Читать книгу Christmas Cover-up - Cassie Miles - Страница 10

Chapter Three

Rue leaned back against the smooth leather seat in Cody’s Mercedes sedan. Compared to the way she bounced along in her cake van, this was like riding on a thick, luxurious, heavenly cloud. If that were true, then Cody must be an angel. Yeah, right.

She wasn’t that naive. Though she hadn’t figured out why Cody was being so attentive to her, there had to be an ulterior motive.

Her gaze slid to the left, and she studied him. His dark-gray suit jacket fitted perfectly. On the cuff of his white shirt, she saw a monogram. These were expensive clothes, tailor-made. Definitely not the flowing robes of an angel.

And he was devilishly handsome. Shadows outlined his cheekbones and chiseled jawline. A lock of black hair fell across his forehead.

He adjusted one of the dials on the dashboard. “Warm enough for you? Should I turn up the heat?”

“It’s fine.” She’d slipped on her black suede jacket over her shirt and slacks. “Nice wheels.”

“Six years old and still running like a charm. One of my brothers is a mechanic.”

“One of them?” And he’d already mentioned a sister. “How many kids in your family?”

“Five. Three boys and two girls. And I’ve already got six, no, seven nephews and nieces. I’m the oldest.”

“Figures. You act like a big brother.”

“How’s that?”

“Bossy.”

“My brothers and sisters would probably agree with you,” he said. “How many siblings do you have?”

She’d need a calculator to figure out the complexities of her many blended families. There were stepbrothers and stepsisters and other children—like Danny’s new stepchildren. Did they count as relations? “Genetically, I’m my mother’s only child.”

“Lucky.”

Though his grin probably wasn’t meant to be sexy, the curve of his mouth elevated her core temperature. God help her, she wanted to kiss him.

To keep herself from grabbing his shoulders and planting a big wet one on his sexy mouth, she laced her fingers in her lap. “Just in case Danny is right and there’s a professional hit man after me, how’s this Mercedes in a high-speed chase?”

“Might be fun to find out.”

“You probably won’t get a chance tonight.” She glanced over her shoulder through the back window. A police cruiser was following them to her duplex in the heart of Denver. “We’ve got a cop escort.”

“When are they bringing your van?”

“Tomorrow.” Not having transportation was inconvenient but manageable. “It’s only five blocks from my house to the shop. I can walk.”

“Not alone.” His clipped tone indicated his disapproval. “That’s a real bad idea.”

“Oh, please. I’m not really in danger.”

“You don’t want to believe anything bad is going to happen,” he said. “Always hoping for the best. The eternal optimist.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being positive. What’s the alternative?”

“Thinking clearly.” At a stoplight, he turned toward her. “Seriously, Rue. Look at the facts.”

“Fine,” she said. “Even if that alleged professional hit man intends to come after me, how would he know where to find me? How would he know who I am?”

“You were wearing an apron with Ruth Ann’s Cakes written across the front. Kind of a big clue.”

“True, but—”

“You chased after him,” he pointed out. “You fired a gun at his car.”

“Okay, he might be ticked off, but—”

“We’re talking about a stone-cold killer. Somebody who placed a direct shot in the victim’s heart. Somebody you don’t take risks with.”

Unfortunately, everything he said made sense. He concluded with, “Therefore, you shouldn’t be alone tonight.”

“Maybe not.” But she couldn’t bring herself to stay at Danny’s house where she’d be an unwanted intruder with his new family. And her mother lived forty minutes away from her shop—time that Rue didn’t want to spend commuting back and forth.

She directed him the last few blocks through the older part of Denver near St. Luke’s Hospital. In this up-and-coming neighborhood, several of the old mansions had been refurbished as offices, apartments or condos. There was a pride in ownership. Many houses were already decorated with Christmas lights. The four-story condo building on the corner had a neon sleigh and reindeer above the entrance. She pointed out her home, and he parked.

The streetlight reflected off her front window. Two crab apple trees marked the property line between her one-story, blond-brick duplex and the house next door.

As soon as she stepped onto the curb, the two uniformed officers from the cruiser that had followed them came toward her. Their hands rested on the holsters clipped to their belts. “We’ll accompany you.”

“Thank you,” she said. “But you don’t have to kick the door down or anything. I have a key.”

Surrounded by two of Denver’s finest and tall, broad-shouldered Cody Berringer, Rue should have felt safe. But she sensed danger. Could almost smell it. It was like something left too long on the burner.

The exterior of her house looked the same as when she’d left this morning at dawn to work on the cakes for Danny’s party. She’d cranked open the miniblinds on the front window so her houseplants would get some sun, and they were still open. No lights shone from the inside.

On the porch, she realized she wouldn’t need her key. The red-painted door was ajar. Her home had been broken into. Her premonition of danger became reality.

A jolt of fear hyped up her senses. Behind the trunk of the crab apple tree, she saw a hiding place for a man with a gun. The wind through the shrubs whispered a warning. The rush of traffic from Eighteenth Street sounded like an approaching army.

The two officers reacted immediately. One on each side, they rushed her to their patrol cruiser and shoved her into the backseat. Cody was beside her.

“What’s happening?” Her voice trembled.

“They’re making sure you’re safe,” Cody said as he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Calling for backup before they enter the house.”

She clung to the unraveling threads of her self-control. Already today, she’d fallen apart in this man’s arms. Not again. Damn it, not again. She wanted to touch him, but not like this. Not in fear. “This isn’t fair. Why is this happening to me?”

“You said it yourself, Rue. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Police sirens converged on her neighborhood. Her home! Two more patrol cars pulled up at the curb. The officers poured out, guns drawn. It was like watching an action-adventure movie from inside the screen.

She swallowed her fear. “I guess this settles it. I won’t be staying at my house tonight.”

“Where will you go?”

No idea. There were friends she could call. And people who worked at her shop. But the break-in meant somebody really was after her, and she didn’t want to put a friend in danger. “I could get a motel room.”

Very gently, he touched her chin and turned her face toward him. “Come home with me.”

Her first instinct was to throw herself into his arms and shower him with grateful kisses. But the sane part of her mind objected. She barely knew Cody. “I couldn’t.”

“I live in a high-rise with a twenty-four-hour-a-day doorman and surveillance cameras. And I have an extra bedroom. And it’s not far from here.”

She didn’t understand his motivations. He’d already gone well beyond polite support. He was acting as if he really cared about her. “Why are you being so nice?”

“Call it the Christmas spirit.”

“Thank you.” She might regret this later, but right now, staying with Cody sounded like the best alternative. “And when this is over, I’m going to bake you such a huge cake. Big enough for your whole family.”

“Not the low-fat recipe,” he said.

“Pure cream and butter and imported chocolate.”

On the street, a swarm of uniforms approached her front door. She saw an officer escort the people who lived in the other half of the duplex, a young African-American couple, to safety. She owed them a cake, too.

If she dumped enough sugar and flour on this situation, it would have to get better.

AS HE UNLOCKED the door to his seventeenth-floor condo, Cody wondered if he’d gone too far in offering to let her stay at his place. Asking her for a date had been an expedient means to an end—getting close to Danny. That should have been enough. Instead, he’d waited until she was done with her police interviews. Then he’d driven her home. Now she was here at his condo. Step by step, he was proceeding down a path that wasn’t part of his agenda.

The honest truth—something he tried to consider as little as possible—was that he liked being with her. She was quirky and made unexpected moves. Her lack of polish was refreshing.

She dropped her overnight bag and walked across the carpet into the sunken living room, then skipped up the stair to the wall of windows overlooking the lights of Denver and the mountains beyond.

“The penthouse,” she said. “Classy.”

In spite of everything that had happened to her in the past hours, she beamed a wide grin. Most women would be fearful and traumatized, but not Rue.

“You’re handling this well,” he said.

“No point in dwelling on something that can’t be fixed.”

“Your house was trashed. And you’re not scared?”

“When you grow up like I did, moving around and changing families, you learn how to keep your problems to yourself.”

She sure as hell didn’t look like a woman of mystery, but she was an enigma. He wanted to know her secrets and to find out what made her tick.

“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked. “Water? Herbal tea?”

“Vodka with a splash of juice. Any kind of juice.”

Again, unexpected.

She followed him into the kitchen where she gushed over his double-sided refrigerator, inspected the inside of the oven and told him exactly how his top-of-the-line appliances were capable of performing.

He prepared the same drink for himself and handed her a tumbler with vodka, ice and orange juice. He held up his glass in a toast. “Here’s to better luck.”

“Being in the right place at the right time.”

When he gazed into her greenish-blue eyes, he saw a glimmer of sensuality. She tossed her head, sending a ripple through her long chestnut hair. Those thick strands would slip through his fingers like the finest silk.

A warmth generated between them. Not cozy or comfortable, this was a purely sensual heat. Acting on this urge would be insanity. He wasn’t really dating Rue and wasn’t looking for a relationship. He didn’t want to lead her on.

Turning away from her, he set his drink on the polished granite countertop that separated his kitchen from the living room.

“I feel safe here,” she said.

“Good.”

“But I’m still angry.” Her tone sharpened, reminding him of her mother. “I want the guy who did this to suffer.”

“I don’t blame you.”

The damage at her house had been mostly malicious—obviously meant as a warning. The intruder had slashed the cushions on her flowered sofa, had pulled books off the shelves and had broken all kinds of glassware. Her closets and drawers had been emptied into a pile on the floor. Some of the fabrics were torn. She’d been lucky to find the long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of jeans that she’d changed into, along with a few other things.

“That creep touched my clothes,” she said. “Even this shirt I have on. I want to burn every stitch so I won’t be reminded. He stabbed my sofa. And you want to know the worst part? The very worst? He used my chef’s knives to do it.”

“Why is that so bad?”

“I use those knives for cooking. Baking cakes is my favorite thing, but I love all kinds of cooking, from vegetarian quiche to rack of lamb. I’ll never be able to touch those knives without thinking of him. Some faceless man in a hooded sweatshirt. A murderer.”

“He won’t get away with it. You saw how fast the cops responded. Every officer in Denver is after this guy.”

“Which doesn’t mean he’ll be caught.”

Cody knew from experience that was a true statement. His father’s killer had never been apprehended. In spite of the efforts of the police, their only viable suspect had an airtight alibi.

Her eyes blazed as she looked up at him. “I don’t ever want to go back to my house again. I just want to move.”

“I know people who specialize in cleaning up after crime scenes. I could contact them.”

“Great idea.” Her anger was replaced by another strong emotion as she took a step toward him. “Thank you, Cody. For everything.”

Now was the time for him to back away. But her gaze pulled him closer. She reached up and placed her hand on his shoulder and pulled him toward her for a kiss.

Unexpected. The soft pressure of her lips punched through his nervous system like a hard right jab to the chin. She knocked him out.

Her contented moan resonated inside him. The tips of her breasts grazed his chest as she arched toward him on tiptoe.

Then, she stepped back. When she raised her glass to sip her drink, the ice cubes rattled. Her hand shook, but her eyes were bold. Her cheeks were flushed with a rosy pink.

A tense silence swirled around them. If he didn’t figure out what to say, he’d be tempted to carry her off to his bed. “Are you hungry?”

“Starved.” In that single word was a burst of relief. She went into action, opening and closing kitchen cabinets. “I’ll whip something up. After all I’ve put you through today, you deserve dinner.”

He wanted more than food. The taste of her lingered and aroused him. But he didn’t want to mislead her. He liked her too much.

As she rummaged through his refrigerator, the phone rang and Cody picked up. It was Danny.

“I heard what happened at Rue’s house,” he said.

And he had probably also heard that she’d gone home with him. “Do you want to talk to her?”

“I called for you, Cody.”

He carried the phone into the other room. “Go on.”

“First off,” Danny said, “I want to thank you for taking care of Rue. She’s a great kid.”

Not exactly. Rue was a grown woman who didn’t need or want her former stepfather hovering over her. “Is there something else you wanted to tell me, Danny?”

“The chief of police has been keeping me informed on their investigation. There’s something you should know.”

“Yes, sir?”

“After Bob was shot, the killer dropped his weapon. He just left it there for us to find.”

Cody had no idea why Danny was telling him this. He wasn’t an investigator and he didn’t handle murder cases. He practiced corporate law. In his negotiations, the only blood that was spilled was symbolic.

Danny continued, “The forensic people have run ballistics tests on the gun.”

“Already?”

“Top-priority case.”

Of course, it would be. Danny Mason was the newly elected mayor of Denver. Cody waited for him to continue.

“The gun,” Danny said. “It was the same weapon used twenty years ago to murder your father.”