BLINDED (Elkridge Series Book 1)

by Lyz Kelley

  His heated breath spread tingles across her face before his lips landed. The sadness of his leaving evaporated as the ache of wanting him heated her veins. She wanted this man. A moan escaped from him when their tongues touched, and he slid a hand under her butt cheek, pulling her closer. She wrapped one leg around his to anchor her body to his. Suddenly, he pulled back.

  “My Mara. Always thinking of others first.” He placed his forehead against hers. “Our timing always seems to suck.”

  “Yes. Well, I’ve discovered life just doesn’t always allow people to stick to a plan. Fate likes to toss in a couple of grenades and blow things up every now and then.”

  Joey guffawed. “That’s a nice way to put it.”

  Mara pushed out of his arms and turned back to the sink to explore the water for more dishware. Over her shoulder, he leaned to take another dish from the drying rack.

  “I know you don’t trust the deputies here. Do you think if you showed the FBI the evidence you found, the information would get their attention?”

  “It would be nice, but I doubt it. The FBI doesn’t investigate homicides unless on Indian reservations, or the homicide is linked to a bigger crime.” The heat from Joey’s hand moving slowly up and down her back absorbed into her skin. “The information needs to be concise and compelling and fit within their wheelhouse. Good thought, though. Let’s get you situated on the couch.”

  “First I need to feed Buddy.” As soon as the dog heard his name, he appeared and rubbed up against her side. “Did you have a nice nap by the fire?” The thump of a tail on the kitchen cabinets gave her a clue. “Bring your backpack.” She gave the dog a slight shove.

  Hearing Buddy’s running pounce and the dragging of metal buckles along the floor increased her appreciation for the dog’s abilities. “Good boy.” She accepted the slobber-covered bag. “Ready for dinner?”

  If the thud, thud, thud on the wood provided any indication, her boy wanted dinner immediately. Filling Buddy’s travel bowls with kibble and water took only a few seconds. She placed the metal bowls in what she believed to be the corner of the kitchen, then turned and let out a slow gasp of frustration.

  Blasted alcohol, or was it Joey’s kiss. Something had made her brain go all fuzzy, and she couldn’t remember where the couch or door was located. What am I doing? Joey-on-the-brain was her problem. Lack of attention to details could get her into serious trouble.

  “Need some help?” Joey asked.

  “I just need a minute,” she responded, keeping the distress from overwhelming her outward calm.

  Think. Feel. She reached and ran her fingers along the counter. The couch was located in front of the wood stove. A heat source was in front of her. She slid a foot forward with hands outstretched and ran smack into a chair. She took a long, slow pull of air into her lungs and released a breath.

  “I’m being stubborn and stupid. I’m trying to avoid swallowing my pride and asking for help from the only person in the room who can make this easier. Life is ten times harder when blind.” And you want me to move to Seattle? Ha! I can’t even manage to navigate a single room.

  Exasperation caused her to curl inward. Her body tightened with tension. Just suck it up. Stop being an idiot. “Uh, Joey?”

  “I’m here. You’re fine, and you’re not stupid. Visualize this. You’re at the kitchen table. The kitchen counter is to your immediate left, and the front door is behind you to the right. There are two bedrooms and a bathroom to your immediate right. I’m standing at the coffee table. A couch is in front of me, with a large area rug covering the floor. The potbelly stove is behind me. Do you have a visual?”

  “Yes, thanks.” She moved around the table with small, measured steps.

  “In my line of work, I’ve met some amazingly strong people. You’re right up there with them. You can do anything you set your mind to, Mara. And asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign you’re smarter than the rest of the population.”

  “Some days I don’t feel very smart.”

  “I bet there are days you don’t feel like getting out of bed. But you get on with your day anyway.”

  She reached her hands forward feeling the heat from the fire. One step after another, sensing with her feet and hands, she moved visualizing the space. When she connected with leather, she turned left to the end of the couch and around the edge until she found him, her hand landing on his chest.

  Excitement spread slowly up her arms. Her smile widened and the pure bliss gushed from her heart.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice mirroring her feelings.

  She lifted her fingers to his face and let them glide over his skin, stopping at the ridges of his brows, then the creases next to his eyes, then sliding down to gently glide over his lips, dipping slightly at a dimple in his chin, then to his jawline. The soft skin, the rough texture of stubble, the curves of his bone structure, told her Joey hadn’t changed much. He was still the same man she’d dreamed about so long ago. She rested her hands on his chest and let out a sigh. “So are you.”

  He lifted her chin with a warm finger, and his lips met hers halfway. She slid her hands around his neck, pulling, wanting more. If heaven existed, she’d just found it. His earthy scent. His weathered skin. His stabilizing energy. Nothing smelled better, not even fresh bread from the oven, or a puppy or lilacs in the summer. He filled every crevice in her heart, gluing the broken pieces back together, one breath at a time.

  He released her lips on a sigh and pulled her closer.

  “Are you doing okay?” he hummed close to her ear, breathing heat down her neck. His hands moved up and down her sides, caressing, making her feel things she’d never experienced before.

  “Not sure.” She delighted in the strong, steady beat of his heart and the muscles engaging and releasing while his hands and arms comforted her. His nipples were tiny, aroused pebbles which made her realize two things. One, she wasn’t the only one affected. Two, she was far, far beyond being just okay. Incredible came to mind.

  “I think someone needs to hit the play button, because my mind has stopped working.” She nuzzled closer, shivering with anticipation. “Wow. Half a glass of wine, and I can’t control my mouth. Note to self. No more drinking in the presence of a sexy male. Oops. There I go again.”

  His chest shook with laughter.

  She buried her nose in his neck and felt his pulse leap when she nibbled on the soft skin. Buddy came and brushed against her leg. Her constant companion never had reason to be jealous before, and she found his overt attempts to put his body between them irritating. She gently pushed the dog aside and gave him the silent signal to lie down.

  “You’re so tempting,” he whispered with a rough, needy sigh.

  She wanted more. Him to fill her. Yet, her mind screamed, NO! He wasn’t going to stay, and she couldn’t fathom going to a big city. But her heart still yearned for the connection.

  Buddy suddenly jumped. His front paws connecting with her hip, pushing her sideways. Joey’s arms kept her vertical, then his body stiffened an instant before he pushed her behind him and down to the couch. “Stay here. Keep down.”

  “Joey?”

  “Stay down.”

  Quick footsteps moved toward the kitchen. A drawer opening, then a clicking noise, like a bullet being lodged into a chamber, echoed through the room.

  “Joey? What’s happening?”

  The thumping in her ears became so loud she couldn’t hear anything else.

  No. Calm down. Listen.

  “Mara, call Buddy to you and keep him quiet. I saw someone standing outside the kitchen window. And I see fresh footprints.”

  “Why would anyone be up here?”

  “Exactly. No one has any business being anywhere near this place except family, and they would either walk in or knock, not peer through a window.” Hurried footsteps moved toward the door. The rustling of fabric told her he’d paused long enough to peer through the front window.

 
; “Stay here,” Joey commanded before heading for the front door.

  “Don’t go. Let’s call someone.”

  “Who? Those idiot deputies? I’ll be fine.”

  No, don’t go.

  Her heart slammed against her chest walls when the door opened and closed.

  Please, please, please! I can’t lose anyone else.

  I can’t lose him.

  Chapter Twelve

  Joey hugged the side of the house, steadying his breathing, listening for movement. At the corner, he took a quick peek at the tree line behind the house, pulled back, then peered around the corner again, shining the flashlight held in parallel with a Glock he’d found in his brother’s closet. After the first encounter with a mystery visitor, he’d taken precautions to have a weapon ready. He wished now he hadn’t left his more familiar sidearm in Seattle.

  Fresh footprints disappeared into the woods on the far side of the house. He visually followed the trail of evidence back to the front window and, thankfully, toward his rental SUV, not the door. Scuffled prints wrapped around the edge of the car’s shadow. No windows were broken, but then he saw the damage. Sliced tires.

  He lowered the gun and let his heart rate slow. Straightening from a crouched position, he debated whether to call roadside assistance or Pia.

  The front door slowly opening made his decision easy. The tires could wait for the morning.

  “How am I supposed to keep you safe if you don’t stay put?” The authoritative tone he used on the job came booming out.

  When she squared her shoulders, he braced for excuses as to why she hadn’t followed his advice, but the facial expression of a woman torn between worry and assurance made his frustration evaporate.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Someone decided to slash my tires. Not a big deal. Especially since it’s a rental, and I have insurance.”

  “That’s not funny,” she said, making him realize his efforts to ease the situation for her sake didn’t help.

  “No, no it’s not. And, it’s not the first time I’ve had a visitor. Which leads me to think there’s something in that house somebody wants, but I can’t figure out what.” And that pisses me off.

  Joey walked past Mara into the house. “Looks like I have some work to do, and I should figure out a way to get you home.”

  “We.”

  The force behind the statement stopped him in the middle of gathering her backpack, emptying the water bowl and placing the empty dishes inside.

  “We have work to do. My suggestion is you put on a pot of coffee so we can get to it.” Mara allowed Buddy to lead her back to the couch. She dropped to her hands and knees and began gathering magazines and coasters that had slid to the floor when Buddy pushed her over. “When we’re done, I can sleep on the couch. There’s no reason to disturb anyone tonight.”

  “If you stay, you’ll take the bedroom. No debates.”

  Mara popped her head above the couch back. She looked only partly mollified. “Agreed. Now tell me how I can help?”

  He glanced at the window, then at the dog, who watched him closely. “Why didn’t Buddy bark?”

  “He’s a service dog, not a guard dog. He’s been trained to react, but not bark. He communicates in his own way. If I had been paying attention, I would have realized he tried to warn us. I misinterpreted his reaction as jealousy.”

  “Jealousy?”

  “A service dog is a one-person companion. When a new person enters the owner’s life, dogs sometimes have difficulty adjusting. Like humans, they get jealous over the loss of attention. It’s one of my training session topics.”

  That means you don’t date much. He hated that a sense of satisfaction caused a smile to cross his face—but he was a man.

  Joey shoved a coffee filter and scoops of coffee into the small appliance and hit go. “Then we should listen to Buddy from now on, because tonight could have ended a lot differently.” We might have caught a killer. Or gotten shot. “Other than coffee, can I get you anything?”

  “Nope, I’m good,” she responded without angst. No trembling or tears in sight.

  Respect replaced his concern. “Then give me a minute. I’m going to call this in.”

  Because, if for no other reason, he wanted the incident on record.

  He scrolled through the numbers until he found one for the deputies. Joey took a few minutes to relay the events, but suggested a report be filed in the morning since there wasn’t much to be done at this point. Then he dialed roadside service. The dispatcher promised to have a tow truck available first thing in the morning to assist with replacing the tires.

  While holding for a confirmation number, he observed Mara. He could tell the events of the evening were closing in on her now. She straightened the pile of magazines and books on the table, then moved the items from left to right and right to left so many times, the reading material ended up right back where they started.

  After conveying the necessary details, he hung up, poured coffee and a teaspoon and a half of creamer into a pottery mug, just the way she liked it and worked to stop his hands from shaking. The reaction didn’t come from the chest-pumping action of chasing a night stalker into the woods, but the knowledge that Mara would be spending the night. Here. Alone with him. Together.

  His body quivered with awareness that he worked hard to turn off. But a specific part of his body had decided to engage the autopilot, and he no longer had access to the control panel.

  It’s not like you’re going to sleep with her, he told himself, willing himself to believe his own rhetoric. The separate rooms would help. Nothing’s going to happen, he repeated over and over in his mind. He was leaving. Going back to Seattle. Right? That was the plan…wasn’t it?

  “How about we start with what we know.” She looked so cute and eager, he didn’t have the heart to tell her his investigative training included complex diagraming tools, but the explanation wouldn’t have helped her relax. Besides, he liked the pure determination on her face. She’d do whatever was necessary to save her town and help find Sam’s killer.

  “Here’s what my gut is telling me.” He poured another cup of coffee. “Sam got in over his head. Knowing him, he didn’t ask for help and went barreling into something big and messy. He didn’t have someone like, my boss, telling him over and over that playing the hero could get you dead.” Joey braced the counter and took a step back to stretch his tight back muscles. “His computer is missing. He lives smack in the middle of crime activity. He had to know something was going on.” He picked up the mugs and moved toward the couch.

  “Stop!”

  Joey froze. “What’s wrong?”

  “Take a step back.”

  He complied.

  “Did you hear that?” Mara unfolded from the couch. “When you stepped on the floor, it sounded different.”

  Joey studied the wood planks disappearing under the rug. “You’re right.” He set the coffee cups down to shove the couch back. “A couple planks have been replaced.” Joey pulled a utility knife from his pocket and pried at the corner of one of the planks until it gave way. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  “What did you find?” Her hand went to her chest as if trying to keep her heart from pounding through the wall.

  Joey lifted a pile full of documents and a couple more evidence bags from beneath the floorboards.

  Excitement, puzzlement, fury all stirred together to concoct an emotional cocktail. “Looks like we have clothing fragments, some assorted jewelry, a fingernail tip, and some Elkridge city council memos. Looks like my brother was doing some investigating, and this might be why he was murdered.”

  “From your voice, it sounds like you don’t want to turn this evidence in either.”

  “There has to be a reason Sam didn’t trust his department. If he didn’t trust them, then neither will I.”

  “Do you have a way to scan the documents?”

  Joey’s gut wrenched and he went on alert. “Yes, why?”r />
  “Two reasons. Having a copy wouldn’t be a bad idea. And two, if you can scan the pages, I should be able to access the information on my reader.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get involved.”

  “Let me remind you, you were the one that came to find me today. I spent the day freezing up on that ridge helping you find clues, and tonight if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have discovered that hidden compartment. Besides, I’m already involved.”

  “You said you weren’t cold.”

  “You’re missing the point.” Her scrunched facial features looked so damn cute he almost laughed, but he managed to contain his response.

  “I have a scanning app on my phone that might work. If I can’t get the information in the format you can read it, promise me you’ll let this drop.”

  “Scan the items, and if my reader can’t read the documents, then maybe you can read the information to me. Besides, you might catch more information if you read the information aloud, rather than skimming.”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you are a pertinacious woman?”

  “Well now, that’s a mighty fancy word for stubborn, Detective.”

  For the next two hours, he scanned documents and took pictures of the evidence. Nothing glaring popped out. Mara challenged each theory and reminded him of facts he’d temporarily forgotten.

  Mara included her knowledge of the local townsfolk and rumors. Since she owned a flower shop, she was the first to learn about births, weddings, and funerals. She was best friends with a nail salon owner and that added a whole new layer of details. He and Mara discussed every nuance at length before agreeing where to place the detail in the sequence. Once the pattern started to fall into place, he duplicated the information on the software program. Questions such as how the FBI and a small-town sheriff might be connected were added to the software notepad section along with the shortage of feminine products and prenatal vitamins. Both seemed like a supply problem, but then what was up with the jewelry? Years of experience caused him not to rule anything out. By the time all the details were assembled and entered into his computer, there were more questions than answers.