Page 47 of Colton's Second Chance
“So where should we focus tonight? I can help you look at the big picture.”
Eli nodded. “Yeah. The big picture is likely where we’ll find his motive, for trying to blow me and Asher up if nothing else. From there, we follow the evidence.” He drilled his finger on the tabletop as he made his point. Scowling, he pulled out his cell phone. “Speaking of evidence, let me see what the forensic crew with the Shelby PD found in the rubble of Scott’s house and if anything there helps our case.”
While Eli talked to the Shelby PD, he watched Noelle doodle on a notepad, drawing boxes, connecting lines and sketching Venn diagrams. Her expression was one of intense concentration, a look he remembered well from college and studying together. His fingers itched to soothe the tiny line that creased her forehead between her eyebrows, and his lips tingled at the notion of kissing the taut line of her mouth.
He was so involved in her every move and subtle facial shift that he almost missed the Shelby police detective’s comment when he finally came on the line.
“We’re still combing through the debris and cataloging what’s found. The fire department wouldn’t let us get at it until they were sure there were no more explosive materials or smoldering embers that could reignite.”
Smoldering…Yeah, Eli could use that word to describe Noelle as she nibbled her bottom lip and angled her head so that her long hair brushed her cheek.
Eli pressed the pads of his fingers into his closed eyes, trying to redirect his thoughts. “All right. Just…please be sure your officers know that there could be critical evidence related to a serial murder case at the site. Call me immediately if anything related to the Fiancée Killer victims, the crime scene locations…or my family comes up.”
Noelle looked up, a degree of surprise lifting her eyebrows.
“Your family?” the police detective asked, echoing what was written on Noelle’s face.
“Long story. And that link is both unconfirmed and confidential. Do you understand, Detective?” Eli thanked the local detective and disconnected. “Nothing useful from Scott’s house yet. They’re still processing it.”
“You’re pretty sure this is about you or your family then? Is that the bigger picture we need to look at?” Noelle said, her pen tapping her notepad restlessly.
“Since a significant number of those lines—” he pointed to her sketches “—have me at the center, it’s something we need to explore.” Eli paused, then leaning toward Noelle, he shot her a quizzical look. “Right?”
She blinked. “You’re asking me?”
He spread his hands and stated in a serious tone, “I just want to be sure I’m not being…egocentric or biased in some way. Those connections…” he tapped her pad again where she’d graphically linked him to Scott and the murders “…can’t be coincidence, can they?”
“You don’t believe in coincidence. Or so you keep telling me.”
“But am I right?”
A tender expression lit Noelle’s face. “You are an intelligent man and an excellent lawman. I’ve always known you to havegood instincts. Trust them. If your gut’s telling you to pursue this path, there’s something there to be discovered. And for what it’s worth, that’s what my gut is telling me, too.”
He smiled his appreciation for her reassurances and leaned in to give her a kiss. “Then let’s get to work.”
Chapter 15
Five hours later, Eli threw his pen down on his coffee table with a frustrated huff. “This is getting us nowhere. Meanwhile, Montgomery is who knows where, doing who knows what. Maybe thewhyisn’t as important right now as just catching him and making sure he can’t kill anyone else.”
Sitting beside him on his living room couch, Noelle reached over to massage Eli’s shoulder. Tension radiated from him like heat waves off pavement in summer. They’d been looking for an incident or other link between Eli and Scott Montgomery that would explain why Scott was targeting women who looked like Eli’s murdered aunt, why he was copying the MO of Caroline’s murder. Did Scott have a grudge against Eli or the family as a whole? Had Eli somehow cost Scott a promotion? Embarrassed him personally or professionally? Had Scott used the Colton family’s adventure company and formed a grievance as a result?
But every avenue they pursued appeared to be a dead end, and their previous convictions about Montgomery’s motives and Eli’s links to the case wobbled.
Eli rolled his shoulders as she kneaded the muscles in his neck, and the groan that purred from his throat was far more sensual than frustrated. The sexy sound of the rumble from his chest instantly shifted Noelle’s thoughts away from crime fighting and to the attractive man sitting beside her.
Despite the serious nature of the work they were undertaking, Noelle had been battling distracting thoughts about Eli all evening. She’d keyed in on how intimate it was to be sitting closeto Eli on his couch, where days before they’d given in to the pulsing need that lay just beneath the surface for them both.
The fire in his fireplace and the scent of his aftershave filling her senses only added to the romantic ambience. More than once she’d had to remind herself that they had important work to do and to stop staring at the way his long fingers held his pen as he scribbled notes or the way the muscles in his square jaw bunched as he clenched his teeth in concentration. Her mind kept drifting to the evening they’d tangled limbs on this very couch and might have made love had his brother not stopped by.
Make love to him once and get it out of your system, she’d reasoned that evening. She’d held her feelings for Eli at bay for thirteen years. She’d gotten good at it. With all this practice, surely she could enjoy a night of physical enjoyment without losing her heart. Couldn’t she?
She glanced at his mantel clock. It was after midnight. Surely no one from his family would be dropping in to visit at this late hour. If things grew steamy between them now, nothing stood in the way of finishing what they started.
“Noelle? What do you think?”
Her pulse jumped, afraid of what he might have read in her moony-eyed gaze. What had he asked earlier? New angles? “Um, you’re right. Maybe we do need to step back and look at this differently.”
Noelle quashed the hum of desire that touching him had awakened. Dropping her hands to her lap, she pushed aside the distracting feel of Eli’s strong neck and broad shoulders, trying to refocus the random information they had about Scott Montgomery and the string of murders he’d apparently committed.Apparentlybeing the key word. They had to find proof.
