Page 5 of Dark Memories
“Yes, I still go.” She should have added no talking to her list of conditions. That way she wouldn’t have to hear his voice. Hearing it allowed another memory from her Zach Box to escape.
“I love you,” he’d whispered into her ear in his I’ve-just-had-the-most-amazing-sex-in-my-life raspy voice. They’d taken a cheap bottle of wine and a blanket out to the high school’s baseball field to do some midnight stargazing. That had occurred exactly one week before a knock on his door had resulted in shattering her heart into a thousand pieces so sharp that she still hadn’t stopped bleeding.
“Do you trust Larson?” she asked as he searched for an empty space in the hospital parking lot.
“You already asked me that question, Delaney.” He glanced at her with eyes that used to see down to her soul, maybe still did.
Bite me, she wanted to say, but she hadn’t lost that much control because of him. Yet. Her question had been a desperate one, one to get her mind back on track, back to where Zach Jamison didn’t mean beans to her. She almost laughed at herself for hoping it was simply a mind-over-matter thing that she could lock up her Zach Box again, banishing him to the farthest corner of her mind… or even farther than that.
As soon as he turned into a space and shut off the ignition, she was out of the car and fast-walking to the hospital’s entrance. He easily caught up to her and was close enough that she caught his scent. Something that made her think of woods and spice and musk. He smelled expensive. Damn him for smelling so good, even better than he had when they’d been together. He probably had whatever it was—cologne or aftershave—imported from France.
“In a hurry, Delaney?”
“What room is he in?” she asked, ignoring his question.
“This way.”
He led her to the elevator. Inside, he punched the button for the third floor. She stepped to the far corner, away from touching distance, scent-catching distance, and too far to feel his body heat. What she needed was one of those bubble things she could wear when she was with him.
“If you close your eyes, you won’t be able to see me either,” he said, reading her again.
She eyed him as he leaned against the wall, his hands in his suit pockets, and his gaze steadily on her. “Great advice,” she said, closing her eyes.
His chuckle washed over her, and she added earplugs to her list of things she needed. Was she being a bitch? She didn’t know, only knew that time hadn’t dimmed the effect he had on her. That wasn’t fair. By now Zach Jamison should be firmly in her past, unable to reach through the years and make her feel things she absolutely did not want to feel.
And what about him? Did he still feel the pull between them? Probably not, just another thing to piss her off. She knew he and Cinda had divorced five years ago. Zach had tried to contact her several times after that, but Harry hadn’t taken his calls. Unable to bear hearing his voice, she’d deleted the messages without listening to them. She’d finally blocked his number before her resolve faded and she accepted his calls. He’d written her a letter that she’d burned without reading, and that had been the last she’d heard from him. That had both relieved and disappointed her.
“Elevator’s stopped, Delaney.”
Stop saying my name.She blinked her eyes open. How had she not felt it stopping? That was what he did to her, made her lose herself and her surroundings. He raised a brow when she didn’t move. She ordered her feet to walk, and as she passed him, not breathing so she wouldn’t catch his scent, she gave herself a stern talking-to.
Stop letting him see he rattles you. Stop letting him rattle you, in fact. And throw away that damn key to the Zach Box.Somehow she had to lock down her memories and these lingering feelings she had for him. If she couldn’t do that, she needed to tell Eve that someone else should be assigned to the case.
Could she even bring herself to do that, though? A little girl’s life was at stake, and no one would be more determined to bring her safely home than she would. For that reason alone, she could keep Zach locked in his box.
“Larson’s in here,” Zach said, stopping in front of a closed door. He pushed it open, waiting for Delaney to enter. She walked past him without a glance. If he wasn’t so worried about his daughter, he’d be amused. It was obvious that she was fighting the attraction that was still there, even after eight years. That she wasn’t immune to him gave him hope.
As soon as he had Kali back home—and that was going to damn well happen—he’d plan his strategy for winning back the only woman he’d ever loved.
“How are you feeling, Larson?” he asked, coming to a stop at the foot of the bed.
“Like I got shot in the knee.” Kali’s bodyguard glanced from him to Delaney and back to him with eyes that were dull and dilated. “Truthfully they have me on some pretty good stuff, so I’m not feeling much pain. Please tell me you found Kali.”
“I wish I could. This is Detective Harrison. We need you to tell us everything that happened.” He realized he’d introduced Delaney as a detective and accepted that he did trust the man.
“God, I’m sorry, Zach. It was my job to protect her, and I failed.”
Delaney pulled a chair to the side of the bed and took out her notebook. “Mr…”
“Bradley,” Zach said.
She wrote the name down. “Considering that you were shot, Mr. Bradley, it seems to me that you did your best to protect her. I need you to tell me everything that happened. Don’t leave out anything, no matter how unimportant it might seem.”
He turned his head to face her, and tears rolled down his cheeks. “She’s just a little girl, and she’s going to be afraid. You have to find her, Detective.”
Delaney reached up and put her hand over his. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to bring her home. But I’ll need your help to make that happen, okay?”
“Whatever you need from me, you got.”
