by Tatum, Clare
“Julie!” She looked at the little preteen in horror. “That is an ugly expression.”
Julie rolled her eyes. “Hooking up, making love, dating, what’s the difference?”
“Well, for one thing, hooking up? That sounds like something that interstellar space ships do, not two human beings that have feelings for each other.” Lainey shuddered. “Sounds so cold.”
“Feelings!” Julie just looked even more interested. “You have feelings for him?” She stepped closer. “What type of feelings? He is a hottie.”
Julie so wanted more family. She’d missed having a dad for the last four years, and seemed to crave a male parental figure in her life. But, Lainey didn’t want to give her false hope that anything like that might develop between Lainey and Brice.
They’d worked closely together on the Sean Moseman investigation and then been thrown together when Julie was kidnapped. But, beyond that…
“Everybody decent back there?” Brice’s voice sounded from the living room.
“Yep, we’re dressed,” Lainey replied, quickly brushing on some blush.
“Brought you coffee,” Brice said from the far end of the hallway.
Julie laughed. “Dude, you can come in, we’re dressed.” The lightness on Julie’s face was amazing, as if none of the previous day’s ordeal had happened. She was back to normal.
Normal felt good. Lainey had actually gotten some sleep, because she’d known Brice was in the living room, watching out for them. It had felt comforting to have him sleeping on her sofa.
Brice stuck his head in the doorway, coffee cup in hand.
Lainey took it and smiled back at him.
A day’s growth of beard covered his face. The man looked good in the morning.
Chapter Fifteen
“I took the liberty of making coffee,” he said, his voice gruff with an early morning graveled tone.
Julie studied him like she thought he was attractive too. She sat on Lainey’s bed, looking back and forth between them.
“Thanks,” Lainey said, taking a sip of coffee.
“Eggs anyone?” Brice said. “I noticed them in your fridge.”
“Scrambled,” Julie said instantly. “Lainey likes hers real dry.”
“Dry,” Lainey said.
Brice nodded. “Dry. Got it.”
He turned and walked back down the hallway. Instantly, Julie jumped up and followed him. The little girl was under his spell.
Lainey watched them go. It wasn’t a good idea to let Julie get attached to him.
This relationship didn’t have anywhere to go. A guy like Detective Mark Brice might be sweet to a little girl.
He was protecting her and would be friendly, as he was to almost everyone except the bad guys.
But, when all this was over, he’d be back to his normal life. Many women had called him when they’d been working together. Dinner plans seemed to be an every night occurrence for him. Also, it seemed common that they were with many different women.
After all of this was done, she and Brice would go back to a professional relationship.
Lainey and Julie would just be a case he’d worked on. She’d seen him act this same way, kind and compassionate, to all the victims he’d ever worked with.
Julie and Lainey were victims. Detective Mark Brice was being nice to the victims. That was all.
And last night’s kiss had never happened.
The feelings his kiss had inspired were just a byproduct of all the tension and fear she’d felt while Julie was missing, and the kiss was just a natural reaction to the release of that tension.
Reluctantly, Lainey joined Brice and Julie in the kitchen. Julie bounced around, from the silverware drawer to the table then back to get napkins and glasses.
“Orange juice, Lainey?” She sounded like this was just another morning and Brice was a family friend. Like they’d done this many times and would do it many more times.
But they wouldn’t, a little reminding voice told her. Don’t let her get too attached, because it will be that much harder when he moves on to another case, to protecting another victim.
“Yep, orange juice,” she answered, reaching for the daily vitamins. She shook out three, popped one in her mouth, extended her hand to Julie who took one, then Lainey extended the remaining vitamin to Brice. She didn’t know why she did that, hadn’t planned on it. It had just seemed natural.
Brice looked down at it like he’d never seen a vitamin before.
Then, he took it off her palm with two fingers. The brush of his fingers on her palm sent messages to all of her nerves to sit up and take notice.
Lainey reached for the glass of orange juice Julie handed her, gulped down a swallow to wash down the vitamin, then took another mouthful before she glanced back at Brice.
He still held the vitamin, his gaze fixed on her. She stopped mid swallow, caught by his expression.
What would it be like to wake up every morning to this man? To come in and fix breakfast and know he’d be back, again, in the evening to sleep with her?
Well, that wasn’t happening. He just wasn’t the everyday type of man.
Lainey turned slightly to catch Julie watching the interplay between her and Brice.
A little smile flirted around the edges of Julie’s mouth before she twirled to take a bag of bread out of the cabinet.
“Whole wheat toast, Detective Brice?”
She was becoming quite the little hostess.
“Please,” he said in an overly amiable voice, as if he, too, were playing a part.
Julie popped two pieces in the toaster, then pressed the lever.
“So,” she twisted to face Lainey and Brice. “Are you really going to hand that murderer over to the kidnapper?”
Lainey laughed at the abruptness. “Murderer? Kidnapper? Can’t decide who’s the worst of the two. One murdered, but that was a stranger he killed. One kidnapped my little sister. The crime isn’t as bad but it’s closer to home and thus worse in my eyes.”
She shrugged. “I said I’d turn the murderer over to the kidnapper.”
She met Brice’s eyes.
His gaze held hers for a moment longer than was comfortable. Then, he stirred the eggs. “Is a promise to a kidnapper really binding? Does that carry the same moral weight as say a promise to a preacher or family member?”
Lainey didn’t say anything. What she wanted to say couldn’t be said in front of her little sister.
She feared the man who’d held Julie captive, feared him more than anyone she’d encountered in her whole life.
He seemed to have the power to get to anyone that he wanted. No one was safe from him.
The fear he inspired made her want to do whatever he said it would take to keep her little sister safe from him. She couldn’t afford a twenty-four hour body guard like the banker could for his daughter.
“Is Julie going to school today?” Brice asked almost as though reading her thoughts.
“I don’t know.” She didn’t want to add that she was afraid to let the little girl out of her sight. After yesterday, she didn’t know when she would feel safe letting her go back to school again.
“I know somewhere she might like to spend a couple of days.” Brice arched an eyebrow as if he got exactly what Lainey was thinking.
“My mom and dad’s,” he said. “My dad’s an ex cop.”
Julie looked expectantly at him as if she liked the idea.
An ex-cop dad sounded pretty good.
“My younger brother lives with them right now. He’s a cop also, on the SWAT team.”
“Oh, can I go, Lainey? Can I? Can I?” Julie hopped from one foot to the other. “Pleaaase, Lainey. I can learn so much from them. You know I want to be a cop.”
“Really?” Brice looked down at her with renewed respect. “A cop? My dad received quite a few medals and commendations in his day.”
Julie studied him as if he were an encyclopedia. “I cannot wait until I can be a cop.”
&n
bsp; And suddenly, Lainey saw it was a done deal. Julie staying at his parents’ house and Julie being a cop.
* * *
A small, round woman opened the door. “Bricie,” she effused, immediately wrapping her arms around the neck that Brice lowered to her level.
“Mama,” he said in the most gentle tone she’d heard from him yet. This was a sweeter voice even than he used for victims and witnesses.
Soft. That was the general first impression his mother gave off. Soft, both physically and emotionally. And sweet.
She pulled back to look Brice in the face and gave him the sweetest smile Lainey had ever seen.
Then, immediately she switched her attention to Lainey and Julie.
“Hellooo,” she intoned. “I am so happy to meet you both. Come in, come in.” She laughed and smiled all at the same time.
What a great mom. And for just an instant, Lainey envied Brice for still having a mom.
Julie smiled up at the woman, with a look that said she felt comfortable with her.
“This is my husband, Bob.” Brice’s mom turned to gesture at a giant bear of a man.
Lainey could see what Mark Brice would look like in another thirty-five years.
It wasn’t bad. He was barrel-chested, seemingly without an ounce of fat. His chest had filled out with what looked to be solid muscle.
“So, you’re Julie.” Mark’s mom gazed down at the preteen with a fond expression.
“I am so happy to have a little girl in my house. Mine are all grown up now. But, I do have granddaughters who visit.”
She placed her hand on Julie’s shoulder. “We’re going to have fun. And if you get bored with me, we’ll call my granddaughter over for you to hang out with.”
Julie beamed up at her. It had been way too long since Julie had had a mom of her own. This pretend mom would be good for her, even if it were only for a short time.
“Here’s where you’re going to be staying, Julie.” His mom waved them into the most girlie room imaginable, with pink everywhere.
“This is where my granddaughters stay when they come to visit. My Mason’s little girl, Abby. And Bricie’s little girl Maddie stays here sometimes when she’s in town.”
Brice had a daughter!
Chapter Sixteen
Lainey glanced at Brice who stood out in the hallway. But he looked back toward the living room, listening to something his dad was saying.
Julie’s head swiveled around to stare at Brice. “You have a little girl?”
He turned to meet her gaze. “She’s not so little anymore. She’s about your age.”
“Really?” He nodded and she studied him for a minute before saying, “Where does she live?”
He hesitated, glancing at his own mother. She smiled.
Lainey knew she should stop Julie’s questions. But she waited along with Julie for the answer.
“She lives in Washington, DC with her mom and her step-dad,” he said as if the awkward pause hadn’t happened.
“A divorce.” Julie nodded knowingly. “My friend Kendall’s parents got divorced.” When had Julie become so worldly, or was it just an act? “How long ago did you get divorced?”
“Let’s not interrogate Detective Brice,” Lainey said.
“About two years ago,” Brice said as if Lainey hadn’t spoken.
Brice’s mom walked over to him and patted his arm. “But we are so happy to see her when she comes to visit. Makes it real special since we don’t see her all the time like we used to. So, you can sleep here and Lainey can sleep in here in the other bed if she wants.” She glanced around. “It’s very girlie. Don’t know what I’ll do when I get a grandson.”
She laughed. “Cross that bridge when I come to it.”
“Does your husband still keep his guns?” Julie moved on to other subjects. She followed Brice’s mom out to the living room, leaving Brice and Lainey alone together in the little bedroom.
“Sorry,” she said.
He shrugged. “It’s okay. Public information, available to anyone down at the records department. Or to anyone who has a computer these days.”
“Mm,” she murmured. “That would have been more polite than asking you point blank.”
He stepped half a step closer. “It’s alright. It’s not a secret.”
Julie’s little voice yammered on in the other room, asking Brice’s dad about his history as a cop.
“Believe it or not, that quality will stand her in good stead when she becomes a cop.” Brice tilted his head toward the living room. “Asking people whatever you want to know without hesitation.”
She laughed quietly. “Because most people don’t.”
She glanced up, to see his face close, his gaze intent on her face. For just a second, she wished she could ask him whatever she wanted to.
An ex wife living in another city with his kid. That had to hurt. Just when she’d been envying him for having the perfect family.
She didn’t know what she would do if she lost daily contact with Julie right now. College was coming. But she could see that out there on the horizon.
What must that feel like to lose your marriage and your kid?
“Do you have a Glock?” Julie’s little voice rang clearly from the other room.
Brice’s dad laughed heartily. Big, gruff, reassuring. Now, she saw where Brice got his personality.
Like his dad, he was a natural born cop. It was in his genes.
Julie continued firing questions right and left about his days on the force. Brice’s dad just laughed and answered them all.
Julie was gonna love it here.
* * *
On the way back to Lainey’s house, Brice dove right into the issues.
“You can’t stay at your place.”
She cut her eyes at him.
“This guy knows where you live. You’re in danger as well as Julie.”
“I should stay at your parent’s house?”
He shook his head. “I think we should stay away from over there as much as possible until we get this thing sorted out so that he has less chance of finding where Julie is staying.” He pointed a finger into the air. “Don’t tell anyone, I mean anyone, where Julie is staying. Same goes for me, I’m not telling anyone, and told my parents and my brother the same.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Who do you think this guy is, an arch villain?” she said although she’d begun to think of him as such.
He nodded his head. “Pretty close. He seems to have his sources for information.”
They pulled into her driveway and got out. Everything looked the same, flowers blooming in the little plot she and Julie tended so carefully, just like their mother before them. The white house with the yellow shutters was as homey as always.
But everything had changed. It was no longer the safe haven, their place to go when things got hard out in the world.
A criminal knew where they lived, had been there to pick up Julie and hold her captive.
A large fist of anger knotted in Lainey’s chest, clutching at her heart. The fierce fury gripped her and shook her until all she could think about was that she wanted to strike back at this beast who’d targeted her family.
“So, you gonna pack a bag?” Brice said, his voice low and husky, as if he were asking her to spend the night at his place after a date.
Standing here in her living room, it felt intimate, just the two of them, with no little girl in the next room.
He stood only feet away, that body that had made it so hard to sleep the night before.
“Do you want a shower?” She glanced back at him, registering the fact that his eyes were raking her body.
“I have an extra razor,” she said, finding it hard to catch her breath.
He nodded. “You want to go first?”
She’d gotten straight up out of bed and pulled her hair into a ponytail when she’d been called to the murder scene, hadn’t showered this morning or last night.
“You can.”
Brice felt her there so close and the idea of getting naked in her home sent thoughts through his head that were inconvenient. He needed to work this case, not imagine the two of them in that shower together, him pushing her up against the wall and…
Heat ran through him, yelling impulses to put his hands on her.
But he had to work the case.
“What sort of a person do you think we’re dealing with here?” He looked at her, standing so innocently in her own living room, unaware of the liberties his mind was taking with her.
She gazed at him with those large blue eyes, trusting. Oblivious to what he was thinking.
Damn, he had it bad for her. Lust. The most intrusive impulse that man had ever known.
Homicidal impulses? Jealousy? All of those were nothing compared to lust.
Lust was the one feeling that could get into a man’s head, making it nearly impossible to concentrate on anything else.
But he had to.
“It’s almost like he’s someone in the loop,” she said.
That caught his attention. “You’re right. Like he’s one of us. And his behavior is almost normal.”
“Normal?” She laughed. “Normal people don’t kidnap little girls and terrorize their families.”
“Yeah, but he returns them.”
She nodded. “The usual kidnapper does horrible things to the little girls they kidnap, and often their families never even see them again.”
“It’s like he’s acting just within the realm of justifiable, within the realm of human understanding.”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess you could say that.”
He stepped closer, gesturing with his hands. “No, let’s look at it.”
“Coffee?” She turned away and walked toward the kitchen so he followed her.
She reached into the cabinet for a couple of clean mugs and as she did so, her pants hugged her butt.
An impulse to run his hands over that tight little butt reared its ugly head.
Damn.
“You know who knows a lot about everything, seems to always be in the loop? John Canton.” She poured a cup of coffee.
“The reporter.” He shrugged. “But that seems to be the nature of the beast with news people. They always seem to have this preternatural ability to absorb information from the air.” He accepted the coffee she extended to him. “It always blows me away how they show up at scenes almost as soon as we do.”