No, Parker thought. Karma shouldn't be doing this to the poor kid. Meredith shouldn't. Hadn't she ever been a little girl, herself, and simply played? Dammit, she could sway this thing, if she wanted to. She'd already become a role model to the kid. Parker gazed pleadingly at her.
Meredith gazed back. He knew she read his message because an expression of pure incredulity took over her face. She glanced toward Sophie, then back at Parker, looking even more incredulous.
Parker's heart sank. She wasn't going to help out. She was a battle ax, after all.
But Meredith suddenly uncrossed her arms. "Oh, what the heck," she muttered. To Parker's astonishment, she proceeded to stomp her tidy white tennis shoes into the rushing stream.
Sophie's jaw dropped open. Parker only barely kept his own jaw from flopping. Meredith, meanwhile, screamed. "It's freezing!"
Parker felt a smile start to spread. "Refreshing," he corrected. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sophie still staring in open-mouthed fascination.
"Refreshing. That's one way of putting it." Meredith puffed a long breath through pursed lips, waved her hands wildly, then burst into her own wide smile. "Gee, Parker, couldn't you have found a colder stream?"
"Best I could do on such short notice." Parker felt a glow inside himself to match the one on Meredith's face. He'd have bet serious money she hadn't done anything this spontaneous in years.
"Your shoes," Sophie mourned, left alone on the sidelines.
"They'll dry out." Meredith flicked at her hair. Very casually, she added, "You can come in, too."
Sophie stayed on the bank. For another three seconds. Then, with a completely girl-like cry, she jumped into the stream. She screamed very much like Meredith had, then gave a delightfully gurgly laugh. "This is fun!" she exclaimed.
Over the little girl's head, Parker's eyes met Meredith's. Something warmly complicitous passed between them.
Meredith was more than she appeared, she did own all the layers he'd guessed at. Maybe even more than he'd guessed. In his chest, a mighty stone seemed to roll over and down.
Damn, he thought, his skin feeling electrified. He could totally fall for this woman.
CHAPTER TWELVE
"Hope you won't hold a grudge, Missy." The cabdriver glanced back toward Aletheia from the driver's seat with a worried expression. He was the same cabbie who'd driven Aletheia to the Stickit Inn forty-five minutes earlier. "But when the fella here started askin' all the cabbies out front the hotel about a li'l woman in a hurry and all by herself, I spoke up. Didn't like leaving you in that dirtbag neighborhood, I got to say, Missy. Didn't like it at all."
"That's okay." Aletheia knew she didn't sound any more offended than the cabdriver sounded apologetic. He had, after all, helped save her butt. Now as she leaned back in the time-softened upholstery of the cab, Aletheia felt relaxed to the point of fatigue.
She shot a sidelong glance toward the man seated beside her.
Felix gazed with cool insouciance out the window, one leg stretched, the other bent. He didn't look much like a fellow who'd frightened off three attackers. He didn't look like a man who, after doing that, had held on to her as if she were keeping him from falling off a cliff.
He looked like a man who wanted to forget any of it had ever happened.
All the same, a warm sensation of gratitude climbed through Aletheia. This must be how the damsel felt after being rescued from the dragon. Cared for, cherished, safe. She wondered if a lot of damsels experienced, as she did, an impulse to care in turn for the rescuing knight.
But Felix, with his arms crossed over his chest and the corners of his mouth pulled straight, had placed himself in a world of his own, behind mighty, impenetrable walls.
No woman in her right mind would attempt scaling those walls. It would be a mistake for a woman, rescued damsel or not, to feel drawn toward a man with an attitude as cold and distant as Felix's.
Not to mention, he probably wanted to catch Benjamin now more than ever, since Aletheia's brother had made a murder suspect list.
"There's one thing I need to know." Felix turned his head from the window. His voice was calm and cool, as if he hadn't resembled a demon from hell ten minutes ago. "The men who chased you, Aletheia, were they connected to Benjamin somehow?"
"Um." Aletheia shot a glance toward the cabdriver and chose her words with care. "Were they connected to this business with Benjamin?" She tried to remember. The motel manager had told her about his problem with the firebug couple of his own chatty free will. Aletheia hadn't asked about a man with scruffy hair and glasses. Nobody at the motel could have known she was looking for one of the people who'd set fire to the room upstairs. "No," she told Felix slowly.
He narrowed his eyes. "Did you find Benjamin? Any trace of him?"
Only with difficulty could Aletheia meet Felix's stare. She was going to lie. She had to. Felix wanted to put Benjamin in jail. At least, she assumed he did. She opened her mouth.
Felix's stare managed to intensify. "Don't bother lying."
For the love of— How did he know? Aletheia struggled to hide her chagrin.
Meanwhile the cabdriver, glancing back, turned forward again with a shake of his head, as if she were a little girl who'd misbehaved. As if she owed Felix the truth. As if the cabdriver knew enough about the situation to pronounce judgment on it.
A combination of righteous indignation and misplaced guilt spiraled jaggedly inside her.
"We're on opposite sides," she whispered fiercely to Felix. "Completely opposite."
His wolf eyes grew more dangerous-looking. "What makes you think that?"
The cabdriver glanced backward again, clearly fascinated.
Aletheia shot the driver a quelling look, then turned back to Felix. "You know what makes me think it. What I heard you say to your client in the bathroom."
The driver's ears nearly popped out of his head at that one.
"You know what you heard me say," Felix answered Aletheia, with maddening calm. "You don't know what I was thinking." He glanced out the window. "Right here is fine," he said, addressing the driver.
The cabbie gave a start, as if he'd lost track of his surroundings, then pulled into the driveway of the gray hotel.
Aletheia frowned at Felix. "What were you thinking?"
The taxi rolled to a stop under the awning. "I can take you around the block," the driver offered. "A tour of the Strip?" He glanced hopefully at Felix, clearly wanting to hear the answer to Aletheia's question, too.
"You have been of enormous help," Felix said. He handed a folded wad of money to the driver. Aletheia had a feeling it was a hefty sum. "We'll get out here."
"If you're sure." The cabdriver took the money gratefully, but with a wistful sigh.
Felix helped Aletheia out of the car.
Once the door had closed, she asked again, "What were you thinking?"
His golden eyes settled on her. "I'm thinking you should go home."
Aletheia's eyes widened. "What?"
He took Aletheia's elbow and turned her toward the hotel entrance. "Things have gotten a lot hotter. You heard about it, yourself. I want you out of harm's way."
Aletheia saw red. She matched Felix's swift strides toward the elevator bank. "I am not going home. Benjamin needs me now more than ever. You're crazy if you think I'm leaving him in the lurch just when things are at their worst."
Felix punched the button for the elevator. "What Benjamin needs is for you to keep healthy and safe at home, taking care of the rest of your family."
"While my little brother is on the run, obviously in trouble—and the best I can hope is that you might catch up to him? Uh-uh." Aletheia shook her head. "I don't think so."
The elevator doors swooshed open. "Two people have died," Felix quietly reminded her. He walked into the elevator.
Aletheia followed. "Benjamin did not kill them." Her face felt hot as the elevator doors closed and the cab started to rise. Okay, so her brother had done some things out
of character lately: he'd destroyed private property, gone incommunicado, and was apparently travelling with a hot young woman. Aletheia never would have imagined him doing any of those things a few days ago. But that didn't mean he was a killer.
On the fourth floor, the elevator doors opened with an expensively muted hush. "Actually," Felix said, "I'm open to that possibility."
It took Aletheia a moment to understand what he'd just said. It took her another, long moment to believe what she'd heard. By that time, Felix had left the elevator and started down the hall. She had to scramble to get out of the cab before the doors closed her in again.
"What? What did you say? Hey, wait a minute." She caught up to Felix outside her hotel room door. "Do you mean that? You believe me that Benjamin didn't kill anybody?"
"I said I was open to the possibility," Felix corrected. "But I'm far from convinced." He took out a card key and inserted it into the door for room 408.
"Hey, that's my room."
"Yes, you left your card key behind, on the dresser." Pushing open the door, Felix waltzed right in. "Now, do you want to pack up yourself, or shall I do it for you?"
"I'm not packing. I'm not going anywhere—that is, I'm not going home." Aletheia couldn't understand Felix. He was giving with one hand, and taking away with the other. "You say you're not convinced Benjamin's a murderer—but you don't think I need to find him? Can't you see? There's no way I can stop looking for him now."
At the TV, Felix turned slowly. His eyes were a cold metallic gold, adamant and unrelenting. Meeting his gaze was when, belatedly, she got it. His present commandeering attitude—though cold and controlled—was actually related to his stormy demeanor of doom by the freeway.
He wanted her safe.
She took a step back. It didn't distance her any from the waterfall of emotions cascading inside, however. Relief, amazement, and a rather terrifying yearning roared through her.
Her rescuing knight was the real deal, not a one-time fluke. He wanted to take care of her. He wanted to do this for unknown reasons, and with possibly undesirable consequences, but the plain fact of his concern floored her. Dangerous things started happening in her chest.
"Okay, okay," she muttered. "Maybe we can work something out."
"You, home and safe. That's what I want."
"You want me safe." Aletheia nodded. "But how do you know I'll be safe at home?" She tilted her head. "You found me in Deer Creek, and wanted to use me to help you find Benjamin. Maybe somebody else who's looking for Benjamin will have the same idea.
Felix's cool gaze froze. Clearly, he hadn't considered this possibility. "It's unacceptable for you to pursue this matter any further," he said, but his righteousness sounded a little battered.
"It may pursue me," Aletheia pointed out. "If you want me safe, well—maybe we can make a deal."
His gaze narrowed. "A deal."
"Yes." Hadn't Felix managed a deal with her yesterday? Perhaps they could work together, despite their varying goals. Although—what was Felix's goal? "With Benjamin wanted by the police, you can't get your client's Cloak fixed any more."
"I don't give a damn about my client or the Cloak right now."
"Then what—?"
"I want some answers."
Aletheia blinked. "That's all?" He didn't want to drag Benjamin straight off to the police, or coerce him somehow to fix the sabotaged Cloak? "Just answers?"
Felix crossed his arms over his chest. "I want to know where I actually stand in this mess, how responsible Morrison World Security really is. Depending on the answers I get, I'll decide my next move."
So he might drag Benjamin to the police or ruin his scientific reputation, after all. Aletheia bit her lower lip. "There must be some way we can work this out." But uncertainty crept into her tone.
Felix exhaled slowly. "I can't take another morning like this one."
Wow. Mr. Stone Face had just admitted vulnerability. Knowing how much this must have cost him, Aletheia felt a powerful urge to reciprocate. "So we stick together," she blurted.
He went absolutely still.
"I mean," Aletheia quickly chattered on. "You don't send me home, and I don't...run off on you." It was shamefully easy to make the promise. The memory of those three thugs was very fresh in her mind.
Felix's eyes narrowed. "That means you could be leading me straight to your brother."
"I... Does it?" She couldn't think straight under Felix's intense golden stare.
"If we're sticking together. If you're not running off on your own again," Felix pointed out.
Aletheia shook her head, forcing herself to think. "I won't run off, but I might tell you I'm leaving. And—you would have to let me go."
A slight smile tugged at the edges of Felix's mouth. "We're back where we started this morning."
"With one difference."
He raised his eyebrows.
She gave him a direct look. "This time we're making promises."
They locked eyes. His seemed to want to bore right through her. Aletheia didn't need to bore through Felix. She had a good idea how he regarded promises. Like ironbound chains.
Finally, infinitesimally, Felix relaxed. He inclined his head a sixteenth of an inch. "It's a deal."
Aletheia felt a disproportionate spike of elation. He believed her. And they would stick together.
If Felix felt anything similar, he sure didn't show it. As usual, he didn't show anything. But Aletheia thought that maybe, just maybe, underneath that mask...
"I Gotta Feeling" splashed into the moment. Reaching into his pocket, Felix withdrew his cell phone and looked down at the screen. His eyes came up to Aletheia's. "It's my client again, Goddard." Deliberately, he added, "I'll put it on speaker phone."
Before Aletheia could respond, Felix pushed a button on his phone. "Roman here."
"I've got news." The voice coming from Felix's phone sounded excited, and vaguely foreign. French? Algerian? Aletheia may not have traveled, but she'd heard an awful lot of accents at the café. Meanwhile, Felix's client went on. "One of my contacts on the West coast says he heard someone spotted Benjamin. In San Francisco."
Aletheia opened her mouth, but closed it again when Felix signed downward with a hand. He didn't want his client to know she was listening.
"I thought I was off the hook," Felix said, tilting his head. "Thought you didn't need me to find Cooper any more."
There was a short silence from the phone. "Perhaps you might run into Dr. Cooper," the foreign-accented voice said. He appeared to be picking his way with care. "Perhaps if you did so, I might have a chance for a few words with him before you notified the police of his location. Nothing illegal. Merely...a delay. Something just long enough for him to fix my Cloak."
Felix lashes lowered until Aletheia could only see a slim gleam of his eyes. Less than ever could she tell what he was thinking. She'd been assuming the demands of law and order outweighed his allegiance to his client, but was that accurate? Felix seemed to have his own idea of true honor.
"You say Benjamin was sighted in San Francisco," Felix rumbled toward the phone. "When?"
Aletheia held her breath. She knew Benjamin had been in Las Vegas only last night.
"Just a few minutes ago. My source called me as soon as he saw him." Felix's client sounded excited again. "San Francisco is your home town, no? Perhaps you would have some idea of what he might be doing there, who he might be seeing. And you have that connection with his sister, no?"
Felix lifted his lashes enough to glance at Aletheia. "The two of us have a deal."
"You will go then?"
Felix took his time answering. Aletheia wondered if he was trying to make his client squirm. "I will always do what needs to be done," he finally said.
"So, you'll let me know—?"
"We'll be in touch." Felix pressed the end button. He looked up at Aletheia. "If Benjamin was here in Las Vegas yesterday, he would've had time to fly, or even drive, to San Francisco."
; Aletheia slowly nodded. "That is true."
Felix tilted his head. "You don't sound convinced."
"He might know people in the Bay Area, maybe at Berkeley. Just...none I've ever heard him mention."
"You think it's a dead end?"
Aletheia thought of the bra and panties at Pi's house, and the description the motel manager had given her of the good-looking broad. Who knew what other secrets Benjamin might harbor? Sighing, she said, "I wouldn't bet against an eyewitness."
Felix gave her a hard stare. "Then we're going to San Francisco?"
We. They'd be going together. Completely together. Aletheia met Felix's gaze and felt a little flip in her belly. Sexual excitement. As if she needed that on top of her growing tenderness for the man. Taking in a slow breath, she nodded. "Okay."
Hardly missing a beat, Felix began punching keys on his phone. "I can probably find a flight this afternoon."
He was flying with her to San Francisco, his home town. Did he feel happy about that? Or reluctant. It was impossible for Aletheia to tell as Felix raised the phone to his ear. He was deep in impenetrable mode. Whatever he might be feeling, he didn't care to share with her.
Would he ever share anything with her?
Did she even want him to?
Aletheia bit her lower lip, watching him.
"Yes. I'm looking for flights from Las Vegas to San Francisco." Felix paced toward the window, moving like a hunter, easy in his body, confident in its power. But he kept his face carefully averted as he looked out the window. He obviously didn't want her to see or know...anything.
This knight had no desire for a distressed damsel to rescue him.
It was unfortunate that Aletheia felt so much of a desire to do just that.
~~~
Felix had no idea if this lead of Goddard's would to pan out. In fact, he doubted it. Yet he sat in the seat of a 737 speeding toward this very probable dead end with a deep sense of satisfaction.
Aletheia sat beside him in the window seat. She'd promised to stick by him. She was on the way to his home. Her own idea.
Turning from the window, Aletheia glanced at him, then picked up something from her table tray. "You want my bag of peanuts?"
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