Arouse Suspicion

by Maureen McKade

  He threw off his covers and found his muscles were even sorer than they'd been last night. Of course, the sexual aerobics probably hadn't helped. Well, maybe it hadn't helped his muscle aches, but it had helped him overcome his insomnia.

  He stood carefully, tugged on his boxers, and hobbled down the hall to the bathroom he'd used last night. Once that mission was completed, he slowly swung one arm, then the other, in a wide arc to loosen them. A few minutes later, the tight muscles eased enough that he could actually lift his arms without grimacing.

  Grabbing the borrowed bathrobe, Nick went downstairs, the creaking steps a harsh contrast to the empty silence. Gus was sprawled on her side on the carpet in the living room, in much the same position she'd been last night before she'd followed Nick to bed. Rather, his first bed.

  His irritation with Danni grew. Why didn't she understand that she could be in danger—deadly danger? Why did she have to be so damned stubborn about this?

  He smelled coffee and ducked into the kitchen to find a nearly full pot. There was also a bowl of water on the floor for Gus. Nick's irritation with Danni eased slightly.

  He found a cup and filled it with the rich, dark brew. Gus padded into the kitchen, her toenails clicking on the tile. She paused beside Nick and waited until he petted her before lapping some water and returning to the living room.

  As Nick drank his coffee, he spotted a white piece of paper with his name on it on the refrigerator, held by a Golden Gate Bridge magnet. He unfolded the note.

  "Nick. Don't leave the house. Unless someone followed us last night, you should be safe. Danni. P.S. I let Gus out to take care of business this morning and gave her some hamburger from the freezer."

  No apology or mention of where she'd gone. All she'd told him last night was that she was meeting Sam Richmond for breakfast. He crushed the note in his fist and tossed it onto the counter, then found the phone book and punched in a number.

  "D. Hawkins, Private Investigations. How may I help you?" the voice at the other end answered.

  What was her name. Karen? Carol? No, Cathy.

  "Cathy, it's Nick Sirocco. Did Danni tell you where she was going to be this morning?"

  "Mr. Sirocco," Cathy purred. "I haven't heard from Danni since you left together yesterday." After a slight pause, she asked, "Did you have a good time?"

  Momentary panic shot through him, then he realized she couldn't know what transpired between him and Danni during the night. "We got the pictures for your client." Although he knew that wasn't what she was fishing for, he wasn't about to bite. "Danni said she was going to meet Sam Richmond for breakfast this morning. Do you know where they might've met?"

  "Their usual breakfast spot is the Pancake Parlor."

  "Thanks." He ended the call before Cathy could ask him any more questions. He riffled through the phone book and got the address for the restaurant, then called a cab.

  Nick took a quick shower and brushed his teeth with his finger and toothpaste. It felt strange to use Paddy's toiletries, but Nick figured he wouldn't have minded. However, Nick suspected he wouldn't feel so generous about him sleeping with his daughter.

  After nabbing a door key from the key rack in the kitchen, Nick left Gus asleep on the carpet and locked the house. Impatient, he went onto the porch to watch for his taxi. A gray-haired woman wearing a dress four decades out of fashion emerged from the house next door. She did a double take, which might've been funny, except that Nick was too busy composing his tirade against Danni.

  "What're you doing over there, young man?" the old lady demanded in a surprisingly strong voice.

  "Waiting for a cab," he replied.

  Her eyes narrowed behind round, wire-rimmed glasses. "Did you know Patrick Hawkins?"

  Nick sighed at the unavoidable cross-examination. "He was a good friend." He suddenly realized he had an opportunity to ask some questions about the night Paddy died, and he may as well take advantage of it. He stepped over to the edge of the porch. "My name's Nick Sirocco."

  "Mrs. Sarah Countryman. Was that Danielle with you last night?"

  Nick wasn't surprised she'd noticed their arrival; every neighborhood had a Mrs. Sarah Countryman. "That's right."

  Mrs. Countryman crossed her arms and fixed him a glare behind her round lenses. "When I was your age, men and women didn't spend the night together under one roof unless they were married or related. Which are you?"

  Damned if Sarah Countryman didn't make him feel like a schoolboy. "Neither." He couldn't even reassure her nothing had happened under that roof, unless he wanted to lie, and he had a feeling Mrs. Countryman was a human lie detector. "I suppose it was pretty quiet with just Paddy living here, huh?"

  Mrs. Countryman's expression lost some of its harshness. "He was a gentleman. He did as good a job as a man can do raising a girl alone. But Danielle was quite the handful—rebellious and stubborn in high school. Poor Patrick had no idea how to handle her. I tried to help, but I was busy teaching up until ten years ago, about the same time Danielle graduated."

  Although Nick was there to learn more about the night Paddy died, he couldn't help being curious about Danni. "With all the kids Paddy worked with in the youth center, you'd think he'd be the last person to have trouble with his own."

  Mrs. Countryman straightened her thin shoulders. "Maybe that's the reason he did have trouble with his own daughter. He was too busy with those others."

  Shit. It'd been staring him in the face all along. He'd sensed Danni's initial animosity toward him, but he'd put it off as her abrasive personality. But if she had been jealous of her father's attentions to him and other kids like him, it was no wonder she was bitter. It would also explain the rift between father and daughter.

  It didn't, however, explain why someone would murder Paddy.

  "Did you see or hear anything the night Paddy died?" Nick asked.

  She tilted her head to the side, eyeing him shrewdly. "The officer I spoke to that night told me he committed suicide."

  "Did you believe him?"

  "Why would he lie?"

  Nick gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "No reason." He spotted a blue-and-white cab coming down the street. "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Countryman."

  "Good-bye, Mr. Sirocco." Her expression was thoughtful as she returned to her house.

  Nick wondered if she knew anything useful. Maybe he could speak with her later, after he talked some sense into Danni, if that were possible. He slid into the taxi's backseat and gave the driver the restaurant's address.

  "I don't know, Danni," Sam Richmond said. "The rain was pretty heavy. It would've been easy for a driver to miss seeing you."

  Danni counted to ten as she took a sip of her coffee liberally laced with cream and artificial sweetener. "I heard a squeal of tires, then it was almost on top of us."

  "Us?" Sam squinted at her, his craggy face drawn in a scowl. "Who was with you?"

  Hearing the bell above the door, Danni glanced at the entrance and spotted a familiar face, but his angry expression wasn't even in the same universe as the look he'd given her last night when they'd— She cut the memory off before it could take substance. That had been a mistake— both hers and his.

  "Hello, Hawkins," Nick said to Danni, his voice so cold the words froze in the air.

  Sam stood. "Rocky, what're you doing here?"

  "Sam." Nick shook his hand. "Danni promised me breakfast, then skipped out."

  Danni's cheeks flushed hotly. "I did no such thing, Sirocco. I left you a note and told you to stay put until I got back."

  "Maybe I should leave," Sam said, nabbing his ball cap from the tabletop.

  "Stay." Nick and Danni spoke at the same time.

  Sighing, Sam lowered himself back into his chair. Nick sat in the seat next to Danni. She tried to inch away from him, but he grabbed her chair and held it in place.

  "You're not getting away from me again, Hawkins," Nick warned.

  "Cut the macho crap, Sirocco," she growled back.<
br />
  Sam's eyes twinkled. "You two obviously know each other well."

  "Apparently not well enough," Nick said.

  Danni picked up her coffee cup and was tempted to dump the contents in Nick's lap. One glance at him told her he knew what she was thinking, and she damned well better not follow through.

  "So you were the one who almost got run down with Danni girl, huh?" Sam asked, breaking the tension.

  Nick shot Danni a look she couldn't translate but answered the question. "Yes. Hard to say if it was accidental or intentional, though."

  "Danni thinks it was intentional."

  "She also has an overactive imagination," Nick said in a patronizing tone.

  To hell with just a cup of coffee; Danni was going to dump the whole carafe in his lap. "She is sitting right beside you, and she thought you were certain it was intentional, too."

  Nick shrugged. "I tend to see things clearer the morning after."

  Danni tensed, reading his layered meaning. She didn't need this complication, but it was her own fault. When Nick had awakened her last night, all she wanted to do was forget, to let the heat of passion burn away the nightmare's icy grip. That she was incredibly attracted to Nick Sirocco only made it that much more pleasurable. It wasn't the first time she'd used sex to forget, but she'd never enjoyed it quite so much.

  "I told him about your suspicions," Danni said. "But he already knew."

  Sam nodded and pinned Nick with a sharp gaze. "Sergeant Rodgers told me you were at the station asking a lot of questions. He said you think Paddy was murdered." His expression hardened. "Can't you let him rest in peace, Rocky? We all knew how hard it was on him being forced to retire. The force was his life. He told me six months ago that if he retired, he'd go crazy."

  Nick's lean jaw tightened. "He had resigned himself to retiring and was even talking about trips he was planning. He started helping me with a project and was excited about that, too. And he was going to continue his volunteer work at the youth center." Nick fixed his gaze on Danni. "He also told me he was looking forward to spending time with his daughter, if she'd let him."

  Danni's breath caught in her throat, and her heart triple-timed in her chest. Had her father actually confided in him? If so, why hadn't he mentioned it before now?

  Sam's bushy eyebrows furrowed across his brow. "He told you a helluva lot, Rocky."

  "We were friends."

  The waitress stopped by and dropped off another cup for Nick. Instead of letting him fill it himself, the woman picked up the carafe and did it.

  "Thank you," Nick murmured.

  "You're welcome. Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked, her hip pressed against Nick's arm.

  He looked past her breasts, which were level with his face, and smiled. "No, thank you."

  Danni watched the disappointed waitress walk away and wasn't surprised when the woman turned to take another look before disappearing into the kitchen. But the twitch of jealousy in Danni's stomach was a surprise.

  "Look, I know you thought of Paddy as a father, Rocky, but I think you're wrong here. He was found in his own bed with his own service revolver in his hand. There was no sign of a struggle," Sam argued. His expression turned melancholy as he looked at Danni. "I don't understand why you're helping him, Danni. You've seen the evidence. You were a cop. It's a tragic but straightforward suicide. There's no reason to search for a killer who doesn't exist."

  Torn between her surrogate parent and the man who'd stolen her father's affections, Danni shouldn't have had any problem making her decision. But she'd heard her father's message on Nick's answering machine. And the more Sam tried to talk her out of continuing the investigation, the more determined she became to unravel the mystery.

  "Too many things don't add up," Danni said. "If everything Nick said about Dad is true, then there was no reason for him to kill himself."

  "You're missing motivation, Danni," Sam said. "Even the greenest rookie knows there has to be a motive if there was a murder."

  "I know, I know," she said impatiently. "Finding a motive will give us the killer."

  Sam laid his giant hand atop her fist. "I wish I could help you, Danni girl, but your dad and I didn't see each other that much since I retired." He smiled self-consciously. "Nancy's kept me busy doing things around the house that I hadn't gotten around to for twenty-five years. And since we bought the boat, we've started fishing every weekend."

  Danni grasped his hand, pleased to hear he'd finally started doing the things he used to talk about. "I'm really glad to hear that, Sam. How's Nancy doing?"

  Sadness entered the older man's face. "Better. But the doctors say there's really nothing to stop the degeneration of nerves. She'll end up in a wheelchair." He forced a smile. "That's why we have to make the best of what time we have."

  "Dad told me one time that he wished he'd found a woman like Nancy." Danni glanced down to hide the un- welcome sting of moisture. "I think he was too afraid to try again after my mom left us."

  "He used to tell me the same thing, even after Nancy was diagnosed last year." He released Danni and stood. "I better get going. I told her I'd clean the windows today. She likes the sun shining in the house."

  Danni stood and hugged Sam, and his strong arms gathered her close. He'd been the one she'd gone to when she'd been picked up joyriding in high school, and he'd been the one who talked her father out of sending her off to a private girls' school.

  "If you just need to talk, give me a call, Danni. You know my number," Sam said.

  She nodded and stepped back.

  Sam insisted on picking up the tab and left Danni with stone-faced Sirocco.

  "Let's go." Danni started to follow in Sam's wake.

  Nick grasped her wrist and tugged her back to the table. "Sit down, Hawkins. You and I are overdue for a little chat."

  Danni balked, but the determined glint in Nick's eyes didn't bode well for a successful escape. She perched on the edge of her chair. "So talk."

  He crossed his arms and leaned back. Slanting her a steely look, he asked, "Why?"

  Danni's mind came up with a few different versions of that question, like, Why did you meet Sam without me? and Why did you tell him about the car incident? and Why did you want to make love last night?

  She chose the least difficult one. "You were sound asleep when I got up." She refused to dwell on how long she'd lain there, tracing the ruggedly handsome lines of his face with her gaze and soaking in the warmth of his body as she lay within his arms. "I figured I could meet Sam and be back before you woke up."

  "Then why leave a note?"

  She should've known he wouldn't let her off the hook that easily. "Just in case."

  "A note that didn't even tell me where you were going."

  Danni plopped an elbow on the table and ran her hand through her unruly curls. "Lighten up. It's broad daylight."

  Nick continued to peer at her coolly. "Do you want to know what I think?"

  "Not really." She knew she was acting like a petulant child but couldn't stop herself. She was too accustomed to looking out for herself, and that meant hiding her feelings and thoughts behind a well-used mask.

  Nick's gaze slid away, then back to her. It was the first sign of discomfort since he launched his inquisition. "You were afraid to face me after what you did last night."

  "What I did?" She poked him in the chest. "I wasn't the only one in that bed."

  "I wouldn't have been if you hadn't pulled me down."

  She sneered. "Yeah, like you were so unwilling."

  Nick's nostrils flared, but his voice didn't change its volume. "I admit it. When a beautiful woman invites me, I rarely say no."

  It took a moment for Danni to process his words, and the one that resonated was "beautiful." "I had a nightmare. I wasn't thinking straight." She paused, her cheeks heating. "But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. Because I did. Enjoy it, I mean."

  Nick's lips quirked upward, and the corner of his eyes crinkled. "I
know."

  She renewed her glare.

  "I did, too," he added softly.

  Danni's heart missed a beat, then made up for it by doubling her pulse. The sultry glow in Nick's eyes vividly reminded her of their lovemaking, and Danni had little defense against so potent a memory. Except she had to ignore it. "It's not something we'll repeat," she stated, proud that her voice remained steady. "We're temporary professional partners."

  The blatant desire in his eyes faded. Relief with a niggling of something she didn't want to consider allowed her to breathe easier.

  "Until we find your father's killer."

  "And we go our separate ways," Danni felt compelled to add.

  "Until we go our separate ways," Nick reiterated.

  Danni's cell phone rang, and she unzipped the small pocket on her backpack to nab it. "Hawkins."

  "Danni, it's Cathy. Beth needs to talk to you."

  "About what?"

  "Hold on. I'll get her on the line."

  Danni had rarely heard Cathy so rattled.

  "Danni?" Beth said.

  "What's wrong, Beth?"

  "Remember the boy your dad asked me to defend?"

  "Yeah."

  "He was found dead at home this morning." Beth's voice trembled. "They said he slit his wrists."

  Danni closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Beth."

  "Look, I know this is probably a bad time to ask, but I want you to check into it. I can't believe he would do such a thing. He was going to make a deal."

  Light-headedness assailed Danni. "You think it was murder made to look like suicide?"

  Nick sat up straight, his expression full of questions.

  "Yes," Beth replied. "Cathy told me about your suspicions about your dad's death. I know this won't be easy for you, but I need your help."

  Danni wasn't surprised Cathy had told her. The three women had become good friends in the past two years. "It's okay. I'll look into it. Who were the reporting officers?"

  There was a shuffle of papers. "Joe Tygard and Alex Levin."

  "I know them." Danni rubbed her throbbing brow. "Nick and I'll run down to the station this morning and see what we can find out."