It was two in the morning when Sam turned his car into the alley. The rain that had started at sunset had tapered off to a steady drizzle, saturating the muggy air. Puddles gleamed in his headlights, rippling along the pavement between the dark brick walls.
The car nosed over a speed bump and the headlights grazed a neat cement curb. They were behind an upscale mall in an affluent neighborhood, and this alley was cleaner than a lot of streets. There was no trash piled in the corners or graffiti scrawled on the bricks. The flat steel doors that were set into the wall were labeled with neat signs and reinforced with the kind of hardware that would discourage all but the most determined thief.
“He said he’d be watching for us,” Audra said, gripping the dashboard as she leaned closer to the windshield. “I wish he hadn’t made me promise not to call Norm. He’d want to know Jimmy was all right.”
“The kid obviously didn’t want to talk to his father. He trusts you.”
She drew her lower lip between her teeth as her brow furrowed. “Poor Jimmy. He sounded so scared.”
Sam controlled the urge to snort. Scared? The kid had put Audra and her entire family through hell for the past three days and all the time he’d been perfectly safe, sketching and painting to his heart’s content, living comfortably in the back room of an artist’s supplies store.
From what Audra had learned on the phone, one of Jimmy’s friends had lied—big surprise—when she’d been asked whether she knew where Jimmy was. In the name of friendship and misplaced loyalty, she’d covered for him for days, hiding him in her mother’s store. The only reason he’d decided to leave now was because Pamela Stanuck, the store owner, was due back from a buying trip in the morning.
“I’m so relieved that he’s all right,” Audra said.
“Yeah. He was lucky. A lot of things can happen to a kid on his own.”
She rubbed her palms over her arms. “That’s what’s been driving Judy crazy.”
“There it is.” Sam braked to a stop beside a rain-soaked sign. “‘Pamela’s Palette,”’ he read. “This is the place.”
“Oh, I hope he hasn’t changed his mind.”
“Probably not. Why else would he have called you?”
“What if he didn’t want to wait? What if he’s run off again?”
“He wouldn’t get far.” He nodded toward the end of the alley. “I had Bergstrom put the place under surveillance the minute you got off the phone.”
“You what? But I promised Jimmy I wouldn’t tell anyone else.”
“This isn’t a game, Audra. We’re only humoring the kid so he won’t lose face and try running again. Just because he doesn’t seem to have come to any harm doesn’t mean his luck will hold the next time.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I guess his welfare is more important than his trust. What’s one more lie added to all the rest?”
He touched his fingertips to the back of her hand. “You didn’t break your word. I was the one who brought in backup.”
Her gaze lowered. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. We all owe you our thanks for what you’re doing.”
“Let’s get the kid home safe before you start thanking me.”
The back door of the shop inched open a crack as soon as they stepped from the car. Sam took a firm hold on Audra’s elbow to keep her from rushing forward, but as soon as she called Jimmy’s name, the door swung wide.
Sam immediately recognized the gangling height and sullen posture of the teenager who stood in the doorway. As Audra fussed over her nephew, Sam checked out the place where the kid had been hiding. Jimmy had had a comfortable setup here, thanks to his friend. But he made no argument about leaving. Stuffing his artwork into a cardboard tube, he hitched his backpack over his shoulder and accompanied his aunt outside.
It all went smoothly until the three of them were in the car and Sam turned onto the street. It seemed Jimmy didn’t want to go home after all. He wanted to go to Audra’s place.
She twisted around to stare at her nephew. “You can’t possibly mean that,” she said. “Your parents have been worried sick. I’m not going to hide you at my apartment and let them continue to—”
“You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone.” Jimmy scowled as Sam met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “I don’t know why you had to bring him along.”
“I was there when you called,” Sam said, scowling back at him. “Did you expect your aunt to wander around a dark alley in the middle of the night by herself?”
Jimmy glanced away. “Okay, but I don’t want you to tell anyone else. I’m not going home. If you won’t let me stay with you, I’ll just live on the street.”
Audra pressed her lips together and inhaled slowly through her nose, obviously striving for patience. “Jimmy, I understand that you’re having a difficult time at home with your father...”
Sam drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he listened to her try to reason with the boy. The kid wasn’t dumb—he’d rather have another comfortable hideout than try to get by on his own. And he was doing a good job of playing on Audra’s sympathy, trying to put her in the middle between him and his father. He’d already succeeded to some degree, by choosing to contact her instead of his parents.
There was no way Sam could let Audra get involved any deeper in Jimmy’s problems. If she agreed to Jimmy’s request and let him stay with her, it would mean she and Sam would have to act engaged for twenty-four hours a day—he doubted whether his self-control would last that long. Besides that, having the kid around would interfere with the preparations for the Fitzpatrick job. And it would probably cause a rift between Audra and Norm, who happened to be the brother who was one of the people in charge of the hiring. That was something they couldn’t afford with only one week to go before the wedding.
And for what? So some pampered, sheltered, loved child could play rebel? Jimmy had no idea how grateful he should be for the home and family he had. If he knew how rough the streets could be for other less fortunate kids...
Palming the wheel in a circle, Sam suddenly changed direction.
“Where are you going?” Audra asked. “This isn’t the way to Norm’s place.”
“Hey, this isn’t the way to Aunt Audra’s either,” Jimmy said, leaning forward. “What’s going on?”
“We’re taking a detour,” Sam said.
Forty minutes later, he slowed the car to a crawl as he steered under the shelter of an overpass. An orange cat streaked across the road and disappeared into the shadows beside the support pillars. An abandoned truck, its wheels missing, every one of its windows smashed in, leaned nose-downward at the edge of a ditch. Sam pulled up beside a rusty dumpster and twisted in his seat to look at Jimmy.
“See that pile of boxes beside the dumpster?” he asked.
“Yeah. So?”
“How would you like to live there?”
“Oh, right. Sure. That’s just a pile of garbage.”
“Watch,” Sam said, turning around.
For the next ten minutes, the only sound in the car was the low whir of the fan and the rhythmic thump of the wipers. Then Audra drew in her breath sharply. “There’s someone in that truck,” she whispered.
All three of them were silent as they watched a thin man with a ragged beard slip out of the truck cab and disappear into the rain. A few minutes later, a flap on the cardboard box that was farthest from the dumpster moved and a pale face peered out warily. The orange cat that had run across the road earlier stalked into the box and the flap closed.
It had been a calculated guess, Sam thought. A few months ago he’d met an informant at this spot and had noticed that some derelicts had been using the dumpster for shelter, so he’d suspected it might still be in use. Somehow it didn’t make him pleased to be right.
“These people don’t have a home to go to, Jimmy,” Sam said, putting the car back into gear. “They don’t have the opportunities that you’re so eager to turn your back on.”
“What is th
is? Some kind of lesson?”
“Something like that,” Sam murmured.
The next stop was a youth shelter that Sam and Xavier had helped to set up four years ago. It was locked up for the night, but the nun at the door recognized Sam and let him in. When he explained what he wanted, she nodded in understanding and gave the three of them a tour of the facility. She related the grim backgrounds of some of the teenagers she’d taken in, her soft voice brutally frank as she spoke about the fate of children who end up on the street. By the time they returned to the car, Jimmy’s expression had lost some of its sullenness.
Sam saved the hospital for last. He was in luck. There’d been a gang shooting.
Chapter 9
Smoke billowed out of the oven in a choking black cloud. Wiping her tears on her forearm, Audra grabbed the pot holders and reached for the pans. The mounds of charred dough looked more like coal than dinner rolls. Coughing, she dropped the pans in the sink and went to open the window.
So much for her contribution to Esther and Christopher’s anniversary party. It seemed as if she couldn’t concentrate on anything lately. She’d forgotten to set the timer. She’d forgotten to check the temperature setting of the oven. She was a complete mess. She was in love with Sam Tucker.
Bracing her hands on the windowsill, she gulped deep lungfuls of fresh air. No, she couldn’t be in love. Definitely not love. She knew better than that. What she felt for Sam was gratitude for letting her unburden herself about Ryan and for helping her nephew. Anyone would be grateful.
He’d used exactly the right approach with Jimmy. There were already enough people willing to protect the boy from reality. Showing him the alternatives to the comfortable, loving home he had was precisely what he needed to shock some sense into him. By the time they’d finished at the hospital, Jimmy was more than ready to work things out with his father.
Of course, now Sam was a hero to her entire family. Ever since they’d reunited Norm and Judy with their son, Sam’s role in his return had begun to take on the status of a legend. Whenever she talked to anyone these days it was Sam this and Sam that and, “When are you two coming to dinner?” or, “When are you two going to set a wedding date?”
If his reason for getting involved with Jimmy had been to gain the acceptance of her family, then he’d succeeded beyond his expectations.
Then again, Sam was an expert at knowing the right buttons to push.
Turning around, she sat on the edge of the windowsill and put her head in her hands. Was that all he was doing? Pushing more buttons for the sake of his case? She’d been through this before in her mind, and she still didn’t know what the answer was.
Yet whatever Sam’s motives were, it didn’t change what he’d done. His actions spoke for themselves. He was a sensitive, compassionate, intelligent man, and she definitely was starting to like him. Who wouldn’t? According to Norm, he was a hell of a guy.
So it wasn’t necessarily love. It was...an infatuation, that’s all. He was her fantasy man, the naked, good-looking hunk who would make any normal woman, well, burn her buns.
Incredibly, she felt the desire to laugh. After all these years, it had finally happened. Audra McPherson, who wasn’t in the habit of entertaining men—naked or otherwise—in her bedroom, was on the verge of panic simply because she had fallen victim to the most basic of human urges.
“It isn’t love,” she murmured. “It’s lust.”
Okay. Now what?
Her shoulders shook as she released the laughter that had been building. The irony of the situation was too much to bear. Most of her family, her mother included, believed that she and Sam were already sleeping together. And she’d seen from the start that Sam didn’t have any hang-ups about his sexuality. Like everyone else, he probably assumed that she wasn’t completely innocent either. After all, how could any modern woman reach her age without having sex?
How? Well, for starters, there were an old-fashioned father and six overprotective older brothers. Then there was an engagement to the boy who had been her best friend and a foolish, romantic notion of waiting until her wedding night to make the transition from friend to lover. And then there was that accident that took away much more than Ryan’s ability to walk....
So, here she was. A virgin at twenty-eight. In lust with the sexiest man she’d ever imagined. And she had no idea what to do about it.
You’ve been hiding the fact that you’re an attractive woman because you’ve been so determined not to attract a man.
That’s what Geraldine had said. And it was true that Audra hadn’t wanted to attract anyone. It was so much easier to go on the way she was, pouring her energy into her work, letting her ambition for her business fill her life. Until now, she hadn’t been tempted to do otherwise.
She lifted her head, combing her hair back with her fingers. She’d left it loose today. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t worn a braid or a bun since Sam had complimented her on her new hairstyle. She liked the way he sometimes stroked a lock back from her cheek, and the way he’d lift his hand to toy with her curls when he put his arm around her shoulders.
And she liked the way he looked at her when she wore that dress Judy and Geraldine had talked her into buying. His eyes darkened, those masculine lines beside his mouth would deepen and his whole expression intensified somehow, as if his thoughts were filled with nothing but her. So she’d gradually been changing her wardrobe, using belts to cinch the waist of her loose dresses, leaving the top few buttons of her blouses undone, wearing heels, using perfume...
I can’t deny I’m attracted to you, Audra. You’re a desirable woman.
Her stomach did a pleasant little lurch as she remembered his voice, so deep and strong, as he’d said those words. He was attracted to her. Sensitive, intelligent Sam, who lived next door, who was loved by her family, who oozed sex appeal without even trying, found her desirable.
And this was a problem?
Of course it was a problem. They had to work together. She didn’t want anything to interfere with Sam’s investigation because she wanted that reward money. On top of that, she didn’t want to commit herself to any man again, no matter who he was. She didn’t want to love anyone....
But she wasn’t in love. And neither of them wanted commitment. Their relationship was only temporary.
And when she’d returned his kiss, he’d pushed her away.
Muttering under her breath, she stood up and went to the sink to run cold water over the smoldering buns. Was she so inept that she made him lose interest? Was she misreading his signals again? And how far would she have let him go if he hadn’t lost interest?
She didn’t know the answers to those questions. Part of her wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know.
Besides, as soon as the Fitzpatrick wedding was over, her problems would be over, too.
Sam wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and scowled through the windshield. “When are you going to install air-conditioning in this rust heap, Berg?”
“You have no appreciation of beauty, Sam. She happens to be a classic.” Piers Bergstrom ran his hand across the wheel of the old Mercury affectionately. “I found her in a garage in Waukegan last month. She’s been around awhile, but she’s still got plenty left to give.”
“Whatever you say.”
“They don’t make them like this anymore. Her beauty is a lot more than skin-deep, too. One peek under her hood and I was in love.” He gunned the engine, sending gravel spewing out from the rear tires as they climbed another hill. “Listen to that. Eight cylinders, four hundred and forty-one cubic inches. Man, can she cook.”
“And guzzle gas like a pig.”
“Whatever baby wants, baby gets,” Bergstrom said, his dimples flashing. He had a smile that could charm a cat, as he was well aware. Tall, blond and tanned, he was the image of the all-American boy next door...unless you looked carefully enough to see the calculating glint in his eyes. “She’s so responsive. Just like a woman when you stroke h
er right.”
Sam slouched against the back of the seat and watched the countryside roll by. After the past week, he wasn’t in the mood for Bergstrom’s usual patter about his cars and his women. The man was a good cop, but his locker-room mentality could grate on the nerves. “Any more news on who’s coming to town?”
Bergstrom switched gears easily. “Last I heard, Hasenstein, Packard, Gallo and Dryden are definites. Green and Falco look possible.”
“Emilio Falco? There’s been bad blood between him and Fitzpatrick for years.”
“I don’t think he was invited to the wedding just to toast the bride.”
“Fitzpatrick’s ambitious. Could be he’s gathering everyone to consolidate his position. Maybe even redraw the lines of power.”
“Ah, you’ve been talking to our friend Xavier.”
“Not since Tuesday. Why?”
“He’s thinking the same thing. This fishing expedition of yours might pay off bigger than we expected. All you need to do is get yourself into the right place at the right time.” He eased his foot off the accelerator as they approached a curve in the road, then turned into a narrow weed-choked lane. “Sorry, baby,” he murmured as the car thudded over a bump. The lane narrowed even further as it led through a stand of trees and emerged on the crest of the hill. Bergstrom coasted to a stop in the shade of an oak, then pulled a pair of binoculars from under his seat and handed them to Sam. “Take a look.”
Sam aimed the binoculars at the redbrick, ivy-draped house in the distance. Pushing the focus wheel with his index finger, he grunted approvingly as he scanned the Fitzpatrick estate. “I see what you mean, Berg. It’s a good vantage point.”
“It better be, after the scratches I put in the paint job to find it.”
“What paint job?”
“Don’t listen to him, baby,” he murmured to the car. “I love you anyway.”
“The ceremony’s supposed to take place on the terrace with the fountain.” Sam moved the binoculars a few degrees to the left. “We’ll be setting up the chairs and awnings tomorrow morning.”
Engaging Sam Page 14