Fatal Intent (Desert Heat Book 3) (17 page)

TWENTY-NINE

Dylan couldn’t have been much happier when he woke in the morning, still wrapped around Alex. Neither one had been able to bring themselves to leave the bed even long enough to find nightclothes. Unfortunately, now it was morning. Time to go to work, time to take the boys to their school-based daycare program.

Dylan suddenly realized Alex didn’t have a stitch to wear in this room unless she put on yesterday’s dirty clothes. Her suitcases still sat in the living room. They hadn’t even put them in her bedroom, which looked as if it would become Juan’s bedroom now, unless they decided to outfit it as a guest room.

The first order of business was to get her some clothes. He pulled on some shorts and tiptoed down the hall to get her bags. He should have known he wouldn’t get away with it. When he headed back down the hall, two little dark heads were peeking out their bedroom door.

“Where’s Alex? Why do you have her suitcases? Is Alex going to stay with us now? Can we go see her?” The questions made his head swim, until, with the last one, Davi slipped out and darted down the hall to the empty bedroom.

“Hey, where’s Alex? Oh, I bet she had to sleep in your bed.” Before Dylan could react, Davi slipped under his arm and ran into the master.

“Davi! Get back here. Sorry, Alex.”

Alex, sitting up in bed, was clutching the sheet to her chest and blushing as bright as a ripe strawberry. But she was laughing. “Davi, you really need to learn to knock. Run along now, so I can get some clothes on.”

She looked at Dylan. “Someone needs to tame that kid! Give me my bags and close the door.”

He did as commanded, forgetting he should be overseeing the boys’ preparations for the day, not to mention getting dressed himself. Alex opened one of her bags and pulled on a light robe. “I’ll get a routine going this week. Go on, get ready for work. I’ll get the boys some breakfast.”

Dylan kissed her and went to take a shower, believing himself the luckiest man on earth. If he had anything to say about it, there would be a ring on her finger by Christmas. It was fine that she’d said she was his, but he wanted the world, and specifically any other man whose eye she caught, to know it as well.

With a sigh of contentment, Dylan sat down at the table and started on the breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast Alex put in front of him, along with a cup of hot coffee. The kids were just finishing.

“Do you want me to take them to daycare?” she asked, as she sat across from him with her own breakfast.

“Not today. They’re going to be late as it is, and you’re not dressed. I’ll come straight home from work and pick you up, then we’ll go get them so you’ll know where they are. What are you going to do today? Will you be home by mid-afternoon?”

“Yeah. I’m going over to the campus to get registered, and then I’m going to pick up some groceries. From the look of your fridge, you guys haven’t had a balanced meal in a while.” Alex’s happy smile took the sting out of the words. Dylan knew one of the ways she felt at home was by familiarizing herself with the kitchen and being in command of the meals.

“That’s your department. Need some money?” Dylan expected to buy the food and pay the utilities as well as the rent. He and Alex hadn’t discussed money, and there was no time right now.

“No, I’m just picking up a few things. We can work that out later,” she said, confirming Dylan’s thoughts.

“Babe, about the Patriots…”

“Don’t worry, honey. I’m done with that, except for writing the last follow-up on Dawn for the paper in Casa Grande. I’m under contract for that, but I’ll file it by email. I’m not going back there for a good long while, if ever.”

“That’s good, babe, but can we talk about security for you here? Casa Grande’s not on the other side of the world, you know.”

“I know, and yes, let’s do talk about that. I don’t want you to worry about the boys’ safety with me here. Now you’d better get moving. You’re gonna be late for work, and besides, they won’t find me here anytime soon.”

Dylan had to admit that was true, even as he marveled at her good attitude about it. It seemed the chip on her shoulder about her work and independence had fallen off, or maybe it had been knocked off by all she’d experienced in the last week. It was good enough for now.

He did have misgivings about that article, but as long as she didn’t post it on her blog until they’d talked about security, he was okay with it. Besides, he was curious about what she meant by last follow-up. What remained to be said?

~~~

Alone in the house after Dylan and the boys left, Alex took the time to check the bedroom furniture and closet for potential room for her clothes. The walk-in closet was more than adequate, but Dylan’s clothes were spread out in the available drawers. Before she rearranged his things, she’d ask him about it. For the time being, it looked like she’d be living out of at least one of her suitcases until she had a chance to talk with him.

Showered and dressed, she presented herself on campus and began the process of transferring her credits and pre-registering for classes, which wouldn’t start for three weeks. That would give her a chance to find part-time work so she could pay her share of living expenses and for her personal expenses. Her prize money was woefully short by now, barely adequate until a payday after setting up a payment plan for tuition, and only if she found work this week.

She made it home around noon and made a sandwich, then called Dylan for the password to the Wi-Fi. She uploaded her resume to a few jobseeker sites and started combing help wanted ads. Unable to resist checking the state of affairs in Casa Grande, she logged into the newspaper site and read everything she could find on the Patriots’ raid and breakup. She found a small sidebar about Harvey Lloyd and the case she now thought of as her mother’s.

Lloyd had made plenty of noise after being informed there may be new evidence. The sidebar mentioned an interview with him, which would run in the next day’s paper. Alex made a note on her calendar. Nowhere did she see any mention of Dawn Redbird or the Patriots’ involvement in her attack, so she called Lt. Watson for an update.

“Are you going to bring charges against them?” she asked, when she’d greeted him.

“The DA says the evidence is too tenuous at present,” Watson said. Alex thought she detected frustration in his tone.

“But you have their tag!”

“Not conclusive,” he said. “Anyone could have put that there. Until we can identify the specific people who were involved and get a confession, we don’t have much to go on.”

Alex’s heart rate increased. “But Dawn could be attacked again! They know she knows who was involved. Can you at least offer her protection?”

“Not all the time. We can drive by her dorm, keep an eye on her now and then.”

Alex huffed out her frustration. “That’s not good enough, and you know it. What about paint transfer? Can you analyze the wreckage of her car and at least confirm her memory of what kind of vehicle forced her off the road? Compare it to registrations for the Patriots’ members?”

“Believe it or not, we actually know how to do our jobs, Alex. We’re working on it, and no, we haven’t dismissed the tag. We just need to tie it in better.” To Alex’s shock, he laughed.

“Are you sure you want to be an anchorwoman, Alex? We could use you in our investigations department.”

“Funny. Not. No, but I’d like to check back now and then. I still have to write a follow-up on Dawn, and I wanted to wrap this story up. And I’ll need to know when I can mention the tag.”

“Whoa, you can’t. I’m serious, Alex. More than this one case is riding on this. Mention that before we’ve closed all of them and I’ll charge you with obstruction of justice.”

A threat like that might have made Alex dig in her heels once. Now she took it in stride. “Settle down, Lt. Watson. No need for threats. I won’t mention it until you clear it. But I am concerned about Dawn. The longer her assailants are at large, the more likely they’ll try again, and this time they may actually succeed. Have you made any headway with any of them about why they’ve been focusing on Natives recently? It’s a departure from their historical agenda.”

“Again, we do know how to do our jobs. We’re getting conflicting information on that. Be patient, and I’ll give you the information when we’re sure we’ve got the truth.”

It was the best she could do. Watson wasn’t going to budge. Alex ended the call and made another right away.

“I’ve got some information I can’t yet publish about the Dawn Redbird incident. Can you give me at least a week on that follow-up?”

“A week, no more. After that, there won’t be much interest. You know how short attention spans are these days.”

Alex agreed and hung up. Now it was more important than ever that she find a part-time job immediately. She’d been counting on the money from the last article to pay for one of her classes.

Dylan arrived home shortly after three-thirty and breezed in with a kiss for her. “Sure is a better commute here,” he remarked.

“Will that be the case when you’re out in the field?”

“Looks like it. Let’s go get the boys.”

Alex paid close attention to the few turns they made on the way to the boys’ school. After today she would pick them up on days when she didn’t have afternoon classes, so they’d get home an hour before Dylan. That gave them time to play and then Dylan would help them with homework while Alex got dinner. When she called them in for tonight’s dinner, Dylan teased her.

“Hamburgers and potato salad? Thought you were going to get us more balanced?”

Alex flushed. “Well, this is the best I could do without knowing what they’ll eat. Dylan, we have to sit down and make some lists tonight after they’re in bed. Also, I need to tell you that I have to find a job before I can do my share on the budget.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re a team now. There aren’t any ‘shares’.”

After the boys went to bed, they sat at the kitchen table and talked finances, division of labor and meal planning. Obviously, Alex was going to be the main cook, since Dylan was at best a basic bachelor-style cook. Dylan would bear responsibility for the majority of the finances, arguing that he would have had to do so without her here anyway. Besides, her presence didn’t raise the rent or the fixed bills. They also talked about how they would parent the boys, Dylan insisting that if this was a permanent arrangement, Alex might as well exert her authority immediately.

As a result of their broad range of family discussion, it was too late to start in on internet security. Alex did assure Dylan that no posts or articles for third parties about the Patriots would be forthcoming for at least a week, and that’s where they left it. She put it out of her mind, expecting to talk about it before the week was over.

By Friday, everyone was settling into the new routine. Alex had showed the boys proper hand washing technique and was looking at the hand towel in their bathroom, the third she’d hung in as many days, with approval when the doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so she looked through the peephole, to see Lt. Watson standing on her front porch. Alex swung the door open and greeted him with pleasure.

“Lt. Watson, what a pleasant surprise! Come in.” Alex stood aside and allowed Watson to enter, and then showed him to a seat and offered something to drink. After her initial surprise at seeing him, she looked more closely at his expression and began to have misgivings as to the nature of the call. Watson refused the drink with thanks, and then got down to business.

“Alex, please sit down,” he requested.

She sat, perched on the edge of the seat.

“We had a rush on your DNA test, as you know. I’m here to let you know that your hunch was correct. The woman was your mother. I’m sorry.”

Alex felt a rush of adrenaline flood her temples, almost like a small scare. She’d known it, so it wasn’t a great shock, but the confirmation still affected her. She took a deep breath. “Please don’t concern yourself. I’ve lived with this for a long time, and I knew in my heart she was. Have you notified my father?”

“Your friend Lt. Wells volunteered to do that. Decent guy, Wells. I’ve known him for ten years, but I’ve never seen him take as deep an interest in a case that wasn’t his own.” From his expression, Watson meant that to be a question.

“We have a history, you could say,” she began. “But it’s a long one. Maybe another day. I need to pick up my boyfriend’s kids. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“I have another piece of news for you. Dawn Redbird was attacked in her dorm room last night or early this morning. I’m afraid she’s dead.”

Alex gave a small cry and fell back into her chair, clapping her hands over her mouth as tears started. “Oh no! Oh my God! Was it…”

“Yes. We found the tag, I can’t say where. It was definitely the Patriots. Alex, I’m so sorry.”

Alex gave him a hard stare, with tears still in her eyes. “I told you. I TOLD you! You could have been prevented this. Oh, poor Dawn. How… no, I don’t want to know.”

Alex felt like hitting the wall with her fist, or throwing something. She flung herself out of the chair and began to pace. “So when should I expect them to find me here? Or no, I can’t stay here, that would put the boys in danger.” She stopped and turned to Watson, her finger outstretched.