For His Daughter

by Dani Sinclair

  Instantly a horn blared. He had to wait for two cars to pass and one to finish backing out of another parking place behind him before he could move. Then there were too many pedestrians to tear through the parking lot after the last of the cars. He missed the traffic light and had to sit drumming his fingers impatiently. Lee would have given anything for a siren and lights about then.

  When he finally pulled onto Montgomery Village Avenue, he realized pursuit was useless. The truck he wanted was out of sight and the next traffic light brought him to another stop behind a line of cars.

  “Give me an address, Kayla.”

  “No.”

  “You really think he killed her, don’t you?”

  “No!”

  “Then what are you afraid of?”

  She looked away without answering him. Lee pulled into a gas station and filled the tank, wondering how to get past her stubborn streak. When he spotted a pay phone, he used it to leave a message at work that his ex-wife had been killed and he’d be in touch when he could. Then he called his sister. Tersely, he explained the situation and asked her to come and get Meredith. To his relief, she agreed immediately and didn’t press him with questions. Finally, he turned to the phone book. Alex Coughlin wasn’t listed. Fay hadn’t listed Alex in her address book and Information didn’t have a number for him, either.

  Kayla looked relieved when he returned to the car. “Hungry?” he asked calmly.

  “Not really.”

  “Then you can watch me eat.”

  He stopped at a cozy restaurant with a piano bar on Route 355. Kayla made it quite clear she wasn’t in the mood for conversation so he listened to the music while he went over everything that had happened since he’d reached Fools Point. So far, he was no closer to figuring out what had happened than he had been when he woke up this morning. And he still saw no way around that locked room.

  “Do you think Meredith is okay?” Kayla asked suddenly.

  Lee pushed aside his plate, the breaded veal sitting like a boulder in his gut. “You about done?” he asked, instead of answering.

  “Yes.” She looked relieved, so Lee signaled the waiter and requested the check.

  Outside, night had finally descended. There wasn’t even a trace of moonlight.

  “You want to drive?” he asked.

  She looked surprised when he held out the keys to her. “That depends. Where are we going now?”

  “You’re going home.”

  “While you will be...?”

  “Never mind. I’ll drive. Just get in the car, Kayla.”

  The flow of traffic had become greatly reduced. Lee pulled onto Route 355 and decided to take it all the way up to Fools Point rather than go back out to Interstate 270.

  As he drove, he found a way to ask Kayla about something that had been bothering him most of the afternoon. “Do you have any idea what might have happened to Fay’s car?”

  “I never thought about it. I mean, I assume the police impounded it. Wouldn’t they search it for clues or something?”

  “Yeah. I suppose that’s it. I just noticed it wasn’t at the motel and it wasn’t in her driveway.” And it should have been. He’d put it there himself.

  “Is that why you—Lee! Look out!”

  Kayla’s shout came at the same time as three deer appeared, leaping directly into their path.

  Chapter Six

  Lee swerved, missing the animals completely. The car coming from the other direction wasn’t so lucky. The driver braked violently. The nose of the car dipped down and a deer sailed onto the hood, smashing against the windshield and bouncing over the roof.

  Lee pulled onto the shoulder and stopped, jumping from the car to run back toward the other vehicle. Kayla followed on wobbly legs. The driver was a slim young man, obviously in shock. Beside him sat a very pregnant, very frightened young woman whose tears were punctuated by low moans. The air bags had deployed, filling the car with a fine white powder.

  Kayla opened the passenger door. The woman continued to moan. “Where are you hurt?” There was no outward sign of injury, no blood or obvious bruises forming. The air bags had done their job. The windshield was cracked, but the glass hadn’t given way.

  “The baby’s coming,” she sobbed.

  “My wife’s in labor,” the man told Lee wildly. “We were on our way to the hospital. The baby’s coming fast!”

  Lee came around the car and gently edged Kayla aside.

  “Ma’am. Stop crying and talk to me. What’s her name?” he demanded of the driver.

  “Carla.”

  “Okay, Carla. Let’s see what we’ve got here. Can you take off your seat belt?”

  A truck driver ran up to the car.

  “I’ve called it in. Anybody hurt?”

  “She’s in labor,” Kayla told the man.

  The trucker nodded. “I’ll get a blanket and let the authorities know.”

  Kayla stepped back, watching as Lee took charge of the situation. This was a whole other side to his professional image. Calm, soothing, in control.

  “Ambulance is on its way,” the truck driver announced.

  “Good. We’ve got plenty of time then,” Lee told the woman.

  “But her water broke,” the terrified husband ranted. “And the pains are five minutes apart.”

  “That’s fine,” Lee said calmly. “She’s progressing nicely. Looks like you won’t have a long labor, Carla. You’re lucky.”

  “What about that poor deer?” the woman fretted through her tears.

  Lee didn’t miss a beat. “You scared the heck out of the whole group. They took off into the woods.”

  Kayla stared up the pitch-dark road as people began to collect. The trucker shook his head when he caught her eye to indicate the deer hadn’t made it.

  Saddened, she nodded. Deer were a serious menace to drivers these days, but who could blame them? Humans were paving the world. Still, her sorrow for the deer was tempered by relief that none of the people had been hurt.

  Lee talked to the woman quietly while Kayla stood with the woman’s husband, trying to emulate Lee’s easy, relaxed manner. In the background, the wail of an approaching siren grew louder.

  A county police car arrived first. Without moving from the woman’s side, Lee explained the situation. The cop turned to the husband with questions. Lee remained where he was until the ambulance pulled up. By then, the accident had drawn a crowd of onlookers. Some had witnessed the incident, others had stopped to observe or offer help if it was needed. In the confusion once the ambulance arrived, Kayla lost sight of Lee. Minutes later, she realized he was gone. He hadn’t returned to her car. He’d simply vanished into the night.

  LEE STEPPED BACK from the scene. He selected a middle-aged man in a business suit and was rewarded when the map agreed to give him a lift all the way into Fools Point.

  Kayla would be furious, but he’d already caused her enough grief. He should never have dragged her along with him today. He would get his own car, go out to the Bide Awhile and have a chat with Barney Trowbridge.

  The Good Samaritan refused any money, even though he drove Lee all the way to the restaurant parking lot and dropped him off to retrieve his car. There was only one problem. Lee’s car was gone. Bits of broken glass littered the blacktop to show where it had been parked.

  The restaurant was already closed for the night, though there were still a few cars left in the lot. Lee gave a moment’s thought to hot-wiring one of them, but he’d been defending the law too long to break it arbitrarily. So far, his actions might be questionable, but his only illegal act had been destroying evidence at the murder scene. Since he had reasons for that, he could still walk away from this with a relatively clear conscience once the murderer was found.

  And he was now convinced that there was a murderer to be found. Besides his own belief that he wouldn’t have killed Fay in that manner, there was no getting around the fact that someone wanted him dead. And someone was worried enough to try breaking into
Fay’s house.

  Alex, coming after the locket, or Trowbridge, wanting those love notes? Lee hoped it would turn out to be Trowbridge, but he couldn’t help wondering about the significance of the picture inside the locket Kayla had found. She’d be crushed if her brother turned out to be a killer, but how had Alex known so much about the murder scene?

  Lee needed a closer look at the locks in that motel room. If he could figure out how the killer had gotten out of the locked room he might very well be able to figure out who the killer was. To do that, he’d need to go back inside for another, closer look at those locks. He’d been too fuzzy and shocked this morning to do a thorough investigation, and it was too dark tonight.

  For a few minutes, Lee debated his options. He wanted to knock on the restaurant door and have a chat with the kid who’d found his car. He also wanted to talk with the restaurant staff from last night, but he wasn’t prepared to answer the sort of questions that would be raised if Jake Collins was still around.

  Fay’s murder had made the news. Police had no suspects, but they wanted to talk with Fay’s ex-husband, D.C. police officer Lee Garvey. Hearing his name on the radio had come as a shock. His time was definitely running out.

  Still it was late and he was dog tired. And if he wanted to talk to Trowbridge and Kayla’s brother, he was going to need transportation. That meant walking to Kayla’s and waiting for her to return. He’d have to borrow her car, which sent his thought back to a question that had bugged him all afternoon.

  What had happened to Fay’s convertible? He’d left it in her driveway with the keys inside. He wasn’t buying a coincidental theft even if cars were being stolen on a large scale in the D.C. area. And while it was possible the police had towed it for inspection, that wasn’t likely, either. There had been no sign that they’d been to Fay’s before Lee and Kayla got there.

  He walked to Kayla’s lost in thought. Finding the house key she kept hidden outside took time. She’d been more clever than he’d expected, but persistence paid off. Lee used the key to go in through the back door. Her house was entirely too isolated and dark for her own safety, he decided. But he suspected he’d have a hard time convincing her of that fact.

  The aroma of chocolate chip cookies still lingered in the kitchen. He helped himself to a couple while rooting around in the dark looking for a flashlight or an address book. He didn’t find either one in her kitchen.

  Leaving off the lights so as not to alert her neighbors to his presence, Lee tried her bedroom. As he entered the room he heard a key turn in the front door. Kayla? Alex? Or someone else?

  Lee stepped inside her partially open closet, leaving the door ajar so he could listen. There were small sounds as someone moved around, but lights didn’t come on and he couldn’t tell who was inside or what they were doing. The hall light flicked on abruptly.

  Kayla entered the bedroom without bothering with the overhead light. She had already pulled off her blouse. Now she dropped it onto the bed and kicked off her shoes. Lee froze as she reached for the waistband of her slacks and lowered them down her legs. They were extremely nice legs.

  Her back was to the closet, giving him an arresting view as she stepped from her pants and bent to remove her socks.

  Desire knifed through him with keen-edged precision.

  The response was as crazy as it was unexpected. Despite plenty of opportunities after Fay left, he hadn’t wanted a woman like this in a very long time. Fay had cured him in ways that would have delighted her.

  Until now.

  Until Kayla.

  Unaware, Kayla reached behind her and unfastened the two hooks holding her bra in place. She dropped it on top of her blouse and bent to retrieve the slacks and socks to add to the pile. Her breasts swung invitingly in silhouette, outlined by the light from the hall.

  Lee stopped breathing completely as she slipped her fingers inside the waistband of her white cotton panties. Guilt vied with undeniable desire. He should have told her he was here the moment she entered the room. Calling out to her now would only embarrass her.

  The panties slid down her legs in a sensual, completely unintended striptease.

  Lee closed his eyes and tried not to groan. This was wrong. How could he be feeling such longing for Kayla Coughlin of all people? She didn’t even like him.

  But that didn’t stop him from wanting her with an unforeseen intensity. Memory of her lips beneath his tightened his groin even further. He opened his eyes. Kayla removed a nightgown from a dresser drawer and turned to face the closet. She came straight toward him. There was no place to go, so Lee prepared for the worst. She passed within inches as she walked completely nude into the hall. He released a long breath.

  The hall linen closet opened and shut. Water began to run in the bathtub. She was going to take a shower or a bath, he realized. She chose a shower and he waited until he was certain she was beneath the spray before stepping from the closet. A clean fragrance, either soap or shampoo, affirmed his suspicion that she hadn’t closed the bathroom door.

  Why should she? She thought she was alone in her own apartment. But the bathroom lay between him and freedom. Lee hesitated. The sounds were inflaming all sorts of heady images. Visions of soapy water tracing a path over those curves and planes he’d just seen was more than he needed to keep him stimulated.

  Lee forced his mind from that path and decided to risk a few minutes in her bedroom. If he could find Alex’s address, he could take her car keys and be gone without her ever knowing he had been here.

  The only thing he found of interest, however, was a small package of unopened condoms tucked in the back of her nightstand. He shouldn’t have felt so startled. She was an adult woman. Of course, she had relationships.

  With whom?

  Lee shook his head. It was none of his business. He needed to get out of there before she turned off the shower. As if setting his thought to action, the water abruptly cut off. Lee started back around the bed. The sound of the shower curtain being drawn back stopped him in his tracks. If he stepped into the hall now, she’d see him. Worse, he’d see her. He was trapped.

  Regretfully Lee turned on the lamp next to her bed to warn her of his presence and perched on the edge to wait for her. He tried not to look at the small pile of clothing on the end of the bed. Or think about the way she looked without them on. She’d already had a bad day. He didn’t like that he was about to make it worse.

  Kayla froze in the doorway in startled dismay, looking soft and damp and extremely vulnerable. A towel wrapped her hair, while a short cotton nightgown covered her soft. curves to midthigh. Lee had never known plain cotton could be so sexy.

  “Sorry,” he managed to say gently. “I didn’t want to scare you. I wasn’t sure if it was better to call out, or to let you come in and find met.”

  . “You nearly gave me a heart attack! What are you doing here? How did you get in? Why did you disappear like that?”

  He held up her spare key. “You shouldn’t keep a key outside, Kayla. It isn’t safe. Anyone can get in.”

  “So I see. Give me that!” She stormed over, hand outstretched. Her nipples rose against the soft cotton. Lee forced his gaze to her face.

  “Sorry again. I intended to disappear before the police caught us together. Unfortunately, someone stole my car.”

  She clutched the key tightly and the towel on her head slipped down to cover one eye. She pushed it back distractedly. “I don’t believe this.”

  Lee stood, hoping she wouldn’t notice the effect her body was having on his. “I know the feeling.”

  “Someone stole your car?” Kayla plopped down on the end of the bed. The towel fell forward to cover both eyes and she pulled it off in annoyance. Shampoo scented the room, reminding him of images he didn’t want to be having. Lee looked away from her.

  “Look, I don’t like to ask, but I need to borrow. your car. You can tell the police I stole it.”

  “No. Do you know what time it is?”

  He di
dn’t have a clue. It was late, he knew that much. He was tired and his headache had returned, setting up a dull throbbing behind his eyes. His mind felt like mush.

  But he still wanted her.

  “You’re too tired to do any more tonight. You need to get some sleep.”

  Her face set in that determined look he was becoming all too familiar with.

  “You can play detective in the morning,” she told him.

  “Thanks a bunch.”

  “The couch in the living room pulls out,” she continued unperturbed.

  “You’re offering me a bed?” How was it she never did or said what he expected?

  “A bed. Not my bed. Where else are you going to go? Home? The police will be waiting for that. They’ll put you in a cell tonight and ask questions tomorrow. Or worse, they’ll question you tonight when you’re too tired to make sense. You’ll have to stay here. Besides, I have your clothing.”

  Somehow, that implied an intimacy that took his tired brain to the scenario it had been trying to paint all along of the two of them entwined on this bed together. “This isn’t a good idea, Kayla.”

  “You’re telling me? But what choice do we have?”

  “You could call the police.”

  “I will. In the morning. I’m too tired right now.”

  He studied her, seeing the lines of fatigue clearly for the first time. “Forget it. I can’t spend the night in your apartment. Do you know what an APB is?”

  “An all points bulletin. I watch television, Lee. And I heard the radio broadcast on my way back here after I realized you’d left me out there on the highway. How did you get back here, anyhow?”

  “I hitched a ride. I thought I was doing what was best for you.”

  She waved off his weak apology. “I figured that out after I stopped being mad. I even told the police I was alone and didn’t know who the man was that stopped to help, or where he came from.”