Change of Fortune

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Still, she was immensely grateful for Ross’s solid presence. She wouldn’t want to be here by herself.

  She watched him ring the doorbell once more, then to her surprise, he reached down and tried to jiggle the doorknob, without success.

  “Would you have gone in if the door hadn’t been locked?” she asked when he returned to the SUV a moment later.

  He shrugged and she didn’t miss the gleam of his smile in the darkness. “Don’t know,” he admitted. “I’m always glad when the opportunity doesn’t present itself to find out exactly how far I’m willing to push the law I’ve always tried to uphold. Any ideas where to try next?”

  “Actually, yes. I made a list.”

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Ross asked, a rueful tone to his voice. “Something tells me I’m going to need another caramel cashew bar.”

  * * *

  By midnight, they had run out of friends that either of them had ever heard Josh mention. They had hit all the usual hangouts—the quarry, the pizza place, the lover’s lane that curved through a forested area south of town. They had even checked beneath the bleachers on the football field.

  On a Friday night the week before graduation, they had interrupted a group of half-stoned skinny-dipping seniors, found a half-dozen cars with steamed up windows and nearly found themselves in the middle of a verbal altercation that looked to have been shaping up into one heck of a fistfight.

  All the way around, it seemed an exciting night for Red Rock. But Josh was nowhere to be found.

  In the parking lot of the high school—their last stop—Julie leaned against the hood of his SUV while Ross stood next to her and dialed the number to the police station.

  It was a last resort, a call he didn’t want to make, but he thought there might be a slim chance Josh might have tried to contact his mother.

  To his surprise—and consternation—he was patched right through to the police chief and he had an instant’s sinking fear that Josh might be in custody.

  “Hey, Jimmy. It’s Ross Fortune.”

  “Oh. Ross. Hello. This is a surprise. A little late for social calls, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it’s late. Oddly enough, you’re still there. I wouldn’t have thought the Red Rock police chief would pull the graveyard shift. Is something up?”

  Jimmy hesitated just long enough for Ross to figure out his guess was correct. He drew a deep breath. Damn it, Josh. What have you done?

  “Just another wild Friday night in Red Rock. You know how it is. The high schoolers are done with finals so they’re all a little nuts. We’re busting ’em like crazy on underage drinking and some minor drug possessions.”

  Ross thought about narcing out the skinny dippers at the quarry, then figured he’d let Jimmy’s officers find the party on their own.

  “We’re a little busy tonight,” the police chief said after a moment. “What can I do for you?”

  He picked his words delicately. “I’m looking for my sister’s kid, Josh. Any chance he stopped in to visit her tonight?”

  The police chief was silent for a long moment that seemed to last forever and Ross held his breath, aware of Julie watching the one-sided conversation carefully.

  “Not today,” Jimmy finally said. “Think he came by earlier in the week. Just a minute. I can call the visitor log up on my computer to double-check for you.”

  Ross could hear keys clicking and then a moment later, the police chief came back on. “Nope. He was here on Tuesday but hasn’t been back. Why do you ask?”

  Ross debated telling him the kid had taken off but decided that information could wait. Jimmy was too damn smart and just might look at the puzzle pieces and come up with the same picture Ross was beginning to find.

  “Oh, Frannie just asked for some warm socks and I wondered if Josh had had a chance to take them to her. No big deal. I’ll stop by with them tomorrow.”

  “You sure that’s all it is?”

  They were both circling around each other like a couple of mangy old junkyard dogs after the same bone. “Positive. That’s it. You know women and their cold feet.”

  “Don’t I ever!” He gave a jovial laugh that sounded false to Ross’s ears, but he wondered if he was imagining things. “Christy Lee just about freezes me out every night. Her feet can be like two little popsicles on the end of her legs.”

  “Well, thanks for the information. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow when I drop off the socks.”

  “You be sure to do that.”

  After Ross hung up, he gazed out at the night, replaying the conversation in his head. Something didn’t fit with his usual interactions with the police chief.

  “Josh hasn’t been at the police station?”

  “Not that the chief was willing to tell me, anyway.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know.”

  “There’s not much happens at the Red Rock police station that Jimmy doesn’t keep an eye on.”

  It made no sense for the chief to be at the station this late at night unless something big was going down. But short of busting into the police station, Ross had no way of knowing if Josh was there confessing to a murder.

  And he could only hope that Josh would have the presence of mind to make a lousy phone call first before he did anything so rash.

  “I think we need to check back at the house and see if he came home,” Ross said. “I left a big note for him to call me on my cell but maybe he didn’t see it.”

  She looked doubtful and he didn’t add that the police station was on the way and that maybe they would just casually take a little drive through the parking lot, looking for a beat-up yellow RX-7.

  He didn’t see Josh’s car in the parking lot of the police station, though. Nor was it in the driveway of Frannie’s house.

  He must have cursed aloud because Julie reached a comforting hand to touch his forearm. “I’m sure he’s fine, Ross. He’ll probably turn up any minute, full of apologies and explanations.”

  “I hope so,” he muttered. He led the way inside the house and went immediately to the answering machine. It was blinking to indicate a new message and he stabbed the button.

  To his vast relief, Josh’s tenor filled the kitchen.

  “Hey, Uncle Ross. Sorry, I must have left my phone somewhere in the…somewhere. It was almost out of juice anyway. Anyway, I can’t find it right now so I’m calling from a pay phone. Since I couldn’t remember your cell number, I’m leaving a message here and hoping you get it. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got a few things I need to take care of. I don’t know when I’ll be back but I’m fine, I promise. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry about me! Just take care of my mom and I’ll be back as soon as I can. Thanks, Ross. Sorry about the fishing trip in the morning. Tell Ms. O to forget about the dinner, too. I’ll make it up to you both, I promise.”

  Ross looked at the time stamp on the message and growled a harsh curse. “We only missed his call by half an hour.”

  “He said he was calling from a pay phone,” Julie said. “Did the number show up on the caller ID? I don’t know how these things are done but maybe you could trace it and at least narrow down where he was a half hour ago.”

  “Great idea.” He scrolled through the numbers, then stopped on the most recent, noting the San Antonio prefix. What in blazes was the kid up to? He didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved that Josh wasn’t calling from the Red Rock police department.

  He could do a reverse lookup to find the number but it would be faster just to call it, he decided. He dialed and waited through six rings before somebody picked up.

  “Yeah?” a smoker-rough, impatient-sounding female voice answered.

  “Hey, my friend called me a little while ago from this pay phone and needed a ride but he forgot to give me an intersection to pick him up,” he quickly lied. “Can you tell me where you’re at?”

  “Hang on. This ain’t my usual stroll. I don’t know this neighborhood. Just a sec.” She returned a second later. “My friend says w
e’re on the corner of Floyd Curl and Breezy Hill.”

  “Near the hospital?”

  “Yeah. That’s it. Hey, man, I think your friend might have found another set of wheels. Ain’t nobody else here but us. You could give me a ride, though. Me and my friend can wait right here for you.”

  “You two might be waiting a while, sugar. But thanks anyway.”

  He hung up on her protests and found Julie watching him with a curious look in her eyes.

  “That was quick thinking, to say you were picking up a friend.”

  He shrugged. “Old cop trick. I’ve got a million of them.”

  “I’m beginning to figure that out,” she said. “We’re going to go check it out, aren’t we? Maybe we can find Josh’s car somewhere in the vicinity.”

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking. But you don’t have to do this, Julie. I can handle things on my own.”

  “I know you can, but I’m worried about him, too.”

  She paused, looking uncertain for the first time all night. “If you would rather not have me along for whatever reason, I certainly can understand but I would like the chance to help if you want me.”

  “It’s not that. I want you.”

  He heard the echo of his words and wished he could yank them back, but they hovered between them.

  She cleared her throat. “That’s good.”

  “I want you along,” he corrected, trying not to be too obvious about amending his statement. “It’s only that it’s already past midnight and I know an all-nighter trip to the city wasn’t in your plans for the evening.”

  “I can be flexible, Ross. We can keep each other awake.”

  Inappropriate images popped into his head and refused to leave there. He could think of far more enticing ways for the two of them to stay awake than looking for his recalcitrant nephew, but he knew those kinds of thoughts about Julie were dangerous.

  He wanted to tell her to forget it, that he was better off on his own. But she had been wonderful all evening, helping him get into teen hangouts that otherwise might have been off-limits to him.

  “All right,” he said. “Let’s go to San Antonio. It’s a good thing we’ve already got all your provisions, isn’t it? Looks like it might be a long night.”

  * * *

  Three hours later, they were no closer to finding his nephew and Ross was beginning to wonder if they should even be looking. The kid was now officially three hours past eighteen. He was an adult. If he wanted to take off for a night, was Ross really in a position to have any objection?

  Or even to worry about him?

  Maybe he should have left Julie at the house in case Josh tried to call again. He had taken the precaution of changing the message on the answering machine, leaving pointed instructions for Josh to call Ross’s cell phone immediately if he happened to call home and got the message, and they had left scrawled messages all over the house saying the same thing.

  As Ross drove through some of the rougher neighborhoods of San Antonio, he worried he was putting Julie through all this unnecessarily.

  He glanced over at the passenger seat. She was hanging on, but just barely. For the last half-hour, her lids had been drooping and her face was tight with fatigue.

  “All right. I’d say we’ve tried long enough. We’ve covered a three-mile perimeter around the pay phone and come up empty. Let’s get you back to Red Rock.”

  She scrambled up in the seat. “I’m sorry. No. I’m fine. Don’t stop searching on my account.”

  “This is worse than looking for a needle in a haystack. We don’t even know if the needle’s here at all or in some other haystack altogether. You need a little rest. And to be honest, I could use some sleep myself.”

  She slanted him a look. “What would you do if I weren’t here?”

  “My apartment isn’t far from here. Under other circumstances, I would probably catch a few hours of sleep there and head out again first thing.”

  “Let’s do that, then. I can bunk on your couch. It’s silly to drive all the way back to Red Rock if you’re going to be here bright and early in the morning looking for Josh anyway.”

  Even for 3:00 a.m. logic, her words made sense. Beyond the time it would save in the morning, he wasn’t sure she would make it all the way back to Red Rock.

  And Josh was close. He sensed it somehow, with that cop’s intuition that had never failed him yet. He had learned not to ignore it—even if that meant sharing his apartment for a few hours with Julie Osterman, the woman he had vowed to do his best to stay away from.

  By the time they reached his place she was nearly asleep, but she managed to stumble out of his car and up the steps to his third-floor apartment.

  He didn’t know if it was the night air or the climb, but by the time they reached his door, a little color had returned to her cheeks and her eyes didn’t look nearly as bleary.

  As he unlocked the door and flipped on a light, he told himself the apprehension was completely his imagination.

  She did a slow turn then walked to the window.

  “Oh,” she breathed.

  “It’s not much, I know.”

  “No, it’s great! What an incredible view.”

  Though his apartment was only on the third floor, he overlooked the River Walk. His favorite evening activity was sitting out on the small terrace with a beer, enjoying the lights in the trees, the boats on the water and all the activity below.

  He opened the sliding door and she walked out, lifting her face to the night air.

  Though the lights of the city muted the stars much more than they did out in Red Rock, the heavens still offered an impressive display, a vast sea of tiny pinpricks of light against the black silk of the night sky.

  Just a few hours before daylight, the River Walk was quiet now compared to how it probably had been even an hour or two ago.

  “This is great. If I lived here, I would have a tough time wanting to do anything but sit here and enjoy.”

  She was beautiful, he thought. Lovely in that serene way that sometimes stole his breath.

  And tougher than she looked, he admitted. She had stuck with him all evening, even through some of the rougher neighborhoods where he had looked for Josh. She hadn’t shied away from situations that might have made her uncomfortable. Instead, she had been right there with him, keeping an eye out for his nephew.

  And her provisions. He fought a smile all over again. How adorable was it that she had packed everything from his favorite cola to bandages, just in case?

  “Come on,” he said after a moment. “Let’s get you settled. You can take the bedroom. I’ll show you where everything is. I might even have an extra toothbrush.”

  She arched an eyebrow. Though she didn’t say anything, he could read the speculation in her eyes.

  “Josh comes to stay with me sometimes and he always seems to forget his so I try to pick up a few extras when I’m at the store.”

  He had no idea why he was compelled to defend himself but he didn’t want her thinking he was in the habit of bringing strange women back to his apartment. He rarely even brought women who weren’t strange here. The last time had been further back than he cared to remember.

  He led the way down the hall to his bedroom, grateful he had taken time to pop over and clean up a bit just a few days ago, when he was in town catching up on things at the office.

  “I’m sure I’ve got a T-shirt or something you can sleep in.”

  “Thanks. That would be great.”

  He opened a drawer and pulled out one of his less disreputable T-shirts and tossed it at her. She caught it one-handed and clutched it to her chest.

  “Thank you.”

  She looked so soft and rumpled, with her hair a little bit messed from dozing in the car and her eyes wide and impossibly blue. As he gazed at her, she swallowed and offered a tremulous smile and his body burned with sudden, insatiable hunger.

  Her smile slid from her features though she didn’t look away, and he w
ondered if he was imagining the sudden tension, the swirls of awareness that seemed to eddy around them.

  “I’m sorry to take your bed,” she murmured.

  “No problem. I don’t mind the couch.” His voice sounded raspy and tight. He cleared his throat. “Good night, then.”

  “I…good night.”

  He watched her for a few seconds more, then swallowed a groan and stepped forward. One kiss. Surely they could both survive one little kiss. It seemed a small enough thing when he had spent all night with her and managed to keep his hands to himself, when his body was crying out for so much more.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  With a breathy, sexy little moan that scorched down every nerve ending, she slid into his kiss as if she had been waiting all night for his mouth to find hers.

  She tasted of coffee and something sweet and cinnamony and he couldn’t get enough. He pulled her closer, relishing the soft curves against his chest and the way she wrapped her arms around his neck as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.

  He wanted more. He wanted everything, all of her gasps and the inhaled breaths and those infinitely arousing little sounds she made.

  Her mouth was soft and luscious and so welcoming that he lost track of time. For several delectable moments, all the stresses weighing on his shoulders lifted away and the only thing that mattered to him was this woman, this moment.

  He deepened the kiss, his tongue tangling with hers, and he felt the little tremor that shook her body as she responded, heard the little hitch in her breathing. His body was rock hard in an instant and a slow, unsteady ache spread through him.

  He slid a hand to her back, under her shirt, and the sultry softness of her skin against his fingers was irresistible.

  One kiss wouldn’t be enough.

  How could it be, when he found just the small brush of her skin against his hands so heady, so addictive?

  If he didn’t stop now, though, he wasn’t sure he would be able to find the strength. Even now, it took all his control to wrench his mouth from hers.

  “We have to stop, Julie.”