Undercover Hunter

by Rachel Lee

But she was right and he knew it. He watched her pull on her robe, jam her feet into slippers and head for the kitchen. They were both action junkies. It would make for an interesting relationship.

  If they had one.

  Because there was one little thing about DeeJay that had begun to niggle at him. No matter how close they got, he felt as if she were maintaining a distance. This close and no closer. He’d left her alone the past few days, much as he wanted her, because he hoped she’d open up in some way. But she hadn’t approached him. Hadn’t asked him.

  DeeJay, he realized, was keeping all her walls up, and she hadn’t really begun to lower the drawbridge. He was beginning to feel like a handy roll in the hay.

  Chapter 11

  Night had settled over the world with an almost surreal quietness. If anyone was out and about, the snow effectively muffled any sounds they might have made. DeeJay made coffee and hunted up the coffee cake Cade had bought before the storm and put it out. If they were going to be up for a while, they needed some energy.

  Not that they seemed to have lacked any in bed. She smiled to herself as she puttered, realizing that she had liked the way they had rushed. It had been exciting to be so unconstrained, to just give in to the most basic needs. She felt amazingly relaxed and sated now. Maybe it would get her through a few more hours of dealing with this case before she got tightly wound again.

  But now that she knew for certain that Cade still wanted her, she felt she had something to look forward to, instead of just dreading what might happen next.

  When he entered the kitchen to join her, he was wearing jeans, socks and a green flannel shirt that hung open. He brought his own coffee to the table and sat facing her.

  She was already beginning to work with her tablet, but he startled her by reaching out and running his fingertip over the back of her hand. She looked up.

  “Before we take the plunge again, I wanted to tell you how wonderful that was.”

  She felt her cheeks heat faintly and returned his smile. “It was every bit of that.”

  “We’ll do it again soon. Maybe with more finesse, though.”

  She had to laugh, and he joined her quietly. But her gaze was drawn back to the tablet, and a moment later he withdrew his touch, reaching for his own computer.

  “I can’t help it,” she said after a moment.

  “Help what?”

  “I can’t stand an unsolved case. It won’t leave me alone, not for anything.”

  He reached out and this time covered her hand with his. “It’s okay. It’s who we are. It’s what we do. We’d be lousy investigators if we acted like it was just a regular day job.”

  She smiled, feeling a bit better that she’d explained herself. She wasn’t trying to ignore him, not at all, but this case gnawed at her, and the gnawing hadn’t eased one bit with the appearance of a possible suspect.

  Probably the wrong guy, given how most things went, but she was willing to chase it all the way to the end. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could be overlooked.

  Twenty minutes later, her hopes faded. The DMV database showed that Calvin Sweet had never let his license lapse.

  She looked up. “Don’t we have an integrated DMV in this country?”

  “They’re working toward it. Slowly. Forty-six states share information about major infractions. Minor infractions can vary. But as for general information...not yet. So unless this guy committed an offense bigger than a parking ticket, or in many cases a speeding infraction, you’re not going to find out where else he might have had a license without a warrant.”

  “DMV just shows his license is up-to-date, last renewed six years ago. Nothing else at all. So if he lived elsewhere, he either never got an in-state license there or he never turned in his Wyoming license.”

  “It’s not all that uncommon,” he said. “Especially the part about turning in your old license. Unless the state requires it, most people don’t bother. They just get a new one. And sometimes the new states don’t even ask you to turn in your old one. And then there are folks that never get a new license.”

  “True.” She sat back, rubbing her eyes briefly. “Dead end. I sure as hell don’t have probable cause for a warrant to get information on his residency in the other states.”

  “We’re not done yet.”

  Of course they weren’t. She stood up and went to get some more coffee, turning everything around in her mind. Maybe she’d been too quick to leap on Calvin Sweet. Just because he’d said he’d visited Houston and lived in Boston didn’t mean he had anything to do with this horror.

  Cade had asked her if she’d had any kind of vibe, and she’d answered that she hadn’t. Didn’t mean anything one way or another. It wasn’t as if evil radiated off someone. In fact, in her experience evil seemed to have a benign face all too often, like that guy who had raped her, like so many others she had investigated.

  At least not unless you were psychic, a thought that twisted her mouth wryly. She’d never claimed such a thing and didn’t really believe in it. Some people were just better at intuition than others. If you looked really hard, you could probably find a reason for what seemed like a supernatural insight.

  Which had been Cade’s essential question. Did anything about Calvin Sweet bother her at any level? She’d been so focused on her responses to what he’d said about where he’d been that she might have missed something.

  Mug in hand, she began pacing through the house, avoiding the kitchen so she wouldn’t disturb Cade’s research. In her mind, she tried to replay every single second of her time with Sweet. It had been brief enough, and she had a very good memory for details. Being observant had been trained into her. She even remembered every detail about the time he had looked at her in the diner.

  She needed to look past the conversation, though. Yes, she’d gotten those nuggets about Houston and Boston, but that really wasn’t enough. Something in his manner, his tone of voice... Like a video camera, her brain replayed the entire encounter, once, twice, then again.

  All of a sudden she straightened and hurried back to the kitchen.

  “He wanted me to come out to his ranch,” she said to Cade. “He said he had a beautiful view and I should take pictures from someplace besides the top of the mountain.”

  He looked up, regarding her thoughtfully. “That bothered you?”

  She slid into the chair across from him. “Actually, it did. Most people have been worried we’d say something about the missing boys and make their town look bad. He slid right past that as if it weren’t going on and wanted me to come out to his place. Who else has suggested that?”

  “No one,” he admitted. “And you’re right, damn near everyone has been concerned we might do a hatchet job because of the missing boys.”

  “Exactly. Totally protective of their town. Not Calvin. No, he wants to show off a ranch he isn’t even working.”

  “He could have just taken an interest in you. Men do that.” He winked, but in no way did it suggest that he was making light of what had passed between them.

  She waggled her ring finger at him, reminding him that they appeared to be married.

  He smiled faintly.

  “Okay,” she said. “He wants me to come out to the ranch. Now in the context of our meeting, Gage said nothing about why I was in town. Dory, his coworker, mentioned he might get his photo in a magazine, but that didn’t interest him at all. Not even a bit. That’s rare.”

  “Intensely private people...” He paused. “Yeah. Okay, it’s rare, and intensely private people include our killer type. On the other hand, mention of a photo in a magazine might have been enough to make him want you to see the view from his ranch. Maybe he’s proud of it.”

  “Could be.” She put her chin in her hand, pondering. “It’s also interesting that he didn’t ask Dory what she meant. T
he whole thing indicates that he knows why we’re here, or at least our cover story. And he wasn’t worried we might say something bad about the place. That’s entirely possible, I guess. I’m sure not everyone around here is bursting with local pride.”

  “But it’s still bothering you.”

  She focused at him again. Looking at him was rapidly becoming one of her favorite things in life. “Yeah. You asked if I got any vibes, and I said no. But the more I think about it... Cade, something was off. I guess I can’t quite put my finger on it. Again.”

  “Then let it go for a while. Gage is doing what he can, and neither of us is getting anywhere online... Hell, I even went to the NCIC. Nada. The guy is a shadow who leaves few traces, at least in the databases we can get to. Short of a warrant, we’re at a standstill.”

  He rose and brought the coffee cake over to the table along with knives, forks and plates. “Let it rest. Something will pop out of that amazing subconscious of yours. Or maybe even mine.”

  She arched a brow as he began to slice the cake. “What makes you think your subconscious isn’t as good as mine?”

  “Did I say that?” His eyes twinkled at her. “Maybe we should arrange to pay this guy a visit at his ranch.”

  “You weren’t invited.”

  “And you go alone over my dead body.” He paused, then said, “How about we change the subject? The subconscious works better when we’re not beating on it. Something will emerge from somewhere.”

  Neither of them mentioned the invisible countdown clock.

  * * *

  They settled in the living room with their cake and coffee but weren’t especially interested in eating. Outside, the wind seemed to have picked up and occasionally keened a bit.

  “We’re going to be shoveling again,” Cade remarked.

  “Are we getting more snow?”

  “No, but it’s blowing around. One of the things you need to get used to in these parts is shoveling the same damn snow again and again.”

  She laughed, but the sound was cut short as he reached out a strong arm and urged her to come sit beside him. She didn’t even hesitate. It felt so good to curl up against him, and the weight of his arm around her shoulders was nice. Funny how she’d never really taken the time before to notice such things.

  Then he asked about her rape. She tensed immediately but forced herself to relax. She’d told him about it, sort of, and naturally he’d wonder.

  “It was a long time ago,” she said. “I was nineteen, young and stupid.”

  “Hold your horses. That doesn’t excuse a rape.”

  “I didn’t say it did.” She rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder and tried not to let memory take over. Best to keep it clean and brief like a report. “I did learn not to go places with a guy where there was no one else around.”

  “But you came here with me.”

  “I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned how to take care of myself for one thing. Anyway, I felt like I was raped a second time when I reported it and faced those people telling me I’d better put up and shut up or I’d ruin my future with the army, as well as his. I let myself be intimidated. I never allowed that again.”

  “I can believe it. You’re very strong and determined. But how do you deal with something like that?”

  “You find a civilian psychologist who doesn’t give a damn about the military and you work through it as best you can. I won’t say I’m totally over it, but it seems a long time ago now. Scars yes, open wounds no.”

  “And then you became a crusader.”

  “That took a little longer,” she admitted. “First I had to get somewhere beyond being a gate guard.” Which she had, filling her nights with courses at local colleges or by correspondence. “I made up my mind I was going to have some influence, and eventually I got there. Of course, I had my moments. Like I said, I’m not entirely sure that I didn’t get promoted up instead of out. But I went to OTS and gained my commission.”

  “That’s officer training, right?” He chuckled. “I bet you turned into a big surprise.”

  She was able to laugh. “That I did.” And she’d never let herself be intimidated again. When at last she had looked reality in the eye, after her final case, and realized that while it might take them several years, they were going to force her out, she made up her mind to resign and find another job. She hadn’t even given them that satisfaction.

  “Are you angry with the army?”

  “I’m angry with some of the institutional bias and blindness, but not with the whole army. Most of them are good people. It’s like anywhere else.”

  “You’ve taught me a lesson, you know. Not to judge my partners by one partner in the past.”

  “Well, you’re lucky I came along...” Feeling surprisingly lighthearted all of a sudden, she wiggled around and straightened until she could look at him.

  He smiled and gave her a quick kiss. “I’m glad I didn’t pursue that option.”

  So was she. She assumed he’d had a number of relationships. At his age, he’d have had to be a monk to avoid them. Even she had had a few of her own, however brief.

  “I dated before,” she told him. “But never military people. You’d be surprised how small that community really is. And I’m breaking every rule I ever wrote for myself with you.”

  “I’m breaking them, too.” He lifted his hand and drew his fingertips along her jawline. “Swore I’d never do this, then this cute prickly pear comes along and...” He smiled almost ruefully. “I was engaged once.”

  His admission caused her heart to skip. She was certain this wasn’t a happy story, and she wondered if it would give him another reason to want to terminate their relationship when they were done with this case. “Yes?” she finally managed to ask.

  “About five years ago,” he said. “Her name was Dawn, and what started out as exciting ended up with both of us disagreeing about nearly everything. Sex isn’t enough. It may get the ball rolling, but there’s no guarantee it’ll keep rolling when you get to the day-to-day nitty-gritty.”

  “I suppose not.” She wondered if that was the first in a long line of reasons she was going to hear once this case wound down. But first they had to solve the case.

  In the meantime...well, in the meantime she decided she was going to savor every intimate moment between them. She’d never dated a man like him, had never known the kind of lovemaking he showed her. Or maybe it was just that something about him made her hotter than a firecracker.

  Either way, he was right. Sex wasn’t enough. But he’d treated her with a respect that was important to her. With him she was a full partner, her skills honored, her thoughts fully considered. Odd that she should realize what had been missing only now that she’d met a man who had no trouble seeing her as an equal.

  Not that she had suffered a whole lot of overt sexism. The military disapproved of that. But being free of the smaller judgments, the ones that even she hadn’t always been able to identify as sexist, now made it clear to her how much she had endured in subtle ways. Of course, to be realistic, it hadn’t always been subtle. There had been a few idiots during her career.

  “You’re a special man,” she said finally. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Treating me like an equal.”

  He shook his head a bit. “I’ve seen what you’re talking about, but I don’t get it. And I’ve told you why. People should be judged as individuals, not members of some group or other, and certainly not by stereotypes.”

  “Not many could honestly say they do that. And you did have a moment.”

  He laughed quietly. “I did. But I wasn’t putting you in the class of all women, just the class of one female partner who caused me a whole peck of trouble. And who uses pecks anymore?”

  “Beats me.” She let her head c
ome to rest on his shoulder again. “This seems positively sinful, to be relaxing like this when there’s a killer out there.”

  “We worked hard today. Especially you. Right now we’re at a standstill. By tomorrow we might be wishing for one.”

  It was true. The instant things heated up, they might not take a deep breath for days. Right now, all she had was a vague suspicion about one man, and until Gage checked him out, there was little more they could do. Gage at least had access to his employment application. She and Cade had already done everything else they could without a warrant.

  Part of her wanted to stay exactly where she was, but the itch was coming back. As if he sensed it, Cade let go of her and reached for the two plates of untouched coffee cake.

  “Grab the mugs,” he said. “Your obsession is returning.”

  She froze. “Is that how you think of it?” She didn’t like the sound of that.

  He stood, looking down at her with his patented crooked smile. “I’m the one who just got up. Seems I share the obsession.”

  Feeling better, she grabbed the mugs and they headed back to the kitchen table. Maybe Lew had come up with something else. Maybe there’d be a useful email. Certainly Gage hadn’t called yet. He probably didn’t feel he could drag out employment applications or do a background check at night without drawing attention, and considering that he was trying to let as few people as possible know anything, she could understand that.

  She just didn’t like it. She understood the need for caution, understood the need for warrants, but when her nose was twitching like this, she hated it. She could blow an entire case by crossing the wrong line. She’d seen it happen. Evidence got thrown out because it wasn’t obtained legally. No, she was not going to risk that.

  Her nose would just have to keep twitching.

  * * *

  A couple of hours later, the night had deepened and no new light had emerged from their investigation. Cade was staring off into space, clearly lost in thought. DeeJay was about ready to give up thinking about anything. She seemed to be running in circles now, studying the same things over and over.