Besides, she reasoned as she stepped through the doors of Roarke Investigations bearing three steaming espressos, Noah would be less likely to toss her out on her ear if she threatened to make a scene in front of his clients. And if that didn’t work, she’d simply march down the hall to Kenneth Roarke’s office and ask for his help. Of course, she was counting on not making it past the threshold of Noah’s office before he capitulated to her demands.
“Oh my goodness!” A woman’s surprised voice broke into her musings. “Is that you, Riley?”
Riley smiled, recognizing the pretty Hispanic woman seated behind the large oak reception desk. “Hey Janie. It’s so good to see you.”
The words were barely out of her mouth before Sanjuanita Roarke was on her feet and rounding the desk to wrap her in a warm, tight hug. “I can’t believe you’re back,” she exclaimed, drawing away to give Riley a quick once-over and fluff her hair, which was cut in short, breezy layers that skimmed her cheeks. “You look great. I love the new hairdo. Very haute couture.”
Riley grinned. “Thanks, Janie. You look pretty amazing yourself.” And she did, with her glowing dark eyes, glossy black hair that rippled past her shoulders, and smooth, olive-toned skin that had been kissed by the summer sun. Everything about Janie Roarke radiated happiness. “Married life really agrees with you,” Riley observed.
A soft, poignant smile curved Janie’s mouth. “You could say that. Oh, hey, are these for us?” she asked, noticing the espressos for the first time.
“Yep. If I’d known you worked here, I would have brought a double mocha latte. Hope you don’t mind settling for an espresso instead?”
“Not at all,” said Janie, divesting Riley of the drinks and setting them down on the desk counter before helping herself to a cup. “I could definitely use a jolt of caffeine. Don’t be fooled by the empty reception area—it’s been a madhouse around here. This is the first time the phone has stopped ringing all morning.” The last was said with a pointed glare at the silent phone, as if daring it to contradict her.
Riley laughed. “How long have you been working here?” she asked curiously.
“A year in September. I know,” Janie said, seeing Riley’s surprised expression. “The last time you saw me, I was toting the twins around and vowing never to return to work. But when this opportunity came up, I just couldn’t resist.” Her dark eyes twinkled with mischief as she added, sotto voce, “I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it can be when your boss is the man you sleep with every night. Suffice it to say, lunch breaks have taken on a whole new meaning.”
Riley chuckled. “That good, huh?”
“And then some.” She took a sip of coffee and closed her eyes with a long, luxuriant sigh. “Oh, that hits the spot.”
Riley grinned. “Don’t say that too loud, or Kenneth will think you’re out here cheating on him.”
Janie laughed, rounding the desk to reclaim her chair as the phone trilled. “Roarke Investigations,” she answered in a brisk, professional tone. “How may I help you this morning?”
Riley’s heart sank when she heard Janie inform the caller that Noah was out of the office. “How long?” she blurted without thinking the moment Janie hung up the phone.
Janie arched a thick brow at her. “How long what?”
“How long will Noah be gone?” Riley asked, then, in a calmer voice, “I need to speak to him.”
But it was too late. The other woman’s curiosity had already been aroused. “Sounds urgent.”
Riley hesitated. “It’s pretty important,” she murmured.
“Is it something Kenneth can help you with? He’ll be finished with his conference call any minute now.”
Riley shook her head. “I’ll wait for Noah.” She wouldn’t play her big-brother card until it was absolutely necessary. “Do you expect him back anytime soon?”
“He’s down at the courthouse, providing expert testimony in one of his cases.” She glanced at her diamond-encrusted wristwatch and frowned. “He should be back by now. Want me to give him a call on his cell?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll wait a little longer.”
As Janie took the next call, Riley wandered over to the windows and glanced outside, half-wondering if Noah had returned, spied her car, and decided to hide out in the parking lot until she gave up and left. She scanned the lot but didn’t see his Yukon.
Didn’t matter. She wasn’t leaving until she got what she came there for.
She turned at the sound of a door opening down the corridor. A moment later, a tall, dark-skinned man who bore a striking resemblance to Noah appeared in the reception area. Without glancing in Riley’s direction, he made his way over to the desk, stopped behind Janie’s chair and leaned down to nuzzle the nape of her neck.
With a soft murmur of pleasure, Janie turned her head to offer her mouth for a kiss, before belatedly remembering that they weren’t alone. Catching Riley’s amused eyes, she cleared her throat briskly. “Uh, honey, we have a visitor.”
Kenneth Roarke’s head lifted. When he saw Riley standing there, his dark eyes widened in shock. “Riley?”
“Hello, Kenneth,” Riley said, starting forward with a warm smile. “How’ve you been?”
“Damn, girl. It is you.” He crossed the room in three powerful strides and, ignoring her outstretched hand, drew her into his arms for a big bear hug.
Riley laughed, and couldn’t help noting the difference between Kenneth’s warm reception and his brother’s decidedly cool one. Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember the last time, if ever, Noah had given her a hug.
“When’d you get back in town?” Kenneth asked, drawing her down onto an upholstered sofa beside him.
“Late Friday afternoon,” Riley answered.
“Does Noah know you’re here?”
She nodded. “I saw him that night.”
“Really?” Kenneth looked across the room to exchange surprised glances with Janie, who shook her head in disbelief.
“He didn’t say a word to us,” she complained. “Not even when he came to church on Sunday for Lourdes’s choir solo. Oh, he’s in big trouble.”
Riley wasn’t at all surprised to learn that Noah hadn’t told his family about her return. He’d been less than thrilled to see her and probably wished she’d catch the first thing smoking back to D.C.
Well, he was in for a rude awakening.
“How long are you staying?” Kenneth asked, as if he’d read her mind.
“Two months. I took a leave of absence from work.” She smiled at Kenneth. “How’s your mother doing? My grandmother told me she remarried.”
“That’s right. She married a deacon from her church.” Kenneth grinned proudly. “So I’ve walked two special ladies down the aisle within the last year. I’m sure Noah told you about Daniela getting hitched?”
Riley nodded, smiling warmly. “Two weddings in one year. Wow, that’s something else.”
“Daniela had the big, beautiful wedding,” Janie chimed in. “Mama Hubbard didn’t want to take away the spotlight from her daughter, so she and Deacon Hubbard had a nice, quiet ceremony several months before. Both were incredibly romantic in their own ways.”
“That’s wonderful,” Riley murmured.
An awkward silence fell over the room, as if Janie and Kenneth had suddenly remembered that Riley had lost her fiancé shortly before her own wedding.
“How’ve you been?” Kenneth asked quietly.
She forced a smile. “I’m doing fine. I really like Washington, D.C. The museums are incredible, and it’s gorgeous in the fall when the leaves change color on the trees. You guys should visit sometime.”
“Definitely,” said Kenneth.
“We’d love to,” Janie echoed.
At that moment, the front door opened and Noah strode purposefully into the building.
Riley’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of him in a double-breasted navy-blue suit worn with a crisp ivory shirt and a charcoal-and-blue-striped
silk tie. The last time she’d seen him dressed up had been at Trevor’s funeral—which would explain why she hadn’t noticed before how magnificent, how powerfully male, Noah looked in a suit.
Halfway to the reception desk, he paused and slowly removed his mirrored aviator sunglasses. If he was surprised to see Riley seated in the waiting area, he didn’t show it. Those dark, fathomless eyes touched hers for the briefest moment, then slid away to meet Kenneth’s speculative gaze.
“Why didn’t you tell us Riley was back in town?” his brother demanded.
One corner of Noah’s mouth lifted wryly. “I figured you’d find out soon enough.”
“You still should have told us,” Janie chided. “We could have invited Riley over for dinner yesterday.”
“She’ll be here for the rest of the summer,” Noah drawled, and this time when his eyes met hers, Riley felt a tingle of awareness that she dismissed as nerves. “Isn’t that right, Riley?”
She nodded. “I need to talk to you.”
His expression remained impassive. “Of course you do.” As Riley got up, he turned his back on her and walked to the desk to retrieve his phone messages from Janie.
“How’d it go this morning?” Kenneth asked, rising to his feet and starting across the room.
“Good. If you’ve got some time, I’d like to run a few things past you.”
“I don’t have any more appointments until later this afternoon. We can talk after you and Riley are finished.”
Before Noah could protest, Janie cheerfully interjected, “Look, fellas. Riley brought us all coffee. Wasn’t that sweet of her?”
“Sure was,” Kenneth agreed, grabbing a cup from the desk and taking a grateful sip. He winked at Riley over the rim. “Good stuff. You’ll have to come around more often, Miss Kane.”
Riley smiled, but she couldn’t help but notice that Noah, sifting through his phone messages, completely ignored the coffee on his way out of the room.
Kenneth and Janie exchanged quizzical glances before turning to look at Riley, as if expecting her to provide an explanation for Noah’s strange behavior.
“It’s a long story,” Riley muttered, then started down the corridor after Noah.
He was already waiting by the door when she reached his office, his head averted. After she brushed past him to enter the room, he closed the door and waved her into the visitor chair then rounded the large desk, which was as cluttered with paperwork as the one at his house.
He sat, propped his elbow on the desk, rested his fingertips against the side of his temple and gave her his undivided attention.
Resisting the urge to squirm, Riley crossed her denim-clad legs and folded her hands neatly in her lap, as if by perfecting her posture, she could maintain her composure.
“I was wondering if you’ve given any more thought to what we spoke about on Friday,” she began.
“I have,” Noah said evenly, “and my answer is still the same.”
Though she’d been prepared for such a response, Riley felt a sharp stab of disappointment. “Let me ask you this, Noah. What if you didn’t know me? What if I’d just walked in off the street and shared the same story with you. Would you still refuse to take my case?”
“We turn people away all the time, Riley. That’s the nature of the business.”
“That’s not what I asked you.”
“No, I wouldn’t take your case.”
“I don’t believe you. I know the only reason you won’t even consider helping me is that Trevor was your best friend.”
“And your fiancé,” Noah reminded her coldly.
“Yes, my fiancé,” she said with a brittle half smile. “The man I gave up a good job for to move back to San Antonio just to be near him. The man I loved enough to want to marry and have children with. The man I shared my—”
Noah’s jaw hardened. “Enough, Riley. You made your point.”
“Don’t ever question my love for Trevor,” she said in a voice that trembled with suppressed fury. “This has nothing whatsoever to do with that.”
“I disagree,” Noah bit off tersely. “I think if you love someone as much as you claim to have loved Trevor, you wouldn’t be entertaining these outrageous suspicions about him. Suspicions, by the way, that are based solely on dreams. Dreams, Riley.”
Her nostrils flared with anger. “It’s not just the dreams. I told you, there was a man at the funeral—”
“Which proves absolutely nothing.”
“Maybe if you put me in front of a police sketch artist, we could come up with a composite of this man, then run it through the system to find out if there’s a match.”
Bemused, Noah shook his head at her. “If you’ve got it all figured out, what do you need me for?”
Riley frowned, biting her lower lip for a moment. “Because no one will talk to me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, when I went to see Chief Pittman a few weeks after the funeral, he treated me as if I were a hysterical woman who couldn’t cope with the death of my fiancé. When I told him about the German man at the funeral, he dismissed it as coincidence.” Her mouth twisted cynically at the memory. “He pretty much patted me on my head, offered his condolences, and sent me home with the promise that he wouldn’t mention a word of our conversation to anyone else, because he knew how much it would hurt Trevor’s comrades to know what my concerns were.”
“He’s right,” Noah said grimly. “Every one of those cops worships the ground you walk on, Riley. If they find out what you’re doing, what you’re trying to do, they’d never forgive you.”
Riley looked him square in the eye. “That’s a chance I’m willing to take.” She paused. “But I guess you’re not.”
His expression darkened. “My decision not to help you has nothing to do with what other people will think.”
“Are you sure about that?” she challenged.
“Damn it, Riley,” he growled, leaning forward in his chair. “I don’t have to sit here and defend myself to you. Nothing you can say or do would convince me to launch an investigation into Trevor’s death. I spoke extensively to every last member of the Officer Involved Shooting Team responsible for investigating Trevor’s murder. You don’t have enough evidence to suggest there was anything more to the shooting than what the OIST determined. And if you were a complete stranger waltzing into my office, I’d tell you the same damn thing!”
“All right then,” Riley said with measured calm. It was time to play her ace in the hole. “Maybe you’re not the person I should be speaking to.”
Noah just watched her, saying nothing.
With as much dignity as she could muster, Riley stood and walked to the door, expecting Noah to call out to her. He didn’t, even as she put her hand on the doorknob and slowly turned. She silently counted to ten, then opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.
She got as far as the supply closet before she spun on her heel and marched back to Noah’s office, stepping inside and closing the door.
To his credit, he didn’t greet her with a triumphant grin. He said quietly, “You don’t want to involve Kenneth in this matter, because deep down inside, you know if you’re wrong about Trevor, you’ll never forgive yourself for calling his character into question, and causing anyone else to do the same.”
Riley swallowed with difficulty, her back pressed to the door. He was right. God help her, he was right. And even if her suspicions about Trevor were correct, she knew she would keep the truth to herself. It would be her own terrible secret to bear. Hers—and Noah’s.
Closing her eyes, she tried one final appeal. “You have inside connections, Noah. People who would give you information, no questions asked. Believe me, if I could do this on my own, I would have a long time ago.”
“I’m sorry, Riley.” For the first time, she heard a trace of genuine regret in his voice. “I can’t help you.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Can’t or won’t?”
&nbs
p; “Both.” His expression softened. “I think you should see someone, Riley. About the dreams—”
Anger swelled in her chest. “And here that’s what I thought I was doing,” she said bitterly. “So much for that idea.”
Without another word, she yanked the door open and started down the corridor, nearly colliding with Janie, who was emerging from the supply closet with an armful of Xerox paper.
She took one look at Riley’s face and frowned. “Are you all right?”
Riley blinked back the sting of tears. She would not cry. One way or another, she’d walk out of there with her pride intact.
“I’m fine,” she told Janie, her words belied by the tremor in her voice.
Janie pursed her lips, glancing in the direction Riley had just come from. “Listen, do you have a minute?”
Riley glanced at her watch. “I really should be going. I have an appointment with the caterers for my grandmother’s party in a few weeks.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Her seventy-fifth birthday bash. Mama Hubbard mentioned something about it a few days ago. She and your grandmother were talking about the party when they saw each other at the senior center. She told us we were all invited.”
“Of course,” Riley said, managing a wan smile as she followed Janie down the hallway to the reception area. “The formal invitations will be mailed out this week. In fact, that’s one of the projects my grandmother and I will be working on this afternoon.”
“I won’t keep you much longer then,” Janie said, loading the package of paper into the printer. “I wanted to run an idea past you. You can take your time and think about it, then get back to me at your earliest convenience.”
“Um, okay,” Riley said slowly, her curiosity piqued. “What is it?”
“Well, I don’t know whether Noah mentioned it or not,” Janie said, frowning as the printer paper got jammed, “but we’re thinking about hiring another private investigator to help with the caseload. We’ve got clients coming out of our ears, and with Daniela being on her honeymoon for a month, we’re really feeling the pinch.”
A Guilty Affair Page 5