by Jane Godman
Just twelve months after Carla’s death, he had been enjoying some very erotic imaginings about Laurie. To be brutally honest, he had spent the last few days in a hard-on-powered bubble. And even now, when he knew who she was and why she was here, he was experiencing a pang of disappointment that he wouldn’t get to have sex with her after all. The sooner he got this woman, who was Carla’s cousin, out of his life, the better. He needed to get back to thinking with his brain instead of a more basic part of his anatomy.
Laurie halted on the opposite side of the street from an attorney’s office. “Here. It was that building. Moreton was using that second-floor office right across the street from this flower store.”
They crossed the street. There was a flight of stairs on the outside of the building, but as Laurie placed her foot on the first step, Cameron caught hold of her arm. “What is it?” She looked at him over her shoulder, a frown in her eyes. Clearly the cop in her was used to being in charge in these situations and she didn’t like him taking over that role.
“Can’t you smell it?”
She shook her head, her lips parting as she was about to reply in the negative. Then a light breeze blew in her face and her expression changed. “Gasoline.”
As soon as she said the word, the second-floor windows above them blew outward with a loud whoomph and the sky lit up. Cameron grabbed Laurie and pushed her to the ground, throwing himself on top of her as glass and other debris rained down on them. Screams and shouts and the noise of people running to and from the scene of the fire filled the air. Laurie squirmed beneath him in an attempt to get free, but Cameron held her down, keeping his body on top of hers. Although chunks of wood and plaster hit him on his back and shoulders, he thanked his lucky stars that they both managed to escape without any injuries.
Laurie turned her head to look at what was going on, and the softness of her cheek was pressed against his face. In spite of the danger and the seriousness of the situation, he gave himself up to the sensation, then cursed his weakness.
So much for the “get her out of his life” pledge of a few minutes earlier. Even with the aftermath of an explosion going on around them, the length of her body beneath his, the scent of her hair in his nostrils, the feel of her skin on his...all of those things were sending the blood pounding to his head. And dangerously farther south. If he wasn’t careful, Laurie would soon be aware of his arousal. He didn’t want to get a reputation as the man who got turned on by buildings being blown up.
Getting cautiously to his feet, Cameron looked up at the attorney’s office. The whole of the second floor was alight. Reaching down a hand, he pulled Laurie to her feet.
“You okay?”
Although she nodded, her face was shocked. “That was Moreton’s office.”
“Then I’m guessing you won’t find the contact details you need in there.”
They crossed the street, getting away from the danger zone. Stepping onto the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, they brushed the dirt from their clothing. A small crowd had gathered to watch what was going on and to await the arrival of the firefighters. Laurie leaned back against the boards of the shop behind her.
“Coincidence?” Cameron raised a brow at her.
She shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the blaze. “There are very few of them in my job. Someone is determined to cover his tracks.”
“I think that was obvious when he killed a federal agent...” He was about to say something more when his gaze became riveted on an item in the store window behind her. The words died on his lips, and his blood ran cold.
Grabbing Laurie by the shoulder, he ignored her protest and turned her so she could see what he was looking at. It was a heart-shaped arrangement of roses.
* * *
“They aren’t the same color.” Even as she said the words, Laurie’s brain was telling her everything else about the flowers was right. The size, shape, the number of roses, even the type of buds. The only difference was this arrangement comprised soft pink roses instead of the blood-red ones that had been sent to Carla and Deanna. And to me.
Tastefully arranged under a single spotlight, a sign next to the flowers read What’s Your Message? The words made Laurie shiver. The killer had a message. Every time he sent flowers. And she had received them twice...
“I need to come back here in the morning as soon as this store opens.”
Cameron’s brows drew together in a frown. “I thought the plan was for you to get back to San Diego as soon as you could?”
“That was before that.” She pointed across the road to where a fire truck was just pulling up before turning back to look at the flowers. “And before I saw this. I’ve been getting these flowers.”
She raised her eyes to his face. It would be too much to say his expression softened, but there was understanding in his eyes. “Which means you’re next.”
“Yes, and if I’m right about this guy, do you think he’ll let the small matter of a few states between us stop him getting to me?”
He shook his head from side to side slowly. “He’s determined, that’s for sure. So we have to find him.”
“We?” Laurie tried to fight the little flare of hope that ignited deep inside her. Was he offering to help her?
“If you’re right, he killed Carla.” Carla. Of course. For a moment, Laurie had forgotten about her. His girlfriend. Her cousin. “So what’s the plan? We go to the police with what we know?”
“Not yet. I want to see if I can find out who has been ordering these flowers first. That way, I have something concrete to take as evidence.”
“What about Moreton? The guy is lying dead in a vacation cabin that was leased in your name.”
Laurie did some quick thinking. She had no way of contacting Samuels, but Cameron was right. She couldn’t just leave Moreton’s body to be found by a stranger. And once Moreton was found, the search would be on for Laurie herself.
“I’ll find a motel for the night, then call my captain in San Diego. Once I explain what happened to Moreton, he can contact the Bureau and let them take over that side of things. I’ll tell him I have a few loose ends to tie up here before I go back. He won’t like it, but short of coming out here to hunt me down there’s not much he can do about it.”
A corner of her mouth lifted in anticipation of Captain Harper’s long-distance fury. It had been a while since they’d worked together—she’d moved from one long-term undercover assignment straight to this one—but she didn’t imagine he’d changed much in the time she’d been away.
Cameron quirked a brow at her. “Do I get the feeling you may not always play things by the book, Detective Carter?”
“I get results, and my boss appreciates that.” She paused, assessing the slight thaw she could feel in the atmosphere between them. “And it’s Detective Bryan.” She saw his eyes register the name—Carla’s name—and moved on quickly. “My real name is Amy Carter-Bryan. But my middle name is Laurie, and that’s what my family and friends call me.”
“Are you suggesting we should become friends?” His expression was unreadable. It would help if he wasn’t so handsome that simply looking at him took her breath away.
“In spite of a shaky start, I’d like to think we aren’t enemies.” She inhaled deeply. “That we’re on the same side.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he just kept staring at her. Then the noises from across the street intensified as the roof of the building started to give way. At the same time, Cameron roused himself from whatever thoughts were occupying him. “Come on—” he paused, and a slow smile dawned, making her pulse race “—Laurie. Let’s get you to a motel.”
They drove a few miles out of town to a large, ranch-style motel set in its own pine forest. Laurie, used to staying in impersonal concrete boxes that all looked the same, gazed at the charming old building with
its golden wood exterior and arched windows. “I wasn’t thinking of anything quite so luxurious.”
“They know me here. And I’m not sleeping in an uncomfortable bed.”
Laurie turned her head to look at him. “You’re staying, too?”
“Of course. Did you think I was going to drive back to Stillwater tonight and then out here again in the morning?” His eyes stayed on her face. She didn’t imagine it this time. There was a definite softening in their expression. “Besides, while that guy is still out there somewhere, I’m sticking by you. I might not like it, but we’re in this together.”
The words brought an odd tightness to her throat that Laurie couldn’t explain. It must be tiredness. It had been a hell of a day. Cameron got her bags out of the trunk and they made their way inside to a reception area decorated with reminders of the Wild West. A chandelier made of antlers was suspended over the desk and an assortment of guns, cart wheels, cowboy hats and animal hides were hung on the walls. Cameron was recognized and greeted with delight by the female check-in clerk.
Laurie was aware of the clerk’s curious eyes on her as Cameron asked for two rooms next to each other and a table in the restaurant for dinner. Had Cameron ever come here with Carla? Was the clerk wondering where he had managed to find such a perfect substitute? What did it matter? There had never been a future for them anyway, but there was even less of one now. He had to feel disgust every time he looked at Laurie and remembered why she had come here. She would never be anything other than the woman who had set out to callously make his grief work against him.
As she was processing those thoughts, Cameron came back to her, his heartbreaking smile lighting the dark depths of his eyes. That was when it hit her. Hard. Oh, dear Lord, this can’t have happened. I can’t have fallen for the one man I can never have.
“Hey, are you okay?”
She forced a smile, despite the fact her heart had just snapped in two. “Fine. A little tired...and more than a little hungry.”
He held up the room keys. “We can do something about both of those.”
* * *
Because it was so late, the restaurant was quiet. They ate at a corner table. Laurie seemed distracted and Cameron watched her face. He enjoyed watching her face, and not for the obvious reason. The truth was, he’d long ago gotten over the shock of her likeness to Carla. He enjoyed watching Laurie, not a ghost from the past. A ghost from the past? How had he reached this point so quickly in a matter of days? He hadn’t forgotten that, until the drama of the last few hours, he had actually convinced himself his feelings for her might be real. Now, he was too mentally exhausted to fight the pleasure he got from watching her. He’d deal with that and the whole guilt thing another time. Okay, he hadn’t forgiven or forgotten the fact she had come here with the deliberate intention of exploiting his grief. He didn’t know how he felt about that.
She was doing her job. It wasn’t personal. No, it didn’t help to tell himself that. I was a job. He had to admit his pride was wounded. She’d been playing a part and he’d fallen for it. What kind of idiot does that make me? The kind who is going to walk away as soon as I know she’s safe and never see Laurie Carter—or Amy Carter-Bryan or whatever the hell her name is—ever again. Even so, he couldn’t ignore the troubled look in those stunning blue eyes.
“How did your plan go down with your boss?” he asked casually.
“Pretty much the way I expected. To say he was pissed off would be putting it mildly. My delicate ears are still recovering from the curse words.” She laughed. “I’ve never heard him swear before. The signal was bad, so I used that as my excuse and hung up.”
“Will that get you in trouble when you get back?”
“Probably.” She shrugged. “When I think about what happened to Moreton, nothing else matters except finding this killer.”
“There’s something else on your mind.” There it was again. Cutting through his chagrin, there was that sense of knowing her, being in tune with her feelings. He decided he might as well just ask her outright. “What is it?”
She looked up, apparently startled by his perceptiveness. “It was what you said about the fire being a coincidence.”
“And you said there are very few of those in your job.”
“It got me thinking.” She pushed the food around on her plate. “It’s one hell of a big coincidence Moreton chose an office across the street from that particular flower store, don’t you think?”
Cameron’s jaw wanted to drop as he followed her train of thought. With an effort he managed to keep it in place. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying he deliberately chose an office with a window that overlooked the door of that flower store. I’m saying a lot of things that, if they are true, are scaring me half to death.” She cast a quick glance around. There were several other couples finishing their meals and a few staff clearing tables. “Can we go upstairs and talk about this?”
Laurie’s room was furnished in a comfortable, homey style, with colorful rugs on the floor and woven spreads on the two king-size beds. Lamps cast golden pools of light around the space, but the atmosphere didn’t appear to be having a soothing effect on its occupant’s nerves.
Laurie paced up and down, her arms tightly wrapped around her body. “This is going to sound crazy.”
“Try me.” Cameron took a seat in one of the two easy chairs near the window. The drapes had been drawn, adding to the warm, relaxed feel. He experienced an overwhelming urge to go to her, hold her and soothe her nerves. Reminding himself the disclosures of this strange day and their tense relationship really did not allow for that sort of interaction, he stayed put.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I did an internet search this afternoon, looking for the arrangement of flowers that were sent to Carla and me. I couldn’t find anywhere that sold them, couldn’t even find a picture of a similar arrangement. I even called every flower store I could find and drew a blank at all of them. So what are the chances that Moreton just happened to choose an office across the street from the very shop that does sell that arrangement?”
She had a point. Hell, it was a good point. This was getting surreal. Cameron tried to inject a note of caution into the conversation. “Just because coincidences don’t come along often, doesn’t mean they never happen. And, until we speak to the owner of that flower store tomorrow, we don’t know enough about that particular arrangement.”
Laurie’s look told him she didn’t think much of that theory. “Before he was killed, Moreton said he needed to tell me all of it. He said he’d explain while we were on our way to the airport. Obviously, he never got a chance to do that. When I showed him my laptop with the pictures of the missing women, I got the feeling he wasn’t surprised by what I was saying. If he chose that office because he knew about the flowers, that means he already knew about the murders. Right?”
“Riiight.” Cameron elongated the word, keeping it slightly skeptical. He had a number of questions and comments, but he didn’t want to interrupt Laurie’s thought processes.
She stopped pacing and stopped in front of him. “So what if that was the real reason I was brought here?”
“You just lost me.” He frowned. “I thought you came here to investigate my company? Because the FBI thinks Delaney Transportation is the cover for this trafficking network you told me about.”
Laurie came to sit on the chair opposite him, leaning forward so their knees were almost touching. “Don’t you see? If Moreton was investigating these murders, and he saw the similarity between me and Carla, then he discovered our relationship, he would have wanted to get me in here using any pretense he could. And he knew I wouldn’t say no once I discovered that Carla was my cousin.”
“You mean he wanted to use you as bait?” The idea was so outrageous, Cameron couldn’t help feeling incensed by it.
“Even if he wanted to, there is no way the Bureau would have allowed it. Moreton was a seasoned investigator, so he’d have known that. Which meant he had to find another reason to get me here. When the allegations against Delaney Transportation surfaced, he must have seized on it as the perfect opportunity. So he set up the undercover operation, with my role being to get close to you, to find out about the trafficking operation—”
“When all the while it was really to attract the killer?”
“Yes!” Her eyes sparkled with triumph at the realization he was finally following her line of thinking.
“My God.” Cameron slumped back in his chair. “So he set up this whole thing, pretending you had been sent here to get close to me, knowing all the while Carla’s killer would immediately see the likeness and be attracted to you. Would Moreton really have taken a risk like that with your safety?”
“Not ordinarily. Which leads me to another conclusion... I think Moreton must have known who the killer was.”
* * *
“I need a drink.” Cameron went to the minibar fridge and took out a bottle of beer. Without asking, he poured a glass of white wine for Laurie and carried it over to her.
She accepted it gratefully. “I’m not explaining myself very well, am I?”
“No,” he agreed. The new warmth in his smile took any sting out of the denial. “What makes you think Moreton already knew who the killer was?”
“I just don’t think Moreton would have risked my safety on an unknown. This was already wildly out of character for him. He was usually so careful to play things by the book. But imagine how it must have felt to know there was a killer out there, and more than that—to know who he was—yet no one else was prepared to do anything about it. Moreton was a stickler for detail. He chose that office deliberately. He did it so he could watch the flower store, see the killer coming and going and know exactly when he ordered the next arrangement of flowers. Moreton wasn’t undertaking an investigation...he was confirming something he already knew. He was using me to flush this guy out.” She took a sip of her wine, sadness washing over her. “He just didn’t count on the killer being one step ahead of him.”
