Deadly Melody

by Connie Mann

  Cat didn’t say anything, just met Sasha’s gaze. She watched her sister’s hands go to her stomach, as though shielding the baby from hearing what was being said. Then her eyes widened, and Cat knew she’d figured it out. “This man tried to kill you. You and Nick. When he blew up Nick’s house.”

  “I don’t know that for sure, but that’s my guess.”

  “Can’t Nick arrest him? Make him talk or whatever?”

  Cat sent her a rueful smile. If only it were that simple.

  Sasha grimaced. “I know. You’re right, but there has to be something we can do. We can’t just sit around and wait for the police to do something. We have to take action.”

  Cat stepped closer and gripped both of Sasha’s arms, held tight. “We are not doing anything, Sash. You have a baby to protect and a husband who loves you more than life. I’ll work on getting Blaze, OK? Let me do that much. I know these people, and I know what I’m doing. Trust me to do this.”

  “But I—”

  “Please. I need to do this.”

  They studied each other for a moment, and finally Sasha gave one quick nod. “Just don’t do anything stupid,” she warned.

  “Not part of the plan,” Cat quipped and climbed into her car.

  Now all she had to do was come up with an actual plan.

  Chapter 24

  Blaze’s neck and shoulders ached from straining to hear what was happening outside her prison.

  She had no doubt whatsoever that Cat and Sasha were trying to find her. Nick, too. The Martinelli girls were tough, though Sasha had gotten a little softer and had an annoying tendency to cry now that she was pregnant. Bryan had told her his mom was like that. Got all weepy with every pregnancy.

  Bryan’s name triggered thoughts of Teddy, and tears filled Blaze’s eyes. She swallowed hard and blinked them away. She still couldn’t believe he was gone. He’d been her best friend, the one person she didn’t have to pretend around. How could he be gone?

  Even though the facts pointed to suicide, Blaze didn’t believe that, not after the way he’d looked at her when they danced at Eve’s wedding. Which meant someone had killed him. A few days ago, she would have considered that completely insane. Except here she was. She looked around. Whoever hurt him were probably the same people who’d trapped her in here.

  Was this really all about drugs, and about him saying no? In Safe Harbor?

  Her throat clogged. Was he dead because he did what she told him to and tried to get away from them?

  She shook her head, disgusted with herself. Given where she’d come from, she knew it was definitely possible, but she’d been lulled into thinking she was safe from any scary stuff in a place as boring as Safe Harbor. She snorted. She knew better. But it had been so nice to pretend for a little while.

  She’d scraped her fingers bloody trying to escape, but the shutters over the opening wouldn’t budge.

  Footsteps sounded outside, and she scooted farther away from the door, pulling the hood down over her head. She was still hoping that if she never saw anyone’s face, it would help her chances of survival.

  She stiffened as the door opened, never sure who or what to expect. She heard humming, so it must be the housekeeper. She’d peeked once. Short and squat, with dark hair in a bun and dark eyes, she spoke broken English, but her voice was kind whenever she spoke to Blaze.

  “I brought you an early lunch, senorita. Burritos and some fruit. You eat, yes?”

  “Thank you. Your food is very good.”

  Beyond the slightly open door, Blaze heard voices from somewhere nearby. One was harsh, demanding. The other was obviously a lesser minion getting chewed out. She couldn’t make out the words, but she understood the tone. Then the second voice turned pleading, desperate, and the fear in it made the hair on Blaze’s arms stand straight up.

  There was a long pause.

  Then the sound of a gunshot.

  Blaze froze, hardly daring to breathe. The first voice called out sharply, and there was the sound of hurrying feet.

  Blaze could feel the housekeeper beside her, frozen in place. Then she muttered, “Madre de Dios,” and hurried from the room. The door closed, and the lock clicked into place. Blaze buried her head in her raised knees, heart pounding with fear and dread, and prayed as she hadn’t in a long time.

  Please don’t let me die. Please get me out of here.

  But no one came.

  Nick woke to a beam of sunlight coming through the gap in the curtains, spearing him in the eyes. He blinked and shifted to get his bearings in the small motel room. A quick glance at his cell phone, and he hopped out of bed, surprised to feel the stiffness in his muscles from where he’d tackled Cat. He stretched, and the scattered burns on his back protested.

  He had a sudden urge to see her, to make sure she was OK. He couldn’t explain his inconvenient attraction to her, couldn’t seem to talk his way out of it, either. Physically, she wasn’t his usual type, but that didn’t seem to matter. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her lean and lithe physique, and every time her hair skimmed past her jaw, he wanted to run his fingers through it, to see if it was as slippery and silky as it looked.

  Which was utter madness, since he was 99 percent sure she was involved in this whole mess right up to her pretty neck, or at least she knew exactly who was. Which made him crazy. Especially since, whenever he saw her, he fought the urge to cup her cheeks, to kiss her.

  Sighing, he scrubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw. How was he supposed to help if she was still keeping secrets?

  He stopped by the motel office, thanked the owner for the room, and asked for some basic toiletries. After a quick shave and shower, he grimaced as he pulled on his smoky clothes from the night before. He drove over to the Stuff Mart on the edge of town and stocked up on clothes and more toiletries, changed in the restroom, then drove to the Blue Dolphin for breakfast. He’d learned early in his tenure in town that eating there offered more than just company. It was the perfect place to keep his finger on the pulse of the town, to stay abreast of what was happening, and to find out how everyone felt about it.

  This morning was no exception. The moment he walked through the door, he was surrounded by townspeople asking about what happened last night, expressing concern, and telling him how glad they were that he hadn’t been hurt.

  Even LuAn, the owner’s generally unfriendly wife, walked over, coffeepot in hand, and asked how he was doing. “Your breakfast is on the house today, Nick. We’re real sorry that happened.”

  “Thank you, LuAn. I sure do appreciate it.”

  She filled his cup. “Do you know yet who blew up your house?” she asked.

  That answered his first question. “Not yet. Who says it was blown up?”

  She rolled her eyes. “This is Safe Harbor, Nick. Everyone is saying that, especially since it’s in the paper.” She walked to the counter, came back, and plopped a copy of the Safe Harbor Gazette on the table. A photo of his house in flames took up most of the front page. “Local cop barely escapes with his life,” the headline read.

  He sipped his coffee as he scanned the article. He wanted to be annoyed, but Avery Ames had stuck to the facts. Even though he’d have preferred most of those facts be kept out of the paper, at least for now.

  He studied the photo, not looking at the house itself but at the people in the background who were watching it burn. He examined every face, looking for anyone who didn’t belong or who seemed nervous, but it was hard to make out individual faces. He’d swing by the paper next, get copies of all the photos Avery had taken last night, see if anything—or anyone—jumped out at him.

  He pulled the photo closer. He noticed Captain Barry in the background, and again, the man’s presence nagged at him. He finished his breakfast, thanked LuAn, and headed outside.

  The need to see Cat dug deeper, but since Barry’s tire place was closer, he’d stop there first, then go by the paper.

  It made perfect sense. It was logical and practical, and it anno
yed him that he didn’t care about any of that right now. He wanted to see Cat. Make sure she was OK and, he admitted, make sure she didn’t hatch some crazy scheme and take off without him.

  He’d realized that, like Eve and Sasha, the Martinelli girls acted first and thought later when it came to one of their own. He knew Cat wouldn’t stop until she found Blaze, and he didn’t want something else happening to her, too.

  He spotted Avery Ames approaching the door of the Blue Dolphin and headed her way. “Good morning, Avery.”

  “Morning, Nick. Good to see you in one piece.”

  “Thank you.” The woman wore sensible pumps and a string of pearls like she was headed to church. “I’m going to need copies of all the photos you took last night.”

  She eyed him as if about to argue, then nodded. “Want me to email them to you?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’d sure appreciate that. If you could do that right away, that would be even better.”

  “Soon as I finish here, I’ll send them over.”

  He thanked her, mind already on the next thing. He pulled out his cell phone as he climbed into his SUV and did a search for Captain Barry’s address, to pinpoint how far he lived from Nick’s house. Then he headed for the tire store.

  Captain Barry wasn’t there, so Nick left his card and headed toward the marina, determined to catch up to Cat before she snuck around behind his back again. What in her past had made her distrust cops so much? And what was she so afraid of?

  He had barely left the outskirts of Safe Harbor when her beat-up car came into view. She sent him a jaunty wave and a smile as she sailed past.

  Oh no. She wasn’t getting away that easily. Nick hit his lights and siren and whipped his SUV around to follow her. There were no good places to pull off along the two-lane road without ending up in the ditch, so he followed her until she pulled into an abandoned gas station.

  He parked behind her and climbed out, curious to see how she’d play this.

  Just as he’d suspected, she tried for total nonchalance as she got out of her car. “Hi, Nick. How are the burns this morning? Did you get some sleep?”

  “Where are you going?” The words came out sharper than he’d intended, and he watched her automatically stiffen.

  “I was unaware I had to check in with you before I left the house.”

  He folded his arms and waited, but he should have remembered that didn’t work with her.

  She folded hers and stared back. Stalemate.

  Relaxing his stance, he ran a hand through his hair. “Look, Cat, I thought we were going to work together. We need to find Blaze.”

  “Definitely.”

  “I’m going to put out an Amber Alert this morning.”

  Cat froze. “No. Don’t do that.”

  He stopped in surprise. “Why not? They work.”

  “You can’t.” Cat met his eyes. “Mama said no.”

  “Why would she do that . . .” His voice trailed off as realization dawned. “Something in Blaze’s past she’s worried about?”

  Cat nodded. “That was the gist of it, but she wouldn’t say what it was about. Said it wasn’t her story to tell.”

  Nick didn’t like it, but he understood that Mama would protect her cubs with every ounce of her strength. He eyed Cat. “How does your past figure into it? Because it does, doesn’t it?”

  She went very still, and it was a while before she answered, voice quiet. “You need to stop asking me that question.”

  “Then give me a truthful answer.”

  “I can’t answer it, OK? You need to leave it alone.”

  “You know I can’t. Not when Blaze’s life could be in danger and you won’t help me find her.”

  Fire spit from her eyes as she moved closer. “You don’t think I’m trying to find her?”

  Nick looked past what she was saying and saw the terror she couldn’t completely hide. “Let me in, Cat. Let me help. It’s what I’m trained to do.”

  “You don’t know him, what he’s capable of.” She said the words as though she were talking to herself more than to him.

  “You mean Garcia? What has he done?”

  Cat spun toward her car. “I have to go.”

  He stopped her with a hand on her arm, his frustration like a living thing. How many more times was she going to stonewall him? “What are you planning, Cat?”

  She wouldn’t answer, just looked down at his hand on her arm. He released her, and his fingers found her cheeks, stroked the smooth skin there. “Don’t you get that I’m worried about you?” The words came out more growl than anything. He gentled his tone. “I care about you.”

  She stilled, a shocked expression on her face. “Don’t. Don’t care about me.” She tried to ease away, but he kept his eyes on hers, hands on her cheeks.

  “Too late.” Unsure how else to tell her, he pulled her in close and kissed her, gently at first, soft brushes of his lips over hers, to let her know what he couldn’t quite say. Even though she hid from him, emotionally and with the most basic of facts, his admiration for her strength grew with every passing day, his unasked-for desire to keep her close a fight he had finally stopped fighting. She’d gotten under his skin, this slight warrior with the huge heart and deep pain. And secrets. So many secrets.

  She hesitated only a moment before she relaxed against him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him closer. Her lips were soft and firm, and the feel of her in his arms, rubbing her lips against his, made him growl low in his throat. Something raw and primitive woke inside him, a fierce need to claim her as his and protect her forever.

  The attraction that had been simmering in the air between them suddenly burst into flame as he deepened the kiss. She opened her mouth for his tongue, and time and duty and everything else slipped away as they held tighter and the flames burned brighter. All he could think about was the way she made him feel. He ran one hand through her hair, the other stroking her back, all the while her strong fingers clutched him to her. Had any woman ever felt so right in his arms?

  Except she was the wrong woman.

  Reality doused him like a blast from last night’s fire hose. He couldn’t get involved. She was part of an ongoing investigation. Was probably withholding evidence, at the very least.

  His job, his whole life, was ruled by doing the right thing, upholding the law.

  If Cat didn’t outright break it, she skirted right around the murky edges.

  He slowly eased away and regretted it instantly. She blinked up at him, eyes wide and dazed, all her protective defenses down for that one instant. He saw his own attraction for her reflected back at him, the desire to get closer still.

  He felt a pang when the shutters dropped over her eyes again and she stepped away. One step, then two. Though the real distance between them was far greater.

  “I, ah, need to go.” She turned and fled, and this time, he let her. He couldn’t keep her, in any sense of the word. His heart couldn’t get involved, and as a cop, he didn’t have any evidence to hold her.

  But he felt an uncommon pang of loneliness when she disappeared.

  Which was ridiculous. He climbed into his SUV and slammed the door. He had to get a grip. Focus.

  He had to find Blaze. And find out who killed Teddy.

  Somehow, the two were connected. And right now, the only connection he could see was Cat.

  Cat gripped the steering wheel as she drove away, heart pounding. She glanced into the rearview mirror. Just knowing Nick was behind her made her feel safe and protected.

  And terrified. He could never know just how close she’d come to blurting out her whole life story. What was it about that man that made her want to tell him everything, things she’d never told another living soul?

  Somehow she knew he would listen. But she also knew he would never understand. Nick lived life by the book. He was honest and straightforward and saw the world in black and white. It was part of what made him a great cop.

  But her world wasn’t t
hat simple. Not when people’s lives were on the line. She often lived in the gray areas, where right and wrong weren’t quite so clearly defined.

  Not that he wouldn’t sympathize. He would. But he would never have made the decisions she had, then or now.

  If he ever found out that she planned to trade her life for Blaze’s, he’d try to stop her. He’d have no choice.

  She couldn’t risk that. Could never risk him trying to stop her.

  First, she had to make very sure that her uncle wasn’t lying to her about holding Blaze. In order to do that, she had to figure out where he was staying, see his face when she asked the questions.

  She pulled into a parking spot up the block from the Blue Dolphin and looked around as she walked down the sidewalk. She’d been hoping Phillip was hanging out nearby. That would make it easier. But she didn’t have the sense she was being watched, and that sense hadn’t been wrong in fourteen years.

  She walked into the diner and was surprised by the number of people who asked if she was OK and expressed concern about the explosion at Nick’s place. Several others asked what she had been doing there so late at night. She ignored the wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

  LuAn came over with a coffeepot in her hand. “You’re the Martinelli girl who was with Nick last night, aren’t you?”

  Nothing like getting right to the heart of things. Cat turned her cup over, and LuAn filled it with coffee. “That was me.”

  LuAn cocked an eyebrow. “Lots of speculation on what you two were doing together, especially since Nick wasn’t wearing a shirt.”

  Cat wanted to roll her eyes, but instead, she met the other woman’s gaze. “We were sitting outside on his patio having a conversation. Nothing more.”

  “That so?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, folks round here are concerned, is all. Nick’s a good guy, and finding out he’s really Rosa and Sal’s boy hit him hard. We don’t want no one showing up here and causing trouble for him, understand?”

  Cat understood exactly. She fervently wished she wouldn’t cause him trouble, but knew she already had. And if she were honest, she knew things would probably get worse before they got better.