“Hi, kid,” he said.
She smiled at him. “Hi, Daddy!”
“Her name is Haley,” Lana said. “Haley, this man is Riley. Can you say Riley?”
Haley nodded. “Daddy,” she repeated, and clapped her hands together in happiness.
Lana leaned with one hip against the counter. “I don’t know why she’s doing that,” she said, obviously irritated.
“Do I look like your husband did?” he asked.
Lana shook her head. “Not at all. Joe was blond, and he was a smaller man than you are.”
“Her calling me daddy works well with the little make-believe world we have to build quickly.” He sat down at the table. “Is that coffee I smell?”
She nodded, her shoulder-length hair shining in the sunlight that streaked through the windows. “I decided to brew a pot to show you that I intend to cooperate, but in return I want you to tell me everything that’s going on and exactly why you’re here.”
She poured him a cup, then sat at the table opposite him. He took a moment to study her features. She had a cute upturned nose and full Cupid-bow lips that looked as if they were just begging for a kiss. He frowned, irritated by his own wayward thoughts.
“Basically, I’ll be staying in your guest room, although I’ve got extra backup at night so I can catch a couple hours of sleep. During the day I’ll be manning a camera and watching what goes on next door at the Cary house, taking down license plate numbers and trying to identify anyone who comes to visit him. Everyone you know, especially Greg Cary, has to believe that I’m your new husband.”
“That’s the part I’m having trouble with,” she said. “How am I supposed to explain the sudden appearance of a husband in my life?”
He took a sip of the coffee, then explained. “We’ve got a cover story already in place. You and I met online about six months ago, one of those dot-com dating services, and of course the minute you saw my photo it was love at first sight.”
She laughed and it lit up her face, making her look prettier than she had moments before. “Full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Maybe just a little,” he replied agreeably. “Anyway, we met online. I’m from Arizona, and we talked on the phone and e-mailed each other for the last six months. We got together twice, once in Santa Fe and another time in Denver. The FBI knows that over the last six months you’ve traveled to jewelry shows in both those cities. We realized how much in love we were, and so last weekend we tied the knot in Vegas.”
“Because you know I was at a jewelry show in Vegas last weekend.” Her smile fell away and her eyes grew guarded. “What else do you know about me?”
“Lana Tyler, twenty-nine years old. Widow of Joe Tyler, fallen police officer shot at a convenience store while buying a gallon of milk. Your daughter was a cesarean birth, and since your husband’s death you’ve been trying to build a line of jewelry that expresses your love of nature. You like to take your daughter for walks in the park and to feed the ducks, and you sometimes still sleep in one of your husband’s old shirts.”
He’d guessed at the last part but realized he’d hit the nail on the head when she gasped and shook her head, obviously appalled by how much they knew about her, about her life.
He could almost feel sorry for her, the way they’d barged into her life with no warning. But as far as he was concerned, the end justified the means.
“Lana, we checked you out thoroughly before deciding to use you. We had to know that we could trust you, that you were smart enough to be able to pull off a fake marriage with me so I could get close to your neighbor.”
“But why? What do you think Greg is guilty of?”
He realized her eyes weren’t an ordinary shade of blue, but rather with a touch of purple like a periwinkle. He held her gaze for a long moment, trying to decide if he should tell her the truth or not.
As the wife of a cop she would have had to be strong to cope with the stresses of her husband’s work. As the wife of a murdered cop she had to use that core of strength to deal with her grief and still function as a single parent.
Lana Tyler was stronger than she looked, and he had a feeling she could take the truth, would demand it before truly offering her full cooperation.
“We believe Greg Cary has killed four women in the last four months and that within the next ten days he’ll claim his fifth victim,” Riley said. “Your neighbor, Lana, is a serial killer.”
Chapter Two
Lana stared at him as if he’d suddenly begun to speak Martian. “Is this some kind of a joke? Am I being punked?”
He wrapped his long fingers around his coffee cup and shook his head. “I wish it were a joke, but to the family of his victims it’s damn-straight not funny.”
“If you all believe that he’s killed these women, then why isn’t he already under arrest?” she asked, struggling to make sense of everything.
“Lack of any real evidence,” he replied.
She stared at him in confusion. “I don’t understand. If you don’t have any evidence against him, what makes you think he committed the murders?”
“Right now our case against him is strictly circumstantial. He knew all the victims. They all worked out at the gym where he works. He fits our profile, but unfortunately he has a solid alibi for one of the murders, and that has complicated things.”
“I read about this in the paper, along with a warning that women should be careful about whom they work out with in the local gyms. But if you don’t have anything but circumstantial evidence, maybe he isn’t guilty after all,” she replied, still unable to believe that the man who had helped her light her pilot light on her furnace when it had gone out last fall, the man who had fixed her garbage disposal when it had gone on the fritz, could possibly be a cold-blooded killer.
“He’s guilty all right. We all know it, and it’s just a matter of time before he’s arrested. But we think he’s working with a partner.” Riley lifted his coffee cup to his lips, and when he lowered it, he cast her a brash grin. “Now let’s talk about our honeymoon plans. I’m thinking maybe a beach setting. I love a girl in a bikini.”
Lana didn’t like him. He was cocky and arrogant and wasn’t even trying to make this as painless as possible for her. She broke eye contact with him and instead looked at Haley, who was smearing the last of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich across her plate.
She got up from the table, grabbed a dishrag and quickly cleaned up the mess, then got a box of cookies out and gave her daughter one of the wafers.
Haley smiled and held it out to Riley. “Daddy, you want a cookie?”
“No, thanks, kid,” he replied.
Lana threw the dishrag into the sink and then turned to face him once again, her lips thinned with displeasure. “Haley, her name is Haley, not kid. Apparently you don’t like children?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Kids are okay. As long as they’re other people’s kids.”
She really didn’t like him. “Is it too early to ask for a divorce?”
He grinned. God, the man had the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. Despite her dislike of him, it created a wave of heat that swept over her and undulated in her stomach. “Ah, don’t be like that. I promise I’ll grow on you.”
“Like fungus?” she retorted. “I don’t like you, Agent Kincaid, but I realize it’s important that I do my civic duty. I would appreciate it if you would get on with whatever you need to do and be as unobtrusive in my life as possible.”
He eyed her with open amusement and got up from the table. “I just want to let you know that you’ll miss me when I’m gone.” With that he picked up his coffee cup and ambled out of her kitchen.
“Bye-bye, Daddy,” Haley said. “See ya later.”
“Not Daddy,” Lana retorted a bit crossly. She returned to the table and wrapped her hands around her cup, trying to digest everything that had happened in the last thirty minutes.
Greg Cary a serial murderer? She couldn’t wrap her mind ar
ound it. There had to be some sort of a mistake. He’d been her neighbor for the last six years. He’d been a bowling buddy of her husband’s, a man who participated in the neighborhood watch program. Everyone in the neighborhood liked and respected Greg.
Surely if he were a criminal Joe would have known. Her husband might have been many things, but he’d been a terrific cop.
Thoughts of Joe brought with them a sliver of residual grief. He’d been her childhood sweetheart, the only boy she’d dated through high school, the only man she’d ever been intimate with. When they had married she’d thought they’d be together forever. She’d never foreseen the rocky road ahead and his untimely death.
His life insurance policy had been enough to pay off the house and put a little nest egg away. For the last year Lana had managed to eke out a simple living with the sale of her handcrafted jewelry.
“Mommy, I want down.” Haley raised her arms to get out of the booster seat.
So much for getting any work done today, she thought as she lifted Haley to the floor. The rest of the afternoon would consist of her chasing Haley and making sure she didn’t get into Riley’s way.
Thankfully, for the remainder of the afternoon Riley stayed in the guest bedroom with the door closed and Lana alternated playing with Haley and preparing the evening meal. She’d decided to do hamburgers out on the grill. That and a bag of chips was all Mr. Hot FBI Agent was going to get.
At six o’clock she took Haley to the backyard and sat her in the shaded sandbox where she loved to play, then cranked up the grill.
As she waited for it to get to the right temperature, her gaze drifted to the house next door. Was it possible that beneath Gary’s affable, pleasant outward personality lay the dark soul of a killer?
Despite the warm July air, a chill snaked up her spine. How many times had she read about serial killers and how their neighbors were stunned and appalled to discover that the good old boy next door was actually a crazed murderer?
She supposed there was no danger as long as Gary didn’t suspect the truth—that she was cooperating with the FBI to bring him down. Even though she didn’t like it, she understood how important the pretend marriage was in this scenario.
Gary would never have believed that she’d allow a boyfriend to move in with her and Haley. She had been quite vocal about the fact that she wasn’t going to be one of those single mothers who paraded men through their daughters’ lives. Although she realized she was close to being ready to entertain the thought of dating, of maybe finding somebody who would be special in their lives.
Gary also knew she didn’t have any brothers or male family members. He knew that other than a sister who was often out of the country, she was pretty much alone in the world, except for Haley.
Her parents had been wonderful people who had loved travel and adventure. Unfortunately, four years ago they had decided to take a sightseeing helicopter ride over one of the Hawaiian volcanoes, and engine trouble had resulted in a tragic wreck. Both her parents and the pilot had perished.
Her older sister, Rachel, had married a very wealthy man who loved to travel and had homes in France and on the Mediterranean, and the two of them spent most of their time overseas.
As much as she hated to admit it, the mock marriage was the only way she could explain Riley’s presence in her home.
As Haley played in the sand, Lana put the patties on the grill and closed the lid, then sat at the umbrella table on the patio.
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, she thought. Surely he would spend all his time with his camera at the window in the guest room, and at night he would have to sleep. Maybe she wouldn’t really have to interact with him much at all while he was in her home.
As if to prove her thoughts wrong, he opened the sliding glass door and stepped out onto the patio. Instantly every muscle in her body tensed. He filled the immediate area with his energy and a simmering sexuality as he walked with a loose-hipped gait toward the table where she sat.
“Steaks?” he asked, and pointed to the smoking grill.
“Burgers,” she replied.
He slid into the chair next to hers, and his gaze shot across the short green hedge that separated her lawn from Gary’s.
“Shouldn’t you be surveilling or making notes or something?” she asked, unable to keep her irritation out of her voice.
“I never miss a meal,” he replied with an easy smile. “Besides, the camera is still running and will catch anything I need to see. We’ve got men in the area also watching his house. I can’t stay at the camera 24/7. It’s also important that I maintain the aura of a normal relationship with you.”
He smelled good, like clean male mixed with an expensive cologne. “What exactly is it that you’re hoping to see?” She got up from the table and walked to the grill to flip the burgers and to get away from that provocative scent of him.
“Anything that looks suspicious. Anyone who comes to visit him.”
She turned her back to face the grill and heard him release a deep grunt of surprise. She whirled back around to see a sandy, smiling Haley attempting to crawl up on his lap.
“Pick me up!” Haley demanded.
Riley looked at Lana and she thought she saw a moment of sheer panic on his face. It flashed for only an instant and then was replaced with that irritating cool amusement as he picked Haley up and deposited her on his lap.
She clapped her hands and squealed with happiness. “I told you I had a way with women,” he said to Lana.
“She’s too young to know any better,” Lana retorted. She turned back to her burgers.
Oh, she knew his type all right. Handsome as sin and probably with little moral code, he would be accustomed to women making fools of themselves over him. He’d probably never heard the word no from any female. Well, he was in for a rude awakening if he thought she was just going to be another in a long line of conquests for him.
She smiled as she thought of the sand that was probably falling off Haley and into the cracks and crevices of Riley’s jeans. Hopefully, some of that abrasive sand would end up in his briefs.
She was acutely aware of Riley’s gaze on her as she took up the burgers. Haley had climbed back off his lap and returned to the sandbox, where she was digging with a plastic shovel.
“Come on, baby. It’s time to eat,” Lana said as she carried the burgers toward the back door.
“Thanks, sweetheart, I’m right behind you,” Riley replied, as if she’d been talking to him. He got up from the chair and then bent down and swooped Haley up in his arms. She squealed in delight as he carried her into the kitchen.
He plopped her into the booster seat and then sprawled in a chair at the table.
“There are cold sodas in the fridge,” Lana said. “Why don’t you grab a couple, and while you’re at it get out the mustard and ketchup or whatever you might want on your hamburger.” She wasn’t about to allow him to just sit and be waited on.
While he rummaged in the fridge she wiped down Haley’s hands and then put the burgers on buns and poured the chips into a serving bowl. She placed the food in the center of the table and sat down, then cut up a burger for Haley.
Riley joined her, and instantly she was inundated with sensory overload. His scent seemed to surround her, and she imagined she could feel the heat from his body reaching out to warm her.
Get a grip, she told herself. Granted, it had been a long time since she’d been around any man, but if the world held only Riley Kincaid she absolutely, positively wouldn’t be interested.
“I love hamburgers,” Haley exclaimed.
“Me, too,” Riley agreed with an easy smile at the child. “And I love potato chips.”
“Me, too,” Haley exclaimed with a giggle, and popped a chip into her mouth.
He could even charm the girls that young, Lana thought. Oh yes, she knew his type very well. All charm and no substance.
“I forgot something earlier,” he said, and reached into his shirt pocket. He pulle
d out a lovely gold wedding band and laid it on the table in front of her. “I believe this is yours, Mrs. Kincaid.”
She stared at the ring, oddly reluctant to pick it up and put it on. It had only been a month ago that she’d stopped wearing her wedding ring from Joe. That ring had come to represent heartache each time she’d looked at it.
It’s just pretend, she reminded herself as she finally picked up the ring and slid it on her finger. It felt cold and alien against her skin.
“I think we should plan a little celebration,” he said.
She looked at him warily. “What kind of a celebration?”
“A gathering to announce our marriage to your neighbors and friends.” He grabbed a handful of chips and smiled at her, seemingly unconcerned that what he was asking of her was to invite a potential serial killer over for cake and punch.
Riley stood and stretched with his arms overhead, wincing slightly as the muscles in his wounded shoulder groaned silently in protest.
It was almost nine. He’d been sitting at the cameras since he’d left the dinner table. Throughout the evening he hadn’t seen anybody going in or out of the house next door, nor had the camera caught Greg performing any incriminating act.
Lana had agreed to set up something four nights from now, on Friday, to introduce Riley to her neighbors. He could tell she didn’t like the idea, would have preferred not lying to her friends and neighbors, would prefer that Riley simply go away.
But Riley was eager to meet Greg Cary up close and personal. He had a nose for killers, and he wanted to look into Greg’s eyes, get a reading on the man he believed was responsible for four women’s deaths.
The house was quiet as he left the guest room. About an hour earlier he’d heard Lana putting Haley to bed. As Lana had read the little girl a bedtime story, Riley had closed his eyes and listened to her voice.
She had a nice voice, low and with just a touch of something sexy. She amused him. His easy charm held no power over her. She appeared determined to dislike him, and that definitely intrigued him.
Wanted: Bodyguard Page 2
