Still the One (7 page)

Mike smiled sheepishly. “Sorry I didn’t call you back. I got here early this morning to work on one of the mainframes and I forgot.”

She nodded, her breath washing hotly against Rafe’s shoulder, which only increased the burn in his veins.

He cleared his throat. “Did Tony say if he had any plans to go out of town over the weekend?”

“No,” Green said. “He told me he was going to the movies, some science fiction picture, I think. I’m not big on movies.”

“And he wasn’t acting strangely?”

“Not that I could tell, but I really haven’t known him all that long.”

Rafe studied him for a moment, and the guy met his gaze without blinking, again nudging up his glasses. “Did he ever mention a man named Alexander?”

The man’s smooth forehead furrowed. “No.”

Rafe believed the guy; Tony probably wanted to keep Alexander as far as possible from his new life.

“If you hear from Tony, would you give me a call?” Rafe managed to get his arm up and slide two fingers into his shirt pocket to retrieve a business card. He handed it to Green.

“Sure.” Green glanced at it, then at Kit. “I hope everything’s okay. Are you his sister or something?”

“Something,” Rafe answered for her, shifting to show Kit he was ready to go. “Thanks for your time.”

She pressed against the wall, but wouldn’t meet his gaze. In the mix of bright and dim light, her cheeks looked flushed. “Do you know Tony’s wife, Mr. Green?”

“Liz?” As if startled by the question, the man blinked a couple of times. “Oh, sure. Tony’s crazy about her.”

“Have you met her, then?”

“We’ve had lunch together a couple of times.” He looked from Kit to Rafe. “Is this about Liz, too?”

Rafe watched Kit, admiration growing. She’d done that exactly as he would’ve.

“She’s my sister,” Kit admitted.

The man peered over the top of his glasses. “I don’t really see the resemblance.”

“Most people don’t,” she said with a smile, but Rafe wondered at the tightness in her voice.

“Hope you find them.”

“Thanks.”

“If you find out anything, it would really help us if you’d call,” Rafe reminded.

“Yeah, if I hear from them, I’ll let you know.”

“We’d appreciate it.”

Rafe reached the door first, curious to know if Kit’s cheeks were really as flushed as they appeared in the closet.

He stepped out, sucking in a deep breath. It was too dang tight in there.

Kit was right behind him, and she seemed as glad for the space as he did. He tried to put out of his mind the feel of her body against his, the way her scent still crowded his lungs.

Color flagged her high cheekbones. Her nostrils flared delicately. She was either turned on or mad. Or both.

“What’s going on?” he asked as they got into the elevator to take them to the first level.

“If Mike Green knows Liz, then that means she’s been seeing Tony while telling me she wasn’t. I mean, Tony’s only worked here three weeks!”

Mad.
Rafe didn’t know why Kit was so surprised. Dizzy Lizzy had always done exactly as she pleased, regardless of what it might mean to or for Kit.

“She swore she’d changed. She swore she was getting her life back together, that she agreed when I told her she should wait and see if Tony was really going straight.” Kit shook her head, looking disgusted. “If she’s not in danger now, she’s going to be when I find her.”

Rafe bit back a grin, struggling not to replay the memory of all that passion exploding beneath him at one time. Had Kit always been so verbal? If so, he didn’t remember. Another trait he’d squashed with his personality?

As they walked outside and across the parking lot, he
found he had to match her quick steps. Her heels clicked angrily against the asphalt.

“You think Green was telling the truth? About not knowing anything?” For some reason, Rafe really wanted her opinion.

Her nose scrunched up in that cute little way she had when she thought about something. “I do. I thought he was forthcoming. He didn’t have to say anything about my message, for one thing.”

“True.”

“I think his concern about Tony is genuine, also his surprise that Tony isn’t at work.”

“I agree.” Rafe was impressed. Not just by the fact that she was showing anger toward her sister for the first time since he’d known her, but also by the fact that they had actually worked together, and worked well.

As Kit slid into the ’Vette beside him and buckled her seat belt, he reminded himself that they would go their separate ways once this was over. He had to forget about wanting to know more about the woman she was now. He’d been close to her before, let his guard down and had his heart torn to pieces. That engagement ring had burned a hole in his pocket, and his heart, for a year as he’d waited and hoped she’d change her mind about them. She hadn’t. Neither would he.

Ten minutes later, Kit’s gaze shifted from the green blur of passing trees to Rafe as he hung up his cell phone. He’d put in another call about Alexander to Kent Porter, his buddy at the OCPD, and gotten no information. “I think I’ve wasted your time.”

“How so?” Rafe turned right into the parking lot of a flat-roofed, muddy brown apartment complex in northwest Oklahoma City. They had agreed the next stop should be
Tony’s ex-cell mate, Eddie Sanchez, who was also out on parole.

“You heard Mike Green. Liz has been seeing Tony. You were right.” Kit shoved a hand through her hair, trying to corral the anger that bubbled through her. As she had a hundred times this morning, she checked the battery on her cell phone. Fully charged. “She probably took off with him to Cancun or somewhere for a wild time. That would be so Liz.”

“I don’t think so, Kit.”

“Why not? You know how she is.”

“I found a listening device and a camera in your house, a tracker on your car and mine. I think someone’s after them, through you.”

“Why haven’t I heard from her?” Frustration wound her nerves tight.

“I’m not saying they didn’t run off to Cancun, but it’s looking more and more as if they had a reason.”

Kit stared at him in amazement, then huffed out a breath. “This is a switch, huh?
You
defending Liz.”

He grinned. “I’m saying your instincts were right. There’s a difference.”

She laughed, but felt the same slow roll of her belly that she’d felt while sandwiched with him in that closet. Was it because she couldn’t stop looking at him, thinking about him? About
them?
Or was it because of the distance between them? A distance Kit knew needed to be there, regardless of the ache in her chest.

She told herself that ache was more about nostalgia than regret, but she didn’t believe it.

She felt more pleasure than she should about the fact that Rafe had agreed with her assessment of the parole officer.

Kit tried to concentrate on Tony’s ex-cell mate. Sanchez wasn’t home, and they learned from his elderly neighbor, Mrs. Hawkins, that Eddie was working the wheat harvest
in Texas but was expected back the next day. Rafe slid a business card under Eddie’s door, then pulled out another and asked the woman to call if she heard from him. She promised she would.

As Rafe and Kit pulled out of the parking lot and headed to his office, she found herself staring at his strong jaw, the sculpted profile of his lips. He’d treated her like an equal today, and she liked it. But she couldn’t let herself wonder what might’ve happened between them ten years earlier if she’d felt they were equals then. Their breakup had been her fault for not asserting herself more, and Rafe’s for asserting himself too much.

As they walked into his office, Kit again checked her cell phone. In perfect working order and no word from Liz. The tension that had knotted her shoulders upon first learning of Liz’s disappearance wound tighter.

The same attractive, middle-aged brunette whom Kit had seen on her first visit rose from the dark pecan desk that dominated the reception area. A striking oil abstract of a serene lake on a canyon floor hung on the wall behind her. Burgundy leather chairs winged the corners of the desk, inviting people to wait comfortably. A credenza, matching the polished wood of the desk, held neatly slotted file folders and manila jackets bearing typed labels with case names.

“Kit, you’ve met Nita Howard, my office manager.” Rafe shut the door behind them and grinned at the other woman.

Nita’s short ash-brown hair was perfectly styled, her makeup meticulous and understated. Her deep purple suit gave her blue eyes a hint of mischief. “Hello, Kit. How nice to see you again.” She shook Kit’s hand warmly, her gaze measuring Rafe.

Kit wondered what Rafe might’ve said about her to his secretary.

Rafe handed her the photos of Liz and Tony that Kit had given him.

Nita pushed a small sheaf of messages at him. “Kit, have you had any word from your sister?”

“Not yet.” She tried to keep the tightness out of her voice. It wasn’t Nita’s fault that Liz was as irresponsible as they came.

The older woman moved gracefully around the neatly organized desk, glancing at Rafe. “I’ll post these photos on the Internet and also e-mail them to your uncle at the local FBI office.”

“Thanks.”

Nita sank down in her chair, smiling reassuringly at Kit. “If anyone can find your sister, it’s Rafe.”

“Any more messages, Nita?” he asked gruffly.

“He hates to be talked about,” she explained to Kit.

“Especially when I’m standing right here.”

Nita waved a dismissive hand at him, and Kit grinned.

“There are a few messages, nothing urgent, but you did have a suspicious visitor earlier. A man. I’d say early forties.”

Rafe’s gaze sharpened. “What did he look like?”

“About five foot eight, I’d guess. Balding. He had a thick neck, like a bulldog on steroids.”

Kit’s eyebrows arched.

“What time was this?” Rafe asked with a grin.

“Just after eight-thirty. He wouldn’t give his name. He wanted to know if he could speak to you about a cheating wife, but he wouldn’t give any details. Kept asking when you would return or if I knew where to find you. He wouldn’t leave his name, a number, anything. I found it odd.”

“So do I.” Rafe’s gaze moved to Kit.

At the cool speculation in his dark eyes, her heart gave
a sudden thump. “You think it’s the guy looking for Tony?”

“Or you.”

She stilled, a chill skipping over her skin. “What do we do?”

“Watch our backs.” He moved around the corner of Nita’s desk and opened the door just beyond, which led into his office. “Thanks, Nita. We’ll be in here for a bit. Could you put a call in to Craig, tell him I’ve got a computer I need him to check out?”

“Sure.” Nita turned a warm smile on Kit. “It was very nice to see you again. I know you’ll find your sister.”

“Thank you.” Kit followed Rafe into his office, taken again with how a sense of him—protective, masculine, strong—filled the room. It was easier to focus on that than dwell on the frustration and uncertainty about when she might hear from Liz.

Tony’s computer, plugged in and humming, sat on a round conference table to the right of Rafe’s desk. He slid into one of the leather chairs that circled the table.

Still spooked by the possibility that Alexander or one of his goons might have been here looking for her, Kit rubbed her arms and walked over to Rafe. Being close to him made her feel steadier. Even though she knew she shouldn’t lean on him emotionally, Kit found it difficult to rein in the urge. Especially since she’d had no word from Liz.
Why
hadn’t she heard from her sister?

As he typed commands into the computer, Kit tried to keep her gaze on the screen, not on his strong, elegantly tapered fingers. Or the way his face stilled in noble concentration. Nita’s voice crackled over the telephone intercom, and she informed Rafe that his computer expert couldn’t pick up Tony’s computer until after lunch.

Kit rubbed her neck, moved a few feet away. “I thought you didn’t know much about computers.”

“Just enough to poke around the hard drive.”

She nodded, wishing she weren’t so aware of his clean-woods scent. The latent power coiled in his broad shoulders just begged for a woman to lean her head there. The confidence that had been tempered from arrogance to a quiet, solid part of him touched a place deep inside her, a place she thought she’d walled up over the years.

That she was still attracted to him was something she no longer tried to deny. Her gaze followed his hands as he massaged the back of his neck. Would she ever
not
be attracted to him?

His gaze leveled on her. “Hello?”

She blinked. “What?”

“I asked if you knew how to handle a gun.”

“Handle? You mean, shoot?”

“Yes.” His lips curved.

“No. I don’t have a lot of need to shoot people on my flights. I mean, they either want peanuts or they don’t.”

He chuckled as he glanced at his watch. “I think you should at least know how to load and aim. We have time before Craig’s due. Let’s go to the range.”

“Let’s not,” she suggested brightly. She didn’t want to know anything more about a gun than how to spell it. And something about being in close quarters with him caused a flutter of unease to move through her.

“Kit, I carry.”

“Good. I don’t.”

“It’ll also be a good frustration reliever.”

“I’m not frustrated.” At his look, she shrugged. “Okay, I am.”

“If things get dicey while we’re looking for Liz, I’d like to know you can defend yourself. Without shooting
me.
”

“Oh. I guess that wouldn’t be good,” she murmured.

“Well, thanks,” he said dryly. “Seriously, I don’t like
what Nita just told us about our anonymous visitor. I’ll feel better knowing you’re at least familiar with my…weapon.”

Perhaps it was because of her thoughts, but she could’ve sworn he hesitated over that last word, turned it on a suggestive edge.

His eyes glittered with sultry playfulness, a look she remembered too well.

Her heartbeat kicked up. She stepped quickly away from the table, bumping into the corner of his desk. “I’m ready.”