Athena Force: Books 1-6

by Justine Davis, Amy J. Fetzer, Katherine Garbera, Meredith Fletcher, Catherine Mann

  Jealousy?

  How could he be jealous?

  Then the answer dawned on her. If he believed she and Hadden were a couple, Mike would see Hadden as competition where his daughter was concerned. His jealousy had nothing to do with Kayla. The very idea was ludicrous.

  Mike acknowledged her promise with a nod. “If I miss you tonight,” he warned, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  And then he was gone.

  She watched him drive away, the 1Pilot vanity license plate reinforcing what she knew deep in her heart. He might be feeling humble just now due to recent events in his personal as well as professional life, but Mike Bridges would never, ever change.

  When his sporty red SUV had disappeared down the street, Kayla turned her attention back to Hadden.

  “What’re you doing here?”

  “I called your office. Shirley said you were here.” His gaze still lingered in the direction the SUV had taken. “I didn’t know he was still around.”

  The comment on top of his sidestep around her question ticked off Kayla. “Why would you?” It wasn’t like they had gotten to know each other on that level. They’d locked horns more often than not on Rainy’s case. Other than her ridiculous physical attraction to the man, she wasn’t even sure she liked him.

  He shrugged. Was it her imagination or was that gesture suddenly rampant among the men in her life?

  “I thought you were raising Jasmine alone.” His gaze settled on hers now and there was no way to miss the sincerity there. He really wanted to know the situation.

  Kayla wasn’t sure she could take any more surprises today. “This is the first time I’ve seen Jazz’s father in more than twelve years,” she admitted.

  Hadden’s brow furrowed as if the thoughts whirling around in his head disturbed him. “He’s not giving you any trouble, is he?”

  She sighed. Just more proof of her suspicions that Hadden was a threat to her solitary state. He was always looking out for others. “The jury’s still out on that one,” she admitted. Again, she didn’t know why she confessed anything to Hadden. Maybe it was simply the idea of us against him…an ally in this battle with Mike. Would she need an ally? Could it really get dirty?

  The possibility was there. She was all too aware of that glaring fact. If I miss you tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow. His warning rang in her ears like Sunday morning church bells, but with a distinctly more menacing message.

  The idea that he might take legal steps if she didn’t cooperate was a risk she couldn’t afford to take. If she worked something out with him, on her terms, maybe it wouldn’t come to that. She could hope. Even the remote notion of her daughter being forced to go spend time with her father, a man she didn’t even know, in a place she’d never been before, ripped Kayla’s heart right out of her chest. But it could happen. As a cop she was well aware of that fact. She’d seen it happen.

  She had to talk to her family, to Jazz. And somehow she had to work up the courage to call Mike back this very night. She couldn’t let anything get in the way of resolving this issue. Allowing him to take the ball and run with it would be a mistake of mammoth proportions.

  “Well, here’s something that might cheer you up,” Hadden offered.

  Kayla stared up at him, doubtful that anything he could say just now would lift the dark cloud of utter depression from her head.

  “Dr. Deborah Halburg is back in town.”

  Kayla’s heart kicked into a faster rhythm. “When? Where has she been all this time?”

  Deborah Halburg had served as Rainy’s gynecologist for more than two years. When Rainy had died, Dr. Halburg had been out of town, unreachable. Kayla desperately needed any and all information on Rainy that the doctor might have.

  “Apparently her father was some kind of missionary serving somewhere in the far East. He fell ill and she’s been there with him for the past four months. He died two weeks ago. She’s back now and playing catch-up.”

  Dr. Halburg’s receptionist and nurse had not been able to provide any helpful insights into Rainy’s case. Rainy’s files were missing—had probably been stolen—and only Dr. Halburg herself could provide the necessary details Kayla sought. Kayla had been waiting for the doctor’s return.

  Anticipation burned through Kayla now. Any new evidence could be helpful.

  “When can we see her?” She used the term “we” since she felt confident Hadden wasn’t about to miss out on whatever Halburg had to say. No point pretending he wasn’t involved. Trying to rationalize his motivation for continuing to investigate the case was futile as well. Early on he’d made his conclusions clear—he thought Rainy’s death was an accident. Kayla knew better, but she could not discuss with him the things she and the Cassandras had learned.

  Not yet anyway.

  “We can see her today.” He glanced at his watch. “She told me to come by before her clinic closed for the day. I thought you’d want to come along. I cleared it with your boss.”

  Kayla swore silently.

  He’d driven all the way from Tucson to dangle this carrot in front of her, knowing she couldn’t refuse. Hadden was up to something. Part of her wanted his showing up in person to be about their attraction—but she suspected it related more closely to his personal agenda for the case against Marshall. Still, she did want to see Dr. Halburg ASAP. And talking to Halburg over the phone might cause her to miss something crucial that the doctor’s expression would reveal. She’d have to get her sister to pick up Jazz. Dammit. She hated doing that too often. Not that Mary minded. She didn’t. Her boys, eight and ten, looked up to Jazz like a big sister. They all loved Jazz and Jazz loved staying over. But Kayla preferred all the quality time she could rake and scrape with her daughter. Not to mention she had to talk to Jazz about her father. There was no getting out of that one.

  Then there was the invitation to Athena.

  “I have to check with my sister to see if she can pick up my daughter.” If Jazz got her homework done by the time Kayla returned they might still have time to talk. It would be late after a trip to Tucson and back, but as long as she called Mike tonight that’s all that mattered. He hadn’t specified a time. God, she hated that she had to jump at his command. Renewed ire twisted in her belly.

  Hadden gestured to his sedan. “I’ll drive.”

  Kayla didn’t like the way he studied her. Could he see how vulnerable she felt right now? She hoped not. But she had a feeling he suspected a great deal more than he would dream of saying. Great. All she needed was him prying into her life. It was bad enough he’d insisted on participating in this investigation.

  She made the call to her sister, locked up her house and settled into the front passenger seat of his utilitarian sedan. Maybe bad wasn’t the right word, she mused as she analyzed Hadden’s profile. Bad applied to the bike thieves she’d collared yesterday. Bad was what happened to Rainy. This thing between Kayla and Hadden wasn’t really bad, it was simply unfortunate.

  Unfortunate because she felt certain she would never be able to open herself up to the possibly of hurt once more. How could she ever hope to have a satisfying relationship with a man if fear kept her from opening up?

  Hadden braked at a light and glanced in her direction. Too late to look away. He’d caught her staring at him. Her cheeks scalded. He simply smiled, showing off those appealing dimples.

  “I’m not that complicated,” he said bluntly.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She hadn’t intended to sound so pissed off, but then she was…at herself mostly.

  He reached over and smoothed her brow with the tips of his fingers. The crackle of electricity his touch generated heated her skin, sent her tummy into an acrobatic act.

  “You look as if you’re having a difficult time figuring me out.” He smiled patiently at her and turned his attention back to the task of driving. “All you have to do is ask when you want to know something.”

  Her humiliation dissipated instantly in light of the surprise that claimed her. C
onfident, wasn’t he? She’d just see how deep that confidence went. “Why do you keep coming back?” she asked with all the bluntness he’d used before. “I know you think Rainy’s death was an accident, why trouble yourself with my personal investigation?” Why drive two and a half hours to pick me up? she didn’t add.

  He considered her question for a bit and yet his relaxed posture didn’t change. He remained calm, collected. Irritatingly so. Her own rising tension had her pulse skipping, had her muscles flexing with tension.

  “I’ve checked up on you, Lieutenant Ryan,” he began.

  She restrained the need to demand an explanation of his simple, however complex, announcement. She’d checked him out, too. He lived in Tucson, in a comfortable neighborhood. He dressed well, had an excellent reputation. Not a single mark against him professionally, or personally. Perfect credit record. No mistakes in his past, unlike hers. He was straight as an arrow, dependable…all the things she’d failed to consider when she fell for Mike all those years ago. Somehow, Hadden’s stellar record made her uneasy. He’s too good to be true.

  Because not for a second did Hadden seem boring. Not at all. There was a mystique about him that his records couldn’t reveal, something simmering beneath all that composure. A composure she kept wanting to ruffle.

  Hadden glanced at her, perhaps surprised that she hadn’t responded. He continued, “You’re a good cop. Your superiors have recommended you for the position of investigator twice already and yet you’ve chosen to remain in your current position.”

  “I have my reasons.”

  He cast a knowing glance in her direction. “Your daughter.”

  It wasn’t as if the conclusion required a degree in rocket science. “That’s right.”

  “You pride yourself in your work, go the extra mile without hesitation or question.” He flicked another analyzing but brief stare her way. “Like following up on that tip about those bike thieves.”

  She’d thought about Jim’s hypothesis that the tip had been a distraction of some sort and was now certain it had been. Either someone on the team got scared or pissed off or someone wanted this particular ring of pirates off their beat. Whatever, the case belonged to the county investigator now. But she hadn’t forgotten, nor would she pretend it didn’t matter to her anymore. Athens was her community, and anything that affected those under her jurisdiction kept her attention.

  “So you think I’m onto something in Rainy’s case?” she ventured, veering back to the original question.

  “If you weren’t you wouldn’t be wasting your time.” His smile broadened into a grin. “She was your friend, you miss her. But you’re too smart and savvy to let your personal feelings invade your professional reason.”

  “Then you believe she was murdered as well.”

  Another of those sidelong assessments sent heat rolling through her limbs. “I believe you believe she was murdered. And that’s good enough for me.”

  But was that his real motivation for staying on top of her, so to speak?

  “It’s about Marshall, isn’t it?” However careful he thought he’d been, Kayla understood, at least to some degree, where his motivation originated. If Rainy had been murdered, and Marshall was guilty of smuggling, chances were there was a connection. If you didn’t know what Kayla knew. Fury mounted inside her. She didn’t like being used.

  “In part,” he allowed.

  Kayla nodded. She’d thought as much. “Let me clarify this for you,” she went on. “Marshall Carrington is a good man. There is no way he’s capable of what you’re proposing. His wife, my friend,” she reiterated, “was murdered. I’m one hundred percent on that. And I’m not going to let this go until I know who is responsible for her death.” She snapped her mouth shut on the and that almost popped out. The part about Rainy’s possible child or children was off-limits. There were too many unanswered questions.

  Hadden nodded perceptively. “That would mean you’ve already established motive.”

  Kayla’s tension ratcheted up a notch or two. “I have a theory or two.”

  The detective chuckled. “Don’t tease me, Ryan. You have the why, it’s only the who that’s driving you nuts.”

  There were things she couldn’t share with him no matter how perceptive the good detective proved. Her suspicions about Athena Academy were still that, suspicions. She needed cold hard facts before she marred the school’s reputation more than Shannon Conner already had.

  “I tell you what,” Hadden cut into her musings, “you tell me why you think your friend was murdered and I’ll tell you why I believe her husband is a smuggler.”

  Far too intrigued to ignore the offer, Kayla chose her words carefully. “Rainy’s autopsy showed her appendix was intact and her ovaries were badly scarred.”

  “Is that why she was seeing Halburg?”

  “Probably. About the scarred ovaries, I mean.”

  “What’s the big deal about her appendix being intact?”

  Kayla wet her lips and forged ahead. “When she was a girl, she got appendicitis. At least, that’s what she was told when she got sick and had to have an operation. Her medical records showed as much. But it was a mistake—or a lie.”

  Hadden considered that information a little too long for Kayla’s comfort. “And?”

  “I believe her illness and surgery were staged so that someone could mine her eggs. I found evidence that she was researching egg mining. We—” she glanced at him “—Rainy’s other friends and I, believe that she’d learned the truth and was going to tell us about it the night she died. Someone wanted to keep her quiet.”

  That was about as revealing as she could be.

  “This mysterious operation happened while she was a student at Athena Academy didn’t it?”

  Apparently she hadn’t been quite vague enough.

  Kayla knew without asking that he was drawing conclusions based on Shannon Conner’s exposé that had cited hideous experiments having been conducted on Athena students.

  “This is about Rainy, not about Athena,” she insisted. She prayed the conviction she didn’t quite feel came across a little more strongly in her voice.

  He nodded. “I see.”

  Time for a change of subject.

  “Your turn,” she countered. “What makes you think that Marshall would do anything even remotely illegal?”

  “Maybe it’s the false reports he files each time he returns from some trip related to his teaching.”

  “False in what way?” The demand wasn’t subtle but she didn’t like hearing her friends accused of wrongdoing. Marshall Carrington was a good man.

  “He lies about where he goes and to whom he speaks. All of it.”

  Kayla couldn’t bring herself to believe Marshall would lie, much less steal anything. “I’ll need to see the proof for myself.” No way was she taking anyone’s word on a matter this important.

  “That’s all I can give you right now,” Hadden said flatly. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me a while longer.”

  She choked out a laugh. The sound echoed in the cramped space of the vehicle as his gaze collided with hers.

  “Who said I trusted you, Detective Hadden?”

  Lucky for her—or him—his cell rang just then and the conversation was shelved.

  But Kayla knew she wouldn’t rest until she’d talked to Marshall. Whatever he’d done he would have a reasonable explanation for it. Of that she was certain.

  Rainy would never have married a liar or a thief.

  Never.

  Chapter 5

  Dr. Deborah Halburg’s office was located in downtown Tucson, in an upscale, fashionable building with its own underground parking garage. Even this close to the traditional closing hour the lot was still about half-full as Hadden parked his sedan a row or so back from the bank of elevators.

  They emerged simultaneously, the closing doors echoing ominously in the expansive, dimly lit cavern of parking slots. Neither spoke as they crossed to the elevators then
waited for a car to arrive. The doors slid open to reveal an elegant marbled and mirrored cubicle that glided upward as smoothly as any luxury automobile. Upon reaching the lobby, they stepped into yet another expansive space, only this one was brightly lit by towering glass walls and shiny marble floors. The art alone would likely have paid Kayla’s salary for a couple years. Maybe Hadden’s as well.

  Another bank of elevators waited across the seemingly boundless space of the ground-level lobby. Inside a waiting car Hadden selected the floor and another stretch of silence broken only by the chime announcing each floor accompanied their upward journey. Kayla studied the veined marble, mainly to keep her mind off just how great her companion smelled. The fragrance he wore was subtle, intensely masculine and wholly unsettling. Spending more than two hours closed up in the car with him had worn down some of her defenses.

  Kayla emerged from the elevator grateful to be in the open once more. Somehow she had to get her perspective back where Hadden was concerned.

  The seventh-floor reception area proved just as lavish as the one on the ground floor. A huge floral bouquet filled the air with pungently sweet scents, overwhelming the sensual aroma that still haunted her. Forcing herself back on task, she noted the suite numbers on the doors as she took the lead along the corridor. Her anticipation kicked into high gear. She hoped something Dr. Halburg remembered would somehow help her to put all the pieces together. For Marshall’s sake…for the sakes of all those who had loved Rainy.

  For Rainy.

  “How much do you know about Dr. Halburg?” Hadden asked as she hesitated outside the door of the suite belonging to the doctor she’d waited so long to interview.

  Kayla considered the question a second, not really wanting to delay here. “She’s the best in her field.”

  “The priciest as well, I’d wager,” Hadden suggested.

  The fabulous surroundings left no doubts there. “Probably. You get what you pay for, I guess.”

  Hadden hesitated before opening the door that would take them into Halburg’s private clinic. “There’s one more thing,” he said ominously.