“Just try and keep me away from the office, Mr. Cochrane.” Ellen gave him a dazzling smile when she saw the burning look in his eyes—toward her.
“Well, I reckon I just discovered my first-ever dedicated government employee. A civilian at that. My tax dollars are finally being well spent.”
“Jim, you can be a real pain in the butt. You know that?” Ellen returned his silly grin.
“You hurt my feelings,” he drawled. Putting his hand dramatically over his heart, he said, “Me? A pain in the posterior?”
“I’m not going to feel sorry for you, if that’s what you’re trying to weasel out of me,” Ellen said. “And no apologies either for my opinion.”
He brightened considerably. “My ma always said I was meaner than a copperhead snake throwed into a hot skillet.”
“I think that picture fits you perfectly on your bad days.”
He sighed and tried to get serious. “I probably had that coming.”
“Wow, I’m too excited to go to sleep,” Ellen stated. “Getting the tape and photos from Ann Hawkins was a real high.”
Cochrane scowled. The words damn near flew out of his mouth: Stay here with me. Spend the night. Shocked by his thoughts, by his yearning, he muttered, “You still need rest, Ellen. Go home and get some.” He stared at the packets. “We’ll start going over these pieces of evidence later. Tomorrow is soon enough.”
Ellen nodded. “Good night.” Before she could head toward the door, she saw his hand reach out. It settled on her shoulder and brought her to a halt. Her eyes widened. Something new burned in his stormy gray gaze as he studied her.
Automatically, her lips parted. His fingers tightened slightly on her shoulder. He wanted to kiss her! Panic tore through Ellen. The grieving widow in her shied away, but the woman emerging from darkness wanted what he was offering. Torn, she saw him move closer, until his body was scant inches from hers.
“You have the darnedest effect on me, Ellen Tanner.”
Her breathing ragged, she saw a teasing light in his eyes, along with desire. Her skin tingled beneath his masculine touch, and her heart seemed like a freight train chugging so loudly he had to hear it. Ellen lifted her lashes and met his burning look.
“Jim, I’m scared.”
The words were so softly spoken Ellen could barely hear them herself. Yet they had an impact on Jim. Instantly, his fingers slid from her shoulder, and he took a step back. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his Levi’s, a contrite, little-boy expression on his face. At that moment, he looked completely vulnerable.
“I mean…” Ellen stepped forward and lifted her hand. Following her instincts, she slid her palm up to his strong, uncompromising jaw. She felt the beard stubble beneath her fingertips, that dark shadow that made him seem so dangerous and mesmerizing. To hell with it. She couldn’t live her life always being scared. Standing up on her tiptoes, she placed her lips softly against his other cheek. “Good night, Jim. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
June 30, Sunday
AFTER DROPPING OFF MERRY at Sunday school, Cochrane arrived at work fifteen minutes early. Jodi would pick her up afterward.
He stifled a yawn as he trudged up the stairs to his office. Ellen and he had worked until midnight the night before. They had gotten everything done, including the Pentagon hookup to the computer. Normally, no one worked the weekends, but the pressure to solve Susan Kane’s case made it an exception.
He shortened his stride when he noticed his office door was already open. When he spotted Ellen working hard at her desk, he immediately relaxed. His heart raced as he remembered her soft hand sliding across his jaw, that tender kiss on his cheek. Hell, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Rubbing his recently shaved chin, he slowed his pace, giddy teenage feelings roiling in his chest. He’d wanted to kiss Ellen that night. Looking back, he wondered if he wasn’t tetched in the head or something. After swearing never to fall for another woman, Jim found himself in a helluva dilemma. Ellen’s wild red hair, that soft mass of curls framing her face, those guileless green eyes, had all conspired against him that night. He’d seen the uncertainty mixed with yearning in her eyes. Well, he’d felt similarly. It was a stalemate of sorts, and he’d backed off. They’d worked like the good team they were becoming, both very careful not to touch one another.
Why had Ellen kissed his cheek? Was it out of platonic affection or something more? Or was she simply celebrating finding Susan’s tape? Women did crazy things, and he couldn’t begin to understand their behavior.
As he stepped through the open door, he realized she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. When she looked up, he saw telltale dark circles under her eyes.
“I thought you were going to head for home right after I left,” he muttered, placing his briefcase beside the desk. The sudden thought entered his mind that she could have come to his apartment, to his bed. She was like the mythical mermaids along the coast of Scandinavia, singing her siren song and leading him to uncharted territory. All Ellen had to do was look at him, and Cochrane felt himself melting like ice cream on a blistering hot summer day. His lower body felt especially scalded and needy. Did she realize how much she affected him?
Pushing her curly hair away from her face, Ellen sat up and rubbed her neck. “I was going to go home, but I was too excited about sending the photos to the Pentagon. I wanted to see if we’d get any identification.” She yawned. “It was worth it, Jim. Come and look at what the computer found.”
He walked over to her desk as Ellen spread several items in front of him. With all the paper cups strewn about the desk, he figured she’d fought to stay awake all night by drinking a hell of a lot of machine coffee.
“You must have a cast-iron gut, Ellen.”
“Hmm? Oh, the coffee. Yes, well, it keeps me going.” She smiled warmly over her shoulder and crooked her finger. “This is going to blow your mind.”
Cochrane leaned across her shoulder and said, “Fire away, you’re on a roll.” His nostrils flared, detecting the a slight spicy fragrance of her perfume. How easy it would be to slide his hands around her small shoulders, turn her around and…No, he couldn’t go there. Ellen Tanner was his work partner, and he’d sworn off women. That jerked him back to reality as nothing else could.
“Okay, here goes. Last night I fed into the Pentagon computer the names of Susan’s Top Gun colleagues who attended the Ares Conference. That info was run against the scanned photos. People from Top Gun came up as hits with these photos Susan had in her Ares file. Equally noteworthy is that only three—Hodges, Michelson and Bassett—are missing from Tommy’s photo packet.” She hesitated, letting her comment sink in, and then continued. “That could signal the possibility that they’re either involved in something with Susan or not at all. For me, it was an interesting anomaly. I’ve collated the two categories.” She pointed to a stack of faxes and photos clipped together. “All three pilots were in photos of what I’m terming ‘problem areas’ at certain rowdy-looking defense contractor suites. Furthermore, four different photos show them at the Leopard Radar Corporation suite, where some of the worst action seemed to have taken place.”
Ellen straightened and rubbed the muscles across her lower back. “I had to ask myself why Susan didn’t send any photos of these three to Tommy. You want one more surprise?”
“I reckon I could handle it,” Cochrane said, rummaging through the neat stacks of her handwritten reports and various photos.
Ellen raised an eyebrow. “How about the fact that Brad Kane was at the Ares seminar?”
Stunned, Jim stopped flipping through the reports and stared at her. “What?”
“Yup.” She grinned mischievously. “I checked the official attendance list and he’s on it.”
“I’ll be damned,” Cochrane rasped. “That good ol’ boy told us a big windy. He must have seen Susan there.” Putting the report aside, Jim said, “You’ve come up with a lot. Nice work, Ellen.” In the worst way, he wanted to tra
il his fingers along her flushed cheek, but checked himself. His voice deepened with concern. “You’re plumb tuckered out. My pa, who’s a fiddle player, would say you look as worn out as one of his fiddle strings.”
“Gosh,” Ellen said, wrinkling her nose and smiling, “that sounds pretty tired to me.”
“Why don’t you go back to the hotel and take the rest of the day off?” What he wanted to say was: Hey, let’s go to the beach and make a day of it. We can sit and get to know each other…. But kept the thought to himself.
“That’s an idea whose time has come.” Ellen walked over to the corner and lifted her knapsack off a wall hook. Turning, she pointed to another note on Cochrane’s desk. “NCIS just e-mailed us that they sent a team over and searched Susan’s office at Top Gun on Tuesday.”
“Damn! I was hoping we could get over to her office before they tracked all over everything. It’s not likely we’ll find anything there once they get done.”
“According to their e-mail, they’ve packed everything up. The office was sealed on the day she died, which made it off-limits to everyone until it could fully be checked out. I’d really like to go over there with you if you’re going to search. Maybe I can learn a thing or two more about investigating?”
Jim nodded. “Let’s try to squeeze it in first thing Monday. I’m going to schedule Lieutenant Hawkins in for another interview on July 1, and clean up this 911 call thread that’s hanging loose. You should go hit the rack, Ellen.”
She grinned tiredly. “What are you going to do?”
“After work today I’m going to meet Jodi and Merry and have dinner at the zoo. My little girl loves animals.”
Smiling softly, Ellen said, “Isn’t that interesting? We’re both going to be doing something that Susan Kane loved to do. After taking a nap, I’m going to the beach to unwind, and you’re taking your family to the zoo.”
He gave her a dark look, a grin lurking at the corners of his mouth. “Come on, Ellen. You gonna start that psychobabble synchronicity stuff with me again?”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Not with you, Mr. Cochrane. I’ll see you Monday morning. Have a great evening with your family.”
Jim sat down after Ellen left. It took minutes before his heart would settle. He found himself wishing that he could introduce Merry to Ellen. Somehow, he knew his little girl would get along famously with her. Again, it was not to be, so he tucked that tender desire deep into his heart. He rummaged through her findings and shook his head in disbelief. So Brad Kane had been at Ares. What did he know? Something, that was for sure.
Muttering under his breath, Cochrane got busy reading the information spreadsheet Ellen had put together, relieved and happy they’d finally been given a break in the investigation.
“We’re going to find out what happened to you, Susan,” he said, looking critically at each photo. “One way or another. And by default, you just might have given us the biggest clue we need to break your case.”
CHAPTER NINE
“AT LEAST YOU DON’T LOOK like death warmed over this Monday morning,” Cochrane said to Ellen as they approached his car. Her answering smile warmed his heart. Now, Jim wished he’d kissed Ellen, but it couldn’t have happened. Not in a Navy office. Still, he wondered if her full mouth was as soft as he suspected.
“Thanks for the compliment, I think,” Ellen chuckled as she slid into the passenger side and buckled up. “And thanks for picking me up this morning.” She had a rental car, but she liked riding with Jim. This way they got a few precious moments alone together.
“A pleasure, believe me.” And it was. More than Ellen realized.
He was getting used to her colorful fashion choices, and today was no different. She wore a dark blue jumper with a bright pink blouse. A purple scarf in her hair pulled back most of the frizzy red mane from her face. Jim noticed that her nose and cheeks were red, obviously from her being out on the beach too long.
She flashed him a shy smile and hefted her briefcase into the back seat. “I may not look like death warmed over, but I’m burned. I love the ocean, but I forgot to take a hat along to protect my face.” Touching her nose, she said, “You can call me Rudolph if you want.”
Grinning, Jim pulled the car out into traffic. “Red becomes you, Ellen. So, you had a good day off?”
“Yes. And you?”
“Couldn’t have been better.”
“I can see that.”
He gave her a questioning look.
“You aren’t as thundercloud dark as usual,” she said. “Normally, you wear a scowl and your mouth is turned down. Sort of like a high school librarian giving threatening looks to everyone to be quiet or else….”
Cochrane was unable to keep the smile from spreading across his face, even though he wasn’t sure he liked the comparison to a librarian. “You make me sound like an ogre.” In a way, that hurt, but Jim knew he could be cantankerous as hell. Jodi had often pointed this out, and he was grappling daily to change his demeanor. After glancing at the broad expanse of bright blue sky dotted with tall, slender palm trees, he returned his attention to driving.
“You have your days, Lieutenant,” Ellen replied lightly as Cochrane merged onto the highway and headed toward the Naval air station.
Cochrane enjoyed her teasing. He was beginning to respect Ellen’s insights and abilities, despite her less than practical appearance. Her mind was sharp and perceptive, and that was something he could admire. Not to mention she was arrestingly beautiful in her own sparkling way. Sort of like the only red flower in a patch of white ones. She touched his heart without trying. Since meeting her, Jim woke up every morning looking forward to the day, which was highly unusual. Today, for example, he’d actually hummed his favorite hill tune as he shaved. Her influence was deep and cleansing to him. Ellen was the nicest surprise he’d had drop into his life for a long, long time. Was it real? A figment of his imagination, conjured up by his loneliness? Was she interested in a relationship? A serious one? Jim wouldn’t entertain the thought of any other type.
“Before I picked you up, I dropped over to Susan Kane’s condo one last time before the packing boys moved in to take everything away.”
“Oh?” Ellen asked.
Cochrane took a piece of paper from his pocket and held it out for her inspection. “I got a list of phone calls made by Susan before she died. Her phone has a function that records the last five numbers dialed. Not only that, I wrote down all the numbers and names she had on her speed dial. I’m sure Detective Gardella has ’em, but I wanted them, too.”
Ellen studied the list with interest. “Did you find anything?”
“With the speed dial information I identified four of the last calls Susan made.”
“We already know Susan she phoned Ann Hawkins on the night of her death. Was that one of them?”
“Call number four was to Hawkins. Call number one was placed to her friend Becky Jillson two days earlier. Numbers two and three were to Operations at Giddings. It’s the last call, number five, I wasn’t able to identify. Susan phoned someone after she called Hawkins.”
Ellen’s brows shot up with surprise. “That would’ve been right before she died. Can we get the telephone company to identify the number?”
“I called the last number and got a busy signal. And yes, Ms. Watson, I’ve already dogged the phone company. It’ll take them less than twenty-four hours to tell us.”
She smiled. “Lieutenant Sherlock Homes, thank you for bringing me up-to-date.”
“By requesting a second interview with Lieutenant Hawkins,” he told her, “we’ll set the official record straight.”
COCHRANE SAVORED his morning coffee. Outside Giddings’s Ops building he could hear several jets winding up to take off. Ellen was busy unpacking her briefcase for the coming interview. The more time he spent with her, the more he felt just how special she was becoming to him.
What to do about it? He wasn’t sure. His body definitely had ideas, but he wasn’t built
for a one-night stand. And Ellen deserved better than his knee-jerk desire to throw her on a bed, make love to her and then walk away. No, somehow he had to keep working through what she meant to him. Clearly, she liked him. But having been burned by experience, he was a crazy ole dog, to even think of having another long-term relationship. And yet that’s what Jim was wanting—logical or not.
Rousing himself, he said, “Reckon I almost forgot to tell you I dropped off the original tape from Hawkins’s phone to Detective Gardella of La Mesa Police Department. They made us a copy, which we’ll keep over at the JAG lab.”
Ellen sat down, pushed some errant curls out of her eyes and looked up at him. “Does Detective Gardella concur that it was suicide, then?”
“He does now. Gardella is closing the case. There are some loose ends he has to clean up, but technically, Kane’s case is closed with the L.M.P.D. The M.E. is calling her death a suicide.”
“Isn’t Detective Gardella interested in why Susan killed herself?”
With a shrug, Cochrane said, “With his caseload, he’s more interested in what happened and who’s responsible. Details like why don’t matter unless it impacts on the first two.”
“I’m glad we care, then.”
“Eventually, these baffling pieces of information will fall into place. But we can’t keep the case open forever. The Navy is going to push hard for a very speedy resolution, which is why we’re doing double time right now to see it gets done,” he said.
“Sort of like a big jigsaw puzzle?”
“Reckon it is. The tough kind, you know? The one with thousands of itty-bitty pieces. That’s our job, Ellen, to figure out where to put these pieces, and later, to see the bigger picture of what’s taken place.”
“I never realized an investigator had to see not only the microcosm, but the macrocosm, as well.”
Jim gloated. “Yeah, we’re just all-around cosmic folks, aren’t we?”
“Gimme a break, will you?” she laughed.
Cochrane saw Ann Hawkins come through the partially opened door. He stood, gestured for her to come over to the chair and sit down. Hawkins was pale and nervous, her hands shaking as she sat in front of them. Ellen greeted the woman, then closed the door.
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