For a long moment he stared into her eyes, and Cat fought the urge to look away. She had to face him. Had to show him she was serious...and not let him see through her eyes that her heart broke for everything the two of them couldn’t have.
He shook his head. “No. I don’t understand that at all.” Abruptly, he turned and gunned the engine. “So how do we play this, Sergeant?”
Cat turned. The emphasis on sergeant was heavy with sarcasm. She’d pushed him away for the final time, and once they found the man who killed Sarah, they would go back to years of silence, most likely never speaking to each other again. The final shred of Cat’s heart splintered and broke. Her eyes stung with tears and she blinked them away.
“Ideally, I want Marian and George at the beach before Bennett’s team.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Jay, look at me.”
He turned, his eyes dark with anger.
Cat swallowed and tilted her chin. “I need your help. The chances Marian will go to the beach on my say-so is very unlikely. George, not so much.” She gave a quick smile. “But this is the quickest way we can start looking for that missing money and avoid drawing the attention of whoever’s watching us. Are you happy to talk to her? Convince her to help?”
A little of the anger left his eyes and he turned away. “Yes. I don’t like it, but we need to do this. Their help will make all the difference and keep the watcher with us. I get it.” He blew out a breath. “George usually pops in for a cup of tea and a bun about now. We might be lucky and catch them together.”
His cell phone rang from its hands-free holder and they both turned to the display. It showed “Tessa.” Cat’s gut lurched at the sight of a woman’s name calling Jay. She turned to the side window, detesting the immediate pang in her chest that felt far too much like jealousy. What was the matter with her? He was a free agent. And, after all, she didn’t want to stay here....
“Hi, Tess.”
“Hi, Jay, where are you?” Tess’s voice came through on the loudspeaker.
“Why? What’s up?”
“Do you think you could make a quick detour to the pier? There’s a problem down there between the manager and your accountant.”
“What sort of a problem?”
“From what I can gather between the swearing and general testosterone overload, you signed off some of the profits to the new build on Sandringham and the manager is claiming it was never a done deal.”
“He knows it was. Ring him back—”
“I’ve tried talking to him. He’s not listening.”
Cat started when Jay touched her leg. She turned. His eyes asked the question of what he should do.
“Go,” Cat whispered. “You can come by and pick me up when you’ve finished.”
“Jay?” Tess pressed. “Can I tell the accountant you’re on your way?”
“Sure. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Tess’s sigh of relief sounded over the receiver and Cat smiled when Jay disconnected the call. “I assume that’s your personal assistant?”
“Yep, and the woman who keeps me sane.”
“Hope you pay her well.” Some of the unmerited jealousy seeped from inside the rolling ball of heat behind her rib cage. “A woman to put up with you must be worth her weight in gold.”
“She is, but the one who marries me is going to be worth even more.”
Cat’s heart kicked and she forced a laugh. “God help her.”
“God help you, you mean.”
She tried to look away but he held her with his eyes. They brooked no argument, and undeniable joy churned inside of her, heating her blood with temporary relief from reality, a dream she was in Templeton dating Jay, rediscovering him and contemplating a future with him. If only he knew how much she wanted to dip her toe in that sea of possibility and dive in, the way every other person did when they pursued the rocky road of finding someone to share their life with. Chris and Melinda shot unbidden into her mind.
She released her held breath and reached inside her bag for her phone. “I should ring Chris.”
“Why?”
“I told him I would let him know if the letter helped move things forward.” She smoothed her hands over her skirt.
There was a long silence and Cat’s heart beat out the passing seconds. He clearly considered saying more. She practically heard the cogs of his brain turning and weighing things. She glanced at his hands as they tapped the steering wheel and then down to his thighs. One leg lifted up and down as he bounced it.
“Jay, what’s wrong?”
“We’re busy. I don’t want Chris spoiling your concentration.”
“Why would he?” She frowned. What did Jay know about Chris? The possibility that the two of them might keep in occasional contact hadn’t crossed Cat’s mind until then.
She and her brother were hardly close. They’d very rarely spoken until Jay’s phone call asking her to come to the Cove. While she’d spent the past seven years worrying and cleaning up after Mum, had Chris been talking to Jay? Did he know about Jay’s drug problem?
Did Jay already know about their mother and hadn’t told her?
Panic and humiliation stole the air from her lungs. What if Jay had been waiting for her to raise the subject of her alcoholic mother? He brought the car to a halt outside Marian’s and cut the engine.
“Jay? Why would Chris spoil my concentration? Have you spoken to him?”
He lifted her fisted hand from her lap and twined his fingers through hers. “No, but judging by the look on your face, I need to. I could tell you were upset when you talked to Chris on the phone the other night, and I can tell you’re dreading ringing him again.”
She forced a smile and resisted the urge to pull her hand from his. She sensed he needed the contact and she would not hurt him any more than she already had. “We’re fine.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Heat seared her cheeks. She wasn’t lying...but she wasn’t telling him the truth, either. If she had her way, she never would. The closeness of him and the smell of leather and diesel closed in on her.
“I’m not lying to you. We’re fine, just brother and sister stuff. He works. I work. We don’t see a lot of each other these days.”
“If he’s upsetting you, I want to know about it. I might not have spoken to Chris for years, but I’m pretty sure it would come as no surprise to him that you’re still my number one girl.”
Years. He hadn’t spoken to Chris any more than he had to her. Relief relaxed her shoulders. “There’s nothing wrong.”
He stared. “Are you sure?”
His phone shrilled through the tension and they shot their gazes to the display. Tessa.
“I’ll go. Meet me here when you’ve finished.” Feeling like a complete and utter fraud for deceiving him, Cat leaped from the car, slammed the door and rushed inside the bakery.
* * *
JAY STORMED FROM THE pier and into his car as if a million werewolves were in pursuit. What a waste of time. The funfair and arcade located at the end of Templeton Cove pier was yet another arm of the Garrett family business that Jay was renovating, improving and making a good investment for his siblings and any future Garrett children.
He slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Children. His children, if he had his way. They would be a perfect blend of Cat and him. He was determined not to let her go this time. But he didn’t want to harangue her into staying, eith
er. He wanted her to stay of her own free will. Which meant he needed to pull back and let her take the reins; otherwise, she’d dig her heels in. She had more tenacity in her little finger than most people did in their entire bodies.
He pulled away from the curb and his thoughts filled with her flame-red hair and the smell of her perfume that seemed to linger beneath his nostrils throughout the last hour he was stuck in the middle of a showdown between his pier manager and accountant. The subtle, sexy blend of something flowery and feminine mixed with something sexually raw teased him, goaded him and totally infuriated him as he played mediator between two grown men.
Shaking his head, Jay joined the holiday traffic streaming along the road. It was the first time he’d thought about business since Cat arrived and where it once would have been normal to get things done one way or another, his need to succeed in the business world was diminishing. Instead, the need to fill his life with Cat burgeoned—as did his need to right his wrongs. If he could have Cat and make up for the mistakes he’d made and the people he’d hurt, his life would mean something again.
His smile faltered. The mammoth task of starting to make up things to people felt amazingly more achievable than keeping Cat in the Cove. If she really didn’t want him, he would let her go.
Then why don’t you? How many more times does she have to say she needs to go back?
Jay frowned as he stared ahead. He sensed that her reasons for returning to Reading had very little to do with her personal happiness and until he knew for sure, he couldn’t give up. He hadn’t followed her seven years ago but instead embroiled himself in his own dreams—he wouldn’t blame her if she thought he might do the same again.
Today, his need for her shone supreme and with it the knowledge they had serious work to do with regard to Sarah’s murder and their personal lives, if they stood any chance of a future together. Jay truly believed the pair of them together was what they both wanted. Desire flared in her gaze whenever they were alone. Her body trembled under his fingers when they’d made love...and then were doused when her thoughts turned to home.
Suddenly the desperation to get to Cat increased with every stop and start of the car in the snail-like traffic. If need be, he would relocate to Reading. She needed to understand that. Jay frowned. It would mean leaving behind the carnage of four years of drug-addicted chaos. Would people see his leaving as running away? His entire life before Cat came back had been about atoning for the pain he’d caused his family, his friends and associates of his father’s. If he left, would everyone think he didn’t care?
Jay tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Nothing could be further from the truth. He’d find a way to apologize for the things he’d done, wherever he was. Moving to Reading didn’t mean he was running away, but rather finding the freedom and peace of mind he needed to show his regret as a new and improved man. He would do whatever it took to be with Cat this time.
When he reached Marian’s bakery, Jay parked and haphazardly pointed the key fob over his shoulder to lock it. The bell above the door announced his arrival and when he stepped over the threshold he came to an abrupt standstill.
Cat grinned from ear to ear as she served the customer in front of her. She looked stunning. Breathtaking. Her deep-red hair was caught up in a white hat, her nose lightly powdered with flour, making her enticingly full lips look redder and more provocative than ever. When the customer walked away, Cat’s gaze locked with his, her green eyes widening and cheeks flushing before she looked down at her hands.
Jay’s heart kicked. She was even more beautiful when she was embarrassed.
He cleared his throat and walked closer. “Is this what I think it is?”
She met his eyes and her smile stretched into a grin. “Good morning, sir. Coffee? Full breakfast?”
He laughed and his gaze dropped to the lips that had trailed over his chest, shoulders and neck the night before. “What are you doing?”
She executed a mock curtsy, holding out the hem of the white apron she wore. “I’m working.”
Jay stared as his mind wandered to the soft-porn place of wanting her to bring the apron home so she could wear that, and only that, later on. He swallowed, glancing behind her where Marian was busy issuing orders to her staff.
“I can’t believe she has you working behind the counter,” he whispered. “You do realize you’ve signed up for the summer season, whether you like it or not?”
Before she could respond, Marian turned around and marched toward them, the two oversize oven mitts she wore looking far too much like boxing gloves.
“Oh, here he comes to wreck the day.”
He looked to Cat for support, but she just shrugged. He dragged his gaze from hers and faced the woman who always gave him a harder time than his mother.
“Well, thanks for the cheery welcome.”
“It isn’t a welcome. It’s a warning.” Marian snatched off the gloves and fisted her hands on her hips. “Cat arrived here over an hour ago tossing me questions like I had all day to sit around answering them. No doubt you were off gallivanting around doing something or nothing and left this poor girl to tackle Sarah’s murder by herself.”
He turned to Cat.
She smiled. “I’ve already asked Marian if she thinks she and George are up for a challenge.”
Marian’s small brown eyes shone with excitement. “If there’s something George and I can do to help, we will.”
“George will be here in anytime now.” Cat wiped her hands on a towel. “Then we’ll sit down and work out what we’re going to do.”
“And in the meantime you thought you’d help out?” He quirked an eyebrow.
“Exactly. You’re not the only one who can learn the bakery business from the bottom up, hotshot.”
Marian laughed. “Oh, it sure is good to meet someone who can match that mouth of yours, Jay Garrett. If you two end up in bed...well, people better run for cover.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” His gaze locked with Cat’s.
Marian cleared her throat. “Why don’t the pair of you sit over there and I’ll bring you some coffee while we wait for George?”
Jay watched Marian expertly wrap two loaves in paper for the next customer. “I’ll tell you something about this girl, Jay. She’s been here conducting her investigation and all the while serving my customers like she’s worked here for years. That’s not something to sniff at.”
“I’m sure it isn’t.” He faced Cat once more. “You must be wanting a break. I’ll be over there.”
He walked to the four or five tables set out in the far corner where people could watch the world go by while enjoying a cup of coffee and a slice of one of Marian’s sinful cakes. As Jay waited for Cat to join him, he willed his heart rate to slow. His rush to get back to the bakery hadn’t been just about telling Cat he was willing to leave the Cove, but also fear for her safety.
Yes, she was capable of knocking a guy down, but what if he took her by surprise? What if the killer watched her right now? He noted the numerous familiar faces sipping cups of tea and buttering scones. One or two raised their hands in greeting and he flashed them a returning smile and wave. Danger lurked like an invisible phantom. The sooner they solved this murder, the easier he would breathe.
Whether Bennett was first to catch the son of a bitch or they were, it didn’t matter. Jay just wanted him behind bars. Once they had spoken to Marian and George, he would have no choice but to leave Cat alone again while he
went to his old drug haunts. He didn’t want her anywhere near the places he once considered home and it was time he started doing some investigating of his own. He clenched his fists under the table. Especially if Bennett still suspected him of wrongdoing. He watched Cat exchange a few words with another customer while untying her apron.
He needed to cover the drug area of the investigation pretty damn quick before it occurred to Cat to go there alone when his back was turned. He stared at her. She’d managed to blend seamlessly into yet another role in the name of duty and he could easily imagine her walking straight into one of those filthy neglected places without so much as a blip in her stride.
Yet despite his fear for her, pride burst like a balloon behind his rib cage and a smile tugged at his lips. The sight of her behind the counter when he walked into the shop gave him more relief than he thought humanly possible. The woman was a dynamo. His dynamo—and he wanted her to stay alive.
Cat took the coffees Marian held out to her. When she reached the table, she held out one of the cups to him.
“Here. Black, no sugar. Blame Marian if it’s wrong. Although, she did look incredibly disappointed I didn’t know how you took your coffee. Clearly she thinks I should know such things about you despite being here less than a week.”
He took the coffee and blew across the top. “Hmm, you don’t know that, but you do know I have a birthmark on my butt.”
Her burst of hushed laughter jerked his groin and she glared. “Stop it. Right now.”
Jay grinned as she slid into the seat opposite him, clearly struggling to control her smile.
“We’re here to get things rolling.” She looked at him pointedly. “Once we have Marian and George busy, we’ll go to every place you think we’ll find a lead on any possible drug connection Sarah might have had. But I am still holding out hope that Bennett is wrong about that and Sarah got the money from somewhere else.” She took a sip of her coffee.
Finding Justice Page 19
