by Rita Herron
He hit the automatic button to roll down the windows but they didn’t budge. “Dammit.” Cole slammed his elbow into the window and the glass shattered. He chipped away the remaining jagged edges with the knife, then turned to her. “Come on. We have to crawl out.”
He shoved his broad shoulders through, and dove onto the ground while Joey crawled to the driver’s side. She grabbed her purse and he pulled her through the opening headfirst. Her heart pounded at the sight of the flames shooting from the front of the car. Heat suffused her face, and the smell of gasoline filled her nostrils as she landed on top of Cole. He caught her, and they rolled sideways on the ground, then he dragged her toward a clearing away from the sedan. A fraction of a second later, the car exploded with a thunderous roar and bright orange flames colored the gray sky, smoke billowing in a thick cloud.
Joey heaved for a breath as Cole leaned against a tree. She searched the road and woods for the shooter or another car, and saw Cole doing the same, but the driver had left them to die.
The thought sent another shudder through her, and she realized how close they’d come to death.
Cole turned her to face him. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, but her shoulder and chest ached. She might have cracked a rib or two and she’d have more bruises. His hand was bleeding from the broken glass, his face covered with sweat and dusted with soot.
Their gazes met, anger and fear pumping adrenaline through her. She saw the same emotions mirrored in his eyes as he yanked her into his arms and held her.
“God, Joey,” Cole said in a gruff voice. “That was close.”
“I know.” She leaned into his strength, unable to remember the last time she’d let someone support her. But she couldn’t resist now.
“Did you see anything?” she whispered.
He rested his head on top of hers. “No, just a dark car. I couldn’t even get the make.”
Joey clung to his arms and pressed her face into his warmth. Today they had confronted Stella, Jim McKinney and her father. Had one of their own family members tried to have them killed? It was hard to believe they might be so evil….
The date book in her purse felt heavy, reminding her that it might hold a clue as to Lou Anne’s killer. She had to study it tonight and see if it offered answers.
Cole stroked her back while the car continued to burn. Fire hissed and popped, crackling. Heat seared her skin, the flames painting lines of orange and red across Cole’s strong face.
Cole removed his cell phone and punched in a number. “Zane, it’s Cole. Someone just tried to kill me and Joey.” He paused. “A dark car. Gunshots fired at us. The car sideswiped us and sent us into a spin. We need a fire truck and crime team out here now.”
Joey closed her eyes. All she wanted to do was retreat to the inn and bury herself in Cole’s arms. Kiss him and have him hold her all night and help her forget that her own family might be out to destroy her.
WITHIN MINUTES, sirens wailed and bright lights flickered through the sky as the fire truck screeched to a stop. Zane raced up on the heels of the fire truck, a crime scene unit van following, one of the deputies vaulting out with him. Unfortunately Dennison was in tow as well, shooting photos as he approached.
“Get the crime scene area roped off immediately!” Zane ordered. “And keep Dennison out!”
The deputy jumped into motion, as did the crime unit and firemen.
Zane took one look at the inferno that had been Cole’s Rangers-issued car and anger blazed in his eyes. “Are you guys all right?”
“Just bruised and scratched,” Cole said. “I can’t believe the guy escaped.”
Zane spun on Dennison. “Get the hell out of here!”
“You’d be better off cooperating,” Dennison sputtered as he snapped a shot of Zane. “Your antagonism only makes you look guilty of conspiracy to cover up a crime.”
Zane froze, a lethal look in his eyes. Cole felt the same rage burn within him, and grappled for control.
Joey stepped forward, irritation on her face, but her voice remained calm. “I’ll take care of him.” She pulled Dennison to the side, gave him a short version of what had happened, then they spoke in hushed tones.
“What did you see?” Zane asked.
Cole kept an eye on them while he spoke to Zane. He didn’t like the fact that Dennison was one step behind them.
“Nothing much. The car raced up behind me, but I couldn’t get the model or see the driver.”
“I’ll have the crime techs look for tire marks,” Zane said.
“Dammit, you won’t be able to retrieve paint samples from where the other car hit us off of that charred mess,” Cole said in disgust.
Zane went to confer with the crime unit while Dennison headed to his van, looking vaguely satisfied.
“How’d you manage that?” Cole asked.
“I promised to share the crime report when the guys are finished.”
Cole grunted, still battling the rage inside him as the firemen extinguished the blaze, and the paramedics bandaged his wrist and examined Joey for injuries. She admitted to bruised ribs from the air bag’s force and a sore arm, and the paramedic insisted on taking her to the hospital for X-rays. She protested but Cole spoke up.
“Please, Joey. We want to document any injuries so when we catch this SOB we can use it in court to nail him.”
Her face looked strained but she conceded. She obviously wanted the shooter to pay for what he’d done as much as he did.
“Once I finish here, I’ll meet up with you at the hospital,” he said.
Joey nodded and climbed into the ambulance with a frown. An odd pang hit him at seeing her in the ambulance, and he realized that he had the urge to go with her.
Just a protective instinct, he assured himself. Nothing more. He wasn’t going to miss her. He was simply worried about her safety.
For the next hour and a half, he worked with Zane to oversee the crime unit and search for any signs of tire marks or that the car might have stopped and the shooter might have climbed out, but they found nothing. They had to wait until the fire died and cooled to search for the bullet casings, or see if one had lodged in the tire.
“Where did you go after you left the hospital?” Zane asked.
Cole shrugged. “We paid Leland Hendricks a visit.”
Zane’s brows shot up at that. “And?”
“He denied killing Lou Anne and Sarah Wallace just as he did before.”
“Did he offer any new information?”
Cole shook his head. “No. If he’s guilty, he’s not going to confess.” Not unless they found some hard evidence against him. “But he confirmed that Lou Anne had an affair with another man. Someone besides Jim. He didn’t give us a name, though.”
Zane rammed a hand through his hair. “That’s right. There were two semen samples. That’s one of the points the lawyer used to get Dad off back then.”
“Joey and I will see if we can find out who it was.”
Zane nodded. “Let me know if you do. By the way, Leland drives a dark Cadillac. Do you think he could have followed you and Joey?”
Cole’s stomach twitched. He didn’t want to think Leland would hurt his own daughter, but he didn’t trust the man. “I don’t know. It seems too risky a move for a hotshot like him to do himself.”
“You’re probably right. Leland’s style would be to hire someone.”
“Like the guy who attacked Joey in her room?”
Zane nodded.
Cole cleared his throat as Zane started to walk off. “Zane, I…I’m sorry about your mother.”
Zane’s gaze bore into his as if searching for an underlying meaning. Finally he seemed to realize Cole’s sincerity, and gave a curt nod. “Thanks. Come on and I’ll give you a ride to the hospital to pick up Joey.”
Cole followed him, an odd feeling settling in his gut. He had no idea why he’d apologized about Stella McKinney. He’d hated the entire family for years. Had known that Stella h
ated him. And her reaction proved that she blamed him for her problems, that he was an embarrassment to the entire family. That she’d never accept him.
And Jim McKinney seemed cowed by her so he would never accept Cole, either.
But he’d seen the pain in Zane’s and Sloan’s eyes when Stella had collapsed, and remembered taking care of his own mother when she’d become ill. How helpless he’d felt. How angry at the fates. And he’d felt some small connection with his half brothers.
Still, the distance between them was too long a bridge to cross. He would never fit in with the McKinneys. The way Jim had treated him earlier had driven that fact home with bone-jarring clarity.
When the investigation ended, he would return to his life, and the McKinneys would never be a part of it.
JOEY PACED the hospital waiting room, anxious for Cole to arrive. She hated hospitals, always had. But she hated being in the dark even more. Anger stirred inside her. If someone wanted to scare her off, they’d gone about it the wrong way. Her Taurus personality kicked in, her resolve to finish the investigation hardening.
The sliding doors squeaked open and Cole rushed in. “Sorry it took me so long. Zane and I decided to run by and get me another car so I’d have transportation. Didn’t think you’d be up for a ride on the Harley.”
“I’d love to ride on it sometime,” Joey said. “But it’s probably not the safest mode of travel when a killer is shooting at us. Did you find any evidence?”
“No, but hopefully the crime unit will retrieve the bullet casing. Are you ready?”
“Definitely.” She clutched her purse over her shoulder, determined not to lose the date book inside.
Ironic that she was putting her life on the line to help a woman who had stolen her father from her mother and ruined her life.
“Are you all right?” Cole tipped her chin up with his thumb. “You look pale, Joey. Do you need to stay overnight?”
“No,” she said. “I want to go back to the inn with you.”
His breath hissed out, tension vibrating between them. “Then let’s go. We’ll stop and grab dinner on the way.”
Joey tried to relax in the seat as he drove to a steak house on the outskirts of Justice.
At least no one in town would know them here, and they could have a reprieve from the killer and the nosy press. Joey ordered a filet, baked potato and wine. Cole ordered a T-bone, onion rings and beer, and the two of them ate like they hadn’t seen food in days.
“What did the doctor say?” Cole asked.
Cole attacked his meal like he did everything else—with strength of purpose. He’d even managed a small moan at the first bite.
She found herself wondering if he would moan like that when they made love. And if he would attack her with the same fervor, savor each bite…
His gaze met hers, and a spark of electricity rippled between them that was so strong Joey shivered. “Joey?”
“Bruises, but no broken bones,” she whispered.
“Good.” He wrapped his hand around the beer bottle, and she suddenly had an image of him wrapping those long fingers around her. Stroking her face, her breasts, her belly, then dipping lower and sliding inside her. She shifted in the seat, a shot of fire igniting her thighs.
He ran a finger over her hand, stroking softly, his gaze latching onto hers as if he felt the chemistry, too. “You’re tired?”
“Today has been…stressful.” All she wanted to do was to crawl into his bed. His arms. Taste his kiss and feel him moan her name against her neck.
He nodded. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.” She swirled her wine in the glass, then took the last sip and rolled it on her tongue. She could almost taste him. Wanted to taste him. All of him. “Definitely.”
His eyes turned a smoky-gray. Then he motioned for the waitress and asked for the bill. A heartbeat later, they slipped back in the car. The silence that stretched between them should have been awkward. Instead it was filled with excited anticipation. Today had been hell for both of them. Confronting parents they hadn’t seen in years. Parents who had hurt them. And then the shooting and wreck, and the car exploding.
Tonight they deserved to assuage the pain and remember that they were both alive, that circumstances had thrown them together.
That and the raw sexual tension brimming between them. A tension she wanted to absolve while she was in his arms, naked and quaking with his delicious touches.
She tried to remember the reasons that sleeping with Cole was a bad idea as he parked and they walked into the inn. But the ache in her body and soul overrode any reservations, and by the time they reached her room, she unlocked the door and dragged him inside.
COLE SILENTLY GROANED as Joey pulled him into her room. During dinner, his mind had taken an interesting ride into fantasyland. A land where Joey’s endless legs were wrapped around his body, and he was thrusting inside her like a wild man.
He knew enough about police work and near-death experiences to realize that they were both pumped from an adrenaline high. But a deeper need had driven him to forget his resolve.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her when she’d left him at the crime scene. And when he’d seen her waiting for him at the hospital, his hands had moved of their own volition. He had to touch her. To feel her next to him tonight. To know that she was alive, and that tomorrow they would both wake to see the dawn.
Feeling like a fool for thinking such nonsense, he paused in the doorway, but Joey caught him by the collar and began to remove his tie. His throat convulsed, and he whispered her name in a ragged tone that sounded far away, as if it had come from a stranger.
“Cole, please. I…need to touch you.”
“I know,” he said gruffly. A sultry look grazed her eyes, and he succumbed to the yearning and threaded his fingers through her hair. God, it felt more heavenly than he’d imagined. Like fine gold silk across his belly.
What would it feel like across his bare belly? he wondered.
He had to know.
He cupped her face in his hands and sighed with the knowledge that he’d never met a woman like Joey Hendricks. He probably never would again.
“Joey, tonight—”
“No promises,” she whispered. “It’s just tonight.”
Tonight he could live with. Promises that he couldn’t keep he would never make.
But loving her was something he could do. So he let her remove his shirt. The sound of the buttons popping sent a bolt of white-hot lust through him. And when she stood on tiptoe to kiss him, and he lowered his head and claimed her mouth with his own, his sex hardened and pushed against his fly, aching for the sweet haven her body offered.
She parted her lips and took his tongue inside, then suckled him until he thought his body would explode. He walked her backward toward the bed and his fingers moved to her tank top, then he slid his hands down and lifted it over her head. His heart pounding, he trailed kisses down her neck and his hands cupped her breasts. This time she wore a lavender bra that was so lacy her nipples budded through the thin barrier, begging for his taste. He closed his lips around one turgid peak and pulled it into his mouth, licking and sucking the tip.
She moaned and gripped his arms to hold herself upright, then threw her head back in wild abandon. Joey Hendricks was a force to be reckoned with. Unlike any other woman he’d ever been with. Or loved.
Loved?
No, loved physically. Not emotionally. Cole couldn’t let that happen….
She stroked his arm, his chest, then moved her hand lower to cup him, and his body told his brain to shut up.
He laved her other breast with his tongue while his hand inched to her waist, and he ripped her skirt down her thighs. Joey kicked off the garment, revealing a lavender thong that took his breath away. The sprinkling of blond curls at the juncture of her thighs made his mouth water for her sweet taste. He pushed her back onto the bed and stripped her underwear, then stepped back and drank in the sight of her n
aked body stretched out on the bed. She was an angel in a devil’s sultry body, a woman who stole the air from his lungs.
He teased her legs apart with his hands, then lowered his mouth, tracing his tongue along her feminine folds, savoring the heart of her as she writhed beneath him.
“Cole?”
He ignored her tortured plea and continued his ministrations, his body thrumming with raw hunger. Her hips lifted off the mattress, and she clutched the sheets, twisting them in her hands as she cried out his name.
Sweat beaded along his spine as he finished lapping her up, then removed his jeans. His sex bulged, aching to be inside her, to claim her as his own.
But his cell phone rang, a shrill sound that sliced the air and made him pause.
“Cole, don’t answer it,” Joey whispered.
The shiny metal of his badge twinkled in the sliver of the moonlight, and Cole’s instincts and training drove him to reach for the phone. He was a Ranger first, a man second. He always would be. And no woman had ever changed that, or ever would.
Making love to her would have to wait.
He recognized Zane’s number, rose and moved to the window and looked out into the dark street. “Sergeant Cole McKinney.”
“Cole, Zane. Forensics retrieved the bullet from the car you were driving. Another .38.”
“Just like the casing I found in the woods.”
“Exactly. And Cole…Donna had a .38 that we confiscated already. She might have bought another.”
Cole glanced at Joey lying naked in the bed beneath the sheet, and worry slammed into him. “Anything else?”
“Sloan and Carley have been checking into Donna’s bank accounts. For the past ten years, Donna has been purchasing a cashier’s check for $1,000 a month.”
Cole angled himself away from Joey. He couldn’t stare at her sultry body and those still-aroused eyes while he discussed her mother as a suspect. “You think it was blackmail money?”