With a murmured goodbye Tom left them and sat at the counter next to Larry Norwood. “He’s still optimistic that we’re going to find Brittany alive and well,” Caleb said. “But with each day that passes my hope of that happening is disappearing.”
“I hope you’re wrong and Tom is right,” Portia said and shocked him by reaching across the table and taking Caleb’s hand in hers.
Her fingers entwined with his and he couldn’t help but think it was a perfect fit. He’d always loved to hold hands with her because her hand fit so neatly into his.
“You can’t lose hope, Caleb,” she said and her fingers tightened around his. “You have to believe that everything is going to be okay, that eventually we’re all going to get a happy ending.”
He pulled his hand from hers. “I don’t believe in happy endings,” he said curtly and got up from the booth. “You ready to go?”
She scooted out of the booth and together they went to the counter to pay. He’d just received his change when he heard her gasp his name.
He whirled around as she grabbed his arm in a death grip. “Dale Stemple,” she managed to sputter. “He just went by driving a car. It was him, Caleb. I swear it was him.”
Adrenaline pumped through him as he grabbed Portia by the arm and the two of them raced out of the café. This was the break he’d been waiting for, the break they had needed—proof positive that Dale Stemple was here in town.
Now all he had to do was find the man before he accomplished his goal of killing Portia.
Portia’s heart pumped a million miles a minute as she jumped into Caleb’s car. “Which way?” he asked and she pointed up the street to their right. “What kind of car?”
“It was a black sedan,” she replied as she fumbled with her seat belt. The vision of Dale filled her head and created cold chills to creep up her spine. “It has to be him, Caleb. He’s the only one who makes sense. None of this happened until he got out of prison.”
Caleb started the car with a roar, and with its tires squealing out of the parking lot, they headed in the direction she’d indicated.
“You watch and see if you see the car parked anywhere,” Caleb instructed as he kept his gaze focused on the road ahead.
Portia scanned both sides of the road, seeking the car containing the man who at the moment she feared more than anyone else on the face of the earth. Shops whizzed by and she checked the parking spaces in front of them, but she didn’t see the car anywhere.
Had he looked into the café window and seen her with Caleb? Had he followed them here from Caleb’s after realizing she wasn’t staying in her house anymore?
She clutched the seat on either side of her with her hands, an explosive tension ready to detonate at any moment.
Caleb drove to the edge of the town limits, where the highway cut in and it was impossible to discern which direction the car might have gone. He muttered a curse, slammed his palm down on the dashboard and then looked at her. “Are you sure it was him?”
“Positive.” She couldn’t fight the shiver that worked through her. “I’ll never forget his face. I’ve thought about him since the moment you mentioned his name to me. It was him. I know it was him.”
Caleb pulled a U-turn and went back the way they had come. “I don’t know where he was going, but he has to be staying at his parents’ house,” he said. “I had some of the other deputies check the motel and I know he isn’t staying there.”
“He must hate me so much. I destroyed his life,” Portia said.
Caleb shot her a quick glance as a muscle ticked in his taut jaw. “He destroyed his own life by beating his children and selling illegal guns. You saved those two kids from any more abuse. You should have gotten a damned medal for turning him in.”
As he turned a corner the tension inside her rose again. “Where are we going?”
“To the Stemples.’” He held the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white. “We’re going to find out once and for all if Dale is there.”
Although that was the very last place Portia wanted to go, she bit her tongue and kept silent. Caleb’s hard expression forbade her from speaking any protest. She saw his determination in the slight thrust of his square chin, knew that look well enough to know that nothing was going to stop him from doing what he felt he needed to do.
“Don’t be scared,” he said as his hands loosened on the wheel.
“What makes you think I’m scared?”
He shot her a quicksilver grin. “Because you’re about to claw your way through the seat.”
She pulled her hands from the sides of the seat and into her lap. “Shouldn’t you call for backup or something?”
“I’ve got it under control,” he replied.
She hoped he did. The only thing that made her relax slightly was the fact that Dale had been driving in the opposite direction.
When they pulled up in front of the Stemple house, there was no dark sedan parked in the driveway. “Come with me,” Caleb said as he cut the engine. “I don’t want you sitting in the car all alone.”
The two of them got out of the car and she was grateful when he threw an arm around her shoulders as if to shield her from any danger that might suddenly appear.
When they reached the door Caleb gave it a three-knuckle rapid series of taps. He waited only a moment and then knocked again.
“All right, all right, hold your horses,” a deep voice came from inside. The door opened and Dale’s father, Art Stemple, frowned as he saw the two of them on his porch. “Caleb, Ms. Perez, what can I do for you folks?”
Portia had seen Dale’s parents around town since Dale’s arrest, but Art Stemple looked as if he’d aged ten years since the last time she’d seen him. Deep lines cut through his face and he looked old and frail.
“Art, we need to talk to Dale,” Caleb said. “We know he’s in town and I know he’s been staying here.”
Caleb’s words were a lie. They didn’t know any such thing. Although Portia was certain that Dale was in town, for all they knew he could be staying at a friend’s place, living in his car or using an alias and staying in a nearby town.
Art’s cheeks reddened. “I already told you he wasn’t here and that we haven’t heard from him since he got out of prison. I don’t know why you keep bothering me about this.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if we came inside and took a look around,” Caleb said.
Art’s frown deepened as he drew himself up straighter. “I’ve never had problems with you or any of your brothers, Caleb. I’ve been a law-abiding citizen all my life, but if you want to come inside and look around then you’re going to have to bring me a search warrant and that’s all I’ve got to say on the matter.”
Before Caleb could speak again, Art closed the door and Portia heard the distinct click of a lock turning. Caleb once again threw his arm around her shoulders as they walked back to his car.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s staying here,” he said as they pulled out of the Stemple driveway and headed back to Caleb’s house.
“How can you be sure?”
He frowned. “I can’t be, but I swear when Art opened his door I smelled the faint odor of cigarette smoke. I know Art and his wife don’t smoke, but if I remember right, Dale did.”
“Like a chimney,” she agreed.
“Unfortunately, there’s no way I can get a search warrant without any evidence that he’s committed a crime. As far as the law is concerned he served his time and is a free man.”
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
“We go back to my place and I make some phone calls. I want to see if I can get Tom to agree to putting some men on surveillance at the Stemple place. Dale might not have been there now, but eventually he’ll come back and we can at least bring him in for questioning. We can’t lose sight of the fact that it’s still possible that somebody else is behind all this.”
“I don’t think so,” she replied. “He’s the only one who makes sense. H
e has a reason to hate me and I wasn’t having any problems before he got released from prison.”
“Trust me, Dale is at the top of my suspect list.”
She could tell that he was far away from her, deep in thoughts of how best to find resolution for her problems.
She’d been disappointed that he’d halted the conversation she’d wanted to have with him about their past. She suspected that with all that had happened since then he probably thought she’d forgotten about it, but she hadn’t. Sooner or later she was going to have that conversation with him and admit to him that she might have made a mistake.
I think Caleb has been angry since the two of you broke up. Benjamin’s words came back to her. If what he’d said was true, then Caleb’s anger implied a lack of closure and perhaps a depth of emotion where she was concerned that she hadn’t known he was capable of feeling.
She glanced at him now, noting the strong line of his jaw, the sensual lips that had always driven her half-insane. She’d compared every man she’d ever dated to Caleb and each and every one of them had come up short.
Within minutes they were back in the house. Caleb immediately excused himself and disappeared with his cell phone into his bedroom.
Portia went into the guest bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Even though she’d slept late, the events of the previous night, coupled with the trauma of seeing Dale again, shot a weighty weariness through her.
Maybe she’d feel better if she took a little nap. She stretched out on the bed and closed her eyes, but a million visions danced in her brain.
Memories of prom night and making love to Caleb whispered through her, bringing with them a heat of desire. She wanted him. She thought she might always want him, but he’d made it fairly clear that if they did make love again it would just be sex, not anything meaningful for him.
Could she live with that? One more time in Caleb’s arms, one more time feeling his body moving with hers, and not want more from him? She didn’t know.
She closed her eyes and a vision of Dale leaped into her brain. Tension coiled tight inside her as she thought of the man she believed wanted her dead.
Dale wasn’t a big man. Rather he had the wiry build of a street scrapper. Some women would find him attractive, with his black hair and piercing blue eyes. The few times she’d seen him, what she’d noticed was the sense of imminent explosion that clung to him, an aura that whispered of hidden danger.
She thought of the person who had attacked her in her bedroom. Had it been Dale? It was definitely possible. The person hadn’t been huge, although in the dark of night and with the weight of her fear, the person had been as big as a monster.
Where would this all end? Would Caleb and the rest of the team of deputies be able to keep her safe, to get Dale arrested and back in prison where he belonged?
And how long would she have to live her life in limbo? How long before she could get back to her own home, back to her work and the children that she loved?
As she thought of the kids a raw emotion crawled up the back of her throat and no matter how hard she swallowed against it she couldn’t dislodge it.
Tears stung her eyes as she thought of the babies who were such an integral part of her life. When was she going to see them all again? When would she be able to hug and kiss them, tell stories and watch their little faces light up with joy?
A sob welled up inside her, impossible to contain. She rolled over on her tummy and buried her head into her pillow as the tears began to flow in earnest.
Deep, wrenching sobs overwhelmed her. She cried because she missed her kids, because somebody hated her enough to kill her and finally her tears were for the love that had been lost so many years ago.
A soft knock on the door couldn’t stop her weeping. “Portia?” The door opened and she was aware of Caleb entering the room.
“Go away,” she said, the words choking out of her on a new sob.
“What’s wrong?” The bed depressed with his weight. “Why are you crying?”
“Because I feel like it,” she said, knowing she sounded childish but unable to help it.
He laid a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t. We’ll get this all sorted out. Please stop, you know I could never stand it when you cried.” His hand moved in a circular motion on her shoulder blade. “What brought all this on?”
“I miss my kids. I miss my life,” she said as the tears began to ebb.
“You’ll get it back,” he assured her as his hand moved lower, stroking from her shoulder blade to the center of her back. “You just have to be strong a little while longer.”
“I don’t feel very strong right now.” As she turned over he pulled his hand away. She sat up and shoved her hair away from her face. “I’m feeling very weak right now.”
For a moment his gaze locked with hers and a new tension twisted inside her. He opened his arms and pulled her against his chest. “Then I’ll be strong for you,” he murmured against her hair.
She melted against his strong chest, for the first time in days feeling one hundred percent safe. His hands smoothed up and down her back and she burrowed closer against him, wishing she could remain in his arms until Dale Stemple was behind bars.
She had no idea how long they remained like that, and nothing else would have happened if he hadn’t pressed his lips against her temple, if he hadn’t stroked his hand down to her hip.
A fire lit inside her, one that she knew only he could put out. She didn’t care about consequences or promises. She just wanted him right now in this very moment.
She leaned back from him just enough to capture his mouth with hers. He met the kiss with eager greed, their tongues meeting and swirling together as fire torched through her.
The kiss lingered until they were both breathless and when he finally pulled away from her, his eyes glowed with a heat that threatened to melt her into a puddle.
He didn’t say a word. He stood from the bed and held his hand out to her. She knew he intended to take her into his bedroom and make love to her. She saw his intention in the depths of his eyes, in the tension that held him rigidly in place.
She had only a moment in which she knew she could halt things before they flared out of control, a single second to decide if she wanted to listen to her head or her heart.
There was really no decision to be made, she thought. With a sweet anticipation winging through her, she stood and took his hand.
Chapter 10
Caleb’s heart thundered as he led her down the hallway to his bedroom. He knew what they were about to do was stupid, but he felt drunk and reckless with his need for her.
Somebody’s hand trembled but he wasn’t sure if it was hers or his own. He felt a tremor through his entire body, a tremor of anticipation.
They reached his bedroom, where the sun shimmered in through the window filtered by the thick leaves of a maple tree just outside. He dropped her hand when they were next to his bed.
For a long moment he just drank in her beauty. Dappled by shadow and sunlight, her eyes shone with desire and her breasts rose and fell with her quickened breaths.
He was afraid to speak, almost afraid to move, worried that the moment would be shattered and she’d change her mind and walk away.
He held his breath as she stepped closer to him and her fingers went to the buttons on his shirt. She caught her lower lip between her teeth as she began to unfasten the buttons, her gaze focused on the task rather than looking up at him.
Remaining perfectly still, he felt his arousal start in the crash of his heartbeat, the fever that seemed to sweep over him and the uncomfortable tightening of his khaki slacks.
As she reached the last of the buttons, she finally looked up at him as she pulled the shirt from his shoulders and allowed it to fall to the floor.
He couldn’t remain still another minute. He pulled her roughly against him and once again took her mouth with his. She tasted like half-remembered sin, like youth and desire. It was a taste he’d neve
r forgotten, would never forget.
As the kiss continued he began to unfasten the buttons that ran down the front of her blouse. He began slowly but by the time he reached the last button his fingers were clumsy with haste.
The blouse fell away, leaving her in her bra. With her gaze still locked with his, she unzipped her white shorts and slid them down the length of her legs.
Both her panties and her bra were plain, no lace or frills, just sturdy white cotton that Caleb found sexier than anything he’d ever seen in his life.
“You’re so beautiful. You take my breath away,” he whispered.
A blush swept into her cheeks and she shook her head as if to negate his words. That had always been part of Portia’s charm, that she didn’t recognize just how beautiful she was.
As she got into the bed he took off his shoes, socks and slacks and then joined her. He took her into his arms, relishing his bare skin against her, but impatient with the underwear that kept them from being completely naked with each other.
No old memories of prom night intruded into his mind. He was firmly in the here and now and making love to Portia the woman, not Portia the inexperienced teenager.
As he kissed her again he wound his arms around her and unfastened her bra, eager to feel the weight of her breasts in his palms, taste her nipples as they pebbled with pleasure in his mouth.
He pulled the bra from her and slid his lips down the length of her neck. Her hands wound in his hair, fastening there and pulling slightly in anticipation of his mouth sliding down her body.
She whispered his name as his hands cupped her breasts and his tongue flicked at one of the erect nipples. She moved beneath him, twining her slender legs with his as he continued to tease and kiss first one nipple and then the other.
Her hands untangled from his hair and smoothed down the length of his back, sparking electric sizzles with each touch.
He was ready to take her, swollen and half-mindless with the need to plunge into her, but in the part of his mind that still worked rationally he knew he’d be cheating her by moving too fast.
The Lawman’s Nanny Op Page 11