How could he convince her that he would protect her, support her, defend her, kill for her if need be? He hardened inside her, needing to show her strength. And love.
He kissed her hungrily, murmuring against her lips. “Cassie, I think I’m falling in love with you. That scares the hell out of me. But you’re scared of something else, something that I’m not going to let come between us.” Staring, she remained silent as he pulled his head back to see her face. “I want two things from you. I want you to feel for me what I feel for you. And I want you to trust me. Can you do that?”
She caressed his cheek, her fingers telegraphing heat to his core. Smiling ever so slightly, she whispered, “If we could stay here, if I could stay in your arms forever, those would be easy requests. But there’s more involved than just us. And I’m afraid of what could happen if I let myself love you, Clay. I don’t want to hurt you. I can’t stay.”
“Do you trust me?” They were naked, he was inside her, how could she not trust him? She searched his face with her eyes, nodding ever so slightly.
Rubbing the tip of his nose across the tip of hers he whispered, “Good. That’s a start. I want to hold you close all night and make love to you again. When we wake up tomorrow, we’ll dig up our skeletons and deal with them. Okay?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and coaxed his mouth to hers. He took that as a yes.
• • •
The high pitched wail of a police siren jolted them awake. “Jesus Christ,” Clay swore, scrambling to crawl over Cassidy and snatch his jeans off the floor.
She pulled the sheet up over her breasts, and covered her ears against the continual noise. The digital alarm clock read four nineteen. “What is it?”
Clay frantically dug through the pockets until he located the cell and tapped the screen to mute the sound. “I’m sorry, honey. That scared the crap out of me. Are you okay?”
“What is it?” she repeated.
He read the group message on the screen. “It’s an all-out alert. They’re calling everyone in. A little girl has gone missing.”
He ran his fingers through his hair then crawled from her feet to her face and planted a kiss on her lips. “I’m sorry. I have to leave. Go back to sleep. It’s still night time.”
Climbing over her legs he stood and began collecting his clothes. “Do me a favor and call Maggie later. I don’t think we have anything to do in the buildings, but check with her.” He sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his socks. Then he leaned over her legs, bracing himself with one hand and reaching toward her face with the other. He caressed her cheek with the backs of his knuckles, her skin as smooth as satin. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. Did you have plans today?”
She shook her head.
“I want to see you when I get home. Please be here.”
Her eyes darted over his face, contemplating his request. She pulled her lips between her teeth as if trying to control her mouth. He ran his thumb along the thin line it created.
“Promise you won’t disappear on me.” He leaned in and kissed her tenderly, resisting the urge to ravish her mouth. He spoke against her lips. “Promise.”
“I promise.”
• • •
Once she heard the door close Cassidy sank beneath the covers and closed her eyes, but she couldn’t fall back to sleep. The sheets smelled like sex and Clay, a heady aroma that made her smile. Last night had been like a wonderful dream, the kind little girls imagine when they meet their Prince Charming. Her reaction to Clay’s touch was overpowering. She’d melted like an ice cube on a hot sidewalk when she tasted his mouth.
Wrapped in his arms, nothing frightened her. Maybe it was time to talk to him, to ask for help. Perhaps it was time to take down the walls.
She showered and dressed by eight o’clock. She walked to Maggie’s apartment and knocked lightly. The door swung open and she and Jack greeted her with wide smiles. Jack extended a slobber-covered finger with a Cheerio on the tip toward her.
“I didn’t have your number,” she said as Maggie opened the door wider to allow her inside. “Clay asked me to make sure there weren’t any projects that had to be done or anything you needed.”
Maggie propped up Jack in his high chair and poured more cereal onto the tray table. “Do you want some coffee?”
“I’d like that.”
Maggie reheated hers and handed Cassidy a steaming mug. She nodded to the kitchen counter and a bowl of sugar packets. “Cream in the fridge,” she said.
Cassidy passed behind the high chair, reaching out to smooth Jack’s hair, and sat at the table.
“When did you talk to Clay?”
Her eyebrows shot up before she could stop them. “Um, a little earlier.”
Maggie grinned. “My brother is a pretty private person. When he is home in the evening, he draws the shades on his balcony so no one looks in. I noticed those shades never closed last night. That all-out call came shortly after four this morning. I assume you had a good night last night? How’d you like Curly’s? Did you try the burgers?”
Cassidy lowered her head and focused on an imaginary spot on the table, unsuccessfully suppressing a grade-school grin.
Maggie clapped her hands. “Well, now that we have that settled, let’s move on. There are no apartment tasks today. I had planned to run to the grocery store but, as you know, Dan is working along with Clay and the other members of the city police department.”
She grinned while Jack banged his hands on the tray table, sending cereal flying. “He’s teething again and he’s a little fussy. I wanted to pick up a few items, but it’s a challenge taking him out when he’s in this mood.”
“I can go to the store for you.”
“I thought you didn’t have a license.”
She shrugged. “Clay didn’t have it quite right. I don’t have an Ohio license, but I do have a valid driver’s license.”
Cassidy drove Maggie’s white Lexus SUV downtown. She glanced at herself in the rearview mirror and smiled at the red and blue ball cap with a scripted “I” she borrowed from Maggie’s hall tree and wore low over her eyes. Just in case. This was a calculated risk, going out and about on her own. But Fortieth Street was on the other side of town and Tony DelMorrie would have no way of knowing where she was staying, or with whom. No one knew. She sat up straighter in the driver’s seat, proud of herself for having the courage to earn her keep and run this errand for Maggie. And a little surprised. Spending the night with Clay seemed to have fortified her.
She returned an hour later to find Maggie standing in front of the television, gently rocking a fussy Jack on her shoulder, her attention glued to the broadcast. The local station had its helicopter in the air circling a wooded area where search dogs had led police.
Cassidy put the milk and perishables in the refrigerator and stacked the pantry items on the counter, then joined Maggie. She had dark circles under her eyes and cereal in her hair. Cassidy reached to pick it out.
“It’s so scary, so awful,” Maggie said, rubbing tiny circles on Jack’s back. “How could anyone hurt a child?”
Cassidy shook her head slowly, equally as horrified as she watched the story unfold. “Have you been up since four o’clock?”
Maggie nodded.
“Did you have the chance to get a shower?”
Maggie smiled. “No. When he’s fussy like this, I usually can’t put him down so sometimes, that has to wait until Dan comes home.”
Cassidy cleared her throat. “I can watch him for you if you want to take one now.”
Maggie stared at her, assessing the risk. Seeing her hesitation, Cassidy raised her hand. “It’s fine if you aren’t comfortable doing that. You look beat and I thought perhaps a hot shower would help. If you don’t need me to do anything else, I’ll go back to my place. I still need to figure out the bus schedule to get to work tomorrow.”
She turned toward the door, but Maggie stopped her.
“Cassidy, wait.” She stared at Cassidy as if choosing her words carefully. “You’re running from something. Why didn’t you get in my car and take off?”
“What?”
“You had a golden opportunity to disappear on a full tank of gas. What made you come back?”
She hadn’t even considered running. Yes, she’d worn a cap to conceal her identity but the thought of leaving hadn’t occurred to her. Because of last night? Because she didn’t want to run anymore? Because she wanted Maggie’s life with a baby and a husband who came home to her every night? Tears pricked her eyes. Yes, she wanted all that and more.
“Tell me what you are running from, honey, please let me help.”
The words tumbled from her mouth before she could stop them. “I saw a woman killed.”
Maggie eyed her carefully. “In an accident?”
Cassidy shook her head.
“Did you tell the police?”
“Yes. They can’t help me. Please don’t ask me any more questions, Maggie.”
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly. “You didn’t answer my first question. How come you didn’t take off when you had the chance?”
“I, um, I promised Clay I would stay.”
Maggie smiled. “That was a good decision. You’re welcome to use my computer in the office to search the bus schedule.” She eased Jack off her shoulder. “Here, see if he’ll go to you. He’s pretty tired. You’d be surprised how fast I can shower.”
Cassidy took the child in her arms and he whimpered once then settled his head on her shoulder, his lips puckered in a baby pout. Warmth spread through her like honey pouring from a jar as she cuddled him, inhaling the sweet fragrance of baby shampoo and that wonderful scent babies possess of love and trust and dependence.
Instinctively, she caressed his back with tiny circles. Maggie nodded her approval.
Standing in the living room cradling Jack, Cassidy wondered if she’d ever have her own child to nurture, her own man to tend. Someday maybe, a tiny voice in her heart whispered.
But first, you have to tend to Tony DelMorrie.
A search team found the missing girl’s body in the brush along the highway shortly before midnight. Dan called Maggie to say he and Clay were stopping for breakfast and then would be home. Knowing she’d wait up for her husband, Clay stopped in before heading to his own apartment.
Maggie and Cassidy had spent most of the day together, she said, repeating the brief details Cassidy revealed about her situation.
Hearing that she’d used the computer to learn the bus route, Clay and Dan sat down to check the search history. She had navigated to the public transit site all right but, low and behold, she’d also searched an Arizona newspaper. Despite reviewing a week’s worth of papers, though, nothing they read hinted at why she checked there. She told Clay she was originally from Pittsburgh. So what was the connection to Arizona? Did it have something to do with the way she was always on the lookout, always scanning her surroundings?
The three of them agreed to sit with Cassidy at dinner for an impromptu intervention. Except Clay didn’t want to wait until dinner. It was time to stop playing games.
He didn’t take time to change out of his uniform, didn’t call first, and didn’t concern himself about waking her up. Never mind that it was after two in the morning.
He pounded with a closed fist on Cassidy’s door. “Cassidy? Wake up. Let me in.”
He knocked harder a second time. “Cassidy!”
She looked through the security peep, undid the chain lock and opened the door. Her eyes widened when she saw him in full uniform, and her hand clutched her heart. “What’s wrong?”
He stormed past her, pointed to the sofa, and ordered, “Sit.”
Cassidy closed the door but stood with her hand on the knob. “Are you here to arrest me?”
He exhaled. The entrance might have been a bit forceful. “No.”
“Then why the uniform, Officer Cestra? And a gun?”
She was on the defensive again, her head cocked, one eyebrow raised. He regarded her for a moment, conceded she might be right, and strolled to the round oak dining table. Unbuckling his gun belt he placed it on top of the table with a clunk, dropped his hat on top of the pile, turned and spread his hands palms up. “Better?”
She hadn’t moved. Why was she dressed? He eyed her bare feet. She wouldn’t take off without shoes, would she? Not likely. That at least bought a little time.
“I’m sorry. I got home a short while ago and I couldn’t wait to talk to you. I didn’t take the time to change my clothes.”
“Or to look at the clock, obviously.” Her voice held an icy edge.
“I apologize if I woke you up. I know it’s late, but it’s important.”
“Did you find the little girl?”
“We located her body.”
Her eyes widened, but she remained still.
“I spoke to Maggie. You saw a woman get killed and you don’t tell anybody? Do you realize there could be a warrant out for you as a witness to a crime? What’s going on?”
Her fingers tightened on the knob and his chest constricted with the movement.
C’mon, honey, trust me.
Her chest rose as she inhaled and lifted her chin. “That’s what’s so important that you barge in here in the middle of the night?”
“Don’t change the subject, Cassidy. Tell me what you saw. Tell my why you are running away instead of cooperating with the authorities.”
Almost imperceptibly, her shoulders straightened. “You don’t know what you are talking about and your information is not entirely accurate.”
She tested his patience and he spoke more harshly than he meant to. “Well, then correct my facts. Please.”
She stared at him, not moving.
“I’m not the enemy, Cassidy. When are you going to realize that?”
“What are you then?”
It was a fair question, one he wasn’t sure he could answer. Might as well be honest.
“As far as you are concerned, I, um, I … ” he started to laugh. “At the moment I am a bumbling idiot.”
Well, at least that garnered a smile.
He opened his arms wide and took a step toward her. “Meet me halfway?”
She hesitated for one long, heart stopping minute and then she took a tentative step toward him. In seconds, she was wrapped in his arms, all thoughts of chastising her evaporated. He was exhausted after working twenty straight hours, but his desire sprang to life beneath his fly. He was an addict and she was his fix.