by Regan Black
“Is that good news?”
Carson nodded. “When you’re done for today, we need to have a long talk.”
She tugged him into the hallway with her. “About what I said, um, out there?”
“No.” Was that disappointment flashing in her dark brown eyes? He didn’t mind being her excuse for her parents. Or rather, he wouldn’t have minded it so much if he could slow down the effervescent feeling her words had stirred up. “I meant about Sarah and Noelle. I was running down a few theories when I got your text.”
“What kind of theories?”
“Later.” He hooked his thumbs in his back pockets. “I’m sure our bosses would appreciate it if we put some time in today.”
“You’re going out on an ambulance?”
She sounded so excited for him, he almost lied. He really should have told her what had happened with Evelyn yesterday, but he kept cycling away from it. “No. I’m due on the construction site.” He stepped close and brushed a kiss to her lips. “Call me when you’re ready and I’ll be here to pick you up.”
“Thanks.”
Carson waited until he was well away from the museum before he called Grant. “Has anyone found him yet? Should I go back and look around?” The man Grant had assigned to Lissa had fallen off the radar shortly after the drug dealer left the museum grounds.
“No walking alone for you,” Grant said. “I’ve got someone pinging the cell signal now, and we should find him shortly.”
“Does Werner still have someone watching Lissa?”
“Yes.”
“All right.” Carson tried to settle down. “As long as she isn’t alone.”
“No one plans to leave her alone until we have this case wrapped up,” Grant said. “How did you enjoy her parents?”
Carson thought about that. “They were an interesting blend of helicoptering tendencies balanced with benign neglect.”
“Well, that paints a picture.”
“They mean well,” he said. “They want her to move to DC with them, where it’s safe.”
“When?”
Carson choked on a bitter laugh. “Today.” He laughed again when Grant sputtered about crime rates. “She held her own, but they want her decision by tomorrow morning.”
Grant coughed. “The victim who showed up here on Friday night might have agreed. Now that she has her memory back, I don’t think they stand a chance of budging her.”
Somehow Grant’s assessment put Carson at ease. He let the entire mess filter through the back of his mind during the remainder of the afternoon. He gave Daniel’s task list his full attention on the job until Lissa called. As he’d anticipated, she worked late to make up for the lost hours this week. Either that or she didn’t want to spend extra time with him tonight.
He pulled himself back from that idea, thinking of the way she’d blushed when she saw him standing behind her. If she’d meant it about being in love with him...
He rubbed a fist over his sternum when his heart gave another kick at the concept. Was he ready to take that emotional leap after such a short time? Well, if she meant it, he’d do everything in his power to make sure she didn’t regret it.
He used the voice-to-text option and sent her a message when he was a block away. He added a second message asking her to have a security guard walk her to the truck. The light was fading, and since they had yet to find Grant’s man or anyone from the drug crew, he wasn’t inclined to make either of them a target.
She reached the truck without incident and leaned over to kiss him before she buckled her seat belt. It wasn’t anywhere close to the most passionate kiss they’d shared, but it gave him the strangest sense of being caught and flying free at the same time.
“Did your parents change their minds about dinner?”
She grinned. “Not a chance. They have two dining extremes, camp food and five-star fare. A normal home-cooked meal isn’t typically high on the list.” She didn’t appear bothered by the snub. “I wanted to do a backflip when you put them on the spot like that.”
“I was trying to be nice.”
“Oh, I know.” She grinned. “I know. That’s what made it so perfect.”
“Huh. Let’s pretend I understand that. Were they here because you told them about Noelle?”
“No,” she said, sounding horrified at the concept. “Noelle’s parents reached out to them. I have no idea how the Ansons even found them. Half the time I can’t reach them when I want to wish them happy birthday or whatever.”
“And yet they came all this way.”
“They went to ‘great lengths,’” she said with air quotes. “They mean well.”
There were stories in there and lots of them, he thought. It surprised him how much he wanted to hear them all and soothe the deep aches her parents had left behind. He glanced over at her and saw the glow of satisfaction on her face. “You know something.”
“I know a lot of things. Your comment about theories on Sarah and Noelle kept my brain engaged while I waited on some tedious tests to run their course today.”
“Did you find or remember another connection?”
“Yes.” She bounced a little in her seat. “Noelle had a penchant for bad-boy types, so we always had a deal. She usually gave me names and a picture when she went out on dates.”
“The easy escape.”
“Exactly. The guy’s face has felt familiar, but I couldn’t place it. On a hunch, I went through my old text messages from Noelle when I got back to my desk. His name is William Hammond. At least, that’s the name he gave Noelle when they went out on a blind date.”
“What?” Carson looked for a place to pull over. “We have to get this to Grant or Werner.”
“I sent everything I had to both of them already,” she said. “Noelle dated him off and on, but I saw him only in the first picture until I caught a glimpse of him when he picked her up at my house just a few weeks ago. He didn’t come up, just waited in a convertible on the street.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe it took me this long to remember his face out of the context of Friday.” She went quiet for a moment. “Noelle must have left something in my house, or picked something up that night. We should go search,” she suggested.
“Not without backup,” Carson said. “Let’s slow down and think this through.” He was about to say more when the phone rang through the speakers and caller ID gave Grant’s name.
“Where are you?” Grant asked the moment Carson answered.
“On the way to my place. Lissa is remembering more about this William guy.”
“Go home and stay put,” Grant ordered. “And turn on your security system.”
He glanced at Lissa and assumed her bewildered expression matched his. “What the hell is going on?”
“Get inside and set the system. Then call me and let me know what Lissa remembers.”
Carson didn’t have a chance to argue as Grant ended the call.
“What on earth?” Lissa mused.
He had a bad feeling, but he didn’t want to speculate on worst case scenarios and upset her for nothing. “Can you call your parents, just to check on them?”
“Do you think they’re in danger?”
“I seriously doubt it, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
She used her phone and made the call as he turned in to his street. He listened as she confirmed her parents were dining at the hotel restaurant. Naturally they were eager to know if she’d already changed her mind about the new post in DC. By the time she’d extricated herself from that sticky web, Carson had parked in the garage.
“What do you think is going on?”
The fear in her voice made him want to soothe her. Although he’d hoped to discuss what he’d overheard today, that had to wait. “We’ll find out soon,” Carson sa
id. “Grant isn’t known for overreacting.”
Inside the house, he armed his security system, sharing the code with her so she could turn it off if they tripped it by accident. Her earlier excitement over making some progress about Noelle’s case had given way to abject worry. It didn’t help matters that Grant didn’t pick up when Carson called in as ordered.
“What are the odds we’ll find any sign of your theory about Noelle after the break-in and fire?” He pulled out two beers from the refrigerator and opened both, handing one to her.
“Low,” she admitted. “Still, I want to try. Our best friends were keeping secrets from us, and now they’re dead.” She took a long drink of the beer. “I’m strongly opposed to either one of us becoming the next victim.”
“We have to be close, or they wouldn’t be so persistent.”
Carson regretted his words moments later when Grant returned their call and brought them up to speed. “Turns out the man Lissa has identified as Hammond got close to Lissa today because his accomplices intercepted Adam. I had him following you,” Grant explained, his voice grave over the speaker. “If you hadn’t kept your cool, it’s hard to say what might have happened.”
Carson watched the color leach from Lissa’s face and took her hand, willing her to hang on. “Is Adam okay?”
“He was drugged and left for dead in an alley. We got him to the hospital and they think he will pull through. In his pocket, they’d planted an Escape Club matchbook, and tucked into that was a demand for the missing product.”
“That’s what they want me for,” Lissa said. “They think I know what Noelle did with their drugs.”
“That’s my guess,” Grant agreed. “Stay inside. Don’t even order takeout. We have a potential sting going here tonight. With luck, that will bring this bastard out to play, and we can be done already. I’ll be in touch.”
Carson set the phone aside and gathered her into his arms as tremors shook her body. “It’s my fault.” She hiccuped. “Someone nearly died because of me.”
“Hush.” He rocked her a little. “You’ve been so strong through all of this. So steady. Don’t fall apart now.”
She shook her head, balling her fists in his shirt and hiding her face.
He took her into the front room and pulled her onto the couch, waiting for the shock to fade. This reaction was an echo of her grief over her friend. He understood that. He rubbed her back, smoothed her hair and handed over tissues until the worst of it passed.
“After Sarah—” he forced himself to say the next word “—died, everything was magnified in my world. There weren’t simple emotions. Anything alive was too alive. Anything dying or dead brought it all back. I hated lilies because they reminded me of her funeral. Cats, too.”
“Cats?” She lifted her head, and he smiled at the confused frown on her face. “You don’t like animals?”
“Actually, I’m a big fan. Sarah had a snarly gray tabby cat who hated me. She left him to my sister Becky. He and I were both so miserable without Sarah that I hated him right back for a while. I begged her to dump the beast at a shelter. Everything was too much to cope with.”
She snuggled into him. “Adam nearly died helping me today.”
“He survived,” he reminded her. “I know him a little from the club, and he loves helping out in any capacity. You’ve remembered an important name, and we’re both looking at our best friends, eyes wide open now. We’ll find justice for them. The cops are running every lead, and Grant is working double time. Together we’ll figure it out so you can feel safe again.”
“I feel safe here, with you.” Her low whisper drifted over him, soothing the tattered edges of his soul. “You’ve been in danger because of me. I couldn’t bear losing you, too. Not now.”
“Now?” he prompted when he couldn’t take the silence anymore. Had she meant what she’d told her parents today?
“You remind me what it’s like to have someone who understands me.”
Not exactly the answer he was looking for. Then again, was either of them ready for something more significant?
“That has to sound weird,” she continued. “All things considered, but it’s true. I could never go to DC and start making friends all over again. Not after losing Noelle and meeting you. Definitely not with the absurd expectations of my parents hanging over my head.”
She’d included him in the reasons to stay. He’d follow his own advice and focus on the positive. “You could do it.”
“I don’t want to,” she insisted. “Some days I wonder if they even notice that I’m an adult. I think they ignored me so often that they missed some important milestones along the way.”
“Like what?”
She blotted her eyes and swiped at her nose, balling the tissue into her hand. “I didn’t mean to lose it,” she said, dodging the question. “Death is so permanent.”
He bent his head and kissed her. “And life is precious. He survived. We survived.” His heart hammered as she angled her body across his to kiss him back.
“I’m the Baxters’ daughter. I should be used to life and death and what we leave behind by now, and yet...”
“The yet is what makes you Lissa Baxter, CSI for priceless documents and artifacts.”
“I made it clear to Elaine that I have no intention of going anywhere, despite the rumors my parents have surely started.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Would she make it clear to him, too, now? He could see a life with her so easily. It didn’t scare him as much as it excited him to think of dinners at home after shifts, date nights in the city or movie nights here on the couch. She’d be safe inside the museum when he was on duty. His family tree was rooted here, right where she kept saying she wanted to stay firmly planted.
“Elaine said the nicest thing to me today.” She stroked her thumb over his cheek, made a study of his face.
“What was that?” he managed to ask as the affectionate touch undid him.
“She said she hired me on my own merit.” Lissa smiled, her eyes lit with happiness. “It’s how life is supposed to go.” She lifted herself off him and retreated to the far end of the couch. “But I rarely knew for sure if it was really my effort or their influence when things went my way.”
“Well, neither one of us knew your name when you fell into my care, and I liked you just fine.” Her smile blossomed, as he’d hoped it would.
“Obviously that was my luckiest day ever.”
“People are allowed to have more than one lucky day,” he said, crawling toward her. “If we have to stay in, we should make the most of it.”
He kissed her and she sighed. “We should make the most of it and help Grant and Werner sort out how our friends were connected.”
She was right, but kissing her was such a lovely distraction. “In a minute.”
Chapter 12
The minute Carson suggested turned into an hour of sensual bliss, and Lissa couldn’t fault either of them for taking the time to enjoy the moment. Sensing a reflection of her urgency in his caresses only amplified each detail. Content and hungry, they’d made a meal of leftovers and were now searching for the connection points between Sarah and Noelle.
She understood him more, adored him more, with every interaction. Until Sarah had been killed, he’d dealt with life and death every day in the course of his job. And every day since losing his best friend, he’d been dealing only with death, stuck in a loop of despair. She recognized how easy it would be to get mired down by the grief whenever she wanted to share something with Noelle and couldn’t. The harsh reality stung.
All of that was compounded for Carson, losing his best friend and his partner. It was no wonder he wasn’t eager to go back full-time on an ambulance. She wished there was something she could do for him, some way to help him feel as strong and empowered as he kept mak
ing her feel.
She ached for him when he relayed the conversation and negative implications his boss had made about Sarah. Once he’d explained her background and how much she’d overcome to break the drug and abuse cycles, Lissa agreed with his adamant opinion that Sarah hadn’t been working with the dealers.
“Okay,” he said as they dissected Sarah’s final shifts and personal time. “We did transport two patients to the hospital where Noelle worked the day before the ambush, but I never saw your friend.”
Lissa didn’t stand a chance of recalling Noelle’s schedule from eight months ago, but she tried to think of anything else going on at the time. “Noelle often took short breaks in odd places. The parking garage or the chapel. Sometimes we went to the diner or the park across the street from the hospital. There aren’t many ways to get away during a long shift.”
He pushed a hand through his hair. “The only time our rig had a discrepancy on drugs was the night we were attacked. They shot her and took everything that wasn’t locked down.”
“What if someone on the drug crew saw Noelle speaking with Sarah and thought there was an exchange?”
“Where and how could that have happened?”
“That’s the big question,” she murmured.
Carson’s studied the notes he’d been making all day. “It wasn’t like we were answering multiple calls to the same address. Not even a significant percentage of our calls were going to Noelle’s ER.”
Lissa got up from the table and paced the length of the kitchen. Carson had pieces from more than nine months ago. She had only a scattered picture of Noelle’s last few days. When and how would someone have spotted them together, and with Sarah dead, why wait so long to attack Noelle?
“The timing bothers me,” she said. “We know Sarah wasn’t helping drug dealers. Noelle shouldn’t have been doing so. I can’t pinpoint a single reason she’d get involved with such a scam.”
When and how had someone from the crew seen them together?