In the Heart's Shadow

by T. L. Haddix

  “No! He’s not—we’ve never—no.” Stacy was adamant in her denial, but when Gordon looked at Ethan, he could see the detective was considering the idea.

  “What would the endgame be?” Beth asked. “If it is professional, discrediting you would be a goal. If it’s personal, either vengeance or driving you into someone’s arms makes sense.”

  “I’m not sure about the personal, romance angle,” Maria said. “We know this person has a female partner, assuming the woman on the video is working with them. Wouldn’t the whole goal of a romance be more of a private thing?”

  “Possibly,” Wyatt answered. “We still can’t rule it out, though.”

  “How are we handling this going forward?” Ethan wanted to know. “Obviously, we can’t open an investigation like we normally would.”

  “We’ve done eyes-only cases before. That’s what this will have to be. Any evidence we get will have to go through the state crime lab, though. Until we know how far this goes and who is involved, we can’t risk compromising the case.” Wyatt sighed. “I’ll make some phone calls tomorrow, get that ball rolling, and let them know we have a problem. In the meantime, what do we do about protecting you?”

  “I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself.”

  “I didn’t say you weren’t. But if this were happening to Ethan, I’d be asking the same thing. You can’t be alert twenty-four, seven. Since whoever’s doing this has access to your house, I’m worried about how secure you are there.”

  Gordon could see the words take the wind out of Stacy’s sails, and if the prankster had been in front of him right then, he would have strangled the person barehanded. “You could stay with someone until we figure this out.”

  She shook her head. “No. I can’t leave Chloe there by herself.”

  “Take her with you,” Ethan suggested. “Shoot, we’ve got three bedrooms sitting empty here. You’re more than welcome.”

  Beth echoed the offer, but Maria protested. “She’s my best friend. If she gets to stay with anyone, it should be us. We also have three empty bedrooms, you know. We could go get a bag together now.”

  “Hang on a second. I haven’t agreed to anything,” Stacy argued. “I’m not convinced I should have to leave my house. I can set up some homemade alarms, and if someone tries to get in, I’ll know.”

  “I could come over and stay,” Gordon offered. “I’d have to bring Murphy with me, though.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. The cat from hell in the middle of a remodel? He’s the sweetest thing in the world, but I’m not that crazy.”

  Beth laughed. “I’m sorry. I know this is a serious discussion, but I’m just picturing the two of you trying to prevent Murphy from doing what he does best, which is create chaos, in a house he isn’t familiar with. How’s the hand, by the way?”

  Gordon scowled at her and looked at the back of his hand, which was still covered by a bandage. “It hurts.”

  “We can still amputate,” Stacy told him drolly. “I have a multifunction knife in my bag.” She moved as though to rummage through her purse. Gordon quickly laid his hand over hers, stilling her movement.

  “I’m not hurt that badly. Thanks.”

  “Okay, your choice. I just hope gangrene doesn’t set in.” She tried to tug her hand out from under his, but Gordon held on.

  “Look, you’re smart. You’re capable, and you’re cautious,” Wyatt said. “If you feel comfortable staying there by yourself, that’s your decision. But if anything else happens—and I mean anything—in or around your house, you’ll be bunking with someone for a while. And I know I can’t make that an order, but I’m going to make it strong advice.”

  She conceded with a nod. “Understood. But I think I’ll be fine. And on that note, I think we’d better go. You two are looking tired.” She stood, pointing at Maria and Beth.

  When Beth didn’t protest, Gordon realized she really was tired. Everyone else stood, including Beth, who came over to Stacy. She squeezed Stacy’s hand.

  “I know you don’t like hugs, but I’m feeling motherly tonight. And I wanted to tell you that we really mean it. If you need someplace to go, you can always, always come here.”

  To Gordon’s surprise, Stacy gently patted Beth’s belly. “I know you mean it. And I appreciate the offer.” All of a sudden, her eyes grew wide, and her hand stilled. “Oh, wow. Is that a baby?”

  Beth grinned, though she had tears in her eyes. She pressed Stacy’s hand tighter against her belly. “That’s a foot, I think. Let me have your other hand.” Beth directed Stacy’s other hand to a spot on the other side of her abdomen. “That’s the other twin.”

  When Stacy pulled her hands back a few seconds later, she looked at them with something akin to awe in her eyes. “Oh, my.” She turned to Maria. “Have you felt the baby move yet?”

  Maria wiped her eyes as she shook her head. “No, not yet. Soon, though, from what I’ve read.”

  “Well, hopefully you won’t be holding a cup full of iced tea when you do,” Ethan said softly. “Or standing next to your husband, who then gets doused with the tea because you jerked and threw it all over him from surprise.” Smiling the whole time, he wrapped his arms around Beth as best he could and kissed her temple.

  “At least you got to share in the shock of the moment,” she teased back. “And it could have been worse. It could have been a hot drink.”

  “True,” he conceded. “All kidding aside, call us if you need us. We’re just down the road.”

  They said good night, then Stacy and Gordon headed back to her house, where he’d parked his car.

  “You know I’m going to want to come in and check the house, right?”

  She slanted a look at him, her cheekbones highlighted by the light from the dashboard. “I figured as much. And I’m not going to protest. What a day.”

  “You could come stay with me. Bring Chloe. Hell, you could stay at my condo while I’m at Chase’s if you’re worried about putting someone out. Which you wouldn’t be, by the way.”

  “I appreciate the offer…”

  “But you’re fine. I know. Regardless, the offer stands. Even if you change your mind at three a.m.”

  She laughed. “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  When they got to her house, they were greeted by a happy Chloe. Stacy scooped her up, and they did a quick, but thorough top-to-bottom check of the house. Once he was sure the place was secure, Gordon followed Stacy to the kitchen and watched quietly as she fed the cat. Out of reasons to stay, he reluctantly went toward the front door. Unaccountably nervous, he jingled his keys. They stopped a few feet shy of the door, which stood ajar. Crickets and frogs called through the closed storm door.

  “So, same time tomorrow? Nine a.m.?”

  Stacy leaned against the wall. “If you’re sure you want to be here.”

  Gordon gave her an exasperated look. “I want to be here.”

  She crossed her arms. “That’s something I’ve been wondering about. Why are you doing this?”

  The jingling stopped abruptly, and the sudden silence was jarring. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what do you get out of all this?” She jerked her chin toward the kitchen.

  Gordon wasn’t sure how to answer. He wasn’t even sure what she was asking. “You mean helping you with the remodel?”

  “That, and tonight, the thing with the prankster. Why are you still here?”

  He got it. And given the sudden shift in her attitude, he had no trouble figuring out where the doubt had come from. Andre Cristos had a lot to answer for. Gordon held out his hand, and after some hesitation, Stacy finally reached out to him. He laced their fingers together, but didn’t try to pull her closer.

  “I’m here because I want to be, because I want to spend time with you. It’s really that simple.”

  She shook her head. “It can’t be that simple.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it can’t.”

  The desperation and
hurt in her tone broke his heart. Gordon slipped his keys in his pocket and stepped forward. He cautiously slid his arms around her. She stood rigid against him for so long that he thought he was going to have to give up on holding her, but with a shuddering breath, she relaxed and wrapped her arms around him. He could hear her sniffling and feel the warm wetness where her tears soaked his shirt, but he let her cry and massaged soothing circles over her back.

  Once the tension was gone from her body, he turned his head and pressed his lips against her hair. “I’m sorry I wasn’t up-front with you about the studying. I should have been.”

  “Why weren’t you?” She didn’t move, didn’t try to pull away.

  “Because I thought it might be the only chance I would get to get close to you. I’ve thought about asking you out a hundred times, and I was afraid to. Did you know that you scare me to death?” He pulled back to look down at her when she gave a soggy, disbelieving laugh. “It’s true. Ask Ethan. I told him months ago that you terrified me. It’s a good terror, but still.”

  Stacy ducked her head, not meeting his eyes. Her words were so soft that he almost missed them. “You could still ask me.”

  Gordon’s breath caught, and he had to clear his throat. “I could?”

  She nodded, still not looking at him.

  “You think I’d have a shot?”

  Her arms tightened around his waist. “Only one way to find out.”

  “You’re right. There is.” Gordon tilted her chin so he could see her face. “Ms. Kirchner, I’d very much like to take you to dinner. What do you say?”

  She studied him closely, her face solemn. “I think I’d like that.”

  He knew his grin was ridiculously wide, but he didn’t care. “Really?”

  “Of course. You had to know that I’d say yes.”

  “No, I didn’t. I meant what I said. You scare me.”

  She laughed, but Gordon was serious.

  “How in the world do I scare you? I’m not the least bit scary.”

  He shrugged. “That’s pretty simple, too. You matter.”

  With a bemused expression on her face, she blinked up at him as though the concept had never occurred to her. If he hadn’t been on his way to falling hard for her before, Gordon would have dropped like a rock in that moment.

  “How can you not know that?” he whispered. He traced the line of her brow and the curve of her cheek. Stacy’s eyelids fluttered closed, and Gordon wrapped his arms around her again. Even though their proximity aroused him, he didn’t try to kiss her. His need transcended that.

  “I really don’t want to leave you here tonight by yourself. You could come with me. Chase and Annie have more than one guest room.”

  “No, I can’t. It’s been a long day, and I need some space.” She pushed against his chest gently, and Gordon let her go.

  “You’ll set up the homemade alarms? I can help.”

  “I have it,” she assured him. “You need to get back and check on Murphy. By now, he’s probably torn the house apart.”

  Gordon laughed. “I hope not. I’m hoping the time I spent with him after we got back from Madison was enough to calm him down somewhat.” He took a couple of steps toward the door. “Do you mind if I call you when I get there? Just to check on you?”

  Stacy gave him an indulgent look. “If you want to, that’s fine.”

  “I will.” He hesitated another few seconds, then gave in. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Good night.”

  The entire time he was driving away from her, Gordon’s instincts were pushing at him to go back. He knew he couldn’t, though. Stacy had made her wishes clear—she needed some time. He had to respect that.

  His first indication that something was wrong came when he let himself in through the kitchen door. Murphy didn’t greet him immediately. “Murphy? Here, demon kitty. Murph’?” Gordon kicked off his shoes as a whisper of anxiety crawled across his shoulders. He was almost afraid to go looking for the pale orange troublemaker, afraid of what he’d find. To his relief, when he stepped into the hall, Murphy rushed down the stairs with a bouncing meow.

  “There you are. What have you been into? You had me worried.” Gordon picked him up and flipped him onto his back to rub his belly. Murphy purred loudly, and Gordon thought he almost looked pleased with himself. He did a quick circuit of the downstairs, making sure Murphy’s food and water bowl were filled, then turned out the lights. Heading upstairs, he grabbed his phone and called Stacy. She had just answered with a soft hello when Gordon saw the first piece of clothing, halfway up the stairs. His heart sank.

  “Oh, no. Murphy, what have you done?”

  Stacy’s laughter bubbled across the line. “Hello to you, too. Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know.” Gordon bent down and picked up a lacy bra by one strap. Several steps up lay a silk tie. “There are clothes on the steps.”

  “Clothes?”

  “Yeah. Geez, cat, what have you done?” Gordon had reached the landing, Murphy at his side the whole way. Clothing was spread out all along the length of the hall. “Either someone is having a wild night in Chase and Annie’s bedroom, or Murphy’s gotten into the closet. Hang on a second.” Leaving the call active, he tucked the phone into his shirt pocket,.

  Not taking any chances, he pulled the gun from the concealed holster at the small of his back and eased down the hall. Murphy didn’t seem concerned, and Gordon figured he was being overly cautious, but he didn’t care. He reached around the doorframe and flipped on the light, then went into the bedroom. The large room was empty, but clothes and shoes were strewn across the floor. The closet door stood open, and a triumphant Murphy paused in front of it. After waiting until he was sure Gordon was watching him, he dropped his head and bit into the strap of a formerly pristine sandal, shaking it much like a dog would. Growling, the cat flipped over and kicked viciously at the shoe with his back legs.

  “Annie’s gonna kill me. She’s flat gonna kill me.” Remembering the call with Stacy, Gordon dug the phone out of his pocket. “You still there?” He went to the closet and turned on the light.

  “I am. How bad is it?”

  “Oh, son of a… He’s destroyed the closet. There’s literally one hanging rod that’s been stripped bare. And I did not need to know that Chase wears purple boxers with hearts on them.”

  Stacy’s laughter made him feel only marginally better. He was going to have to call Chase and ask how to handle the destruction. “I need to be medicated to deal with this cat. Hell, he needs to be medicated. Heavily.”

  “I’m ss-sorry,” she snickered. “I’m just picturing you standing there, boxers in hand. Oh, God, I needed this.” She gave a little snort, and Gordon’s lips tugged upward.

  “I’ll be sure to let Chase know that his cat has done something good today. I’m not sure he’ll appreciate this the way you do, though. And I’m not touching the boxers.” He started piling the clothes back in the closet. Murphy thought it was a game and dug more firmly into the pile. Gordon cursed him before putting him out of the bedroom.

  “So I guess you made it home okay.”

  “Yeah. Can I come back to your house now? Pretend this was just a weird dream?”

  “I’m sorry. Maybe things will look better in the morning?”

  Gordon doubted that very much. He ran his free hand through his hair. “Does Chloe do this sort of thing?”

  “Oh, no. Murphy is special.”

  “That’s one word for it. If all cats were this bad, I think the species would have become extinct a thousand years ago.”

  Stacy laughed again, then yawned. “Well, I’m going to let you go. I’m feeling very tired this evening, and with this rain that just started, I might actually sleep a little.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you in the morning. Unless you want me there sooner, and all you have to do is call.”

  “Good night, Gordon.”

  “Good night.”

  He finished tossing the clot
hes in the closet, then used his phone’s camera to take a picture of the disaster and closed the door. After he double-checked to make sure the closet was closed tightly, he opened the bedroom door to admit Murphy. The cat was standing there with a red, lacy bra dangling from his mouth, and Gordon snapped another picture. He e-mailed the series of shots to Chase with the subject line “Call me.” Seconds later, the phone rang.

  “Holy hell, what did he do?” Chase greeted him. “Is that a bra he has? Please tell me it isn’t.”

  “Sorry, Counselor. Your cat has a fetish.”

  After a rather lengthy discussion with Chase about whether or not Murphy would look good stuffed and mounted on the mantle, with the final decision being that he would not, Gordon got off the phone. Chase had assured him he didn’t hold Gordon accountable for the damages, but Gordon wasn’t convinced Annie would feel the same way.

  Stripped down, he climbed into bed with a weary groan. Despite the good that had come today, what with asking Stacy out and their relationship progressing a few steps, several new challenges had arisen. With worry about Stacy clouding his thinking, Gordon didn’t know if he would be able to sleep.

  CHAPTER 13

  A PERSISTENT POUNDING WOKE STACY FROM a deep sleep. The light was so bright that she winced when she opened her eyes. Glancing at the clock, she was floored to see that it was after nine. “What in the world? Why’d I sleep so late, Chloe?” The cat didn’t answer, and Stacy realized she wasn’t in the room.

  Fumbling to untangle her feet from the bedclothes, she got to her feet, almost falling once she stood.

  “I’m coming,” she hollered as the knocking resumed, holding on to the doorjamb for a moment to regain her balance. Her body listed to the right side, and her head spun as she hurried down the hall as best she could.

  “I’m here. I’m here. Hold your horses,” she said as she unlocked the front door. She moved the small bag of cans out from in front of it and swung it open. Because the house faced east, the light from the morning sun nearly blinded her, and a sharp lance of pain tore through her head.