He laughed. The sound was so unexpected and appealing I found myself grinning back at him like a fool.
“What? I’m that far off?”
“No. You’re right on.” His laugh settled into the devastating grin I remembered with embarrassing clarity. “For someone who claims to have issues with humans, your anthropologic skills are pretty good.”
“So, you are Hawaiian?”
He nodded and stood, beginning his scan of the enclosure again. “Half. My father’s family is Scottish-American.”
The mix explained the exotic tilt of his intense green eyes. “How did your father end up in Hawaii?”
“He was in the Navy. Stationed at Barbers Point when he met my mom. We moved to Jacksonville when I was fourteen.”
“Out to Mayport?”
“Yep.” Kai bent down again to examine something, only to disregard it as unimportant. “What about you? Are you from here originally?”
“I grew up on the beach. So did my parents.”
“Do they still live out there?” He glanced at me but didn’t stop the search.
“No, they sold their house and took off in a Winnebago about a year ago.” I stroked Charm absentmindedly and thought about how excited they had been. “The great American adventure. We get postcards from all over now.”
“Nice.” His voice was soft, and there seemed at be an undercurrent of emotion in the word.
“Are your parents still here, or did they move back to Hawaii?”
“My mom did. My dad’s dead.” He paused to look at me. “He was murdered.”
“Oh God, I’m sorry.”
“They never found out who did it. The case is still open.” He shook his head and smiled, but it wasn’t his usual heart-stopping grin. This smile was stiff and tainted with bitterness. “And once again, I find myself telling you more than I intended to. You’d be a good cop. You have a way of making people open up.”
It didn’t sound like a compliment.
“I didn’t mean to pry.”
After a long pause, he blew out a slow breath and shook his head. “You weren’t.”
Flustered, I looked at Charm, who stretched out and rolled over to expose her white belly for me to scratch. I leaned over and ran my fingernails over the cat. As I touched her, her satisfaction and pleasure rippled through me. The emotions soothed, blanketing my anxiety with an odd sort of euphoria.
Along with the sensation came the thought that this was a quid pro quo situation. Kai had shared something personal; I should return the favor. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything. My favorite color is green didn’t seem to cut it.
Maybe a change of subject was in order. “I had a lemur on my head Sunday when Jake called me.”
Kai’s brows arched.
“He thought I was his mother,” I clarified.
“That happen a lot?”
“Yep. My days are filled with the unexpected. What about you? You’ve seen some weird stuff, I’m sure.”
“Aside from you taming a Doberman and a jaguar with nothing more than few words?” His grin was back, though not as wide.
“Not just words. I have a winning personality.”
Kai seemed to relax back into the rhythm of his search. The awkwardness of his confession passed. As he moved, I tried to think of an admiring comment. But all I could think of was that he had nice eyes and a hot bod. Not smooth. Not smooth at all.
Well, at least I had gotten him alone, aside from Charm. Now I was supposed to flirt. Get him hot and bothered so I could mold him like clay.
Yeah, right.
I looked up and watched Kai tapping on the faux rock face that made up the far wall. He nimbly climbed onto it and started looking through the thick banana leaves and palm fronds that served as the canopy of the mini forest.
Charm rolled onto her feet. Ears pricked—eyes wide.
“Hold on, Kai.”
He stopped. “What?”
“Charm is not cool with you climbing around up there.” I honed in on her mind. Her senses had focused to a fine point. Hunt.
The rustling noise Kai was making as he searched though the canopy had triggered her drive to stalk and kill.
“Don’t move. You sound like an animal rummaging through the forest.”
“Like food?” he asked softly.
“Yeah, like food.”
Easy, girl. I reminded Charm that Kai was a friend. But her predatory instinct had kicked in, and she wanted to track what she had heard.
“Kai, listen. Without turning your back, very slowly get down. Do not make any more noise.”
Keeping his eyes on the cat, he silently sat on the rock and moved back down to the ground.
Charm’s head was lowered, and she watched him with an intensity I knew he could feel. There really wasn’t anything like being stared down by a big cat. A cat with hunger in its eyes.
“Easy, girl. Kai’s a friend,” I murmured. I knew I couldn’t physically stop her if she decided to spring. But I could alter her attitude. I blanketed her mind with my own. Smothering her burning predatory need like I would a fire. I breathed slowly, pressing the calming hiss of nothing in to drive out her brain’s fixation. Slowly, she lost interest in Kai and looked back at me. Bottle?
Disaster averted. I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. Charm and her bottle obsession. Sorry, girl. No bottle. She sniffed at the pocket of my shorts, where I had stowed a few dog treats, and a thought occurred to me. Even though Kai was the cop, I was in control here. This was my turf. Why wasn’t I acting like it?
“All right. I think we need to reiterate that you are a friend. Come here, sit next to me, and give her a treat.”
“Okay.” Moving cautiously, Kai eased himself down onto the log next to me.
I reached into my pocket and handed him a dog biscuit. Gently, Charm. I wanted to make sure Kai didn’t lose any of his fingers.
Charm gingerly took the biscuit from Kai’s hand.
“Should I pet her?”
“Sure.”
He reached out and stroked Charm’s shining spotted fur. The jaguar, now totally reformed, butted her head against his chest to beg for another treat.
“She likes it when you scratch her head right here.” I placed my hand in between the cat’s ears. Kai followed my hand and raked his fingers back and forth.
Charm let out a contented growl and closed her eyes. I could feel pure bliss radiating from the big cat. It sent pleasant chills up my spine. My fingertips brushed against Kai’s and a surge of heat that had nothing to do with the cat rushed through me. I pulled away and glanced at Kai. He was so absorbed in petting Charm he hadn’t seemed to notice the contact. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed. Wasn’t I supposed to be flirting?
Kai looked up, his face alight with excitement. He looked like a kid who’d just walked into Disney World. “This is something I never expected to be doing.”
“Keep it up and I think you’ll have a new girlfriend. I’m pretty sure she’s in love.”
He looked down at the big cat, who had practically melted into his lap, and chuckled. The sound was a low, sensual rumble. I felt my mouth go dry.
Wait a second. Wasn’t I supposed to be the one who was working my wiles? Drawing him into my carefully spun web?
“Is it typical for a jaguar to go from hunt mode to this?” he asked.
Shrugging, I reached out and ruffed Charm’s coat. “She trusts me.”
Kai glanced up at me. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Grace.”
Oh, you have no idea.
Kai’s hand moved along the cat’s body until his fingers brushed over mine again. This time, when the flash of heat came, I didn’t pull back.
Now or never, Grace. Do s
omething. Slowly, deliberately, I moved to thread my fingers over his, sweeping over the back of his hand with featherlight strokes. Kai stilled. My pulse thrummed in my ears as I stared at our hands.
I felt his gaze on my face and wanted to look at him. But I couldn’t. He turned his hand over and I drew my fingers along his rough palm, tracing them along the inside of his wrist then back again.
Kai stopped my plundering fingers by clasping my hand. I looked up into his face. His eyes were riveted on mine. The heat in them would have made most women spontaneously combust.
“You’re not like most guys I know either.” My voice was so husky I almost didn’t recognize it.
“Really, why’s that?”
I tried to remember the speech I had come up with. Nope. Nothing. Now he was the one stroking his fingers along my arm. My thoughts became jumbled as his hand brushed up past my elbow.
“The Ice Queen.”
“What?” His grin flashed and I felt myself lean into him.
“I’m good at being cold. But not with you.” What was I saying? Was this flirting? I didn’t know anymore. All I could see was the heat in his eyes and the way he looked at my mouth.
“I’m not very objective with you either.” His voice was almost too low and rough to hear. Clearing his throat, he seemed to remember himself.
He stood abruptly and said, “I only have one other place to check.”
Charm grumbled at his sudden departure and shifted to lean against the log with her head in my lap. As she settled in for more petting, I struggled to get my heart rate under control. I could still feel where Kai had touched me.
Get a grip, Grace.
It wasn’t like we had kissed, or ripped off each other’s clothes or anything. I squeezed my eyes shut. Why had I thought about that? I would not think about ripping off Kai’s clothes!
I concentrated on counting the spots on Charm’s head, marking each one off with my finger. When I reached ninety-seven, I looked over at Kai. He was packing his case. His shoulders seemed tense. Damn. I’d blown my chance.
Wait, no, I hadn’t. We were still alone. There was still time.
I stood and stepped forward, until I was looking up into his face. “Kai, I was hoping to talk to you about LaBryce.”
I saw his back go rigid and winced inwardly. “I owe you an apology. I jumped to conclusions last night. Like I said, I’m not terribly objective when it comes to you.”
He didn’t look happy about it. So much for using my “influence” to my advantage. The fact that Kai was attracted to me only seemed to irritate him. “That wasn’t what I wanted to talk about.” It was time for Grace to act like Grace and cut the crap. No more buttering up. No more BS.
“You remember what I said yesterday in the elevator? That I know, for a fact, that LaBryce is innocent?”
He nodded but said nothing, waiting for me to continue.
“LaBryce was here. He came home after the party, got drunk, and slept it off on that couch.” I pointed through the glass.
Kai’s eyes didn’t follow my finger; they stayed fixed on me. “Are you telling me you know this because you were with him?”
“No. But I know someone who was.” She just couldn’t talk—not to Kai anyway. Charm was talking to me, however. Asking me about a bottle and wondering if there were more dog biscuits in my pocket. I ignored the persistent hum of the cat’s brain.
“I need to know who. Give me a name.”
“I can’t.”
“You are withholding information in a murder investigation.”
“No. I’m not. I’m giving you information. LaBryce is not the killer. He was here.” I spoke calmly, thankful that Charm was ignoring Kai’s irritation, preferring to sniff my pockets.
“You’re really not going to tell me anything else, are you?”
I shook my head. “I’m really not.”
“I could take you in. Arrest you for interfering with a police investigation.”
As soon as he said it, I knew he wouldn’t. Maybe my flirting had done some good after all. But something about the way he had listened when I described what LaBryce had done the night of the murder made me think Kai had heard the story before. From LaBryce.
“You know I’m telling the truth. Because it matches LaBryce’s story, doesn’t it?”
Kai didn’t answer immediately. When he finally spoke, it was almost to himself. “He told us that he slept on the couch, and not in his bed.”
Kai’s cell phone vibrated audibly in its holster. He flipped it open. “Duncan.” He paused to listen. “Okay. I’m almost finished here.”
He closed the phone. “I’ve got to head back to the lab. There’s a security camera at the entrance to Mark’s neighborhood. The guard booth is only manned until midnight, but the camera runs twenty-four-seven.”
This was a good thing. “I guess you’ll see that LaBryce left Mark’s and didn’t come back.”
“Maybe.”
I had to smile. Even if Kai was not yet convinced, that was okay. I reminded myself that it was his job to be skeptical. I assumed Kai was a show-me-the-proof kind of guy.
He would get it soon enough. I felt a strange little whoosh in my heart. What would happen if they identified the killer from the tapes? LaBryce would be cleared.
I’d be off the hook. I felt a surge of relief and then a stab of disappointment because at some point in the last few minutes I’d realized . . .
I might actually want to get caught.
CHAPTER 9
I left Charm with promises that I’d be back soon. Though I hoped it was under less stressful circumstances. I needed to run home and pick up Jax and Moss. The appointment I had made to have Jax evaluated at the Humane Society wasn’t until later, but after my lovely encounter with Mr. Cavanaugh that morning, I didn’t want to keep the dogs cooped up inside too long.
Moss howls for me after a while. Though I’ve told him time and again that I can’t hear him after I drive away, he refuses to believe it. I was sure there would already be one complaint waiting for Emma. No need to add another.
By the time I’d ushered the two canines into Bluebell and vaguely pointed us toward town on Beach Boulevard, I’d decided to track down Alex Burke. I needed to get some more vitamin powder. I also planned on giving him a nice dose of what for. I didn’t mind looking after Charm. But after the call this morning from Mark’s brother, I needed to remember that Jax required my attention, too. I had to make sure he would be safe to adopt out.
I could do both, of course, but it wasn’t my job.
Even though Kai seemed to think that Alex had blown off work because LaBryce was in jail, I didn’t think that was much of an excuse.
I called the only person I could think of who might know Burke—who wasn’t in jail. Dr. Hugh Murray, the zoo vet, was busy, or so I assumed when he didn’t answer his phone.
I sat at the light at University, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel. So, how could I find Burke’s number? I called Information, and lo and behold, there was a listing for A. Burke off Kings Road.
Who knew people still had listed phone numbers? I called; the phone rang and rang. No machine picked up. No answering service either. This had to be his home phone since it was listed with an address.
Kings Road wasn’t too far away if I hopped on 95. I had plenty of time before I had to get Jax to his evaluation.
Burke’s neighborhood had seen better days. Like, in the 1950s when the small concrete block homes were a perfect starter for John, the salesman, and his new wife, Betty. Back then, you would have seen Johnny Jr. playing catch on the neatly trimmed grass of the tidy front yard. Now the yards were cordoned off with chain link and guarded by pit bulls. Junk littered the front porches and was strewn over weedy lawns. The flotsam and jetsam of poverty.
&nb
sp; Burke’s house was no exception. Though the yard was devoid of broken toys and tattered couches, I was willing to bet the squat, square cube was not going to be featured in Southern Living anytime soon. I parked Bluebell on the street, and ignoring the dogs’ requests to come with me, I left them in the ’Burb and hopped to the ground.
The gate barring the way to the front walk was leaning awkwardly on its hinges, and though it was technically closed, there was no latch. I pushed it open and walked to the front door.
I knocked, and peeling paint flaked off the door and drifted to the ground. I tried to peek inside, but the jalousie windows didn’t appear to have been cleaned in the last thirty years.
I thought about going around the house, but that seemed to be overstepping a bit. Finally, I decided to try Hugh again.
Voice mail. Damn. I thought about running to the zoo and tracking him down, but rejected the idea as soon as it popped into my head. Even though I went to the zoo fairly often to enjoy the soothing white noise of the multitude of animal brains after a long day, I always avoided Hugh. I’d told myself his flirtations made me uncomfortable, and though that was somewhat true, I knew it was an excuse.
A reminder of my cowardice.
“Unacceptable, Grace.”
I needed to find Alex Burke, tell him Charm was out of his special vitamin mix, and find out if he could come back to work. If that meant I had to deal with Hugh’s charisma, so be it.
I climbed back into Bluebell, pulled out of the depressed little ’hood, and a short ten minutes later, I was parking at the zoo.
Moss being a better theft deterrent than any alarm, I decided to leave the engine running with the AC on while I ran my errand. Walking under the tiki hut–inspired thatched entryway, I nodded to the ticket taker, who recognized me, and headed toward the animal hospital.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Hugh’s voice stopped me in front of the Black Bear exhibit in the Wild Florida section of the zoo. Hugh trudged through a thicket of palmettos and hopped a short wooden fence with the ease of a panther. Wild Florida indeed.
“Hugh, do you have a minute?”
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