by Vella Day
She accepted the fact she couldn’t stay at her house though. Trevor’s place was out of the question too, but she wasn’t convinced being here was any safer than at a hotel with Trevor.
And Dennis’ wife, Irene? Talk about a surprise. She never expected her to be deaf too. The problem was that the couple signed most of the time, a skill Lara never developed.
Irene had tucked the newborn in bed right after they ate, and the house was way too quiet. Lara sat alone in the living room and watched some TV drivel. A playpen took up one corner and a bin of toys another. She hadn’t realized how much she enjoyed discussing the different cases with Trevor.
When he’d dropped her off at the pretty white clapboard house, he told his ex-partner not to let her out of his sight. Given Dennis was a cop, how did he plan to keep an eye on her and go to work at the same time?
Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she looked up. It was Dennis. His mouth had deeper worry lines than earlier. He handed her a cup of rich brewed coffee.
“Thanks. What’s wrong?” She clicked the TV button to mute.
“Nothing.”
Liar. “Are you worried my maniac jewelry-giver will come after me here?”
“No.” His slightly widening eyes told her otherwise.
She patted the sofa seat next to her. He looked back over his shoulder before he took a seat. She wasn’t sure when he’d be alone, so she got to the point. “Why were you willing to take me in? It can’t be easy to have a guest when you have a new baby.”
“To be honest, I needed the money.” His gaze shot off to the side.
Trevor said the department wouldn’t pay Dennis. Had Trevor paid his ex-partner? From the condition of the used furniture in Trevor’s apartment and the age of his truck, he didn’t have the cash to pay for her safety either. She’d have to find a way to reimburse him.
She focused back on Dennis. “I can’t believe you’re willing to put your wife and newborn child at risk for a few extra dollars because some ex-partner asked you to keep me safe.” She’d say anything to convince him to let her go to a hotel.
“Ouch.” He smiled. “No harm will come to my family because you’re here. This house has enough alarms to wake the dead. Not to mention flashing lights everywhere so even Irene will wake up if anyone tries to break in.”
“That does make me feel better.” Her parents would never have installed such a system. It would have screamed, defective child on board. She took a sip of her coffee and prayed her presence wouldn’t cause this nice family any trouble. “You take in people-in-hiding often?”
“Actually, you’re only the second person we’ve had, and the first person was almost a year ago.”
Not what she expected. “Why agree to have me?”
“Trevor is not only a friend, but he saved my life. I owe him.”
She shifted sideways to face him. “What happened?” She was thrilled to learn some gossip about the close-mouthed man.
Irene appeared from the hallway and smiled. She went into the kitchen, came back out a moment later with her a cup of mint smelling tea and sat next to Dennis. Lara scooted over to give her more room.
“Trevor came to work at the department about a year and half ago.” Dennis spoke and signed to Irene at the same time. “The captain asked me to partner up with him since he was new on the force. I did, but it was Trevor who had my back when we answered a domestic violence call. I went into the house ahead of him only to learn the irate husband had a gun. When I tried to disarm him, the gun went off and I was hit. Trevor stormed in, tackled the guy, and managed to take the man’s weapon. He called 9-1-1. The rest is history as they say.”
Trevor the hero. What drove him to always protect people? Had he failed someone in the past? Or had his father raised all the sons to think of others first?
Irene stared down at her drink. Having a husband for cop must be hard.
“Are you okay now?” Lara said.
Dennis took a long drink from his cup. “Yes. The bullet grazed my arm, but the guy would have shot me a second time if Trevor hadn’t intervened. That’s one of the reasons we made Trevor our son’s godfather.”
Her heart softened. “That was very generous of you.”
“Trevor’s a stand up guy. He’s someone I trust.”
Trust to protect, yes, but trust with her secret? Not yet. “You said you were ex-partners. Why ex?” She placed her coffee cup on the table.
“I was promoted to homicide shortly after I finished breaking him in. He’d had a lot of experience in New York, which made my job easy. Now Trevor’s waiting his turn.” He stilled and looked toward the hallway. “Baby’s crying,” he said to his wife as he signed.
Irene stood. “Sleep well.” She smiled at Lara and disappeared as quietly as she came.
Though Irene could talk, her speech was difficult for Lara to understand.
Dennis eased off the sofa. “I should help Irene with the baby. The house is yours. Feel free to eat anything. Just don’t go outside.”
“You can count on it.”
After another boring hour of TV, Lara showered and then retreated into bed with a book she’d found on the nightstand. A few minutes later, she snapped close the cover. Her mind wasn’t on reading about some sexy pirate and his captive. The similarity stuck too close to home.
To her surprise, she slept soundly until the smell of bacon and eggs woke her. She quickly dressed and headed out to the kitchen. The scene at the table warmed her heart. Irene was breastfeeding the baby, and Dennis was chowing down a big meal. They offered her a plate, but she declined. All she wanted was caffeine and a sugar fix.
She was halfway through her coffee, when Trevor showed up, and her heart skipped a beat. “I thought Dennis was going to drive me to work.”
“Hello to you too.”
She hadn’t meant to sound rude, but his appearance surprised her. “Sorry. Hello.”
His bloodshot eyes meant he’d worked most of the night or hadn’t slept. Either way the urge to give him a hug was strong, but when he barely looked at her, she figured he wasn’t ready to share his ordeal.
Once she thanked Dennis and Irene, she left for the lab. Trevor insisted on walking in front of her in case of an attack. Fine by her. She could use all the protection he was willing to offer, but a little conversation would have been nice. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”
“Dennis had to run a few errands this morning and asked if I’d take you to work.”
Oh. He wasn’t here because he missed her.
They arrived at the lab’s entrance fifteen minutes later, and Trevor escorted her to the hallway leading to her lab.
“Since your mentor’s new wife is a cop, and she’s willing to stay by her husband’s side for the rest of her vacation, I feel good leaving her here.”
“You aren’t expecting Jenna to remain inside my lab, are you?” Lara would never ask her to do that.
He dragged a finger down her cheek and her insides softened. “I guess you’ll be safe with her down the hall.” His eyes came off as almost wistful.
His mood swings were driving her crazy. “Get some work done. And then rest.”
The smile on his face disappeared. “I’m going to ask Phil to keep an eye on Bernie.”
“Bernie wouldn’t be stupid enough to try anything here. There are cameras everywhere, but if Phil can keep him busy in the lab, I’ll be happy.”
He stepped closer and lowered his head. She had interpreted his silence on the drive over as disinterest, so why close the gap between them? Her muscles tensed in expectation of a goodbye kiss. She was tempted to run her fingertips down his muscular chest as she awaited his move, but someone might walk down the hall at any minute. Trevor stared into her eyes.
Aw hell, why not take what she wanted, what she’d been yearning to do, or did she just want to test his intentions? Stop analyzing. Lara palmed his pecs and kissed him quick. Her cheeks heated up hotter than a furnace. Aggression had never been o
ne of her traits, at least not when it came to men. She took that back. She had asked Trevor to make love to her, not the other way around. Maybe she was putting her past behind her.
“Go. I’ll be safe.”
Trevor shifted his weight and stepped back. “Don’t wander any further than Sam’s lab.”
A quick rush of don’t-tell-me-what-do-to sizzled through her, until she caught his wink, followed by a dimpled cheek.
“I won’t.”
She wanted to tell him about the adoption, and how her parents had kept her birth a secret, but to discuss the situation right now would make the hurt swell up again, and she wasn’t ready for the added pain.
Trevor spun on his heels and strode out like a man on a mission. Damn. Maybe she should have blurted out her news. Too late now. She punched in her code for her lab and donned her gear. If her parents were still alive, she would have confronted them, yelled, scratched, kicked at something, until all the fight had left and they’d cried and hugged.
“Your timing sucks,” she mumbled to the ceiling, her hands scrunched in a ball.
When her folks didn’t show any signs of answering, she went back to work, deciding what kind of additional tests she needed Trace to run. She prayed the soil in the casket might help identify the location of the murders.
Pouring her energy into her job helped lift her sagging spirits. A few hours into her research, her cell vibrated on her hip. Trevor. Her pulse sped up. “Hey.”
“Just checking to see you if you’re alright.”
Aw. Was he calling as Trevor the cop, or Trevor the man? “Why wouldn’t I be?” She glanced at her watch. It was only noon.
“Because there was someone sending you weird stuff and breaking into your house?”
“Funny. I’m fine. Nothing is going to happen here.” She needed him to find more information about his missing men, not spend time worrying about her. “Are you getting any work done?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. I learned something about Randall Johnson.”
The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. “Who’s he?” Lara centered the phone over her implant to make sure she caught every word.
“One of the missing Seminoles. The one with no family.”
Excitement pushed up to her heart. “Were you able to get a hold of his X-rays or any medical records?”
“No, but I have a picture of him instead. A good one. It’s big, eight by ten, with Randall leaning against a fence post next his friend. I’m thinking you could crop out the other guy’s face and see if your skull matched.”
“That’s wonderful. Is the photo of his face straight or is the head tilted?” The air vent tossed a stream of AC down her back, and she moved a few inches to the right.
“Dead straight, just the way you like it.”
“Fabulous. When can I see the photo?” And you?
Regardless of the picture’s quality, she’d scan in the photo and superimpose the image over her skull. If the eye sockets, nose and jaw lined up, she might believe she had a match to her John Doe #1.
Right. She’d have better luck buying a lotto ticket.
“I’m in the middle of doing interviews, but I can drop it off later this afternoon.”
She wished she could hear the tone of his voice. “That’s fine. Hey, Trevor?”
“Something wrong?”
Lara leaned against the counter, enjoying the fact that he cared. “No, no. Just, thank you.”
“Sure.”
After a long pause, she said goodbye and hung up. Renewed energy pumped into her after Trevor’s call, even though in her heart the picture probably wouldn’t pan out. The fact he’d called though had put a kick in her step.
She flicked a glance at the large calendar on the wall, the one with the big X on March 16th, the day Mr. Pomerantz expected the names of her skeleton. The timing of her parents’ death and the discovery she was adopted couldn’t have come at a worse time. As her parents preached, life wasn’t always fair. How true.
While she waited for Trevor, she decided to research the clay composition of Florida soil. The computer chair helped her aching back, but her mind whipped back to Santa Fe every few minutes. Who had been her real parents? If the Romano parents had told her about her background, she wouldn’t have loved them any less. Maybe even more for saving her.
Work.
Deciding to take one last look at the X-rays to see if she’d missed something, she was halfway across the room when the lab door opened, and she hoped it was Trevor.
Carla, the computer guru, tiptoed in. “Is this a bad time?”
“Not at all. I could use the break, and the company.” As much as Lara wished it had been him, she was happy to see her friend.
“I wanted to see how you were doing. I heard about your folks. I’m sorry.” Carla ran a caring hand down Lara’s arm.
“Thanks.” An idea came to her. “Have you finished with your case?”
The techie pulled the skin down under her lids, exposing blood shot eyes. “The double suicide?” Lara nodded. “Yup. Sent my report in ten minutes ago. I’m dreaming of sleeping in for the next week.”
“You deserve the rest. You have a minute?”
Carla brightened. “Sure. I can’t look at my computer screen any more. What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you could do me a favor—off the record.”
Carla studied her for a moment. “What kind of off-the-record stuff are we looking at?” Brightness lit her face, softening her already pretty features.
“I want to trace a name.”
“I can do that for you. Whose?”
“Mine.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Carla dragged two chairs over from the computer station, motioned her to take the second chair and sat in the first one. “Explain.”
She told her about needing to find her birth parents.
Carla whistled. “That must have come as a shock. Does anyone know?”
Her muscles nearly locked. “No, and I want to keep this confidential. I’m not ready to divulge my secret just yet.”
Carla held up a hand. “You’re the boss. Tell me what you have.”
15
Carla was just leaving Lara’s lab when Phil wheeled in with Dennis trailing behind. She waited a second, expecting Trevor to appear.
“Your chariot awaits you,” Dennis said with a smile.
She stilled. “Where’s Trevor? He said he needed to bring me a photo.”
“He was tied up.” Dennis’ gaze whipped around the room and whistled. “Nice digs.”
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah. He’s busy, that’s all.”
Trevor was brushing her off again—first with Ethan, and now Dennis. Fine. “Let me get ready.”
Trevor had seemed okay with the kiss at the door this morning. Had something happened to make him change his mind? Or was he trying to finish his work as she’d suggested and didn’t want her to have to wait for him?
She gathered her gear and followed Dennis out. Even though he was in uniform, she kept an eye out for anyone who didn’t look like he belonged. She trotted up behind him. “Can we stop by my house to pick up my car?”
He used the remote to open the cruiser’s car doors. “Why?”
“I left it out front. You never know about carjackers these days.”
“Sure. You’re welcome to put your car in my garage. I usually park on the street in case I’m called out in the middle of the night.”
“Super.”
When they arrived at her place, she forced the tension out of her neck and shoulders as she slipped out of the cruiser’s front seat.
Dennis leaned over to her side before she closed the door. “Why not use your garage?”
She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s full of junk. There’s no room for anything.” She never could have pulled this off if Trevor had been around. He’d want to know why she needed a car when either he or Dennis drove her everywhere.
She leaned back in. “Do you mind if I lead? That way no one can accidentally run into me from behind.” Ever since the accident, she’d been jittery.
“Sure.”
Lara hurried to her vehicle before he changed his mind.
Trevor had tossed and turned for the last two nights. This morning he’d risen at three a.m. to work, hoping to quell his racing mind. He’d spent the last two hours searching the databases for clues to his men’s disappearance, but his mind kept wandering to Lara. Was she safe? Who had written her the note, and how in the hell had the intruder been able to break into her house?
Trevor poured himself a second cup of coffee and placed his dishes from dinner in the sink. Ever since he’d dropped Lara off at the lab, his mind wouldn’t leave him at peace. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to spend some time with her in case she was nervous about sleeping in a strange house. After all, she’d just lost her folks.
Bullshit. He wanted to see her. If only she would understand that her deafness wasn’t something to hide and be ashamed of, she could be so much happier—or did she have other issues he wasn’t aware of?
Close to eight a.m., he called Ethan to let him know he’d be at Lara’s lab for the day instead of coming to the station. He had promised her the picture of Randall Johnson, and he didn’t want to disappoint her.
“Don’t you trust Dennis?” Ethan’s tone sounded friendly enough, but he didn’t miss the negative undertone. What was stuck up his butt today?
Trevor swallowed a retort. “Sure I do, but I can’t help not worrying. When we catch the bastard who’s been chopping up these people, I’ll relax and Lara can have her life back.”
Ethan emitted something that resembled a bark. “Do you have something you’d like to tell me? I never heard you were transferred to Homicide.”
Now his brother sounded like Lara. He took a less aggressive approach. “I’m convinced our two cases are related to Lara’s stalker.”
“Hey, I never claimed to know everything. Protect away, by all means, but don’t throw too much of your own money her way. It’s not your job to hire her protection. You said she’s loaded. Let her pay.”
