The cool night greeted them with the twinkling of stars over the river. Alex ignored the beauty and searched for an outdoor staircase. A wide staircase led up, but nothing led down. He ran up to the second level to get a better view of his surroundings.
“Yeah, well being a caring partner could have got me killed. Killed!”
Surely she’d been in the line of fire before, though being shot at by criminals was a lot different than being betrayed by a friend. He took the stairs down two at a time to rejoin her on the lower patio. “We’re not out of here yet, Laney.”
She blinked and looked around. “Are we repelling from the roof?”
That a girl. “It looks like if we climb over this wall, it might lead to a maintenance door that will take us to an internal staircase.”
She hoisted her skirt to her knees and kicked off her heels. “I didn’t like wearing these shoes anyway.”
Alex squatted so he could give her a boost, careful to avert his gaze from her long, toned leg. It wouldn’t do him any good to let himself feel attraction for the woman. He was still dealing with consequences from his last relationship. Plus, when he finally did choose to enter the dating world again, it would be with someone a lot less combative—someone who accepted him for himself.
He watched her swing her second leg over the wall before tossing her the distracting stilettos. The sooner she got back into her khakis and polo, the better for both of them.
“Are you coming?” she called.
Silhouettes appeared in the doorway. Two men. One with a cop cap, one with a cane. Just perfect. He was finally living a godly life, but still being chased by the police. Would it ever end?
Alex bent his knees and sprung, reaching overhead for the wall. His fingers caught. He pulled like he was doing a chin up, hooked one foot over the top of the wall, and rolled his body across. He dropped down on the ground on the other side next to Laney.
She opened her mouth. He held a finger to it. Her warm breath brushed his skin, and her eyes grew wide. He could hear her heart pounding. Or was that his own pulse?
The door whooshed open and noise from confused ball-goers filtered out. Mitch’s smooth voice spoke over the din. “I think I saw them come this way.”
Footsteps clicked up the stairs then back down. “Well, if they came this way, they’re gone now.” The voice belonged to someone other than Mitch. “I’ll get your statement inside, and we can look them up tomorrow. You say she used to be a cop?”
“A dirty cop.” That was Mitch.
Laney’s fingernails dug through her gloves into Alex’s arm. He waited for the noise from the door opening to fade before extracting himself from her claws. Cat Woman had been a fitting name for her. “Ouch.” He rubbed at the indentations.
She rose from her crouched position. “Can you believe it? He lied. Lied!”
Alex wasn’t sure how to respond to that one. The man had just tried to kill her, yet she was angrier about being called a dirty cop?
He led the way toward the maintenance exit he’d seen from the upper level of the roof. They didn’t need to stick around to discuss the man’s lies any longer. They had work to do.
“At least we have until tomorrow to find some evidence to prove you innocent.”
And at least she’d heard Sterling’s lies with her own ears. There would be no more questions about whether Sterling was the one who’d stolen her computer or not. She was on Alex’s side now.
**
Laney couldn’t believe she was on his side. Even though he’d helped her escape from the man who’d framed her in the past and wanted to kill her in the present, it still didn’t feel safe being alone with Alex. Which was why she’d made him drive her all the way out to Lake Coeur d’Alene.
Alex yawned as he pulled the Corvette down the steep driveway toward the newly built cabin. “Who lives here again?”
“Collin and Gwen.”
He downshifted and parked. “You know, I have everything we need at my office to look into Sterling’s bank records and see if he really has a large inheritance as he claims or if the money is coming from some other source.”
Laney dug the last of the pins from her hair and shook her tresses free. As if she hadn’t had enough trouble that night, her scalp was starting to throb from the weight of her hairdo. “I know.”
Alex loosened his tie before climbing out of the vehicle with her. “So why do you think your friends are going to be able to help us out?”
Laney had refrained from giving Collin’s last name for fear Alex might have turned the car around. The man was an ex-convict after all. But now that they were climbing the couple’s steps, it probably wouldn’t hurt to give him a little warning. She pressed the doorbell. “Collin used to be the chief of police.”
Alex lowered his chin and gave her a measured look. “Collin Gedrose? Seriously?”
She shrugged. “You like connections, right?”
The light switched on overhead.
“Don’t worry, it’s just Laney,” a female voice yelled from the other side of the door. A couple locks clicked. The doorknob twisted.
Gwen stood in a white bathrobe, rubbing her eyes. “Laney? Mitch? I mean—”
“Alex Pierce.” Alex stuck out a hand. “Sorry to disturb you so late at night, but Laney insisted we come here.”
Gwen ignored his offer to shake hands and fanned herself instead. “Alex Pierce? You really are a dashing rogue, aren’t you? Though you look more like that new guy who plays 007 than George Clooney in a tux.”
Laney rolled her eyes. But what had she expected?
Alex sent her a puzzled expression.
She shrugged. Better to pretend she had no clue what her friend was talking about than admit Alex looked dashing. He was already arrogant enough without the adulation.
“Laney, you undid your hair? It took me forever to twist up, and it was so gorgeous.”
“I know. It just started to hurt. I kept the gloves on though. See?” She held up her hands for inspection before using them to scoot her friend over and enter the cabin. “Where’s Collin?”
Collin flipped on another light from the top of the staircase. “What’s going on, Laney? You okay?”
Gwen trailed behind her. “She looks fine. Well, except for her hair. You thought her hair was lovely too, didn’t you, Alex? Kind of the Audrey Hepburn look.”
Laney paused in answering Collin to hear how Alex would respond to Gwen. Not because she really cared what he thought, just because…well, because.
He cleared his throat. “I picked up more of a Cat Woman vibe.”
Cat Woman? Laney was more of a dog person. Even dogs like her neighbors’ Pit Bull that barked unless she fed him toast over the fence every morning.
“Really?” Gwen questioned for her. “Maybe if she wasn’t wearing the pearls.”
All right, enough of the silliness. “I think Mitch tried to poison me.”
Gwen gasped.
Collin marched down the stairs, stately despite his disheveled hair and pajama pants. “Did you see this happen, Pierce?”
Laney turned to see Alex shift from side to side. Suddenly he didn’t appear so arrogant.
“I was there when Sterling brought her the glass and made a big deal out of her drinking red wine for the health benefits. She didn’t drink it but put it on the busboy’s tray. Next thing we know the busboy is on the ground, writhing in pain.”
Collin closed his eyes. “Did the boy survive?”
Laney’s stomach churned. She couldn’t consider the possibility of the busboy’s life ending. She couldn’t consider the idea that he’d died in her place. She would have gladly downed the alcohol to keep his family from such pain and to give him a chance at a future. Was this how Jesus felt when he said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done”? She hadn’t been worthy of His death, either.
Laney swallowed over the lump in her throat. “I told the EMT I thought he was poisoned, a
nd I pray they pumped his stomach in time.”
“Antifreeze.” Collin shook his head before leading them all into a living room with rustic, leather couches surrounding a stone fireplace all enclosed with the inky blackness beyond picture windows. “Sterling once worked a case where a woman poisoned her husband with antifreeze in his wine. If you had sipped the drink slowly, he could have gotten you to a private place and kept you from receiving the help you needed in time.”
Laney sank onto the buttery soft sofa and pulled her knees up to her chest, ducking her head for a moment of shame. Her night could have ended very differently. All because of her stupidity.
“He would have framed me,” Alex spoke his fear, giving Laney even more to blame herself for.
Collin narrowed his eyes in thought. “How do I know you aren’t the one to blame in the first place?”
Laney lifted her head and met Alex’s searching gaze. Yes, she had his back. “Alex didn’t touch the glass. He got someone to call for an ambulance, and he helped me get out of there before Mitch was able to turn us over to authorities.”
Collin’s sharp gaze reverted back to Alex. “You took off without talking to police?” His voice was just as sharp.
Alex spread his hands. “I’m under probation. My best chance at not getting pinned for this would be to have evidence when I talk to police.”
“Oh, Lord.” Collin leaned back in his chair to look at the vaulted wood ceiling, and apparently also ask God for direction.
Gwen leaned forward. “Where are you going to get evidence?”
Alex pressed his lips together before rubbing thumb against fingers. “Money trail. Laney said Mitch lived off an inheritance. We’re going to find out if that’s true or not. If not, then he’s got to be getting money somewhere else.”
“Somewhere like the money Alex stole five years ago,” Laney finished.
Alex’s forehead furrowed. “You could have left that part out, Laney.”
“No. I really couldn’t.” Like she could just forget all the work she put into tracking him down? Or how she’d originally thought his wife was the luckiest woman in the world when investigating the theft of Elise’s father’s banks? How she’d been just as charmed when running into Alex at her own bank later that year—right before it was robbed?
When she’d realized he must have been casing the place because there was no other reason for him to be in a bank other than the ones his father-in-law owned, she’d felt like a complete idiot for trusting the guy.
All of which happened right before he slipped through her fingers long enough for the money she’d found in his apartment to be stolen from her car. And now he was asking her to trust him again? As if none of that had ever happened?
She stopped chewing her lip to point out the obvious. “That’s why we are all here right now, Alex.”
Collin held a hand up to stop the argument as he rose from his chair. “What matters is that we are here right now. And that we’re going to work together.”
Alex nodded, shooting her an I-told-you-so look.
She bit her tongue to keep from sticking it at him in return. She wasn’t going to stoop to his immaturity.
Collin crossed the floor toward a computer at the built-in kitchen desk. “But we’re going to work together my way. Pierce, I’m not impressed with your avoidance of the law tonight. I understand you probably have a chip on your shoulder regarding police. But if you really are seeking truth, they’ll be on your side.”
Laney stood to join Collin who was already tapping on his keyboard. She couldn’t refrain from sticking her tongue out this time as she passed Alex.
He followed her toward the computer. “A simple ‘thank you’ for rescuing you would have been more appropriate,” he whispered in her ear as Collin tapped on his keyboard.
She turned her head to whisper back, but avoided looking him in the eye. “I’m not out of trouble yet.”
“Touché.”
Gwen bustled past them toward the kitchen. “Coffee, anyone?”
Collin whirled in his chair. “Thank you, Gwen, but we are done for the night.”
“Done?” Laney echoed. Wouldn’t they have to work all night to find evidence of their innocence if the police were going to come calling the next day?
“Yep.” Collin rubbed his hands together, as if brushing off the mess they’d made. “An old friend of mine is looking into Sterling’s bank records. That means we don’t have to break through any firewalls or crack any passwords. All the evidence you need will come through legal means. Think you can handle that, Pierce?”
Alex’s jaw shifted side to side. “Yes, sir.”
“Great.” Collin slapped his hands down to his sides. “Laney, you get the guest room. Pierce, you’re on the couch. I’ll see you in the morning. Come on, Gwen.”
Gwen bustled after her husband, but returned momentarily with a pile of sheets, blankets, and pillows. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
Alex surveyed his surroundings as if his mind were somewhere else. Finally he shook his head. “No. This is very kind of you. Thanks, Gwen.”
She leaned forward. “I know you guys have been through a lot. You probably want to talk, and you might be too amped up to rest, but I just want to let you know that though Collin may be in bed, he’s not going to sleep until he hears Laney’s door close upstairs. He’s very protective of her.”
Alex’s eyes shifted Laney’s way. She didn’t look away in time to pretend she wasn’t intently listening to them talk about her. But just as well. It was nice to know she was cared about, even if Alex took it as a threat.
“Now I’m not making a threat,” Gwen continued.
Ha. A threat coming from the bubbly, little match-maker? Laney busied herself with taking off her gloves to keep her smile from turning into an outright laugh.
“I just want you to know that we love Laney very much, and my husband can use his connections to help you just as well as to hunt you down.”
A laugh burst out. Gwen didn’t know a thing about hunting.
The older woman shot Laney a confused look as if not sure what was so funny.
Laney calmed herself to sound sincere when she spoke. “Thank you for loving me so much, Gwen. I love you, too. Now good night.”
Gwen checked back with Alex before leaving.
“Point taken,” he said, probably just to appease her.
Gwen hugged them both before scurrying up the stairs.
“Well.” Alex pulled off his jacket and slung it over the back of a barstool. “There’s one woman I wouldn’t want to cross.”
“Yeah.” Laney took a slow step toward the stairs. She’d better get to bed to keep Collin from staying awake all night. Though it wasn’t like she wanted to stay downstairs with Alex alone anyway. “Watch out.”
Alex tilted his head to one side and studied her. His stare was enough to make her wish she’d disappeared with their hosts. What was he looking at? Could he see right inside her? Because it sure felt like it. “Are you all right?” he asked.
She let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. “I’m…” What was she? Shocked by the truth of the past? Scared of the future? Safe for the moment? “I’m numb.”
He gave that half-smile. The one that had to have been perfected in a special school for dashing rogues. Gah. Gwen had brainwashed her to be thinking such thoughts.
“Me too,” Alex said.
What was he talking about again? Feeling numb? Yes. That had to be the reason she couldn’t think straight. And why for the first time in five years she would rather hug him good night than slap him across the face.
“Hopefully we are more with it in the morning,” she said.
His eyes roamed the ceiling as if already planning his next day. So much for that hug. Not that any sentiment of affection between them would last. She turned to climb the stairs.
“Good night,” he called after her.
Yeah, right. Laney spent the few hours unti
l dawn tossing and turning. Running through every bit of research she’d done to clear her name since the fateful day that had changed both her and Alex’s lives forever. Was there really something on her stolen computer that should have pointed her toward Mitch if she’d only been looking at it differently? Was there something they could still pull up now?
Footsteps. The click of the front door closing.
Laney sat upright. The footsteps had sounded like they were inside before the door clicked, so it wasn’t somebody sneaking in. It had to be Alex sneaking out. Where was he going? He did have his car there. Would he try to sneak out? Was there something he wasn’t telling her?
Had he played them for fools after all?
Jumping from bed, Laney grabbed a pair of Gwen’s jeans and a t-shirt. Gwen wouldn’t mind, and she was not putting on the Audrey Hepburn dress again to go chase down a thief.
Sure enough. Alex stood at the bottom of the stairs in the silvery morning light, poised to head out the door.
“Stop.”
Chapter Five
Alex gripped the door handle harder. He’d been hoping to get out of the house undetected. He probably should have just changed outside in his car rather than bring in his extra set of clothes from the trunk and change indoors. He’d risked it, and he’d lost.
“Hey, you’re up.” He tried to keep his voice low enough to avoid waking the good chief.
Laney planted a hand on her hip, apparently not buying his casual demeanor. If she let him have it from the top of the stairs, the owner of the house would awake for sure. He motioned her down the stairs. And outside. And cringed when asking, “Do you want to come with me?”
“Where? Were you planning to surprise us all with donuts and milk?”
Sarcasm did not become her. It was as unappealing as her All Seasons Security uniform. Today she’d dressed a little more femininely in lavender and denim, but that didn’t make up for her attitude.
He pivoted on a heel and headed toward his Corvette, tossing the keys in the air and catching them. “I’m sure we can pick up some breakfast if you really want.”
Team Love on the Run Box-Set #1 Page 4