“All a little too convenient.”
She stared down at the wrap in her hand, looked over at him, gave a small smile, and said, “That’s what I thought.”
“So why are you here?” he asked.
She studied him, her gaze blank, and then she smiled. “I’m not sure,” she said. “But, when I came out of the hospital, it was instinctive to grab a meal for two. And, when I did, I realized who it was I was supposed to share it with.”
“What is that, like being psychic?”
“Like hell,” she said forcibly. “I don’t know anything about that part of your life, and I don’t really want to know,” she said. “But something is here, andthatmay be something I need to reconsider.”
“An awful lot of somethings you just mentioned,” he said.
She smiled and nodded. “There is, indeed. Don’t know if that’s good or bad though.”
“Don’t think it matters much,” he said, “because you’re still talking in circles.”
She cleaned her plate, stood, and walked to the sink. There she washed her hands, took his empty whiskey glass from the counter, rinsed it out, then filled it with water and took a long drink, while she studied his face. “Maybe so,” she said. “But I didn’t think you were the kind to beat around the bush.”
He got up, repeated her actions exactly, placing his lips where hers had been, and, by the time he’d swallowed a glass of water, with just the counter between them, she walked around and packed up the garbage.
“I can leave though, if you prefer.”
Grabbing her by the shoulders, he spun her around, cupped her face, and kissed her. Almost immediately her arms swept around his neck and held him in a grip that was harder and stronger than he’d ever felt before. Lips locked, it was as if something had been unleashed between them. Their hands were busy, as they pulled out shirttails, unbuttoned buttons, dragged down zippers, and sent clothes flying.
He dragged her backward, down a couple steps to his bedroom, and, by the time they collapsed onto the bed itself, not a stitch of clothes stood between them. The sex was hard, fast, riveting, and nothing short of wild.
Then she collapsed back down again and groaned. “I know we shouldn’t be doing this,” she whispered. He rolled over on top of her and slammed his mouth down over hers. She got the message and pivoted, spinning him over onto his back, where she immediately climbed on top of his already growing erection and rode him, taking them both to the edge of collapse again.
Finally he lay on the sheet beside her. Reaching down, he gripped her fingers with his, lacing their fingers together. “I’m glad you came,” he whispered.
She snuggled close, and, with the lights of Vancouver shining in an odd ethereal array in front of them, she whispered, “So am I.”
Chapter 25
Wednesday Morning
Kate stood onthe side of the commercial street, studying the vehicle near Starbucks. It wasn’t the one she had seen at the pedophile’s house on Monday night. But it was registered to the pedophile named Nico, the owner of the house where they’d found the little girl. Somebody had decided to make sure the pedophile drew his last breath, before he’d face justice for that little girl in his basement. Appeared to be another strangulation of a pedophile. A part of her was furious about that. She wanted to see this guy locked up and treated the same way he had treated those poor kids.
In this case it was a saving grace on the taxpayer’s money and the legal system to have Nico put out of his misery permanently. At least this way, he couldn’t get off on a technicality or do his time and be released again to hurt more kids. He’d already done that. Still, did they have a vigilante trying to take down pedophiles on his own? ’Cause that would never go down well.
At her side, Rodney pulled his coat jacket edges closer together against the Vancouver rain.
“The world is crying today,” she murmured.
“Not for this asshole,” he snapped.
She looked at him and shook her head. “No, but let’s hope he has answers for us.”
“I doubt it,” he said. “We haven’t been lucky yet.”
“We haven’t been lucky,” she said, “because we didn’t know the big picture. But the pieces are coming together.”
“How the hell can you have so much faith in that Simon guy?” he asked abruptly.
She looked at him, shrugged, and said, “I don’t know. All I can tell you is that I do.”
“Well, nobody came up with anything to tie him to the cases,” he said grudgingly. “So Colby’s backed off on Simon being our number one suspect.” Then Rodney gave a snort and said, “Depends on if we can lock down his alibi for last night though.”