by Dani Pettrey
As Cole took the driver’s seat, with Bailey in the seat next to him, Landon settled himself beside Piper in the rear of the van, needing to be close to her.
Darcy swiveled in the middle seat to address everyone at once. “I thought we could cover the most ground if we divide and conquer. After speaking with Henry Mars, it seems we need to speak with John Terry—the man doing time for the murder of Karli’s mother. The lead detective on his case is working homicide out of the 9th Precinct in Long Beach and we have the names of Terry’s closest associates.”
“And Karli’s dad,” Piper cut in. “I want to speak with him.”
“He was hard to find, but we finally got an address for him from his parole officer. He’s up in Huntington Beach. Turns out he was released from prison . . .” Darcy shuffled through her papers, looking for a date.
“Seven months ago,” Piper supplied. “Landon found a newspaper clipping about his release in Karli’s belongings.”
“So she knew her who father was?” Bailey said. “Knew he wasn’t dead, as she’d been led to believe?”
Landon exhaled. “It appears that way.”
Bailey shook her head. “Not that I had stellar parents, by any means, but I can’t imagine the devastation of learning that one of my parents was a criminal.”
Landon watched Cole reach out and squeeze Bailey’s shoulder—his silent signal to stop that line of conversation. But she clearly didn’t understand why, as evidenced by the confusion marring her brow.
“What? We all believe Reef isn’t guilty,” she said.
So she doesn’t know. Cole had continued to protect his dirty secret.
Cole looked at him in the rearview mirror, his eyes full of apology.
While Landon appreciated the sentiment, there was no apology needed. He just prayed the conversation went no further. If Piper didn’t know yet, and he truly believed she didn’t, he had no desire for her to find out this way. He wanted to be the one to tell her. She needed to know before things went any further between them. Needed to know the truth about who he was.
As if on cue, her inquisitive gaze shifted to him, and he saw the question burning in her big brown eyes.
“Am I missing something?” Darcy asked before Piper could.
Great. Landon groaned. Leave it to the reporter to press.
“Now don’t go worrying that pretty little head of yours,” Gage said, tugging Darcy’s blond ponytail. “We’ve got work to do.”
Darcy squinted. “I’m not sure if I should consider the fact you called me pretty a compliment, or the fact that you’re clearly patronizing me an insult.”
“I’ll let you decide.” Gage winked as he snatched the file from her hand. “So how do we want to split up the to-do list?”
“We thought Bailey, Jake, and I would start working on the list of associates,” Cole said. “Most are still living right in Long Beach. Henry Mars said their main hangout was a place called Frank’s Bar and Grill. Most likely still is.”
“Landon and I can speak with the detective and then Karli’s dad,” Piper said.
“I guess that leaves us John Terry,” Gage said to Darcy.
“I think that’s best,” Cole said. “I definitely don’t want any of the ladies going anywhere without one of us men.”
“I’d say that was sexist.” Bailey jabbed Cole playfully with her finger. “But given the circumstances and the people we are dealing with, I think you’re right.”
“You’re all witnesses.” Cole puffed out his chest. “She finally admitted I was right.”
Bailey smirked. “Bound to happen sooner or later.”
“Well, I can think of at least one other time when I was very, very right.” He lifted her hand and kissed the engagement ring on her finger.
Bailey smiled up at him, her love radiating in her eyes.
Landon wondered if Piper would ever look at him like that, and suddenly nothing seemed more important. But the timing couldn’t have been more wrong. They had a job to do. Waiting until it was over before he pursued what was developing between them was the right thing to do, torturous as it might prove to be.
38
Bailey stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing lotion on her hands and arms. “Do you want any?” She offered the trial-size bottle to Piper. “It smells wonderful.”
Piper set her Bible on the nightstand. “Sure.” Bailey was right; it smelled like a meadow after a soft spring rain. “Oooh, it does smell good.”
“One of the perks of staying in a nice hotel.” Bailey pulled back the covers on her bed. “I’m glad we get to be bunkmates.”
“Me too.” It’d be nice to have another female around. Piper was so used to living with Kayden that staying alone in hotel rooms for the past week had felt strange.
Bailey crawled into bed, rustled under the covers, and then rolled on her side to face Piper. “How are you really doing?”
Piper adored Bailey, loved how she always went straight to the heart of the matter, but in a tender, loving way. “I don’t know. I feel . . . confused.”
“About what’s happened?”
If only Bailey knew the full magnitude of what she’d experienced over the last few days, the past few weeks. Of it all, the situation with Landon had her most perplexed. And that seemed wrong. Her brother was in jail, and she was giddy over a man. And not just any man—the man who’d put her brother in jail in the first place. But he’d only been doing his job, and he’d actually put that job aside to help her track down Karli’s real killer. That was something she’d never thought she’d see—Landon putting her before his job.
“Piper, you still with me?” Bailey asked.
“I’m sorry. My head is all over the place.”
“Should we pray for clarity?”
“Clarity would be a very good thing—and discernment.”
“Okay.” Bailey closed her eyes and prayed aloud, her love for Piper, Reef, and their entire family so abundantly clear. Piper prayed that God would show her the next step and walk with her down the unfamiliar path that loomed ahead.
Landon sprawled on one of the beds in the hotel room.
Cole tossed him the Nerf football Gage had brought along.
Gage. Landon sighed, tossing the ball at him. The man didn’t know how to sit still. It was a wonder he managed to sleep. Though it was abundantly clear that part of Gage’s need for constant motion was due to the fact he’d rather keep moving than think deeply about anything. Of course, Landon was hardly one to judge. He’d been running from reality, from the woman he loved, from his own emotions, and worse yet from God for years.
“You and Darcy seem to be getting along a lot better,” Jake said as Gage tossed the ball to him.
Gage stretched out on the couch. “I know what you are implying, and you’re way off base.”
Jake shot the football straight back at him. “And what am I implying?”
“That there’s something going on between me and Darcy.”
Landon nearly choked. “You and the reporter?” He would have never guessed that one, but he was obviously an idiot when it came to relationships.
“There is no me and the reporter.” Gage rocketed the ball at Jake. “The woman drives me nuts.”
“Isn’t that kind of the point?” Cole chuckled.
“Not in that way,” Gage bit out.
“Okay . . . whatever you say.” Cole grinned.
Gage released a long sigh and pinned his exasperated gaze on Jake. “Thanks, man.”
Jake chuckled. “Just trying to keep the conversation lively.”
“Let’s give someone else a turn. Landon . . .” Gage tossed him the ball. “What about you?”
Panic seared through him, and he jolted upright, his shoulders bumping against the wooden headboard with a thud. “What about me?”
Gage grinned. “Looks like I hit a sore spot.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Landon forced his tone to remain light and relaxed, even if he coul
dn’t force his actions to do so.
“You’re awfully jumpy over there,” Jake remarked with a critical eye. “Maybe Gage is on to something.”
“Gage is just trying to divert attention.”
Gage swung his legs over, pulling to a seated position, his bare feet planted on the patterned carpet. “And it looks like I succeeded. So . . . who is she?” He rubbed his hands together.
He was about to say no one, but Piper was hardly no one. She was everything. “You’re grasping at straws.”
Cole’s assessing gaze raked over him, and Landon purposely avoided eye contact. He couldn’t look his best friend in the eye and lie. Considering Cole’s astute judge of character, it wouldn’t take him long to put the pieces together.
Gage smirked. “Thinking about her?”
“I’m thinking it’s been a long day and I’m ready for bed.”
“So what was that all about last night?” Cole asked Landon over eggs at the breakfast buffet line.
Landon slid two slices of French toast onto his plate. “Gage was just trying to divert attention.”
“And you?”
“Didn’t feel like being the scapegoat.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed. “So there is someone?”
Landon forced himself not to look at Piper. It’d be a dead giveaway. “Maybe.” Who knew a simple word could hold so much hope?
Cole poured himself a glass of orange juice. “That’s great, man. Who is she?”
“Who is who?” Piper asked, slipping between them to grab a bundle of silverware.
“Landon’s new gal.”
Her hand stilled midreach. “What?”
“Rumor is Landon has a woman in his life—someone he’s keeping secret.”
Landon swallowed. “I didn’t say . . . Gage was just . . .” Beads of perspiration broke on his skin. He didn’t want Piper to think he was assuming anything.
“Gage?”
“Gage was razzing Landon last night.” Cole topped his plate with bacon.
“About . . . ?” She tucked the silverware bundle in her pocket and stepped back a bit.
“About the possibility of Landon having it bad for some mystery woman.” Cole chuckled.
“Is that right?” she smiled.
Mortification held Landon rooted in place. “I . . . they . . .”
“Are you guys planning to eat or just stare at your plates?” Gage asked as he loaded his plate with seconds. “Already taste-tested it all, and it’s good, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“He taste-tested all of mine too,” Darcy said blithely. She grabbed a mug and headed for the coffeepots.
“You can thank me later.” Gage winked before directing his attention back at Piper. “Go eat. Darcy says we’re leaving in ten.”
“Right.” With a smirk on her face, Piper headed for the table.
“Seriously, man,” Cole said. “Who’s the lucky lady?”
Landon swallowed, wondering if Cole would think her so lucky when he figured out it was his sister Landon had fallen in love with.
“Naturally Landon will be point person,” Cole said as they stood around their rental cars in the hotel parking lot. “Check in with him if you aren’t going back to the hotel by ten. Any major developments, call immediately.”
Darcy and Gage took the white rental van they’d all ridden in from the airport, and Cole, Bailey, and Jake took the burgundy SUV, leaving Landon and Piper with the tan sedan.
“Should be about a half-hour drive, depending on traffic.” There. He’d spoken. His words had formed, and he hadn’t made a complete idiot of himself . . . yet. He waited, nearly holding his breath, for her response.
“So tell me about the mystery woman.”
There was the Piper he knew. Never shy.
“Gage was trying to divert attention off him and Darcy.”
“Gage and Darcy?” Her eyes widened.
Landon shrugged.
“I can’t believe I completely missed that.”
“You’ve had a lot going on. And we’ve been away.”
“So are Gage and Darcy an item?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what Jake seems to think.”
“Jake’s got a good eye for what’s going on around him.”
Which worried him. Jake, out of all of them, would be the first to recognize the change happening between him and Piper.
“Speaking of what’s going on . . . The mystery woman . . . ?”
He looked over at her, totally at her mercy. She held the power to make him the happiest man alive or to break him beyond repair. He exhaled. “You.”
She turned her head so he couldn’t see her expression. “I see.”
“But it’s not like it sounded,” he blurted out. He wasn’t assuming . . . that is, he didn’t expect . . .
“How did it sound?”
“Like I was suggesting that you and I”—he cleared his throat—“that we were already together.”
“I see. So the kiss in the airport, the kiss back in Canada, those were . . . ?”
“Completely out of line on my part.”
“Because you acted on your feelings?”
“Yes.” He should have waited. Should have told her how he felt first. Should have—
“And that’s bad?” she said, cutting into his thoughts.
“What?”
“Having feelings?”
“No, of course not. It’s just . . . feelings make things complicated.”
39
Complicated. She didn’t know what she’d expected Landon to say, what she’d hoped he’d say, but calling whatever was going on between them complicated wasn’t it.
Frustration and confusion surged within her as she followed Landon into the 9th Precinct. It felt odd wearing a T-shirt and summer skirt in December, but it was already getting warm. Fortunately Bailey had the foresight to bring along some of Piper’s warm-weather clothes. Bailey was so thoughtful that way. She and Cole were so perfect together. Unlike her and . . .
She looked up at Landon. What were they? She’d thought after the kiss—after both kisses—that things were on track for them, but obviously he wasn’t sure. Wasn’t he feeling even a fraction of the heat and emotion coursing through her?
“We’re here to see Detective Williams,” Landon said to the officer working the front desk.
“Is he expecting you?”
“Yes. I spoke with him this morning.” Landon pulled his badge. “Deputy Landon Grainger.”
“Take a seat. I’ll let him know you’re here.”
“Appreciate it.” Landon guided Piper over to the row of metal chairs lining the battered green wall.
“I’ll stand, thanks.” She was too restless to sit. Her entire being yearned for something she’d never expected, with a man she feared might not fully step up to the plate.
She took a deep breath of the sweet California air wafting through the open precinct door. Perhaps she was being too hard on him. It had to be awkward—his best friend’s baby sister and all. But he’d clearly managed to push past that twice, kissing her with a passion she had no idea existed inside him. Wasn’t she worth pushing past the awkwardness to actually declare how he felt, not just show it in a kiss?
A horrible thought crossed her mind. Maybe that’s where the trouble lay. Maybe he didn’t know how he really felt. Maybe he regretted his rash actions and didn’t know how to tell her he’d made a mistake. She swallowed the pain that possibility invoked.
Sunshine spilled through the doorway into the drab stone building, and she gravitated toward it, stepping onto the tiles flooded with sunlight, letting the warmth envelop her.
A few weeks ago the very idea of Landon acting rashly would have been absurd. Now everything she thought she knew of Landon was shifting. Saying it was unsettling didn’t come close. Next to God, he’d been her main anchor for so long. She’d never even realized how important his steadfastness had become, how dependent she truly was on him. He was her voic
e of reason, annoying as it was at times. He was her protector, her friend. And now . . . ?
“Deputy Grainger.” A man in his fifties greeted them. His gray hair was slicked back, his moustache a matching shade. “I’m Detective Paul Robertson. Call me Paul.”
“Paul.” Landon shook the man’s hand. “Landon Grainger, and this is Piper McKenna. She’s . . .”
“I’m helping him with the case.” She extended her hand.
Robertson’s grip was firm and he studied her face, but apparently was too polite to comment on the lingering bruises. “Nice to meet you.” He turned to Landon. “You said on the phone that you’re looking into Michelle Evans’s murder?”
“Actually we’re looking into the death of her daughter, last known as Karli Davis.”
Pain, but not surprise, shot across the detective’s brow. “Yeah. I heard about that. Why don’t we step into my office?”
Robertson led the way past a roomful of detectives and desks into a crammed nine-by-nine office with a picture window facing the room from which they’d just come. Stacks of paper work littered his desk, and the scent of cheese curls littered the air. A trumpet sat propped against a bookcase on the front wall.
“You play?” she asked.
“I try.”
“My brother Gage plays too. Got hooked on it listening to our dad’s old Jackie Gleason records.”
“No kidding. I love those old jazz albums.”
“Most people only know Jackie as the actor.”
“Half the kids today don’t know him, period.”
“I suppose not. It’s a shame. You can learn a lot from those who’ve gone before.”
He smiled, the gesture lightening his years in a single motion. “Why don’t you take a seat and tell me how I can help.”
As they sat, Landon began, “We know Karli Davis, aka Angela Evans, and her mother were part of Witness Protection. We know Karli’s mom was killed by John Terry. What we’re trying to determine is who killed Karli.”
“I heard they already have someone behind bars.”
Piper swallowed. “Yes, my brother.”
Detective Robertson straightened.