by Hope White
The tech rushed into the room and handed Alex a paper cup of water.
“Thanks.”
Alex dipped his fingers in the cup and sprinkled water in Nicole’s face, once, twice.
With a soft gasp she opened her eyes and her body started to tremble. She glanced around the room. “N-n-n-not again.” She sat up and hugged herself, rocking back and forth.
Alex glanced at the tech. “I’ve got this, thanks.”
The guy nodded and left them alone.
“Nicole?” Alex said.
She didn’t answer, just continued to rock. Alex shifted onto the couch and pulled her against his chest. He didn’t know what else to do.
“Take a deep breath. Everything’s okay.”
“Why am I here again?” her muffled voice said against his chest.
“You were trying to remember what happened last night and you passed out.”
“I’m scared.”
“You’re safe. I’ve got you.” Alex held her and rocked slightly. As each minute passed, her trembling subsided.
“Mr. Lange was shouting then I heard a muffled pop then screaming and crashing. I think they were fighting over a business decision.”
“It sounded like it.”
“So I told you what they were saying?”
“You don’t remember?”
“The last thing I remember is walking into the closet.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He stroked her hair. “It’s over now.”
“It won’t be over until you find the killer.”
“Thanks to you we’re that much closer.” It felt so natural to hold her like this. “I was worried about you.”
She suddenly pushed away. “Your witness is fine, detective. What else do you need me to do?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
She stood and wandered to the window. “I’d offer to go through his office to see what’s missing but this was my first time at the lake house so I wouldn’t know what to look for. I could search his computer files to see if anything looks odd. That means I’ll have to go back in there.” She glanced over her shoulder with worry in her eyes.
Alex stood. “FBI took the computer.”
“Then I guess my work is done here. I’d appreciate a ride back to the inn.” She headed for the door.
Alex caught up to her and touched her arm. “Stop for a second.” She was acting too aloof, detached.
“Hey,” he said, searching her eyes. She looked past him toward the front door. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you really care.” She pinned him with angry eyes. “You don’t want me to get confused but you hold me and make me feel safe and ask me if I’m okay, like you’re genuinely worried about me.”
“I am.”
“‘Let’s not get confused here.’ Your words, remember? Well, I’m more than a little vulnerable right now and would appreciate you backing off because your compassion feels like you do care and I realize this is only a job for you. So, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to go back to the inn to recover in my room. Alone.”
She held his gaze with challenge. He stepped back and she marched to the front door.
Frustration tangled his gut into knots. He hadn’t been able to keep a lid on the feelings brewing inside, feelings that crossed the boundary from professional cop to something more intimate.
She’d sensed it, too. Worse, she’d thrown his words back at him, words he’d spoken to set a safe boundary.
Only, how could he expect her to honor the boundary when he kept crossing it? Talk about confused. It seemed as if he was the confused one in this relationship, a relationship that was drifting away from a clearly defined cop-witness dynamic.
He followed her to the truck, wondering how he was going to get his feelings in check when they’d already taken off in their own direction: straight into the heart of Nicole Harris.
* * *
Mrs. Cavendish served Nicole a delicious lunch of chicken rice soup and a grilled tomato-and-cheese sandwich. Nicole had eaten as much as she could, but truly wanted to relax and sleep off the trauma of remembering what happened last night.
After sleeping away the afternoon, she got up and went to the window seat. She reflected on what happened at Edward Lange’s lake house this morning. It was a good thing she’d remembered what Mr. Lange and his killer said because it could help Alex solve the case.
It wasn’t such a good thing that reliving the scene caused her to pass out....
And be carried to safety once again by Detective Alex Donovan. He was her lifeline, a grounding buoy in a sea of violent, choppy waves.
But it was all about the case for him, finding a killer. If that meant forcing Nicole into scary places, well, that’s what he’d do.
Nic was so off balance right now that it made sense she’d heard more in Alex’s voice than professional concern when he’d said she’d be okay.
Please wake up, sweetheart.
She straightened in the window seat. He’d called her sweetheart. She hadn’t imagined it, had she? The pleading sound of his voice had lit a fire of determination inside of her, making her fight her way back to consciousness. His brother, Quinn, had called her sweetheart and she’d felt nothing but gratitude for rescuing her from reporters.
There was no ignoring the fact that Alex Donovan had a profound effect on her, something she’d never experienced before.
“Probably because he’s saved your life a few times,” she muttered to herself.
His endearment somehow brought her out of the fog. She’d opened her eyes and was caught by the clarity of his blue eyes, and the cross hanging from a silver chain around his neck. It must have eased its way out of his shirt when he leaned over to whisper into her ear.
Her cell phone rang, jarring her out of the memory. She pulled it out of her messenger bag and smiled when she recognized the caller ID. “Hey, Ruby.”
“I’m in shock. I just heard about Edward.”
“Yeah, it was horrible.”
Nicole settled in on the window seat and spotted Alex speaking to a patrolman down below.
“But you’re okay, right?” Ruby asked.
“Yeah, but I’m but pretty shaken up.”
“Were you there when it happened?”
“Hiding in the closet.”
“Oh, honey...” she said, with sympathy in her voice.
“It looks like I’ll be in Waverly Harbor for a couple of days to help with the investigation.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know if the killer knew I was in the closet. At any rate, I’m kind of in police protective custody.”
“Kind of?”
“The FBI wants a piece of me, too, but the local cops are fighting to keep me in their custody. The detective who found me in the closet is my shadow, pretty much.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks. Mr. Lange’s sister showed up at the police station and demanded they lock me up.”
“Why on earth—”
“That thing with my father ten years ago, you know....”
“It was justified.”
“She didn’t know the history. Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be arrested anytime soon considering they found me cowering in the closet in a state of shock.”
“I feel so helpless. What can I do?”
“Could you check on Oscar? Just make sure the dry food bowl is full and he’s got enough water?”
“Absolutely.”
“That would be a huge load off my mind.”
“You just witnessed a murder and you’re worried about
your cat.”
“He’s more than just a cat. He’s my family.”
Oscar had been with her since she’d escaped her father.
“Oh, hey, my other line is ringing,” Ruby said. “Can I call you back?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Be careful.”
“Will do.”
Nicole ended the call and considered the fact that her closest family member was a cat. Sad but understandable. She’d drifted away from Beau and Addy, probably because the sight of their big sister brought back such painful memories, memories of Nic shoving them into a closet or hurrying them up the attic steps so Dad wouldn’t find them. She couldn’t blame them for wanting to avoid reliving the horror.
Due to her traumatic childhood, Nicole didn’t open up easily to people. Ruby was her one true friend and it had taken Nic three years to share aspects of her dark past with her.
So basically Nic’s inner circle consisted of one good friend and one frisky cat, which made for a very lonely life.
Yet she hadn’t noticed how alone she was until she’d met Detective Donovan. It was like her interaction with him exposed a need she never knew she had: having someone in her life she could totally depend on.
And perhaps, kiss.
She leaned against the wall and sighed, admitting the attraction that hummed between them was stronger than she’d suspected. There was no sense denying it, or the fact it would complicate things, because she was pretty sure kissing a witness was not in his job description.
She glanced outside just as Alex looked up from his conversation with the patrolman. He shot her one of his half smiles meant to comfort her. Her heart skipped a beat and excitement flooded her belly.
“This can’t happen.” She shifted off the window seat and searched the room for a good book, something to distract her runaway thoughts. She opened the glass bookcase and there, centering a collection of classics, was a Bible.
She stared at it, wishing there was something inside the pages that could give her peace, but she’d given up on God long ago. Where was God when a drunk driver killed her mother? Where was God when Dad came after her, or Beau or Addy?
She shut the glass doors but her gaze lingered on the Bible. A small part of her ached for a connection to God.
She simply couldn’t get past the anger, the resentment.
A soft tap on the door interrupted her thoughts.
“Come in,” she said.
Alex opened the door and ambled across the room to stand next to her. “Find anything interesting?”
She ripped her gaze from the bookcase and wandered back to the window seat. “Not really.”
A few seconds of awkward silence stretched between them.
“So, what’s new with the case?” she said.
“We’ve narrowed down the list of suspects to people Edward worked with, thanks to you.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. “The chief convinced Abigail Woods that you’re not a viable suspect.”
“How’d he manage that?”
“Shared a little bit of your background.”
“I’d asked you not to do that.”
“I didn’t. Guess he knew someone in the Spokane P.D. and made a call, got the inside story. He also managed to get the Feds to back off a bit.”
“He’s had a good day.”
“Yes, he has. Wish I could say the same. All I managed to do was put you in danger, both at the resort and back at the lake house.”
“I thought you said my memories helped you.”
“They did. I just haven’t had time to pursue the leads, yet.”
“Because of your protection detail,” she said, her voice flat.
“That’s not—”
“Look, I’m better now. Why don’t you find someone else to babysit me?”
“I made a commitment to protect you.”
“I release you from that promise. Go ahead, call one of your deputies to take over so you can work the case.”
“This morning at the station you said you felt safest with me.”
“I’ll feel safer once you find the killer and you can’t do that if you’re here holding my hand.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“Nicole?”
She glanced into his eyes, hoping she had the mask of indifference firmly in place.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I had a reality check. I’m holding you back. It’s time I stop being so selfish and let you do your job.” She walked to the door, needing to put distance between them. “Mrs. Cavendish is serving lasagna for dinner. Thought I’d head down.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Unless there was something else?”
He shook his head, a puzzled expression creasing his brow.
“Okay, then, I’ll be downstairs.”
She left the room, walking away from Alex’s compassionate blue eyes and deep, caring voice. It was better this way. The separation would give them the distance they needed. Alex would be able to focus on solving a murder and Nicole could get her perspective back.
Because she knew, deep in her heart, that depending on someone, especially a cop, would only lead to tragedy.
* * *
He wasn’t buying Nicole’s new attitude and sudden strength, which she wore proudly through dinner like a shield of armor. The conversation consisted of light and meaningless small talk. Mrs. C. commented on the new gift shop opening in town, the questionable future of the old mill property and Mrs. Delmonico adopting her fifth cat.
Nicole seemed absorbed in the conversation. Maybe for her the events of a small town were the perfect distraction to take the edge off her fear.
Because he knew she still had to be afraid.
He’d offered to help with the cleanup but the women herded him to the living room. As he waited by the front window for his replacement, the soft voices of Nicole and Mrs. Cavendish drifted to him from the kitchen.
Nicole’s voice sounded relaxed, different than when she’d told him to find a replacement bodyguard. When she’d demanded he focus on finding the killer instead of babysitting her, Nicole’s tone had been cool and businesslike. Detached.
Isn’t that what he’d wanted, to keep their relationship professional?
What he desperately wanted was to find the killer so she wouldn’t be in danger. And now she’d given him the freedom to get to work helping the chief investigate leads instead of watching over Nicole.
Was the tension in his gut warning him not to let her out of his sight? Or maybe it was a reaction to everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. Who wouldn’t be hesitant to leave her side considering the threats against her life?
“Enough.” He needed to put some of his analytical energy into following up on leads.
Did the killer know about Nicole’s presence during the shooting? The answer to that question would ease his fear and allow him to step aside and let Mark take over as her protector.
Stop thinking about her safety and focus on the crime.
Alex pulled his computer tablet out of his backpack and opened his email. Lange Industries VP Beverly Lutz was sending over a list of new projects, highlighting the ones Edward had been most involved in and which staff members played lead roles. Once Alex reviewed that list he could narrow down the suspect pool by checking alibis.
He found the email from Beverly Lutz and clicked it open.
“So, did you find someone?” Nicole’s sweet voice said.
He glanced up as she padded across the living room.
“I’m working on a list of suspects, yeah.”
“I meant to replace you as my bodyguard.”
“You’re tha
t anxious to get rid of me, huh?” he joked.
Instead of smiling she glanced down at her feet.
Something was definitely off. He knew he wasn’t going to get through her impregnable wall so he tried a different tack.
“Are you up to helping with the case?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“I received this email with a list of employees working on various projects. Do you know if Edward was expecting anyone else at the lake house for a work-related meeting?”
“No, I don’t think so. Ruby said he needed to get away from the hectic energy of the office so he could strategize.”
“Strategize what?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What was your role in the strategizing process?”
“Help him stay organized so things wouldn’t fall through the cracks. He was brilliant and creative but a tad ADHD.”
“I’d like to show you a list of his current projects, just to see if anything jumps out at you.”
“Okay, but Ruby was his primary PA.”
“I’ll let her take a look, as well.” He handed her the tablet.
With focused concentration, she ran her finger down the list of projects. She hesitated, pursing her lips slightly.
“What is it?” he asked.
“When I checked his voice mail yesterday, a reporter called about this.” She pointed to the Tech-Link project listing. “She wanted a quote about the failure of the project.”
“Failure?”
“I don’t know what she meant, sorry.”
“Do you remember her name?”
“Audrey Ross, with Tech Worldwide. It’s an online daily news service.”
“And Tech-Link?” he asked.
“It’s a new security program designed to protect companies against hackers.”
Headlights flashed through the window. Alex eyed the police cruiser as it pulled into the driveway.
“Looks like my replacement is here.” Alex spotted a concerned frown on Nicole’s face just before she turned away. She wandered to the fireplace.
“Mark, Officer Adams, is very capable,” Alex reassured. “You’ll be safe with him.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t look up.