"Have You Seen Her?" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rose Karen)Chapter Twenty-three "Nicky, come away from the window," Helen said. "She'll be here when she gets here." Nicky looked back with his little boy frown. "She's late." Matt ruffled Nicky's red hair. "She is not late. She said she'd be here at one. It's five till." Nicky looked at Helen plaintively. "But she'll be here, right, Aunt Helen?" "Okay." Nicky raced to get Cindy Lou and Helen walked over to the window to take his place. "She'll be here, Aunt Helen," Matt said, digging into a bag of chips. He pointed to the street. "See, here she is. Punctual to the minute." Helen felt the slightest bit guilty for not believing Jenna's promise. It's just that Nicky hadn't shown such excitement in… Since last spring. Jenna lifted her hand to knock on the door, blinking in surprise when it opened under her knuckles. Helen stood there, a happy smile on her face. "Jenna, Jenna, come in." Jenna almost stumbled as she was ushered into Steven's foyer. "Told you she'd come," Matt muttered as he walked by, giving Helen a meaningful look. Helen glared back at Matt and Jenna knew they'd thought she wouldn't come. "Nicky's had his nose pressed against the glass for the last two hours." Jenna looked at her watch. "I'm sorry it took me so long. I spent the night at the hospital with a friend and I had to run home and shower." She looked longingly at Matt's bag of chips. "I've eaten hospital cafeteria food for the last day." she said, then grinned when Matt shoved the bag in her hands without a word. "Thanks." "We were sorry to hear about Miss Ryan," Helen said. "Yeah, will she be all right?" Matt asked. Jenna nodded. "Yes, thank God. The doctors say she's out of the woods." The declaration had come this morning. "She'll be okay." "Well, that's good news." Helen brought out a Nicky-sized jacket. "Nicky! Jenna's here." With a yell, Nicky came racing through the kitchen, dragging poor Cindy Lou on a leash, stopping just short of Jenna's feet. For a moment he'd looked as if he'd planned to hug her, but pulled back at the last minute. "You came." His eyes were bright. "You really came." Jenna tapped the end of his freckled nose. "I said I would, didn't I? Do you think Cindy Lou's ready for her first obedience lesson?" Nicky shrugged. Then he grinned. "I guess we'll find out." Jenna laughed. "I guess we will. Come on, sweetie. Let's go." Steven came home on time for the first time in days, expecting a noisy house and a smiling welcome. Instead, it was dark and quiet met his ears as he shut his front door. He flipped on the foyer lights overhead. "Anybody home?" A beat of silence followed, then he heard Brad's voice from his office. "Just me, Dad. In here." Steven stopped in the doorway to his office. Brad sat in the dark, watching a home video on the television in the corner. It was their family, on vacation at the beach. Brad and Matt were fishing from the shore. Melissa was lying on a blanket next to Nicky who was napping in the shade of the beach umbrella, wearing a diaper and nothing else. Nicky had been about a year old. He, himself, must have been the one filming because Melissa was giving him an evil glare and telling him not to take her picture. He remembered that day. Vividly. She'd almost refused to leave the hotel room, standing in front of the mirror and cursing her "baby fat." He remembered wondering if she cursed the baby, too, for ruining her figure. She'd started pushing him away then. Claiming headaches or that she simply wasn't in the mood. He wondered, now, as he watched the video, if she'd been cheating then, even though she wouldn't leave him for another two years. Although it didn't really matter anymore. What mattered was the young man sitting in the chair, his eyes riveted to the scene. "Where is everyone?" Steven asked. "Helen's with her canasta club. Nicky and Matt went to the park with Dr. Marshall,"' Brad answered, not looking away from the video. "The bluefish were running that day," he said softly. Steven sat next to Brad. "I remember. Matt got so mad because you caught the biggest fish." "And I got mad because he caught three more than I did." Steven huffed a quiet chuckle. "You boys always were so competitive." "Guess we must have got it from you," Brad said, not unkindly. Steven searched in the darkness, the flickering light from the video providing the only illumination. Brad had shaved. Washed his hair. Was wearing clean clothes. Something was different. He remembered the look in Mike's eye Thursday evening when he told him to go home to his son, that Brad needed him. Something had happened when his best friend had driven his oldest son home from the search scene Wednesday night. Steven cleared his throat. "It's hard for a parent to apologize," he said. Brad turned his head and the two shared a sober glance. "For what?" Brad asked. "I'm not sure, to be truthful. I don't know what I did to start all of this, Brad, and 1 don't know if I should even apologize, but I did hurt you Wednesday night. I'm sorry for that, son. I was wrong." He watched Brad's throat work as his son fought to swallow. He knew how Brad felt. He was practically choking on the lump in his own throat. "So was I, Dad. I… didn't understand." Steven frowned. "Didn't understand what, son?" Brad shrugged. "Everything, I guess." Steven had opened his mouth to press further, when the front door flew open. Barking filled the house accompanied by Nicky's shrill scolding. "No, Cindy Lou. Down, Cindy Lou!" Then came the voice he'd been waiting to hear all day. "Nicky, I think Cindy Lou's had enough obedience training for one day," Jenna said soothingly. "Why don't you let her out in the backyard to run? I think she could use a break." Steven found Jenna kneeling on the foyer floor, unzipping Nicky's jacket. Nicky was looking at her with nothing short of adoration. His youngest son was a very smart young man. "Jim, too?" Nicky asked eagerly and Jenna smiled. And Steven felt his heart melt. "Sure." She stood up when Nicky raced off and called after him, "Wash your hands for supper!" "What's for supper?" Steven asked and his melting heart quickened at her brilliant smile. "Fried chicken," she answered, licking her lips. Steven's body quickened along with his heart and he could only hope his sons didn't notice. He wasn't in the mood to talk about the birds and the bees tonight. Unless it was with Jenna. And unless the talk included a little extracurricular tutoring. "Are you cooking?" Steven asked and had to grin when Jenna's smile went from brilliant to very naughty. "Depends on who's asking," she said saucily. "I'm asking," Brad said dryly, appearing at his side, and Steven choked back a laugh at the guilty expression on Jenna's face. Like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She opened her mouth, then closed it again when Matt breezed through the front door carrying four plastic bags bearing the Colonel's bearded face. "No, the Colonel is," she said, recovering admirably. "It's for the best, really. I'm not much of a cook." Matt shook his head. "Then I say you're out of here. I will permit no potential stepmothers into this house without the appropriate culinary skill." Steven watched Jenna's face go bright red and knew his had done the same. "Then it's a good thing you're not dating her," Brad said and pushed past Steven to grab two of the plastic bags from Matt's arms. "Anything in here but bones?" Matt straightened, affronted. "I didn't touch anything." Brad looked at Jenna who appeared still on the verge of apoplexy. "Wouldn't let him, huh?" Jenna shook her head. "Threatened him with loss of arcade privileges." Brad looked amused. "I knew you were too smart for him," he murmured. "Come on, Matt." Steven watched his sons walk away. "I wonder if he was talking about me or Matt." Jenna looked up at him, her eyes smiling. "Does it matter? Brad's back. What happened?" Steven shook his head. "No idea." He hesitated, then went with his gut and cradled the back of her head in the palm of his hand, threading his fingers through her silky hair. She seemed to unwind, right before his eyes. "How's Casey?" he asked and was relieved when she smiled. "She's going to be all right. They took out the breathing tube this morning, so her throat was still too sore to talk. I gave her a pad and pen and I left her cussing a handwritten blue streak at how long it was going to take her to grow her fingernails back. She'll go to a regular room tomorrow." "Good." He lowered his face a few inches. "Jenna," he murmured. Her eyes smiled. "Yes?" He came an inch closer. "Can I kiss you?" "Are you planning to run home again?" "Can't," he murmured against her lips. "I live here." "Then in that case…" Her words drifted off when he kissed her in earnest and when he lifted his head she followed, lifting herself on her toes, prolonging the contact another moment longer. A delicate "ahem" made them both turn. Matt stood behind them with a wide grin on his face. "I have been asked to inform you that the chicken is nearly gone. If you wish to partake, you'll need- to move your butts. No offense meant, Jenna." She chuckled. "None taken." Steven slid his arm around her waist, amazed how easily she'd slid into his life. "I say we eat." Steven moved restlessly in the bench seat, bumping Jenna's head as he readjusted the arm he'd stretched out behind her. "I'll give Davies another fifteen minutes, then we can go." Jenna relaxed, enjoying Steven's strong arm behind her neck as they sat in the booth of a sports bar. They were waiting for Detective Davies to show up with something Steven would only say was 'important.' "I'm fine, Steven. It actually feels good to just sit and relax like normal people." He smiled at her and she felt herself go all gooey inside. "So now we're normal people?" he asked, one golden brow lifting in teasing question. Jenna snuggled closer, rubbing her cheek against the solid muscle of his chest. He smelled so good. Felt so good, so healthy. "Yes. For right now we are two people on a date, hav-ing beer and hot wings. Casey's safe, we're safe, Helen's home with the kids who are safe. For right now there are no crazy teenagers or serial killers. Just us normal people having a normal date." She looked up at him, suddenly serious. "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Emotion hit him right in the middle of his chest and he knew at that moment there was no other place he'd rather be. And that the place itself didn't matter. It was being with her. Wherever that might be. "No," he whispered, his voice husky. "Not a single one." "Good. Because I decided that we will have dates." He had to smile. "Dates? Plural? So we'll do this beer and hot wings thing again?" She nodded firmly. "Many times. Because I decided it was time to get on with my life." She wasn't teasing, he realized. "So when did you make this momentous decision?" "At five o'clock this afternoon. I looked down at my watch and saw the date. Then I realized it was two years ago today that Adam died and I hadn't thought about him once. For a second I felt guilty, you know? Then Cindy Lou knocked Nicky down in some leaves and started licking his face. Nicky started to giggle and I started to laugh and then…" Her voice trailed off. He grazed his knuckles along the line of her jaw. "And then?" She looked him in the eye as if challenging him to disagree. "And then I decided I was tired of watching calendars and measuring time." He realized he really knew very little about her ordeal. "Jenna, what happened with Adam?" She shrugged. "You know how it is. Your wife died, too. You grieve. You cry. You swear at God. You say you're sorry to God so He doesn't take anybody else you love." She sighed. "I guess the hardest part was going back to our apartment after he was gone. Going through his things. Knowing he'd never use them again." "Was that the apartment you live in now?" "No, I moved into where I am now after I dealt with all his things." She downed a mouthful of beer. "Adam's sister wanted me to move in with her." She shuddered. "That was not a good idea." He pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Did Adam die in the hospital?" "No, he died in a hospice." "The one you visit on Sundays? Nicky told me Jim is a therapy dog. He was very impressed." "I only go once a month. I swear it's one of the hardest things I do." But she did it. Here was a woman who didn't back down from adversity. He lifted up her chin and looked into her eyes. "1 have to say I'm very impressed, too." Her smile was wry. "Then you're as easy to con as Nicky," she said. "I'm not that special, I just did what I had to do. Just like you did when your wife left you with three kids. That had to be hard." It was, but not the way she thought The hardest part was pretending to grieve a woman he'd come to hate. To look at his boys and know if Melissa hadn't died, he'd be explaining why she hadn't loved any of them enough. Mike was right about most things, but he was wrong about telling his boys the truth. It wouldn't have helped anyone. "Yeah," he finally said. "That was hard." He took a drink of his own beer. "So tell me about these dates we're going to have," he said, looking to change the subject. "Where would you like to go?" Jenna watched the shadows cross his face and wished she could make them go away. Forever. "I don't know," she said playfully. "Hawaii wouldn't be bad." His brows shot up in surprise. "I'm just kidding," she added hastily. "I'm actually a pretty cheap date. Beer and hot wings is fine." "I've never been to Hawaii," he said thoughtfully. Jenna rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking to go to Hawaii. Nobody can afford a trip like that." Steven sipped at his beer. "I can." She looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean? Cops don't make that much money." He grinned at her and his eyes crinkled at the corners and her heart flip-flopped. "I'm not an ordinary cop," he said. "I'm a special agent." Jenna balled up a napkin and tossed it at his head. "So where did you get all this extra cash, Special Agent Man?" He shrugged. "My wife was killed by a drunk driver. The insurance company was very interested in settling out of court. At any rate, I probably couldn't take off enough time to go to Hawaii." "How long has it been since you had a vacation?" His lips quirked up in a smile that wasn't really a smile. "We took the boys to the beach when Nicky was a baby." Jenna frowned. "You haven't had a vacation in five years?" "More like six." Jenna stared up at the ceiling. "And you wonder why you're stressed." She looked back at him and decided. "One of our dates will be a vacation." His eyes smiled. "It will?" "Yes, it will. You remember me talking about my friend Mark?" "Your karate master." "Yes. He and his wife have a little beachhouse on the Outer Banks." She batted her eyelashes at him. "We'll go there when you've decided we're past the hand-holding and goodnight kiss stage." His eyes changed in a heartbeat, going hot, his face taking on the look that made her want to devour him. "Maybe I already have." She swallowed, feeling the sexual tension spike and with it the skin-tingling rush of heat that made her nipples tight and her panties wet. She touched her tongue to her lips, noting his eyes watching her every move and that turned her on even more. "What made you change your mind?" He dipped his head, covered her mouth, and although gentle, his kiss held the promise of more. More was good. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, his brown eyes so close she could see the flecks of gold surrounding his dilated pupils. "You made my baby laugh," he said. It was a good answer. It was such a good answer it sucked all the air from her lungs. "Has it been fifteen minutes?" Jenna asked, her voice rusty. "Because if it has, I say we ditch Detective Davies and go back to my place." "It's been fifteen minutes," Steven said. She quickly calculated how long it would take them to get back to her apartment. Too damn long. But once they arrived, there would finally be relief from this awful yearning. Finally. But then, of course, came a knock on their booth. "Sorry I'm late," Detective Davies said. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Steven squeezed his eyes shut. A muscle spasmed in his cheek. "Shit." In dazed disbelief Jenna lifted her eyes to see Davies wearing a smile that made her wonder if he didn't know darn well he was "interrupting something" and wasn't enjoying the fact that he was. Neil stretched his legs beneath the table Jenna had been sharing with Thatcher. It felt good to stretch his legs after all the hours in that damn soup can they had the nerve to call a rental car. It felt better to savor the few minutes alone with Jenna Marshall. For days she'd haunted his thoughts and dreams. For days he'd been spared the nightmares of the past four years. For three years he'd dreamed of ghosts and demons. For the past four days he'd dreamed of her. For four straight nights he'd had peace. He'd decided peace was something he'd fight to keep. He'd decided "So tell me a little about yourself, Jenna," he said as she glanced toward the front door where Thatcher had disappeared with his cell phone and the fax Neil had just received from Barrow in Seattle. He had to hand it to Thatcher. The man wasn't entirely inept. He'd taken one look at the fax and instantly understood the significance. Which was why Thatcher was in his car with his cell phone talking to ADA Liz Johnson at the moment. "Not a whole lot to tell, Detective Davies," she said with a smile. A smile that said she wished him to perdition, Neil thought and made himself smile back. It didn't take a genius to recognize what he'd interrupted. "Call me Neil. How's Casey?" he asked, and the light that came on in her eyes nearly took his breath away. She was a beautiful woman, but when her face lit up… she was unforgettable. And he damned Thatcher all over again. "She's going to be fine,'" she said. "Thank you for asking." "You're welcome. So I hear you're a teacher. What do you teach?" "High school chemistry and general science." She looked over at the door again and Neil found himself becoming annoyed. "He'll be back soon enough." he said irritably. "I take it your car was totaled in the wreck." And he watched her ex-pression become angry and sad at the same time. "It was." "Well, your insurance should replace it." Her eyes narrowed. "It was a 1960 Jaguar XK 150." Neil winced"Ouch." She sighed. "It belonged to my fiance who passed away two years ago." "I'm sorry." She gave a rueful wince. "Me, too. I still have to tell his family that I wrecked his car." "But you didn't wreck it. It was sabotage." "I don't tink I'll mention the cut breaks," she said. "They worry about me enough as it is." "My fiance's family. T'hey're rather overprotective." "So what will you tell them?" he asked, praying Thatcher stayed out in his car another ten minutes. Ten more minutes with Jenna. "I don't think this is something you'll be able to hide with a few cosmetic touch-ups." She smiled ruefully. "I don't know. Do you have any ideas?" He pretended to consider it. "You could tell them the car was stolen." She shook her head. "No, then they'd staple 'lost' posters to every tree in Raleigh and take out an ad on a milk carton." Neil threw back Ms head and laughed. "Well, how about telling them you sold it to passing gypsies for three magic beans?" She smiled at him engagingly. "No gypsies would be safe from the Clan Llewellyn." Neil cocked a brow. "Llewellyn is their name? My grandmother on my mother's side was a Llewellyn. My family came over from Wales about sixty years ago." "You should talk to Seth. My fiance's father, that is." She frowned. "My former fiance." "I understand," Neil said. Her lips smiled but her eyes still frowned as if frustrated by her verbal slip. And it didn't take a very observant man to notice the man's ring she worried on the thumb of her right hand. He was sure it had belonged to her dead fiance. When she was his, she'd put the ring away. She could keep it, just not on her finger. "Anyway," she said, "Seth came over from Swansea when he was a boy." She leaned toward him and dropped her voice conspiratorially. "He'll carry on for hours about Wales to anyone foolish enough to step into his parlor. If he brings out the slide projector, run like hell." Neil smiled back. "If I have time before I leave, I'd love to meet him. I have lots of questions about my grandparents' birthplace, which I don't think is far from Swansea. I-" He stopped when her facial expression froze and looked over to where she was staring. Thatcher stood ten feet away, looking mad enough to chew nails. Neil slid from the booth and approached him. "Plans in place?" he asked, but Thatcher didn't turn his way, just kept staring at Jenna with a furious look. Thatcher was jealous, an emotion Neil well understood. "Liz says it's not enough," Thatcher gritted. Neil frowned, glancing at Jenna from the corner of his eye. She was pale and he worried about the spot he'd put her in. But surely Thatcher wasn't a violent man, he thought, finding his protective instincts raised. Uneasily he turned his back on Jenna to stare at Thatcher. "What do you mean it's not enough? One of Parker's teachers signs an affidavit saying he threatened her with bodily harm if she didn't pass him out of her class? It's a direct link to the vandalism in Jenna's class. What more does your ADA want to bring Parker in for questioning?" "Maybe you should go ask her. Now would be good," Thatcher responded through his teeth. "Thatcher," he began, but Thatcher turned with his jaw clenched so hard it was a wonder the man didn't break every tooth in his head. "I'll see you tomorrow, Davies." Neil looked back to the table where Jenna sat chewing on her lower lip, her eyes now troubled. Not afraid, just troubled. And quite possibly more than just a little bit pissed. He remembered the brown belt she'd worn around her waist when he'd met her Thursday night and figured she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Even so, he'd check on her tomorrow. Just to make sure she was all right. A professional courtesy, as it were. "Tomorrow, then," he said to Thatcher, and against his better judgment, left the bar without looking back. |
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