Just Pretending

by Myrna Mackenzie

  “Might as well tell them to fly without wings,” he agreed. “Come on, let’s go see if we can get a composite photo out and start a hunt for this guy.”

  “I was just going to say that,” she said.

  “I know you were,” he said in a gruff whisper, suddenly dragging her against him and holding her to his heart. “I know just what you were going to say. Gretchen, I know something else, too. You’re not going to like it.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “If you’re going to point out that I’m trembling, then don’t. I wasn’t scared for myself. I never saw the rock until it hit the ground. I was halfway down the stairs when he went for you. That knife he tossed your way could have ended it for you, David.”

  “It didn’t,” was all he said. “And that wasn’t what I was going to say.”

  “Tell me, then,” she whispered, moving closer against him.

  “I just wanted you to know that I intend to stick close to you for the next few days. Don’t argue with me.”

  She didn’t answer, but her lips were cool and giving when he pulled her against him. She knew that he needed to be macho about this, and for his sake, she was going to let him, it seemed. For a few days, at least.

  Thank goodness for a woman who knew when to talk and when to kiss. For a few days, at least, he could still have her for his own.

  And heaven help any man who tried to take her from him.

  Chapter Thirteen

  With not much to go on, they hadn’t identified her assailant. But that wasn’t exactly surprising, Gretchen thought two days later. The fact that he had tried to attack her didn’t necessarily mean that he was someone she would know or remember. The fact was that she wore a badge. She’d been in law enforcement for years, and that meant making enemies at times. She’d made more than her share in Miami and a few in Elk Springs and even White horn, as well. He could be someone she’d once put in jail, someone who knew someone she’d put in jail, or he could be a man who just didn’t like cops, or women, or blondes, for that matter. The newspapers were filled with people who hated for a living, and trying to make rhyme or reason out of such things could make a person crazy.

  That didn’t mean they hadn’t tried to connect the man in some way to the work she was doing at the moment, but the truth was that thinking that way could lead a person down a lot of wrong alleys. She and David now had another investigation on their hands, they’d sent out a drawing of the man and as much information as they had. They’d asked for witnesses or information, but so far they had nothing. And while she was being careful, Gretchen wasn’t losing sleep over this incident.

  “I couldn’t live that way,” she told David. “Neither could you. Looking over your shoulder is part of what we do, but looking over your shoulder all the time and never looking forward means you’ve become in effective at your work.”

  “Sweet lady, I love it when you’re logical,” he said, dropping a kiss on her bare breast and then moving his mouth up to cover her lips.

  She chuckled against his lips. “You know darn well I haven’t needed to look over my shoulder anyway. You’ve been watching me like an over protective bear.”

  “You don’t like the way I’ve been treating you?” he asked, sweeping his hand down between their bodies and driving all thought from her mind for several seconds.

  When she was able to control herself at all, she took long deep breaths, shuddering at his touch.

  “I love the way you treat me,” she confessed. And barely brushing his skin, she slowly walked her fingers down his chest and lower. Lower still. She gently closed her fingertips around the tip of his shaft.

  He stopped breathing, she was sure of it, though his heart slammed against his chest and echoed into her own. He endured the exquisite torture of her barely there touch until he was shuddering deep inside. Then he lifted her leg, parted her and drove deep into her depths. He shattered her, destroyed her, and had her asking for more.

  When they finally came up for breath, he smoothed the hair back from her forehead and kissed the damp skin there. “I love the way you treat me,” he said, repeating her words. “And I thank you for letting me fuss. I have nightmares about that moment when that rock nearly fell on you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you as long as I can prevent it. And when I go—”

  “When you go, I’ll be fine.” She grabbed the hand he was caressing her with, took it between both of her palms and kissed it. “I’m a big girl, David, and anyway, everyone in the department is looking out for everyone else since that incident. No one’s taking any chances. I won’t take any chances,” she promised.

  “Then we’ll be okay,” he finally said as he eased into her again.

  “We’ll be wonderful,” she whispered as they traveled to a world scattered with bright stars. She smiled against his skin and he smiled against hers and they waited for the morning together.

  Lyle Brooks crushed a cigarette under his shoe as if it gave him great pleasure to extinguish the life of something.

  He bit off a harsh expletive.

  The Cheyenne were still not cooperating. He’d given them his best smooth talk, his clearest arguments. They didn’t want his arguments. They wanted what they’d agreed to in the first place. They pointed out that they were old hands at the bait-and-switch game. He had to give them credit. They were no fools, even if he did hate every last sorry one of them.

  And as for the real fools—or rather, fool, there was no question who that was. The idiot had made a mess of things. He’d been told to make things look like an accident. Who would believe that a rock falling from the sky was an accident?

  “Nobody,” he whispered, his voice a thin rasp of sound squeezed from a mouth thinned by rage.

  Now he’d have to handle things himself. He’d already taken care of the fool. Only one more to go. Or maybe two.

  He had to get the man out of the way and that wouldn’t be easy. It hadn’t been easy. David Hannon was like water running along the ground, impossible to separate from the sand it flowed into. He took his watchdog duties with Gretchen Neal very seriously. Still, sooner or later the guy had to let down his guard. They always let down their guard, didn’t they?

  Then, he thought calmly, then he would finish his business with the woman. Eventually he’d convince the leaders of the Laughing Horse Reservation to make the trade of the land.

  And the sapphires would be his and only his. He would finally have the last word and the last laugh and the money.

  He was going to be the greatest Kincaid ever known.

  David rubbed the frown from between his brows and tried not to think of Gretchen. The woman had been too much a part of his thoughts from the very start, but now since that time three days ago when he’d seen that rock hurtling down toward her, he’d been unable to dislodge her from his mind for even the shortest period of time. He was, quite simply, besotted with her. And he was pretty darn sure he was in love with her. It was a damned shame, because she’d made it clearer than clear that she only wanted a short, mad fling.

  Oh, they were having that, all right. Every time he plunged into her body, he went mad for her. He wasn’t so humble that he didn’t know that she reacted the same way to him, but that was all it was for her. She was happy with this. True, she might miss him for a few days when he was gone, but she was the type of woman who would prefer missing him over complicating her life with visions of things that would only be a prison for her. And he couldn’t, he absolutely couldn’t, try to force his feelings on her. If he ever damaged her spirit, her heart, or her pride, there’d be no way around the fact that he deserved a strong, solid kick in the pants. It just wasn’t going to happen.

  And so, he’d been hovering. Caring. Wanting. He’d been going damned near insane. It had to stop. Now.

  The phone rang beside him.

  “Hannon,” he said, practically barking into the receiver.

  “Whoa, buddy. What have you been eating for breakfast that’s turned you into a
ticked-off grizzly?” Sascha’s voice was laced with humor, but also a familiar trace of concern.

  “Rocks,” David said, knowing someday he’d tell his friend just how close that answer was to the truth. But not today. He couldn’t talk about Gretchen today. And maybe not anytime in the near future.

  “What can I do for you, Sasch?” he asked. “You need an ear to listen? Bridget still on your mind?”

  “Bridget’s yesterday,” his friend said. “And you know me, David. I’m on to someone else. A luscious redhead named Terri. You know the rules of the game. Win some, lose some. Always move on. Always enjoy.”

  David knew the rules of the game or what they were supposed to be. They just didn’t apply where Gretchen was concerned. She was special, different. She’d taken the rule book and ripped out the pages.

  “What can I do for you, Sasch?” he asked again.

  “Not for me. For Phil,” Sascha said. “He’s in D.C., but I got a call from him. There’s new info on the Tedrin case that might finally make a difference and break things open for someone who knows the particulars. That would be you, bud, as well you know. Time to give up this life with the locals and get back to the federal world. Phil asked me to fax the papers to you in the Billings office so you could make a determination of what the next step should be. It’s confidential stuff, of course. You’ll be all right picking it up there?”

  “Sure.” Of course he’d be all right. His work had always had his heart, and this was probably just what he needed to get his life back where it belonged. Action. Results. Something to occupy his thoughts and his time. “You fax it. I’ll deal with it,” he promised. “Thanks for the message, Sasch. I needed this.”

  “David? You okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m okay. Just needed something to do with my time, I guess,” he said. “You know how it is when you’re sitting on your hands.”

  “Don’t I? Yeah.” He paused a moment, then, “You’re not getting in over your head in the heart department, are you? Not losing it over that lady cop of yours? Not doing anything stupid?”

  David hesitated for half a second. Of course he was doing something stupid. He’d been making mistakes with Gretchen from day one. It was time to stop.

  “David?”

  “Not doing anything stupid, Sasch,” David managed to say smoothly. “Do I ever?”

  Sascha’s chuckle was low. “You’re right. What was I thinking of? This is David I’m talking about. The guy who never commits. All right, buddy. I’m glad things are good with you. See you in a few days. Take care.”

  And the line went dead.

  David waited for Gretchen to emerge from Rafe’s office. When she did, he gave her a smile. “You’ll be happy to know that your shadow has to leave for a short while. Business in Billings.”

  “Your business or mine?”

  He grinned. “You think I’d keep you in the dark about your own work?”

  She studied him for a minute, then shook her head. “No. You’re a bit over protective,” she said, smoothing his collar and then kissing him, “but you’re fair. You want to swing by the house when you’re done?”

  “Ah, I see,” he said, teasing her with his lips. “You’re just afraid I won’t be back in time to walk Goliath. You only want me for my skill with animals.”

  She smiled against his lips. “I adore your skill with animals, and your skill with…other things. Maybe there’s a little animal in you. Maybe Goliath recognizes a kindred spirit—or at least a kindred male.”

  “He still mooning over that little Pomeranian?”

  Gretchen nodded and the lemony scent of her went through him. Her hair brushed against his skin and his senses. “She’s a tease, I think. He’s frantic to have her.”

  “I’m frantic to have you, too,” he whispered, pulling her closer, pulling her around the corner of the file cabinet so no one could hear and no one could see.

  “Then come by my house when you’re done. Will it be long?”

  He shook his head. “I can be there and back in just a few hours.”

  “I’ll meet you at home when I get off work,” she promised.

  “If you leave here for any reason other than to go home, you take a partner,” he warned.

  She frowned. “David, I know the rules. If it’s something that warrants extra muscle or extra care, I take a partner. I’ll be careful,” she promised.

  He caught her to him for one last kiss before he marched out the door on the way back to his future.

  The information from the lab came in just as Gretchen was getting ready to go out the door for the day.

  And there were no real surprises, but there was, at last, hard evidence. She still didn’t know why she’d been hearing rumors that Lyle Brooks had been hounding the Cheyenne to make a land switch that just didn’t make sense. But she knew enough to take the next step. Some of the puzzle pieces had finally stopped spinning around and locked into place.

  Now she had proof. A man’s life had been taken. It had been stolen, not by an accident but by an intentional act. And so she finally had room to move, to act, to do what she had been trained to do, Gretchen thought.

  She sat for a few seconds concentrating on the information she’d been given, realizing that at last one criminal at least would be taken off the streets.

  It wouldn’t bring back the life of an innocent man or help his family deal with their pain and grief. Those kinds of miracles didn’t happen, but she could at least make sure that no one else suffered at the hands of that scumbag. As always, it had to be enough. It was the nature of the job.

  “So let’s take care of business,” she whispered as she picked up the phone. Punching in the number of the cellular in David’s car, she listened through the rings and hoped he had taken care of his own business. If she had to, she would take another officer, but after all his time and effort, David deserved to be the one to partner her on this arrest.

  The ringing came to an abrupt halt.

  “Hannon.” David’s deep strong voice washed over her, even distance and the slight haziness of the connection not dulling the reaction she had yet to get accustomed to.

  “David, it’s Gretchen. I just got word from Reba. Hair and skin were found under Peter Cook’s fingernails that matched the samples I took from Lyle. How far away are you?”

  “Fifteen minutes tops,” he said.

  “Good. I’ll meet you at the house and save you the trouble of driving all the way into the center of town and back out again. We’ll hook up and make the arrest from there.”

  “On my way,” he confirmed as she said goodbye and hung up the phone.

  There was a sense of rightness in going to meet David, Gretchen thought as she climbed into her car and started the ignition, and a sense of relief. And it went beyond what she felt in his arms or how she felt about him as a man. She’d learned to trust him in these past few weeks. He’d learned to trust her. In spite of all her initial reservations about the man, his family, and the unusual nature of his request to be in on her cases, they’d worked well together. Arresting Lyle would be like adding sprinkles to the ice cream. A sweet bonus.

  She drove the short distance to her house. No sign of David yet, but then, she hadn’t expected it.

  Turning her key and clicking open the door to the cottage, she waited for Goliath to greet her with his usual patter and gleeful bark. The patter never materialized. The bark was loud and clear and distressed. She noticed for the first time that the bedroom door was closed.

  “Goliath?”

  Her answer was a frustrated and frantic whining.

  She moved to the door, pushed it back.

  The wildly rolling eyes of her dog met her own gaze as Goliath barked and scuffled over the floor, jumping up on her, clearly anxious.

  “What’s wrong, boy? I didn’t lock you in there somehow this morning, did I? I’m sorry. No wonder you’re so upset.”

  Gretchen knelt to soothe her hand over Goliath’s head, but his barking didn
’t stop. He flung his head around, looking behind him.

  She turned to see what he was looking at and an arm hauled her up, a gloved hand clamping over her mouth. The taste of old leather and the scent of sweat and heavy cologne assaulted her. She was dragged backward against an unyielding body.

  Her fingers automatically went for her gun. Too late. They slid away as the gun was dragged from its holster and tossed aside.

  The cold and oily smell of steel drifted to her as the hard snub of her assailant’s revolver was shoved right under her chin.

  “Don’t worry about your little dog, Neal,” a low, unpleasant and all too familiar voice told her. “He’s just a tad upset that you weren’t here to greet a visitor. He had to handle all the duties of hosting by himself. Can you blame him?”

  Sheer panic rose up in her and she fought to calm herself.

  Think, Gretchen, think! Don’t fight. He’ll be expecting that. He’ll be prepared for that, so don’t fight. At least not yet.

  Yet as Goliath lunged at Lyle, the urge to fight was there. Goliath was trying to nip at Lyle and she wanted to do the same.

  “Call him off,” Lyle said, kicking out at the little dog as Goliath took a nip again.

  She held her tongue.

  Lyle shoved the hard butt of the gun harder against her throat. He pulled back his foot to kick just as Goliath recovered from the roll he’d taken and headed in to try again.

  “Goliath, sit,” she ordered.

  The little dog ignored her. She remembered what she’d told David about him, how he’d been considered untrainable. But he’d always obeyed her since she’d worked with him. Until now.

  The gun bit into her flesh harder. Gretchen nearly choked as the press of steel nudged at her windpipe.

  She swallowed hard, opening her mouth. The pressure of the gun let up just a touch.

  “Sit, Goliath,” she said again, aiming for a calm tone, fearful for both the little dog’s life as well as her own. Reluctantly, Goliath did as he was told. His little body wiggled, he whimpered, but he obeyed.