When it came time for him to testify, Ellie actually listened to what he had to say rather than simply punching the words into the steno machine. Agent K. O. Duncan was articulate, not easily rattled, meticulous—all things she had ignored before. Those were all qualities she could utilize if there was a chance of finding Jeremy’s killer. Perhaps they could discuss the case over lunch, if she could convince Duncan to meet her. That was a common ground for them, and a good place to start on the road to forging a friendship of sorts. She owed it to him to pick up the proffered flag of truce.
To her surprise, Duncan still hovered around her office when court was adjourned for lunch. He greeted her with an unsure smile when she returned. She noticed his sensuous mouth and the small pale scar on his jaw line.
Ellie shook her head. What was she thinking? Having Kurt around was enough testosterone to handle at one time. She opened her mouth to extend her luncheon invitation, but caught sight of a huge bouquet of flowers sitting on her desk. The sheer beauty of the arrangement took her voice away. Three ivory Casablanca lilies nestled softly within a huge spray of pink, white, and plum colored cymbidium orchids. The effect was as fragrant as it was lovely.
Gasping softly, Ellie reached for the card. For last night…and tonight. XOXO Kurt. Heat rushed to her cheeks. Ellie knew she was as pink as the cymbidiums.
"An admirer?" Duncan loomed in her doorway.
Ellie cleared her throat and stuffed the card back in its envelope. "Something like that."
He laughed lightly. "Judging from your pink cheeks, I’d say it was an important someone."
Probably more important than she wanted to admit to anyone right now, especially to a person she considered the enemy hours before. "One can never tell how these things will turn out. The relationship is…" Hot. Very, very hot. If he walked in the door right now, I’d wrap myself around him. "…new."
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I was wondering if you’d like to grab a sandwich from next door."
She bit back a smile. "I was thinking along the same lines. Actually, Agent Duncan, I’d like to talk to you about something. In private."
Duncan nodded. "Sounds good. My treat. Just tell me what you want and I’ll be back in a few. We can eat and talk here."
Ellie opted for chicken salad, then admired Kurt’s flowers. An island of lilies in a sea of orchids. She traced one velvety petal and smiled. Such a sweet touch, so very thoughtful.
"Looks like someone put out over the weekend. Look at you all tricked out…even a new hairdo."
Ellie jumped at the sound of Susan’s voice. Susan plopped down in the only chair in the room. Her inviting herself in had never bothered Ellie before. But now everything about Susan annoyed her. Her pushiness, her vulgarity, her coarseness. Only Susan could turn a beautiful encounter into something sleazy. Any second now she’d be demanding details.
Susan reached for Kurt’s card.
Ellie snatched it from her grasp. "Some things are private." A blast from the phone interrupted Susan’s indignant response. Ellie smiled when she heard Kurt’s rich, smooth voice.
"I hate to bother you at work, but I wanted to know if you’d got the flowers."
She gave Susan her back as her smile grew. "I did, and I love them. You’re so sweet."
"I still owe you dinner. Tonight?"
"Tonight…and I’ll feed you. By the way, I’m going to a Christmas party on Saturday. I’d love for you to go with me."
"I wouldn’t miss it."
Susan rolled her gaze heavenward as Ellie hung up. "For pity sake, you sound like a hormonal teenager."
Ellie folded her hands before her as she sat behind her desk. "And you sound jealous."
A flip of Susan’s hand dismissed the notion. "Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I be jealous of someone like you?"
Two months of friendship disappeared. Ellie stared at the stranger Susan had become. "I can only surmise Jeremy’s death has affected your judgment. I think it would be best if you left."
The other woman’s frosty glare deepened. Without another word, Susan snatched up her military cover and bolted out of the room, nearly colliding with Duncan in the process.
He juggled the cardboard drink holder and shot a glare toward Susan’s back. "Friend?" he asked as he sat sandwiches and drinks on the edge of Ellie’s desk.
"Not anymore, I’m afraid. She crossed a line she shouldn’t have." Ellie lips tightened with anger. She refused to take it out on Duncan.
"You didn’t say what you wanted to drink so I got ice tea." He set the thirty-two ounce cup with a straw in front of her.
"Perfect." Ellie peeled the paper away from her sandwich with a lack of enthusiasm. The encounter with Susan had soured her stomach.
"Susan, right? Works at the hospital." He scooted closer and tore open a bag of potato chips. "Last name—"
"Bolotnik."
"Yeah, that’s right." He eased the door shut.
Ellie lifted her eyebrows. He had a lot of nerve. "Excuse me, Agent Duncan, but I’d feel more comfortable with the door open. I know the place is nearly deserted with everyone off to lunch and PT, but—"
He smiled, and again she noticed that full lower lip and sensual cast to his mouth.
"We need to talk and I don’t want to be overheard." He dove into his egg salad sandwich while he talked. "A search of Jeremy Forton’s quarters uncovered something strange. We found drug paraphernalia. It gives us every reason to believe he was illegally distributing ketamine."
Ellie rubbed a sudden ache between her eyes. Jeremy had already been busted down to private first class before she was stationed at Twentynine Palms. A search of court-martial records revealed he’d been absent without authority—UA. Now this.
Susan said if there was trouble, Jeremy would find it. Ellie probably should have trusted her initial instincts and not formed a friendship with him. But he was so likeable… and a friend of Susan’s. The two were so close at first they were almost one. They spent every moment of their spare time together. A thought occurred to Ellie. If Jeremy had been distributing ketamine, Susan could be as well.
"Do you suppose that’s what was in the packet I found?" Of course, it was.
"What do you know about Susan Bolotnik?"
She flicked her gaze up to him. So…they suspected Susan, too. Ellie sighed and shoved her food aside. "I met her when I arrived in Twentynine Palms. We formed a friendship. She was always visiting my place. She dates a lot of different men. I always thought she went through them fairly quickly, but then that’s just me. Other than Jeremy, I never met any of them. They dated for a while, then Susan seemed to lose interest in him. As a lover, I mean. They remained friends. I never had a clue either of them were involved in any illegal activity."
"She ever wear a red wig?"
His pale gaze drilled into hers. Panic welled up to Ellie’s throat. All she could do was nod, eyes wide.
Duncan leaned back. "We suspect she’s involved in more than ketamine. A local woman has been sleeping with married Marines, then blackmailing them. We’ve pretty much narrowed our suspect down to her."
And Susan knew it! That’s why she’d insisted on Ellie wearing the red wig. Ellie felt sick. A stab in the back would have hurt just the same. She closed her eyes a moment and took several deep breaths in through her nose then out through her mouth.
"I…I think she might suspect you’re on to her." It shamed her to tell this man how she’d been duped. To his credit, Duncan kept any judgments to himself.
"What makes you think so? Have any suspicious people approached you or tried follow you?"
She thought for a moment, then nodded. "Two men tried to force me to join them at the bar that night I wore the wig. Then on Saturday a strange man came to my door, but he claimed to be looking for my landlady. We also had a peeper Saturday night. My…guest ran after him, but never caught him."
"Just be careful. You’ve drawn the attention of some very nasty people. And I’d stay away from S
usan."
"You don’t have to worry about that, believe me. You can also trust my discretion."
"If I didn’t think I could, I wouldn’t have confided in you." He grabbed his ice tea and tilted the chair onto its back legs. "You need to eat something. You haven’t eaten since yesterday."
"How would you know?" Puzzlement furrowed her brow.
"I…uhm…What I meant to say was that you’re so thin, you look like you don’t eat often enough."
"Are you back to insulting me again? And I would hardly be called thin by anyone’s standards."
"No…honestly. Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything." He righted the chair. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you."
Ellie tucked her arms over her chest. Here it was, the real reason for this sudden truce. "Spit it out."
"I need to purchase a Christmas gift for a very special lady. I don’t want to screw this up. I was hoping you’d help me."
"And you don’t have any female friends to help you?"
"None that will mind their own business."
Ellie relaxed. It seemed innocent enough. And maybe in turn he could help her. She’d love to get Kurt something for Christmas. "All right. How special? Marriage material?"
He gave her a smile that lit up his eyes, giving warmth to the pale blue in a way she’d never seen before. "Oh, yeah. But not an engagement ring. I think a woman should be able to pick out her own diamond. After all, it’s going on her finger forever."
"Well, what do you know, you’re not a Neanderthal after all." She took a healthy bite of her sandwich. "Let me wolf this down and we’ll head over to the Exchange. I’m sure we’ll find something at the jewelry counter. And I could use your help, too."
"For flower man?" He pointed to the bouquet.
"Yes."
"Marriage material?"
Did she dare confide what had crept into her heart? "Very possibly."
"Then I hope I won’t disappoint you."
Fifteen minutes later they hovered over the jewelry display case. Ellie’s choice for Duncan’s lady was easy—an omega necklace with a lovely platinum and gold slide. He didn’t blink at the price, just whipped out his credit card.
Choosing for Kurt wasn’t as effortless and Duncan wasn’t much help. Clothes were out since she didn’t know his size. Books were out because she didn’t know what he liked to read, and heaven knew he had his pick of material at her house. Music, also out. She didn’t have a clue what he preferred.
She was about to give up when they passed the jeweler once more. A 14k gold money clip with matching key ring caught her eye. Both were engraved with an eagle in flight.
"There! That’s it! It’s elegant, masculine, perfect." Just like Kurt.
Duncan offered no opinion. In fact, he was strangely quiet. He slipped her his business card and departed shortly after she’d made her selection, claiming he had to attend a meeting with a DEA agent.
As she hurried back to her office, their earlier discussion weighed her down, too. Susan, Jeremy—both not who they’d seemed. Jeremy was a fool to be involved with drugs. Susan a manipulative opportunist at best. At worst…? It hurt.
Try as she might, the more she thought about it, the more depressed she became. She transcribed her stack of courts-martial cases automatically, paying little attention to what she heard. By the end of the day, not even the promise of Kurt’s company could cheer her up.
Ellie changed out of her uniform into a soft chenille sweater and leggings then stopped long enough at the grocery store near her condo to pick up steaks, potatoes, and salad for dinner. A bottle of Fetzer cabernet topped off her purchase. Kurt deserved a good evening. Cooking for him might even cheer her up. She stood in the checkout line, daydreaming about making love to him. Maybe she’d even entice him into the shower. The idea made her smile.
"Thinking of me?" a voice whispered against her ear.
Ellie whirled around and came face to face with the object of her fantasies. Kurt dropped a quick kiss to her mouth, then held up his own purchase—the same brand of cabernet.
"I guess what they say about great minds is true. So, what’s for dinner?" He peered into her cart. "What? No dessert?" His smile deepened, a white flash framed by his soft beard. "I bet I know what you’ve got planned. Want me to snag a can of whipped cream?"
Ellie laughed. His teasing, his smile, his very presence, dispelled her gloom. He even paid for everything. By the time they parted for their separate vehicles, she felt like she was walking on air. She pulled out her keys and started to sing to herself.
"Ellie, watch out," Kurt shouted.
She spun around and saw a Dodge Ram pickup barreling toward her. All she could do was jump. She landed full force against the trunk of a beat-up blue Nova, bounced, then slammed to the pavement. The bottle of wine exploded beneath her. Tires squealed as the truck tore out of the parking lot.
Kurt skidded to a stop beside her. "Good God, honey, are you all right?"
She couldn’t catch a good breath to answer.
He scooped her into his arms. "Ellie? Answer me!"
Somehow she managed to nod, her voice followed. "Yes, yes."
Footsteps beat a path their way. "Did anyone get the license plate?" The store manager stared at her, eyes wide with horror. "That crazy fool. Did anyone see who it was?"
Other shoppers gathered closer. A crowd had formed.
"We’ve got it covered," Kurt said. "We’ve got it covered." Arms shaking, he pulled her close.
"Someone call the police," the manager shouted.
Ellie twisted Kurt’s shirt beneath her fingers. "Kurt, I think I know what this is about. There’s someone you have to call—Agent Duncan with NCIS. His card’s in my purse. Tell him what just happened. He’ll know what’s going on."
Chapter 12
* * *
How the hell was he supposed to call himself? Kurt struggled for a solution while he watched Ellie adjust her glasses then search through her purse for the business card he’d given her earlier. He had to do something. If she called the number, the cell phone at his waist would blast out a betraying ring. There was no way he could even turn the ringer off without rousing some suspicion.
"Here it is." Hands shaking, she gave him the card.
Kurt slipped it from her fingers. Her palms were scraped, bleeding. It was a wonder her glasses had managed to stay on. Pieces of gravel and trash from the parking lot were embedded in the weave of her oversized black sweater. One shoulder and the back were filthy from her roll over the Nova. The chenille hadn’t withstood the force of her fall—the seams had split. Her black leggings held up a little better. At least they were in one piece. But Kurt bet she had a score of bruises to show for it. A small price to pay, considering she could be dead right now.
"I think I need to sit for a moment." Ellie wrenched open her little car’s door, tossed the remains of their dinner purchases inside, then flopped down. A second later, she hugged the steering wheel and rested her head against it.
Kurt looped his hand over her neck, bent forward, and kissed her temple. "Just rest. I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid the cops. A patrol car just pulled in."
Ellie glanced over her shoulder, then resumed her slumped position. "I suppose they’re just doing their job."
He squatted down. "You said you thought you knew what this was about. If you tell them—"
"No." She pulled her head up. "I can’t explain it to you here. Just call that number and have them meet us at my place." When he still didn’t move, she curled her hand over his arm. "Please, Kurt."
The manager pointed the police car their way. Kurt watched, amazed, as Ellie pulled reserves from somewhere deep inside. She unfolded herself from the Volkswagen and walked slowly to the waiting officer. No one would guess that only seconds before she’d been shaking like a leaf. His throat was choked with pride and admiration. And he was lucky enough to be dating this woman—for now.
He stared at the business card. Hi
s two identities were fast intersecting, soon to collide. Then what?
Taking advantage of her distraction with the officer, Kurt walked around to the other side of her car and phoned Jess.
"Get the license plate?" Jess asked.
The true depth of his involvement hit Kurt square in the chest. Ellie was his focus, not the crime. Not good, not good at all. "No, I…"
Jess made a sound that could have been a choked laugh or a snort of disgust. "I’ll grab Vic, and we’ll meet you at her place." Jess ended the call with no further comment.
Kurt had no excuse and he’d be damned if he’d dredge one up. He’d just have to be more careful from now on. He’d dropped his guard, and Ellie had almost paid the price for his carelessness. As it was, his inattention had lost them the license plate number and description of the driver. He snarled inwardly and vowed vigilance. Her life might depend upon him.
Kurt clipped his phone onto his belt and joined Ellie. She hugged herself against the chill of the darkening sky while the officer took her statement. When Kurt wrapped his arm around her, she pulled it around and tucked herself closer. Together, they stood and let the night wind swirl past. If only their fears could be so easily dispersed.
The stolid officer appraised Kurt from beneath bushy eyebrows. "Boyfriend?"
"Yes," they answered together.
"See anything?"
"Yeah. Some bastard in a truck trying to run her down."
"Hmmm… Miss Severance indicated there were two."
Kurt blinked, then bristled at the cop’s condescending tone. It added to his guilt. "It happened so fast. I was just trying to get to her."
Ellie squeezed his arm, silently begging him to stay calm. "There were two," she repeated. "I got a better look. Kurt was crossing the lot to his own car and couldn’t have seen from his angle."
"And, no, I didn’t get the damned license number," he growled, flushed with irritation and embarrassment.
JUDGING ELLIE Page 16
