of her. Her car pinwheeled, then slammed into another car with the sickening crunch of metal on metal. Pain exploded through her hard and fast.

And then everything went still.

“Sophie,” David’s voice shouted from outside her car, on the passenger side. “Are you okay? Speak to me, damn it.”

“In here. I’m all right.” Sore, but everything moved and nothing was trapped. She pushed on her door, except it was bent inward and didn’t budge. “I can’t climb out.”

“Hang tough. I’m coming in.”

Smoke tinged the air. Panic stirred. “Is the car on fire? Is anyone hurt?”

“You’re going to be fine, and as far as I can tell, everyone’s stepping from their vehicles unharmed.” His steady voice came through over the creaks and thumps on the passenger door.

She noticed he didn’t say the car wasn’t burning. What if he was injured pulling her from her crushed car?

Bile stung her throat. She shifted to kick through the passenger air bag to the door, to help, to do something other than be helpless.

The door groaned open. David filled the open space and she stopped short of kicking him. His arms thrust inside and he grabbed around her waist, hauling. A part of her brain registered it had to be bad if he wasn’t taking his time. Her heart in her throat, she angled over and gripped his shoulders. In a bumpy, painful drag, she was up and out of the car.

Cradled against David’s chest. She gave herself three seconds to sigh in relief before she looked over his shoulder.

Oh God.

The wreck was worse than she thought. A trio of mangled cars wrapped around one another like a bad game of Twister. Smoke poured from the hoods of all three. Cars were parked willy-nilly on the highway with people talking on cell phones and helping the others in the accident. A teenage girl stumbled from one car, cradling her arm. An elderly couple walked away from the other car, seemingly unharmed, but the chaos in front of her still scared her.

She’d caused this. She didn’t know how she’d lost control of her car, but there was no denying her memory. She’d been at fault.

Her breath hitched.

David looked down at her, concern in his deep blue eyes. “Did I hurt you? Do you think you can stand?”

“I can stand.” Her teeth chattered. “I’m totally fine.”

“You look it,” he said wryly, setting her on her feet by his Scout parked on the side of the road.

“You’re a crappy liar.” She held on to his hands to make sure she didn’t stumble, the world still spinning.

“That was sarcasm.” He stared into her eyes and checked the back of her head. “As soon as the police finish filling out their report, we’re going to the ER.”

Not again. She’d had enough of hospitals to last a lifetime—when her father died, then her husband. “I just want to finish here and go home.” She turned back toward the car. “I should get my purse and my briefcase. They’ll need my insurance information. And I don’t want to lose the picture Ricky drew for me.”

“I’ll make sure they get them out before they tow the car.”

“Provided it doesn’t blow up, you mean.”

He cradled her face in his broad hands. “I’m just glad you’re okay, and I intend to make sure you stay that way. Your head has been bashed around twice now. We’re not taking chances. Once the tow truck arrives, we’re leaving for the hospital, and then you’re coming home with me.”

“
We
are going to the hospital?
We
are going home together?” Where the hell had he gotten that idea? She grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away before she did something silly—like lean into him. “What makes you think you get to make these kinds of decisions for me?”

“And what makes you believe you’re thinking clearly now? You’ve had a break-in and a car accident in two days.”

“So I’m having a really crappy run of luck. I’ll lock my doors better and take a cab to work.” She bit her lips to keep from losing her cool. What was it about this man that got under her skin? “Thank you for your concern. But I’ll be fine.”

“Odds are, you’re right and I’m worrying for nothing.” He stepped closer, crowding her and heating her at the same time. “But are you willing to put your son and grandmother at risk based on odds?”

Her head snapped back. “You really know how to go for the jugular, Major.”

“Maybe I should have been a lawyer, too.”

And still his argument took root. Fear pushed through the numbed feeling she’d had since the accident. Her mind and her senses turned sharper. The scent of smoke on the air, the wail of sirens in the distance, all reminded her of how fragile life could be.

She couldn’t afford to take chances, her son couldn’t afford for her to take the risk. “Fine, you win.”

Nodding tightly, he opened the passenger door on his Scout. “Wanna sit down before you fall down? You can chew me out all you want on the way to the emergency room.”

*    *    *

“Thanks for letting us descend on you like this, Madison.” Sophie dropped her son’s overnight bag on the double bed four hours after the car accident. “Hopefully my security system will be in place by Monday and I won’t have to impose long.”

Everything between the wreck and now had happened in a blur—the police statements, EMS checking her over at David’s insistence, then packing on the fly. She’d done her best not to frighten her son, but there was no shielding him from the fact that their car had been totaled.

As for why they were staying with Madison Palmiere? She’d told Brice there was a glitch in getting the security system installed and they were spending the weekend
here until things could be sorted out on Monday. He’d accepted her story and shifted into excitement over hanging out with his friend for a couple days.

Now, here they were in this chic home that certainly didn’t look like it had ever seen children’s chocolate smudged fingerprints on the wall or coloring-book pages on the fridge. Madison’s place was mostly black lacquer, white leather, and marble. Minimal clutter with high-impact art pieces. Splashes of color showed up in each room with a different theme. In here, the guest room for Brice, a mammoth Asian silk flower arrangement rested on top of the chest of drawers, a green marble Buddha underneath.

Sophie just prayed her son didn’t break anything.

Madison settled into a black lacquered rocker. “No problem. It’s not like I have anything going on in my life.” She draped her other arm negligently along the curved wooden rest. Her bracelets collected along the top of her dangling hand. “David knows I’m not one for schedules or rules.”

“Well, he really should have called ahead first.” Unpacking Brice’s jeans and shirts, Sophie slid them into an empty drawer.

“Nah, would have taken all the fun out of it.”

“I should probably take a page from your philosophy book.” But she couldn’t escape reality. She did still have the case to focus on. Thank God they’d been able to retrieve her purse and briefcase from the car. The fire department arrived in time to douse the flames, forestalling any explosion.

Madison’s bracelets sang like wind chimes with each gentle movement of the rocker. “So, do you and David have something going on?”

Going on? Only in her restless dreams. “No.”

“Yeah, right.”

“This is purely professional.” Or rather, it had to be. “We’re going to work on a case together this weekend.”

“Oh well, have it your way.” Madison brushed a hand along the green Buddha, dusting the immaculate surface. “Besides, I know how he feels responsible for the world. Part of being a bad-ass warrior, I guess.”

“So he dumps strays on your doorstep often?”

“You’re the first.”

“Oh.” A flutter of excitement threatened to fill the hollow space with a yearning far worse than any simple ache. Trying to lose herself in routine, she focused on the contents of her son’s suitcase.

Madison nudged the figurine an inch to the left. “Wanna hear all about David’s past?”