A Hero in Her Eyes

by Marie Ferrarella

  There was kindness in his eyes, kindness that managed to transcend the layers she always kept wrapped around her heart. Armor plating turned to gauze and then slipped away entirely.

  She cupped his cheek with her hand. Moving his head, he pressed a kiss to her palm.

  She saw him then, saw him not as he was this moment, but as he would be. Making love to a woman. To her. The flash left her warm. And yearning.

  Raising his head, he saw the look in her eyes. “You’re seeing something again, aren’t you?”

  She nodded. “I think so.”

  She was usually more certain than that, he thought. “Think so?”

  Her eyes met his. “It’s you.”

  He saw a shyness there. A shyness he found irresistible. It made him want to protect her and possess her at the same time.

  “What am I doing?”

  Eliza ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. “Making love.”

  His mouth curved. “To anyone we know?”

  She took a deep breath before answering. “To me. I don’t know if that qualifies as anyone you know.” She looked away for a moment, feeling suddenly lost. “I don’t even know if that qualifies as anyone I know.”

  He raised her chin so that their eyes met again. The look in his held her fast.

  “The way to get to know something,” he told her softly, slowly unbuttoning her blouse, “is to go over it. Very, very slowly.” He parted the open blouse, coaxing it from her shoulders. “Until you know it like the back of your hand.” He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder and felt her involuntary shiver against him. It heightened his excitement. He needed her softness to see him through the night. “Better than the back of your hand.” He moved the fabric from her arms. The blouse drifted to the rug, discarded, forgotten.

  Her heart was already hammering wildly. Anticipation raced through her body, singing. “And when is this exploration going to take place?”

  “No time like the present.”

  Her emotions were close to the surface. They always were after she experienced an episode of seeing. It made her vulnerable and an easy prey. Because she knew the state she fell into, Eliza had learned how to put up defenses around herself.

  But she didn’t want those defenses up now, not against Walker. She didn’t think they would go up even if she tried to resurrect them. There was something about Walker that broke through to her, that touched the inner woman she was, the one she’d kept hidden for so long. For he had given her what she wanted most. Respect. Compassion. And in return, she gave him herself. It was the greatest gift she had to offer, and she gave it willingly.

  They undressed one another quickly, a sense of urgency permeating the very air they breathed. Hands raced over bodies, to be followed by questing lips. They sought to pleasure each other, while seeking sanctuary for themselves.

  She shivered when his breath touched her skin, loving the sensation, the waves of anticipation that were created in its wake.

  The feeling that this was meant to be, that she was home, did not leave her even at the height of her excitement.

  Her fingers slid along the hard muscles of his back, gliding lightly, possessively over them. What would it be like to love a man and know that it was for all time? To feel safe in the knowledge that she had found her soul mate?

  If that sensation, that feeling was ever attainable, it would feel like this, she thought. And it would be wonderful.

  What was this spell she cast over him? Walker thought. Making him want her in the midst of emotional turmoil. In the years that had followed Bonnie’s disappearance, he’d never wanted to be with a woman. It was as if that part of him, that need, had just been cut out. Had ceased to exist.

  Yet here he was now, at the very edge of possibly, just possibly, finding his daughter again, and he was discovering that his appetite had not only returned—for it had never been a dominant force in his life—but had grown more than tenfold.

  He could not remember ever wanting a woman this way, ever feeling about a woman the way he felt about Eliza, not even during the years when sex was all that there was supposed to be for an adolescent boy.

  Was she a witch, after all? Had she bewitched him, made him act against his very nature?

  He didn’t know, wasn’t sure, didn’t even really care. Not right now. For all that could be pushed to the back of his mind. All he wanted now was fulfillment.

  And to fulfill. Because her pleasure, her response, was even more important to him than his own.

  Grazing her body with ravenous, open-mouthed kisses, he reveled in the way her belly quivered as he passed his lips over it, found joy in the way her body tensed, then slackened, as he brought her from one peak to another with gentle strokes of his fingers along the most sensitive part of her.

  Unable to hold back, wanting her more than he would ever have thought humanly possible, even more than he had the first time they had been together, Walker joined his mouth to hers.

  Then, very slowly, he slid into her to complete the circle so that two could become one. Kissing her over and over again, he began to move, first slowly, then with more and more fervor.

  He tasted her moan in his mouth, felt her surrender against his body. Urgency hummed within him, increasing the rhythm of his movements, until finally, a fiery, incredible release seized him, holding him fast until he was spent. Exhausted, he moved to one side, secure in the knowledge that she had completed the journey with him. Secure, for the moment, that she was here and she was his.

  Kissing the top of her head, he cradled her against him and murmured her name as a blissful euphoria descended over him. He felt her mouth curve against his chest and felt the imprint of her smile as it branded him.

  And slowly seeped into his soul.

  Chapter 16

  He was just beginning to fall asleep when the ringing jarred apart the contented feeling he’d managed so carefully. Immediately awake, Walker sat up, curbing the urge to grab the cell phone himself. He nudged Eliza needlessly—she was already awake.

  “Your cell phone’s ringing.”

  Rising up on her elbows, she cocked her head. Just as she thought, the ring was different. “No, the sound’s not quite the same. It’s yours.”

  Disappointment sent the emotional roller coaster he was doomed to ride on barreling down another incline. Getting out of bed, leaving behind the sheet for Eliza to cover herself with, he was naked as he crossed quickly to the bureau.

  In no mood to talk, he flipped open the phone. “Hello?”

  There was a momentary pause. “Walker?”

  Trying to rein in his impatience, he still bit the word off. “Yes?”

  “It’s Jason. I know it’s late, but I haven’t heard from you in almost two weeks. What’s going on? Where are you? Have you—?”

  “You ask more questions than a reporter.” Walker rubbed his jaw, feeling bad now that he’d snapped his greeting. Maybe he should have called Jason, but he’d been so wrapped up in finding Bonnie that everything else, including his business, had taken a distant backseat.

  “I’m in Yuma.”

  “Yuma?” Walker heard a frustrated sigh on the other end. “Was I wrong? Is that clairvoyant leading you around on a wild-goose chase?”

  “No, I don’t think you were wrong.” He glanced over his shoulder at Eliza. Sitting up, she had the sheet tucked around her breasts and was listening to every word. He found himself wanting her all over again, despite the spent condition of his body. “And she’s not.”

  “Then have you…?”

  Walker didn’t want to say anything, didn’t want to put it into words for the other man, in case he jinxed it. Until two weeks ago, he wouldn’t have believed in jinxes and luck, but being with Eliza had opened up a whole other world for him, one that went beyond the dimension he knew.

  Guardedly, he said, “I think we’re about to.”

  “You’re kidding.” The enthusiasm in Jason’s voice was boundless. “That’s great. Where? How?” Jason p
aused, as if regrouping. “Look, I know it’s late, I’ll let you go. But call me first thing in the morning with details.”

  “I will,” Walker promised, hoping he would remember to keep the promise.

  “And Walker,” Jason interjected just as Walker was about to disconnect the call, “if you need anything…”

  Walker smiled. The rest wasn’t necessary to put into words. “Yeah, I know. Thanks. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  With that, he flipped the phone shut and placed it back on the bureau.

  “She’s not what?” Eliza asked the moment Walker came back to bed.

  Keeping her mind on the conversation was the only way she could remotely keep her mind off the fact that Walker Banacek had to have one of the most gorgeous bodies she had ever seen, much less fantasized about. He looked at her quizzically as he got into bed next to her.

  “When you were talking, you said, ‘She’s not.”’ Instinct told her he hadn’t been talking about Bonnie at that moment. “She’s not what?” she repeated.

  “Taking me for a ride.” Leaning back against the headboard, he slipped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to him. Trying to recapture a fragment of the euphoria he’d surrendered at the first ring of his cell phone. “That was Jason.”

  “Yes, I know. I figured it out,” she added when he looked at her with one eyebrow raised in silent speculation.

  He smiled, enjoying the feel of her against him. Wanting her again. “And how did you do that?”

  “Your voice was softer.”

  He drew his head back to look at her, surprised by the observation.

  “When you’re comfortable, the edge goes off your voice. You’re not comfortable with too many people,” she added.

  “No,” he agreed, tilting her chin back so that he could kiss her. “I’m not.” But she wasn’t among that number. Instead, she belonged to the far smaller circle of people he was comfortable with. Comfortable enough with her not to be on guard about every word. Comfortable enough with her to feel.

  The stillness was broken by the sound of the cell phone ringing again.

  With an exasperated huff, Walker looked toward the bureau. Jason must have forgotten something, or maybe had grown too impatient to wait until morning to be filled in.

  Shifting, Walker started to get up. “I swear, if that’s Jason again—”

  “No, this time it’s my cell phone.”

  A premonition descended over her as she tugged the sheet loose from the covers and away from the bed.

  It was Buddy, she could feel it.

  Draping the sheet around her quickly, she hurried to the bureau and picked up the smaller of the two cell phones. “Hello?”

  Detective Bear’s easygoing voice filled the receiver. “I’m giving you a heads-up, Ms. Eldridge. An ’85 Mustang belonging to our boy is just pulling up into the driveway even as I’m talking to you.”

  Every nerve ending tightened. She dug her elbows into her waist to keep the sheet from falling as she held the cell phone with both hands.

  “Is she with him?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that her question had nailed Walker’s attention. He was on his feet instantly, coming toward her.

  Eliza tilted the phone away from her ear a fraction, so that he could hear.

  “There’s a woman with him and a little girl,” Buddy told her. “I’m calling for backup.”

  Something told her not to let him, not yet. She didn’t know if it was a premonition, or just her own desire to get there first.

  “Hold off for a few minutes—unless it’s absolutely necessary,” she qualified. It was a gamble, but she wanted to be there with Walker first, to find a way to get the little girl away without incident. “We’ll be right there.”

  Walker had left her side. When she turned around, flipping the phone closed, she saw that he had already hurried into his clothes. She quickly followed suit. Neither spoke to the other, as if words would somehow break the spell.

  Five minutes later, they were out the door and in the car.

  Walker drove. They arrived fifteen minutes later, after flying down streets that had slipped into slumber hours ago. A thousand thoughts crowded through Walker’s mind until he finally pulled up behind Buddy’s car.

  There were two lights on in the front of the house that sat across the street. Buddy’s unmarked vehicle looked dark as they approached it. At first, it seemed empty, but drawing closer, Eliza saw that the detective had purposely slid down in his seat, so as to continue watching the front of the house without being seen himself.

  Seeing them, Buddy sat up and got out of the vehicle. He ran one hand along his spine, but made no complaint. “Unless they went out the back way, they’re still in there.” Dark eyes looked from Eliza to Walker, as if to read their faces. “Look, I want no heroics.” He turned to reach into his car. “I’m going to call for backup.”

  She had seen what too many police on the scene could do, been witness to the confusion that could erupt. Her main concern was the effect that kind of chaos would have on Bonnie. The child was already traumatized. She knew that for a fact.

  Eliza caught Buddy’s arm, stopping him. “Wait, let me try something.” Both men looked at her quizzically. On the drive over, she had remembered something Savannah had told her that Sam used to gain access to a potential kidnapper’s house. “I’ll knock on the door, tell them I broke down just down the block and ask if I can use the telephone.”

  Buddy shook his head. “Too dangerous.”

  “I’ll keep my cell phone open so you’ll know the moment I see Bonnie,” she pleaded. “Once I have her, you can come in. We need to make sure Bonnie’s safe.”

  “Good plan,” Walker agreed. “Only, I’ll be the one going in with the open cell phone.” He saw Eliza opening her mouth to protest, but he wouldn’t let her talk. “I don’t want you risking yourself. That’s not a stable man in there.”

  She couldn’t let him be the one to go in. “If Bonnie’s in the room, she’ll know you. And they featured your picture in the paper. Even if Bonnie’s not in the room, Allen will probably recognize you.”

  She looked at the house. The sense of urgency was back. Bonnie was in danger, she was certain of it. Allen’s temper was raw after the jail stint and the robbery. There was no telling what he could do if Bonnie made him angry. “My way’s the only way to go, and we’re wasting time talking. Don’t worry,” she told Walker, “I know what I’m doing. I’ve had training.”

  Up until this point, he’d only thought of her as being a clairvoyant. He’d forgotten all about the fact that she was also a private investigator and had probably been schooled in self-defense.

  But he still didn’t have to like this. “All right, we’ll do it your way.”

  Two minutes later, with Walker watching from Buddy’s car, the police detective positioned at the rear of the house, and her cell phone opened and set to conference call so that both men could hear her, Eliza walked up the front steps of the house. Mentally counting to three, she knocked on the door.

  She knocked three times before there was finally a response.

  The door was yanked open. “Yeah, what do you want?” The abrupt tone shifted immediately as Wallace Allen took a look at the woman who was knocking on his door. His angry expression melted into a leer. “Well, what is it I can do for you, little lady?”

  Fluffy, think fluffy, Eliza schooled herself, invoking every lightweight femme fatale she had ever seen in old, grade-B movies.

  The look she gave Allen was a simpering one. “My car broke down just down the block. I saw your lights,” she told him breathlessly. “Could I please use your phone to call a tow truck?”

  He began to step back, then stopped. “Why’d you pick my house?”

  She let her shoulders rise and fall, doing her best to seem lost and vulnerable. The type, she knew, that Allen gravitated toward, the type that made him feel big and important.

  The kind he liked to overpower. “I don�
��t know, I just picked one.”

  He looked at her grudgingly, then finally shrugged. “Okay, c’mon in.” He closed the door behind her.

  The atmosphere had changed within the room since she’d been here earlier today. Now there was an oppressive feel of evil permeating it. She didn’t have to look far to know where it was coming from.

  Looking at him, she purposely bit her lower lip. The hungry look he gave her made her flesh crawl. “I’ll only be a minute. Where’s your phone?”

  “In the kitchen.” But as she began to walk in the direction he pointed, Allen grabbed her arm. “But what’s your hurry, honey? Maybe you want to stay a while and talk.”

  “Who’s there, Wallace?”

  At the sound of his wife’s voice, Allen’s expression instantly turned malevolent. “Get back to your room, Janie,” he snapped.

  At that moment, Bonnie ran into the room, stopping short just in front of Eliza. She looked terrified.

  “Is this your daughter?” Eliza kept her voice casual as she moved toward the girl. Bonnie looked up at her and their eyes locked. Again, Eliza felt some sort of connection. She smiled brightly at the girl. “Hi, what’s your name?”

  “Bonnie.” She said the name firmly.

  “It’s Miranda,” the bedraggled woman who had looked in a second ago insisted. Coming up behind Bonnie, Janie Allen clamped her hands down on each small shoulder, pulling the girl against her. Licking her lips nervously, she told Eliza, “She just made up that other one.”

  Subtly, Eliza moved nearer. “Bonnie, Miranda—they’re both pretty names.” Her eyes remained on Bonnie’s. She kept her voice soft, friendly. “I used to have a pretend name, too. Mine was Princess Moonflower.”

  The next moment, both the front and back doors were rammed open, slamming against the opposite walls. The sounds ricocheted through the house, making it shudder. Walker came flying at Allen.

  “What the…?” The curse on Allen’s tongue never emerged as his face met Walker’s fist. Wallace Allen went down instantly, knocked out from the dead-on force of the blow.

  Screaming, his wife tried to grab Bonnie and run, but Eliza wrapped her arms around the little girl and pulled her quickly toward her. She turned her body so that it shielded Bonnie.