Page 4 of Dark Memories
He put his hand on her lower back when they stopped at his assistant’s desk. Harry shot him a glare for touching her within minutes of promising not to. Zach Jamison was a man who broke the rules if it suited him, and she was already regretting agreeing to work the case. It hurt to be near him, hurt to catch his familiar scent, and to feel the heat of his palm seeping into her skin.
Yet, she couldn’t walk away. A little girl was in trouble, and Harry couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t do everything in her power to bring her safely home. It was ironic, really. His daughter had been the cause of their breakup, and now she had brought them back together.
“Jackie, cancel my appointments for the day. Delaney and I have some catching up to do.” He glanced at her with a smile and heat in his eyes, and Harry wanted to slap that look off his face.
“Yes, sir. It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Harrison,” she said, her eyes filled with curiosity.
“Likewise.” Harry headed to the elevator, away from Zach and his damn hand. She stabbed the button, willing the door to open. It did, and she stepped in, but unfortunately he was there before the door closed in his face.
“What the hell was that?” she hissed. “I said no touching.”
He held up his hands as if surrendering. “It was for show, Delaney. Nothing more. Remember the part about making it seem like we’re renewing a friendship?”
“Doesn’t mean you have to touch me.” She didn’t like the calculating gleam in his eyes. Zach had always been able to read her, and that wasn’t good. Not anymore. The last thing he needed to know was that she didn’t want his hands on her because she liked it too much.
“Tell me about Larson,” she said to get his mind off her.
“Retired army, now in his early sixties. He’s been the grandfather Kali’s never had. No kids, wife died fifteen years ago. That’s one reason I selected him. No ties, no one who could be used to turn him. Another reason was that he was Delta Force, and yes, he carries.”
They walked out of the elevator, and she didn’t miss that Zach almost put his hand on her back again before dropping it to his side. Her disappointment in that was downright irritating.
“This way,” he said, ushering her down a hallway. At the end was a metal door and beside it a small office. Zach stuck his head in. “Martin, fetch me the keys to the Land Rover, and then take the day off.”
Harry peeked around Zach to see a man sitting in a recliner, watching a news channel.
Martin clicked off the TV and stood, his expression puzzled as he glanced from Zach to her. “Yes, sir.”
Keys fetched, Zach led her to the metal door and out into a garage.
“You have a driver?”
“Yes. It’s amazing how much work I can get done in the thirty-minute drive to and from the office.”
“You always did like your toys,” she said at seeing not only a Land Rover but a town car and an expensive-looking sports car in an otherwise empty garage.
“True. They just cost a bit more now than my toys did when you knew me.”
She didn’t respond, didn’t want to be reminded that they had a history. As he drove to the hospital, she kept her gaze on the passing scenery, and as hard as she tried to keep her memories of him locked up tight, that particular box refused to stay closed.
They’d been neighbors in an apartment building that had known better days. He had seen her moving her stuff in from the little trailer she’d rented, and without asking if she needed or wanted help, he had worked alongside her until the trailer was empty. That had annoyed her at first because she didn’t like being obligated to people. But he’d been charming and funny, and before the day was over he’d had her laughing.
It had been a long time since she had laughed, and she’d asked if he wanted to stay and have a pizza with her. They’d ended up in his apartment because he had more furniture, and because he had beer, which he insisted was a must when eating pizza. From that night on and for the next three months they’d been inseparable.
She’d just started working for the Dark Falls Police Department as a patrol cop, and when she would drag her hurting feet and tired self home, he would be waiting with food and foot massages. Often there were body massages. And always he would make her laugh over the silliest things, even when she’d had a depressing day and the last thing she felt like doing was laughing. She had loved him for that.
She’d loved him for the way he could make her body come alive with his hands and mouth, loved him for the way he held her while she cried when she finally told him about Abbie. Once a month she went to Denver to put flowers on her sister’s grave, and as soon as Zach learned that, he insisted on coming with her. She loved him for that, too.
Abbie’s death had destroyed her family. Within a year after that horrible time, her parents had divorced and moved away, her stepfather to Venice Beach in California where he dated women half his age. Her mother had taken off for Florida with Harry’s younger brother.
Harry couldn’t bear to remain in Denver where it had all happened, but someone had to stay in Colorado for her sister, and it seemed she was elected by default. Maybe it wasn’t Abbie so much who needed those visits as it was Harry. Either way, she still went religiously.
“Do you still make your monthly trips to Denver?” he asked.
Get out of my mind, Zach.“What makes you ask that?”
He glanced over at her with a soft smile on his face. “You have that sad look, the one you used to get whenever you thought of her.”
He’d always been too attuned to her. Refusing to meet his gaze, she focused her eyes on his hands where they were wrapped around the steering wheel. They were nice hands, the fingers long and elegant. They were also magical, able to make her body sing. Shouldn’t that be something she would have forgotten after eight years?
