Tessa broke apart a fudge brownie. “Maybe Boone called Sinclair. Maybe that’s how the chief knew to hang out in protective mode around the mayor.”
Anniston looked around the room. “Well, I, for one, think this was very productive, more so than I thought it would be. Something else came out of this and it’s significant. There’s no doubt each of these men blame one man for putting the kibosh on the golf course project and thereby blocking money going into their personal pockets.”
All eyes fell on Tanner.
“Is there any way we could be missing that as a major motive?”
Tanner held his arms out wide above the table. “I don’t think so. I’m still here, alive and kicking. If they wanted me out of the way, all they had to do was blow up my truck or my house. There’s been none of that.”
Lenore let out a gasp. “That’s a disturbing thought. I’m still having a hard time with what Carson told Raine, that Livvy really wanted that deal to go through. She never said a word to me about that, not one word. I always got the impression she was proud of what her dad had done to stand up to the Buchanans. Carson’s comment opened the door to doubt.”
Raine patted Lenore’s arm. “Carson admitted that info came straight from Walker. I wouldn’t put too much faith in that.”
Garret decided it had to be said. “Do we really know if Livvy had fallen in love with money? Was she so desperate to get out of her marriage that she wanted the big score like everyone else?”
It was Mitch who stood up and went nose to nose in Garret’s face. “Why do you insist on saying things like that? Livvy was a victim in all this. I’m sure Walker pulled her into his crap.”
“I loved Livvy, too,” Garret maintained, but he wasn’t willing to back down. “There are things about this scam of Walker’s that simply don’t add up. There’s the book on treasure hunting in the nightstand. Anniston pointed out that Livvy had to know what he was up to. She was sleeping in the same bed, two feet away.”
Before the argument could escalate, Tessa got to her feet. “Stop it, both of you. Since this whole thing began, I’ve had to accept things about my brother. He wasn’t perfect. He died because he came down here to fish and got dragged into something nasty. I’m not sure how it happened or what he was thinking. All I know is that your sister ended up dead, just like Ryan did. Arguing over what Livvy knew is the same wasted fight about what Ryan did to get involved. That part doesn’t matter. To find out who did this we need to stay on the same page, stay focused. So just cut the combative crap.”
Everyone watched as she bolted out the back door.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Jackson said. “She’s exhausted and hasn’t been herself, not since Anniston found Ryan’s…”
“We get it,” Mitch stated, scrubbing his hands over his tired face. “I’m sorry I’m so touchy. In a way, Tessa’s right. I guess it doesn’t matter how deep Livvy was involved in this. But if it’s true and she was interested in the money, then so was Nathan.”
Garret nodded, but he was distracted with something he couldn’t shake. A part of him was still fuming about the bar scene with Oakerson. “I think what bothers me the most is that the mayor dismissed five murders as if they offered no direct threat to the public. How does Oakerson know that for certain unless he has firsthand knowledge about why they were killed? No one in this room has yet to figure out why Livvy and the kids had to die. And as Jackson said, we’re not dummies. Even if Walker messed up big time on some deal that went sour, why did the kids have to suffer?”
“Because they recognized the killer,” Mitch uttered, barely above a whisper.
Garret’s heart tightened in his chest. “Exactly. They were killed by someone they knew.” He turned to Anniston. “We have to find something definitive that links Dietrich to Walker and Livvy. How do we do that?”
“I have to get my hands on Walker’s emails.”
Knowing that the kids had recognized their killer made Garret more determined. “So after listening to each of these jerks, which one comes across as the one we can shake down?”
As they listened to the recordings one more time, Anniston suddenly hit the stop button. “Maybe the link we’re after isn’t any of these people. Maybe the link we want is Nathan Hollister.”
It was almost midnight when Garret took that notion and followed Anniston out to her SUV. Dark clouds had covered up the silvery moon and blocked out the stars. The whip of wind hit his face and made him think that a storm would likely make landfall before daybreak.
He helped load up the stuff that she seemed to never go anywhere without—briefcase, laptop computer, and all the legal pads of notes and research. He’d never met anyone quite like Anniston Marcelli before. The woman was the consummate professional who exuded law enforcement lingo like a scene out of Dragnet. Her cop persona and swagger should’ve been a turn off for him. Why it wasn’t, he couldn’t fathom. He only knew he wanted her more every day he was around her.
Anniston started to climb behind the wheel and stopped. She took that extra second to study the sadness in his eyes, the anguish on his face. That had to be the driving force behind her decision.
There were times a woman had to take the initiative. She wanted to be a part of changing that look to something else. Tonight she wanted to be Garret’s distraction, as much for herself as for him. The weight of everything around them had taken its toll. Today had been long and brutal. As far as she was concerned, they’d more than earned the right to be together.
“Garret, why not come back to the hotel with me?”
His mind, she could tell, was a million miles from the offer. “I really should stay and be with my family tonight.”
She framed his face with her hands. “After. You can come back after,” she said softly.
The invitation couldn’t have been clearer if she’d put up a billboard.
It took a few extra seconds for Garret to understand. When the implication hit and landed, there was nothing slow about the way he moved. He dragged her up against him. His mouth dived in to ravage hers. He let his lips and tongue show her the raw pleasure of what he’d been feeling while his arms wrapped around her waist.
It seemed like steam rose out of the ground. The air became hot, humid.
When he let her go, he rested his head on hers. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Certain. After that kiss, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to drive.”
“That’s okay. I’ll get us there. Let’s not waste another minute.”
They didn’t. They climbed into the Explorer and Garret drove through town. He barely stopped at a red light, rolled through a couple of stop signs. It was a wonder the Indigo Police didn’t clock them on radar.
“You might want to pull up to the main entrance,” Anniston suggested. “We have to unload all my equipment and gear. We can’t leave it in the car. I’ll go grab a luggage cart so we only have to make one trip.”
Garret groaned, but knew she was right. “That’s all we’d need is to get the voice recordings stolen that we just worked so hard to create.”
“Exactly.”
He helped her transfer everything out of the car onto the trolley. Together they pushed it into the elevator to head upstairs. On the third floor, Anniston let them into the room by sliding her cardkey through the reader, and walked into the dark, hitting the lights as she went.
Garret dumped the gear on the little settee inside the hallway. “I’ll be right back. I’ll take the cart back down and then pull the SUV into the lot next door.” He took her by the shoulders and kissed her mouth. “Don’t move from that spot until I get back.”
“If I don’t move then how will I put on sexy lingerie?”
“Good point. That image just makes me want to leave the car where it is.”
She shook her head. “The front desk will just keep calling and bugging me about it later until they make me move it. Here, take my cardkey…for when you come back. Interruptions aren’t something
we want to deal with...later.”
Because it was true, he practically ran to the elevator and punched the first floor button several times just to get it up to third floor again.
Once he reached the lobby, he left the cart for someone else to use and walked through the double doors, back to the SUV. It wasn’t until he started the engine and put the car into drive that he noticed something was off. The vehicle wobbled on one side, bumping along like the tire was flat. Because the adjacent lot was a short twenty feet away, he gunned the gas and pulled into the first available space he found. He got out to investigate and saw the damage. In the short amount of time it had taken for them to unload everything and take it upstairs, someone had slashed the back tire. His eyes immediately darted around the area to check for anyone watching him. But all he saw were the huge palms draped in shadows lining the pathway to the front entrance.
He took out his phone and took several pictures of the deep gashes in the rubber. He wasn’t sure what else he could do about it now. A police report would have to be filed, but that could wait until morning.
Right now, all he could think about was getting back upstairs. So he hurried through the lot and back into the vivid light inside the lobby.
He waved to the front desk clerk—a man he was sure he went to high school with—and rushed into the elevator. When he reached the third floor again, he slid the cardkey into the reader and walked in to find she’d shed her clothes and changed into a silky red teddy.
“I thought you’d never get back,” she breathed out.
His mouth went dry. He couldn’t take his eyes off the vision. She was stretched out on the bed in a sexy pose, her gypsy dark hair spread out like an exotic fan in contrast to the white sheets. Her sultry chocolate eyes lidded in invitation, her olive skin was slick and satiny, sheened to perfection.
He wanted to rip off the lacy chemise. There’d been a force building inside him all evening. The juices that had stirred between them earlier was nothing compared to the heat building up now.
He kicked off his shoes, but when he started to peel out of his clothes, she got to her knees on the bed and motioned for him to come closer. “Here, let me do that.”
Primal arousal kicked in. The seduction he’d planned went out the window as he crossed to the bed.
Her smooth fingers slipped inside the waistband of his jeans and worked open the button. She slid down his zipper, and found tufts of black hair there that had to be touched, stroked.
“Mmm, no underwear.” With her tongue she left a wet trail.
“Baby, you do that again and I’m liable to explode right here.” He backed up to push the rest of the way out of the denim while she grabbed hold of his T-shirt and yanked.
He ran a finger down her throat, found her skin soft as rose petals. The familiar whiff of Chanel drifted though his brain as he came back to plunder that eager mouth of hers.
He angled, led with lean abs that had her flat on her back. His muscles bunched as he slid the straps of silk off her shoulders, felt her go soft as mush when he exposed a shapely breast. His lips sailed along the curves, fusing and feasting on the ridges. His hand glided lower, dipping into moist, wet heat.
A jolt of lust shot through her as she latched onto his hair. She dropped her head back, then lifted her hips, encouraging him to take more, a lot more.
As his fingers played through the lace, he clamped onto her mouth again, and dropped into the kiss, open and fierce. He had her urgent now, her breath ragged. She clawed upward, trying to reach higher, ever so higher, before her body quivered and she shattered into a million bright stars.
It was his undoing. He tore the silk away from her flesh, ripping the lace to reveal all of her. He trailed his tongue along her belly, past a landing strip of black hair, and his tongue dived lower into the wet heat.
Dizzy with sensations, her fists dug into the sheet. She held on while he coaxed out a sultry low moan that rippled out of her like a seismic vibration shifting the earth. Flaming waves rose up, crashing onto shore. A halo of pleasure erupted. The room lit up like a Roman candle spiraled into the night sky.
She raised her head high enough to find his dark eyes locked on hers. She urged him up, to take as she opened—giving him everything she had in surrender.
He moved over her, dipped his head to take her mouth. He lifted and cupped her hips. The whip of desire bit and sliced into him as he dived in. Joined now, his blood pumped, his heart raced as their bodies slicked and thudded as one.
In a wild drumbeat, the rhythm winged up like a soaring bird in flight—with one goal in mind— grinding toward that soulful trip to the highest point of pleasure. They slammed into the curl on a thousand bursts of light. They rushed over and through the shimmering waterfall, landing into the calm, warm mist of blue on the other side.
Sated, he didn’t think he could move. So he looked down, pressed his lips to the pulse at her throat. He kissed her mouth, long and deep, before rolling to his back. Still trying to catch his breath, he asked, “You alive over there?”
“I think so. I’m trying to figure out how to tell Cara she was right. You do aim to please.”
He let out a snort of laughter. “Don’t let me stop you, but I’m not sure I want to be around to hear that conversation. My little voice says never get two women together that you’ve slept with.”
She raised up on one elbow, patted his chest. “Don’t worry. Like Cara, I’d give you exceptional marks. You know a thing or two about a woman’s body.”
Again, he let out a laugh. “Women. Why do you insist on comparing notes about a man’s performance? It makes me feel so cheap.”
“Hmm, let’s see. For one, it’s fun to do. Plus, getting to sing the praises of a lover doesn’t come along that often.”
“Oh, jeez, please, nothing my mother might hear about, okay? It’s a small town.”
“It’s okay. Your mom admitted a few weeks ago at the girls’ night out, she’s well aware her children engage in sex.”
“This is getting more embarrassing by the minute.”
She leaned over him, kissed his mouth. “Hey, I’m just trying to tell you I appreciate your giving nature. In fact, I have a giving nature myself.”
She reared up, threw her legs over his body and straddled him. And she spent the next hour proving it.
Chapter Thirteen - Heat
Their bodies were still tangled under the covers when they woke to a gray dawn and a gentle patter of rain dancing on the roof.
Garret rolled to one side to watch her stretch beside him like a Cheshire cat truly pleased with her surroundings. He traced her lips with a lean finger. This was a mouth to savor, to feast on, he decided. “Tell me again why we hurried last night?”
“I can only speak for myself, but I was done waiting. I wanted you inside me.”
“Mmm. There was that.”
“As clients go, you’re pretty damn talented.”
“And as investigators go, right back atcha.” He weighed whether or not to break the mood. Since it seemed like it wasn’t fair to keep a secret, he went on, “You know why it took me so long to get back to the room last night?”
“Why?”
“Someone took a knife and slashed the rear tire on the SUV’s driver’s side. I didn’t notice it until I’d already pulled into the parking lot. My mind was on other things.”
“Someone must’ve followed us to the hotel.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense.” Garret swung his legs to the side of the bed, reached for his jeans to pull out his cell phone. He showed her the photos he’d taken. “Do you have AAA? Because you’ll definitely have to have a new tire.”
“I have a spare,” Anniston said as she studied the pictures then eased out of bed to throw on a red kimono. Her cell phone dinged with a text message. “Dack’s texting me. He wants to meet at Rumrunner Cove. That’s really odd. I wonder why.”
“Make sure it’s him you’re talking to,” Garret suggested as he y
anked on his jeans. “Ask him something only he would know.”
She smiled. “Look at you. World surfer turned protective lover.” But she took the warning to heart and let her fingers fly. Make me believe it’s you.
Want me to write it in code? You have a birthmark on your left shoulder and a scar on your ankle from falling off your bike.
She added a smiley face to the text and wrote, Okay. See you in an hour. Flat tire this morning. Thanks to the locals.
“Who should I call to change the tire? Baskin’s shop?”
He gave her a pathetic look. “It doesn’t open for another hour. I’ll do it.”
“You look miffed. What’s bothering you?”
“All this cloak and dagger stuff is getting to me. Someone wiped out a whole family and I’m beginning to think we’ll never learn the truth. They killed kids. We’re no closer to finding out who did it. Some days this entire thing is surreal. I feel like I’m living a very bad dream and can’t wake up.”
She went over to him and cuddled his head over her heart. “Ask yourself why they were all beaten and tortured before they were murdered. Obviously someone was trying to get information out of them.”
“Even little kids? That’s disgusting.”
“Whoever did this probably threatened to harm the kids if Livvy and Walker didn’t talk. The killer or killers used that threat to try to get information. About what, I don’t know. But even if Livvy and Walker cooperated they’d still be dead. Those people were not going to leave witnesses behind.”
Garret let out a huge sigh. “So what do we do now?”
“My brother will be here tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, I intend to find out if Walker got in touch with Dietrich.”
“How do we do that?”
She held up her phone. “Dack just gave me an opening. I get in his face and beg for him to share details.”
“I’m coming with you.”
The Indigo Brothers Trilogy Boxed Set Page 48