All the same... All the same... Felix couldn't find out anything more than she willingly told him.
And while he was on the phone, she wouldn't be so alone. God. What if Benjamin were in very, very bad trouble, so bad that having Felix find him might actually be for the best?
That decided Aletheia. If Benjamin was in some kind of danger, really bad danger, it might be better for Felix to find him than somebody worse than him, someone who didn't have his aura of integrity.
Not that calling Felix on the phone would necessarily give Benjamin away. She dug into her purse for her cell phone, her heart pounding as she searched for her wallet. Her fingers fumbled through it for the business card Felix had given her, with its San Francisco numbers.
San Francisco. Right. He was far away, no threat at all. He couldn't harm either her or Benjamin.
She took a deep breath and began punching numbers.
CHAPTER FIVE
Felix was waiting for his bag to drop onto the carousel at LAX when he got the call from Aletheia. Glancing at the screen of his Galaxy, he thought he was hallucinating. Aletheia? Aletheia would never call him. Then a reason she might call him occurred. Horror replaced his disbelief.
She'd figured it out. Somehow she'd discovered the GPS tracker he'd planted on her car. Did she know he'd dropped everything to fly to L.A. once he'd figured out she was driving in this direction?
Slowly, he pressed the receive button. "Aletheia," he said carefully. "This is a surprise."
"Um, oh. Caller ID. Right." She coughed. "Yes. I'm sure it is a surprise."
Her voice. It sent a pleasing shiver over his nerves. But he waited. Up on the carousel, his bag fell onto the conveyor belt. In his stomach, a knot formed. But he kept on waiting. Nothing was more effective at obtaining information.
"Listen." Aletheia spoke in a rush. "I'm standing here in— Well, I'm really worried."
Felix blinked rapidly. She was calling him—because she was worried? This was so different from the accusation he'd been anticipating that he felt a moment of disorientation. "I see," he said at last.
"Are you in a train station or something?" Aletheia abruptly changed tone to ask. "I hear a lot of noise."
"Airport," Felix admitted, hesitating only briefly before deciding to test what she knew. "LAX."
"Oh." She paused. "That's strange. I'm in— I mean, that's not important. What I'd like to know is... Well, I think I could use some advice. That is, if you would be willing to give it. Under the circumstances, I mean."
Felix raised his eyebrows. Mildly, he asked, "The circumstance being that you've sworn to keep me from finding your brother and make him repair what he destroyed?"
Aletheia coughed again. "Right. That one."
Felix was realizing that in obsessing over Aletheia's hands, he hadn't given her voice enough credit. It wasn't low and sexy. It was practical and forthright. And yet it moved things around inside him. Or maybe what was rearranging his inner furniture was the fact she was asking him for advice. That was almost like asking for help.
Felix didn't know anybody who'd ask him for help. That presupposed he had the capacity to care.
"You can say no, of course," Aletheia went on, her voice quavering a little. "But I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask."
Felix watched his bag cruise past him on the luggage carousel. "Ahem. No, I suppose it never hurts to ask. Uh...what sort of advice can I give you?"
"Well, it's like this." The speech sounded carefully prepared. "I thought I had a pretty good idea of where Benjamin might go if he were in trouble, but I'm standing outside the place and it looks—well it looks like somebody left in an awful hurry."
An arrow of concern shot through Felix. Leashing it, he replied with a neutral hum, then waited. He needed more.
"See, Benjamin has this friend from way back. He's another computer fellow, Internet security stuff. I have to admit he does take off, disappears, every couple of months." Aletheia paused. "It's apparently hell on his garden."
Benjamin had a dear friend who knew how to disappear, and did it on a regular basis? This was not good news. "What makes you think he took off?"
She hesitated, apparently considering whether or not this would be giving away too much. "Nobody answers the door," she finally replied. "The mail slot is stuffed, and a bunch of newspapers are littering the front porch."
Felix closed his eyes. If Benjamin had been with the Internet computer friend when he'd disappeared, in that knowing way the friend had... Tracking him down would be even more difficult than Felix had imagined. Meanwhile, he was bristlingly aware that Aletheia Cooper was on the other end of the phone, asking him for advice. Maybe wanting his help. Conflicting sensations of frustration, concern, and a very odd yearning jostled inside him. "Where are you?" he asked.
Even at the time, he knew it was an odd question. He could figure out her location with the GPS tracker on her car.
Aletheia said nothing.
Felix's minimal travel suitcase came by him on the carousel again, and this time he snagged it. Getting warm beneath his suit jacket as the silence lengthened, he tried another tack. "Look. I take it you're worried that Benjamin and his friend disappeared, but maybe not voluntarily."
A small, squeaking sound came through the phone. Felix took this to mean assent.
So he went for it. "If you tell me where you are, I'll come meet you. Wherever it is," he added disingenuously. "Finding Benjamin is just as important to me as it is to you. You're sure he's not inside the friend's house, right? So let me take a look, see if there's any evidence of foul play." He'd also be looking to see if he could figure out where they'd gone, but it wouldn't be wise to add that part, Felix thought.
"I can't believe you're in L.A.," Aletheia whispered.
He held his breath.
With a small moan, she said, "It's...too hard to say no."
Carefully, Felix let out his breath. "Then say yes."
"You'll find out where Benjamin might have been."
"But he's gone."
"You might figure out where he's gone from something you see here."
Felix sincerely hoped so. Aloud, he said, "Your brother may never even have come to see this friend. I thought what you wanted was my opinion about that, and about foul play."
Silence prevailed. Taking his suitcase, Felix headed toward the rental car counters. What Aletheia didn't know was that he could find her, regardless of her answer. But he really wanted her to tell him where she was.
She was asking for his help. He had no idea why, but he wanted her to take it.
Aletheia spoke at last. "If you see anything, any kind of clue about Benjamin's whereabouts, will you tell me about it, and what you think it means?"
For the love of— Felix stopped in his tracks. She was asking him that? As if he might say yes?
As if she would believe him if he did?
The hell of it was, he considered it. Her voice, the idea of seeing her again—her request for help—it was all getting under his skin. Maybe even slipping past his control.
On the other hand, he knew his desire to snag Benjamin was stronger than whatever yen he felt to see Aletheia again. Her strange appeal wasn't going to interfere with his mission. Did it really matter if he promised to tell her about any clues he might find? It wasn't as if she'd be able to use the information to stop him.
And if he promised her, she'd tell him where she was. He'd see her again.
Because she'd asked him to.
"Okay," Felix decided. "I'll share any information I learn with you." Any information? That was giving away even more than she'd asked for. Puffing his cheeks, Felix assured himself the impulsive promise wasn't significant. He'd still find Benjamin.
Meanwhile, Aletheia breathed an audible sigh of relief. "I'm in West Hollywood. The corner of Miller Drive and Queen's Road. And, thank you."
This time she didn't hesitate. She didn't consider that Felix might not keep his word.
Was this utter desperatio
n? Or complete naiveté?
Frowning, Felix scanned the various rental car counters. Whatever it was, he was taking advantage of it. That meant forgetting a car. The paperwork would take too long to fill out. She might change her mind.
"I'll take a cab from here," he told her. "Be there in half an hour."
"Thank you," Aletheia said again, and hung up.
Desperation or naiveté? Certainly not a familiarity with Felix's hard-won honor. Aletheia couldn't know that despite his cold nature, Felix always kept his word. Still frowning, he headed for the big glass exit doors.
Or maybe she did know about Felix's private integrity, had somehow figured him out, at least that much.
Not for the first time, her understanding of him caused Felix's inner darkness to slip upward. Briefly, it wrapped around him, whispering of forbidden wants.
Outside the terminal, he sighed and searched the curb for a cab. He could handle his dark side. He'd spent his whole life learning to tame and control the impulses he'd inherited from an infamous father.
But it was worth noting that Aletheia had the ability to rouse it.
~~~
Aletheia still hated Felix. He was still a formidable foe whose goals were in direct opposition to her own. But when the cab pulled up in front of Pi's house, she felt a wave of relief. She was no longer alone.
Wearing a tailored gray business suit, Felix got out of the cab, reached for a small gray suitcase, and turned.
Aletheia's eyes met his.
Ho, boy. She was immediately, even painfully, aware of him as a man. Felix exuded power and capability. More than anything, he blasted self-control. All that quiet masculine strength took her out at the knees.
But if anything similar hit Felix, Aletheia couldn't tell. His face was a perfect mask.
Reaching for some of her own self-control, she drew in a breath before going to meet him on the sidewalk.
He turned from paying off the cab. "I hope someone other than Parker is keeping an eye on your Aunt Rosa." He raised an eyebrow. "I get the impression your cousin isn't much better than your father at paying attention."
Felix had noticed that? "I hired a teenager from down the road, a very responsible girl. She can handle one day." Aletheia could hardly believe she was reassuring Felix about her Aunt Rosa.
Meanwhile Felix nodded and turned to regard the shrub-shrouded house. "Is this the place?"
"Yes." Aletheia breathed through her growing self-consciousness. How could she be attracted to him? She hated him. "The house belongs to a guy we call Pi. His real name is Alfred John Burroughs." She paused with a sudden thought. "Do you know him?"
"Oh. Because of the security stuff?" Felix shook his head. "I leave the Internet to the specialists." Taking his suitcase, he started up the crooked path to the front door.
Still hating Felix, but suddenly feeling self-conscious about being alone with him, Aletheia followed after.
In the cramped space before the front door, Felix set his suitcase down and looked at the abandoned newspapers. He switched his gaze to the door. Then he knocked.
None of this was different from what Aletheia had already done, but she felt another wave of relief. Okay, okay, what he wanted was in direct conflict with her own goals, but at least she was no longer alone. And Felix gave off a vibe that said he could bring the situation under control.
Nobody answered Felix's knock, of course, and he stared at the door fixedly. He stared so intently that Aletheia asked, "Are you going to get us inside?"
He went very still. Then he turned to look at her. "What?"
Ice dripped off the word. Why ice? She'd only said what she assumed he was thinking. "I—well, you're a security expert. I thought you might be able to get us inside."
"Are you suggesting I break in?" His tone was frigid, but a frigidity that seemed to mask pain. How had she hurt him?
"Well—" She faltered. He looked brittle enough to crack. "We don't know if the house is abandoned, or if someone might be inside...unable, you know, to get to the door." Unable because they were mortally wounded or dead, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud.
He understood her anyway. There was a distinct thaw in the ice. "Are you afraid your brother might be inside, unable to get help?"
With her throat too tight to speak, Aletheia nodded.
He hesitated. "You could call the police."
"And tell them—what? They aren't going to open the door based on a wild assumption my brother, who doesn't even live here, might be inside."
His stare was intent. Then he glanced back at the door. "If he has a security system, I can probably disarm it, much good it will do us. Believe it or not, I don't pick locks."
"Maybe there's an open window or door," Aletheia suggested.
His gaze swung back to her, one eyebrow arched. "Maybe."
"Doesn't hurt to look," Aletheia said.
After a moment's apparent thought, Felix slipped his suitcase behind a bush and then followed Aletheia as she led the way to the back, shoving between the bushes and the house. They found three small, locked windows before reaching the little backyard. Aletheia was relieved to note no actual goldfish were in the pond, starving. Meanwhile, leaves from a willow tree hanging overhead littered the surface of the water.
Felix put his hand on the knob of the back door and grunted. "This one turns." He stepped back. "But if the system is armed, it'll still go off." His gaze swept the area. "There's the box."
He might not have had a lock pick, but Felix did have a small screwdriver which he withdrew from an inside jacket pocket. In very little time, he had the security system box open. He frowned at the bunch of wires inside. "You say this guy is a security nut? Paranoid?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then this is too easy. Probably a decoy." Felix swept his gaze around again, ending by looking up. "Ah!"
Another security box, identical to the one Felix had opened, sat nailed under the lintel over the back door. But when Felix opened this one up, as well, he frowned again. "Disarmed."
"Another decoy?" Aletheia asked.
Felix lowered his gaze to the unlocked door. "I don't think so." The frown he gave the door told Aletheia he was starting to get concerned, yet she didn't feel as scared as she had earlier, standing out front by herself.
Felix turned the knob on the back door and pushed it open.
No alarm siren blared. Nothing happened at all. But Felix's brows drew together. "Wait here."
Aletheia knew what he was thinking. Dead bodies. "Okay," she cravenly agreed.
Felix slipped into the house, silent as a wolf. After what seemed like an eternity, he reappeared, a rugged shadow at the partly open door. "It's safe. Come on in."
A tension deep inside of her relaxed. No dead bodies, then. Aletheia stepped over the threshold. Immediately, she noticed a musty smell, not quite dust but closer to...incense? Light coming in through the backyard window revealed what appeared to be a very large dorm room. Crate barrel furniture held technical books along with tons of computers, monitors, and wires. But it wasn't a mess. Despite his paranoia, Pi appeared to hire a maid.
"Wow," Aletheia breathed. "This looks...impossible. How could we tell if Benjamin has been here in all this?"
"Look around." Felix was already prowling the room. "For example this?" He held up a half-burned candle.
Aletheia shook her head. "My brother's more into electric switches."
With a half-smile, Felix tossed the candle. He resumed pacing. Aletheia didn't move. The house seemed very secluded suddenly, with just the two of them inside it.
"Huh." Pushing on a panel in the wall, Felix opened a concealed door. The small cabinet thus revealed held a pile of computer disks.
"A hidden closet," Aletheia said.
"The place could be a warren of them," Felix grunted.
"Oh, boy," Aletheia breathed. She should be searching for clues, hopeless as the task seemed to be. Instead she was getting distracted by their utter isol
ation here. She was alone, in an empty house, with Felix. Now, why did that make her feel...weak?
Uncomfortable with the sensation, Aletheia took a step back. "I'll...go check the other rooms." Maybe putting some physical space between them would clear her head.
"Mm. I'll go with you," Felix said.
Wonderful. But Aletheia couldn't think of a way to prevent him from tagging after her as she wandered down a hallway. Instead of escaping the odd vibrations he set off, she was getting caught deeper within them.
At the end of the hall, an open door led to a large bedroom with an unmade bed and clothes strewn over the floor. Female clothes. Amid the mess, Aletheia saw a pastel pink tank top and a pair of lacy bikini underwear.
Behind her, Felix's rough voice remarked dryly, "That complicates things."
"No," Aletheia blurted, then reddened. "I mean, I don't think those clothes, whoever they belong to, involve Benjamin. That is, it doesn't seem likely. He's kind of awkward with women."
"Mm," Felix said.
Feeling even warmer than she had before, Aletheia swung wildly through a door, ending up in the bathroom. It was a bright, cheerful place with a checkerboard pattern of tiles on the walls. The 'dark' tiles of the checkerboard had various numbers painted on them.
"Could be a code," Felix said. He was right behind her. Still!
"I hate puzzles." Aletheia started blindly toward the bathtub enclosure. "I'm terrible at them."
"Cosmetics on the sink counter," Felix informed her, moving in that direction. "Lipstick, eye shadow. Ah, and look at this."
Aletheia turned to see him holding up a box of condoms. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Not Benjamin," she said firmly, wishing he'd put the damn box down. Felix in his elegant business suit and sleek wolf demeanor flashing a box of condoms at her. Could her face get any redder? "Benjamin doesn't have a girlfriend. Believe me, he'd have told me if he'd managed to pull off that feat. And even if he did, I can't imagine he'd be— Not if he was in danger and running."
I Gotta Feeling Page 5