And besides, she knew damn well River could take care of himself. Even if he was still on the weak side. A little underweight. Probably running on very little sleep and a whole lot of tension.
She closed her eyes. It was almost lunch hour when the phone rang, and Rosie handed it to her as Jax passed the desk with her fifth or sixth cup of coffee.
Her mind hoped it was River. It wasn’t.
“Hey, Jax. It’s Beth. I’m taking you up on that promise to spend some time catching up. And guess who else is backing me up on this?”
She frowned and couldn’t come up with an answer.
“Dawn, of course,” Beth chirped, before Jax could have replied. “She wondered if you wanted to slip away for lunch with her and me. She’d love to see you.”
“I don’t know…I’ve got a lot going on, Beth.”
“I know you do. I’d kill to know what. Listen, we can make it quick—maybe meet at the diner across from the station? Grab a sandwich and a coffee? Half hour, tops. And you’ll be within shouting distance if Blackberry suddenly erupts in a major crime spree. Come on.”
From somewhere close to Beth, Dawn’s voice called, “Pleeeease?”
Jax smiled. “Tell the kid I’m not buying the girlie voice.” She wasn’t. Dawn was way older than her birth certificate claimed. She’d been through more than most women three times her age. “All right. I’ll come.”
“Great. Ten minutes?”
“I’ll be there.” Jax hung up the phone and smiled her thanks to Rosie. Then she went into the chief’s office. “Hey, Frankie. I’m going to take lunch.”
“In a minute. Close the door.” Frankie looked up, frowning, her graying eyebrows bending together.
Jax closed the door and took a seat.
“You’re a nervous wreck today. Any particular reason?”
“Nothing I want to talk about.”
“And your folks will confirm what you told me about your car, if I ask them?”
“If you ask them. Though I might resent you checking up on me like that.”
Frankie sighed. “I just had a call from Burlington PD. There was a break-in early this morning.”
“So why is that our problem?” Jax asked.
Frankie pursed her lips. “It was at the private office of Dr. Ethan Melrose.”
Jax brought her head up fast.
“Yeah, I thought that would get your attention.”
“Did they catch him?” Jax was almost breathless, until Frankie shook her head slowly.
“No. No witnesses. A little damage. They’re not sure yet if anything was taken. The incident was confined to Melrose’s office itself—desk was rifled, file cabinets broken into.” She drew a long, deep breath. “Any ideas?”
“Yeah, I have ideas—the same ideas you have, the same ones any halfway decent cop would have. Our fugitive is trying to find something in his shrink’s office. Unless you’ve got reason to suspect someone else?”
“No. My question is, what’s he using for transportation?”
“I don’t know, Frankie. Maybe he sprouted wings and flew to Burlington.” She hoped biting sarcasm would cover her increasing discomfort. She did not like lying to another cop. It wasn’t something she’d had much practice doing. “Why?” she asked after a moment. “Did anyone get a look at the car?”
Frankie let the question hang there for a long moment, her eyes probing, before she finally said, “No. No one saw anything.”
Jax barely kept herself from releasing a sigh.
“You were saying something about lunch?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, glad of the change in subject. Frankie could have pushed a lot harder than she had. She’d simply chosen not to, and Jax was grateful. “I’m meeting Beth and Dawn across the street.”
“Dawnie’s back in town?” Frankie’s eyes lit up, and it seemed she was finally distracted from the bone she’d been gnawing. “What about Bryan?”
“Yeah, they’re both here. Thanksgiving break.”
“Well, go on. And you tell that girl to come by and see me while she’s here. I want to hear all about college.”
“I will,” Jax said. “If you need me—”
She waved a hand. “I’ll know where to find you. Take your time. Not much we can do here, anyway.”
Jax nodded and got to her feet. She grabbed her coat on the way out, and walked into the brilliant sunshine. It wasn’t officially winter, at least not according to the calendar. But you couldn’t tell it by looking around. The road was still bare, shiny and wet. The base coat of snow hadn’t formed on its surface yet. It would be safer when it did; black ice was a killer this time of year. Still, there were salt pellets scattered around. No giant snowbanks along the sides, as there would be later in the season. Just a little slush, and it was rapidly melting. Bits of snow clung here and there, to rooftops, to trees, in the corners of some of the shop windows. But it was melting rapidly. It must be in the midforties, Jax thought, and would probably hit fifty before the afternoon was out.
She crossed the street and walked under the green-and-white-striped awning into Jeffrey’s. The place was small, and included a long gray granite counter always stocked with the latest edition of the Blackberry Gazette for the customers to peruse. The booths lining the opposite wall were made of the same material, their seats padded in coffee-shop red vinyl. In between there were a handful of round wrought-iron tables with matching chairs, two apiece.
She chose a booth, slid into the side that faced the door, and ordered a glass of water to counteract the coffee she’d been slugging all morning.
Dawn and Beth came through the door before the water was even delivered to the table, and Dawn stared at her for a moment—no, not at her. Past her. So intently that Jax found herself looking over her shoulder to see who was standing there. But there was no one, and when she looked back again, Dawn jerked her gaze on target, smiled brightly and hurried across the room. Nineteen, and getting more beautiful all the time, Jax thought as she got up for a hug hello.
The kid had eyes that wouldn’t quit. Deep blue and thickly fringed with dark lashes, despite her naturally butterscotch-blond hair that hung halfway down to her—
Dawn tugged off her knitted hat, and Jax gaped. “You cut your hair!”
“Yep. You like it?” Dawn finger combed the sleek locks, parted on the side and cut short.
“I love it. But God, you look like a grown-up now.”
“I am a grown-up now,” she said.
Beth smoothed Dawn’s hair herself. “I love it, too,” she said. “But it does make me feel kind of old.” Dawn made a face at her, and Beth made one right back, then turned to Jax. “So how’s your day going?”
“I thought small-town life would be quiet to the point of boredom. It’s not proving true.”
“So there’s some excitement going on. I thought as much. Can you talk about it, Jax?” Dawn asked.
She shook her head, but the look in Beth’s eyes told her she, too, suspected something was up. No doubt Josh had filled her in on his late night mission on Jax’s behalf. She was probably worrying. Unlike Jax, Beth was a nurturer.
“It’s no big deal, really.”
Dawn frowned, looked troubled.
“What’s wrong, Dawn?” Jax asked, not liking the dark look that came and went in her young friend’s eyes.
“Nothing.” Dawn plastered her bright smile back in place as they all sat down, and turned to the waitress when she came to their booth. “Diet Coke and hot cocoa. And a house salad, dressing on the side.”
“Don’t tell me you’re worried about your weight,” Jax said. “You should pig out while you’re still young enough to enjoy it.”
“I’m actively dodging the freshman ten,” Dawn said. “So far, so good. But I won’t be dodging too hard tonight. Beth’s making fried chicken for dinner.” She tipped her head to one side. “You should come.”
“I wish I could, but I made plans.”
“Really?” Beth leaned over t
he table. “Sounds juicy.”
The waitress cleared her throat, and Beth looked up. “Oh, sorry. Uh—I’ll have a burger. No fries or potato chips or anything on the side. And a hot cocoa sounds great.”
Jax rolled her eyes. “God, not you, too?” Then she looked at the waitress. “Make it three hot cocoas. I’ll have a turkey sandwich with provolone. Extra mayo. And you don’t need to hold my potato chips. In fact, I’ll eat hers, too.”
“Rebel,” Beth accused as the waitress hurried away. “So tell me about these other plans. What’s up?”
“Nothing big. I’m having dinner with your guest. Ethan Melrose.”
Dawn jerked so suddenly that her hand hit Jax’s water glass and tipped it over. The water spilled, ice cubes sliding everywhere. They all jumped to their feet at once, grabbed their napkins and started wiping.
“God, I’m such a klutz sometimes,” Dawn said.
Jax stopped wiping and looked at the girl’s face. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what that was. A twitch.” She grinned. “Maybe it’s something new. The freshman twitch.”
The waitress came with a towel and finished cleaning up the water. They sat back down. Beth said, “So you’re dating the doctor, huh?”
“Hardly. It’s business.”
“That patient of his who escaped from the mental hospital?” Beth asked.
Dawn gaped at her. “You didn’t tell me we had a mental patient on the loose. Is he in town?”
“Who knows?” Beth asked. “I heard he burned his house down with his wife inside. Killed her, and she was pregnant at the time.”
Dawn went so utterly white that Jax thought the girl was going to pass out cold.
“Dawn?” Jax asked.
“It was your house, wasn’t it? The one where you’re staying.” The way she said it, it wasn’t really a question.
“Yeah,” Jax told her. “How did you know?”
“I…don’t know.” She made a visible effort to compose herself, gave her head a shake. “It’s just so sad, is all.” Dawn averted her eyes as if the subject were closed, and turned her attention to the jukebox mounted to the booth’s wall.
Beth focused on Jax again, but she was sending worried looks Dawn’s way every few seconds. “I don’t know about your plans with the doc, though, Jax. He got a call this morning and said he had to head back to Burlington. Said he didn’t know for sure if he’d be back tonight.” She lifted a brow. “You know what that was about?”
“Yeah, there was a break-in at his office. No big deal.”
“Well, if he cancels your dinner, the invitation is open,” Beth said.
The waitress brought their food, and the conversation turned to more comfortable topics. Dawn talked about her classes, her dorm room, her teachers. But she seemed to be forcing it, and Jax got the feeling her mind was on something else. Something to do with the dead woman in Beth’s story. And she didn’t mention Bryan the entire time.
Jax wondered how things were between them. They’d been getting pretty close last she knew—so much so they’d decided to attend the same college this fall. Jax had thought they were too young to be getting serious, but she had no idea just how far things had gone. Or whether they were still going.
She’d have to ask Beth about it when they were alone. Jax was certain something was bothering Dawn, but she wasn’t sure if it was Bryan, or something else.
Then she rolled her eyes. The girl had two mothers watching over her. She didn’t need a third. And Jax had enough to worry about without adding imaginary problems to the mix.
She was worried about River. Much as she hated to admit it, she was.
When lunch was over she waved goodbye to Dawn and Beth, headed back to the department and told Frankie she’d like to go home for the afternoon, if that was all right.
The older woman looked at her oddly, but didn’t ask any questions. She just nodded, and quipped, “You’re not on the payroll yet, Jax. You can pretty well come and go as you please.”
Jax nodded, told Frankie to call if she needed her, and asked Bill to give her a lift home.
When she got there, her car was sitting in the driveway, and she almost went limp in relief. She thanked Bill and went to the door, waited for him to leave before she walked in.
River was there, standing near a window in the living room, his body hidden by a curtain. She was certain he’d watched her get out of the car, ready to duck out of sight if Bill decided to come in with her.
She pursed her lips and blew every bit of air from her lungs. Then she marched straight to River, wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. “You are a total ass, you know that?”
He was stiff for a moment, but she didn’t let go, and a second later, he muttered, “Hell,” and slid his arms around her waist, hugging her back. “A guy could almost think you’d been worried about him.”
“I don’t worry about anyone.”
“Bull.”
She rested her head on his chest. “You broke into Ethan’s office, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t get caught, and I made sure your car wasn’t spotted.”
She backed away and looked up at his face. “That was a stupid thing to do, River.”
“It was the only thing to do.”
“Why? The lawyer’s going to get your medical records. You didn’t need to go steal them.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then what—?”
He silenced her by pressing his mouth to hers.
The kiss took her by surprise. She twined her arms more tightly around his neck and returned the kiss more eagerly than was probably polite. It set her on fire, and she opened her mouth, inviting more. He gave her more, his tongue twining with hers until he’d stolen her breath and jump-started her heart rate. When he finally lifted his head, passion clouded his eyes. He swallowed hard and backed away. “You’re killing me, you know that?”
She felt cold without his arms around her, wanted to dive right back into them, but restrained herself. “Not my intent, River.”
“No, I didn’t think it was.”
She sighed. It was clear he wasn’t ready to go any further, and the kiss had been nothing more than an impulse.
“I like you,” he said at length.
“Well, hell, what’s not to like?”
“I’m just in no position right now to—to—”
“To jump my bones?” She walked as casually as she could manage to the sofa, plunked herself down onto its cushions and tried to pretend she wasn’t itching to rip the clothes off him and take matters into her own hands.
“To start any kind of a relationship.”
“Well, that’s a relief, because I’m not, either.”
He frowned at her, but didn’t join her on the sofa. Instead he took a seat a safe distance from her, in the overstuffed chair. The big chicken. She rolled her eyes and drew a throw pillow into her lap. “When did I give you the impression I wanted a relationship?”
“I don’t know. I just…”
“Look, I’m not a blushing virgin. And I’m not on the hunt for a life mate. Don’t read so much into a passing physical attraction. I do not equate sexual gratification with romantic involvement, River. I’m not going to wake up in the morning convinced I’m madly in love.”
He looked her square in the eye. “I might.”
She blinked, utterly shocked. So much so that she almost jumped to her feet. She managed not to, settled for just saying, “If that’s the case, consider the offer withdrawn. I’m not into hearts and flowers.” Then she narrowed her eyes on him. “Or are you just trying to scare me off? Hell, River, a simple ‘thanks, but no thanks’ would suffice.”
He shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t want you.”
“Jeez, cut the drama. Forget it. If you get hard up, do what I do and take care of it manually.” She did get up then, and walked to the kitchen, needing something to distract her from the odd rush of conflicting e
motions his confession had stirred inside her. She went to the coffeepot, changed her mind and poured a glass of V-8 juice instead. “So did you find anything useful at Ethan’s office?”
“No.” He got up and came into the kitchen. She stood leaning against the counter and sipping her juice. “I was hoping for his old appointment books—personal ones, you know? I thought we could see if anything corresponded with the times when Steph was inexplicably absent. But there was nothing at the office. If he has anything like that, it must be at his house.”
She lowered the glass and licked the juice from her lips. “You are not thinking about breaking into his house.”
“Aren’t I?”
“River, can’t you just wait for the medical records? We find discrepancies, we get a search warrant, and—”
“And by then he’ll have hidden or destroyed anything incriminating. He might have already.”
“So you finally believe it might have been him?”
“I think I have to consider the possibility,” he said, and he didn’t look as if he liked it.
“Breaking into his house isn’t the way to find out for sure, River.”
“It’s the only way I can think of.”
She set the glass down hard. “You’re being obstinate. And you’re going to get yourself thrown right back into that hospital if you don’t use your head.”
She knew he didn’t agree, but didn’t say so. “I saw my lawyer today. Met him at a coffee shop so I wouldn’t be spotted near the office. He gave me some cash, and the key to the storage unit where all my belongings have been stashed since the town took possession of the house.”
She tipped her head to one side. “Did you check it out?”
He shook his own head. “I was hoping you’d come with me for that.”
Jax lifted her brows.
“I…it might be tough. It might get dicey. Maybe even enough to induce a blackout.”
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