Later, in his office, Luke swung around in his swivel desk chair and slapped his hands over his knees. Seeing Kate wasn’t smart, but Jenkins couldn’t take Randy to his mother’s store, and all other officers were busy. Strange was free, but Randy would rather spend the night alone down in that dark basement than go anyplace with Axel. He’d have to do it himself.
With Randy beside him, he reached for the door of Kate’s bookstore and stopped. Gashes around the lock suggested that someone had attempted to open the door without a key. He didn’t want to alarm the boy. Without mentioning it, he opened the door and went in.
To his disgust, Axel’s jacket lay on the arm of the sofa that faced the cashier. He looked around and spied his deputy on his knees shelving books. At five-thirty in the afternoon, the man could do as he liked, for the office had closed. He could only ignore him.
“Sorry, Luke,” Kate whispered. “I asked him to leave that for Randy, but…well, you know him better than I do.”
Randy was less charitable. “Why can’t he open his own bookstore?” Randy asked her. “Mom, tell him to stay out of here.”
At least the boy’s honest, Luke thought.
“We’ve had this conversation before, Randy, so please don’t persist, and don’t be rude.”
“How are you, Kate?” he asked as Randy left them to go into his mother’s office.
Though obviously surprised, she let him know her pleasure at seeing him. “I’m making it.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That all? Say, looks as if someone tried to jimmy your lock. When did that happen?”
Her eyes widened. “Are you serious? I haven’t noticed a thing. Good Lord, what next?”
He meant his words to comfort her, so he spoke softly. “That lock will hold, so don’t worry. Going to Biddle this weekend?” He hadn’t gone there for the last few weeks, avoiding the temptation that being near her presented.
“I’m planning to,” she said. “I go every weekend, and I’ve missed you.”
A stack of books tumbled over, and he watched Axel deal with them. Something had gone amiss at the party, and Axel felt the need to make amends, but surely he could have found a more dignified way.
At that point, Jessye strolled out of the stockroom and walked over to Axel. “Lieutenant, honey, you’ll break your back. Randy’ll do that.”
Axel rested on his haunches. “In case he doesn’t, I don’t want you to be stuck with it.”
“You’re such a sweetheart.” She turned, and, seeing Luke and Kate for the first time, gaped in embarrassment. “Captain Hickson, I do declare. Honey, you give a girl heart palpitations.”
Hearing her address Luke, Axel stood, got his jacket, and put it on as one would a royal vestment. “Didn’t see you guys.” With his gaze on Kate, he said, “You must have fifty copies of something called Watermelon Time. What’s that book about?”
Luke knew Axel deliberately ignored him, and he couldn’t have been more pleased.
“The book’s about a small-town Southern lynching in the nineteen thirties. That’s my third shipment. It’s very popular.”
“Good evening, Lieutenant,” Luke said, forcing Axel to recognize him.
“Good evening,” Axel replied, his gaze never wavering from Kate. “Why do people keep bringing up that old stuff from sixty years ago?”
In a voice minus inflection, Kate replied, “There must have been ten books published about Thomas Jefferson in the last couple of years. Wonder why people keep bringing up that old stuff from two hundred and fifty years ago?”
Luke let himself smirk, and enjoyed it until his glance caught the expression on Jessye’s face. She’d been making a play for him, but he was used to that, and it hadn’t concerned him. But this woman wanted him, and she had the audacity to wet her lips and gaze at his mouth when he saw her naked desire.
What the devil was going on? Axel stared from Jessye to him, his lips curled into a nasty snarl of hatred. Luke shook his head. Did the man want both women, or had Jessye’s indiscretion aroused Axel’s competitiveness with him? Whatever! He wasn’t going to sweat it.
“I’ll see you this weekend,” he told Kate, letting his hand clasp hers briefly. “And keep that door locked at all times.” With a smile, she could get him completely discombobulated. Unable to resist touching her, he stroked her chin with his right thumb. “Be sure to get there early. I’ll plan a cookout. Okay?”
She nodded. He looked down at her for a moment. “See you.” He couldn’t help glancing in the direction of Jessye and Axel, for he knew they had locked their gazes on Kate and him. He shrugged it off and got out of there.
Chapter 9
“Get up, Mom. I wanna go swimming.” Kate rolled over and looked at her watch. Nine o’clock in the morning. Saturday morning.
“Randy, I’m sleepy. Can’t you find something else to do until I get up?”
“Oh, all right.”
She dragged herself up an hour later, dressed and went into the kitchen. “What did you eat?” she asked Randy.
“Milk and cereal. Now can I go swimming?”
“Seems awfully windy.” She went to the back porch and looked out toward the ocean. “It’s too windy. Too rough out there. Wait till the wind dies down. I’m not going out there now.”
She hadn’t expected him to have a tantrum, but his almost sullen quietness disturbed her. “We’ll go out this afternoon,” she assured him. “So why don’t you go in your room and work on that watercolor until lunch? I’m going to write a letter, and then I’ll paint the woodwork in the kitchen.”
She wrote a short letter to her father, something she did at least once each week. Then she covered the floor with newspaper, put a shower cap on her head, got her work gloves and went to work.
Luke got his lawn furniture out of the garage and carried it around to his back lawn. He loved lying on the old chaise lounge late evenings and nights listening to the water and the night sounds.
He looked out toward the ocean, and stopped cold. Where was Kate? Surely, she wouldn’t allow Randy to swim alone in the ocean, and especially not in windy weather. He looked toward her house, but didn’t see her following the boy. Randy had reached the water. He stared in horror as the boy plunged in and began to swim.
“Of all the knuckleheaded—” He jerked off his belt, emptied his pockets and raced to the water. Where on earth was Randy? Calm now, he told himself. Then he saw him, already too far out, fighting the wind and the tide to get back to the shore. He kicked off his sneakers and dived in, glad he hadn’t eaten because he’d never been able to swim with a full stomach. He swam as fast as he could toward the spot where he’d last seen the boy, pulled himself up and looked around. He didn’t see him.
“Help.” Though faint, the sound was not far away. He turned to his right, swam a few paces, and caught Randy trying to keep his head above the water.
“Do as I tell you, or we’ll both drown.”
It seemed as though hours passed before he got them back to shore. Randy could hardly stand, so he picked him up and carried him home. Not to Kate’s house, but to his. He had a few things to say to that boy, and he didn’t want to be interrupted.
He handed Randy one of his T-shirts. “Go take a shower, dry off and put this on. Then come back here.”
“Yes, sir.”
He washed himself down with the lawn hose, dried off, put on a T-shirt and a pair of Bermuda shorts and waited for Randy.
He didn’t believe the boy had Kate’s permission to swim alone in the Atlantic Ocean, on even the calmest day. Randy’s erratic behavior distressed him. He heated some milk in a saucepan, and made some hot cocoa.
“Drink this,” he said when Randy came into the kitchen. “I’m not going to ask if you had your mother’s permission to do that, because I know you didn’t. If I hadn’t seen you running to the beach, you’d be dead right now. Why do you disobey your mother?”
“I don’t—”
“You’re going to sit here until I’m satis
fied you won’t do anything like that again. Why did you do it?”
“’Cause my daddy said she didn’t know what she was talking about, and he said my Grandpa and Grandma Middleton didn’t think much of her.”
Luke sat down facing Randy. “Your daddy did not tell you that.”
“He told my Mom that. Lots of times.”
“I understand your father got killed test-driving a sports car. Right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You don’t want to hear what I think of daredevils. If he’d used better judgment himself, he’d be alive today. Your daddy said those things to your mother when he was angry. Right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When you get angry with your friends, you say things you don’t mean?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Let’s understand each other. Your mother is an intelligent, clever woman, who is smart enough to take excellent care of you. You owe her obedience and respect. The next time you do a stupid thing like you did today, I may not be around to save you. If you were my own son, I promise you I’d put you across my knee and paddle you, because that’s what you deserve.”
“I’m not going to do anything like that again, Captain Luke. Cross my heart.”
“Fine. Are you going to obey your mother and respect her? If you can’t answer yes, I don’t want anything else to do with you. I mean that, Randy.”
“Yes, sir. I mean, I’m not going to be bad to her anymore. I’m…I’m sorry about everything this morning. And…and thanks for coming and getting me. I was scared.”
“I know you were. Next time, ask your mother.”
“I did, and she told me not to go.”
Luke shook his head. “You learned a tough lesson, and I want you to remember it.”
“Yes, sir. I sure will.”
“Luke! Luke! Have you seen Randy? I can’t find him anywhere.”
Luke opened the screen door. “He’s here. Come on in.”
Shivers coursed through him, and he couldn’t account for his skin’s cold dampness. He walked out into the bright sunlight, hoping to get warm, but he had to lean against the gate to steady himself. He closed his eyes, and the waves headed toward him, huge waves that could pitch him to the bottom, and with him Kate Middleton’s child. He gasped for breath and clung to the gatepost.
Get your act together, he chided himself. It had been close. Close for Randy, and close for him. He couldn’t figure out how he’d done it; he’d never before been in a swift-moving tide, and he couldn’t imagine having swum against one.
Kate stepped out of the house, clearly shaken. He walked toward her with his arms open and she dashed into them, tears flooding her face. “He told me. I could have lost him. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have him.”
When his arms enveloped her, he realized that he needed her as much as she needed him. If he had lost Randy, he didn’t think he could handle it. Tremors seemed to possess her body, and he held her tightly to reassure her and to steady her, and because he needed to protect her.
“It’s all right, baby. He’s safe. And he won’t do it again. Let’s put that behind us. He told you everything, I take it?”
“He said he didn’t remember your swimming back with him, only getting his feet on the shore. He’s still scared.”
“Yeah. And if he knew what I know, he’d stay scared a long time. Why don’t I fix lunch? I’ve got plenty of hot dogs.”
“I can make potato salad.” Her wide bright smile warmed his very soul. He stared down at her, and her soft greenish brown eyes returned his look of longing.
“If I…” No, he couldn’t ask her that. Not now. But one day soon, he’d take her away with him and love her as he longed to do.
“Sweet,” he whispered. “You’re so…so sweet.”
She hugged him closer and kissed his left cheek. “I could be with you like this forever.”
Let Randy worry about who kissed his mother. Besides, the boy owed him one. Several, in fact. He squeezed her to him, so close that air couldn’t penetrate the space between them. “Put your arms around me and kiss me, honey.”
“But Randy—”
“Owes me big-time.” He lowered his head and drank in the sweetness from her parted lips. Her arms tightened around him, but he had to break it off, lest it get out of control, because when she got started, there was no stopping her. He hugged her.
“I don’t want us to be the subject of Amy’s and Randy’s analysis tonight. When does he call her?”
“According to my phone bill, anytime and often.”
“Go get your salad and I’ll roast the franks and warm the buns.”
He watched her walk away, and the rhythmic sway of her hips sent heat flying through him. Yeah. She’d be an armful, all right.
Kate swung around and went back to where Randy sat in his catatonic-like position. Still as a statue. “Come home and get some clothes, Randy. You’re lost in Captain Luke’s shirt.” He sat so motionless and so quiet that she feared he’d become depressed.
“Randy?”
“Mom, can I just stay over here with Captain Luke?”
She examined his face carefully. “Are you feeling all right?”
He nodded. “He almost got killed on account of me.”
Guilt and shock. Not a good combination. She hugged him, and his fierce return stunned her, for he disdained exhibitions of affection.
“You may stay. I’ll bring your clothes over, honey.”
She kissed him on the forehead and looked up into the searing gaze that told her more than Luke had ever said with words. How could he expect her to be immune to his passionate kisses and desire-laden glances and expressions? It no longer mattered that neither of them had wanted to become involved. They were involved, because they cared deeply for each other. If he denied that, she wouldn’t believe him.
Later, after they’d eaten lunch, the ring of Luke’s cell phone interrupted what had been for them a season of bonding, of quiet togetherness. Randy had fallen asleep, and she and Luke sat on the sofa, not speaking, only gazing into each other’s eyes and holding hands. She’d been at peace, had known an unfamiliar tranquility, something with which she’d had such little experience in her marriage.
He answered the phone. “When was that?” After listening for a few seconds, he said, “Yeah. It smells, all right. I know someone who’ll take care of it. I’ll call you in an hour.”
Kate had a premonition that the call concerned her or her store, and she waited to hear what he’d say. Minutes passed, but he didn’t share it with her, and she fought back the anger that threatened to obliterate the bond they had so recently cemented.
“Randy’s asleep, so I’ll carry him over to your place. We’ll get together and make plans for dinner. Maybe a cookout. Okay?”
So he needed privacy for that phone call. She nodded. “I’ll take a nap,” she said, making it easy for him. “This fresh salty air makes me sleepy.”
She tried to shake it off, to push it aside, but anxiety gnawed at her nonetheless. She’d trust him with her life, but she wanted the decisive voice in whatever affected her and her affairs.
Luke paced from one end of his back porch to the other. What did the guy want? Papers? A particular item? Certainly not drugs. The man hadn’t touched the cash register, and hadn’t trashed the store, though he’d obviously gone into Kate’s office and searched her desk. At least they now had a description of him.
He telephoned Rude. “Luke here.” He told him about the break-in at Kate’s store. “See if you can get a line on this guy, Rude. I’ll have my men out, but this fellow is slick.” He gave Rude Cowan’s description of the man. “I think we’re looking for a very ordinary citizen.”
“Or somebody who passes for one. You say he cut the glass?”
“Yeah. It’s being replaced.”
Rude swore softly. “Look, brother, from what you’ve been telling me, the guy you’re looking for probably isn’t black, just made up to
look as if he is. That’s not your ordinary criminal. Too sophisticated.”
“Right. I’ve thought of that, and we’re proceeding as though he could be either. Give me someone I can trust. That guy probably recognizes every detective in the state.”
“Gotcha. Ernie’s your man. Clean as boiled water, and no record.”
“Suppose I meet him at your place Monday at noon. And, Rude, keep a lid on it, please.”
“You bet.”
He had to let Kate know that someone had gotten into her store, but he didn’t want to do that until he could tell her something positive, as well. He phoned Cowan and learned that the glass had been replaced. At least she wouldn’t have to look at a huge hole in the front of her store. He prowled around the house, waiting for suppertime, when he could see her. After all, a man couldn’t chase after a woman every minute like a lovesick teenager. If he wasn’t careful, his feelings for Kate would get out of hand. He laughed.
After supper when Randy had gone to sleep, Kate crossed the narrow strip of lawn to Luke’s house and knocked on his door. She wasn’t going to get mad until he’d had his say. Cavemen had to protect their women from wild animals, but that was eons ago, and most dangerous animals had long since been herded behind fences or hunted to extinction. Luke meant well, but he had no right to withhold information from her about her store, maybe her life.
“Hi, I was just going over to your place.”
How could she remain annoyed when he was trying to protect her?
“It’s safe to leave Randy alone here,” she said. “I’d like to walk along the beach.”
She supposed from his frown that he didn’t like the idea. “Maybe we could save that for tomorrow afternoon. After his experience this morning, Randy might have a nightmare and wake up scared, so let’s stay nearby. I’d as soon sit with you on your back porch and listen to those waves.”
She hadn’t thought of that. His smile told her that the thanks she’d expressed with her eyes had reached him.
Secret Desire Page 16
