“How’s it going, Blaire?” Marty had just come in.
She glanced over at him. “Things are great. Did you get that kiln for your wife?”
“They promised to deliver it by the twenty-third.”
“I hope so. It will make her Christmas. She’s a real artist. I love that plate she made me. With you giving her a gift like that, she’ll probably let you watch at least one football game Christmas day.”
Marty chuckled. “Are you ready for the big event?”
“Pretty much.” After the way Josh had responded to his pull-ball toy, she knew what other gifts to buy for him. As for Jack, she hadn’t decided yet. Something that wasn’t personal. Maybe a DVD about a dog he could watch with his son.
“Shall we go?” Jack had finished and put a copy of their schedule in Sheila’s basket. He definitely had something on his mind.
“I’m ready. See you guys later.” They walked out of the building.
“It’s my turn to drive,” he asserted, almost as if he expected an argument. She didn’t give him one and climbed in the cab once he’d unlocked the doors. This was a new side to Jack. If her behavior Friday night had anything to do with it, then she wanted to clear the air.
“How’s that darling boy of yours?”
“Good. On Saturday we drove to Naylor so he could play with his cousins.”
That wasn’t the only reason Jack had gone there, but she didn’t want to hear that he’d found some property to buy and had a date in mind for his big move from Austin.
“About Saturday morning—” she began. “I’m afraid I have a confession to make.”
“You mean your sister didn’t need you at seven o’clock in the morning. I figured that out or you would have said something earlier.”
Nothing got past Jack. He had a brilliant mind. “Forgive me for lying to you. I hate lies,” she whispered.
“So do I, but sometimes they’re necessary.”
She bit her lip. “They’re never necessary, but they’re easy to fall back on if you’re not secure enough in your own skin to face the truth.”
“What truth can’t you face?” He sure didn’t mince words.
Blaire swallowed hard. “You’re too intelligent a man not to know.”
“You’re talking about the attraction between us. It’s real, all right. As long as we’re talking truth here, I have a confession of my own to make.”
Uh-oh. She couldn’t imagine what was coming, unless this had something to do with his ex-wife. Maybe she was divorcing her second husband because she wanted Jack and Josh back. Blaire still couldn’t comprehend a woman, no matter how deep her pain, who would willingly leave Jack.
If he could have her back, it might explain why he hadn’t crushed Blaire in his arms the other night the way she’d wanted him to do. “Go ahead and tell me.”
She heard a sharp intake of breath. “Our first appointment is only two blocks away. After we’ve finished, I’ll drive us to a park where we can talk. I spaced our next appointment to allow us the time.”
He needed that kind of time? This sounded even more serious and troubling.
Blaire was thankful for another oak wilt problem at the next address. Climbing trees helped her work off her angst about what was coming. No more chatting or laughter while they took samples. Something was terribly wrong. She had a foreboding.
After they’d gone back to the truck with the ice chest and had pulled away from the curb, she turned to him because she had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Why don’t you just tell me now and get it over with.”
“The park is only a few minutes away.”
They were the longest minutes she’d ever known. Eventually they wound around to a grassy area some distance away from a playground. He shut off the motor.
“Please say what’s on your mind.”
He angled his hard-muscled body toward her. “As I told you earlier, sometimes lies are necessary.”
“You mean in certain lines of work, like counter-intelligence.”
He nodded his dark head. “That’s one example.”
“Are you about to tell me you’re a former espionage agent for the military or some such thing?” He had the intelligence and instincts to be one.
“Not exactly.” He reached in his back pocket and pulled an item from his wallet before handing it to her.
Blaire recognized the circle-in-the-star badge right away. Captain was inscribed in the center. The blood in her body suddenly congealed to ice. “You’re a Texas Ranger,” she whispered.
His silence condemned him.
She turned on him. “You’ve been investigating me all this time?” she cried in anguish. White-hot pain caused her to throw his badge at him before she got out of the truck and started running.
“Blaire, wait—” She knew he was coming after her. On those long, powerful legs of his, he’d reach her before she had a chance to get away.
There was a stand of live oaks on the other side of the playground. Instinct drove her to head there where she climbed the first one. Quickly she scrambled up the branches into the top part of the old tree. Just as fast, Jack caught up to her until they faced each other with only inches to spare. His skin had a pallor that hadn’t been noticeable earlier.
“Well, you’ve got me trapped.” Her breathing was so shallow, she could hardly talk. “What happened, Ranger Lignell? Did my husband’s body turn up? Is that what this is all about? Are you planning to arrest me for his murder?”
His gorgeous gray eyes looked tormented, but they couldn’t match the torment she was feeling. “There’s no body yet, alive or dead. Two weeks ago your parents approached FBI Agent Tim Robbins, hoping he could do something about your case.”
Angry tears filled her eyes. “My parents know about this?”
“Only in the sense that Robbins told them he’d see what he could do. He doesn’t work for the FBI in Austin anymore, so he approached my superior, Mac Leesom. He in turn came to me and asked me to work on your case as a personal favor to him.”
Surely this was a nightmare and she going to wake up. “So you pretended to be employed with the forest service because, like everyone else over the last five years, you thought I played a major role in my husband’s disappearance.”
A white ring encircled his lips. She thought he might be ill, but it couldn’t compare to the sickness pervading her soul.
“I approached your case like any other. Since you were still a person of interest to the police, I started with you first so I could learn for myself if you had a motive for wanting your husband dead or not.”
“When did you start your investigation?”
“A week ago Friday. I’ve worked on it every spare moment.”
Blaire could hardly take it in. “H-how did you dare take me around your son?” she stammered.
“After I told you about Josh’s accident, your eyes spilled over and you asked if I had any pictures of him. That’s when I learned one of the most important things about you.”
Don’t listen to him, Blaire.
“But you still don’t know the most important thing because you don’t have any proof.” She took an unsteady breath. “Under the circumstances I suppose I should thank you for not taking things any further the other night. You could have,” she admitted honestly, “and we both know I wouldn’t have fought you.”
“Your honesty is another thing I admire about you.”
He had an answer for everything. “What’s your real name?”
“Caige Dawson.”
“Cage?” she mocked.
“With an i. It’s an old English word meaning a man who builds cages.”
“How apropos. I have to admit you’re good at what you do. But I guess a crash course in oak wilt suppression was all part of a day’s work for you.” His abilities were extraordinary. Blaire could admit that. “You had me totally fooled,” she said with deep bitterness.
“It was the only way for me to find out the truth about you
.”
She shook her head. “The truth. What’s that? I don’t understand why you didn’t just wait until the end of the week and then leave like any temp would do. I would never have known I’d been conned all this time.”
“Because I didn’t want things to go any further between us until you knew the truth about me. I’ve done undercover work before, but your case has been different and we both know it.”
Now what was he saying? She wanted to trust him, but this had come as such a shock, she was torn up inside.
“Whether you believe me or not, in my gut I know you had nothing to do with your husband’s disappearance.”
Tears stung her eyelids, but she absolutely refused to let them fall. “Your gut, huh?”
His chest rose and fell visibly. “It’s never failed me yet. At this point, I need your cooperation. Only you can provide certain answers I couldn’t get out of you while I was undercover.”
She closed her eyes tightly. “What answers?” she cried. “I told the police everything I ever knew about anything. They must have reams of testimony from me.”
“They do, and I’ve read through them all. But this is a new investigation on a cold case. I’ll be asking questions no one else thought to ask. I’m on your side, Blaire.”
How desperately she wanted to believe it. “If you were on my side, you wouldn’t have kissed me,” she bit out, avoiding his gaze. He had no idea how deep her feelings went. She hated it that everything had changed, that he wasn’t the person she thought he was.
“I tried hard not to,” he said in a husky voice. His nearness was too much.
“You didn’t try hard enough. That was really taking unfair advantage.”
“I know, but if you were a man and could have seen how beautiful you looked in the glow of the Christmas tree lights, you would understand.”
She moaned inwardly. “I thought a Ranger was supposed to be beyond worldly temptations.”
He was good. So good she was dissolving right in front of him.
A harsh laugh escaped his throat. “Only in the story-books. My grandfather was a Ranger and he was one of the most human men I ever knew. If we’re talking fantasies, I’m having one right now. It’s the same one I had last week about cornering you up in a tree like this where we could really get into each other’s arms.”
The same fantasy had been in her mind for days now. “Stop it, Jack! I mean Caige.”
“I answer to either name the way you say it,” he replied in a seductive voice.
She couldn’t take any more of this. “If you’ll go down the tree, I’ll follow.”
“Only if you’ll make me a promise.”
He’d keep her up here until she gave in. “What is it?”
“That after we finish our work and go back to the office, I can come over to your town house.”
“So you can look around?”
“That, and other things.”
Her pulse raced. “After five years and two moves, I’m afraid there isn’t anything to see.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. You still have your pictures of Nate.”
She nodded. “They’re stored in a box in the closet.”
“If it’ll be too painful for you, I could drop by there when you aren’t home in order to spare you the grief.”
Yes, it would be painful, but not for the reasons Caige was thinking. “The pictures will need explanations. Who else but me could give them to you?”
“Thank you for going along with me on this. I’ll order us pizza.”
“What about Josh? If you’re not home on time, he’s going to miss you.”
“Elly will tend him. I’ve already made the arrangements.”
So he’d already been planning this confession.
Blaire thought he was going to say something else, then thought the better of it. He moved down the tree with astonishing agility. She waited before taking her turn. This time there was no chance of her jumping on top of him by accident because he’d already started for the truck.
When she got closer, she saw him reach for something on the asphalt. Guilt brought heat to her cheeks when she realized it was his badge. But she wasn’t going to apologize. He had to know how betrayed she felt.
She got in the cab with an aching heart. She was no longer out doing her work with Jack Lignell from the Trees for Texas program. The impossibly attractive male driving the Department of Forestry truck was none other than Captain Caige Dawson of the legendary Texas Rangers.
The man she loved now was heading a new investigation to find out what had happened to the man she’d loved five years ago. Things like this just didn’t happen.
Chapter Seven
Caige followed Blaire’s instructions to the Great Hills area of northwest Austin where she lived. A charming little brook with stands of hardwoods surrounded the cluster of Tudor-style town houses. Once he’d parked his car in one of the adjacent guest stalls, he reached for the manila envelope on the seat and headed for her condo, the third one on the left down the walkway.
He found the front door ajar and he could see a set of stairs going up from the small entrance hall. To the left was the living room. As he moved inside and shut the door, the first thing he noted with satisfaction was the poinsettia he’d given her. She’d put it on the light honey-stained wood-and-glass coffee table.
Flanking that were two comfortable-looking leather chairs in a caramel color. Matching stained end tables with glass inserts had been placed on either side of the couch upholstered in an off-white crewel-embroidered fabric. The fat brass-and-glass lamps made a stunning accompaniment. On the opposite side of the room sat her baby grand piano in a pecan-wood finish.
He didn’t see any pictures of her husband. While he was admiring the large framed Renoir print of two girls at a piano on the wall, Blaire came down the stairs with a packing carton. She put it on the floor too fast for him to help her.
“You’ve created a beautiful home, Blaire.” She was a woman of many surprising talents.
“Thank you. I’m sure you’d like to freshen up. The bathroom is around the corner, first door on the left.”
He nodded. “On the way here, I phoned for pizza and salad.”
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“I wanted to. I’ll be right back.”
The thing he’d feared had happened. Now that she knew the truth, she was already putting emotional barriers between them. When he rejoined her, she’d set the contents of the box on the chairs and couch to make it easier for him.
By the time the pizza arrived, he’d gone through the albums and loose photographs. He’d asked her to identify certain people, but nothing helped him. The pictures of her and Nate revealed what looked to be a blissfully happy couple. She’d worn her hair longer then. Though she’d been an exceptionally good-looking woman, he thought she was even more attractive now.
Her husband reminded him of the kind of preppy, well-groomed, well-dressed male who radiated success. In the photographs, he sported a nice tan. Farley would have carried off the golf-pro image without problem.
Blaire called to him from the kitchen—their pizza was waiting. He went back down the hall to the combined kitchen and dining room. She’d set the white dining-room table for them and had made coffee.
Before he sat down, he wandered around, taking in her herb garden and the two potted flowering lemon trees. Under the tube lights beneath the cupboard she’d placed a dozen pots of various violets. On another counter sat three baskets of pink azaleas.
“I like what you’ve done to your condo,” he murmured before staring at her. “The yin is in the living room, the yang is in here.”
“Evidence of my eclectic personality.”
He had the feeling she was marking time, waiting for him to eat and leave. It was understandable considering the shock he’d given her today. After he’d eaten a few slices of pizza, he opened the envelope he’d brought and put an eight-by-ten glossy black-and-white photograph near her
plate.
“Take a good look.”
She stopped munching her salad long enough to study it. “That’s the Dunn funeral. Oh, my heavens— Nate and I are in it!” she blurted. “Where did this come from?”
“The police files.”
He saw her shudder.
“More often than not a detective will have pictures taken at the funeral of a murder victim in case the killer shows up. Do you see anyone you recognize? Examine it carefully. Whatever you tell me could be of vital importance.”
“I went for Nate’s sake,” she said in an unsteady voice, “but they were all strangers to me.”
“Did he introduce you to anyone?”
“No. We got there just before it started. That’s why we were in the background. The minute it was over we had to leave because I had a class and he had to get back to the bank.”
“Can you remember if your husband spoke to anyone there?”
She rubbed her forehead. “I’m trying to think. The only thing I do recall was one older woman who broke down crying several times. It was heartbreaking. I assumed it was Mr. Dunn’s mother.”
“This woman here?” Caige pointed to a female figure in the photograph.
“Yes.”
“Is the man holding her arm Mr. Dunn’s brother? He’s too young to be her husband.”
“It couldn’t be a brother. Nate said Mr. Dunn was an only child, like he was.” Blaire flashed Caige an anxious glance. “Do you think it might be his caddy Ron holding on to her?”
“Maybe.” He put the photo back in the envelope and finished eating his food. She’d lost interest in hers.
“The person who killed Mr. Dunn could have kidnapped my husband and killed him.”
“Anything’s possible.” He put down his fork. “Blaire? The day you met Nate at the football game, was he sitting with friends?”
She looked surprised by his question. “He said he’d been with friends higher up in the bleachers. When he saw me, he decided to come down and talk to me.”
Caige would have done the same thing. Blaire stood out wherever she went. “Did he have a best friend?”
“Sheldon Peterson, his friend from the bank. You saw him in the wedding album.”
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