Experiment in Terror (Koehler Brothers Book 1)

by Anderson, Alene

  “You may have to adjust those straps. I have them so they fit me comfortably, but I doubt they will work for you.”

  When Matt was satisfied with the way the pack felt on his shoulders, he followed Amanda out of the kitchen. Before she could open the door leading into the garage, he grabbed her by the arm and turned her around.

  “Payback time,” he said in a whisper, lowering his face toward her.

  Before he could kiss her, she pushed him away.

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little premature? Payment comes after the service is performed. Not before.”

  She laughed at the disappointed look on his face. Turning, she opened the door and stepped into the garage. She ran the garage door up and moved around her car to her bike. Taking the red and black helmet off the handlebars, she strapped it on, then worked a pair of black biking gloves on over her fingers.

  “Why don’t you get your bike and we’ll head out,” she said, as she pushed hers out of the garage.

  Matt went out to his car and lifted his bike off the carrier at the back of his car. He swung a long leg over the cross bar.

  “All set.”

  She smiled. “Let’s do it.”

  As they rode along 30th Street in the bike lane, they didn’t try to talk. In-between the passing cars, she heard his tires singing on the pavement behind her. She couldn’t believe they had found each other after he had disappeared from the group of homeless men. And now they were biking together.

  He rode up beside her at a stoplight and smiled down at her. “This is going to be a great day. But it will be even better when I collect payment for being the pack horse.”

  She laughed, and as the light changed, she pushed hard on one pedal, sending her bike shooting ahead of him. Now she regretted not letting him kiss her. Oh well, she consoled herself. She would have that to look forward to. She only hoped he wouldn’t forget.

  When they reached the Foothills Highway, the bike lane widened and they were able to ride side by side. They rode at a leisurely pace enjoying the day. Other bikers whizzed by them as though trying to set some kind of speed record.

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this,” Matt said as they topped a small hill and started down the other side. “I’m glad you thought of it. I’ve been looking forward to spending the day with you.”

  “I love biking, but it’s not always easy to find someone to go with me.”

  “You can call me any time.”

  The miles passed quickly and they soon reached the entrance to the lake. Reaching the gate, Amanda punched in the security code and it slid back to let them through. She turned to the right and they rode by some huge homes before reaching the beach. Parking their bikes, Matt slipped the backpack off his shoulders and sat it down on a nearby picnic table.

  “How about a snack?” he asked. “I didn’t take time for breakfast.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me before we left? I could have fried some bacon and eggs or at least given you a bowl of cereal.”

  “One of the oranges in this pack should hold me over,” he said.

  “Go ahead and help yourself,” she replied, sitting down at the table.

  Matt unzipped the backpack and took out a large orange. Sliding in beside Amanda, he began to peel the fruit. When he finished, he sectioned it off and put a piece in his mouth. When he held one out to her, she shook her head.

  Amanda watched the sunlight dancing on the waters of the lake. She couldn’t remember when she had felt more comfortable with a man than she did with Matt. She loved being with him. She loved his sense of humor, his consideration, and the way he smiled when he saw her. They didn’t seem to feel the need for words as he continued to pop section after section into his mouth.

  “Mom wants us to come for dinner tonight if you don’t have anything planned,” she said, watching him wiping his hands with a wipe from the package she had stuck in with their lunch.

  “I would like that.”

  “It will be leftovers.”

  “Not a problem.”

  “You’ll be in for a grilling. They’ll ask you numerous questions. Where did we meet? Where did you grow up? Do you have any siblings?”

  “Where did we meet?”

  “In my store, of course.”

  He gave her a droll look, but she was sure he had gotten the message.

  “Do you like to dance?” he asked.

  “I love to.”

  “I have to go to Colorado Springs on a job next week and I thought maybe I could take you out Monday night if you’re not busy.”

  “As usual, I’ll have to check my calendar.”

  “I have to leave on Tuesday morning early. I’m scheduled to have a meeting with the Chief of Police and some of his men.”

  “I’ll let you know Monday morning as soon as I get to work and check my calendar.”

  A sailboat came toward them across the lake and Amanda jumped up and started waving her arms back and forth.

  “There’s my friends, Dave and Michelle,” she said, looking down at Matt. “They said they might stop by. Come on, I want you to meet them.”

  Matt followed Amanda to the shore and a few minutes later, Dave had tossed him a rope to pull the boat onto the sand.

  After introductions were made, Michelle said, “Get in, you two, we have a real treat for you.”

  Not asking what it might be, Amanda promptly climbed over the side of the sailboat and sat down on the one empty seat.

  “Shove us off,” Dave ordered Matt. “And then, jump in.”

  Matt gave a push and jumped in quickly before the boat moved too far out in the water and sat down on the seat beside Amanda.

  “So what’s the treat?” Amanda was curious.

  “Dave had some fresh lobster flown in from the East Coast. We cooked it up this morning and brought it along. We’ll let the boat drift and we can eat lobster, dipped in butter, and have a glass of wine with it.”

  “How incredible is that!” Amanda exclaimed. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had lobster?”

  Michelle smiled and reached under the seat she and Dave were sitting on and slid out a picnic basket containing a bottle of wine, a corkscrew, and four glasses.

  Dave jerked on a rope, dropping the single sail in order to allow the boat to gently bob on the water. Picking up the bottle of wine, he used the corkscrew to open it and poured the liquid into the glasses that Michelle held up one at a time.

  “This is the life,” Matt said as Michelle handed him a container of lobster in melted butter.

  “Amanda tells us you were instrumental in catching the Boulder Creek Killer,” Dave said.

  Matt nodded, his mouth too full of lobster to answer. After he swallowed, he said, “I have a consulting business and often do undercover work for various police departments throughout the state. There are the small towns where a murder is committed and they just don’t have the kind of manpower they need to handle the case, and I’ll be called in to consult.”

  Dave asked a few more questions, then volunteered the information he worked for IBM, but his job wasn’t nearly as exciting as Matt’s.

  “Mine can get pretty boring at times,” Matt assured him. “For almost three weeks I did nothing in the daytime, but hang out with homeless men and listen to their stories. At night I camped out under one of the bridges in a sleeping bag, waiting for something to happen.”

  “You should have seen him,” Amanda said. “You would never have recognized him. He had shaggy dishwater blond hair and a dreadful beard.”

  “Didn’t the homeless men realize it was a disguise?”

  “No, they never caught on. My cousin who lives in Evergreen is a makeup artist for the movies and he did it for me. Fortunately, he
was home at the time, so I really lucked out.”

  “I wish I could have seen you,” Michelle said.

  “The only things recognizable were his eyes and his walk,” Amanda said. “Even his clothes were dirty and ragged.”

  They went on to talk about some of his other cases while finishing up the lobster and the wine.

  “This has been so much fun, I hate to bring it to an end,” Michelle said. “But we have tickets to see Les Miserables in Denver tonight and we are having dinner with friends before hand, so we should think about getting ready.”

  “This has been a wonderful afternoon,” Amanda said, and Matt agreed. “Thanks for sharing your lobster with us.”

  Dave put the sail up and with the slight breeze in the air, he maneuvered the boat back to the sandy beach. Matt jumped out and dragged the bow of the boat onto the sand. Holding out his hand to Amanda, he helped her out and then gave the boat a shove back into the water.

  “What’s next?” Matt asked Amanda as they watched the sail boat’s progress across the lake.

  Chapter 12

  “Guess you won’t be interested in my ham and cheese sandwiches after that,” Amanda said.

  “Give me time.” Matt smiled. “Maybe we can think of something to do to work up an appetite.”

  Amanda glanced at her watch. “I know. We can leave our stuff here and walk around the lake. It’s a circle drive.”

  “Do we need to worry about our bikes and the backpack?”

  “I don’t think anyone will bother them but let’s take my security chain and hook the bikes together and run it through the straps on the backpack. Then they should be fine.”

  He agreed and after fastening everything together, they headed for the paved road. Matt took her hand. Amanda loved the feel of his long fingers intertwined with her own and smiled up at Matt as she gave a sigh of contentment. She loved being with him.

  They discussed Dave and Michelle and how great it had been to spend time with them in the sailboat, eating the lobster and drinking the wine.

  “Great people,” Matt said.

  They came to a small creek running along a portion of the road, which fed into the lake and Amanda suggested they wade in it to cool off their feet.

  Laughing, Matt agreed, and they found a boulder to sit on in order to remove their shoes and socks. Tying the shoelaces together in a bowknot, Matt slung both pairs around his neck and stepped down into the water, holding out his hand to help her.

  The creek was wide enough to wade side by side. They hadn’t gone far when Amanda slipped on a rock and if Matt hadn’t caught her, she would have taken a tumble.

  “That was a close call.” She laughed, as she clutched at his arm.

  He moved one hand to place it behind her neck. Holding her firmly, he bent his head. She put a hand on his chest to stop what she knew was coming.

  “Hey, it’s not payback time yet. You have to carry the backpack home.”

  “This one is for carrying it to the lake. I’ll collect another one when we reach your house.”

  “Matt, please. Someone will see us,” she said.

  “I don’t think so.” He nodded toward the large bushes on either side of the creek.

  “You’re right,” she said and lifted her face.

  His warm lips covered hers and pleasure spread throughout her body. She couldn’t help but feel sorry when he finally released her. Holding hands, they waded along in the water, until the creek turned away from the road and down toward the lake.

  When they returned to the beach an hour later, they found several teenagers playing in the water. Their bikes and backpack appeared to be untouched.

  “In the mood for lunch?” Amanda asked as she unfastened the security chain and lifted the backpack to the picnic table.

  “I think I can handle it now.” Matt smiled.

  As they munched on their sandwiches and drank their Cokes, which were surprisingly cold, Amanda asked Matt, “So you were never married?”

  “No. Actually I never fell hard enough for any girl to pop the question and I made up my mind a long time ago I would never ask a girl to marry me unless we could make a lifetime commitment to each other. My brother, Mitch, felt the same way. But I think things may be changing in that respect.”

  “For you or him?”

  “For both of us,” he said.

  The tenderness of his gaze made her face grow warm, and she knew she must be blushing. Biting her lip, she stared out at the lake, becoming increasingly uncomfortable under his scrutiny, knowing he was watching her intently.

  “Does that bother you?”

  Before she could answer, her cell phone rang and when she took it out of her pocket, she saw it was her mother.

  “Hi, Mom. I’m sorry I forgot to call you about tonight.”

  “Do you still want to eat leftovers with us?” her mother asked.

  “By the time we ride back to town, we’ll be ready for those leftovers,” she assured her mother. “I’m sure Matt is looking forward to meeting you,” she added, smiling at Matt, who smiled back.

  “Well, your dad and I are looking forward to meeting him,” her mother replied. “What time shall we look for you?”

  Amanda glanced at her watch. “How about six?”

  “Perfect. See you then.”

  Amanda punched off her phone and said to Matt, “My mother is dying to meet you. You are the first man I’ve dated since my divorce five years ago.”

  “I’m flattered.”

  “I realized my marriage was a mistake almost as soon as it happened. My parents were totally against it. For the first time in my life, I went against their wishes, and believe me, I lived to regret it.”

  Matt gave her a sympathetic look but didn’t inquire into the meaning of her statement. She was glad. She didn’t want to ruin a perfectly wonderful day by talking about her marriage and divorce from Eric.

  “Do you think we could have a future together?” Matt asked.

  Amanda became thoughtful. “I don’t know. After my divorce, I told myself I would never marry again, but now . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  “Now, what?” he prompted.

  There was a pensive look in her eyes. “I’ll have to give it some thought.” She wondered if his attraction to her might prove risky. She didn’t know him all that well, and she certainly didn’t want to get into a relationship that would end the way the one with Eric had.

  She could tell by the look on Matt’s face that her answer was not what he wanted to hear. But she felt they should give themselves more time to get to know one another.

  “Time to head home,” she said, jumping up to gather what was left of their lunch and put it into the backpack. “It’s really warmed up, so we’ll probably need the water on the way back.”

  Matt couldn’t remember when he had had such an enjoyable day, in spite of his disappointment at Amanda’s response to his question about having a future together. He was glad it wasn’t over yet. He was looking forward to meeting Amanda’s parents. If they were anything like her, he knew he was going to like them. Wait until he e-mailed his brother about today. He hoped Mitch would also have some good news to pass on.

  As they rode side-by-side back into town, Matt said, “Hoping I could take you out to dinner tonight, I brought along a fresh set of clothes. Do you mind if I borrow your shower?”

  “Not at all. There’s a spare bedroom with a bathroom which has a shower you can use.”

  They reached Amanda’s house, and Matt lifted his bike back up on the rack on his SUV. Amanda put hers in the garage and waited for Matt as he got his clothes out of his car.

  “I’m thirsty,” she said. “How about you?”

  “A cold drink of water does sound good.”

 
Taking two bottles of water out of the refrigerator, she handed him one.

  “I’ll show you the bedroom you can use,” she said.

  Matt followed her down a hallway and into the guest bedroom where Amanda showed him where there were fresh towels and washcloths.