by Harper Allen
Presumably she’d answered Joanna, Tess thought now, although for the life of her she couldn’t remember her response. Connor had come back in and transported a groggy Paula into the back seat of the four-by-four. When they’d returned to the Double B Jess had been about to jump into his own vehicle and come after them. Del had admitted in a phone call that the he’d inadvertently told Paula where to find them.
“It’s lucky you didn’t get through to Jansen,” Del said to Connor.
His rumbling tones broke through Tess’s preoccupation. Setting her disquiet over Alice Tahe’s message aside for the time being, she looked up as he went on.
“If by some chance the Geddes woman’s involvement in this can be explained away, then it stands to reason you were right the first time, and Jansen’s the one behind everything.”
“Don’t think I haven’t thanked God and the storm playing havoc with the telephone wires around Gallup for that one,” Connor answered tightly. “Joanna warned me she’d had trouble making calls earlier. I must have tried at least six times to get through to the Albuquerque field office, and once I thought I had a connection, but then the line went dead again. By the time Joey raced in and told me what was happening at the trailer, I was ready to heave the phone through a window.”
He rubbed his jaw wearily. “Hell, if I could only come right out and ask Paula about those damned photos. After what she did today, I’d like more than anything to trust her again, but this link between her and Harlan just can’t be—”
“What’s my no-good ex gone and done now?”
Tess’s startled gaze flew to the library doorway. Paula, bundled in a plaid robe of Del’s to counteract the chilled reaction she’d suffered from the venom, took a step into the room and then stopped. Dark eyes widened briefly as she took in the four of them sitting at the library table.
Connor was the first to recover.
“We were just saying he must have been a fool to let a woman like you slip out of his life,” he lied, swiftly getting up and striding toward her. “Dammit, Paula, you look like death warmed over. What the hell are you doing out of bed?”
“Walking into a discussion I wasn’t supposed to hear, obviously.” Paula shook off his hand. “I still feel a little shaky, but my wits weren’t affected, Connor. I’ve never told you Harlan’s name, so your little excuse just now doesn’t fool me. You’ve been digging into my personal life, haven’t you?”
“Not yours.” Tess shrugged at Connor’s slight frown. “We were digging into Petrie’s life, Paula. We found these.”
Earlier Jess had printed the two photos of Harlan Geddes from the computer’s screen. As Paula sat in the chair vacated by Connor, Tess slid the pictures across the table to her.
“Petrie? He’s one of the killers from the motel, right?” Paula glanced down at the photos. “Harlan with a glass in his hand. Probably a pair of dice in his pocket, as well, since I don’t look terribly thrilled with him in this shot.” She shoved the pictures aside. “I don’t get the connection.”
“What’s not to get?” Jess’s drawl was edged. “We haven’t been introduced, but I’m the guy who found these photos of you and Petrie—sorry, Harlan. Maybe it was the fact your ex had a couple of different names that confused you, huh?”
“A couple of different—”
Paula stopped. Her gaze went to the pictures she’d thrust aside, and beneath the plaid robe Tess saw her shoulders slump.
“I always knew he’d come to a bad end,” she said tonelessly. “I didn’t think it would be this bad. Harlan was one of the hit men who tried to kill you at the motel?”
“You didn’t know?” Connor’s question was sharp, but Tess saw fugitive hope flicker behind his eyes. “For God’s sake, Paula, are you seriously trying to tell us you didn’t have a clue your ex-husband was on Jack Vincenzi’s payroll?”
Paula shook her head. “I swear I didn’t. I don’t expect you to believe me, but it’s true. That marriage was the worst mistake of my life, and when I finally got free of that jerk I didn’t ever want to see or hear from him again. It wasn’t just the memories, either. I’d been accepted into the Agency, and I wanted to sever all connections to the part-time thug I’d been foolish enough to marry when I was a teenager.”
Slim fingers massaged her temples. “I rose in my career. It appears Harlan progressed in his, too, if he was carrying out hits for Vincenzi. I’m not sorry he’s dead, Connor, I’m just sorry this has come between us.”
She stood with an obvious effort. “Not that I’ve been much help to you on the case. I haven’t been able to dig up a speck of dirt on Arne. The man’s squeaky clean, although Quayle wasn’t, for what it’s worth.” She shrugged. “He took early retirement from the Bureau only because it was either that or an investigation into some deals he was suspected of making with Vincenzi. There wasn’t any documented proof, but it’s clear the powers that be were convinced he wasn’t someone they wanted carrying a badge.”
She turned to Tess, and for a moment a faint smile touched her features. “You give that tough Dineh nephew of yours a hug from me, okay? And take one for yourself, lady. I’m glad we got to know each other, even for a little while.”
“Paula, wait.” Tess was on her feet and at the other woman’s side before Geddes could take a step. “I’m glad we got to know each other, too. And I believe what you say about not knowing Harlan was working for Vincenzi,” she added firmly. She glanced at Connor. “I do,” she said stubbornly. “I don’t think I’d be standing here right now if it weren’t for Paula, and Joey probably wouldn’t be outside on the porch playing with Chorrie if she hadn’t saved him.”
A corner of Connor’s mouth lifted. “You’re preaching to the converted, honey.”
He didn’t seem to realize the endearment had slipped out, but Tess felt a little flush of pleasure as Paula gave her a quickly surprised look and then a small grin. Oblivious to their unspoken exchange, Connor looked toward the table.
“Del? Jess?”
“Anyone who deliberately takes on a diamondback to save a little boy and a friend is all right in my book,” Del said gruffly. “I’m sorry we had the wrong idea about—”
He broke off as the sound of a ringing phone came down the hall. “No, I’ll answer it,” he said to Connor. “You get things straight with your partner, here.”
“Jess, how about you?” As Del exited the room, Connor directed the question to his friend. Jess frowned, and then his usual grin flashed out.
“I guess I can understand you not keeping up with the guy, Paula,” he conceded. “Lord knows I’ve scratched some names out of my little black book that I hope never to run into again.”
He shuddered theatrically, and as Paula sat down beside him with a dryly humorous reply, Tess met Connor’s gaze.
He hadn’t let go of her hand during the drive back to the ranch from the Dinetah. Wedged between them, Joey had cast suspicious glances at both Connor and his aunt, and finally he’d spoken, his tough pose back again after his recent scare.
“You guys in love or something?” It had sounded as if he was asking them if they’d contracted the plague, but Tess had seen the tiny spark of joy at the back of his scornful eyes. She’d felt herself flush and had left the answer up to Connor.
“Or something,” he’d agreed easily, giving her hand a squeeze. “You got a problem with that, buddy?”
Joey had thought for a second. “I guess not,” he’d said finally. “Hey, Connor, what’re they gonna do with that ol’ snake’s skin? Can I get some boots made from it?”
Or something. Not exactly the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, Tess thought now in amused exasperation. But she’d come to understand that with Connor, actions always spoke louder than words. The raw fear in his eyes when he’d thought she’d been a victim of the diamondback, the tight grip of his hand around hers, the way he’d held her last night…
Virgil Connor was in love with her. Now all she had to do was get him to admit that simple
fact—to himself and to her.
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m about ready for supper.” Jess grinned up at them. “It’s not exactly ranch grub, but I got Del to pick up some frozen pizzas today when he hit the grocery store. How about if I mosey along out to the old chuck-wagon and rustle you wranglers up some chow?”
“Go ahead, cookie. But it’s still your turn to do the dishes, so don’t think you’ve pulled a fast one by offering to make supper.” Del’s sarcastic tone was replaced with an uncharacteristic hint of excitement as he came toward them.
“That was Daniel on the phone,” he said, tanned cheeks creasing in a smile. “Son of a gun found MacLeish, just like he said he would.” He exhaled, obviously savoring the moment.
“Mac’s had amnesia for the past ten years. His memory just came back a week ago, after Quayle tried to kill him.”
Chapter Fifteen
“So we just sit tight until tomorrow?”
Perched on the verandah railing and staring out into the gathering dusk while she relaxed with Connor, Tess saw Joey’s small figure running across the yard toward the wiry frame of Joseph Tahe. The hired hand stopped, patiently bending down to the boy while Joey said something to him.
“That’s when Del’s friend gets back from those high-level talks he’s been attending in Europe.” Connor was sitting on the steps. Taking a page from Daniel’s book, he was whittling at a chunk of wood. He looked up at her. “Bill Strauss is one of the few people who doesn’t have to ask twice to get in to see the president, anytime of the day or night. We need someone with that kind of pull to make sure no fatal accidents occur before we get the chance to present our case against Jansen.”
“I suppose we can’t take the risk that Vincenzi’s influence extends higher than a mere area director,” Tess agreed. “You don’t really think it does, do you?”
“No, but as you say, best not to take the risk, especially when we’re so close to clearing Mac’s name and nailing Jansen and by extension, Quayle.” He frowned. “I can’t blame Daniel for not getting Mac’s story from him yet, especially when the man was in such poor shape when he found him this afternoon. He hadn’t eaten for days, apparently, and his wound was infected. But it would have been nice to have had our suspicions about those two definitely confirmed.”
“They will be,” Tess said. “The links Jess’s programs found this evening between Vincenzi, Quayle and Jansen show those three were associated with each other as far back as ten years ago, at least. And it couldn’t have been coincidence that Quayle’s late brother was the first cop on the scene of Huong’s murder. It had to be the way we guessed, Connor, Vincenzi wanted MacLeish not only out of commission but discredited. He had his two dirty Agency buddies kill Mac’s wife and plant evidence to make it look like he’d done it, and then they were to kill Mac himself in a faked-up suicide leap off a bridge.”
“Except they were dealing with a man who’d survived five years in a tiger cage, and had been a Double B operative, to boot.” Connor’s smile was tight. “They picked the wrong Vietnam vet to frame, that’s for sure. I wonder how they found out he was still alive and living on the streets in Albuquerque?”
“That might be something else Mac can tell us when he gets here tomorrow.” Tess squinted into the dusk. “What in the world is that boy doing? He’s racing around like a chicken with its head cut off.”
“Chorrie’s missing.” Connor smiled. “But so are Daisy and the rest of the pups. Del told me she has a habit of moving her litters when they’re old enough to follow her. He suspects she’s found a snug little nest somewhere in one of the barns, but he hasn’t come across it yet.”
“Well, Joey isn’t going to find Chorrie now, and it’s time for him to come in and get ready for bed.” Tess jumped lightly from the railing. Joseph was shaking his head at his young interrogator, obviously indicating that he hadn’t seen the missing pup, either. “I’ll go out early tomorrow morning with him and we’ll turn the ranch upside down together.”
“I’ll help you.” Connor stood, too, pocketing the small knife. He followed her worried gaze to a disconsolate-looking Joey, who was now looking in one of the pickup trucks. “I hope for his sake we find the dog, Tess. From the start I worried that he was getting too attached to him.”
About to head for the yard and Joey, Tess stopped and stared at him. “I hope nothing’s happened to his pup, either, Connor. But if by some terrible misadventure it had, I’d wait a decent while, get Joey another one, and hope and pray he opened his heart enough again to fall in love with it just as much.”
“I know you would.” He shrugged. “And you’d probably pick the first one he showed any interest in. Me, I’d at least want him to choose one old enough to have gotten over all the expected puppy ailments, and maybe a dog that had already been trained not to wander away every time he took his eyes off it. Even then I wouldn’t be happy seeing him build his whole life around it, the way he’s been doing with Chorrie.”
“See, that’s just another example of Virgil Connor wanting everything reasonable and logical.” She mustered a teasing smile, slightly disconcerted at the turn the conversation had taken and wanting to lighten it a little. “Love has its own logic, but it doesn’t have anything to do with reason or caution.”
She gathered her courage. “Come to that, who knows why you and I got together? It sure wasn’t logical—I’m the wacko who writes for a tabloid and you’re the epitome of the just-the-facts-ma’am FBI agent, not just in your work but in your personal life. But we did, didn’t we?”
That was as far as she dared go, she thought. She’d given Agent Connor the perfect opening if he had something he wanted to say to her, but he would have to take it from here.
Agent Connor wasn’t going to take it anywhere, she realized a heartbeat later as Connor remained silent. In fact, Agent Connor looked as if he wished this conversation had never begun.
She scrambled for something to say that would ease the tension that had somehow suddenly sprung up between them. She’d pushed him too far and too fast, Tess chastised herself. She knew the kind of man he was, and yet she’d practically asked him to declare himself to her before he was ready.
“Anyway, enough about puppies and love, although speaking of puppy love, I think the reason Joey hid in that trailer today was to impress a cute little girl with braids.” She rushed on, still embarrassed. “And I forgot to tell you, Connor—he believes Skinwalker locked us in. Alice Tahe does, too, from what Joanna told me at the clinic.”
“What do you believe?” His eyes were unreadable, but at least he was talking again, Tess thought.
“I don’t know,” she admitted slowly. “I guess I think it’s possible, however crazy you must think that sounds.”
“Even though your only so-called proof is a little boy and an old lady who says she sees ghosts?”
“And a Dineh reporter,” she reminded him. “Don’t forget what I saw on the road the night of the accident.”
“A split-second vision of something running into the path of your car just as a tire blew,” he agreed. “See, to me that’s no proof at all. I’d want to look into Skinwalker’s eyes, give a tug on that wolfskin to see if it came off. But you’re ready to believe wholeheartedly in something you can’t prove. I might envy you that ability sometimes, Tess…but that’s not me. Do you understand?”
He wasn’t talking about Skinwalker. He’d phrased it so that he might have been talking about a dozen different things, but he was talking about himself and her.
She did understand, Tess thought hollowly. She just needed to make absolutely sure.
“Where do you see us going, Connor? You and me, I mean.” She felt no embarrassment at all this time, she realized. This was too important to feel embarrassed about. “We made love last night. I think I’ve got the right to ask.”
“I think you do, too.” Crystal-gray eyes met hers. “I see us getting to know each other better. I see us going out, spending as much time t
ogether as we both feel comfortable with, and yes, making love again. I guess what I’m saying is I see us seeing how it goes and taking it from there.”
“Gathering proof?” She stared wonderingly at him. “That’s what you’re looking for, isn’t it? Proof that there’s really love between us.”
She hadn’t expected valentines and bouquets of flowers from a man like Virgil Connor, she told herself. She’d known he wasn’t the kind to come up with wildly romantic gestures, passionate speeches. All she’d wanted was that walled-off heart of his, but she’d wanted it given freely and wholly.
He couldn’t give her that. Which meant he really couldn’t give her anything at all, Tess thought, pain lancing swiftly through her.
Because I don’t want to be the logical conclusion you come to. I don’t want what we have between us to be weighed and measured and evaluated before you decide the risk factor is acceptably low and you choose to commit yourself. Don’t you see that if you were really in love, you wouldn’t have a choice…just the way I didn’t have a choice about loving you.
Just the way I don’t have a choice about what I have to do now, she told Connor silently, her suddenly-blurred gaze still fixed on his face.
“Do you know what I see, Virgil?” she asked him hoarsely. “I see that you don’t see anything at all. And I see that it’s over between you and me.”
“I THOUGHT LIFE in the country was supposed to be peaceful.” Paula pushed open the screen door, swatting at a moth that had come into the kitchen with her. “Actually, my little stroll around the barns was pretty peaceful until the menfolk started roaring out of the yard in trucks. What gives?”
She smiled at Tess, but Tess didn’t feel like smiling back. She hadn’t felt like smiling since her disastrous conversation with Connor a few hours earlier, she thought drearily, and yet it had seemed that she’d been forced to keep one pasted on her face almost nonstop.
She had the feeling that when she was ready to talk about things, Connor’s partner would be a sympathetic listener, but right now the pain was too fresh. She made the corners of her lips turn up.