by Aimée Thurlo
She gazed down at Wolf, who lay on the floor watching her. “At least you didn’t lie to me.”
“I never lied to you, either,” Burke said, coming back into the room. “I just didn’t tell you everything.”
“Your intent was deception.” Her answer struck him with the force of a blow, and she felt some satisfaction when she saw him wince.
“Remember that, when I first met you, there really wasn’t much point in making what you were facing a lot worse with speculation—and that was all I had,” Burke said. “Even now I don’t know what’s going on—except that you’re in danger.”
“That doesn’t cut it for me. You still deliberately misrepresented yourself.” She really couldn’t stand the thought that she’d been so nutty about a man who saw her as nothing more than part of his job. It was too humbling, and humility wasn’t a virtue she wanted to acquire.
“I did what I had to do,” he said flatly.
“All right,” she replied, her voice cold and businesslike. “We’ll work together because we both have a common interest. You want to solve your case and then move on, and I want you to find answers so I can get back to my life.”
“In the meantime, we can also be friends,” he said.
His voice was a deep rumble that reached all the way to her bones. There was a raw maleness about Burke that would excite any woman on earth. Laura pushed the thought back. She’d never lower her guard around him again. She learned from her mistakes.
“Friendship isn’t something available upon request or on demand. It develops because of a deep-seated trust between people—and, under the circumstances, there’s no chance of that ever happening.” She paused as she looked around. “Of course Elena and I will be moving out of your house as soon as possible.”
“It would be a mistake for you two to leave. This is the safest place for you both to stay,” he said, his voice as level as his gaze. “With Wolf and me on the job no one will harm you.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t quite sure of you before, Burke, but I’m even less sure of you now.”
“You’re angry and I understand that, but listen to your instincts,” he said. “Deep down you know you can trust me to look out for you.”
She wanted to trust him, and that’s what scared her the most. “I’m sorry, Burke. I just don’t feel comfortable around you anymore.”
“What’s between us has nothing to do with comfort.”
Those eyes. They sparked with a fire that touched her soul. He stirred many emotions inside her, but he was right—there was nothing comforting about any of them.
“We’ll talk about this later,” Laura said, reminding herself sternly that his real interest was the case, not her. Because of that, her attraction to him was, at best, misguided. “The book you were looking at with the West Median publisher’s imprint is only one of many foreign copies I’ve received, and there are at least four others from West Medias, if I remember correctly. I just don’t keep track of them anymore. But as far as the case goes, if you think someone’s after one of my romance novels, you’re really heading down the wrong track.”
“Why?”
“People can buy those easily enough,” she answered with a shrug. “The only ones that might be of any great value are ones I’ve written that haven’t been published yet. But copies of those are already with my editor, so if one of my novels were to show up with someone else’s name on the cover, my publisher’s lawyers would be all over their case. And as far as first editions for collectors—mine aren’t worth much more than the cover price.”
She paused for a moment. “But there is something else we might consider. Do you think it’s possible that your pal Doug decided to try and pair up his bachelor friend with a romance novelist and concocted the whole thing? Does he have a quirky sense of humor?”
“He wouldn’t have made the situation sound so dire if it was all part of a joke. Doug is one of the most direct people I know. If he wanted to set me up, he’d be as subtle as a brick. There’s more to what’s going on, Laura. I feel it in my gut, and my instincts seldom prove to be wrong.”
“Okay, but let’s reason this out. If he thought I was in immediate danger, Doug would have probably contacted the police, or asked you straight out to do it for him. Since he didn’t, I think it’s safe to assume that he feared something might happen, but wasn’t sure it would. What he was actually doing by hiring Gray Wolf was taking precautions.”
There was admiration in Burke’s eyes as he considered her supposition. “That’s a logical argument.”
“Don’t sound so surprised. I write books, remember? I’m used to dealing with logical progressions.”
“But you don’t write mysteries or thrillers.”
“And romances don’t count?”
“I just don’t think logic and love have anything to do with each other,” he said.
“No, they don’t,” she conceded with a wry smile. “But events in a novel have to make sense. That requires logic.”
“Then you have my respect. It must take a ton of skill to write about an emotion that never makes the slightest bit of sense—and in most cases is just plain crazy—in a way where it actually seems like a rational move between two adults.”
Laura looked at him for a moment, understanding something for the first time. “You don’t believe in romantic love, do you?”
He hesitated before answering. “I’ve never been in love, not unless you include the crush I had on Mary Ann McAllister in the fourth grade. And I generally don’t believe in anything I can’t touch or feel.”
His answer saddened her, though it shouldn’t have. There was nothing between them—and this just proved it. “You’re missing out on a lot, Burke.”
“I don’t think so. There’s a world of comfort in things that can be touched, and felt,” he said, his voice low and seductive.
“Oh, please. I thought you were a few levels above the Neanderthal me want woman type.”
“No guy is above that.”
“Ugh. That’s discouraging news for a romance writer. Let’s get back to business.” She took a deep breath and looked away, trying to force herself not to respond to that devastating smile of his.
Hearing a vehicle pulling up, Wolf went to the window and, parting the curtains with his snout, looked outside.
Catching a glimpse of the senior center’s van, Laura stood up. “There’s Elena now. I better go talk to her. I don’t want her to learn what happened to the new furnace from one of the workmen.”
Burke and Wolf stayed with her as she headed across Burke’s front yard.
“Elena,” she called out. Laura hurried forward, stopping her before she could go inside.
The minute Elena turned to face her and Laura saw the pallor on her face, she knew something had happened to her godmother. “Are you all right?”
Elena nodded. “It’s that new driver, Michael Enesco. He’s so hard to take at times.”
“What happened?” Laura asked quickly.
“First of all, he drives like one of those big-city cabbies. He scares most of us half to death with his sharp turns and the way he comes right up behind other cars, then slams on the brakes!” She shook her head. “Mrs. Kline very nearly lost her dentures!” she added in a conspiratorial whisper.
Laura tried not to laugh. “I’m sure the ride home was frightening—”
“Oh, it was far more than just his driving. He said some things that were just not right.”
“Like what?” Laura pressed, worried.
“It was all so embarrassing…” Elena gazed around nervously.
Although Laura wanted to shake Elena and force her to get to the point, she knew that her godmother would have to tell her at her own pace. Glancing at Burke, she saw impatience mirrored on his face and, catching his eye, she shook her head, cautioning him not to try and rush her.
Mercifully, he understood and didn’t press. A man willing to wait… That was rare. Tantalizing images teased he
r, and soon her imagination began racing down a path she knew could lead only to trouble.
She shifted her gaze and her attention back to Elena.
“After he’d dropped everyone else off and we were alone in the van, he told me that if I didn’t stop meddling in his business, I’d be really sorry. The worst part is that he speaks very little English, so it’s hard to understand him. But the way he looked at me…” She shuddered. “I tell you, it gave me goose bumps. That man is just plumb crazy.”
“What was he talking about? Do you know?” Burke asked.
Elena nodded as they went inside Burke’s living room and sat down. “He obviously believes that I was the one who started that gossip about him, but I would never do something like that.”
“What gossip?” Burke pressed, sitting across from her in one of the easy chairs.
“People are saying that Mr. Enesco is having an affair with Nicole Maurer, the wife of the senior center’s director of operations.”
“I hadn’t heard about that,” Laura said. She glanced over at Burke, trying to figure out if he was thinking what she was—that Enesco might have had something to do with the break-in. But Burke’s expression was inscrutable. She would have had more luck trying to read the rock structures at Stonehenge.
“And for some reason, he blames me for all the talk going around,” Elena said, her expression bewildered. “But I’ve never discussed the subject with anyone.… Well, I did express my opinion to Mrs. Kline about it briefly one time. But she started the conversation. Honest.”
“Enesco might have overheard you,” Burke said, deciding right then to have Handler do a full background check on the man. “But try not to worry about it anymore. You’re home safely now, and I’ll have a talk with the driver just to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“We’ll go talk to the driver,” Laura corrected.
“It’ll be easier if I go alone,” Burke said flatly. “I can convince him to show some respect to a lady in a way that every man understands.”
“Like volunteering to grind his face into the pavement?” Laura asked, and saw the amusement that suddenly sprang up in Burke’s eyes.
Elena laughed. “All right, you two.” She stood up. “I’m going to take a shower, then I’ll walk over to our home and see if there’s anything I can do. The housekeeping service should arrive shortly,” she said, looking at her watch.
As Elena ambled off down the hall, Laura glanced over at Burke. “I’m glad we made her laugh. She was so pale when she came home, I was—”
Suddenly there was a dull thud and a groan from the far end of the house. Instantly, Laura was on her feet, racing down the hall. Burke was right behind her. They found Elena on her knees, leaning against the wall, her breathing unsteady.
“Did you fall?” Laura asked quickly.
“No. My legs just…gave way.” Her face, pale before, was now flushed.
“Burke, call an ambulance,” Laura stated.
“No, absolutely not,” Elena said firmly, trying to stand up, but wavering. “Call Dr. Anderson. He’ll come over.”
Laura looked at Burke. “Do it, please. He’s in the book.”
THE TIME BETWEEN Burke’s phone call and the doctor’s arrival was only thirty minutes, but it was the longest half hour of Laura’s life. Now, as they waited for him to examine Elena, she paced the hall.
Seeing how worried she was, Burke instinctively tried to take her hand, but she moved away. “You don’t have to face fear alone, Laura,” he said quietly. “Whether you accept it or not, I am your friend.”
“I’m not afraid,” she mumbled, then was horrified when a tear spilled down her cheek. “Okay, I’m terrified,” she admitted, wiping her face with her hand.
“You know she’ll be all right,” he said in a quiet voice.
“I don’t know anything—not until the doctor finishes examining her!” she said, struggling to keep her voice low for Elena’s benefit.
He brushed his knuckles over her wet cheeks. “My people believe that the spoken word has power. She will be all right,” he repeated.
“Yes,” Laura answered, understanding. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.” As she looked into his eyes, she felt a tug on her heart. She moved away quickly. Burke wasn’t a friend. Nothing between them would last beyond the end of the case. To lean on his strength, to depend on him now would be too easy—and too heartbreaking, knowing what she did. There was nothing real between them. He was only a stranger who would soon disappear from her life.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Anderson finally came out of Elena’s room.
“Is she all right?” Laura asked him quickly.
“She’ll be fine, but she needs to take better care of herself. It seems that with all the upheaval in her life these past few days, she hasn’t been taking her medication as often as she should. You’ll have to make sure that she does, and that she takes it easy this coming week. I’ve given her a sedative, so she’ll sleep for several hours. Rest is the best medicine for her now.”
After the doctor left, Laura sat down heavily on the leather couch in the den. “It looks like we won’t be moving out right away,” she said as Burke came into the room.
“I’m sorry that Doña Elena is sick, but I’m not sorry that you’re staying.”
Wolf came over and put his massive head on Laura’s lap, gazing up at her with his big amber eyes. She scratched his ears and smiled. “He’s a smart animal. He seems to know when a person needs a pal.”
“He’s lucky, too. People never expect him to be anything except what he is.”
Laura looked at Burke, understanding what he was telling her. “I accept what you are—a P.I. working a case. That’s your priority, and rightly so. Let’s not try to save a relationship that never existed.”
“You don’t really believe that.”
Laura shook her head, then glanced over at her house through the living room window. “The housekeeping crew is finally here, and so is the furnace guy,” she said, changing the subject. “He’s got some tubing or flexible pipe with him. I better get over there.”
“Good idea,” Burke said. “By the way, I’d like to borrow those books that came from West Medias.”
“Why? You can’t read Rumanian.”
“The agency can find someone who does. We’ll also check out the publisher there, just in case.”
“Take them then. I think there are five in total. Three arrived together about a month ago.”
“I’ll need the English originals, too.”
“All right. Just take the New Zealand or Australian versions with the same titles. You can check inside, on the copyright page, where they usually put the original titles in English, and match them up that way.” She paused, then added, “Someday you might want to broaden your horizons and read a romance novel yourself. It wouldn’t even have to be one of mine.”
“I’d like to read one of yours. But not yet,” he answered.
“Why? Are you afraid you’ll like it?”
He smiled, then shook his head. “I’m not ready to peer down the roads you take when you work.”
“Why not? I’m seeing yours.”
“You travel with your heart and I may see more—or less—than you intended me to.” Burke paused. “Let’s leave it at that for now.”
Those eyes, and the way he looked at her, made her feel both vulnerable and wildly excited. She clamped down on her thoughts quickly. “All right. Let’s go over to my place and, if I get a chance, I’ll help track down the books you need.”
As they went outside, her mind returned to what he’d said. She created stories from the heart, and bits and pieces of her always found their way into the pages of what she wrote. It was inevitable. From that perspective, he’d been right to decline her offer. But it bothered her to know that he’d realized how much of herself really went into the books and that he’d now be able to cut through the story and look into her heart anytime he chose.
LAURA LOST SIGHT of
Burke as she continued the task of restoring order to her house. Working along with the housekeeping service, she found the job seemed to go quickly.
She’d just finished in her office and moved out into the living room when the gas company representative appeared at the front door.
Seeing her, he came over. “I’m back again, ma’am. I’m here to check out the new furnace and confirm that it’s been properly installed and adjusted.”
Burke came out of the kitchen and joined her as she led the man down the hall. “The new back door’s in place,” Burke said, “And with that big brass dead bolt, it’s as solid as brick.”
“Good.” Hearing a vehicle pulling up outside, Laura stopped by the front window to get a look at the new arrival. Ken Springer was coming up the walkway to the house. “Will you escort this gentleman to the furnace for me, Burke?”
“No problem.”
Bracing herself, Laura went to meet Ken before he came inside. “I don’t want any more problems with you, Ken,” she said quickly. “We’ve already established that what happened here has nothing to do with arson.”
“Sorry, but the furnace contractor asked me to check out the installation. You’ve had two gas-related accidents here now.” He brushed past her and stepped into the living room.
He started down the hall, then stopped and faced her. “By the way, I checked out your neighbor for you. I can’t find out where he works, but he’s from the reservation. You should avoid him if you can. Those people think differently than us.”
“Us who? You and I don’t think anything alike. Don’t try to find things in common between us that don’t exist.”
“He’s Navajo.”
“No, really? And I’m Hispanic and you’re Anglo. So what?” she retorted. “Now that we’ve had this cultural affirmation, will you leave?”
“Laura, listen to me.” Ken grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.
“Let go of me this instant.” She was ready to raise her knee and watch him crumple, when she heard Burke’s voice behind her.
