Page 65 of Silent Deception
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
On Tuesday evening, Ryan took Kristin to an early dinner along the Riverwalk in San Antonio, where the decor might have come straight out of an old Western movie. They laughed and talked and danced to the country band until they had to pick up Cody from Raejean’s.
But after he’d gone to bed, they curled up on her couch in front of the fireplace, slipping easily back into the old camaraderie they’d had in college.
Not until he’d regretfully glanced at his watch and stood up had he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her knees had melted and she hadn’t wanted to ever let go of him.
Common sense helped her step away, though an hour later, she still felt the warmth of his touch, and the wonderful feeling of his mouth on hers. Reminding her, all too clearly, of the love they’d shared years ago and what they’d lost.
RaeJean happily babysat Cody again on Saturday night. This time she planned to take Cody out to Nora’s ranch, where they would have a cookout and a moonlight trail ride.
Ryan took Kristin to a quiet little restaurant on the south side of San Antonio, where the jazz was smooth and the seafood superb.
Afterward, he took her home and they lingered on her porch, listening to oldies on the radio and the coyotes howling up in the hills.
Ryan glanced at his watch and unfolded himself from the pile of pillows on the porch swing. He held out a hand to help Kristin up. “Guess I’d better head back,” he said, his voice gravelly with the late hour and laced with regret. “I promised Trevor I’d help move cattle first thing in the morning.”
“It’s morning already. You aren’t going to get much sleep.” Darkened with five o’clock shadow and cast in deep relief by the moonlight, his lean, hard face was so compelling she couldn’t resist brushing her fingertips against his cheek. “You can use the daybed in the den.”
“I’m not sure that would be a good idea.” He caught her hand and held it, heat sparking in his eyes.
His deep voice seemed to caress her skin, making her shiver. He’d be gone in less than two months. She’d already accepted that he wouldn’t stay. But for now, she could build memories...memories that would have to last a lifetime, because no one would ever take his place in her heart.
A breeze rustled the branches of the big old live oak nearby and the shadows danced over them as he caught her by the waist and lowered his mouth to hers for a long, sweet kiss before leaving. She wanted it to last forever, knowing he’d soon be walking out of her life.
But dreams and wishes were just that—and she knew her hopes would never come true.
* * * *
SHE AWAKENED IN A TUMBLEof comforters, feeling groggy and disoriented, to a persistent ring of her cell phone on the bedside table.
Startled, she sat up and scooped her hair away from her face as she scrambled to reach the phone in time.
“This is Sheriff Wade Montgomery, calling you about that fender.”
Her initial panic at hearing the wordsherifffaded. “And?”
“Never would’ve expected the results back in a week, but I indicated that this was part of a murder investigation, and they got right on it. If you have a fax out there, I could send a copy of the report.”
Disappointed, she sagged against her pillows. “There’s one at the clinic, but not here.”
“If you’ve got a pencil handy, you can jot this down, and you can pick up a copy of the report here at the office anytime.” He cleared his throat. “Traces of something calledocean greenwere on that fender. The techs found it only in that one narrow gouge we saw. It wasnota previous layer of color on the entire fender.”
“What is that exactly?”
“They tell me it’s a metallic, deep blue-green, one that would sparkle quite a bit in the sun. Apparently, it wasn’t very popular, because the company stopped making it eight years ago.”
She sat up straighter. “So now we know the vehicle’s color, which has to be unique to certain models and years, right? You can locate the vehicle and its owner?”
The long pause on the other end of the line warned her even before Wade spoke. “This color was never a car manufacturer’s proprietary stock item.”
“And that means?”
“It isn’t exclusive to a make and model. It was made by a small company in Utah and sold across the country, Kristin. There’s no way to identify a make, model, and year through any registration database. I’m sorry, but unless someone has seen a vehicle like that and can give us a clue, we’ve hit a dead end.”
* * * *
