The father, Perry Willmer had started seeing Jill—and now Jill was dead. Thanks to him? Why?
And if Willmer had done it, whatever the motive, he clearly wasn’t afraid to kill. Elissa might be the next target.
Or the mother’s, if she was the guilty one.
While Vince went to let Sherm and Kara know the results of his interrogation, Doug reentered the room with Hooper to stay with Elissa.
Both she and Peace stood at his entrance. “Am I under arrest?” Her voice shook.
“You’re not off the hook,” Doug said, “but there’s enough information to indicate that someone might be trying to frame you for the murder, so you’ll be released soon. And I’m driving you home.”
* * *
It was early evening. The remainder of the afternoon had seemed to fly by with all the questions and hinted-at accusations that fortunately hadn’t governed everything. But Elissa still felt relieved.
Doug, who had removed his uniform jacket, had been thoughtful enough to stop at a sandwich shop to pick up something for dinner. For both of them, Elissa noted. Although since the sandwiches were take-out, that didn’t necessarily mean Doug planned to stay with her long enough to eat. But at least it was a possibility. She needed some company now. Friendly company.
Elissa didn’t attempt to express to Doug how glad she was to be out of there. She figured he knew.
He’d insisted on driving Peace and her home. “I’ll come get you tomorrow to retrieve your car.” Maybe. She understood from what he hinted at that it was also being searched by crime scene investigators. They might be looking for anything that could tie her to the crime—a scalpel or two, or some additional business cards, or whatever else they thought of.
Not that they’d find any. Not unless whoever killed Jill had also planted something in her SUV.
She also didn’t mention to Doug how relieved she was that he appeared to believe in her innocence. Neither had she acted on her urge, when they’d reached his vehicle, to thank him by throwing herself into his arms and kissing him. Despite their earlier kisses, he was still a cop and she had changed from being a victim of some nasty but not necessarily life-threatening attempts at intimidation to being a murder suspect.
But on the ride back to the ranch, with their dogs both lying on the back seat, she talked to him a bit about her earlier discussion with his sister, who’d asked about Elissa’s further plans for her therapy dog handler classes. Maisie’s interest had seemed real, yet Elissa had a sense she was also probing to see if Elissa might admit to something regarding the death of her student.
She hoped she could find a way to convince Maisie of her innocence, as her brother appeared to have accepted it—or at least not totally rejected it.
Elissa also talked to Doug about her theory—which she suspected was now at least partly his, too—about all that had been going on with her.
Not that she understood why, but if Perry Willmer actually was the person who had been tormenting her as some kind of payback for his son’s death, she might be in real danger now, assuming he’d been the one to murder Jill. But if so—why? Just to get at her? She had never met the man. Tully’s mom Adellaide had been the only one who’d taken him to dog therapy sessions. And Elissa had only provided a couple of those sessions.
Perry had supposedly been dating Jill. Could he have killed her for an unrelated reason to what had been happening to Elissa—a new love affair gone bad?
Or was the killer Adellaide—because of jealousy or something else? But their conversation, which had seemed sincere, hadn’t led Elissa in that direction.
“Adellaide said her ex had gone nuts after their son died,” Elissa said as Doug drove her from town and toward the road that led to the ranch. It was a nice August evening, warm but not too hot. Her own temperature was heated, though, with nerves and concern. “She didn’t exactly deny that she had been a bit crazed, too. But she seemed to feel some relief that Perry wasn’t with her any longer, even though she admitted that the idea that he’d found a new girlfriend so quickly had hurt.”
“We can’t take her off our suspect list in that girlfriend’s murder,” Doug said. “Sure, Adellaide is in San Luis Obispo, not here, but you were planning on commuting from there. It’s not that far away.”
“Of course. But she seemed to be trying so hard to find some new stability in her life by helping other people, with therapy dog handling. Unless—”
“Unless that’s just a ploy to make it appear as if she wasn’t attempting to get revenge against her husband for dumping her.”
“And if that’s her attitude—well, she might also want to get some kind of revenge against someone who’d been working with her son, although I’m not sure why she would choose me to go after.”
“We’ll definitely have her checked out,” Doug said. “Perry, too.”
They were nearing the driveway to the ranch. Elissa was both glad and sorry. She was free, at least for now. Doug appeared to trust her. But she had a lot of concerns about being by herself there. Once more, she would let Amber, Sonya and, most especially, Evan know she was there. Evan, former military and current police K-9 trainer, would be a good person, with his dog, to have on her side watching for anyone who might come after her.
They passed the ranch house and turned onto the narrow lane to Elissa’s place. Doug parked in front, and though Elissa half assumed he would come in with Hooper to check it out, she was relieved when he did so. After taking a short walk with both dogs, they entered the house—but not before Doug and Hooper walked around it and then preceded Elissa and Peace inside after she unlocked the door.
As they walked from room to room, neither dog alerted on any scent that shouldn’t be there.
Elissa brought out some food and both dogs dug in.
Then, together, she and Doug sat at the kitchen table with the bag of sandwiches and a bottle of beer for each of them. Elissa wouldn’t overdo, but a small amount of alcohol to help blunt some of the extreme emotions she felt sounded good.
Before they ate, though, Doug brought out his phone and, pressing the speaker button, called Amber first. He told Elissa he intended to call Evan next but that turned out to be unnecessary since he was at the main house, eating dinner with Amber and her mother. Doug quickly related what had been going on, and after everyone had expressed their concern, Evan promised to keep an eye on Elissa’s home.
The sandwich tasted bland to Elissa, most likely because food wasn’t the main thing on her mind.
She wished things were different, that this kind cop who had been helping her actually felt he could completely trust her. But even though he didn’t, he hadn’t walked away when she had been all but accused of committing a murder. Instead he had kind of taken her side—although she recognized that could change in an instant if another piece of evidence, even false as the rest, turned up.
They didn’t discuss all that, though. Instead, Doug told more humorous stories about their uncle’s influence over Maisie and him during their childhood, and Elissa felt herself finally begin to relax. He watched her with his hazel eyes sparkling—and there was an additional sparkle in them as she reacted and laughed. His expression suggested he was interested in her as more than a table companion...and a suspect.
Which made her insides simmer. Inappropriate? Yes. But she realized she wanted this man. Not just because he was helping her, but because he was one highly sexy guy.
Soon they were finished eating. He’d told her more about how Maisie and he had wound up here in Chance after training as K-9 officers in Riverside. Their conversation was drawing to an end.
What now? Was he about to leave?
He stood to help her clear the table, and she waited for him to say good-night. She could at least request that he and Hooper accompany Peace and her for a last walk outside in the near darkness, but after that he would leave. That was right—but she wanted oh, so
much for him to stay.
When the beer bottles were disposed of and dishes were in the sink, Doug turned to her and Elissa braced herself for the beginning of the end of the evening. Only—
Suddenly she was in his arms. Had she initiated it? Had he? It didn’t matter. His mouth was on hers and the kiss was even hotter than those she had experienced with him before. His tongue probed into her mouth and she encouraged it, teasing it with her own.
Below, she felt the hardness of his erection through his trousers, pushing against her, and she moved her own body closer against him. His hands stroked her back, then downward until he grasped her buttocks and she gasped slightly, moving to do the same.
His expression, as he looked down at her, was full of heat and desire. He opened his mouth but before he could speak, she anticipated, or at least hoped, what he was going to say.
“My bedroom is just down the hall,” she managed to tell him. He knew that. He and Hooper had examined her house multiple times, including tonight.
But this wasn’t merely informational. It was an invitation.
“Let’s go,” he responded. He grabbed her hand, and she was both amused and excited when he was the one to lead the way.
The dogs followed, but Elissa figured they would settle down and sleep once they were in the bedroom.
She and Doug, on the other hand, wouldn’t sleep, at least not yet.
As soon as they entered the small room with its single bed covered by a thick beige comforter, they both moved as if according to a plan, kicking off their shoes, then reaching to remove the other’s shirt.
Hers came off first and she found herself lying on the bed with Doug beside her, kissing her face as his hands moved down, down, gently pulling off her jeans. But she didn’t allow him to undress her fully. Not until she had done so with him, removing his trousers and then his briefs and baring an erection that made her dampen and crave what they were about to do even more.
She reached for his arousal even as she moved her hips to allow him to finish undressing her. His hands never stopped moving—and soon he was also kissing her everywhere that was now exposed, moving downward until he reached the place where her craving was now a center of hot, demanding passion.
She cried out even as she tried to pull away enough to return the favor, but he didn’t let her. Instead he grabbed the pants she had helped to remove, reached into a pocket and pulled out a condom. He began to do it himself but she reached out and helped to fully sheathe him.
And then he kissed her again as he gently yet firmly thrust inside her. He drove into her even as she moved to help draw him in and out. Their mouths met again and then...
As Elissa reached her climax, he did, too, calling out her name even as he tensed against her also rigid body.
After a while, as he moved off her but maintained his hold on her heavily panting form, he laughed a little, clearly out of breath.
“You may not kill with a scalpel,” he managed to say, “but you just might be able to get a guy breathing so fast that he dies from hyperventilation.”
Chapter 20
Okay. Had that been a wise move? No. The woman was still a murder suspect. Even if she was innocent, she was deeply involved with the case, and Uncle Cy’s strong advice reverberated through Doug’s mind even as he reached once more for a clearly willing Elissa.
He was here. He was hooked, even if only for the moment. He wanted more—and so, apparently, did she.
“Oh, Doug,” she murmured more than once.
“Tell me what you want next,” he responded—and she did. Of course he obliged, even as she did even more to arouse him and keep their passion at amazing heights.
She was warm and soft and one extremely sexy lady, and her eagerness to continue with what they had started only drove him further and made him more eager to please...both of them.
But exhaustion set in. His, and hers, too. Snuggled together beneath the coverlet, they fell asleep—until Hooper awakened Doug with a small woof.
He glanced at the time. It was late. Even if he stayed the night, which seemed best, they still needed to take the dogs out once more.
“Hang on, Peace,” he heard Elissa say as she moved away from him. Soft light entered through the window at the back of the room, from somewhere on the ranch property. He could see her. Her lovely, still-bare body. And as he, too, rose, she looked at him, as well.
They both laughed. “Guess we’re under orders from the dogs,” he said.
“Yes, we are. And if you need to leave...”
“Hey, if you want to kick me out, fine. Otherwise, I’m staying.”
She managed to pull on her jeans and shirt—but no underwear that he’d noticed. He did the same thing. “I don’t feel like kicking you out,” she said, and he felt his smile broaden.
Their venture outside didn’t take long since both well-behaved dogs were ready to accomplish quickly what they needed to.
And when they went back inside...well, their clothes came off again quickly. They engaged in one more fantastic heated encounter.
Afterward, when Elissa left the bedroom for a short while, Doug remembered to call Maisie to make sure she didn’t worry about his not coming home.
“I can guess where you are,” she said dryly. “Just make sure there are no hidden scalpels around.”
They had already discussed how Doug believed—or wanted to—that Elissa was being framed, so that was supposed to be a joke.
“No problem. I’ve got my weapon here.” Which he did, although he had left it in the kitchen.
He said good-night and hung up. Soon, Elissa and he were both ready for bed, and they fell asleep naked and in each other’s arms.
* * *
Elissa’s eyes popped open early the next morning. She heard Doug’s soft, deep breathing beside her, along with some snores from the floor near him—Hooper. She found herself smiling. Then frowning.
What had she done? What had they done? Oh, physically she knew very well what they had done last night. But what effect would it have on the rest of their relationship—the cop-civilian part of it? The cop who, no matter what he told her, suspected her not of merely being a possible victim, but also a murder suspect.
She must have moved at least a little, for Doug’s eyes opened, too. He came awake immediately—a cop thing?
He turned to prop himself up on his elbow and looked at her. “Good morning,” he said. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Very well,” she responded, knowing her smile had to appear sexy, the way she felt inside. “I was worn out.”
“Me, too.”
They talked briefly about their plans for the day. Doug had to report to the station for duty.
Elissa had intended to make another venture downtown to the hospital to hold some dog therapy sessions, since it was Thursday and her next class wasn’t to be until Saturday.
How would her class handle the death of one of their fellow students? Her therapy dog handling skills might wind up being directed toward helping the remaining students deal with the loss.
And what about her? Was she in danger? How could she be sure without knowing who had killed Jill or why?
Well, for now—
“I’ll just get in touch with Amber and see if there’s anything I can do here at the ranch,” she said. “Maybe I can work with the dogs in training to be K-9s, or see if Evan is holding classes I can watch or help with, or...well, whatever. Unless...”
Unless you arrest me, she thought, no matter what happened between them last night.
“Unless I tell you otherwise.” Doug’s head was cocked a little as if he was guessing what she was thinking.
“Yeah,” she responded, looking down. The movement attracted Peace, who put her adorable golden head on top of the bed. Elissa petted her dog, but her mind didn’t concentrate on that.
; No matter how wonderful the night had been, this was a new day—one in which her reputation, and even her freedom, remained in jeopardy.
And in the light of day, would Doug remain on her side?
“One reason I need to head to the department,” he said from behind her, “is to see where things stand in the investigation. But I really don’t like the idea of your being alone.”
Neither did she. But she said, “I’ll be fine,” hoping that was true. She stood, gave Peace another pat and then grabbed clothes from the room’s closet.
Soon they were fully dressed, Doug in his uniform shirt and trousers, and her in a casual outfit.
“Ready to take the dogs out?” he asked.
* * *
Doug was only partly amused when Amber and Evan, both also walking their dogs, caught up with Elissa and him in front of her house, on the sparse lawn on the other side of the driveway. “Busy time,” Amber said, undoubtedly referring to the dogs’ needs to come outside. But her look, eyebrows raised and slight smile, suggested she was referring to how busy the humans might have been inside the house.
Not that he felt embarrassed. Instead he had an urge to let the whole world know what Elissa and he had been up to—despite the possible threat to his job. But it would be unfair to her to even hint at the wonderful sex they’d had, though Amber and Evan undoubtedly could figure out what they’d been doing.
An idea came to him. Nothing outrageous, but it made a lot of sense: to tell these folks his concerns for Elissa’s safety and encourage them to keep an eye on her when they could.
“Hey, I think you two need to know what’s been going on—or more of it than you might already know. Can we talk?”
“Have you had breakfast yet?” Amber countered. “We can talk there.”
Doug shot a glance toward Elissa, who nodded and said, “That would be great. Thanks.”
They headed to the main house, where Sonya was already preparing breakfast. It was simple that day, just cereal and coffee, but she’d made plenty of coffee and just laid out a couple of extra bowls while giving the dogs a few treats.
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