She scowled with impatience. “I want to know tonight.”
He cupped her chin in his hand. “You don’t think it would be a little suspicious to have the lights blazing in the house of a dead woman?” he asked. “Or even worse, to have flashlights bobbing around, attracting the attention of the neighbors. Even our less than ambitious sheriff would have to come and check it out.”
He was right, of course. There would be no way to search the house without some sort of light. And that would certainly alert the neighbors. Curry was too small not to have someone call 911.
She heaved a resigned sigh. “I hate this.”
He stepped closer, the scent of his warm skin teasing at her nose.
“This?”
“The not knowing,” she clarified. “I can face anything as long as I understand what I’m dealing with, but this stumbling through the dark is . . . terrifying.”
“Put it out of your mind for tonight, Ellie,” he said, lowering his head to skim a soft kiss over her mouth. “After a large slice of my mother’s quiche, and a good night’s sleep, you’ll be back to your feisty self.”
She felt herself melting as his lips brushed her cheek. “Feisty?”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I was trying to be nice.”
“Hmm.”
“Forget everything but me,” he commanded in low tones. “Just for tonight.”
Just for tonight.
Giving in to temptation, Ellie laid her head against his chest.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The cold shower did nothing to ease Nate’s aching body. To be fair, he didn’t think anything was going to help.
Having Ellie in his home, watching her eat the food he’d prepared and sip his favorite wine . . . well, it was custom-designed to stir his deepest desires.
Unfortunately, his heart had stepped in to overrule his body.
Ellie was shaken by the sudden appearance of her father, and the thought that he might somehow be involved with the Hopewell Clinic. She needed a good night’s sleep before she had to face the man over breakfast.
Plus, he hoped to sneak out at the crack of dawn so he could search Barb Adams’s house. Something that would be impossible if Ellie was in his bed.
Gritting his teeth, he stripped down to his boxers and switched off the overhead light. But even as he headed toward his bed, the door to his room was pushed open and Ellie stepped inside.
The breath was jerked from his lungs as the muted light from the bathroom fell over her slender form covered by a thin robe.
“Ellie, what are you doing?” he rasped.
He could see her smile as she moved to stand directly in front of him.
“Exactly what you assume I’m doing,” she assured him.
He licked his dry lips, trying to remind himself of all the reasons he had urged her to get a good night’s sleep.
“It’s been a rough couple of days for both of us. You should rest.”
She reached for the waistband of his boxers. “Later.”
He grasped her hands. “You’re upset about your father—”
“No,” she sharply interrupted. “I don’t want to talk about my father. Not now.”
“Fair enough,” he conceded. “But I want to make sure you’re thinking clearly.”
She gave a tug on his boxers, sending them plummeting to his ankles.
“I thought the whole point was to be feeling.” She allowed her gaze to roam down his naked body. “Not thinking.”
Desire blasted through him, his groin tightening. “I’m all in favor of feeling, as long as you don’t regret this later.”
She chuckled with wicked amusement as she pulled open her satin robe and let it slither down her body.
Nate groaned, his heart slamming against his ribs. She was stunning. The plush softness of her breasts, which were crested with rosy nipples. The slender curve of her waist and the swell of her hips. She might be tiny, but her feminine impact hit him with the force of a freight train.
“I want this.” Placing her hands flat on his chest, she gave him a firm shove. Nate stumbled backward, hitting the edge of the bed and tumbling onto the mattress. “Do you?” she demanded.
Nate’s body was hard with desire. A familiar sensation. But the squishy emotions that twisted and turned in the center of his heart were something he never expected to feel.
He held her gaze, which glowed in the dim light. “It might sound corny, but I don’t have the words to express how much I want this.”
A hint of vulnerability flickered over her face before Ellie was leaning over him. With exquisite tenderness, she pressed her lips to one of his numerous scars.
“This is the only sane thing in my world right now,” she breathed against his heated skin.
Nate trembled, his hands lifting to grip her hips. This wild, reckless pleasure searing through him didn’t feel sane. It was like an addictive madness. But he wasn’t going to argue. If Ellie needed him to be her rock, that’s exactly what he would offer her.
“Just hold on, Ellie. I’ve got you.”
Her lips traced his collarbone as his hands slid up to cup her breasts.
“I’m pretty sure I don’t deserve you,” she muttered.
“Probably not,” he teased, his thumbs stroking the tips of her puckered nipples. “But now you’re stuck with me.”
No surprise that she stiffened at his words. She avoided any mention of their future together.
That was okay.
He’d waited his whole life to find this woman. And now that he had her in his arms, he was determined to never let her go. Eventually she’d accept that their destiny was to be together.
Finally, she released a small sigh and crawled onto the mattress to lie beside him.
“Let’s just make the most of this night.”
Nate turned to frame Ellie’s face in his hands. “I can do that,” he assured her.
He leaned forward, fusing their lips together. Pleasure exploded through him, igniting a hunger that might have been unnerving if he hadn’t already accepted that his need for this woman was as vast as it was eternal.
“Nate,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He stroked a trail of kisses down the curve of her neck, thrusting aside his thoughts of forever.
Ellie was right.
They should make the most of this night.
The way things were going, who knew what tomorrow might bring.
Gathering her tightly in his arms, Nate rolled her onto her back, molding their bodies together.
“Don’t forget to hold on tight,” he warned.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Nate was fairly certain that he deserved sainthood as he slid out of bed and silently crept from the bedroom. What other man would leave the arms of a warm, naked woman before the crack of dawn?
It was only the pressing need to get in and out of Barb’s house before Ellie woke that prompted him to hop in the shower, and pull on a pair of jeans and his favorite hoodie. It was still dark when he crept back through his bedroom and headed into the living room.
It was the scent of brewing coffee that alerted him to the fact that Ellie wasn’t peacefully tucked in bed where he’d left her. Then the overhead light was snapped on to reveal Ellie standing next to the front door, dressed in the same stretchy pants and sweatshirt from the night before and holding a ceramic mug.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said, sipping her coffee.
He tried to look innocent. “Think about what?”
“Trying to sneak out of here without me.”
“I’m not sneaking.”
She snorted. “Bull. Crap.”
“Is that a legal term?”
She wasn’t amused. In fact, her eyes narrowed as she glared at him.
“You’re going to Barb’s house.”
So much for his grand plan to sneak away and complete his search before Ellie was awake. Now he had to try and convince her that sh
e should allow him to go without her. Like that was ever going to happen.
“I just want to have a quick look around,” he said, knowing he was wasting his breath. “If I find something, I promise to bring it back here for you to look at.”
She set the mug of coffee on a nearby table so she could slam her hands on her hips, her jaw jutted to a stubborn angle.
“Either we both take the risk, or neither of us take the risk.”
“When did you get to be the boss?”
She flicked a brow upward, as if confused by the stupid question.
“I’ve always been the boss.”
He heaved a resigned sigh. “My brothers are never going to let me live this down,” he muttered, easily able to envision the Guthrie clan laughing with joy as he dutifully obeyed Ellie’s commands.
“Are you ready?” She broke into his rueful thoughts. “I’ll drive.”
He studied her in exasperation. “Now you’re pushing it.”
She didn’t look remotely apologetic as she moved to the couch to grab her purse.
“Your truck sounds like a battle tank and can be recognized by everyone in town.”
“Like yours is any less recognizable?” he countered. The sleek BMW stuck out like a sore thumb in Curry.
She crossed back to stand next to him. “I can park it in front of my office and we can walk to Barb’s. No one will notice it there.”
He glanced at his wristwatch. “At six thirty on a Saturday morning?”
She shrugged. “It wouldn’t be unusual.”
He muttered a curse. She had a point. No one would pay attention to her car parked in front of her office.
“Let’s go,” he rasped, conceding complete and utter defeat.
They drove to town in silence, and he waited for her to park and turn the lights on in her office before they were hurrying through the shadows to Barb’s house. Already the sun was creeping over the horizon, banishing the darkness and splashing a rosy glow over the neighborhood.
Taking the lead, Nate darted into the backyard, which was surrounded by a high fence. It would offer them a measure of privacy. Before he moved onto the porch, however, he turned to halt his companion near an overgrown lilac bush.
“Ellie.”
“What?”
“I want you to really think about what we’re going to do,” he said in somber tones. “If we get caught they could take your ability to practice law.”
She appeared undaunted by his warning. “You promised we wouldn’t get caught.”
He grimaced. His father had warned him that his boasting would come back to bite him in the ass.
“Nothing is one hundred percent.”
“I trust you.”
I trust you. The words whispered through him, tingling parts of him he didn’t know could be tingled.
He swallowed a groan. This woman was truly going to be the death of him.
Turning back to the house, he headed for the electric box on the outside of the attached garage. He pulled open the metal door to inspect the wiring. It was all basic, and clearly marked. Which made it simple to be confident that Barb didn’t have an alarm system installed. Still, he made a quick check around the house, peering through windows to look for any wireless alarms or cameras.
No surprise there was nothing. What thief would be interested in this place? From what he’d heard around town, Barb had hocked her valuables a long time ago.
Returning to the back door, he knelt down and pulled a leather case from his back pocket. In silence, he removed the slender tools and in less than a minute had them inside the house.
“Did you learn that at Quantico?” she whispered, pressing close to his back.
He glanced over his shoulder, taking note of her tense expression.
“I could tell you, but then . . .”
Her lips twitched at his teasing, a portion of her unease melting.
“Yeah, yeah. You’d have to kill me.”
He turned to lead her into the kitchen, not about to admit that he’d learned how to pick locks when he was sixteen and his best friend’s father kept a fridge in their basement, filled with beer. After catching them sneaking into his stash, his friend’s father had started to lock the basement door. Within a week they’d bought the necessary tools and trained themselves to open the door as soon as his back was turned.
His nose wrinkled at the stench of rotting food and mold that had intensified over the past couple of days. Obviously, no one had been in to clean since Barb’s death. No doubt the house would eventually be handed back to the bank to pay off Barb’s loan, but for now it was being left to stew in its own filth.
Nasty.
He moved quickly into the living room, relieved to discover the curtains had been left open to allow the rosy dawn to spill through the front window. It would make the search a lot easier than fumbling through the dark.
His satisfaction, however, was short-lived.
Moving to stand at his side, Ellie grasped his arm. “Nate.”
He grimaced at the sight of the cushions that’d been tossed onto the carpet and the coffee table that had been knocked over. Even the pictures had been jerked off the walls, as if someone had been looking for a hidden safe.
On instant alert, he pulled the gun he’d holstered beneath his hoodie, his gaze darting around for anyone lurking in the corners.
“Looks like someone had the same idea as we did,” he growled, frustration churning through him as his searching gaze caught sight of the stain on the carpet. He bent down to brush his fingers over the damp puddle. Next to it was an empty glass that had been turned over. Recently. Which meant that they’d been beat by just a few hours.
“Who?” Her voice was a whisper.
“Impossible to know,” he said, although they both knew who was the most likely suspect.
Colin Guthrie had arrived in town the previous day, asking questions about Barb. It seemed more than a little suspicious that her house would be searched just hours later.
Silently cursing himself for not having considered the possibility when Ellie had first revealed her father’s interest in his old secretary, Nate headed toward the hallway.
“Stay behind me,” he commanded, his stern tone warning he meant business.
She nodded, her face pale as they moved from room to room, searching for intruders. Once he was assured they were alone in the house, Nate returned to the spare bedroom, where he’d noticed a file cabinet. If Barb had anything of importance, that seemed a likely place to keep it.
As if reading his mind, Ellie headed straight across the room, pulling open the top drawer. Even at a distance, Nate could see that it was empty.
“We’re too late,” Ellie muttered, pulling open the other drawers to reveal they were as empty as the first. “If there was anything here, it’s gone now.”
Nate slid his weapon back into its holster. In his current mood, he was afraid he might start shooting something. Beginning with Colin Guthrie.
“Dammit,” he rasped. “I’m constantly one step behind.”
Ellie wrapped her arms around her waist, her expression troubled. Then, without warning, she abruptly darted out of the room and down the hallway.
“Follow me!”
Startled by her unexpected dash through the house, Nate jogged behind her.
“Where are you going?”
She continued through the kitchen to the narrow door beside the fridge. “When I helped Barb with her DUI, I asked to see the ticket she’d received from the highway patrol, along with the results from her Breathalyzer test.”
“I don’t think either of those things are going to help us.”
She shot him a glance over her shoulder as she pushed open the door. “She had them stashed in a cooler in the garage.”
Nate blinked. “A cooler?”
Ellie headed into the garage that was stuffed with as much crap as the house. There was a rusty car that was at least twenty years old. It was rare that Barb had a valid
license, but everyone knew she would occasionally get drunk and climb behind the wheel. Around the vehicle were piles of trash bags and broken furniture that she’d tossed in the corners.
Ellie skirted past the mess to the four coolers that were stacked on the far wall.
“She said she kept losing things in her filing cabinets.” Nate wasn’t a neat freak. He had a desk where he filed his important papers, but he didn’t have them color coded and divided into some complex system. But how the hell could you find anything in a place that looked like a garbage dump?
He gave a shake of his head, following Ellie. “And she wouldn’t lose them in a cooler?”
She grabbed the top cooler and pulled off the lid, revealing a stack of empty bottles.
“She kept her booze in here.”
“Ah.” Now it made perfect sense.
A drunk might not be able to find the toilet, but they would always have a primitive instinct that would lead them to their stash. Like bees to a hive.
He grabbed one of the coolers and popped off the lid. Inside were three full bottles of vodka. He grimaced. Poor Barb. It was a shame that she’d allowed her demons to destroy her life.
Tossing the cooler aside, he reached for the bottom one. Knocking off the lid, he peered inside, his heart leaping with hope at the sight of the brown grocery bag.
“I think I found something,” he said, pulling out the bag and glancing inside. Despite the gloom in the garage, he could make out loose papers, stacks of envelopes held together by a ribbon, and a large manila envelope. “Bingo,” he breathed.
Ellie leaned toward him. “What is it?”
On the point of pulling out the papers, Nate hesitated. They’d already pressed their luck far enough. He didn’t want to risk being caught trespassing by some nosy neighbor. Or worse, having someone else arrive to search the place.
“Let’s go back to your office and have a look,” he murmured.
She nodded, clearly as anxious as he was to get away from the house that felt like it was shrouded in tragedy.
Quickly restacking the coolers to hide any trace that they’d been there, Nate moved straight to the door that led to the backyard. From there, he rounded the side of the house and paused to make sure no one was around. Moments later they were walking down the sidewalk like they were taking a casual morning stroll, the grocery bag of documents tucked at his side.
You Will Suffer Page 21
