by Wendy Haley
She got on-line, using the Internet to access certain of the information services to which she subscribed. One thing led to another, then another, and soon she was in so deep she lost all track of time. She was conscious of Gabriel moving close to watch over her shoulder.
Things were getting more interesting by the minute. Elliston Enterprises was owned by another corporation, which was headquartered out of state. It would take time to research that, she knew. And Elliston in turn owned three other companies, all of which were out of state, as well.
“Who owns that parent company?” Gabriel asked.
Rae nodded, acknowledging his quickness in following the information flashing onto her screen. She accessed another information server. Then another, and another.
“There,” Gabriel said, pointing to a line on her screen.
“Robert Harding-Scott,” she said. “Let’s check him out.”
She slid to still another server. In less than an hour, she’d found Mr. Harding-Scott’s social security number, his credit history, driving record, marriage license...and death certificate.
“Holy cow,” Gabriel said.
“Right. Somebody’s using his name as a front. Interesting.”
Rae went back to work. Instead of finding more answers, she just found more questions, more leads to follow up. She had the names of eight corporations to research, and a possible eleven more. And that wasn’t counting the names of officers and agents-of-record, all of which would have to be run down.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she muttered, leaning back in her chair.
She leaned her head first to one side, then the other, trying to work some of the kinks out. Her back felt like one solid knot. With a groan, she put her hands on the small of her back for support as she arched forward.
“Here, let me,” Gabriel said.
He started rubbing her shoulders. Rae opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. What was she going to say to him, anyway? Don’t touch me because I can’t trust myself? That would be true disaster. Besides, his hands were warm and strong, and he knew exactly where the worst of the tension was located.
With a sigh, she let herself drift off into pure sensation. Heat ran from his palms to her knotted muscles, then coiled away in a hazy tide throughout her body. Those talented fingers moved to her neck and worked pure magic there. No matter how hard she tried to keep her eyes open, they kept drifting to half-mast.
“Oh, that feels good,” she murmured.
Her words went through Gabriel like lightning. She’d whispered those words to him during lovemaking; she’d gasped them in the throes of passion so hot it had burned his soul. Oh, yes, he remembered. Arousal swirled through him. Of their own volition, his hands moved downward to her back.
His breathing slowed and deepened as he traced the line of her backbone with his thumbs. Down, up, down again. She sighed, and he felt her pleasure down to his toes. Quite the sensual creature, his Rae Ann.
He spread his fingers out over her back, feeling the firm female musculature beneath the skin. Despite that, there was something fragile about her, a vulnerability that made him want to put his arms around her and hold her tight. And more.
This had to stop. It took an effort of will for him to take his hands from her, but he managed. He wasn’t able to keep them from shaking, however, or stop himself from wanting to put them back on her. So he jammed his fists into his pocket.
“I... That seems okay now,” he said, hardly knowing one word from the next.
Rae opened her eyes. To her surprise, she saw that the light had turned ruddy as afternoon waned into evening. She didn’t know whether work had swallowed the time, or that back rub. Suddenly, she caught sight of Gabriel’s reflection in the computer screen, and even with lines of text across his face, his expression held such hunger that her heart began to race wildly.
It had happened again. Lulled by fatigue and the companionable way they’d worked together, her mind had somehow passed control over to her heart and her body, both of which wanted Gabriel MacLaren more than was wise.
“I need...” she stopped, having no idea what she’d intended to say. So she returned to the relative safety of her computer screen. “I’m e-mailing some people I know. Call in a favor or two. This is going to be very complicated to access, and some of those folks have networks I would kill for.”
Gabriel nodded. “Good thinking. While you’re at it, will you print me out a copy of that list of corporations? I’ll take it home tonight and see if I can sort through the tangle. Oh, and if you can, I’d like a list of minority stockholders, too. I want to know how many dead guys are running companies these days.”
“Printing,” she said, making it happen. “And by the way, what does a cop know about minority stockholders?”
“O ye of little faith,” he said, one corner of his mouth curving up. “I’m going for my B.A. part-time, I’ll have you know.”
She turned to regard him thoughtfully. “Why?”
“Why not?”
Rae had to concede the point. So much of her life had been lived by the concept of “why not?” that she could see no reason to fault anyone else for it. But it sparked a feeling of kinship she hadn’t expected, and didn’t welcome. So she returned to the safety of her computer screen.
Unfortunately, safety didn’t last; Gabriel leaned over her and put his hand over the mouse. “We need a break,” he said. “Why don’t we grab something to eat and come back to this later?”
“Let me guess. You want to go to Mike’s deli.”
“Unless, of course, you want to go to one of those yuppie places with the etched glass and hanging plants, and eat microscopic portions of something you can’t even pronounce.”
She stood up. “You make it sound so appetizing.”
“I really want barbecue,” he said. “Please?”
At the mention of barbecue, Tom the Dog went to sit at Gabriel’s feet. The two males, their expressions identical, gazed at Rae with pleading eyes.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she met those twin ice blue stares levelly. She wanted barbecue, too. Much as she’d like to be uncooperative, she couldn’t get past that fact.
“Oh, all right,” she said.
“Well, dog, she fell for it,” Gabriel said, glancing down at the puppy. “Want to go eat barbecue?”
Tom wagged his stub of a tail. Gabriel tore the printout from the printer, tucked it under his arm, then snapped the leash onto the puppy’s collar. The two of them waited by the door while Rae closed the blinds and collected her purse.
“Let’s go,” she said.
Gabriel opened the door. She strode past him, trying not to notice that his gaze swept her from head to toe and back again. But she noticed. Oh, yes, she noticed. His eyes turned hot, and a stunningly sensual smile curved his mouth.
This was bad. Arousal smoked through her, a response as automatic as breathing. And she was supposed to work with him, close quarters, and stay sane? She stopped to lock her door, then turned to look at him. Bad. Very bad.
“This is nuts,” she said. “Us. Working together.”
“This isn’t as crazy as you think,” Gabriel said. “Don’t you watch talk shows? Guys in love with their girlfriends’ mothers, guys dressing up as girls and vice versa—now, that’s nuts. What we have is a good, all-American disagreement. Perfectly healthy.”
“Are you trying to start another fight?” she asked, scowling.
“Uh-uh. I’m just trying to get you moving toward the elevator before I starve to death.”
“That’s supposed to be inventive?”
He chuckled. “The dog is starving, too.”
“I’ll do it for the dog,” she said, stalking toward the elevator, nose in the air.
They didn’t talk much on the way to Doukas’s. Gabriel parked in front of the delicatessen, and the delicious aroma of roasting pork nearly floated Rae right out of the car.
Gabriel heaved a sigh. “God. Get me in
there.”
He came around to open Rae’s door, and laid his hand on the small of her back as he escorted her in. It wasn’t an overtly sensuous gesture, but she felt his touch like fire through her clothes. Her body responded as it always did to him, running hot and fast with desire.
The rush-hour crowd had already come and gone, and the deli had the air of a tired housewife. Mike waved at them from behind the counter, but Rae saw no sign of Barbara and the kids. Maybe they’d already gone home, she thought.
“Hey, MacLaren!” Mike called. “Where have you been hiding?”
“Don’t talk to me,” Gabriel retorted good-naturedly. “You gave Rae, almost a stranger, one of those barbecue sandwiches, and didn’t send so much as a taste for your good ouddy.”
Mike snorted. “If you ever become as beautiful and nice as Rae, then you can expect the same treatment.”
Gabriel laughed. “She’s beautiful, all right.”
“Don’t forget nice,” Rae added.
He lowered his voice. “And sexy,” he whispered, gloating at the chance for revenge. “Very, very sexy.”
Rae didn’t want to think about sexy, sex or anything that might remind her of the two soul-searing nights she’d spent with him. So she waggled her fingers at Mike, then went to sit at one of the Formica tables at the front of the store.
Gabriel followed her, watching the unconscious swing of her hips as she walked. Truly, she was delectable. He leaned back in his chair and studied her from beneath his brows. She sat demurely, her legs crossed, looking as serene and innocent as a Botticelli angel. But sensuality lurked beneath that placid surface, and it was all he could do to keep his hands off her.
Whatever faults she might have, he found her completely fascinating. Or maybe captivating might be a better word, he imended. She’d certainly captivated his heart, his soul and his body, and he didn’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Being involved with Rae was kind of like slapping a saddle on a tornado, and all other women paled in comparison.
He sat up in surprise as he saw a blond woman walk out of the back storeroom. A little girl tagged after her, carrying clear plastic bag full of kaiser rolls. Then two boys fol lowed, and the family resemblance among the four was ob lions.
“That’s Peter Smithfield’s wife,” he said.
Rae nodded. “She works here.”
He shot a glance at Rae. “Your doing?”
“Mike needed help, and Barbara needed a job,” she re lied.
Gabriel folded his arms over his chest. Mike was too nice or his own good, and it would be too easy for someone to like advantage of him.
“What’s the angle?” he asked.
She scowled at him. “Barbara and I have a nefarious pla to con him out of his hidden millions, what else?”
“Very funny,” he growled.
“Mommy, there’s Rae,” Sarah cried, her sweet childis voice cutting the thick tension between Rae and Gabriel.
The girl ran to Rae and flung her arms around her. The boys followed with a tad more dignity, although Joey zeroe in on Gabriel as though pulled by a string.
“You’re the cop,” he said.
Rae cleared her throat. “Officer MacLaren, meet Mike, Jo and Sarah Smithfield.”
“Hi, kids,” he said.
“Can we see your badge?” Mike asked.
“I—” Gabriel began.
“He had to leave it at the office,” she said. “But mayb he’s got a nice scar to show you.”
“Cool,” Joey said, his face expectant.
Gabriel shot Rae an indecipherable look. Then he pulle up his sleeve and displayed a scar on his biceps.
“Cool,” Joey said again.
They crowded closer to Gabriel. He started telling the stor of how he got his scar. Rae thought the outrageous tale of drug bust that turned into a Wild West shoot-out comple with blood and bodies everywhere just a tad too dramatic fo belief, but who was she to rain on somebody else’s parade
Mike’s and Joey’s eyes got bigger and more avid the wild the story became, and Rae knew that from this day on, G briel MacLaren had become better than any superhero in the minds.
Rae couldn’t take her gaze from Gabriel. He looked yea younger, and delight made his eyes sparkle like cracked gla in sunlight. Her heart did a crazy flip-flop in her chest. She never seen this side of him, never thought it existed. Wh would it be like to have a child with eyes like that? she wo dered. For a moment, she yearned for such a child, a chi born of her and him and their love. Crazy. Crazy and impo sible. Oh, God.
When the story ended, the boys sat frozen in awe. Sarah, ever the practical female, pursed her lips and said, “Gross.”
“What’s gross?” Gabriel demanded.
“All the blood and stuff. I don’t know why boys like blood.”
Gabriel slid a sly glance to Rae. “It’s because we haven’t come all that far from our caveman days, precious.”
“You’re telling me,” Rae muttered, lifting Sarah onto her lap. “What about you, sweetie? Do you have a story to tell?”
The child nodded. “I’m gonna get to put the napkins on the table,” she said. “An’ Joey and Mike get to take stuff out of the boxes for Mr. Mike. We all get a dollar.” Then she aimed one short, dimpled finger at Gabriel. “Is he your boyfriend?”
Rae wanted to melt into the floor. “Ah, Detective MacLaren and I are working on a case together,” she said, skirting the boyfriend issue.
Not to be deterred, Sarah skewered Gabriel with implacable blue eyes. “But is he your boyfriend?” she insisted.
“Sarah, honey, you’re squashing the bread,” Barbara said, coming to the rescue.
“But Mommy, I want to know—”
“Do I look like her boyfriend?” Gabriel asked.
Sarah nodded.
At this point, Rae seriously considered crawling under the table. Before Sarah could answet, however, Mike appeared, setting a tray on their table with a flourish worthy of the Ritz.
“There,” he said. “Barbecue.”
He looked at Barbara then. She looked back, and the air between them fairly sizzled. Rae felt her jaw drop. Mike and Barbara? she thought incredulously. She glanced at Gabriel, and saw her surprise mirrored in his eyes.
Sarah held her arms out to Mike. “Ride,” she said imperiously.
Chuckling, he swung the child onto his shoulders and carried her as he returned to his counter. The boys followed like pearls on a necklace. The Pied Piper of Barbecue, Rae thought. She turned to look at the other woman.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Barbara said.
Rae held her hands up. “It’s none of my business—”
“Yes, it is,” Barbara said, retrieving a chair from one of the other tables. Gabriel jumped up to help her.
When she was settled, she clasped her hands on the table in front of her. “Rae, you came to the rescue when I was completely alone and the world had caved in on me. I consider you family, and I hope you feel the same. Deal?”
Rae’s throat tightened. Family. She’d wanted to be a part of one, but she’d had to be lonely for so long she’d told herself she’d gotten used to it. “Deal,” she said. “So, give. What’s with you and Mike?”
“I love Mike,” she said. “And he loves me.”
Rae opened her mouth several times, but nothing came out.
“When it happens, you know,” Barbara continued. “You look into each other’s eyes, and in one moment the world seems to shift into a whole new pattern.”
Oh, yes, that’s how it happens, Rae thought, her heart contracting in sudden, painful memory. Oh, yes.
“Why Mike?” Gabriel asked.
Barbara turned to him, her face almost seeming to glow with happiness. “Have you ever seen kinder eyes on a human being?”
Rae watched as Mike showed Sarah how to fold napkins into triangles. Infinitely patient, he held her tiny hands in his huge ones, gently guiding her movements.
“No,” she said, swallowing
against the lump in her throat.
“I’m just as surprised,” Barbara said. “After being married to a man like Peter, well, I just assumed I’d never want to be with anyone again. But now I know I have the courage to take life by the throat. I won’t allow Peter to destroy my ability to trust.”
Courage to take life by the throat. Those were fighting words, brave words, reckless, happy words.
In her heart, Rae thrilled to them. She would have given her right arm to possess even a shadow of the joy she saw in Barbara’s eyes.
She put her hand on the other woman’s arm. “Go for it, Barbara. You deserve it.”
Barbara smiled at her. Then the door opened, signaling the arrival of some more customers, and she hastily rose to her feet But she bent to give Rae a quick, hard hug before walking away.
Tears stung Rae’s eyes. Quickly, she dropped her napkin on the floor. She bent to retrieve it, hiding her face from Gabriel.
When she straightened, however, she found him staring at her with an all-too-knowing gaze. “You’re crying,” he said.
“I always cry at weddings,” she snarled.
“You think this is all terribly romantic, don’t you?” he asked.
His tone was dark with cynicism. A few weeks ago, Rae would have had the same reaction. But not now. For it had happened to her, as swiftly and powerfully as it had happened to Barbara.
There was one big difference, however Barbara’s man loved her back. And oh, things were not so good when love didn’t happen to both people.
A great, roaring recklessness gripped her, urging her to try. For herself, and for Gabriel. She had to take the chance.
“Don’t you see?” she asked.
Surprise flickered in his eyes. “See what?”
“Look at them.” She pointed at Mike and Barbara and the kids.
He glanced at the group behind the counter. “Yeah, so?”
“They look like a family already,” she said.
Gabriel leaned back in his chair and studied her with narrowed eyes. This was a Rae he’d never seen before. Her eyes were stark and defenseless, and yet demanded more from him than ever before. Alarm bells rang in his head, more so because his heart wanted to give her anything and everything.