The Inquisitor

by Gayle Wilson

  “The only perspective you need right now is that you’re alive. Relatively unharmed. And that you got only one person to thank for that. No matter what anybody tells you, including him, I was right here for all of it. That man in there—” he tilted his head toward the door behind him “—wasn’t huntin’ a killer to get revenge for his sister. He was huntin’ you. And without him—” The detective stopped, taking a quick breath and blowing it out before he finished. “I frankly don’t know that we would have gotten there in time.”

  “Thank you for telling me that.”

  Bingham nodded, a quick, decisive motion of that well-shaped head. “Thought you should know. Now, let’s go see what Helen can do about getting the stuff you need.”

  Bingham had escorted Jenna and Sean to the elevator that would deposit them to the basement garage. He hadn’t gone downstairs with them, pleading the need to prepare the press statement detailing what had happened. He was already skating close to the deadline of the announced media conference.

  The cop who’d ridden down with them had gone to find out what had happened to the car that was supposed to already be here. His suspicion, he’d told them, was that the driver had been held up by the traffic generated out front by the throng of reporters.

  They watched him walk toward the exit to the street in silence. With Bingham’s words echoing in her head, Jenna was conscious that this might be the last time they would be together—and alone. And she very much needed to know what came next in order to prepare for it.

  She wasn’t sure that right now she was in control enough not to react if this was it. If Sean was going to walk out of her life without anything other than the handshake he’d offered Bingham, she needed some kind of warning. And the only thing she could think of to solicit information about his plans…

  “You think they’d be willing to stop and let us pick up something to eat on the way? The cupboard’s pretty bare at my apartment.”

  She realized it was the wrong thing to say even before Sean turned to look at her. It brought back too many memories—all of which he would want to forget. The box tied with red ribbon. Gary’s visit. All that had happened after it, culminating in his discovery of Carol Cummings’s body.

  “I imagine after they get us away from here, they’ll be willing to take you anywhere you want to go.”

  You. Not we.

  “And where will they be taking you?”

  “To the airport.” He glanced down at his watch. “There’s plenty of time to make a stop for food and deliver you to your apartment before I have to be there. If you’re sure that’s where you want to go.”

  Surely he wasn’t about to suggest that she go to her parents’ house. She would have to get someone out there before they returned from their trip, but that would have to wait until the police had processed the crime scene in the kitchen. She certainly didn’t intend to stay there while that was going on. And maybe never again.

  “You have a better suggestion?” She waited, hoping he would say the right thing.

  “You’ll be fine at your apartment.” Maybe her eyes belied his confidence in that because he added, “It’s really over, Jenna. He isn’t going to hurt you—or anyone else—ever again. Bingham will make sure of that.”

  “I know. Intellectually, I know. It’s just that somewhere inside—”

  “Let it go. Let him go. Back to whatever pit of hell he crawled out of.”

  For a fraction of a second the therapist part of her remembered that Gary Evers had once been a terrified little boy, tormented by a woman who should never had been allowed to have contact with a child. In the next she remembered that something very similar could be said about the man at her side. One had become a monster, and the other had become…

  Someone willing to protect, even at the cost of his own life. Just as he’d done for Makaela all those years ago. Just as he had done for her.

  “Does it have to be tonight?”

  “What?”

  She strengthened her voice, determined, no matter the result, to ask him. “Why do you have to leave tonight?”

  “Because I promised someone I’d be home for Christmas.”

  “Someone?” The tone of the question was as casual as she could make it under the circumstances.

  “She’s eight. Bright enough to have figured out what I was doing down here. He’s four. And expecting a puppy.”

  Makaela’s children. The ones Sean had become responsible for when his sister had been murdered.

  “Then…It sounds as if you have some shopping to do when you get home.”

  “Know anything about dogs?”

  She wasn’t sure why the question made her heart jump into her throat. After all, he hadn’t actually invited her to help him with the purchase, which would probably have to be made in Michigan.

  “I always had one when I was growing up.”

  “What kind?”

  She smiled at the memories, although the upward movement of her lips felt stiff. Unnatural. “Not any I can see you buying.”

  “Yeah? You had the yappy kind?”

  “With papers.”

  “I was thinking about getting a mutt from the pound. It’s not that I couldn’t afford the kind with papers. It’s just that I think there would be something…I don’t know. Satisfying, maybe, about giving an abandoned dog a good home.”

  That word, too, resonated in her heart with far too much meaning. She seemed determined to read significance into everything he said. Maybe because she was afraid there wasn’t any to any of it. After all, no promises had been made. On either side, she reassured her surge of insecurity.

  It had been that way since she’d met him. More than any man she’d ever been involved with, Sean Murphy made her unsure of her own worth.

  And she no longer bothered to deny that she was involved. Whether he was or not.

  “Are you going to let the kids make the choice?” she asked, working to keep any trace of disappointment out of her voice.

  “Not if I want to get out of the place with just one.”

  “I figured you’d be in complete command of the expedition.”

  “Which shows how much you know about kids.”

  That was another thing she hadn’t had time to consider. If this did go anywhere—that was something she’d have to think about.

  She knew enough about Sean Murphy to know that his niece and nephew weren’t responsibilities he had undertaken lightly. He would be there for them as long as they needed him.

  Maybe that was the key to his hurry to be gone. She no longer needed him to protect her. And she’d never bothered to tell him all the other ways she still needed him. Maybe because—until right now—she hadn’t had to acknowledge them.

  “I’d like to know more,” she said. “At least about yours.”

  As admissions went, it wasn’t particularly bold. She waited while the blue eyes examined her face.

  “You got plans for Christmas?”

  Her throat closed with the promise of that. And then she remembered all the seasonal things she was committed to, from Paul’s annual party for the staff to the bread pudding she was supposed to deliver on Christmas morning to her mother’s family gathering. Right now, none of them seemed nearly as important as Sean’s question.

  “Not really,” she said.

  “You like snow? I mean a lot of it?”

  “I haven’t seen ‘a lot of it,’ but…I’ve always liked the little we get.”

  She had. Despite the traffic snafus it invariably brought, even the predictions of snowfall were still exciting.

  “Kids?”

  “Do I like them?”

  “You said you liked dogs. And snow. I figured I might as well go for a hat trick.”

  “Are you talking about…Are you by any chance asking me to go home with you?”

  “You said you didn’t have plans.”

  “Not any that can’t be changed. How will your family feel about that?”

  “That�
�s why I asked if you like kids.”

  “I haven’t really been around them a lot, but…I think I would.”

  “Yeah? Well, trust me, they’ll be around. Especially since I’ve been away.”

  They would want him all to themselves. Just as she did. “Then it’s probably not a good idea to spring a visit from a stranger on them,” she said, hoping against hope he’d refute the out she’d given him. “Especially this time of year.”

  “I figured they wouldn’t notice as long as I brought the puppy home, too.”

  Her heart rate slowed to something approaching normal. “You plan to just sneak me in during the excitement.”

  “Something like that. If you’re interested.”

  “I’m interested. I don’t know if I could get a flight. Not this late. And especially this time of year.”

  He reached into the inside pocket of his leather jacket, pulling out a couple of sheets of paper. He unfolded them before he held them out to her.

  Despite everything she could do, her eyes blurred as she read her name on the airline e-ticket receipt he’d printed out. Blinking, she slipped that page under the one for his seat, right next to the one he’d reserved for her.

  She looked up, no longer worried about whether he would notice the tears. “Pretty damn sure of yourself.”

  “I prefer to think of it as being skilled at risk assessment.”

  “Is that how you see this? As a risk?”

  “You don’t?”

  She did. She just hadn’t expected him to be that open about it. “Maybe. But it’s one I’m willing to take.”

  For a second, the blue eyes were suspiciously bright. By the time the long, dark lashes swept down to cover that gleam, it had cleared.

  “Yeah, well, you’d better check the time on those,” he advised, nodding toward the papers she still held in her hand.

  She glanced down obediently, realizing that the tickets were for today. For a flight that would leave Birmingham in less than four hours.

  “How fast can you pack?”

  “Fast enough,” she said with complete assurance.

  Epilogue

  “So what do you think?”

  They were watching the children play with the eight-week-old mostly golden retriever they’d picked out of the Humane Society cages on their way home from the airport. Taking his cue from his new owners, the puppy seemed as wildly happy to have been made a part of this small family as Jenna was.

  “I think you picked a winner.”

  Actually, Sean had left the choice up to her. With the little dog’s outgoing personality, it hadn’t been a difficult one.

  “I think you’re right.”

  Something in Sean’s tone caused her to turn her head. He was no longer watching the antics of the children. His eyes were focused on her. She had to resist the urge to read too much into what was in them.

  “Thank you for including me in your Christmas.”

  Her comment seemed noncommittal enough. It had the added advantage of being absolutely sincere. After the horror of the past few days, the love contained within this house had helped restore her faith in the essential goodness of life.

  “Definitely my pleasure.”

  That, too, seemed sincere, despite the fact her visit here was obviously not going to include a resumption of the intimacy they’d shared only two nights ago. Given the circumstances, that would be impossible.

  Sean had introduced her to the housekeeper when they’d first arrived. Although it was clear Maria Alvarez was deeply attached to the children, she’d seemed anxious to get home to her own family and preparations for the holidays.

  Although Jenna had been prepared for, if not hostility, at least disapproval, Mrs. Alvarez had seemed nonjudgmental about her presence here. But maybe that was because Sean had put her suitcase on one of the twin beds in his niece’s room.

  At this point, he wasn’t the one whose self-discipline Maria should be concerned about. Seeing him in this setting had made Jenna realize how powerful her attraction had become.

  She’d met him first as a man determined to bring a killer to justice. Someone seeking to avenge the death of a loved one. She’d come to view him as a protector, someone skilled enough to keep her out of harm’s way. And then as a lover, able to give her pleasure in ways she’d never even imagined.

  Now, here with his family, she was seeing a completely different side of him. Whatever scars the past had left, they didn’t seem to hamper his ability to love his niece and nephew wholeheartedly. And if he were capable of that…

  “Jen? How about it?”

  She looked up, realizing that she’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t heard his question. “Sorry. I swear I’m half asleep. It’s been a very long day.”

  Of course, that applied to Sean as well, and yet he seemed to be fully functional.

  “I asked if you want to step outside with the dog while the kids get into their pajamas.”

  An opportunity to be alone. As alone as they could hope to be with a puppy and two children crowded together in these few rooms.

  “I’d love to. Maybe the cold air will wake me up.”

  “I can guarantee that. There’s probably a toboggan and spare pair of gloves in the front closet. They’ll be either too big or too small, but we aren’t going to stay out long enough for it to matter.”

  “Come on, Buddy. Time to get to work.”

  Ryan, the four-year-old, had been allowed to name the puppy. What his choice lacked in originality had been more than compensated for by his pleasure in making the decision. Although Buddy already seemed to recognize his name, he didn’t appear to have the first clue about what they were doing outside.

  “Maybe he doesn’t have to go,” Jenna suggested, crossing her arms over her body in an attempt to survive the frigid temperatures until Sean came to the same conclusion.

  “My experience with the kids tells me something different. As soon as we get back inside, he’ll decide he does.”

  “You’re basing that on the children?”

  “I figure this works the same way as snowsuits.”

  She hid the smile provoked by the image of Sean dressing and then undressing a newly potty-trained toddler by hunching her shoulders and tucking her chin into the upturned collar of her coat. Sean determinedly pulled the puppy along the scraggly evergreen foundation plantings again. Although Buddy seemed interested in how they smelled, apparently the scent didn’t remind him of fire hydrants or tree trunks.

  “Maybe if you let him off the leash,” she suggested.

  “You up for chasing him all over the neighborhood?”

  “It might keep us warm.”

  “Why don’t you go on back inside and check on the hooligans? No need for both of us to freeze our asses off.”

  “Actually…” She hesitated, deciding that whatever she’d been anticipating when she’d agreed to come out here had obviously not been what Sean had in mind. If that were the case, then she might as well go inside.

  “What?” He looked up from maneuvering his boot out of the leash the puppy had wrapped around it.

  “Nothing.” She forced a smile, shaking her head at his expression.

  “You mean you’re not enjoying this?” The quirk at the corner of his mouth took the sting out of the question.

  “Buddy? Frankly, not so much. The cold? Hardly at all. Being with you…Obviously enough to make up for the others.”

  “Are you by any chance flirting with me, Dr. Kincaid?” Sean closed the distance between them by dragging Buddy away from the bedraggled plant nearest the bottom step where she had stopped to watch him with the dog.

  “I’m too old and much too tired to flirt. And if you really don’t know what I’m doing, then you aren’t nearly as smart as everybody back in Birmingham seems to think you are.”

  “I’ve always heard you southerners were easily impressed.”

  “Not tonight.”

  “If there’s one thing I can’t stand,”
he said, putting his gloved hand at the back of her neck to draw her to him, “it’s a demanding woman.”

  He turned his head so that the last word was whispered against her parted lips. In spite of the cold, his mouth was warm as it closed over hers, claiming it with the same expertise with which he’d claimed her body the nights they’d made love.

  At her response, he deepened the kiss, pulling her against his warmth. As his other arm went around her back, she relaxed into his strength.

  She had wanted this all day. Despite what he and everyone else had told her, until she was here in his arms, she hadn’t believed it was over. Or that she was safe.

  Now she knew she was. And if she were lucky enough to get what she wanted for Christmas, she always would be.

  He lifted his head, looking down into her eyes. “Something like this more what you had in mind?”

  “Something like this.” She brought her hands up to cup either side of his face.

  She wished she wasn’t wearing gloves so she could feel the texture of the stubble that darkened his cheeks. At least she could see it. Along with the color of his eyes, surrounded by their sweep of dark lashes. The slightly crooked nose. All the things she loved—

  She stopped, acknowledging the magnitude of that realization. Something she must have known for days. Something she’d not yet admitted. Not even to herself.

  “Another complaint? Damn, woman.” Sean lowered his head again, finding her lips.

  Still dazed by her self-discovery, she was slow in responding, so that he raised his head almost immediately to look down into her face. Reacting to what was undoubtedly revealed by her expression, his eyes narrowed.

  She closed her mouth, moving her hand so that she could run its gloved thumb along his bottom lip. His head tilted slightly to the side, questioning.

  She shook her head, smiling at him. It was enough now that she knew.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Absolutely not,” she said. “Not in my world.”

  He studied her face for another heartbeat. “Why do I get the feeling you’re keeping something from me, Dr. Kincaid?”

  “I’m an open book.”

  Or she should be. After all, without notifying her parents or friends, she’d gotten on a plane with him and flown to Michigan to buy a puppy. And she hadn’t even asked how long he intended for her to stay.