“That’s cool, but meanwhile, I’ve got Andy and the entire police force ready to blow me away when these elevator doors open,” Felipe said.
“Go on up to the first floor,” Jim’s voice said. “Captain Swick will be waiting for you there. Believe it or not, he’s one of the good guys. That’s why he had that tape of Walsh and Richter planning the Sandlot Murders. He was holding it to clear your name when the time came. He was working with you on this case, and he’d suspected Earley for some time now.”
Felipe pulled out the stop button and the elevator started with a jerk.
“Keep your hands on your head,” Caroline warned Earley.
“This isn’t over,” Earley hissed.
“Yes,” Felipe told him, “it is.”
And the elevator doors slid open.
FELIPE WAS SITTING on the lobby floor, leaning against the wall by the elevators, waiting for the paramedics to arrive.
A man Carrie recognized as Andy, and several other police officers, were around Felipe, trying to stem the flow of blood from his shoulder.
Earley had been taken away and reporters were gathering outside for an enormous press conference. In a matter of hours, word would hit the newsstands and TVs that Felipe Salazar was not a menace to society. His name would be cleared.
As Carrie watched, Felipe glanced around the lobby, looking for something or someone. Looking for her. His eyes landed on her, and he visibly relaxed.
He held her gaze. She could see pain in his dark brown eyes and at the edges of his mouth. His shoulder hurt more than he was letting on. Hell, for all she knew, his wounded leg still hurt him, too.
The ambulance was on its way. The paramedics would arrive and take Felipe to the hospital.
What then? Was she simply free to go? Should she just walk out of the police station, hail a taxi and go home to her apartment?
Andy approached her. “Uh, excuse me. You’re Caroline, right?”
She nodded.
“Uh, Phil was wondering if you’d mind coming over for a sec before you go,” Andy said.
Before you go. Felipe expected her just to walk away, to leave. It was over. All of it. Including any future they might’ve had together. She’d destroyed that with her doubts and mistrust.
Still, as she walked toward Felipe, she tried to smile.
The other police officers moved tactfully away.
“You trusted me,” Felipe said, looking up at her from his seat on the floor. He patted the tile and she sat cross-legged next to him.
“I didn’t for a while there,” she said. She looked at her hands clasped tightly in her lap, unable to meet his eyes.
“When it came down to the bottom line—” Felipe’s soft accent seemed to caress her “—you were there for me.”
“No,” Carrie said, closing her eyes. “You were there for me. All along, you protected me. You risked your life for mine.”
“I was glad to,” he said simply.
“I let you down,” she said. Her voice shook and she couldn’t hide it.
“It was hard for you to trust me,” he said gently. “The way we started…” He shook his head. “I don’t blame you, Caroline.”
Carrie nodded. She still couldn’t meet his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“I am, too.”
“It could’ve been really good, couldn’t it have?” She risked a glance up at him. His dark eyes were serious and as mysterious as the midnight sky.
He nodded slowly. “Yes,” he said. “It could have been remarkably good.”
He was just sitting there, watching her. She wanted desperately for him to reach out, to touch her, to pull her into his arms—or at least the one that wasn’t hurting. But that wasn’t going to happen. Their love affair was over. She’d killed it, smothered it with her mistrust.
“Now what?” she asked quietly.
He held out his hand—his good hand—to her. “Hello. My name is Felipe Salazar,” he said, “and I’m a police detective with the Fourth Precinct. I’m with the vice squad right now, but I won’t be for much longer. I’m thinking about putting in for an assignment as an urban youth officer.” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them one at a time. “You’ve got to be the most intriguing woman I’ve ever met. Will you have dinner with me tonight?”
Tears flooded Carrie’s eyes and hope flooded her heart. “You want to start over?” she whispered.
“I would love to start over,” he said. “Will you have dinner with me?”
“Oh, Felipe, can you really forgive me?”
“If we’re starting over,” he said, with a small smile, “there’s nothing to forgive.” His eyes were liquid brown and so very warm as he gazed at her. “Even though we’ve just met, would it be forward of me to ask for a kiss?”
With a trembling smile, Carrie shook her head.
Felipe leaned toward her, careful not to jar his shoulder. Carrie met him halfway in a kiss so sweet, so pure and tender, it brought a fresh rush of tears to her eyes.
“This may be the shortest courtship in the history of the Western Hemisphere,” Felipe breathed, desire sparking in his eyes.
“I hope so,” Carrie said.
He touched the side of her face as he looked searchingly at her. “Caroline, there is a catch to this. I’m about to go into protective custody. As the chief witness against Richter and Earley, I’ll have to be kept safe until after the trial. For your own safety, you should come with me. Richter may figure out he can get to me through you. But it’s your choice. You don’t have to come. If you choose not to, I won’t be able to see you until it’s over and done. It could be nine or ten months. Longer.”
Carrie was silent for a moment. Not see him for nearly a year? “I’d have to quit my job,” she finally said.
“A leave of absence,” Felipe said. Hope lighted his eyes and he leaned forward to kiss her again. “Your position would surely be waiting for you when you returned.”
“Returned from where?”
He smiled. “I don’t know. Where do you want to go?”
Carrie smiled back at him, her heart exploding with love for Felipe Salazar, who was man enough to give her a second chance. “Someplace where we can go out on a boat,” she said. “Someplace near the ocean.”
“I know of this great beach house on Sanibel Island,” Felipe said. “The owners are friends of mine. Although we may need to go farther away from St. Simone, this beach house might be a good place to start.”
Carrie kissed him, closing her eyes and drinking in the softness of his lips, the sweetness of his mouth.
“It would be the perfect place to start.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4773-8
NOWHERE TO RUN
Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:
NOT WITHOUT RISK
Copyright © 1995 by Suzanne Brockmann
A MAN TO DIE FOR
Copyright © 1995 by Suzanne Brockmann
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