by Rita Herron
Did Sydney have any idea what her husband had been up to?
FEELING CALMER Now, Sydney willed herself to remain detached as she placed the tray on the coffee table and sat in the wing chair facing Collin. The couch seemed too small and intimate. In fact, the whole den seemed too warm and closed-in with Collin’s big body in it.
“Thanks.” Collin grabbed a sandwich and a drink.
“Did you find another room or did you decide to head back to Charleston?”
Collin chewed the sandwich, giving her a steady look. “I told you I’m staying until I know you’re safe.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Sydney held her sandwich in limp fingers. “I can take care of myself.”
He drained the glass of lemonade, then stared at her, his expression unreadable. “I haven’t called anywhere about a room yet.”
She swallowed and put down her sandwich. “Then you’ve decided to go home?”
He arched an eyebrow, that devilish gleam back in his eyes. “I’ve decided I can protect you better if I sleep on your couch.”
The knot that had finally unwound in her stomach while she’d been in the kitchen tightened again. “Do you really think I need protection?”
His smile faded. “Yeah, it looks like it,” he said gruffly.
Alarm filled her eyes and Collin set his sandwich on the table.
“We need to talk.” He reached for her hands and squeezed them gently.
She pulled her hands away and stared at him, shaken by his tone.
“This isn’t easy for me to tell you.” He studied her face. “But I just talked to a friend of mine, the detective I used to find out about Doug being the donor for my transplant.”
Dread climbed her neck. “A detective?”
“Yeah. He was checking into Doug’s murder.”
“What did he learn?”
“Some background information on Doug.” He propped his elbows on his knees. “Did you know Doug had been married before?”
His voice was so calm Sydney thought she must have misunderstood him. “No, he wasn’t,” she said. But she immediately knew she was wrong when Collin dropped his head forward, feigning a sudden interest in his shoes.
Sympathy softened his voice. “Her name was Gina Waters. She lives in Charleston.”
Sydney released a pain-filled breath, shocked by his words. The extra checking account in Charleston—had it been for his ex-wife‘?
“There’s more,” he said, his gray eyes searching her face. “He had a record, had been arrested for fraud, accused of violating FDA standards—”
“No, that can’t be true.” Her heartbeat seemed to slow to a dull, aching throb as the extent of Doug’s deception sank in.
“It’s true, Sydney,” he said in that same calm voice. “I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you. I know how much you loved him.”
Sydney buried her face in her hands, unable to look at him any longer. Pain rolled through her. Part of her couldn’t believe Doug had been married, that he hadn’t told her about his first wife. But with everything that had happened, all she’d learned since Doug’s death, she knew it was true. He had lied about his feelings for her, he had another name, the vasectomy, another wife. God, what else?
“I thought he might be having an affair,” she finally admitted in a voice so low she wasn’t sure Collin heard her. “I wondered... all those times he went on business trips, if he had someone else.”
Collin’s breathing faltered slightly. His expression grew grimmer as he waited for her to continue.
“I found things in his pockets, a handkerchief that smelled like perfume, motel receipts, a receipt for a gift he’d bought and hadn’t given me....” She fought to keep the pain from her voice but heard the unmistakable anguish there, anyway. “I thought there might be another woman, but the arrests—I had no idea.”
“He’s been accused of violating FDA standards more than once,” Collin said. “Probably one reason for the aliases.”
The heat was suddenly suffocating. She reached for her lemonade, then pressed the cool glass to the side of her face. “I found a passport and driver’s license with the name Doug Black on it underneath some things of his in the closet.”
Collin’s head snapped up.
“And a ticket to Brazil. The flight was scheduled for the day he died.”
“Did you give this evidence to Raeburn?”
She set down her glass. “I didn’t know what to do. I found it after the police insinuated they suspected me. I was afraid Raeburn would think I had a motive. He doesn’t seem to be looking anywhere beyond me for the killer.” Sydney balled her hands into fists, trying to control her emotions. She refused to fall apart in front of Collin. Maybe when he left—
“Would you show me the fake credentials?”
She froze, wondering why he wanted to see them. But Raeburn didn’t believe her. Maybe Collin would. Maybe his friend would even help.
“I’ll get them.” She rushed into her bedroom, her hands shaking as she took the box from the closet. Then she paused on the way back and stared at Collin’s face through the doorway. Sunlight streamed in the window, radiating off his skin. A curl of his dark brown hair tumbled across his forehead, adding to his rugged, sexy look.
If she showed Collin the things she’d found, she’d be giving him all her trust, exposing herself to the humiliation of his finding out more about Doug’s lies. Then again, if she didn’t, she might never learn who had murdered Doug and be able to move on with her life.
And she couldn’t forget—someone had tried to kill her.
COLLIN WAITED for Sydney, his jaw aching from clenching his teeth. He’d forced himself to search Sydney’s face for any clues she might be pretending shock when he told her about Doug’s first wife and his record. But her reaction had seemed heartfelt, which made continuing this investigation even more difficult. He’d hated like hell to tell her about Doug’s wife. What if they discovered something worse about the guy? Maybe he had a whole string of wives or lovers. Maybe he’d hurt so many innocent people he deserved to die.
He dropped his head, guilt slamming into him. How could he think that about the man who’d given him back his eyesight? The one person who’d allowed him to live in the light again, instead of eternally in that prison of darkness?
Sydney walked into the room and he lifted his head. She thrust a box filled with papers toward him. “The fake passport, the driver’s license, some of the receipts and things I found in Doug’s pockets are in there.”
He accepted the box, then Sydney sat back down, watching him.
He opened the passport and studied Doug Green’s face, the round cheeks, red hair and beard, the wiry mustache. It seemed strange this man had been married to Sydney. He’d pictured a more charismatic-looking man, a hanker type in a suit with a red power tie. And Green’s eyes—they were a dull brown, nothing like his own Doug had the kind of face that remained emotionless, like the ones
Collin had seen on countless criminals he’d interrogated over the years. The color, the inflection, the distance—nothing like his own.
“That picture doesn’t look like him,” Sydney said in a low voice. “At least, not the way I knew him.”
“What do you mean?”
“His hair was sandy blond and he never wore a mustache or beard.” She fidgeted with her hands. “I almost didn’t recognize him when I saw the picture.”
Green had obviously meant to flee the country in disguise. But why? Could McKenzie have been telling the truth? If Doug had finalized the deal with Norvek, received his money and cashed in his stock options before the bogus licensing agreement had been discovered, he could have retired somewhere out of the country with millions. Not a bad plan. But something had gone wrong. What?
He studied the driver’s license, but his vision suddenly blurred, dulling into the gray and white patches he now recognized as Doug’s memory. Sweat popped out on his forehead, and he clutched the table edge, letting the mem
ory unfold.
A woman with wavy, short brown hair stood with a child on her hip, her face drawn, her expression heated as she spoke to him. Tears streaked the toddler’s face, streaming from big brown eyes.
But he couldn’t understand what the woman was saying and the memory disappeared as quickly as it had come. He fumbled with the motel receipts from the shoe box and more visions bombarded him.
A woman with hair as golden as the sun, a tan miniskirt that showed off her thighs, heavy makeup and glossy red nail polish. She tossed a pair of black high heels toward him as she sprawled on an unmade bed, her posture almost vulgar.
A young woman, maybe twenty dancing around a motel room wearing nothing but a pair of bikini panties, shaking her breasts, her head thrown back, her eyes dilated as if she was high on something.
A woman in the shadows, red hair, tall and willowy, a whisper of seduction hanging in the air, the smell of anger...
“Collin...Collin.” He jerked, shaking away the disturbing images. Sydney was jostling his arm. “What’s wrong? Did you figure out what Doug was doing with this fake ID?”
His hand folded around the passport. “No, not yet.” He studied another receipt, one from a jewelry shop in France. A two-inch diamond pin, a sea horse with an emerald eye. His fist closed around the piece of paper, the description of the pin nagging at his mind. He had seen one like it, but where?
Then he remembered. Marla Perkins. The blond woman at the festival, the one who’d said she and her husband were separated. She’d been wearing a sea-horse pin just like the one the sales ticket described. So Doug had had an affair with Marla.
If Doug had a string of lovers, it was possible one of them had murdered him. That his death had nothing to do. with his illegal business dealings. No fury like a woman scorned, he thought, vaguely recalling the old quote—or like the wife of a cheating husband. Raeburn, he knew, would pounce on the latter.
Disgust ate at him with every detail unveiled about Doug Green’s life. He had no idea how to cushion the blow for Sydney. “You know, Sydney, if you were right,” he said in a cautious voice, “and Doug was having an affair, the other woman would be a suspect in his murder. It’s possible she killed him out of jealousy.”
Sydney shrank farther into the chair, small and vulnerable-looking. He felt like a jerk. “I suppose you’re right.” She shrugged. “But I don’t have any idea who this other woman might have been.”
One of your friends, he thought, the ugly taste of acid burning in his throat. Maria with that cute little girl Beth. And there might be others. Maybe he could find out about Maria, see if she had an alibi before he revealed her relationship with Doug to Sydney.
He scrubbed a hand over his face again, his body aching with fatigue, his vision blurring.
“Collin, are you all right?” Sydney asked.
He nodded. “I’m fine. It’s been a long day.”
“I know. You probably should have stayed in the hospital to rest.”
“I’ve had enough of hospitals to last me a lifetime.” Her blue eyes filled with sympathy. “Don’t,” he said, not wanting her to worry about him. He noticed the shadows beneath her eyes. She’d admitted she hadn’t slept very well the past two nights. “You look pretty tired yourself.”
“Yeah, it has been a long day,” she said softly.
For a minute they sat in strained silence. He wanted to touch her, to wipe the anxiety from her eyes, but he reached for the phone book, instead. “I guess I’d better see about finding that hotel”
She stood, her fingers feathering her long dark hair from her cheeks, her face drawn with confusion. “You can sleep on the couch if you want.” Her gaze captured his, and for a second he recognized the desire, the need burning in her eyes. Then she quickly masked it, and he thought he might have imagined it.
She walked down the hall and returned with a pillow and blanket, then set them on the sofa and said good-night. But long after she’d gone to her room, her jasmine cologne lingered, seeping into his body and driving him mad with desire.
He couldn’t sleep for wondering why she’d changed her mind and let him spend the night.
WATCHING COLLIN STUDY Doug’s things had driven Sydney crazy. She washed her face and donned a simple cotton nightshirt as she contemplated the hypnotic pull of the man’s steely gray eyes. She’d wanted him to say something, do something, other than sit there with that odd, faraway look on his face as if he’d been privy to a world of Doug’s she knew nothing about.
Slipping between the sheets, she nipped off the light and stared at the moonlight spilling through the narrow gap in the curtains. The day’s events, the fire, Collin’s escape, the things she’d learned about Doug all jumbled in her mind. If Raeburn found out about Doug’s infidelity, he’d arrest her. Or maybe he already knew. Perhaps that was the very reason he hadn’t been looking for the real killer.
But if Collin believed her, maybe he and his friend would find Doug’s murderer and this nightmare would be over.
She rolled onto her side and stared at the wall, trying to shut off her feelings and the connection she felt to the enigmatic man only a few feet away in her den. A man who claimed to want to help her. A man who had turned her inside out with his touch, who had kissed her so hotly that her body had melted into a puddle of longing.
It couldn’t happen again. Because even though the man had given her the most extraordinary kiss of her life, he had Doug’s lying, deceiving eyes.
Chapter Ten
When the first slivers of morning light streaked through the sheers of Sydney’s den windows, Collin groaned and climbed off the couch, stretching his sore limbs. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to sleep, but he finally had. Now he’d awakened with more questions running through his mind. The realization that Sydney was in the other room in a big warm bed had him heading for the shower.
After retrieving a new set of clothes from the car, he went into the hall bathroom, smiling at the sight of a pair of black nylons draped over the shower rod. He couldn’t resist touching them. As his fingertips glided over the sheer material, he imagined slowly sliding them off Sydney’s slender legs, then sweeping her into his arms and making slow, passionate love to her. His frustration mounting, he forced himself to remove the delicate stockings and file away the provocative thoughts.
He thought about her home and how it compared to the drabness of his apartment. He’d had to keep things uncluttered when he’d been blind, and colors and accessories hadn’t mattered. Now he appreciated the simple decorative touches, even in the bathroom. Warmth radiated throughout the house.
But she’d shared this house with another man, who was the only reason he’d come to Beaufort. Stripping off the borrowed jeans and his boxers, he climbed into the shower, adjusted the temperature and savored the feel of the warm water washing away the last remnants of smoke from his skin. Still fighting lustful thoughts about Sydney, he stepped out of the shower and toweled off, then dressed, making mental notes about the case.
Did Raeburn know about Green’s affairs? If so, it explained why Raeburn wasn’t hunting too hard for another suspect He was probably building a solid case against Sydney. The only thing missing was the murder weapon. Sam had said the gun still hadn’t been found. Was it the pistol he’d seen in Sydney’s car the day she’d crashed into the ocean?
A few minutes later he’d rummaged through the kitchen and made a pot of coffee, hoping he’d have time to talk to the police sergeant before Sydney awoke. After that, he planned to talk to Gina Waters, Green’s first wife.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and dialed Raeburn. Seconds later the man’s husky voice came on the line. “So, Mr. Cash, you came here on vacation, right?”
Collin sighed. “That’s what I told you.”
“You always bring your gun when you take a vacation?”
He’d found it in the fire, Collin realized. “Yeah. You’re a cop—don’t you?”
“I wear it to bed,” Raeburn admitted. “Bu
t that’s not the point. I’ve been doing some checking on you, mister. You haven’t worked since you were shot in the line of duty. So why did you show up here poking your nose around in this murder investigation?”
“I haven’t been poking my nose around,” Collin lied. “It was a fluke that I saw Sydney run off the road. After that, I got curious.” He paused. “When you see someone almost die, it teats to raise questions in your mind. If you were in my shoes, would you have left it alone?”
Raeburn muttered a curse. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, Cash, but I don’t need a stranger messing up my investigation. If you know something about Green or his wife, you’d better tell me.” .
“All I know is someone tried to burn down the place where I was staying, and I want to know what you’ve found out.”
“Nothing yet,” Raeburn answered. “The lab’s still working on the tests.”
“No suspects? Anybody see anything suspicious?”
“All the nearby residents were asleep,” Raeburn replied, sounding annoyed.
“What about McKenzie?”
“His wife bailed him out two nights ago. But she swears he stayed with her all night.”
“She could be covering for him.” Collin clenched his jaw. “And you’d better make sure he doesn’t go near Sydney.”
“I’m covering it. What are you keeping from me, Cash?”
“Nothing.” Collin sipped his coffee, deciding Raeburn was smarter than he’d originally thought. But he still didn’t like him.
“I don’t believe you,” Raeburn said. “I know Green worked in Charleston. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. Did you have him under investigation there?”
“We have a file on him.” Collin’s patience was growing short “Did you know he had an alias? That he’d been arrested for tax evasion and violating FDA standards?”
“I don’t have to discuss what I know with you,” Raeburn snarled. “So stay out of my case or I’ll have you charged for interfering with an investigation.”