Dancing with Detective Danger

by Lynn Crandall

  “I don’t know,” she hedged. “Just — ”

  “A hunch,” he interjected. “I know. I feel the same way, but I can’t put my finger on it. I thought I’d give the place another once over.” Sterling still refused to give him eye contact. Ben’s stomach knotted. She probably would like to avoid me, the sorry, lovesick guy who keeps bugging her.

  “Well, I’ll see you later, Ben. I’ve got to go.” Sterling skirted around him and headed stiffly away.

  “Where’s your car?”

  “Down the street,” she called without slowing her steps.

  He watched her slightly swaying hips, her gray skirt slimly silhouetting her curves. Sunshine glinted off her softspun hair. “Wait, Sterling.”

  She didn’t stop.

  Ben took off after her in an easy jog, not knowing why exactly, other than being close to Sterling made his heart sing. Taking hold of her arm, he turned her to face him. A manila envelope dropped from under her jacket.

  Sterling glanced up at him, then quickly stooped to pick it up.

  “What’s that?” Suddenly her uneasiness made sense.

  “Nothing.”

  “I think it’s something. Are you withholding evidence? Where did you get that? Did you go inside? Need I remind you that’s an unlawful entry?” Ben knew he shouldn’t be surprised. Sterling would do what she felt she had to for her client.

  But the cop in him didn’t like it.

  “I don’t have to tell you anything, Ben.” Her eyes flashed defiantly.

  “Have you forgotten everything you learned on the force? You’re required to turn over anything that is related the case. In case you’ve forgotten, obstructing justice is a crime.”

  “Don’t talk to me like that, like I’m some stupid rookie.” Sterling turned on her heels and marched away.

  Ben stepped up alongside her. “Sterling, you’re compromising the investigation. Hand over the envelope and whatever else you’re hiding.”

  “No. I’m investigating. That’s what I do. I haven’t even looked at what’s inside yet. Not really. And I’m not hiding anything.” Pulling a key from her skirt pocket, Sterling unlocked her car.

  As she opened the door, Ben stepped between Sterling and the vehicle. “Then let’s have a look right now.”

  “Not here,” she said, still glancing around uneasily.

  Again, Ben followed her look. “Look out!” he hollered, hauling her to the side of the car and slamming his body against hers. A black sedan barreled down on them, then swerved, nearly ripping off Sterling’s driver side door.

  “What the hell?” Sterling sputtered into his ear, seemingly completely unmindful of the frenzy he felt at her closeness. “Let me up!”

  “Sorry. I was only trying to protect you.” Standing, Ben ran to the middle of the street to catch a glimpse of the sedan.

  “I can take care of myself,” she retorted, climbing behind the wheel and starting the engine.

  “Hey, where are you going?”

  Pulling into the street, Sterling rolled her window down and shot him a look. “Where do you think? I’m going after the guy who just tried to run us down.” Sterling squealed the tires in a fast break.

  “Wait! I’m coming with you.” Breaking into a sprint, Ben grabbed the passenger door handle and pulled.

  “What are you doing?” Sterling hollered as he jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door closed.

  “I told you, I’m going with you. Can’t you go any faster?” Ben pounded his fists on the dash. “He’s getting away. Can you make out the plate?”

  Sterling glanced briefly over at him, and their eyes held for a moment. Excitement sparked brightly in the beautiful blue-green pools, pushing his adrenaline higher. This was the way it used to be. Together they’d reveled in life’s thrills. Giving chase to an idiot driver definitely qualified as a thrill.

  Then the look vanished, and she directed her attention to the road again.

  Snaking around slower-moving cars, Sterling closed the gap between them and the sedan. Horns from other cars blared at them as they swerved from lane to lane.

  “Step on it, Sterling. I want to see this guy face to face.”

  “I’m doing the best I can, Detective. You should have taken your car and used a code three, with all the lights and sirens. And you could have called for backup.”

  “Screw backup. We’ll get this bastard! He’s heading for the highway. Don’t lose him, sweetheart!”

  Passing perilously through an intersection on a red light, Sterling screamed. A garbage truck up ahead crept into their path.

  “Hang on!” she ordered, jerking the Grand Prix out of the path of the truck and narrowly missing it.

  “Weeooh!” Ben hollered. “That was great, Sterling. Great driving.”

  “Not so great. I’ve lost sight of the sedan.”

  Frustrated, Ben searched the traffic. “There he is. He’s in the eastbound lane now. Slow down.”

  “Slow down? What are you thinking?”

  “I’m going after him,” he said, pushing open the car door.

  Desperate to get the guy who’d tried to run down Sterling, Ben pushed his limits, beating out a quick pace on the pavement. The traffic was on his side, slowing the sedan. Finally, he caught up, and lunged onto the trunk of the car, just as the traffic broke and the car took off again.

  “You’re under arrest!” he called, barely hanging onto the vehicle with his fingernails. “Pull over.”

  Without missing a beat, the driver pulled a U-turn, nearly spilling Ben off the trunk, but he gritted his teeth and managed to hang on. “I said pull over, moron! Make it easy on yourself.”

  The driver acted completely oblivious to his commands, then abruptly swerved the car in a hard left, sending Ben rolling to the gravel shoulder. Sore and bruised, but nearly numb with determination, he pulled himself to his feet and picked up the pursuit again.

  “Watch out, buddy,” a driver yelled at him as he raced down the middle of the road.

  “Get out of the road!” yelled another.

  With lungs aching for breath, Ben kept up the chase, his sight on the black sedan stretching farther and farther.

  “Hey, you want a lift?” It was Sterling, slowing beside him.

  “He’s getting away!”

  Sterling slowed to a stop on the side of the road. “Correction. He’s gone. Get in.”

  Admitting defeat wasn’t easy, but Ben shot her a shrug. “Thanks.”

  “Did you get a good look at him?”

  “No, did you?” He could always hope.

  “No. But I can guess who it was.”

  “Yeah, who?” Ben asked, slouching wearily back in the seat.

  “Rutherford. And running into him explains the creepy feeling I’ve been having.”

  “So you think he’s hanging around. Why?”

  “Geez, Detective, you’re losing your edge. Why do you think? He has unfinished business.”

  Ben couldn’t stifle a smile. She could be right. It made perfect sense that Jerry was lying low, but not out of the picture. Sterling’s keen investigation skills had always been impressive. She was one of the best, yet she always had to keep proving it, to herself more than anyone else. “Well, his wife says he didn’t take any clothes on his alleged business trip, so that’s a little fishy. Why would he want people to think he’d gone out of town?”

  “Maybe to give himself more time. Obviously he didn’t have a lot of time to make plans and cover his tracks.” Sterling seemed to be driving on near automatic, her attention caught up in the case.

  “I don’t know. Something’s missing.” Ben rubbed his eyes. It wasn’t like him to be so dull-headed. “Did you get the plate?”

  “Yes, but right now, let’s just
concentrate on getting you cleaned up. You’ve got a nasty cut or two,” she said, concern knitting her brow.

  Chapter Eight

  “Ouch!” Ben flinched as he sat on the sofa in Sterling’s second story apartment.

  “Hold still. I need to get the gravel cleaned out of these cuts or they’ll get infected.” She adjusted the lamp to better light the area.

  “You’re making a big deal about nothing,” Ben protested.

  “I said hold still.” Sterling brushed back stray locks of his sleek dark hair from his forehead. Pausing, she drew in a deep breath and steadied herself. His closeness held her nearly captive in the powerful energy of his being, but she couldn’t let it take her over. The price was too high. Trembling, she gently patted the skin dry. “There. I’ll get a bandage.”

  Ben put a hand to her shoulder. “I don’t need a bandage. It’s just a scratch,” he said, his voice low.

  Sterling’s breath was coming faster. Ben’s touch sent torrents of sensations charging through her body. She had to get away, out of the draw of the powerful emotions invisibly flowing between them as strongly as the connection of the moon and the tide. Turning, she made a fatal mistake, and she knew it, but she couldn’t help herself. She paused and took one look into his dark, steamy eyes. “It’s more than a scratch, but whatever you say,” she said, feeling her pulse race. The ragged, raw emotion stirring in his rugged face reached a part of her that defied common sense.

  “I can’t help saying it, Sterling. I love you. Can you forgive me?” Ben pulled her in close.

  His lips inches from hers, Sterling felt the fierceness of his passion sweep over her senses. She closed her eyes and held her breath, as Ben’s mouth delicately took in her lower lip, then kissed her fully and ferociously. Warmth washed over her at the same time excitement sparked through her, insisting she surrender.

  What seemed like a lifetime later, Ben released her and she breathed a deep, soul-filling breath. It was as if standing in the embrace of Ben’s arms, she was where she belonged.

  Running his hands up her back, Ben took locks of Sterling’s hair into his fingers, then cupped her face, just looking at her. His eyes holding hers, she sensed the strength of his love and felt awed.

  “You know I can’t give you what you want,” she breathed. “You deserve so much more.”

  “If all I can have is this moment with you, I’ll be happy, in this moment.”

  “It’s not fair to you, Ben.” Sterling felt her will slipping.

  Tilting his head slightly, he smiled. “Let me worry about that.”

  Sterling’s heart melted, instinctively knowing Ben’s love gave her life.

  Passion crashed over her like fierce waves pounding against the seaside. Ben’s mouth devoured hers, as his fingers tore at her clothing. She responded in kind and finally felt naked skin against naked skin charging her senses, drowning out the fears.

  Lowering her to the plush carpeting, Ben covered her with his finely sculpted body, his kisses everywhere, driving her to unleash her control and experience the poignant beauty and bone-wrenching delight of being fully alive. Sterling moaned as his mouth moistened and caressed each breast. She wanting nothing but to touch him and take of his fire.

  Her fingers kneading his firmly muscled back as he trailed kisses along her thighs, Sterling arched to him. And Ben kept going, proclaiming his love with each searing kiss to her toes, her calves, then, turning her, pressing his lips to her behind, the small of her back, and gently nuzzling her ears.

  “I love you, Sterling,” he breathed, once again turning her over to face him, then pulling her atop him.

  Ben’s eyes glazed with passion, and Sterling felt taken up by their intensity. No words could express her feelings. She only knew of the emotions crashing through her. Silently, she told him, as she pressed hot kisses to his solid shoulder, his darkly matted chest, his taut abdomen, his firm thigh. Shudders rushed through him as he paused briefly for protection, then pulled her astride him again.

  Close, so close, she felt their hearts beating as one, she burrowed her fingers into Ben’s damp, dark locks and savored the sweet momentum of their love. With his mouth clamped to hers, Sterling felt the breadth of their emotions mingling and combining as his kiss let loose her true feelings. Once loosed, they swelled like rolling ocean waves, plunging her deeply into the fierceness of their beauty. Her soul singing, she gazed through heavy-lidded eyes at Ben below her. His eyes on her, their gazes collided in a final, shuddering surge.

  Winded and spent, Sterling slipped to lie cozily alongside Ben’s strong frame, one leg casually draped over his. He lay quietly, his chest rising and falling with the contentedness of a comfortable rest.

  A glow warmed her body from head to toe. Lying here beside him felt so right. It was as if the immenseness of their passion blotted out the pain when she was with him.

  But this was exactly what the warning flags of days ago had signaled would happen. Intuition knew the case would force her to confront her feelings. The very feelings that would lead to enormous pain. As delicious and wonderful as the feelings were, they were equally deadly because they made her vulnerable. It felt like everything she’d relied on for sanity in the last two years was crumbling away, and she didn’t know if she could survive.

  “Ben,” she whispered. “It’s time to go.” It sounded so cold, incongruent with the depth of experience they’d shared. But it was the smartest thing to do.

  Ben stirred from his shallow slumber. “Hey, beautiful.” His face lighted briefly by his signature smile, then he closed his eyes again.

  “Get up, lazy man,” Sterling chuckled, gathering her clothes. “I have things to do, remember?”

  Propping himself up on one elbow, Ben gave her a devilish grin. “It seems like we just did some things. Some pretty wonderful things.”

  Ignoring the flutter of her heart, Sterling tossed his clothes at him. “Get up. I mean it.”

  Ben’s eyes instantly went dark, and she turned away.

  “I get it,” he said, his voice flat. “The moment is over.”

  Delicate embers of dying hopes filled the silence between them as Ben threw on his clothes. But Sterling didn’t let herself imagine other possibilities or mourn the loss. Her profession had become a comfortable companion and right now, as always, it drew her attention.

  “I’ll take you back to your car, then we can check out the envelope I found at Pamela’s,” Sterling suggested.

  “Why can’t we do it here?” Ben glanced around the sunny apartment. “What are you trying to pull?”

  “Nothing. The envelope is in the car. Besides, I need to go over something at my office, so let’s meet there. Trust me.”

  • • •

  Ben paused at the elevator long enough to see it stop on the fourth floor. Then he took the stairs up to Sterling’s office two at a time and charged through the front door.

  Michelle looked up. “Detective Kirby, I’ll tell Sterling … ”

  “Don’t bother,” Ben barked. “She’s expecting me.”

  He found Sterling at her desk, the manila envelope sitting in front of her. She turned startlingly innocent eyes on him.

  “How did you get back here so quickly, Sterling?” he asked. Ben’s heart stumbled inside his chest. Would the sight of her ever not make him catch his breath? “What are you up to?”

  “You have such a suspicious mind, Ben.”

  “It comes with the job, babe. Now let me see what’s in the envelope. At least what’s left after you’ve censored it.”

  Composed, her expression gave up nothing, but he knew her too well.

  Sterling pushed the envelope toward him. “Help yourself. And you don’t have to act so wronged, Detective. I didn’t wait for you because I thought you were going to check out the condo after I dropped you off
. You did get interrupted, remember? Change your mind?”

  Ben shifted his feet, and carefully pulled out the contents. Clearly, Sterling had the upper hand, and she knew it. “I suspected whatever you found in this envelope would be important.”

  “Maybe. It appears to be very clichéd, at least.” Sterling leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, her eyes on him like hot embers.

  “Compromising photos taken of a tryst between the now deceased Pamela Witt and her lover — Jerry Rutherford.” Ben turned the photos over carefully.

  “Nothing to give a clue who took the pictures. I checked,” Sterling said. “Of course, they’re loaded with prints, so maybe the lab could pick up something useful. I’d be interested in knowing what you find out.”

  Ben slid the photos inside the envelope and looked back into Sterling’s face. So much had happened between them, why couldn’t he see it written on that lovely face? Something to prove their relationship had meaning. “Sure,” he mumbled. “I’ll call you when I get the results. But there’s no mystery here, Sterling. Rutherford was somewhat of a public figure. Someone caught him with his lover and tried to profit from it. The poor sap isn’t going to net much now.”

  “But who’s the poor sap?” Sterling asked, shifting in her chair. “Maybe this case isn’t as open and shut as it seems. Maybe it’s all purely circumstantial.”

  “As far as the murder goes, my money is still on Jerry. And I’m not so sure his wife is squeaky clean, either.”

  Sterling’s mouth dropped open. “You must be joking. You still suspect Sara?”

  “She’s got motive. And where is her husband, Sterling?” Ben turned toward the door, loath to leave her, but determined.

  “What are you saying? That Sara killed both Pamela and Jerry? Then why did she hire Lacey and me? And who were you and I chasing this afternoon?”

  Sterling followed behind him, so close the scent of her fragrance drifted through his mind, muddying his thoughts. “First of all, Sara could have hired you to throw off the investigation. She has no alibi for the time of the murder.” Ben nodded to Michelle and continued toward the outside hall. “And we don’t know who we were chasing. I still have to run the plates but I’ll bet the car was a rental. There are questions and I don’t know Sara’s involvement.”