“I’d best get her home and warm her up,” Jake told the officer, none-too-subtly hinting at just how he expected to accomplish the task.
“Sure thing,” the officer said. “Your kids are probably ready for supper, anyway.”
“Exactly,” Ellie said with a nod. Then, glaring up at Jake, she added, “We wouldn’t want the little darlings to go hungry, would we?”
His green eyes darkened slightly. “No one should go hungry,” he fairly purred against her ear.
“What was that for?” she demanded in a harsh whisper as soon as the officer was out of earshot.
“I was ad-libbing,” he answered as he allowed his hand to fall away from her shoulder.
Ellie told herself that the sudden chill was the result of the dropping temperature. It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that he was no longer touching her. After all, she didn’t want him to touch her, not with the same hands that in all likelihood had killed poor Josh.
Jake led her to a sleek Mercedes and held open the door. The interior smelled of leather and it had the feel of newness. It also had the feel of money. As her eyes scanned the elaborate collection of controls on the dashboard, she decided the car must have cost as much as her annual salary.
“Lead on.” He mimicked her earlier words as he slid behind the wheel and started the engine.
Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, Ellie’s brain worked at warp speed. “Uh...you need to head back in the direction of The Rose Tattoo.”
Misty rain accompanied the dusk as he drove back toward town. Ellie cautiously watched him out of the corner of her eye. How could someone so gorgeous be a killer? she wondered. Just her luck. The first really attractive man she meets turns out to be a thief at the very best, a killer at the very worst.
“Still trying to figure out how I did it?”
Ellie’s mouth opened but nothing came out.
He smiled then, an action that she felt all the way down to her toes. The effect was from more than just the attractive combination of dimples and even, white teeth. There was something almost hypnotic in the simple action, something that seemed to draw her to this man like the proverbial moth. Only with this man, Ellie knew with relative certainty that she’d be consumed by the flames.
“I was thinking about the murder,” she hedged.
He nodded, apparently unfazed by the whole situation. “Whoever it was obviously wanted to make sure you were caught at the scene.”
“That’s ridiculous. I don’t have any enemies.”
“Really?” One pale brow arched high on his forehead. “What about that guy at the bar? The one with no neck.”
“Mike has a neck,” she insisted.
“The size of a tree trunk.”
“He works out.”
“With a bottle of steroids?”
“No,” she told him on an exasperated breath. “He has a very stressful job. He works out to release some of the stress.”
“What does he do?”
“He’s a detective.”
Jake let out a low whistle. “So that’s how you know so much about police work.”
“Pretty much,” she said, lowering her eyes to study her hands. “Mike investigates murders, he doesn’t commit them.”
“Unless maybe he bought that little scene you staged with the bartender?”
Ellie shifted in the bucket seat, angling herself so that she could glare at his profile. “That’s crazy. Mike is not the violent type.”
“Really?” Jake asked, almost taunting her as he abruptly swerved over to the curb and threw the car in park. “Then what are these?”
Taking one of her arms, Jake pulled it free of her coat and rolled up her sleeve. Even in the dim light of early evening, she could easily make out the small, roundish bruises where Mike had gripped her arm.
“He doesn’t always realize his own strength,” she said.
Tossing her arm down in obvious disgust, Jake said, “Right. Have you always made excuses for him? Is that why your relationship with that Neanderthal ended?”
Ellie didn’t bother to fix her sleeve, but simply stuffed her balled fist through the armhole of her coat and stiffened in the seat. “My relationship with Mike is hardly any of your business.”
“Excuse me,” Jake grumbled as he pulled back onto the road.
For several minutes the only conversation consisted of Ellie’s minimal directions to take a left or a right. The tension inside the passenger compartment was as thick as the fog slowly settling over the city.
“Turn here,” Ellie instructed. “Stop at the third house.”
“Nice neighborhood.”
“I’ll be sure to tell my brother and his wife that you approve.”
Jake eased the car to a halt in front of the empty driveway. Ellie swallowed her trepidation as she reached for the door handle.
“Aren’t you going to invite me in for a cup of coffee?”
She met his slightly amused eyes. “No. If you can afford to buy a Mercedes, I’d say you can afford to buy your own coffee.”
“Tea?”
“No.”
“Brandy?”
“No.”
“Maybe I could use—”
“No.” Ellie got out of the car and slammed the door before he could think of any other idiotic pretexts under which she would let him inside. It wasn’t that she was inhospitable, she was simply protecting her family.
Calmly she strolled up the flagstone walkway, silently praying the whole way.
She reached the front door and pressed the bell. Her heart was racing as she waited, knowing full well that Jake was still parked at the curb.
The porch light came on and the door opened a small crack. Ellie tilted her head and spoke to the portion of the face visible through the small opening.
“Mrs. Baxter, it’s me, Ellie Tanner, from over on Chestnut Street. Dylan’s sister.”
Chapter Four
The white-haired woman’s face registered surprised recognition as the door was unlatched and pulled completely open.
“What are you doing out in this weather?” she chided. “And you’re soaked through to the bone.”
“I had some trouble with my car,” Ellie explained as she slipped inside the house. It smelled of buttery baked goods and freshly ground cinnamon. “Rentals,” she added with a shrug.
“Do you need to call for a tow?”
Ellie glanced over her shoulder and saw Jake still parked at the curb. She could hear the hum of the idling engine. Knowing she couldn’t very well let him discover where she really lived, Ellie smiled as she reached for the door. “I’m letting in a terrible draft.”
Mrs. Baxter looked at her with kind, gentle eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she began. “How rude of me. Come into the kitchen. I’ve had the oven going since early morning. We’ll have you