Page 53 of Dark Memories
“So you think Davidson plans to go out in a blaze of glory?”
“That’s my gut feeling. But that’s all it is. We need to talk to your brother, see if he can shed any light on Davidson’s motives. First, my technician should be arriving. Let’s go see what that note says.”
The note only had one word on it, all the letters capitalized.
BOOM
Delaney handed Zach the note, now in a plastic baggie. He read it, handed it back, and then walked away. She gave it back to the tech. “There’s no indication on the security camera that the suspect put any explosive devices on the car, but check anyway. And be careful.”
Zach stood, staring at the traffic passing on the street, and she went to him. “He’s trying to rattle you.”
“I know.” He lifted his chin toward the street. “He could be out there right now, watching us.”
“He could be, but he’s probably had his fun for the day.” She put her hand on his arm. “Call your brother, see if he’s home so we can go talk to him.”
“At least Kali’s out of his reach, and that’s what matters.” He put his hand over hers and squeezed her fingers. “Thank you.”
“For?”
His gaze speared hers. “Staying by my side through this. I probably would have lost my cool and done something stupid without you keeping me grounded.” Then a wicked grin curved his lips. “I’m also thanking you in advance for what’s going to happen the next time you kiss me.”
After dropping that little bomb, he walked away. She let out a breath. The next time she kissed him? He’d had all weekend to kiss her and he hadn’t. She hated being confused.
“You coming?”
She glanced over at him to see that he’d paused and was looking back at her with an amused smile on his face. He well knew that he’d left her speechless, and she well knew that had been his intention. It had always been a challenge—and one she loved—to match wits with him. But this new kissing/not kissing game of his had her puzzled. And frustrated.
“Uh, yeah.” As soon as her brain was working again.
He held out his hand, and she told her feet to move. Being the good feet that they were, they listened. When she reached him, he linked their fingers. In her right mind she would have removed her hand from his. She was on duty, and holding hands with the man she was assigned to guard wasn’t professional. Unlike her obedient feet, her hand seemed to have a mind of its own and stayed connected to his. Stupid hand.
He walked her to a shiny black Mercedes SUV. “We’ll take this one since my car has fingerprint dust on it.”
“Whose is this one?”
“It’s a company car, so I guess you could say it’s mine, too. It’s the car Martin drives me back and forth to work in. With everything going on right now, I gave him the week off.” He shot her a grin. “It’s his baby, so I dare not put a dent in it, though, or he’ll have my hide.”
God, he was cute when he gave her that boyish grin. “I kind of like your hide the way it is, so drive carefully.” That got her one of his panty-melting smiles, and she accepted that she was a goner where this man was concerned. Not that she didn’t already know that, but she hadn’t really admitted it to herself before now.
He opened the passenger door for her, something she never would have allowed Gabe or any of the other detectives to do, and she slid into the car. God help her, she was reverting back to Delaney in his presence with the ease of oil sliding down a drain.
“When this is over, you and me—” He flicked his fingers between them and then went silent.
“You and me what?”
“Get it on?”
She spurted a laugh. “Excuse me?”
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist. We get serious about us.”
“Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know.” And wasn’t that indecisive?
For sure he was what she wanted, but their lifestyles had diverged to the point that she didn’t know if she could be happy in his world. Ball gowns and high heels were the devil’s torture devices, and small talk with the rich who had nothing better to do than golf and get massages made her shudder. Did he go to balls?
And her world? She thrived in it, but it was often a dark and dirty place where the worst of humanity dwelled. He was an important man in the world of big business, and she was just a cop. Shouldn’t he be with a woman who could chat about weather and make it interesting, who knew the right clothes to wear, and who looked beautiful and sophisticated on his arm? That she wanted to shoot that woman was beside the point.
“There’s smoke pouring out your ears, Delaney.” He reached over and stole her hand, bringing it across the console to put it on his leg. He kept his hand over hers, stopping her from snatching it away. “Let’s agree to shelve talk of the future and any doubts that we have until after you put handcuffs on Davidson.”
