by Karen Anders
“May I have a word with you?” he said coolly.
She lifted her chin, having talked, fought, or blustered her way out of almost anything. But this guy. Wow. He was looking at her long and hard, his eyes dark, intense and filled with enough raw power to make a shiver go down her spine.
Emma came around the counter and walked outside with distracting Agent Derrick. No way in hell did she want to even feel the least bit attracted. Men like him were closed-mouthed and unemotional. They were also usually married to their jobs. She got along with just about everyone; it was imperative in her business to be people savvy. But with Special Agent Gunn, she found herself getting all distracted and confrontational with him. A little hot and bothered was on that list, too. Okay, so maybe it was a lot hot and bothered. One look at him and it was easy to see herself kissing those lips, getting close to him and getting an even better whiff of that cologne he was wearing, something like him, spicy and clean.
It was very disconcerting for a woman who found herself in her early thirties and completely devoid of any type of romantic relationship. Not that Derrick was a good candidate. He just reminded her that in all her travels, she’d never been this interested, turned on or this tempted in her life. But it was completely out of the question and impossible. Special Agent Derrick Gunn was one of the investigators on her sister’s and nephew’s cases. She couldn’t jeopardize it with any kind of personal relationship with him.
She was picky and to allow someone in her personal space, he had to be special. So she had encounters instead of relationships. That suited her and her physical needs just fine. Not that she was looking for a husband or even a boyfriend, for that matter. That was Lily’s hope—to have a family. Emma wasn’t sure she could open up her heart wide enough for that. Her grandmother hadn’t nurtured them in the least and Emma had learned to be just as tough. Vulnerability equated to weakness in Bess’s book. With Lily’s injuries she was beside herself with worry, determined to make a difference here. It had been them against the world for so long.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Those piercing blue eyes bored into hers. He was scruffier than when she’d first met him at Lily’s. His medium length hair was tousled from either his fingers or what looked like a sleepless night.
That struck her. She’d been a dedicated cop when she’d been on the force, had spent many nights working to break a case, but Agent Gunn had been not only dedicated enough to get either very little sleep or no sleep at all, but also to take the time to track her down. He was concerned about her. He might not act it, but she was sure he had the information about the license plate. It was why he was here. He’d spoken to Gail and she’d told him what she had seen. Why did he care about a PI sticking her nose into the investigation, family member or not?
“Getting the information I need to go after my sister’s intruder and my nephew.”
“Looks like you’re impeding a federal investigation to me,” he said, his voice deep, smooth and compelling.
“I was going to give you the information after I found out who rented that car and if it had anything to do with my sister.”
“Does it?”
“You tell me. I’m sure you already have the information.”
He made a soft laughing noise that had nothing to do with humor. “You’re absolutely right. We have the information and we’re going to follow up on it.”
“Fine. Then why are you wasting your time tracking me down and busting my chops?”
He set his hands on his hips. “These are dangerous people, Emma. We found the complex’s landscaper murdered for his shirt.”
“I was a cop for ten years, and have been a PI for three years. I deal with extremely dangerous criminals every day. That’s not going to scare me off. I have every right to hunt for my nephew and nothing you say will stop me. So either arrest me for impeding your investigation or get out of my way.” Oh, shoot. This man brought out the worst in her.
She was just about to apologize when he said, “Your gun?”
“What?” she bit out. He held out his hand. “I have a permit.”
“I’m sure you do.” He did a “gimme” gesture with his fingers. She pulled the gun she carried in a holster at her lower back and set it in his palm. He checked the safety and pocketed the weapon. “Turn around,” he said through gritted teeth.
She huffed and did as he asked. When she felt the cold steel against her wrists, and his hot skin against hers, she swore under her breath. “There’s no need for this. I’m just trying to help.” She gritted her teeth against the reaction her body experienced when he touched her. His wide chest and broad shoulders, all that muscled power beneath his expensive suit...
He was close behind her and when he leaned in to speak into her ear, his warm breath made her shiver. She tried to chalk that up to reaction, but she knew she was lying to herself. “Civilians helping is something NCIS frowns on, Ms. St. John. It could muck up the evidence.” He marched her to his car and opened the back door.
Emma sighed, ducking her head to get inside. She couldn’t let her emotions get to her. “Exactly. I could work with you.”
At his dubious look, she swallowed hard. How could she convince him? “Don’t cut me out. I can help you.” The need churned in her gut and wouldn’t go away, no matter what she did, from this moment to the day she stopped drawing breath. If she didn’t see this through, it would haunt her every waking hour.
She’d taken care of Lily since they’d been kids, protected her against their indifferent and mean-spirited grandmother, who resented them for messing up her perfect life and interfering with her work. It had been them together against the world and she couldn’t just let NCIS take over and handle the investigation. She couldn’t.
Derrick turned around and stared at her; she bit back the tears. This was too important. She had to act professional. Not like a grieving sister and panicked aunt. Getting her nephew back and making the person who hurt her sister pay would be the only outcomes she could handle.
He sighed. “We don’t make a habit of arresting grieving sisters, Ms. St. John. I resent you for making me do it.”
He turned back around and put the car in gear. “Well, then, we’re even, Agent Gunn,” she said softly to his suddenly stiff shoulders. “Are you going to tell me if you found this George Douglas or not?” she asked when the pressure to know got too much.
“My pal at NCIS is looking for that car right now and tracking down the guy who rented it. With traffic cams all over this city, the AMBER Alert active, we’ll spot it and that will give us some clue where he might have gone.” He pulled onto the highway and said, “I did interrogate Lily’s CO. They were having an affair.”
“What?” If Lily had kept this from her, what else had she kept secret? Had she been too afraid of Emma’s interference? Had Emma driven her sister to keep these secrets?
“He seems like a decent guy. They were planning to get married and he was offered a position in Okinawa. They were going overseas together.”
Trying to ease the sudden knot in her throat, she tightened her bound hands into fists, the hard wad of tension in her belly intensifying. Experiencing a flurry of emotions—pain, guilt, anger and hurt—Emma had thought she and Lily had an unshakable bond. But when Lily had shocked the hell out of Emma with the news that she was taking an overseas assignment in Japan, Emma had voiced her disapproval. The fact that her sister would be too far away for Emma to keep an eye on her fueled the worry that had made Emma’s words harsh. And, to Emma’s incredulous surprise, Lily had pushed back, hard. She’d told Emma to mind her own business for once and stop crapping all over her rainbows, dampening her happiness and pointing out problems. Lily had stormed out and she hadn’t heard from her in days. But they’d reconciled somewhat when Lily had asked Emma to watch Matty. Now she was in a coma and might never wake up, all that promise
gone. Had she been too heavy-handed in Lily’s life? Was that because her own had been so empty?
“So maybe you didn’t like that idea and you two fought.”
Emma stiffened and glared at his back. “What are you saying? I pushed Lily down the stairs because I couldn’t let her go to Japan? I hired some thug to abduct my nephew, and I have him stashed away to keep him safe?”
“Did you? Do you have him?”
She leaned forward and said, her tone glacial, “No. I would never hurt my sister. Never deprive my nephew of his mother, no matter how much I disagreed with her.”
“I have to ask these questions,” he said, meeting her gaze briefly in the rearview. “It’s nothing personal. Just the fact that well-meaning family members can get carried away.”
“I didn’t,” she said as his eyes flicked away. “We fought. Sisters fight, but we would have worked it out.”
He pulled up to the Pendleton office and got out of the car. Helping her out, he kept his hand on her arm. She wanted to shrug him off, but she didn’t want it to matter, so she endured his touch.
Once they emerged from the elevator and entered the bullpen, his teammates all stared at him. One woman looked nonplussed and rubbed at her forehead. “What’s going on?”
“I arrested her.”
“Derrick,” a tall woman with honey-blond hair said, clearly appalled at his treatment of her.
“Take her to the conference room and remove the cuffs,” the first woman instructed.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said and escorted her into the conference room. He unlocked the cuffs and slipped them back into the pouch under his suit coat.
She rubbed her wrists. His eyes went there and he looked away, another little frisson of heat sizzling through her. Damn that reaction.
“You’re pretty self-assured about everything you do, aren’t you?” Okay, so maybe she was picking a fight. That helped to neutralize this...thing between them.
He didn’t answer and she sighed. Did she peg him or what?
Emma hadn’t had time to research the tattoo Gail had mentioned, but the sound of it gave her an idea of what it was. To get her mind off the vibes she was getting from Derrick, and give him some information that might be helpful, she said, “That tattoo is Santa Muerte, Saint Death. It’s usually depicted by a woman with designs on her face and stitched lips, chalky white skin. Many Mexicans revere her as a popular icon. You can ask her for love, money or wealth, but it’s also insanely popular with drug dealers or criminals and acts as protection. Connecting with death hopefully will protect them.”
“You’re pretty knowledgeable about Mexican culture.”
“I’ve cleared several cases in Mexico. I saw firsthand the tattoos and the worship of her. I speak fluent Spanish. I could be an asset.”
“You think someone is going to ransom your nephew?”
“No, I don’t think he will be ransomed. I think he was taken for a reason and my sister stood in the way, but I have no idea for what purpose.”
He pulled out his cell and gave the person on the other end the information about the tat.
His boss entered the room and she came forward. “Supervisory Special Agent Kai Talbot. Have a seat, Ms. St. John.”
Emma sat, keeping her eyes on this woman. She was formidable in a nonthreatening way and Emma liked her. It was inordinately easier to deal with her than to have to interact with that gorgeous, pushy alpha male.
Even with her attention on Kai, she was aware of him looming in the background, his presence palatable, distracting her all over again.
Emma leaned forward and said, “Does he have to be here?”
Kai smiled and nodded. “He’s one of the best.” She sat forward and said, “I have more information.” Emma steeled herself to hear about what had happened to her sister. “She has defensive wounds. She fought hard before she was thrown down the stairs. It’s the doctor’s assessment that she didn’t break her fall—a human reflex. She would have had to been unconscious when she tumbled.”
“My little sister fought. I’m so proud of her.”
“This all likely happened very early yesterday morning. He’s had all this time to take your nephew anywhere. But we have a Be On the Lookout—BOLO—alert in progress.”
Derrick was watching her, and for one single moment she wondered how it would feel to have his arms around her, comforting her just like his body language and his eyes broadcasted he wanted to as she allowed herself to look over at him. Her eyes filled up with tears as she tried to swallow. Derrick inhaled sharply and started toward her, almost as if he didn’t remember Kai was even in the room.
Her heart jumped into overdrive, pounding so hard it felt as if it would come through her ribs. She shifted her eyes to Kai, feeling her face drained of blood, but Kai’s expression and eyes softened, too. Emma looked down, trying to keep her composure, her pulse laboring, her breath jammed up in her chest, fighting her anger and anguish, all mixed up into a surging desire to maim someone.
Compelled, she looked back at Derrick. Holding his gaze, she stared at him this time with the pain and desolation she couldn’t hide bare, tears spilling over.
Dragging in a ragged breath, he swore viciously and quietly to himself. Snatching up a box of tissues on the table, he walked over and offered her one. It was clear to her he considered it a paltry offering, but she pulled one out of the box and sat there as the tears rolled off her jaw.
They gave her a few moments of silence to absorb the information and handle her grief.
“Emma, Derrick arrested you for a reason. We can’t have civilians—”
“I wouldn’t say I was a civilian.”
“We have a murder now included in this investigation.”
“A murder? Who?”
“The landscaper, Kevin Sherman. He was a grandfather and husband, had two grown daughters. Found him in the back of his pickup truck.”
Her heart went out to the family, but she’d already been involved in solving more grisly murders. “I used to be an LAPD detective, and I worked homicide. Now I’m a private investigator and successful enough to have offices in San Francisco, LA and here in San Diego. I want the people who took my nephew and hurt my sister.”
“So do we.”
“Not as much as I do,” she said fervently, meeting Kai’s eyes straight on, blotting her eyes with the tissue, showing her need to actively participate and see this through. Emma’s meaning struck home as Kai acknowledged her right to be involved. “He’s my family. I want in on this.”
“We don’t think that’s a good idea for you to be personally involved,” Derrick growled, pushing through his already disheveled hair and yanking on his already displaced tie. The smooth skin of his chest peeked out from between the open collar of his dress shirt.
Why did she have to have this reaction to him? How was it that he projected so much from those hard, flinty eyes without really saying anything and she had to resist the urge to shiver? Deep down he cared, and his sense of justice was evident in the cadence of his voice. But Emma had just lost the stable world she’d constructed for herself, Lily and Matty. She was broken and hurting, feeling horribly guilty, and she didn’t know any other way to handle this. She might have been struggling, but she wasn’t defeated. “I’d be an asset. As I said, I speak fluent Spanish and I’ve been to Mexico many times. I have even negotiated for a kidnapped businessman and worked with the FBI. I’m fully qualified with a handgun. I can do things federal agents can’t because I have fewer restrictions on the letter of the law. I can help in this investigation.” She pulled an envelope out of her purse. “Here is my résumé.”
Derrick strode over and turned her chair. “You’re too close to this.”
She stood and faced off against him, her temper tripping, the grief igniting her deep-seated need to prote
ct her sister and the agonizing realization that she’d failed so utterly. She had to do this. Be involved. There was no other way and she’d die trying because she had to. It was the only way she could live with herself.
“You can’t stop me from investigating if I choose to. I don’t care if I lose my license or you throw me in jail. I’ll get bail and then I’ll do what is necessary to find out who did this. You can either allow me to work with you or I’ll do it on my own.”
He took a step closer and she tensed, not because he was threatening her. She didn’t need this distraction. It would be so much easier to deal with Kai alone. This man already had a way of seeing past her defenses, to some other place she was unaccustomed to people reaching. It was like he knew what it was like to have to keep every shred of vulnerability under wraps. Like he understood. She rejected that. It wasn’t possible to understand what she’d gone through, what Lily had to endure at the hands of their grandmother.
He stood his ground, kept his gaze steady on hers. She had to grudgingly admit that this man wasn’t intimidated by her like so many were. “Let us handle this. We’ll keep you fully informed—”
Both their cells rang and they answered in unison. Then looked at each other, their gazes triumphant. Disconnecting the call, Kai said, “We found the vehicle.”
They both headed for the door and Emma was determined she wasn’t going to be left here to ponder ineffectually while the “professionals” conducted the investigation.
“No,” Derrick said, holding up his hand.
She went around him, and he grabbed her arm.