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  His eyes pinned her in place. The desire she saw there almost made her stop breathing. "I'm good for it," he told her.

  Exhilaration filled her, sharing space with anticipation. "Damn, but you are," she whispered.

  She wore a navy-blue pencil skirt. He had it pushed up above her waist in less than a heartbeat, stripping her of her lace panties in the next moment. The palms of his hands replaced the feel of the whisper-soft material against her flesh. And then his fingers were there instead, slowly massaging her.

  Lila arched, biting her lower lip to keep from crying out as the first volley exploded within her. She felt herself being pushed back until she was flat against the tabletop. And then came the feel of his lips, the flickering, teasing of his tongue as it took the explosion she'd experienced and turned it into a light show that filled every available space with stars and lightning bolts.

  The thrust of his tongue effectively reduced the parameters of her world to the limited space of the rectangular table. And him.

  "Now," she cried with a trace of desperation. "Now."

  Lila had no more words to elaborate, but he knew what she was saying. What she wanted.

  Exactly what he wanted.

  The next moment he was inside her, hard and urgent. The climax that came shook them both down to their very core.

  Lila clung to him long after her peak had leveled off. Clung to him until her breathing had returned to almost normal. The thumping of her heart against her rib cage, however, was going to take longer to dissipate and reach its regular rhythm.

  She had never known it could be like this. Never known that the act of lovemaking could get better rather than slipping into a routine sameness.

  Slowly, very slowly, air was replenished in her lungs. But the room still insisted on spinning around. "I may have the table bronzed."

  She felt his mouth curve against hers, felt his smile before she saw it. "We'll add it to the collection," he told her.

  She knew he was referring to the fact that aside from her bed, they were slowly making love on every flat and semiflat surface in the house, as well as against the wall beside the staircase in the hallway.

  Lila smiled at him. She'd always known deep down that she loved him. But she'd never known the extent or that it was possible to love someone so much that her insides literally ached.

  But saying so would scare him. Men didn't want to hear declarations of love. They were far more into the physical aspects of loving than the ethereal ones. After what he'd been through with Susan, her moods and her ultimate suicide, Lila doubted that Brian would ever truly be willing to leave himself open to love, or welcome it from her.

  So she kept the words to herself. But even so, she felt as if she needed to say something to give him an inkling of what she was feeling.

  She couched it in words as nonthreatening as she could find. "When we make love like this, nothing else matters. Everything else just fades away and I know that whatever's wrong will be okay."

  He didn't quite feel that way. Even though she had him completely wrapped up around her little finger when they made love, once the euphoria faded, the problems he'd been tackling up to that point returned. As unsettling as ever.

  But he didn't want to worry her any more than he sensed she already was. So for the sake of her peace of mind, he said, "Yeah, me, too," and for now allowed it to go at that.

  Lila slid off the table, pulling her skirt back into place. She bent down and picked up her panties, scrunching them up into a ball inside her hand. "You're a lousy liar, Chief Cavanaugh."

  "Yeah, I've been told that," he allowed philosophically. And then his eyes gleamed. "But never by a seminude woman before."

  "I'm not seminude."

  He took her panties from her and held them up. "I rest my case."

  She grinned, as urges began to flood her again. For the second time she wove her arms around his neck, bringing her body up against his.

  Provocatively, she moved her hips against him and saw desire flare in his eyes. "First time for everything."

  His eyes twinkled and he rested his hands on the swell of her moving hips. "How about a second time?"

  Lila ran the tip of her tongue along the outline of her lips. "You're on."

  His eyes swept over her from bottom to top. Lila felt thunder crashing in her chest. "I was hoping this time that you would be."

  Her laughter drifted up the stairs with them.

  * * * * *

  He couldn't stay. Jared was coming over to his house to discuss the assignment he'd given him and tell him what he and the others had or hadn't found. He wished now that he'd told Jared to see him during office hours instead. But the sooner this was resolved, the sooner Lila could go on with her life.

  So reluctantly, a little more than an hour later, Brian took his leave of her. He didn't tell her that he'd asked his sons and niece for help. Instead he told her that there was work he had to catch up on, a promise he'd made to the mayor.

  She surprised him by offering to come back to the precinct with him to help.

  He turned her down. "This is 'chief stuff," he lied, pulling on his slacks while she sat in the bed, bathed in the light from the lamp and nothing more. Stirring him even as he struggled to leave. "Something that involves my eyes only."

  She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You're beginning to sound like a spy."

  "Sometimes I feel like one," he admitted.

  There was a reason for that. A great many security measures that had been implemented since 9/11 had robbed the country of its innocence and sense of invulnerability. He felt guilty hiding behind that and lying to her, but he knew that Lila would balk if she knew that he'd brought someone else—even family—into the investigation. Especially since he hadn't told her anything about that investigation. As far as she knew, the only part he'd played was getting a trace put on her phone. And that seemed to have proven unnecessary since the calls had ceased.

  Lila cocked her head. Her hair dipped sensuously over her breasts. "I can't convince you to stay?"

  If she only knew the power she had over him. He cupped her cheek as he looked down into her face.

  "Lila, you could convince me to shave my head and become a Tibetan monk—as long as my time up there involved you. But I'm hoping that isn't on your agenda."

  "No, no monks. Only you." She caught his arm just as he began to draw away. "Will you come back tonight?"

  He wanted to. God knew he wanted to, but he had a feeling this was going to take a while. He shook his head. "Probably not."

  "I'll keep a light in the window anyway," she promised. Tugging on his arm to get him to bend over, she kissed him one more time, then scrambled out of bed. "Wait, I'll walk you down."

  "No, stay," he told her. "I know my way out and I'd rather remember you just like that." His eyes swept over her and then he winked as he finally tore himself away.

  It was only after she'd heard the front door close, the lock falling into place, that the phone beside her rang.

  Picking the receiver up, she said, "Hello?"

  There was nothing on the other end and she instantly thought it was her night caller. This was earlier than usual, but the way her hair stood up at the back of her neck, she knew she was right. It had to be him.

  She was about to hang up when she thought she heard more than just a sound on the other end of the line. A single word.

  As she jerked the receiver back up, she demanded, "What did you say?"

  "Bitch."

  The word resonated against her ear, as clear as a ringing church bell. Assaulting her and worse than that. It made her feel vulnerable again.

  * * *

  Chapter 10

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  Lila's hand trembled, and that bothered her to no end.

  More than anything, she wanted to slam down the receiver, to break the connection that had brought this ghoul into her house, into her life. But that was exactly the reaction this man wanted: an outward demonstration of h
er fear. She was certain he would feed on her vulnerability. Slamming down the phone was just another way of displaying fear. Of symbolically running away.

  So she held her ground and the receiver. "Why don't you stop playing these cowardly games and tell me who you are?" she demanded in a deadly calm voice. "Tell me what you hope to accomplish with all these soundless calls and playing musical possessions with my things, because I don't have time for guessing games. Unlike you, I have a life."

  In response to her words, she heard a click on the other end of the line. And then the connection went dead. An iciness spread from her fingertips throughout her entire body.

  This had to stop.

  * * * * *

  "Sorry, Dad," Jared apologized as he stood in the kitchen and accepted a bottle of beer from his father. "There are just the usual rumors, nothing more. I talked to Troy and Callie before coming here and they came up against the same dead end." Pausing to take a long swig, he recited exactly what he and the others had heard after several days of discrete inquiries. "Word has it that Ben Mclntyre and his partner were executed by the same guy, a Jose Diaz who was part of the Del Rey Colombian drug cartel."

  "Jose Diaz," Brian echoed. The name meant nothing to him.

  Jared nodded. "Probably their version of John Doe," he theorized. "At any rate, as far as any of us could come up with, nobody else has been bragging that they offed two cops muscling in on the cartel's territory. Or even that there was one cop who paid for trying to rob the cartel."

  After the bust had gone down—and the money went missing—what remained of the cartel seemed to have vanished. "Roberto Del Rey could have had this Jose Diaz do his dirty work for him, then taken back the money and gotten rid of Diaz."

  Jared considered the scenario and saw no reason to challenge it. "As good a working theory as any, I guess," he said with a half shrug. He took another sip before adding, "Why are you asking, anyway? Something new come to light?"

  Brian deliberately kept his answer vague. "No, I just told Lila Mclntyre I'd look into it for her."

  Jared cocked his head, studying his father's face. "She wants her late husband's name cleared?"

  "She wants answers," Brian countered. He didn't like lying, especially not to his family, but he'd given Lila his word that he wouldn't go into detail. It wasn't that he didn't trust Jared to keep things secret. Jared had gone undercover more than once and knew how to keep a vast array of secrets from surfacing. He just didn't feel at liberty to break his word to Lila. At least, not without a damn good reason.

  Jared nodded and seemed genuinely disappointed that he didn't have more information. '"Fraid she's going to have to do without those answers unless something fresh turns up."

  "Tell your brother and cousin I appreciate the time they put in on this."

  "Hey, what's family for?" He was about to say something else when the sound of a ringing cell phone scissored its way between them, cutting the conversation short. Both men automatically checked the devices clipped on their belts. Jared's was dormant. "Yours," he told his father, nodded at his father's cell phone.

  Brian sighed. Now what? Slipping the phone out of its case, he flipped it open and crisply announced his name. "Cavanaugh."

  "Brian, he just called."

  He'd left Lila only a short while ago and he definitely hadn't expected to hear from her so soon. If her phone had rung so quickly after he left, was her house being watched or was it just a coincidence? Moreover, there was more than a little tension in her voice. "Something different about this call?" he asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jared put down his beer, becoming alert.

  "He called me a bitch."

  Anger flared through him so quickly it took him by surprise. He banked it down. "Did you recognize the voice?"

  "Not from just one word." Lila paused, debating saying anything. More than likely, she was just being stupid for even thinking what she was thinking.

  "But?" he prodded.

  She might as well tell him and get it out. "But it sounded like.. .Ben."

  She was overwrought, Brian thought. He should have never left her tonight. "Ben's dead," he reminded her.

  "I know, I know," she said, her tone worn and restless at the same time. "I saw the body." She sighed again, trying to get hold of herself. Of course it hadn't been Ben. How could it? "It's just the strain and maybe some residual guilt."

  The last word caught his attention. "Meaning?"

  Damn, she was unraveling, Lila thought. If she wasn't careful, she was going to drive Brian away. But she was nothing if not honest and she couldn't stop now. "I can't help it. You're the first man I've been with since Ben's murder. The only other man I've ever been with except for Ben." There, he might as well know everything. "A part of me feels like I'm cheating on my vows." In this day and age, he probably thought she was some kind of a throwback. "It's crazy, I know."

  But rather than agree with her assessment, he quietly said, "Me, too."

  Relief flooded through her like welcomed rain after a summer draught. Her knees almost gave way. "Oh, God, you don't know how much better that makes me feel."

  Brian could feel Jared's eyes on him. This wasn't the time to go into any personal details with Lila. "I'll be right over," he promised her.

  She didn't want to drag him back, didn't want to come across like some helpless damsel in distress. That wasn't the image she had of herself.

  But even so, her protest was only halfhearted. "You don't have to—"

  "Yes, I do," he told her firmly. "Don't open the door until I get there."

  The last instruction was entirely unnecessary. "I am a cop, Brian."

  "I know, that's why I'm worried." He knew what she was capable of. God forbid her caller was hanging around and tried to get in. "You're fearless—but not invulnerable. Hang in there."

  After closing his cell phone, he slipped it back into his case. Jared still stood there, patiently eyeing him and waiting.

  "Anything you want me to do?" he asked the moment the connection was broken.

  Right now, the only instructions he had were for the man who had installed the tap on Lila's phone. "Go back to your pregnant wife before she has my head for giving you an off-duty assignment."

  But Jared made no move to leave. "If you need anything—"

  Brian nodded. He appreciated the offer. "I know who to call. Really, Jared, until I can run this down, there isn't anything for you to do."

  He was his father's son and despite efforts to the contrary, his curiosity had been aroused. "That was Lila, wasn't it?" Jared prodded. "Has this got something to do with Ben's death?" Following that line of thinking, he took a further stab at it. "Someone think she has the money that disappeared?"

  God, he hoped not, Brian thought as he walked out of the house. Jared followed in his wake. "I don't know. But, yes, that was Lila. That's all I can tell you for now. And even that you have to keep to yourself," he cautioned.

  "You haven't told me anything yet," Jared pointed out. Brian deactivated the alarm system on his vehicle. "That's not exactly a hard secret to keep."

  Brian opened the door on the passenger side. "Give Maren my love."

  "I gave her mine," Jared quipped. "I think that's what got me into the doghouse in the first place." And then he grinned broadly from ear to ear. "Still can't get used to thinking I'm going to be a father."

  "It'll hit you like a ton of bricks that first night," Brian promised. "Right after you bring the baby home from the hospital."

  Jared put his hand on his father's arm just before Brian slipped into the car. Brian eyed him quizzically. "Call me if you need anything—on or off the record."

  "You'll be the first," Brian told him just before he shut his door.

  * * * * *

  He got to Lila's house in record time. Knocking, he called out her name, announcing himself. When she opened the door, he saw that she'd abandoned her robe and had gotten dressed again.

  "Are you all right?" Even as he asked,
his eyes swept over her. He wanted to ascertain her condition for himself.

  The smile she offered was small and sad, as if she were disappointed in herself. "I'm fine. I feel a little like a wimp, calling you like that."

  "You did the right thing."

  Closing the door behind him and then locking it, Brian took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. It amazed him how easily this had evolved, how comfortable he was, holding her. How well she fit into his arms.

  "And for the record, you feel like a sexy woman, not a wimp." Releasing her, he crossed over to the telephone in the living room. "I contacted Manny Lopez on my way over here." To make ends meet, the man occasionally pulled double duty. Lopez was still at the lab when he'd called. It made things easier. "He was able to get the number of the caller." He heard the small intake of breath even though he knew she was trying to stifle it. "The call was made on one of those disposable phones."

  She made no effort to hide her disappointment. "So we don't know where the call came from."

  "No, but we can still trace the phone's serial number through the server and find out where the phone was bought." It was a good news, bad news type of situation. "I doubt it was bought with a credit card. Whoever purchased it probably paid cash, but if we're lucky," he ended on an up note, "the store'll have a surveillance camera."

  "If we're lucky," she echoed. A lot of stores just put up fake cameras, unwilling to bear the expense of a real surveillance system.

  "Personally—" reaching out, he gently touched her face "—I feel very lucky."

  She laughed softly. If nothing else, this awful ordeal had brought Brian and her back into each others' lives with astonishing results.

  "Yeah, me, too." She paused for a second, then decided she had nothing to lose by asking. "Did you mean what you said earlier?" He looked a tad confused, so she elaborated. "About feeling guilty?"

  He hadn't wanted to dwell on that or to make her feel that making love with her caused him to think of Susan. But they couldn't get away from the fact that he had residual feelings to work out of his system. But he intended to do it alone.