Her Mother's Killer (9 page)

He laughed, then sobered. “No more messages.”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Listen, Perry. I’d know if I had gotten a call or a letter.”

“Okay. Make sure you go straight to my house.”

“Bite me.” And she hung up. He knew she would. Thea was a lot of things, but she wasn’t stupid. He knew she would’ve contacted him about the letters. She might have waited longer if he hadn’t found the one today.

As he shut down his computer, he mulled over the case a bit. They were going to sit down and go over the letters tonight, but he dreaded the suspect list. It was twenty years later and many suspects might’ve moved, died…disappeared. It wasn’t going to be easy, and he was going to have to hunt up old Sheriff Dailey for help.

But, he thought with a smile, he was going to have a world-class dinner with a beautiful woman tonight. There was one thing he could take comfort in.

* * * *

Thea moved around the kitchen, preparing a simple meal for the two of them. She wasn’t truly in the mood to cook, but then again, it helped her work off some of her frustration. Duncan wasn’t helping because every time she said something to him, he would just smile and answer whatever question she put to him.

It was pissing her off more.

“So what was the reason for picking you up at your house?”

He flicked her a glance, then looked back at one of her mother’s letters. His lips quirked before he asked, “Do you want me to park in front of your house? Everyone in town would know.”

She huffed out an irritated grunt and grabbed a package of chicken from the fridge. “Who the hell cares?”

“I don’t, but it might get back to Jed.”

Because she knew he was right—and that irritated her even more—she slammed the package down on her counter. “He doesn’t talk to anyone but you.”

“I doubt that very much, especially now that you’re here. Do you really want him to come sniffing around? I thought you wanted him to stay away.”

He hadn’t looked up from reading and she didn’t respond. Thea knew she was perilously close to sounding like a ten year old. Instead, she slid the chicken between some parchment paper and started pounding it with the mallet. She was making so much noise, she didn’t notice that he was standing behind her until he rested his hands on her waist. She stopped mid-pound. Her heartbeat accelerated, the heat in her body transformed from anger to arousal.

“Thea.”

Her breath caught in her throat the moment she heard the gentleness in his voice. Shivers raced down her spine as goose bumps rose across her flesh.

“Everything’s gonna to be fine.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head forward, her chin dropping to her chest.

“I know. It’s…”

He pulled her back against him, using the warmth of his body to calm her. She dropped the mallet she didn’t realize she was holding.

She lifted her head, then leaned it back against his chest. She could feel his heart beating against her back, feel her muscles relax.

“Nothing more is going to go wrong. We’ll find out who is doing this, and who killed your mother and father.”

Tears burned the back of her eyes. She blinked to hold them at bay. He used his hands to turn her to face him, but she stared at his chest. Slipping his knuckle under her chin, he raised her head. His gray eyes were filled with understanding and tenderness. Thea could no longer keep the tears from falling and felt them sliding down her face. Duncan rubbed his thumb over her cheeks then her bottom lip. As he was lowering her head, her cell phone rang, breaking the spell.

She stepped back, bumped into the counter. Duncan held her still, helping her gain her balance and smiled down at her. “Better answer that.”

She nodded and picked up the phone. The moment she saw the number, she silently cursed, but answered it anyway.

Duncan watched the flush gather in her cheeks, but he knew this had nothing to do with arousal and everything to do with anger.

“Jason,” she said, her voice strained. “What do you want?”

She was silent while she listened to the ex. Duncan was so close to her, he could hear the voice murmur on the other end of the line. Even though he wanted to lean closer, try and decipher what that bastard wanted, he stepped away, trying to give himself some time to think. Because he hadn’t been thinking at all.

He settled himself back at the table and reminded himself that the woman was off limits. Didn’t he just tell himself that not two hours earlier? But he had sensed her tension, knew it had more to do with the situation, and not them. She’d been bearing a terrible secret for years and she had looked so vulnerable, so alone. And it had been the wrong move to touch her. It didn’t help as he listened to her argue with her ex, his anger started to build. He was a cop, and as her husband, Jason Warren should have protected her. Instead, he had made her feel as if she were insane, as if there was something wrong with her.

“I’m sorry, Jason. You’ll have to figure it out on your own.” She rolled her eyes. “Listen, you wanted Al’s. You said you could do a better job than I did. It’s not my fault you lost Antonio. And…no, no, Jason. I want nothing to do with that place and nothing to do with you.” She clicked off her phone and tossed it on the counter.

“Problems?”

She picked up the mallet and started beating the hell out of the chicken again. “Not anything I have to worry about.”

The only sound filling the kitchen was her whacking at that chicken. The smell of garlic and tomato, bread baking, everything homey, surrounded him. But the constant
thwack, thwack
 disrupted the cozy feeling.

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

She kept pounding away.

“Thea!”

She looked up at him, irritation burning in her green eyes. “What?”

“Tell me.”

She blew out a breath. “Antonio is fantastic, but he is also loaded with old money. Mom and Dad have a very profitable olive business in Italy, and well, he doesn’t need the work. I trained him myself, so I know he’s good, but Jason pissed him off. He quit without notice.”

“And he thought you could do what?”

“Call Antonio and get him back. Antonio hates Jason.”

“I have a feeling Antonio and I would get along.”

Her lips curved. “You just might. Let me get this finished then we can talk about those,” she said, indicating the letters.

Because he knew there was more to the story, he’d wanted to press her, needed to know why her former chef hated her ex, but she wouldn’t tell him, not yet. He watched her, enjoying the way she moved about the kitchen, humming under her breath—which he was sure she didn’t realize she was doing—as she cooked their meal. Even now as she breaded the chicken and tossed it into the olive oil, his mouth watered, for the woman and her cooking.

With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the letters and pushed aside any thoughts of devouring his reluctant hostess.

* * * *

Thea took a sip of wine as she watched Duncan take another helping of her chicken parmesan.

“That money Jed put out for that fancy culinary school was totally worth it.”

She smiled. “That’s actually one of my mother’s recipes.”

“Your husband must be fat.”

“Ex-husband and no. Jason never really ate my food that much.”

He’d been slurping up some pasta when she said it and he stopped in mid-slurp, his eyes widened in disbelief. He sucked the rest of the spaghetti into his mouth. Then he wiped his mouth. “What the hell is wrong with him?”

Thea shrugged. “He’d eat some of my steak recipes, and a few other 
normal
 recipes, anything 
ethnic
, wasn’t his bag.”

“And he thinks to run your old restaurant?”

“Yeah. And he is welcome to it. I was ready to get rid of it, leave Atlanta. I needed to come home.”

Understanding filled his gaze. It was then she remembered his return to Crocker, the shootout and his hospitalization.

“So, when he said he wanted it, I gave it to him.” She shrugged. “I think more than anything he wanted to piss me off.”

He nodded. “Jed said something like that. Has your ex been calling a lot?”

Frowning, she said, “No. I don’t know the last time I talked to him. It was before I left though.”

“I need you to be honest with me…and yourself.” She nodded. “Do you think he has anything to do with this?” She opened her mouth but he raised a hand. “No, think. He was living in your house where you were storing the letters.”

“No.”

“But he had access, and now he’s calling here.”

“Why? What reason would he have?”

“He wants you back.”

She laughed bitterly. “No. It isn’t that.”

Needing something to keep her hands busy, she picked up her dish and went to clean it off. She couldn’t face him and tell him about the train wreck of her marriage. Talking about it didn’t hurt her as it once did, now it shamed her that she had been such an idiot.

“Our divorce decree said irreconcilable differences, but there was more to it than that. Jason…had a thing for blondes, especially those with particular assets.” Knowing she was being a coward, she turned to face him. His expression was blank. “That was his alibi the night I got run off the road. He was with one of his girlfriends.”

“Thea…I didn’t know, Jed didn’t say anything.”

“Jed doesn’t know all of it. There are some things a sister doesn’t want to tell her brother. Especially one trained to kill.”

“That I understand, but…still, do you think he’s behind it? Even the worst cop would want to investigate a threat like this.”

“No way. It isn’t his style. This took planning, years. Jason gets bored easily. Do you want to talk about the letters tonight?”

He nodded and rose from his chair. “Since you cooked, I’ll clean up.”

She smiled. “Well, I have to say your mama did teach you some manners.”

“Of course she did. It’s just that most of the time I forget to follow them.”

“I’ll take a quick shower and meet you back down here.”

He nodded and she headed up the stairs, wanting—needing—some time alone. Her head was buzzing, her body humming. Just being in the same room with Duncan had her hormones dancing.

After stripping out of her clothes, she stepped into the hot shower, thinking of his body against hers, the need that had welled up so hard and fast she almost lost control right there and then. She wanted to feel his skin next to hers and she would have happily stripped down and had sex there in the kitchen.

Not that she would have objected, but…there was something different about him tonight. Yes he had offered her comfort, but it had been strained, reserved. Apparently, Sheriff Perry had a change of heart. With a sigh, she pushed the depressing thought away and got back to her shower. She didn’t need him, or the complications he would bring. Although, she was pretty sure he might just be worth the trouble.

* * * *

Duncan lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. After going over the letters, and any of her memories from that time, Thea had headed upstairs. She’d been yawning by the time they were done, and he hadn’t missed the dark bruising beneath her eyes. She needed rest, and he had a feeling she hadn’t been getting any. He needed sleep as much as she did. But three hours later, he still lay awake.

He couldn’t let go of everything she had told him, of the resigned acceptance he’d heard in her voice when she spoke of her marriage. Or, of that moment in the kitchen when she had leaned back into him, the feel of her against him… Lord she had felt right. He had to keep his hands off her, and he had to get the job done. He would probably die from the lack of blood in his brain, but he would do it. There was no way he could protect her if he were more involved with her. It was already bad enough. Knowing she was just feet away…it was driving him crazy. He sat up and speared his fingers through his hair in frustration. With an irritated grunt, Duncan shoved the sheets off of him and slipped from the bed. He figured a cold shower might wake him up, but it would definitely kill the arousal he had coursing through him at the moment.

He searched for a pair of jeans and pulled them on. Padding barefoot, he walked to the door. He’d just stepped into the hall when Thea’s scream stopped him in his tracks.

Chapter Eight

Duncan ran down the hall to Thea’s room, his heart damn near beating out of his chest and terror coursing through his veins. In the short time it took to get to her room, he remonstrated with himself. 
How had someone gotten in?
 He should have stayed up, double-checked the locks…

Without trying the doorknob, he kicked open the door and rushed inside. His heart leapt to his throat as he scanned the room and found Thea laying on her bed, thrashing about. He reached the side of the bed in two huge steps and drew in a calming breath. She was having a nightmare, no one was hurting her.