“Looks that way,” Kane agreed.
Kelly noted the slight hitch in her partner’s voice as he regarded his uncle, but she pretended she hadn’t. However, she couldn’t keep the smile from her face.
That was when Keith looked at her again. “And who is this lovely lady?” he asked his nephew.
Kane remembered hearing that in his day his uncle had been considered quite a ladies’ man. “This is my partner. Kelly Cavanaugh.”
Keith’s eyes narrowed just a little, as if he was studying her. “Any relation to Brian Cavanaugh?”
“Every relation,” she replied with a wide smile. “He’s one of my granduncles.” She placed her hand ever so lightly on top of his. “It is very nice to meet you, Mr. Leeds.”
“Given the alternative, yes,” Keith agreed, his voice fading a tad more. And then the man fell asleep before he could say another word.
“Looks like your uncle’s going to make it,” Kelly said.
About to go into the hallway to find a nurse to alert regarding his uncle’s change in status, he stopped and turned to face Kelly. “Go ahead, say it.”
“Say what?” she asked, not quite following him.
“‘I told you so.’”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she answered with a smile that was big enough to encompass both of them—with room to spare.
As she watched, she saw that Kane had become awash in emotion, unable to say anything at all for a moment.
At a loss as how to help him deal with what he was feeling right now, all Kelly could do was place a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Something seemed to break inside of him when he felt her hand resting lightly there. All the things he’d been holding back, trying to deal with or, more accurately, to submerge, just came pouring out, all but drowning him.
Before he knew what was going on, he’d taken hold of Kelly’s arm, spun her right into him and then framed her face as he kissed her.
The kiss should have been fleeting. Instead, it went on for more than just a second, surprising them both. The depth, the feel and the emotion it dragged up certainly surprised Kane.
He had no idea what he might have been expecting from the impulsive contact, but he got a whole lot more than he might have ever bargained for. Instead of a simple release at best, the sudden, deep contact between them turned out to be something a great deal more. Something that came with its own promise of what was to come.
Before he knew it, his arms had gone around her and he was holding Kelly against him, melding her body to his as if they were destined to be fused.
For the first time in his life he felt as though he had touched hope, real hope. And for one shimmering moment in time, he felt whole.
Common sense demanded that he pull away. His inner needs, however, once roused, clamored for more time. More contact, more emotion.
More kissing.
More.
He broke contact, breathless and still very hungry for more, afraid of this persona within him that he didn’t recognize or felt that he could completely control.
“Sorry,” he apologized to Kelly, “I have no excuse for my behavior except that it’s just been one hell of an emotional time.”
He couldn’t be sorry about this. She wouldn’t let him. An apology would blunt the magic of the moment.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. You just went on one hell of an emotional roller coaster. Went from thinking your uncle, your only family, was dead, to being told he might remain comatose for the rest of his life, to having him wake up, so to speak right before your eyes. You’re entitled to be a little wobbly emotionally as well as physically.”
Kane shook his head, marveling at the amount of words that could come pouring out of his partner. “You’re hanging out your shingle again.”
Okay, maybe she had gone a little overboard in her pep talk. But he mattered to her. And she was beginning to think it went far beyond just being his partner. Especially since she was still reeling internally from that lip-burning kiss he had planted on her.
“Sorry, guess you bring out the inner psychiatrist in me. I’ll try to keep it under control.” She glanced at the questionnaires on the side table. “Tell you what, after you go tell whoever needs to know about this new turn your uncle’s taken, why don’t we celebrate his return to consciousness by going over those questionnaires?” she suggested, knowing that Kane really needed a return to normalcy.
“Sure. Why not? Be right back,” he promised as he went to fetch a nurse.
* * *
After a nurse as well as the doctor who had been summoned had come and gone, leaving a very hopeful prognosis in their wake, and Keith had once again drifted off to sleep, Kane got back down to business. He took a handful of questionnaires to review, leaving the last sheets for Kelly.
It took very little time for them to make note of the fact that all the victims had attended the same high school and that they all, at one point or another, had been on the school yearbook staff.
“It’s our best lead so far,” Kelly observed, doing her best to stifle yet another yawn that rose to her lips. It was getting to be a real losing battle.
Kane looked at her with what appeared to be concern. Except that, to the best of her knowledge, Kane never expressed concern.
“How much sleep have you gotten in the last couple of days?” Kane asked.
“Enough” was Kelly’s automatic answer. She was actually fighting to keep her eyes open, but she wasn’t about to admit it. Her needing a crutch—in this case, sleep—conflicted with her own self-image. “I just had a crazy idea.”
“And this is different from all the other times, how?” Kane asked. Then, because she’s stopped talking and was just glaring at him, Kane prompted her, “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Go ahead.”
She debated for a moment longer, then decided this was for Aurora, to catch the thief and keep him from terrorizing another couple.
“You know how in all these movies they make about the nerdy kid in high school, he always finds a way to come back and get even with all the people who made his life so miserable during those teen years. It was always revenge they were after, giving those nasty people who made high school a living hell for them something to remember for the rest of their lives.”
She could name half a dozen movies like that just off the top of her head. But she had a feeling that Kane hadn’t a clue when it came to movies with that sort of scenario. The movies he watched probably had a lot of firepower in them and very little dialogue other than grunting and groaning.
“So, what exactly are you saying?” Kane asked, wanting her to pin it down for them.
“What if that’s what we have here? What if all our victims picked on or were nasty to some very intelligent—albeit nerdy—student in high school? Did something to him that made him just want to die of embarrassment. An embarrassment that might still haunt him to this day, figuratively speaking, right? I think the guy is getting even because he’s breaking into their homes and making them watch how he either steals or destroys their so-called treasures.”
“Okay, let’s say that you’re right. Why now? Why not last year? Or two years ago?” Kane asked her. Revenge was only half the story. What had been the trigger in this case?
“I’m working on that,” Kelly answered, chewing on her bottom lip as she continued thinking.
He watched her for a moment, recalling just how those lips had felt like against his own. Chemistry had happened today.
That and admittedly a connection like he’d never felt before.
He saw her struggling to keep her eyes opened again. Okay, enough was enough.
“Think on it in the morning,” he advised. “Right now, you’re going home, to bed.” It sounded more like an order than something being offered for consideration.
Kelly shook her head. “Too much work to do. Besides,” she pointed out needlessly. “I’m keeping you company while you keep vigil.”
“I’m going home, too,” he told her. “Now that he’s woken up and the doctors said that there’s every chance he’ll make a full recovery—especially if he starts his physical therapy regiment, which, thanks to you and the chief, looks like there’s nothing to stop my uncle from making progress and then a full recovery.
“That means that I can go home and take a shower, as well as put on some fresh clothes.”
“Okay, you talked me into it,” she said, getting to her feet. Her balance was off and she found that she was just a little wobbly—and a lot more wobbly than she was happy about.
Her misstep almost had her colliding with Kane as he rose to his feet, as well. “Sorry,” she murmured.
“That just proves my point,” Kane declared.
Kelly cocked her head. This was going to be good. “Which is?”
“That you’re too tired to drive yourself home safely.”
She fought to keep her lids from drooping. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not and after all this I don’t want to have to come back and keep vigil again, waiting for you to regain consciousness. Once is more than enough.”
“I absolve you of that,” she told him, stifling yet another yawn.
“That’s not in your power,” he informed her. “But it’s in my power to drive you home.”
He seemed to be forgetting about one thing. “What about my car?” she asked.
“It’ll be here in the morning.”
She knew that the city was relatively safe and the hospital parking lot even more so. Still, she didn’t like the idea of leaving her car somewhere overnight.
“But—”
“Don’t argue with me, Cavanaugh. I’m the lead detective, remember?”
“Not in all matters,” she reminded him. “Just with this case.”
“And while you’re working the case, you’re going to have to listen to me. I’m in charge of making the rules, Cavanaugh.”
Kelly sighed as she rolled her eyes. “I’m too tired to argue.”
If he had been a kid, he would have clapped his hands together. “I never thought I’d live to see the day you said that.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of miracles abounding today,” she quipped, glancing over at his uncle.
When she looked back at Kane, she saw that he was regarding her intently. She couldn’t begin to fathom what he was thinking.
“Yeah, there are,” Kane said half under his breath.
“Don’t get soft on me now, Durant. That alone would make me think that the Apocalypse is coming for us any day now.”
“Coming? Hell, I’m looking right at it,” Kane told her.
“Keep it down, you two. There’s a man trying to sleep here,” Keith pretended to grumble. The raspy voice was preceded by a racking cough.
“Sorry, Mr. Leeds, we’ll get out of your hair,” Kelly promised, pausing to bend down over the man and brush her lips against his cheek.
Kane heard his uncle sigh and saw him smile. Just before he drifted off again, Keith said, “Don’t mess up, kid. This one’s a keeper.”
Maybe you have something there, Keith, Kane thought as he ushered his partner out of the room.
“See you tomorrow,” Kane said, raising his voice for his uncle hopefully to hear.
But Keith had already fallen asleep again, drifting off with a satisfied smile on his lips.
Chapter 16
“I’m really okay to drive,” Kelly protested in the parking lot. “You don’t have to go out of your way like this.”
Kane unlocked the passenger side door and held it opened, looking at her expectantly. “Said the woman who hasn’t slept for more than a couple of hours because she insisted on keeping her partner company as he kept vigil in the hospital.” Kane all but ushered her into her seat, then pulled out the seat belt, turning the metal clasp over to her. “You didn’t listen to me when I told you to go home.”
With a sigh, she buckled herself in. “That’s different.”
“Why?” He rounded the hood and got in on the driver’s side. “Because you always get to have your way and I don’t?”
What did that even mean? Kelly frowned. “You’re confusing me.”
“Another sign that you’re punchy.” Kane started up his car. Glancing into the rearview mirror, he pulled out of the parking spot. “The Kelly Cavanaugh that I know never gets confused—or at least would never admit that she was.”
Kelly sighed and sank back into her seat as he drove on to the main thoroughfare. “Have it your way.”
“Well, considering that you’re in my car and it’s in motion, I’ll take a wild stab at it and say that I already am.”
Kelly looked at his chiseled profile. He’d come a long way in the past few weeks. She was definitely having an effect on him. It seemed only fair, considering that he was affecting her.
“You know, you’re doing an awful lot of talking for the strong, silent type.”
She was right, and he knew the reason for that. In his relief and enthusiasm over his uncle’s regaining consciousness, he’d slipped and kissed Kelly.
Big mistake.
That kiss that had been lingering on his mind ever since it happened. Kissing her had been a break in his self-restraint.
It had also, like it or not, opened up a whole new world for him. A world he had never even given any thought to.
It wasn’t a world he was comfortable in. Yet now that he had inadvertently entered it, he didn’t really want to shut the door again—although that would have been the smarter way to go if all he was actually interested in was self-preservation.
He was interested in something more than just that. And it worried him.
A lot.
* * *
The traffic for once was sparse and he brought Kelly home pretty quickly. Rather than just letting her get out at the curb and walk to her front door, Kane got out, too. All he intended to do was walk her to her door, wait for her to unlock it and then go home from there. End of story. Or so he kept telling himself.
“You do know I’m a cop, right?” Kelly asked him, amused by this show of chivalry. “I can find my way to the front door.”
Kane frowned. Maybe he should have his head examined after all for thinking what he was thinking, for being as damn attracted to this woman as he knew he was.
“My uncle would want me to do this.”
“Oh, your uncle.” There was just a touch of mockery in her voice, but on a whim, she played along. “Okay, so if it was up to you, you’d what? Find a way to catapult me out of your sedan?”
He tried to envision that. “Might be worth considering,” he countered. And then he broached what had been ricocheting around in his mind for hours now. “Look, about before.”
“You might want to narrow that down,” she suggested, pretending she didn’t know exactly what he was referring to.
Putting what amounted to an apology into words was more than a little difficult for him. “I’m aware that it shouldn’t have happened.”
Kelly raised her eyes to his for a long moment. “Maybe it should have,” she countered. Taking out her key, she held it in her hand for a second. “Do you want to come in?”
Yes, he did. Very, very much. Which was why he shouldn’t, Kane told himself. “It’s late.”
“I didn’t ask you for the time,” she pointed out. “I asked you if you wanted to come inside.”
“Yes, I would.”
The second the words were out of his mouth, he knew he was going to regret them. But it was too late to take them back.
The smi
le that appeared on her face came in slow stages, like the unveiling of a new painting or the sunrise. She put the key into the lock and opened the door. Her fingers flew over the keypad as she rearmed her security system.
Kane watched her, surprised that she went to such lengths considering what she had said about the city and its diminishing crime rate.
“I thought you said this was a safe neighborhood,” Kane challenged.
“It is.” She saw no contradiction in what she said and what she did. “The security system is my concession to Seamus.”
“Seamus,” Kane repeated, leaning against the stucco wall. “I don’t know who that is.”
“Neither did I eighteen months ago,” she admitted. She paused as she focused, wanting to get the lineage right. “Seamus was my grandfather’s older brother. He and Andrew—Seamus’s son—have this growing security systems business going. He was adamant about installing this system, not just in my house, but in my sisters’ houses, as well. Apparently his motto is Better Safe than Sorry. Not exactly original,” she admitted. “But his heart’s in the right place.”
From what he’d heard and gleaned, the family numbers had doubled with this last discovery. “Must get confusing,” he mused. “Having all those brand-new Cavanaughs to keep track of.”
Kelly suppressed a laugh. “Not so confusing. I’m getting the hang of it. To be honest, I have no idea what it feels like to have a small family. A crowd scene has always been the norm for me. Most of the time it’s a comfortable feeling. If you fall, there’s always someone to pick you up, dust you off, give you a pep talk and send you back in.” She smiled at him, thinking how lonely his situation had to have been while growing up. “You can borrow any one of them anytime that you’d like.”
Kane laughed. It was a crazy suggestion. “You mean like in a lending library?”
“In a way.” Kicking off her shoes right beside the door, she turned around to face him. “Can I offer you something?”
His eyes met hers, telling her things that he felt he wasn’t free to say out loud. Things he shouldn’t even be thinking about. She was his partner, for God’s sake. He needed to go before he did something he was going to wind up regretting.
How to Seduce a Cavanaugh Page 16
