Were these murders some sort of a perverse game for him? Riley took a sip of the cold beer despite the fact that his stomach was twisted into a knot of tension.
“We have to get home,” Randy said as he finished his soda and crushed the can. As his older brother looked at him, Ricky quickly got out of his chair.
“Thanks, Uncle Greg, that was fun,” he said.
Greg smiled. “You know the two of you are welcome here anytime.”
The boys said their goodbyes and disappeared around the corner of the house.
“They seem like nice kids,” Riley said.
“They’re great kids,” Greg replied with more than a touch of pride. “Straight-A students, involved in school activities and well liked by their peers.”
“No thanks to their mother and that lowlife man she lives with,” Trent said, and then looked at Greg. “Well, it’s true. You have to admit that their mother isn’t always there for them.”
“Candy has some problems,” Greg agreed easily, “but don’t we all?”
The conversation turned to the weather and gym workouts and other inconsequential subjects. It wasn’t long before Trent stood. “I’ve got to get back to my hotel,” he said. “I’ve got a meeting this evening.”
“Oh, you’re not from here?” Riley asked.
“Nah, I’m from St. Louis, but business brings me into town about once a month or so.” Trent pulled his car keys from his pocket.
“So, how do you know Greg?” Riley asked.
The two men exchanged smiles. “We were buddies all through grade school and high school, so whenever I’m in town we get together.”
“Well, it was nice meeting you,” Riley said. “And it’s time for me to head home, too.”
With goodbyes said, Riley hurried across the lawn back to Lana’s house, his blood filled with a surge of adrenaline.
Trent Clayton. There had been a darkness in his eyes, and he’d radiated a suppressed violence. He might just be the missing piece they’d been looking for, and if he was, then Riley’s time at Lana’s would be ending.
He should be glad. After all, he hadn’t wanted the surveillance job in the first place. But surprisingly, he felt just a little sad at the idea of not seeing either Haley or Lana again.
They weren’t his problem, he reminded himself. He was here to do a job, to catch a cold-blooded killer before he killed again. That was his job, and he’d do well to remember it.
Chapter Six
The cry woke Lana. It wasn’t the high wail of Haley waking up but rather the low, harsh cry of Riley. In an instant she knew that he must be having another one of his nightmares.
She waited a moment to see if he’d awaken himself, but when the moans continued she got out of bed, pulled her robe around her and went down the hallway to his room.
In the spill of moonlight she could see him. He was on his back, writhing as if in physical pain as deep, tortured moans rasped from his throat.
“Riley.”
She called his name from the doorway and he bolted up with a startled gasp, his eyes darting frantically around the room.
“Riley, are you okay?”
As he saw her standing in the doorway he released a deep, strangled sigh and reached over and turned on the lamp on the nightstand.
He looked haunted, the lines on his face etched deep into his skin and his hair askew. “Sorry, it was a nightmare.” He wiped a hand down his face. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
She hesitated a moment. “You want to talk about it?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe,” he amended. “Maybe if I talk about it I can finally get the damn thing out of my head.”
She leaned against the door and waited for him to continue. He stared at the wall in front of him, his eyes filled with a darkness that threatened to consume him.
“I thought I’d outgrown the nightmare,” he finally said. “I had it often when I was a teenager, but it eventually stopped for a while. These murders have brought it back.” He drew in a deep breath. “I dream about my mother’s murder.”
She gasped. He’d told her his mother had died, but he hadn’t said the woman had been murdered. He appeared fragile as he once again swiped a hand down his face. Before she knew it, she’d moved across the room and sat next to him on the bed.
He reached out and took her hand, as if needing a lifeline to hold on to before continuing. “It was just my mom and me. I told you my father walked out on us when I was young. He and my mother weren’t married, and he left and we never heard from him again. Anyway, it was an ordinary June day. I was fifteen years old, and on that day instead of going straight home from school I hung out with some friends for about thirty minutes.”
His fingers squeezed around hers and once again he stared at the wall. Even if he wasn’t squeezing her fingers she would have been able to feel the tension that wafted off him like something noxious and heavy.
“It was Mom’s day off, and the minute I walked into the house I knew something was wrong, but the full extent of how wrong didn’t really hit me immediately. I could smell that she’d baked cookies, but there was something else, something bad in the air.”
This time it was Lana who squeezed his fingers, hoping to give him the strength to revisit what must have been the most horrible experience in his life.
“I could smell the blood, the death in the air, but still I called out to her, telling myself everything was okay. Even when I saw a bloody handprint on the wall next to the kitchen my brain refused to accept what it meant.” His voice deepened. “She was in the kitchen on the floor, and she’d been stabbed twenty-three times.”
He turned and looked at Lana, and his eyes were filled with a teenage boy’s horror, with a man’s grief. “That’s what I dream about. Only tonight there were two men there and both of them were taking turns stabbing her.”
“Greg and Trent,” she guessed.
He smiled, a gesture that did nothing to lighten the darkness in his features. “And the teddy bear goes to the lady in black.” He pulled his hand from hers as the forced smile fell away. “I guess this case has stirred some old baggage.”
“I’m sorry, Riley. Did they ever catch who was responsible for your mother’s murder?”
“No. Nobody was ever charged with the crime.”
“And what happened to you after that?”
“I became a ward of the state and went into the foster-care system. I got lucky and lived with a terrific family, Martha and Will Reynolds. Will was a police officer, and he was the person who helped me get into the FBI after college. I needed a positive way to vent my rage. I wanted to catch killers like the one who killed my mother.”
Beneath his easy charm was far more substance than she’d initially thought. Even though she knew he was an intelligent man, that he would have to be smart to be an FBI agent, she’d thought him shallow, had guessed him to be self-absorbed and narcissistic.
He reminded her of Joe in so many ways. Big and solid and handsome as sin. And those weren’t the only ways he reminded her of her husband.
Riley took her hand in his once again, and this time his smile held a bit of his overwhelming charm. “There is something to be said for nightmares that bring beautiful women into your bedroom. If you really want to erase the last of my bad dream, you could slide into bed with me.”
Lana laughed, pulled her hand from his and then stood. “It’s obvious you’re feeling better. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, Lana. And thanks.”
As she walked back down the hallway to her bedroom she saw the light in his room go out. He would probably find sleep quickly again, but she had a feeling sleep would be elusive for her.
Even though she knew Riley wasn’t the man for her, there had been just a moment when she’d considered throwing caution to the wind and getting into bed with him.
As she slid beneath the sheets in her cold, lonely bed she thought about how long it had been since she’d been held, sin
ce she’d known the joy of lovemaking.
It had been almost two years since Joe’s death, and even before he’d been killed, their sex life had been less than stellar. There was a box of condoms still in the nightstand on what had been his side of the bed. How easily she could pluck one out of the drawer and go back into Riley’s bed.
She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to have his warm, firm skin pressed against hers, to feel his hands sliding down the length of her body.
He was a temporary pretend husband and, in any case, not the kind of man she wanted to make more permanent, but did that prevent her from enjoying a night of passion with him?
He’d probably make love to her once and then not be interested in doing it again. Old insecurities surged up inside her. She hadn’t been enough woman for Joe. She could never be enough for a man like Riley.
She finally fell asleep and dreamed of Riley’s hot kisses and sweet lovemaking, and she awoke the next morning with an ache of want deep in the pit of her stomach.
She rolled over on her side, glanced at the clock and shot straight up. Almost nine! She never slept this late. Why hadn’t Haley cried out? She was always awake by seven.
Without bothering with her robe, she raced from her room into Haley’s only to discover the little girl wasn’t in her bed.
Panic clawed through her as she ran down the hallway and into the kitchen, only to gasp in relief as she saw Haley in her booster seat happily eating scrambled eggs and Riley seated next to her at the table nursing a cup of coffee.
“You gave me a scare,” she exclaimed.
“Sorry. I just thought it might be nice to let you sleep in a little this morning since you were so nice to me in the middle of the night.” He grinned knowingly, as if he’d been privy to her dreams.
“Mommy, want some eggs?” Haley asked with a beatific smile.
“Yes, Mommy, you want Daddy to make you some eggs?” Riley asked with a lift of one of his dark eyebrows.
“You shouldn’t encourage her,” Lana said.
Riley shrugged. “It’s kind of cute, and I should add that you’re definitely more than cute in that nightgown.”
Lana crossed her arms over her chest. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to flirt with me anymore.”
He laughed, the low, sexy rumble stirring warmth inside her. “I don’t remember agreeing to that, and besides, you might as well ask me to stop breathing. Face it, Lana, you are a woman made to flirt with and I’m just the man to do the job.”
“You’re incorrigible,” she exclaimed.
“I’ve been called worse. Go on, take a shower and get dressed or whatever you need to do. Haley and I are in good shape here, aren’t we?”
“Good shape,” Haley replied with a happy nod as she scooped up more eggs.
It was twenty minutes later when Lana left her bedroom. She’d taken a quick shower, dressed, and felt ready to officially face the day.
Riley and Haley were in the living room seated on the floor and tossing a big blue ball back and forth. Each time Riley threw her the ball Haley released gales of giggles that shot straight through to Lana’s heart.
Surely Haley was too young to truly bond with Riley. Surely it wouldn’t take her long to forget the handsome man she called Daddy.
Lana had a feeling it would be far more difficult for herself to forget the handsome Riley.
“Fun time is over,” Riley said as he got up from the floor. “I’ve got a meeting to attend.” He tucked his shirt into his jeans. “Agent Morrel called to let me know they have some background on Trent Clayton, so I’m meeting him for lunch.”
“Do you think he’s the partner you’ve been look ing for?” Lana asked as she sat on the edge of the sofa.
“Right now he’s top on my list, but that doesn’t mean he’s guilty of anything more than rough ball play and picking bad friends. The good part is he’s now on our radar and he wasn’t before.”
At that moment the phone rang and Lana answered.
“When were you going to tell me that you sneaked off to Vegas and married some hunk?”
It was Kerry Peters, Lana’s best friend and the only person she trusted to babysit Haley. As Lana gave her friend the party line, Riley disappeared into the guest bedroom and Haley began to play house with her baby doll.
“I thought we told each other everything,” Kerry exclaimed.
“We do. I was just keeping Riley a secret until I knew for sure it was going to work between us. I’d intended to tell you when I brought Haley over next Friday afternoon. You are still planning on keeping her for me, aren’t you?”
“Of course, but I have to confess I’m a little hurt that I found out about your marriage from somebody other than you.”
As Lana tried to make amends to her friend, she suddenly wondered what would happen in the next week or two when Riley suddenly disappeared.
If Greg still hadn’t been arrested at that time, would she have to continue this charade? Would she then have to go through a pretend separation and divorce?
By the time she’d finished with the telephone conversation, Riley was back in the living room.
“That was my best friend, Kerry,” Lana said to Riley. “She’s going to watch Haley for the weekend so I can stay at the hotel where the jewelry show is taking place.”
“That’s this weekend?” he asked.
She nodded. “I usually leave here around noon on Friday and get back Sunday night.”
“The whole weekend?”
“It’s once a year and provides a lot of my living expenses for the rest of the year. Anyway, I was just thinking about when you leave here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean when this assignment is over for you, what am I supposed to tell people about you, about us?”
He sat on the sofa next to her. “If we have Greg under arrest, then you can tell everyone the truth, that you were a hero and came to the aid of the FBI. If Greg hasn’t been arrested, then you can tell everyone that I turned out to be a bastard and you kicked me out of the house.”
She frowned and he reached out and touched the freckles on her nose. “Make it easy on yourself, Lana. Make me the bad guy.”
“That just doesn’t seem quite fair. I mean, you haven’t been a bad guy in all this,” she protested.
He grinned. “Give me time. I’m not done here yet.”
He got up from the sofa. “I’m going to take off. I’ve got a couple of errands to run before I meet Frank.”
“Will you be home for dinner? I have a couple of steaks to grill.” She realized how domestic they sounded, like a real couple going over the schedule for the day.
“Sounds great.” He pulled his keys from his pocket.
“Bye, Daddy,” Haley said. “Give me a goodbye kiss.”
Riley bent down and kissed Haley on the forehead, then, with a goodbye, he was out the door.
As always there was a faint whoosh, as if the room’s energy left with him. She was getting far too accustomed to having him in the house. When he left she was going to miss the easy conversation they shared, the laughter he pulled from her and the simmering possibility of passion that existed between them.
It was going to be difficult to go back to the loneliness that had plagued her before he’d arrived. She loved her daughter and many of the hours of the day were spent playing with Haley, but it was the evening hours after Haley had gone to bed when Lana had hungered for companionship and for something more.
She forced the thoughts from her mind and focused on her daughter, playing house until lunchtime. Afterward, she put Haley down for a nap.
Once Haley was asleep Lana returned to the kitchen, got out her jewelry and plugged in the soldering iron. She wanted to finish at least ten more pieces by the weekend show.
Usually, it was easy for her to lose herself in the creative and meticulous process, but today her mind refused to drift away from Riley.
The story of his mother’s mu
rder had shocked her, and her heart had ached for the boy who had lost so much. Was it possible that the loss of his mother had so scarred his heart that he now had the inability to love anyone else?
She now knew he was thirty-three years old and had never been married. According to him, he’d never even come close.
Did his easy charm and flirtatious ways hide a heart that was so damaged from his mother’s death that he couldn’t truly open it up to anyone?
She laughed at her own psychological skills. Joe had been charming and a flirt and there had been nothing damaging in his background. It was possible Riley just had no interest in being a family man.
What she didn’t understand was why that made her ache more than a little bit. He was so good with Haley. He would make a wonderful father, but she wasn’t sure he’d make such a great husband.
There were parts of this pretend marriage that felt all too real—Riley’s affection for Haley, the easy daily routine they’d all fallen into and most of all the desire that was a shimmering energy between them. She consciously shoved these thoughts away as she forced herself to focus on the task at hand.
She didn’t know how long she’d been working when she thought she heard what sounded like the front door open and close.
“I’m in the kitchen,” she yelled, assuming it was Riley.
When there was no answer and he didn’t appear in the kitchen doorway, she set her soldering iron aside and got up from the table. “Riley?”
She left the kitchen and went into the living room, but there was nobody there. Her heart hammered suddenly as she thought about Haley. Had she awakened and gone outside? She’d never done anything like that before, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen.
She raced down the hallway and into Haley’s bedroom and sighed in relief as she saw the little girl still sleeping soundly on her toddler bed. Thank God, Lana thought.
Maybe she’d just imagined the sound of the door. With a smile at her sleeping daughter she left the bedroom and went back down the hallway.
She walked back into the kitchen and sat at the table, then screamed as a man stepped out of her pantry, a ski mask covering his face and a knife clutched in his hand.
Wanted: Bodyguard Page 7