by Wood, Lorena
“I bet you say that to all the girls you kiss.” It came out as a whisper, but she pushed away a little as she said it.
Nick didn’t want Whitney to think like that. “I thought you knew everything I felt.”
“I try not to intrude into every thought you have.”
“Well, let me tell you then.” He pulled her close again with his face inches from hers. “I’ve never felt like this before. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t sleep at night. I want you with me, in my bed, in my house. I want to hold you and touch you and take care of you. I keep telling myself that neither one of us wants a relationship, but the thought of not seeing you again scares me. When this is all over, you’re gonna go away. I don’t know what to do about that. I don’t think I want that.”
Whitney was amazed at his openness. “The truth is I’m scared. I’m afraid it won’t work out and you’ll hate me. I’m afraid to open up to a part of myself I’ve hidden for so long. I feel kind of silly for having waited so long.” She smiled a little and then sobered. “I’m scared of experiencing the pain I’ve seen with other people when their relationships fail. I’m afraid you won’t want me.”
“Whitney, I would never hurt you. I don’t know where this will lead to, but I know I would never hurt you on purpose.” He lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. Then he turned it over and slowly kissed the center of her palm.
“Just promise me you’ll think about it. If I’m willing to take the risk, then you don’t have to worry about hurting me. It will be my own fault. You deserve the same happiness in life that others have. Not everyone ends up hurting. Some people actually fall in love and live happily ever after.”
“Happily ever after? I don’t know about that.”
“How about just happily?”
She shrugged her shoulders and smiled a little. “I’ll think about it.”
He looked up at her and saw that her face was getting red. “Whitney, we’d better get into some shade. It’s getting hot up here.”
“It sure is,” she laughed and they both new she meant it in more ways than one.
The hike down gave her time to think, but the day was getting hotter and she was glad when they got to the car. The butterflies in her stomach made it hard to sit still. When she closed her eyes, the picture of his face, so close to hers, filled her mind. His eyes were the most intense blue she had ever seen. They sparkled like gemstones. It was such a contrast to his dark black hair. She found everything about him so fascinating, and very, very sexy.
When they got back to the house, Whitney found a note from Tina saying she was going to a friend’s camp for the day, and would be back the next morning. Since they were still overheated Nick suggested they go for a swim. Whitney spent fifteen minutes in her room trying to decide what suit to wear. She didn’t have people visit often, and even then it was a few friends. Her only choices were bikinis and that made her nervous. How could she send the signal that she wasn’t ready in a bikini? She finally decided on the one that covered the most skin and wrapped a towel around her waist. Everything about being with Nick felt new and scary, including a quick swim in her pool.
* * * *
Teddy was working at his desk poring over the files. He didn’t mind doing the leg work alone in this case. It was good to see Nick so interested in Whitney. He knew his partner and it was looking serious. Nick had always kept his dating light and casual. Teddy was amazed at how many women came on to Nick and he just took it in stride. This was different. Teddy hoped it would turn into something good for Nick. Then maybe he could stop worrying about him so much. Whitney sure needed someone to take care of her, and Nick was the one to do it.
He was still wondering how their day off was going as he pulled into the Kensington driveway. He had a few more questions for Ann Marie. She seemed to know the most about the current members, teams, coaches and even past members. She had been working closely with them to help them put it all together. She was keeping a close eye on her own six year old son and was hoping they would catch the guy soon.
Teddy rang the doorbell and waited. No one answered. He rang it again and finally heard someone yell to come in. He entered the dark front room and his eyes took a moment to adjust. Derrick, her son in the wheelchair, was over at the kitchen table.
“Is your mom at home?”
“Nope.”
“Do you know when she’ll be back?”
“Nope.”
Teddy had met Derrick before and knew that he wasn’t very friendly. He had learned from Ann Marie that she had been inspired by Derrick to help start the SVWC. When he was young he was a talented athlete and she wanted to open up his opportunities. He didn’t have a father to help out. Ann Marie had sought out other motivated parents to organize some teams and provide direction for the kids.
Ann Marie had told Teddy that Derrick had always been moody, but after he was injured in college he had totally withdrawn. He had gone to UCLA on a football scholarship. In his second year he was injured. They had hoped he would regain use of his legs, but it had been four years and he showed no signs of improvement. If the spine didn’t recover in the first year, there was very little hope. He kept himself strong by working out every day, and he even did his own therapy on his legs. He wouldn’t let anyone help him and refused physical therapy and any counseling.
Teddy couldn’t imagine being in Derrick’s situation, with a mom that pushed so hard and dedicated her life to sports. He would have been just as moody and maybe even worse. When Derrick wheeled back into the living room Teddy asked for a glass of water.
“Sure. Get it yourself. I’m a little indisposed.” Derrick sneered at Teddy and then down at the chair.
Teddy walked into the kitchen to find a glass. The floor was wet and muddy by the sink, and it didn’t match with the rest of the pristine surroundings. Noticing the mud dripping from a lower cupboard, he pulled it open. Inside were two sneakers that looked brand new except for the dirt along the bottom edges. It looked like someone had been trying to clean one of them and had been interrupted. There was a cloth and a dish pan full of water behind the garbage can. He looked closer at the shoes and saw patches of dark brown mixed in with the soil that looked an awful lot like dried blood. The shoes looked pretty large for Ann Marie, but she was a tall woman. On a hunch he quickly looked for a baggie and scraped some of the mud into the bag. He finished washing his hands and getting the water as Derrick rolled into the kitchen.
“You get lost in here or something.”
“No. Just wanted to wash up a little. My cars pretty dirty from my driveway. Haven’t paved it yet. I see you don’t have that problem. Nice paved driveway and all that grass. Looks like a carpet. Does your mom do all that work?”
“No. She has a gardener come and do it. She doesn’t want her yard to look like every other desert landscape around here. She thinks it makes the house look classier having all that grass mowed in the same direction.”
Teddy noticed Derrick’s shoes. Not a spot on them. Of course, they never touch the ground. He had a special van that lifted him up in his wheel chair and allowed him to drive with hand controls.
“I just thought your mom had been gardening a little and that’s how she got her shoes so dirty. Those are your mom’s shoes aren’t they?” He pulled open the cupboard and pointed.
Derrick glared but said nothing about the fact that Teddy had been snooping in the kitchen. “I don’t know,” he finally answered. “Maybe she went for a hike or something.”
Teddy finally excused himself and rushed back to the station. He sent the sample in to be analyzed and gave Ann Marie a call. He asked her a few questions about the teams and casually mentioned his visit with Derrick. He complimented her on the yard and asked about her gardener. He mentioned he had a day off coming soon and asked if she knew any good hiking places. She said she didn’t really hike anymore because of old knee injuries but gave him some ideas.
Teddy was just returning from
his interview with the gardener when his cell phone rang. They found blood samples on the shoe mixed in with the mud. They would be trying to match the DNA with the boys that had been abducted, but it would take a while. Since the gardener was a small Mexican man, the shoes couldn’t be his. Derrick couldn’t have climbed down to that cave or carried a boy anywhere, so that only left Ann Marie. They had to bring her in for questioning.
At the house Derrick started screaming at them. “You’re all a bunch of idiots! My mom couldn’t have done that. She loves kids. You can’t do this. We need to call our lawyer or something.”
Teddy tried to calm the boy while the police car drove away. “Derrick, the shoes in the house have mud and blood on them. Do you know how it got there?”
Derrick shook his head no.
“The mud matched the area where we found Kevin. We’re waiting to find out if the blood matches his.”
“How is Kevin? Is her going to make it?”
“He’s stable, but still in a coma. About the shoes, were you the one trying to clean them up? He didn’t answer. “I know she’s your mom Derrick, but we need to know. You wouldn’t want anymore boys to get hurt would you?”
“She wouldn’t do this,” he hissed through his teeth.
“Whoever is doing this needs help Derrick. If it was your mom you would want to get her help, wouldn’t you? You can help her if you cooperate with us. You could help us by telling us what you know. Do you remember where your mom was last Saturday?”
“I know she didn’t do anything. She was here. All night. She has to take care of me. Are we done? I have to go call our lawyer and get someone to take care of my brother.” He turned and wheeled back up the ramp to the house.
“Can I help you with anything?”
“Yeah, you can leave!” Derrick twirled his chair around and slammed the door shut.
Chapter 7
Nick was just walking out to the pool when his cell phone rang. He scooped it up and said hello as he stepped out on the deck.
“Hey buddy. How’s your day off?”
“Not bad. I’m just about to take a dip in the pool. Whitney’s standing here waiting for me.”
“Umm. So what’s she wearing?”
“You’ll never know.”
“I sure hope it’s a tiny little bikini. I can just imagine how she would look…”
“Hey! Watch it.”
Teddy laughed. “Sorry to bother you, but I have some news. Might be very good news so I wanted you to know. We’ve picked up someone for questioning. Case looks pretty tight.”
“Who is it?”
“Ann Marie Kensington.”
“No way! Ann Marie? That just doesn’t fit. Whitney kept getting a feeling it was a man.”
“Well, she might have been wrong on that part. They say it’s not an exact science. We found her shoes covered with mud that matched the area Kevin was in, and they had traces of blood on them. It is the same type as Kevin’s. We’re waiting for the DNA to come back, but it’s not looking good for her.”
“Why. What’s her motivation?”
“Haven’t figured that out yet.”
Nick told Teddy not to call off the men watching the other kids just yet. He hung up shaking his head.
“Weird. Not what I expected.” He said, knowing it didn’t feel right.
“I heard some of it,” Whitney said shaking her head. “I feel like I should have known. I didn’t sense anything with her, but that doesn’t mean anything. I heard you telling him I thought it was a man. I was never able to be sure about that, but it did seem Kevin thought it was a man. I’ll be so glad if it’s over.”
“I’m not so sure yet. What did you say the hands looked like when you saw them?”
“Well, they could have been a woman’s. Ann Marie is quite tall. They weren’t manicured, but they weren’t dirty either. The unsub is definitely Caucasian. Kevin saw someone in a mask. That’s been bothering me. How would he be lured away with someone in a mask? And if he saw the abductor and knew them, why would they wear a mask?”
“Maybe there were two of them. Or maybe they heard about you in the papers and didn’t want you to see him when we found the body.”
“That’s scary. That would mean he’s pretty smart and knows a lot about me.”
“And you’re a threat to him…or her.”
“Well, if it was Ann Marie, then I’m safe now and so are the rest of the boys.”
“Until we know for sure, I’m not leaving your side.” Nick wrapped his arm around Whitney’s bare waist and pulled her close. He could see the haunted look in her eyes again.
“Hey, we’re supposed to be having a day off. No talk about work. Remember? Let’s go for a swim. Last one in has to strip.” He dove in and came up laughing. His eyes bore into her and she looked away blushing.
“I did not agree to those terms.”
She looked back at Nick as he backstroked away from her. His upper body was tan and sculpted. His rugged face was alive with excitement as his eyes studied her body. She decided getting in the water would be better than standing there in full view. She dove in and started swimming toward the shallow end. Whitney swam laps almost every day. The long pool was heated so that she could swim most of the year. She felt her muscles starting to relax as she finished her second lap.
Nick felt his jaw drop and snapped it shut. She might already know his thoughts, but he didn’t want to get caught drooling. He tried to turn his attention from the drop dead body to something else. He could see from her fluid strokes that she was an accomplished swimmer. No wonder she looked so hot.
As Nick watched, he realized she probably spent much of her time alone, and had plenty of time for swimming. He also realized that the case might be solved soon and she would have no reason to stay in Phoenix.
“Whitney, come back and stay with me at my house for a while.”
“Um. I don’t know if I can do that. Once the loose ends are tied up I have other responsibilities and other cases. Besides, that sounds like it could be dangerous.” She gave a weak smile knowing he wouldn’t like her answer.
“Sure,” he said with pretend menace. “You can face danger on the job and a little bit of male attention sends you running?” He dove under the water and came up in front of her. When she tried to swim away he grabbed her and wrapped her legs around his waist. They were laughing and struggling until Whitney realized she was pinned.
“I’ll let you bring your birds.”
“No way, you’d let those messy birds in your house?”
“If that would get you to stay.”
“You’re so sweet.”
“Yeah, always putting others ahead of my own interests.” He leaned in and closed his mouth over hers. His tongue licked the edges of her lips and then slid into her mouth. Their bodies melted together in the warm water. Whitney had never kissed anyone like this. She had no idea she’d been missing this all those years.
Nick reached back and pulled off the pink tie that held her hair. It fell around her shoulders and over her breasts. His hands slid down her back and loosened the knot on her suit. The top fell into the water. Whitney let out a gasp of air and he could feel her go still. He gently cupped her breasts in his hands and brushed his thumbs over the dark brown peaks. Whitney leaned her head back on the pool and as he continued to explore her breasts. They were lighter than the rest of her body, but he could tell that she sometimes suntanned in the nude. He imagined her lying out on the deck looking like this and yet totally innocent and unaware of what she could do to a man. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being with anyone else.
Whitney couldn’t find the words to tell him to stop. He moved his lips and then his tongue slowly over her breasts, finally flicking his tongue over her nipple. Whitney shuddered and her fingers tightened around his arms. He turned his attention to the other breast and she felt her fears draining away. This is what she had wanted. He wanted her. He wasn’t afraid of her. He didn’t view her as a freak.
She reached up and ran her fingers through his wet hair. Nick lifted his mouth up to hers and crushed her lips in a hungry kiss. Whitney could hardly breathe, her head arched back.
“Uuhhhh, Nick,” she moaned.
“Whitney.”
“Yes,” she answered in a husky whisper.
“Let’s go inside. I want this to be perfect.” He was afraid to give her a chance to reconsider. He carried her into the house and placed her on the thick rug by the fireplace. She hadn’t come out and said it, but he knew this would be her first time. He hadn’t meant to rush it, but there was no turning back.
“You’re right. I’ve never…” She turned away from him.
“Whitney, don’t.” He touched his finger to her chin and turned her head back. “You have nothing to be ashamed of. You’re a beautiful woman and I am in awe that you chose me.”
Nick placed his hands on the sides of her head and bent down to kiss her. “Don’t be scared Whitney. I’ll be good to you. Don’t hold back. Just let it happen.”
As his lips moved down to her breasts she inhaled the scent of his body. She couldn’t concentrate enough to change her mind. He brushed the hair back from her face and kissed her. A small moan escaped as her body thrummed with anticipation. He positioned himself over her and ran his hand over her flat stomach and down her thighs. Whitney jumped as he touched her where no one had touched before. She reached up and held his shoulders. He was so strong and masculine. She knew they were just beginning and her head was already spinning.
His finger slid into her warm folds and her breath caught in her throat. He leaned in and kissed her. She knew he was working hard to be gentle, but his mouth was fast and hungry. He bit her lower lip gently and slid his finger farther into the hot, moist entrance. He let out a groan and she could feel his erection pushing against her thigh.
She’d tried to imagine this so many times before. She couldn’t believe she wanted him so badly. She needed to feel him inside of her. His fingers moved and she felt him rub against her sensitive bud. He increased the tempo as his tongue moved in and out of her mouth at the same time. Whitney arched up to meet his hand and she let out a moan.