by Irene Hannon
When they emerged into the dimly lit parking area, he moved into step beside her. She gestured toward her car, which was wedged into a far corner of the lot. “I had to run an errand at lunch, and when I got back that was the only spot left. Most of the time I park much closer to the door.” She stopped and turned to him. “Thanks again.”
“I’m beginning to think you’re trying to get rid of me.”
“No, of course not.” Her protest came fast. Too fast. The line from Shakespeare flashed through her mind, and a flush crept up her neck.
“Then I’ll finish the job.” His hand moved to the small of her back and he urged her forward with a firm, sure touch.
At his prompt, Caroline moved toward her car, deciding that silence was her best response. She had no idea what was going on with her equilibrium, but all at once she felt off balance and ill at ease. Later, when she was alone, she’d think this through. Right now, she just needed to get into the car and away from the man beside her, who seemed to be the cause of her problem.
Trying not to run, she picked up her pace. As she approached the car, she fumbled in her shoulder tote for her keys. “Are you just heading home from the office, too?”
When her question produced no response, Caroline sent David a questioning look. He was staring at the passenger door of her car with an odd expression, and when she turned in search of the cause, it hit her like a slap in the face.
Scratched into the maroon paint was a warning— “Back off”—followed by a single, crude term directed at her. She gasped at the vulgar reference.
David’s hand tightened on her waist, and she turned to him. His mouth was set in a grim line, and all levity had vanished from his face. When he looked down at her, she saw worry in the depths of his brown eyes. “Do you have any idea what that might be about, besides the obvious?”
Although his tone was quiet and controlled, she could sense the tension in his body. The “obvious” was Jared, of course. But she didn’t want to believe that.
“Maybe it’s not what you assume.”
“Can you think of any other explanation?”
In truth, she couldn’t. She’d taken flak for stories in the past, but there was no issue hot enough right now to raise anyone’s ire to a level that would push them to take this kind of action. “No.”
“That’s what I figured.” David reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling the police.”
“I doubt it will do any good. The lot’s deserted. This could have been done hours ago.”
“It still needs to be reported. For insurance purposes, if nothing else.”
She put out a hand to restrain him. “Look, David, I don’t want to cause trouble for you or Jared. If this gets back to the Uplink board members, they’ll give you a lot of grief. And it could jeopardize their willingness to take a chance on students like Jared. It’s not worth that risk.”
His hesitation was so brief she wondered if she’d imagined it. Then he punched in 911. “I’m not taking chances with you, either. That’s a threat.” He gestured toward the car. “It has to be reported.” Before she could respond, his call was answered, and while he provided the requested information, she stared at the warning. Instead of intimidating her, it strengthened her resolve to help Jared. If gang members were responsible for this, as David suspected, their plan had backfired.
“All right. Thanks.” David flipped his cell phone shut and slipped it back in his pocket as he turned to Caroline. “An officer should be here within a couple of minutes.” He scanned the parking lot, then nodded toward the building. “Why don’t you wait inside?”
Her chin lifted a notch. “I don’t run away from trouble, David. I’ll wait here with you.”
As he studied her in the shadowed light, noting the resolve in her squared shoulders, the determined look in her hazel eyes, the uncompromising line of her lips, he found himself admiring her strength and tenacity. No wonder she’d been such a good reporter.
But he found himself admiring other things, as well. The delicate column of her slender throat. Her classic cheekbones. The graceful line of her jaw. As a sudden gust of wind whipped a few strands of silky hair across her face, he was tempted to reach over and let them drift through his fingers. Instead, he watched, motionless, as she lifted her hand to brush them aside with a graceful gesture. In the distance, a flash of lightning zigzagged across the night sky, followed by the muted rumble of thunder. The clouds that had been gathering on the horizon must have moved closer, because the air was now charged with electricity. Soon the storm would break. If they didn’t take evasive action, they would both be caught in it.
“Maybe we should both go inside where it’s safe.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest, just like the thunder, sending a little shiver down her spine.
Although she couldn’t see the expression in his shadowed eyes, Caroline sensed David’s intensity. Heard the rough timbre of his voice. Felt her own pulse leap in response.
And suddenly knew that nowhere with David would be safe.
Before she could find her voice, a police car turned into the parking lot.
“Too late,” David murmured, his gaze holding hers captive.
His comment was rife with meaning. And she couldn’t agree more. But right now she needed to focus on the immediate problem. Her car. She could worry about everything else later. Forcing herself to turn away, she looked toward the police.
Two officers emerged from the patrol car and walked over to them. The older one withdrew a notebook. “Good evening, folks. I’m Officer Scanlon. This is Officer Lowe. I understand you reported some vandalism?”
“Right there.” David pointed toward Caroline’s car.
The two men examined the damaged car, then scanned the ground with their flashlights. “I take it this is your car, ma’am?” The younger officer directed his question to Caroline.
“Yes.”
“Any guess on when this might have happened?”
“I took the car out at lunch. It was okay then.”
“Any idea who might have done it?”
David stepped in and gave them a brief overview of the situation, then voiced his own suspicions.
“A gang-related crime, huh?” The older officer took a closer look at Caroline, recognition dawning in his eyes. “This isn’t your first run-in with gang violence, is it, Ms. James? Looks like the forehead healed up just fine, though.”
Caroline felt David’s intent gaze on her even before he spoke. “What does that mean?”
Forcing a nonchalant tone into her voice, she lifted one shoulder in an indifferent shrug. “Remember that series I told you about, the one I did last year on gangs? Someone didn’t appreciate it. This—” she lifted her hand to touch the hairline scar “—was the result of a rock thrown at a window in my condo. I just happened to be standing in the wrong place when it came through. A voice mail at work the next day confirmed that it was related to that series.”
A muscle in David’s cheek twitched.
“Lucky for you it didn’t take out an eye,” Officer Scanlon said.
If Caroline had been the victim of gang violence once already, David realized that it could easily happen again. This time with far worse consequences. “Aside from the vandalism, what about the threat in that warning?” he asked the policemen.
“It could end right here. Or they could follow through. There’s no way to tell. The easy solution is to end the internship.”
“No way.” Caroline folded her arms across her chest. “I won’t be intimidated.”
“Look, Caroline, maybe we need to talk about this,” David interjected.
She turned to him and planted her hands on her hips, her eyes fiery. “No. I’m not going to deny Jared this chance.”
David understood her commitment to the teen. He felt the same way. And he wouldn’t care if the threat had been directed to him. He’d be just as adamant about seeing the thing through as Caroline was. But he felt a whole lot different knowing that she was a target—and that he was the one who had put her in the line of fire. Yet her resolve was strong. He doubted whether he was going to be able to convince her to back off, as the warning had instructed.
Jamming one hand in his pocket, he raked the fingers of the other one through his hair as he turned back to the policemen. “Is there anything you can do to track down the person or persons responsible for the vandalism?”
“Very little. We could dust for prints, but experience tells me we won’t find any. Even small-time crooks and street kids know better than to leave that kind of evidence. And there’s nothing in the immediate area that could have been used to do this. Right, Mark?” He turned toward his partner, who had continued to search the ground. The man nodded.
“Okay. What about Ms. James’s safety?” David persisted. “What can you do to protect her, assuming whoever scratched that into her car intends to follow up on the threat?”
“We’ll beef up patrols here at night.” He turned to Caroline. “Do you still live in the area?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the address?” He jotted it down as she recited it. “We can schedule a few more patrols past your home, too. Other than that, I would just advise that you use caution. Avoid dark places by yourself at night—including this parking lot. Play it safe. And if you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to call us.”
When the officers finished filling out their report and headed back to their car, David gave Caroline a worried look. “I don’t feel good about this.”
She didn’t, either. But there was no way she was going to let him see her fear. He’d just press her to send Jared packing, and she had no intention of doing that. “Everything will be fine, David. I’ll be careful.”
“I still don’t like it. Neither will Jared. He was going to pass up this program to ease his grandmother’s mind when she was worried about his safety. I suspect he’ll feel the same way about you once he knows his presence is putting you in danger.”
“Then we won’t tell him.”
“We have to.”
“No, we don’t. There’s a possibility this incident isn’t even gang-related.”
“You don’t believe that.”
“It’s possible,” she insisted, her chin lifting in a stubborn tilt. “Promise me you won’t tell him, David.”
There had been a few times in his life when David had been torn between two less-than-ideal options. This was one of them. There just wasn’t a good answer. No matter what course they followed, he’d worry.
Sensing his indecision, Caroline played her trump card. “If you tell Jared and he drops out, you’ll need to explain it to the board. And that won’t do Uplink any good. Let’s just let things ride for a while. My guess is that this will be the end of it.”
Even though her tone was confident, Caroline wasn’t sure she believed that. Judging by his face, David didn’t seem to, either. But she knew how much Uplink meant to him. She hoped he’d go along with her in order to safeguard the program, if for no other reason.
After several seconds, he conceded her point and capitulated—with reluctance. “Okay. But you have to promise me that you’ll use extreme caution, and that you’ll report anything suspicious, no matter how insignificant it seems.”
“Of course.” Then, brightening her tone, she reached for her door handle. “I don’t know about you, but it’s way past my quitting time. I’m out of here.”
He beat her to the handle, then held the door open while she slid into the driver’s seat and put her tote bag on the floor beside her. “I’ll follow you home. It sounds like you live pretty close. I bought a small bungalow in Brentwood, so it won’t be out of my way.”
Words of protest rose to her lips, but she stifled them. Considering he’d let her win on the Jared issue, it might be best not to push her luck. And lightening things up a bit wouldn’t hurt, either. “Your mother would be proud of your good manners,” she told him, forcing a smile to her lips.
David figured that was true. But as he shut her door with an instruction to wait on the side street while he retrieved his car, he knew that good manners weren’t his only motivation for following her home. His reasons went far deeper than that.
When David had met with Caroline to pass on Michael’s medallion, he’d hoped that whatever infatuation had plagued him for two and a half long years would fizzle out once he was back in her presence. It hadn’t. And as he’d gotten to know her better, as she’d dropped her wall of resentment and worked with him to help Jared, his feelings had deepened. Over the past few weeks they had evolved to respect and admiration and an attraction based on far more than the hormones that had surely triggered his initial reaction to her. In fact, as time had passed, his infatuation had begun to move toward love. But he’d resolved to put his feelings on hold during the summer, as they worked with Jared. He’d never believed in mixing business and pleasure.
Besides, he still had guilt and loyalty issues to work through. How could he pursue his brother’s fiancée? Wasn’t that wrong, somehow? Even though he was gone, Michael cast a long shadow. And Caroline’s love for his brother had been deep and abiding. If and when she was ready to love again, would she, too, think it odd to consider the brother of the man she’d planned to marry as a potential suitor?
None of those questions had easy answers. And David hadn’t planned to focus on them yet. Not while they were involved in a business relationship. But things had changed tonight, when he’d discovered that Caroline was in danger. He’d have to stick a whole lot closer to her than he’d planned, and he wasn’t sure how he could do that without tipping his hand about his feelings—far sooner than she might be ready to accept them. And far sooner than he was prepared to reveal them.
But if she was going to put herself in jeopardy, he didn’t plan to let her face the danger alone. He had to get more involved. There was just no way around it.
And he also planned to pray. For both of them.
Chapter Ten
Caroline jotted a final notation on the layouts for the next edition of the paper, then forked the last spear of broccoli in her Chinese take-out dinner. At least one good thing had come out of the vandalism incident, she mused. For the past two Mondays, David had appeared at her office at about seven o’clock, dinner in hand for both of them, and planted himself at an empty desk with his laptop while she finished up for the day, explaining that he didn’t like the idea of her being alone at the Chronicle. And he especially didn’t like her walking to her car by herself at night. So he’d taken up the job of bodyguard for one night a week, providing dinner to sweeten the deal.
As it had turned out, his considerate gesture had been unnecessary. Nothing more had come of the incident. But Caroline hadn’t minded his attention. Capping her pen, she glanced his way, tracing his strong profile as he gave the document in front of him his full attention. During both visits he’d left her alone while she worked, saying that he didn’t want to disturb her.
Yet he’d done just that.
Reaching up, Caroline fingered the medallion that rested near her heart. She’d started wearing it more often, to remind herself that her growing attraction to David was inappropriate. And perhaps to warn him to keep his distance. But she wasn’t sure how much longer it would have the desired effect. On herself—or on David.
The fact was, Caroline’s feelings for David were deepening. Even though she felt guilty about it, she couldn’t put the brakes on the sudden acceleration in her pulse when David appeared, couldn’t contain the rush of tenderness that swept over her when she looked into his caring, compassionate eyes, couldn’t suppress the
yearning that filled her heart when she was near him. Nor could she understand her reactions. She still loved Michael—a good, decent man who had taught her how to embrace life and who had added a zest to her days that had forever changed her outlook on the world.
But David was a good, decent man, too. Though the brothers’ different approaches to life each had appeal and charm, more and more she was beginning to think that in the long term, over a lifetime, David’s quiet, measured style suited her better. And that not only made her feel guilty, but also disloyal.
As if sensing her scrutiny, David looked her way. For a brief second his eyes darkened, sending a rush of warmth to her cheeks. When he rose and walked toward her door, her lungs stopped working and a tingle of anticipation raced up her spine. He paused on the threshold, his gaze flickering down to her hand, which gripped the medallion around her neck, before it moved back to her face. For several seconds he just looked at her.
“I’m going to get some water. Would you like some?” he asked at last.
The innocuous comment was so at odds with the intense look on his face that it took her a second to regroup. “N-no, thanks. I should be done here in another twenty minutes.”
“No rush. Take your time.”
As he disappeared, Caroline’s lungs kicked back into gear. She’d dated enough men to recognize David’s expression. If it were anyone else, she’d have expected something to follow that look. A touch, perhaps even a kiss. But since David had never exhibited any romantic inclinations, maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe her assessment of what had just transpired was simply wishful thinking. Whatever it was, though, she needed to get her emotions under control and stay at arm’s length. She didn’t need the kind of complication in her life that a romance with David would bring.