by Aimée Thurlo
“Your ex was like that?” he asked, neither confirming nor denying her accusation.
Amanda nodded. “After we’d been married a while, I realized we never really talked about things that mattered. He never shared anything that was important to him or wanted to talk about what was important to me. His job was far more interesting to him than I ever was.”
That last line, so close to what his wife, Lynn, had said to him so many times, stung, flooding his brain with bitter memories. “Some men don’t always know how to show or even talk about what they’re feeling. It doesn’t always come to us as easily as women want.”
Amanda gave him a long, guarded look. “Well, at least you’ve told me something about yourself, though in a roundabout way,” she said.
Tony realized that, if anything, his being open had made her more suspicious of him. Regret filled him as he acknowledged that, had circumstances been different, he would have wanted her to know him, just as he would have wanted to know her—in every possible sense. Aware of the danger of entertaining those thoughts, he drew back into himself. Nothing could get in the way of his finding his daughter and punishing the creeps who had taken her away from him.
Tony pulled up next to a public phone beside a convenience store. “Wait for me here.” Tony retrieved a fingerprint kit from the back seat and walked up to the booth. Though he went over every inch of it, there were no prints. It had been wiped completely clean. As he turned to look back at her, he saw Amanda coming out of the convenience store. Muttering an oath, he rushed up to her. “What are you doing?”
“Making myself useful. I went inside to talk to the clerk, thinking he might have seen something.”
Tony transfixed her with his coldest glare. “You know absolutely nothing about questioning a witness! You may have ruined any chance we had.”
“He didn’t see anything,” Amanda protested.
“And I supposed you asked him really nicely?” he scoffed.
“Of course I did. I wanted him to help me, not call the police! Being polite doesn’t hurt,” she argued.
Tony stared at the ground, trying to control his temper. “Intimidation works better, particularly with a reluctant witness.” Though he forced his tone to remain calm, he saw the cautious look that flickered in Amanda’s eyes. Her inability to predict his reactions seemed to frighten her at times, though she tried to hide it. The problem was, he didn’t particularly like having her treat him like a wild animal, afraid of the violent nature that so many believed was part of him. “Calm down, Amanda. I know what I’m doing.”
The young man inside seemed annoyed when Tony forced him to put down the mystery novel he was reading. Unable to elicit any satisfactory answers, Tony slammed his fist down hard on the counter, picked up the novel, and tossed it across the room. The startled clerk sat up abruptly.
“Now that I’ve got your attention...” Tony purred.
“Look, man, I don’t know nothing. I’ve been reading. An entire army could have used that booth.”
Tony leaned toward him menacingly. “Try harder. From what I can tell, you have a clear view of the booth.”
The young man slid off his seat and took a step back. “Look, I’m just here to pick up some extra cash in the evenings. It’s quiet, so I use the time to read and relax. I’m not concerned with what happens outside unless it disturbs our customers.”
Amanda followed Tony as he stalked back to the pickup. “I gather you found no fingerprints?”
“They cleaned the booth until it shone,” he growled, disgusted.
Tony glanced around. After business hours, this neighborhood was like a cemetery. There were two cars parked inside a private parking area next to a government building ahead. One, a cream-colored four-door, reminded him of his first Bureau car. He smiled, recalling its habit of breaking down. Silently he wished the owner of the sedan better luck than he’d had.
“Let’s go try the front doors on that building,” he said. “They’ll probably be locked, but it’s worth checking out.” After finding the building sealed up, they walked back to the pickup. “Let’s drive around the area a bit.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Basically I’m going through the motions in case they’re watching, but who knows? We might get lucky. Keep your eyes open. Maybe we’ll find a street person who caught a glimpse of our caller. Anything.”
“Go by the day-care center, too, okay? I need to make sure everything is all right there.” She glanced at the cream-colored sedan. “That reminds me of the car I saw watching the center,” she said, then explained.
“There are thousands of cream-colored sedans in this area. That’s not much of a lead.”
He drove around the Plaza, hoping he’d pick up a tail. All he needed was one break.
Amanda glanced in the side mirror. “That same sedan is back there. But I can’t tell if it’s following us or not. It’s several car lengths behind us.”
He spotted the light sedan behind them, weaving through traffic. It was the same car he’d seen next to the government building. He slowed down, hoping to draw it close. The car, however, persisted in keeping its distance, allowing other cars to slip between them. Whoever was back there was either trained in surveillance or a natural. He considered the possibility of a Bureau-trained agent, possibly one who’d gone bad. Tony speeded up slightly, causing the other car to lag behind. Then, as they reached the corner, he stopped for the light. “Is your seat belt on?”
“Sure. Why do you ask?”
Not waiting for the green light, Tony looked both ways, then stepped on the accelerator. He rounded the next corner with a screech of tires, leaving behind the stench of burning rubber.
Amanda’s breath came in short gasps. “What are you doing?”
He glanced in the rearview mirror. His tail wasn’t behind them anymore. He wheeled down a narrow alleyway, then doubled back.
“Hang on.” Tony made another sharp turn, heading up a deserted street. “We’ll catch the guy tailing us in a moment. Then he’s going to have to answer a few questions.”
Amanda gripped the dashboard tightly. “But first, we have to survive this ride.”
Chapter Four
The driver of the cream-colored car noticed them seconds after Tony burst out of the narrow street adjacent to a hotel. The car shot away from them, heading toward an old residential area where there were no streetlights. Only their headlights probed through the darkness.
The sound of a hymn from a church organ could be heard in the distance, and Tony tightened his grip on the wheel. “Wednesday-night services are about to end. Traffic should pick up again soon, and he’ll have a better chance of losing us.”
“It’s too dark here. You can’t see where you’re going, at least not clearly. Let him go,” Amanda urged.
“Not a chance.” Tony called her attention to the speedometer. “See for yourself. He’s slowing down. He can’t see any better than we can. But look just ahead. See that lighted parking area?” He pointed down the street. “I’ll lay odds he ducks in there to hide.”
Suddenly the red taillights they’d been following seemed to disappear. Amanda leaned forward, straining to see through the soupy darkness. “Where is he?”
“He’s gone into the church parking lot, where he can blend in with the other cars and leave with them once the service lets out,” Tony said.
“That’s that then. You certainly can’t follow him in there without having someone call the police.”
“Sure I can. Look for yourself,” Tony said as he slowed the vehicle and pulled into the lot. “Nobody’s out here yet. They’re still inside.”
“What if he went inside, too?”
“Doubtful. He wants to get away, not deal with a lot of citizens who would notice a stranger. He’s out here somewhere, hoping to give us the slip.” Tony parked beside a large van. “Stay inside. I’m going to take a look around.”
“You can’t be serious! There are no lights back her
e. I can’t tell one light-colored sedan from another, and there are at least fifty cars around us.”
“I’ll handle it. Just stay put.” Without waiting for an answer, he stepped noiselessly out of the truck and disappeared into the shadows.
Amanda watched for a moment, wondering what she should do. Tony was like a loose cannon where the search for his daughter was concerned. She really wasn’t at all sure they’d been tailed in the first place, though the car they’d followed did look like the one she’d seen earlier outside the center. But pulling up behind someone in a light colored sedan, and then wildly chasing after them, just might have scared the life out of some innocent person, frightening him into making a run for it.
Amanda opened the pickup door and looked out. Tony’s aggressiveness left a lot of room for error. As she searched for some sign of him, she caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure moving inside one of the parked cars near where she’d last seen him. The realization that he’d been right hit her like a bolt of lightning. She had to tell him what she’d seen.
Amanda left the vehicle quickly and walked in the direction Tony had gone. She found him a moment later.
“Tony, wait!” she whispered harshly.
He turned around, still in a crouch, and motioned for her to get down. Suddenly, the car door next to him flew open. It slammed hard against Tony, hitting him squarely in the head and knocking him to the ground.
Amanda rushed toward Tony as she heard the car’s engine start up. Grabbing his arm, she dragged him between two cars, narrowly avoiding being run over as the vehicle backed up with a screech of tires. Crossing the sidewalk, the sedan hurtled over the curb and bounced into the street, making a clean getaway before Amanda could spot the license plate.
Tony rose to his feet, rubbing his temple. “Hard pavement. Good thing I’ve got an equally hard head.”
“No argument there,” she muttered, trying to catch her breath.
“What the heck were you doing out here? I told you to stay in the car.”
“I came because—” Amanda stopped abruptly. There was no way now she could tell him that she’d been afraid he was terrorizing an innocent person. Even in the dim half light, she could see that the bump on the side of his head was beginning to swell at an alarming rate. “I came because I saw someone lurking inside one of the cars. I figured you needed my help.”
“Yeah? Well, you didn’t exactly save the day, did you?”
“It could have been worse. I kept you from being run over, didn’t I? Let’s face it. You were right next to him, yet you had no idea he was there.”
“That’s why I was being careful,” he snapped. Tony gingerly touched his temple with his fingertips as they walked back to his truck. “Now we’re back to square one.”
As they reached the pickup, Amanda walked to the driver’s side and nudged him out of the way. “Let me drive. I don’t give my passengers heart failure.”
“Of course not. You have your own inimitable ways of finishing them off,” he grumbled sourly.
She looked at the angry red bruise on his temple. “Maybe I better take you to the hospital. You should have that checked.”
“Forget it. I’m fine and I’m driving.” Tony stepped around her and slipped behind the wheel. “I don’t see double, and there’s no gushing blood. I’ll live. Do you still want to go to the day-care center like we planned?”
“If you’re up to it.”
“As I said, I’ll be fine.”
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the center. Amanda searched the exterior of the building, then breathed a sigh of relief to see everything was intact. She left the pickup, rummaging in her purse for the keys, but after several seconds, Tony edged in front of her.
“Let me help. If the cops are patrolling this area, they’re going to spot us here. I don’t feel like answering half a million questions and as you said, you don’t want to be seen with me.” He slipped a skeleton key in the lock, then using something that resembled a nail file, jiggled the mechanism. A second later, the door swung open.
Amanda’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t believe you. Is that how the photo of Carmen kept showing up on the bulletin board even though nobody ever knew how it got there?”
He gave her a quick half smile. “Hurry and do your check,” he said, not answering her. “That’s my truck out there, and a patrol car might run the plate and come in to see what’s going on.”
Five minutes later, satisfied that nothing had been disturbed, Amanda returned to the pickup with him. “I don’t want you to ever use that key to get into my day care again. Or my home,” she added quickly.
“Sorry. I only make promises I’m sure I can keep.”
Amanda thought of Hope and the other children. Anger gave her courage. “If you get caught in here, I’ll press charges. If you’re in a jail cell, you’re not going to be much use to your daughter.”
He remained quiet for several moments, then finally nodded. “All right. But that means I’ll have to personally bring in the computer-generated image of Carmen whenever there’s an update on it. I know you understand how important that is to me.”
She sighed. He was being so perfectly reasonable about it; she was the one who sounded unreasonable. Yet what was so unreasonable about asking someone not to break and enter? “Mail it, then check the following day. You can always call me. I guarantee that if it doesn’t arrive within twenty-four hours, I’ll go get it from you myself.”
“All right.”
As they drove back to her home, Amanda’s thoughts raced in a multitude of directions. There were so many questions, and so few answers! “What’s in that file the caller wants so badly?”
“I’ll know by tomorrow.”
“Tell me as soon as you do.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. The more you know, the more of a threat you’ll be to them. You’d be better off letting me handle that.”
It would have been wonderful to be able to trust Tony enough to feel confident about his using his experience to keep Hope and her safe. Only that couldn’t be. Tony’s priority was his daughter Carmen, not Hope—and definitely not her. “No, we’re both involved, so we’ll share the information. We may be working together, but our priorities are totally different. There’s no way I’ll relinquish responsibility for my well-being or that of my daughter to you.”
He stiffened as if she’d slapped him. “You have a right to mistrust my abilities.” He glanced at her, his face taut and expressionless. “I wasn’t good enough to protect my own wife or child. But I’m tougher and smarter now than I was back then. Life’s taught me the hard way. I’m the best ally or the worst enemy you could ever possibly have. Believe it.”
“I don’t doubt your abilities, just your priorities.”
Tony pulled into her driveway. “Well, at least we each know where we stand.” He switched off the ignition.
“What do you think the kidnappers will do now?”
“They want the file, so I don’t think they’ll do anything providing I deliver it.” He gestured toward her front door. “Come on. I’ll walk you to the door, borrow some aspirins, then be on my way.”
“You ought to come in for a few minutes and clean up those cuts and scratches all over your face,” she said, depressed by the unbridgeable gap that separated them.
“All right.”
She opened the front door and let him in. “The bathroom is down the hall to your right. After you wash up I’ll put some disinfectant on those cuts,” she said. Then, with a tentative grin, she added what she always said to her daughter, “Don’t worry. I’ve got the ouchless kind.”
“That makes me feel infinitely better,” he countered in a tone that left little doubt he thought she’d lost her mind.
As Tony disappeared down the hall, Amanda picked up the phone and called Bernice, needing reassurance that Hope was fine. That accomplished, she retrieved the first-aid kit from the kitchen drawer.
She tried to tell herself
that she’d only extended hospitality to Tony out of courtesy, but she knew that wasn’t the truth. Every time she saw his cold, withdrawn expression, she felt the need to reach him somehow, find a way to ease his pain. She shook her head, exasperated with herself. She was much too old for these fantasies. She didn’t believe she could kiss a hurt and make it better, and she definitely didn’t want to be Tony’s mommy.
Hearing Tony step into the room, she turned around. Her pulse began to race as her gaze fell on him. He looked uncompromisingly strong, his face set as if it had been chiseled from the hardest stone. Yet it was that very strength that seemed to cry out for a woman’s tenderness. Her tenderness.
“Have a seat.”
Standing beside his chair, Amanda carefully dabbed the scratches just below his bruised temple with disinfectant.
Tony held himself still. “You have gentle hands.”
“Thanks.” His words made her melt inside, arousing an impossible longing to touch him everywhere, to soothe, then excite him. Chiding herself for the sudden turn of her thoughts, she forced herself to concentrate on the job at hand.
As she leaned forward slightly, taking special care around his eyes, her breast brushed against his shoulder. Every nerve ending in her body was suddenly jolted awake. She glanced down at Tony, wondering if he’d even noticed. His own obvious reaction stole her breath away.
Amanda fought the tremor that spiraled through her as Tony captured her gaze. He grasped her wrist and tugged her toward him, and it seemed as if the world suddenly shifted into slow motion.
He gathered her into his arms and held her steady. “You’re playing with fire,” he whispered. Slipping his fingers through her hair, he brought her mouth down to meet his.
His kiss was like the man he was, filled with purpose and determination. He urged her lips apart, then stroked her tongue with the length of his. Excitement arose deep within her, like curls of flame that spread out, sparing no part of her. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t breathe. Her world became a kaleidoscope of fire and velvet. Tony eased his hold to allow himself greater access, then buried his head at the nape of her neck, tasting the soft flesh there.