Investigating 101

by Debra Webb

  “That’s why the Colby Agency is working overtime to trace the account number you gave me. By morning we should have the location of the bank Delia’s using and, if we’re lucky, the locations where she picks up cash. She could be using an ATM anywhere. But there’s a possibility we can pinpoint how and where she’s accessing the money.”

  Serena couldn’t believe it. Finally, they were getting somewhere. “Tomorrow morning? We could have some information by then?”

  He nodded. “It may take longer, but that’s the goal.”

  A sigh of relief went out of her, making her legs want to give way beneath her for about the third time today. She dropped to the sofa and rested her head in her hands. Maybe this would all be over soon. Please, please, she prayed, let us find Molly alive and well. The baby could come anytime. They had to move quickly. No more delays. No more dead ends.

  Molly’s poor father. How could Arthur Miles or Delia Neely have hurt him?

  It was all too much.

  She’d held all those feelings deep inside her all day. But she couldn’t hold them in a second longer. A sigh-sob tore out of her throat in spite of her best efforts to do this quietly.

  “Hey.”

  She felt the sofa cushion shift and then the weight of Todd’s strong arms going around her. She wanted to lean against him and cry until she’d cried out. But she couldn’t. It would be a mistake. She’d already let him far too close. In a few days he would be gone and she’d be left behind with a broken heart.

  No, thanks.

  “We’ll figure this out,” he murmured in that velvety voice that was somehow rugged in spite of the soft way the sound moved past his lips.

  “I don’t want to talk right now,” she managed to say between wiping her eyes and nose. “I don’t even want to think.”

  He pressed his forehead to her temple. “Then we won’t do either.”

  She told herself not to look at him. Not to be drawn in by that alluring feel of his breath on her skin. But she just couldn’t help herself.

  Her face mere centimeters from his, she held completely still and basked in the sensations crackling between them.

  For the first time in her life she wanted to lose herself completely in her own selfish wants and needs. She didn’t want to worry about tomorrow or any repercussions. She just wanted to touch him, to be touched by him.

  He turned his head slightly…moved his lips a millimeter closer to hers. Heat roared through her. That tickling feeling deep in her belly made her yearn to close that marginal distance. But she didn’t…she wanted this to last, to drag out the pleasure for as long as possible.

  One tiny fraction at a time, his lips moved closer to hers until they just brushed. Her breath caught sharply and she couldn’t bear the exquisite torture any longer.

  Her lips parted slightly, issuing an invitation he accepted immediately. His mouth closed over hers and she lost herself in that same instant. The ebb and flow of heat and pleasurable tingles had her leaning closer, wanting her body aligned with his.

  She could feel him moving, struggling with his jacket. She pushed it off his shoulders, heard it hit the floor. He leaned her back onto the sofa, let his weight settle down on her, setting her body on fire.

  He pushed her skirt up, smoothed his hands over her thighs. She shivered. Moved her legs apart so that he could settle there. The feel of him nestled against her like that had her soaring toward climax. She made sounds of need, desperate moans and groans that seemed to urge him on.

  One of his hands went beneath the hem of her sweater, flattened on her rib cage in a manner that was at once protective and possessive.

  And then she did that thing she’d wanted to do for days. She plunged her fingers into his hair. Felt the silky strands between her fingers. She let her hands slip down to touch his face. The feel of that five-o’clock stubble on his jaw had her whimpering for something she couldn’t name. She wanted to touch all of him…feel all of him deep inside her.

  She wanted to be with him. Share all of herself, all that meant something to her, completely with him.

  Gasping for more air, Todd pulled back from her sweet lips. He had to catch his breath, had to slow this down. That she’d let him this close, opened herself to him, made him want to plunge ahead without thought. But he couldn’t do that.

  This wasn’t just sex. There was no denying that glaring fact.

  Her hips lifted and he felt sure his heart stopped with the rush of sensations that followed. The way she smelled…the way she tasted—he wanted to know all of her. To kiss her until she screamed his name and then he wanted to make love to her until she begged him to stop the delicious torture.

  But that wouldn’t be right.

  “We should talk about this,” he murmured between frantic gasps. Her mouth looked so full and lush. He desperately wanted to kiss her again…to lose himself completely.

  “You’re right,” she said raggedly.

  He pushed up to his knees and helped her to scoot up and move out from under him. He sat beside her and took a moment to catch his breath fully.

  “I want to make love to you, Serena.” He didn’t want any question about that issue. He turned to look at her, needed her to see his true feelings in his eyes. “But I don’t want this to be a mistake. If you don’t want this the way I do, we should…” He cleared his throat and struggled for the right words. “We should think twice.”

  Damn, he almost sounded gallant.

  But this wasn’t gallantry. This was fear. For the first time in his life, he was scared to death of making a mistake.

  He couldn’t—wouldn’t—risk hurting her.

  “You’re right.”

  He breathed a little easier then. He wanted her to understand.

  “We should…” She seemed to have the same trouble with what she wanted to say. “We should take it slow. Know a little more about each other first.”

  Now there was a stellar idea.

  Todd ran a hand through his hair, tried to get the memory of how her skin felt out of his mind. Her skirt was still hiked way up her thighs but he tried not to look.

  “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Todd.”

  The sound of his name on her lips was the first thing to penetrate the fog of lust around his brain. “You called me Todd.”

  She smiled shyly and his heart skipped a couple of beats. Then the rest of what she had said bored between his eyes.

  “What haven’t you been honest about?” Here it came. A bad, bad feeling swept over him. He’d known she was hiding something from him.

  She wet her lips and want twisted in his gut.

  “You know I was adopted when I was sixteen.”

  He nodded. “There were a lot of bad foster homes before that, right?” Her resigned expression was answer enough. His heart went out to her. Nobody should have to go through that.

  “I don’t really remember my biological parents,” she went on. “But I had this picture.” She got quiet for a moment. “It was in the box that was taken the other night. It was the only picture I had from back then.”

  He thought of his own happy childhood and he wished he could make the bad memories disappear for her.

  She looked away from him then as if she couldn’t bear to let him see what came next. “I wasn’t alone in the picture. I had a sister two years older than me.”

  Several ideas collided at once in his mind. A sister two years older. The image of dark hair and eyes formed in his head. Only neither asset belonged to the woman next to him. Yet he’d seen the image before—in a Colby Agency file.

  “Molly Landon, right?” he guessed, the realization rattling him.

  She nodded. “Molly didn’t want anyone to know. She wanted the world to believe her parents had died and that she’d always had this perfect family. The truth was too awful.”

  She didn’t have to explain. He knew something about that awful truth. Her father hadn’t even hung around long enough to have his name on the birth ce
rtificate—assuming her mother had even known who the father had been. As if that wasn’t bad enough, her mother had neglected Serena, physically abused her or allowed her boyfriends to. Either way, her baby girl had ended up being taken away from her for a time. When the time was up, Mommy was nowhere to be found. Chances were Molly hadn’t fared any better.

  “You should have told me this before.” He closed his eyes and considered the implications. The secret would only make her look guilty. The police would pound this information into the ground. They didn’t have anything else to go on. This news would give them something to grab on to.

  She smoothed the hair back from her face. “I couldn’t. I promised her.”

  Fury lashed through him before he could stop it. The intensity forced him to his feet. “Dammit, Serena. Don’t you realize that this information could impact how an investigation is carried out? With her adopted father’s murder, this secret could lead to others. Others that could tell us what really happened.”

  She blinked, looked as shocked as if he’d slapped her. “I don’t understand.”

  “Whoever took her could be someone from her past. Maybe her biological father or someone who knew him or her mother. The bottom line could be the money.”

  She shook her head. Pushed up to match his stance. “Wait. There hasn’t been a ransom demand. That can’t be right.”

  “Think about it, Serena. They could be waiting for the child to be born to up the stakes.”

  The horrified expression on her face told him she hadn’t considered that possibility.

  “I knew it. Dammit. What else have you been keeping from me?”

  Maybe he shouldn’t have pushed quite that far.

  The horror he’d seen in her eyes moments before evolved into outrage.

  “Nothing. That’s it.” The outrage abruptly drained from her face and pain took its place. “Oh, God.”

  “Look. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” Damn. He’d definitely gone too far.

  “That’s what this was all about.” She looked at the sofa as if she saw something repugnant. “You seduced me to get me to break my promise.” Her gaze lifted to his. “Get out.”

  “No.” He held up his hands to slow the momentum.

  “This has nothing to with that.”

  She folded her arms over her chest in that gesture he’d come to recognize. “I said get out or I’ll call the Colby Agency and demand a new investigator.”

  He couldn’t let that happen. “I’ll…be in my car.”

  He hesitated at the door, considered pleading his case from another angle.

  But one backward glance told him the effort would be wasted. Unfortunately he’d been here before, a couple of times lately. He was definitely off his game.

  “Good night.”

  He walked out and the lock tumblers rolled into place the instant the door closed.

  “Stellar job, Thompson.”

  Problem was, yeah, he’d been here before, but he’d never been here with her before.

  She made all the difference.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Todd’s eyes cracked open about the same time dawn crept over the streets. He sat up and stretched in an attempt to loosen his stiff muscles. His shoulders and legs ached from the odd position he’d slept in.

  His attention shifted to Serena’s town house and he caught a glimpse of her moving past the window of her living room. She was up early. Or maybe she’d had a night like him—sleep had come only an hour or so before he’d awakened.

  The way he’d lost control and let things get out of hand on her couch kept haunting him. That she’d assumed he’d only wanted to seduce information out of her had hit too close to home. It was true that when this thing started he’d been determined to do whatever was necessary to get what he needed. But luring her into having sex with him hadn’t been on the agenda, especially after he’d gotten to know her.

  She had definitely been hiding something, but he would have found a way to get the truth out of her without resorting to seduction.

  Wouldn’t he?

  A sick feeling turned over in his stomach. Could he really say that he wouldn’t have?

  He was one of the good guys, right?

  The memory of how disappointed the people he’d gotten close to had been when they discovered that he wasn’t who he’d claimed to be tightened like a band around his chest. No amount of apologizing had made up for the fact that he’d shined them on for nothing more than research.

  He’d told himself that he would do it all over again if necessary to make the point.

  Was that what he’d been doing here…making the point? Accomplishing the mission no matter the cost?

  The hurt he’d seen on Serena’s face flashed in his mind and he couldn’t bear to think about it anymore.

  He opened the car door and got out to stretch his legs. He paced the length of the car a couple of times to get his blood flowing. Wincing, he rolled one shoulder and then the other. Man, oh, man, sleeping behind the wheel was not nearly as comfortable as Serena’s couch.

  Too bad he’d screwed that up big-time.

  His cell phone broke into musical notes and he fished it from his jacket pocket. He’d taken it off vibrate when he’d been banished to the car to ensure he didn’t miss any calls.

  “Thompson.”

  “Braddock here. I’ve got some locations for you.”

  That was fast. He’d expected some feedback today, but not quite this early. Good deal.

  “In Chicago?”

  “Believe it or not, yeah.”

  “Give me a minute.” Todd leaned back into the Volvo and dug his city map out of the glove box. He grabbed a pen and used the roof of the car for a desktop. “Shoot.”

  Braddock ticked off the location of the main bank where the account was held then more than a dozen ATM locations from which it had been accessed.

  “The only pattern I can see,” Braddock noted, “are the five or six locations centered around a ten-block radius.” He gave Todd the cross streets.

  Todd studied the map. “Yeah, I see that. She could be holed up somewhere in that area.”

  “That’s my thinking. I’ll stay on Landon. Stop by the office and pick up a couple of photos, one of Molly Landon and one of Delia Neely. Cover that area as thoroughly and quickly as you can. See if anyone has seen either of them.”

  That was the direction he’d been considering as he studied the map. “What about Serena?” Todd didn’t feel comfortable leaving her on her own. Not considering Dr. Wright and Molly Landon’s adopted father, Howard Ledbetter, had both apparently been murdered.

  “Take her with you. Don’t let her out of your sight. Have her call in sick. As it stands right now, it appears Landon’s day is going to be filled with more press conferences and personal interviews.”

  “Will do.”

  Todd ended the call and tucked the phone back into his pocket. He turned to Serena’s home. Might as well see if he could get a foot back in the door. He had a feeling that wasn’t going to be easy.

  Nor was talking her into going along with the plan Braddock had outlined.

  What the heck. He’d always enjoyed a challenge.

  SERENA TOOK HER COFFEE back up to her room to finish getting ready for work. She peeked past the blinds covering the window near her bed. Todd Thompson stood next to his car, his cell phone tucked between his shoulder and his ear and a map spread out on the top of the vehicle.

  A frown nagged at her. What was he doing out there?

  Jerk.

  She let the blind snap back into place. She didn’t care what he did—she had no intention of interacting further with him. At least not on a personal level. She didn’t want to risk setting back the investigation by requesting a different man on her case, but she didn’t have to talk to him or…or anything.

  Determined to get on with her morning, she walked to the dresser across the room and efficiently twisted then pinned her hair into place. That he lik
ed it down flickered through her thoughts, but she banished the idea. What he liked was of no consequence to her.

  Humiliation burned her cheeks when she considered how close to climaxing she’d come last night from nothing more than his kisses and the feel of his body against hers.

  Pathetic.

  When this was over she had to do something about her social life. She was too young to be celibate. She needed to get out once in a while. Socialize with people her own age. She should have started doing that long ago. Part of what held her back, she supposed, was the fact that she’d been younger than most everyone else she worked with.

  Except Nolan.

  She cringed at the recall that she’d promised to go out with him on Friday.

  How would she ever bow out of that without hurting his feelings?

  Her mind replayed that kiss and she shuddered. Then, before she could stop her naughty side, she compared the kiss she’d shared with Nolan to the ones with Todd.

  No comparison.

  Heat shimmered through her.

  Damn him.

  He’d made her become infatuated with him and she hated it!

  She was supposed to be smarter than this. More logical.

  Apparently she wasn’t nearly as smart as she’d thought.

  She stepped over to the full-length mirror and considered the rather plain-looking woman staring back at her. How could she even think that a guy as handsome and sexy as Todd Thompson would really be interested in her? He’d known she was holding out on him and he’d used her vulnerability to get the information out of her.

  She was tall enough and reasonably thin. But there was nothing extraordinary or special about her at all.

  The black skirt she’d chosen for today was, again, one of her less conservative ones. This one was almost to her knees but had a sort of sexy split in the back. The charcoal pullover looked nice, not sexy in any way, but nice.

  Panty hose and shoes and she would be ready to go. She hesitated, considered her reflection again. Makeup had never been her thing…maybe a little lip gloss.

  Serena rolled her eyes and turned away from the mirror. The longer she looked, the faster her self-confidence dwindled.