Splashdown: A Christian Contemporary Romance with Suspense (Dangerous Series Book 3) (12 page)

“Sharee, look. I apologize. I…”

“Your apology is worthless at this point.”

Lynn heard the pounding on the door and knew. Who else would act like they owned the place? She glanced through the peephole just to be sure. Whether or not she opened the door was still up for debate.

The pounding came again, louder, shaking the door. She rolled her eyes, unfastened the lock, and opened it six inches.

“What?”

“Open the door.”

“Where’s your partner?”

“Open the door, Lynn.”

“No, come back with your partner.”

Rich stuck his foot in the door as she tried to close it. “Do you want me out in the hall yelling at you?”

“Are you going to yell at me?”

“You bet I am. What do you think you’re doing dropping off evidence like that? Your fingerprints are all over it.” His voice rose. “And if you’re involved in a murder…”

“Lower your voice,” she hissed.

“Then let me in.”

She backed away, and he thrust the door open. They stared at each other for a moment. She noticed the “off-duty” clothes—jeans and a t-shirt—and the angry tilt to his head.

She cleared her throat. “You’d better be ready to leave when I say so…unless you have a search warrant.”

“Why? Do you have more evidence you’re hiding?”

“I didn’t hide anything. I explained in the letter. Besides, you were with me when I got it.”

“Did I know it had anything to do with Lawson?”

“You didn’t, but neither did I.” She walked to the other side of the room. “I knew if I tried to help, you’d get the wrong idea and come after me.”

His mouth tightened, but he said nothing. The silence lasted so long it unnerved her. The tightened jaw made him intimidating, but the pain that hit her chest shocked her—topping the feelings that she’d juggled the day they fingerprinted her.

After their last dinner together, she’d thought…what? That something special had formed between them. Something more than this.
Stupid. The interest he showed in you boiled down to his need for information. He has a job to do, and he does it full-time
.  

“I’ve spent the last two days,” Rich said, “trying to prove that none of your prints or DNA match anything we had, and then you walk in with a bag of Victoria’s things that have your prints all over them. What did you do? Paw through everything she had?”

“Sharee and I looked at it. We didn’t know until we saw Maria’s letter that the stuff belonged to Victoria.”

“And where has it been all this time?”

“At Sharee’s. She forgot about it with the banquet and John leaving for Indonesia and all.”

“Indonesia?” Rich’s brows rose. “Jergenson’s left the country?”

“Yes. Don’t tell me you suspect him, too. That’s nonsense. You’ve probably let the real murderer—
her husband
—escape while you’re running after everyone else.”

“You better get that mouth of yours under control.”

She ignored him. “You’ve concentrated on me and now John. You’re crazy.”

“Mouth under control.
Now
.”

“Do I really look like a murderer?” Jamming her hands on her hips, she glared at him. When he just stared, she threw her head back, tossing the long hair over her shoulder. “Well?”

He dropped his gaze, and his look changed. Lynn stiffened. She had pulled on cut-off jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt earlier and felt half-dressed under his scrutiny. His eyes lingered, and warmth began to creep up her neck. She cleared her throat.

“Well.” His jaw slackened. His mouth twitched. “My best guess is no, but I haven’t seen a photo of every murderer out there.”

She stamped her foot. “That is not funny. I did not kill Victoria. I didn’t stab Maria either. You…”

“Lynn,” he interrupted, “I never said…”

“And don’t you dare come to my work again.”

“Will you…”

“Do you know what it’s like to be humiliated and harassed in front of your boss?”

“No one’s harassing you. If you’ll shut up a minute…”

“Shut up?” Her voice rose. “Why should I shut up? You…”

He closed the gap between them in two strides and grabbed a handful of her hair, twirling it tight. “Stop right there.” She pulled against his grip, but his hand tightened. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes. That’s all I’ve done the last week or two—listen to what you have to say.”

He twirled her hair tighter.

“Ow. Stop that!”

“Did I hear a please with that?”

“No! You did not! Let go of me.”

“In a minute. I want you to listen to what I have to say.”

“This is police brutality. I could yell for help.”

“No, this is personal. I left my badge and ID in the car. On purpose.”

She started to draw away but felt the tug on her hair again. She stilled. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve spent two days trying to prove you had nothing to do with this case.”

“And why would you do that? Have you got someone better to harass?”

“You have one wicked mouth, you know that?”

“So you’ve said.”

They glared at each other. She wiggled to get free, trying to inch away from him. She could feel the heat from his body.

“No, I don’t think I did.” His frown changed. He dropped his gaze to her mouth. “At least, if I did, you misunderstood my meaning.”

His gaze flicked upward to meet hers then dropped again to her mouth. Her stomach tensed, the pounding of her heart loud in her ears. Then her hair was free, and his hand slid down her back, his fingers spreading out across the small curve at the bottom.  

“No, I don’t think so,” he continued. “In fact, I’m sure I’ve kept my thoughts to myself.”

A fire burned under his hand. “W…what are you talking about?” 

His hand increased the pressure on her back, and she stumbled against him, her heart jerking. He brought his mouth down to hers, its gentleness lasting but a moment. His arms tightened, and the intensity of the kiss increased. She groaned, generating a deeper response from him.

When he drew away, she struggled with her feelings, trying to find a “You did not shake me” attitude, but all she could do was look at him. “What…are you doing?”

“You don’t know?” The words’ roughness countered their amusement. “Let’s try that again then.”

“No…I…”

The second kiss drained the strength from her, each limb washed with weakness.

“Lynn…”

The third kiss drove the air from her lungs. In a moment, she drew away, drawing deep for air. When she tried to step back, his arms tightened, and he cleared his throat.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you the other day. At your office. It got personal with you way too soon. It threw me. I’m used to going with my gut, but I couldn’t do that with you. I needed to prove—to myself and to others—that you didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“And did you?”

“Well, enough to prove to my partner that it’s not…”

“Not what?”

“That the lady is hot, and my hormones out of control.” He grinned. “Keith’s description.” His glance dropped once more to her mouth, and he pulled her in for another kiss.

Every nerve she had stirred. What was she doing? If she thought he wanted only this, the word idiot would fit her like a slinky dress. She put a hand on his chest and pushed.

He raised his head slowly, his eyes questioning hers.

Lynn cleared her throat and shook the telltale unevenness from her voice. “Detective, I don’t know what you want, but be warned—I don’t hook-up, toss salad or give benefits to anyone.” She held up a hand. “I’m waiting for a ring. No ring. No sex.”

He leaned away, eyeing her. “And yet, you know all the terms.”

“Whatever you’re calling it. I just want it out there.”

He met her gaze. She saw the change, something uncertain. The pause lasted awhile, and then he nodded before leaning over and letting his lips trail down her neck. “You’re sure about that?”

She sucked in her breath, the fire inside matching the flames igniting on her neck. She put a hand against his chest again. “Yes, I’m sure.”

He raised his head and probed her look. She met his, steeling herself against their blue inquisition.

He dipped his head. “Okay then. I hear you.”

Lynn lifted her hand and covered the area on her throat where his mouth had trailed.

One side of his mouth curled. “You make it hard to be good, though.”

Replying to that might plunge her into more trouble.

“Let’s get back to the case then.”

Lynn shook her head. “One-track mind. I thought you said this was personal.”

“It is, but you’ve only given me one place to go. Unless you want to order in pizza and a movie?”

“What?”

“It’s been a long day. I’m hungry.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Watch the sarcasm, woman.” He caught her hair again and twirled it.  

“Hey, if you want to stay, leave my hair alone.”

He dropped it, but his fingers made the trip down her back again. “I’ll buy dinner, but perhaps…” His gaze went to her mouth. “Perhaps we could explore things a little more.”

***

Maria’s fever had spiked during the night, and Lynn heard the doctor say she’d be staying another day or two. Maria groaned but didn’t argue. She’d fallen asleep soon after, and Lynn had settled in the chair next to Lily.

She shoved thoughts of Rich and last night to the back of her mind and studied Lily’s face. The strain of the last few days showed in the girl’s appearance—dark smudges under her eyes, a new hollowness in her cheeks. Her mom’s setback had shaken the teen. Since the doctor left, Lily’s tears had flowed without stopping. Lynn’s words of comfort flowed, also.

“I’m sure she’ll be okay, Lily. So many people are praying. God hears.”

“I should be in that bed, not her.”

Lynn strained to hear the girl’s voice. During her morning prayer time, pressure had filled her that drove her to the hospital instead of work. Lily’s distress over her mom’s setback echoed her own. Lynn wanted to ask the girl about her mother’s attack. The teenager might not say everything to a detective but might open up to her. If she could discover even a small bit of evidence to help the investigation, she’d be thankful.

“Don’t blame yourself.” Lynn touched Lily’s shoulder. “I don’t know about you, but if it were my mom, I’d be so angry with the person who did this. And…I’d be mad at God, too.” She stopped and stared at Lily’s lowered head. “Things happen that we don’t always understand.”

The girl remained quiet.

“Lily?”

The girl raised her head. Tears welled again in her eyes. “It’s my fault.”

Lynn started to lean forward, to say anything that would rescue her from the guilt, but something halted her. She watched the girl’s tears slide down her face.

“Why do you feel that way?”

“Because... because he came for me.”

“He tried to kidnap you, and your mom tried to stop him. Why would you blame yourself?”

“I...I changed my mind about going with him, and he tried to drag me out. That’s when mom woke up. If I’d just gone, she would be all right.”

“You
knew
him?” Lynn tried to keep the shock from her voice.

The girl’s head hung again. “Yeah. Mom didn’t want me with him, but he always had money. He brought me things.” She looked at Lynn. The next words rushed. “Even at the homeless camp, he had plenty. He said he was staying there to help his friend—that Warren guy. I know mom didn’t like him, and he was older; but he said he had a real nice place, and he would take me when he left—that mom would do better without me. She wouldn’t have me to worry about. It would be easier for her.”

Lynn forced herself to stay calm. The man was a pedophile. A hundred and one scenarios played through her mind. Rich needed to know. Right away. “Lily, you need to tell the police.”

“I can’t!” She shot up from the chair. Maria stirred.

“Shhhh. Don’t wake your mom.” Lynn made her voice calm and waved the girl back to her chair. “I don’t understand. The man almost killed your mom.”

“He wouldn’t have done that if I’d gone with him. It just threw him. Her jumping on him like that. He’d never do that intentionally.”

“Lily, he stabbed your mom.”  

“I know. I know.” The look of pain that flashed across her face caused Lynn to put out her hand a second time. She’s only thirteen. She’s too young to understand men like that. “You said he wanted you to go away with him?”  

“Yes. He…had a place for us. He wanted to take me there. He said he might have to leave at any time, but when he showed up the other night, I…I just wasn’t ready. I wanted to write a note to mom before I left to let her know I was okay.”

“Lily, I’m not sure who you’re talking about. What man?”

“Afton. He’s only been there a few weeks. He was helping his friend.”