Arouse Suspicion (16 page)

Danni nodded.

"I just got here about half an hour ago. If he was using a computer, he left before I came in."

Danni wanted to accuse him of lying but had no reason except for her own prejudice.

"Who was watching the room before you came in?" Nick asked.

"Alex Levin." Gilsen smiled. "He's not a computer geek, but he knows enough about them to help out."

Danni felt like she'd been kicked in the gut. They'd told Alex they were looking for Gary. Why hadn't he mentioned that the kid had been in the computer room?

"Marge told us that anyone who uses a computer has to have their name and address on file. If Gary was in here earlier, Levin should've gotten that information, right?" Nick asked.

Gilsen snapped his fingers. "That's right. Let me check the cards. I'll be right back."

Danni watched him wend his way to a desk at the front of the room. He was stopped by one of the teenagers to answer a question, which he seemed to handle with patience and friendliness.

"He has a car like the one that tailed us, but if he got here half an hour ago, he couldn't have been the one," Nick said quietly.

"Or he's lying."

"Have you considered he might
not
be involved?" Exasperation colored Nick's tone.

"Have you considered he
might
be involved?" Danni fired back.

"Mrs. Countryman said the person at Paddy's that night didn't have dark hair, like Paul's." Nick shifted impatiently. "Damn it. Don't you think we should be questioning Levin? And Sam Richmond?"

"We will," she said reluctantly.

"Fine."

Gilsen plucked an index card out of a box and carried it over to Nick and Danni. "Here."

Danni accepted it with a mumbled thanks. "Gary Otis. 4562 Horner, apartment D," she read aloud. She handed the card to Nick, retrieved a small notebook from her jacket pocket, and jotted down the address.

Nick handed the card back to Gilsen. "Thanks, Paul. We appreciate it."

"No problem."

"Mr. Gilsen," the pink-haired girl called out.

"Be right there." Gilsen gave Danni and Nick a shrug. "Duty calls."

Although she wanted nothing more than to put a few miles between herself and Gilsen, she had another question. "What were you doing here earlier today?"

"Two things. After I read about the shooting in the paper, I wanted to make sure the computers weren't damaged. I also updated the antivirus program. I received a message at work this morning about a new virus and wanted to make sure the computers here were protected against it."

His smarmy smile made Danni's skin crawl, but she managed a civilized nod. "Thanks."

After Nick and Gilsen exchanged handshakes, Danni didn't waste any time making her escape. Outside, Nick unlocked his SUV, and they climbed in.

"Do you know where Horner Street is?" Danni asked.

He nodded as he pulled out of the parking space. "Yes."

His curt reply made Danni wonder if she had tripped a memory land mine. "So, you want to talk about it?"

He shot her a sharp glance. "What?"

"How you know Horner Street."

"I grew up around here. I know all the streets."

"But there's something different about Horner."

He sighed. "That's where Davey lived."

It took Danni a moment to recall where she'd heard the name. "The boy who committed suicide?"

Nick nodded. "He didn't belong here. He was smart and liked to read and learn. He helped me with my homework a few times. If he hadn't killed himself, he could've done something with his life."

"Maybe he couldn't see any other way out of the neighborhood?"

"Maybe. I just wish I'd known."

"If he was determined to do it, you couldn't have stopped him."

Nick gave her a small smile of gratitude.

The address was less than ten minutes from the center, and Nick parked under one of the few unbroken street-lamps. The apartment complex where Gary lived was one signature away from being condemned.

They paused on the sidewalk in front of the crumbling building, and Danni checked her revolver and placed it back in her shoulder holster. "I answered more than a few domestic calls around here when I was on patrol."

"No surprise there," Nick said dryly.

As they approached the entrance, they could hear raised voices and ugly words, then a baby's squall. Despite Danni's less-than-happy memories of dealing with domestic disturbances, she suspected Nick's memories were far more vivid and personal.

The security lock on the entrance was broken, and it appeared to have been that way for years. Nick opened the door, and they entered the fetid-smelling foyer. Not wanting to spend a lot of time there, Danni quickly found apartment D on the second floor. She pounded on the door and heard someone approaching.

"Who's there?" a voice asked.

"That's Gary," Nick whispered to Danni.

"My name's Danni Hawkins. I'm a private—" A loud expletive from inside the apartment interrupted her.

Then came the sound of running feet, more cursing, and odd pounding noises.

Nick shoved a shoulder against the apartment door, and the rotting wood gave way easily. He stumbled inside, and Danni followed, her revolver clutched in her hand.

She rushed toward an open window and stuck her head outside. She spotted someone jumping off the bottom of the fire escape. Her gut told her it was Gary. She tucked her revolver in its holster and used both hands to climb out onto the rusty ladder to give chase.

"Danni!" Nick hollered.

"I'm going after him."

Danni heard Nick shouting at her, but her sole focus was on the boy who might hold the key to her father's death.

She dropped the last four feet to the ground, nearly turning her ankle when she landed on a piece of garbage. She scanned her dim surroundings and heard a clatter of metal to her left. She ran in that direction and spied a shadowy movement in the litter-strewn passageway.

She forced her legs to pump faster. Her vision adjusted to the dimness, and she managed to avoid tripping or stumbling as she chased her quarry. Although she was in good shape, her breathing filled her ears, and her heart thundered against her ribs.

Gary slipped in and out of sight in the darkness, but Danni was gaining on him. She didn't think he had a weapon, or he would've used it. Or maybe he was just waiting until he had a closer target....

Realizing she hadn't seen Gary's bobbing figure in the last thirty seconds, Danni slowed her pace. She came to the corner of an intersecting alley and flattened against the wall. Her heart pounded in her ears, making it difficult to hear anything beyond that and her rapid breathing. Not knowing who or what lay ahead in the darkness, Danni drew her gun.

She peeked around the corner and gasped. A figure loomed directly in front of her.

Chapter Fifteen

Nick tore down the creaky apartment stairs three at a time. Stumbling out of the dilapidated building, he halted on the sidewalk. Scanning one way then the other, he quickly picked a direction and bolted around the corner into the back alley.

"Stick together, she says," he muttered as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Although his tone was furious, Nick's worry outweighed his anger. Gary was obviously guilty of something, or he wouldn't have taken off. If he was involved in murder, he was desperate, and desperate people committed desperate acts. And Danni had gone after him alone.

Fortunately, Nick could take some consolation in the fact she'd been a cop and knew how to defend herself. Still, police procedure was like Ranger regulations in that you always had someone watching your butt, and Danni had broken that number-one rule.

Nick swore as he stumbled and tripped over the debris littering the narrow alley. After a few minutes of following twists and turns, he realized he didn't know where the hell he was, much less where Danni was.

He heard a faint scuffling, and hoped it was Danni and not a stray dog scrounging for dinner. As he moved toward the noise, he searched the shadows for the impulsive woman and the teenager. Nothing.

He tilted his head and recognized the nearly inaudible rustle of cloth. He found himself reverting to his covert training. Controlling his breathing and moving with silent footsteps, he approached the intersecting alley....

And found a gun pointed at his chest.

Before he could react, the weapon's barrel tipped upward.

"Goddammit, Sirocco!" The familiar voice was followed by a resounding palm slap against the brick wall. "I almost blew your head off."

Nick sagged in relief, but then fury coursed through his blood, giving him another dose of adrenaline. "What the hell did you think you were doing, going after him alone? How did you know he wasn't just waiting for you at the bottom of the fire escape with a gun? Or that he wasn't leading you into a trap?" His fists trembled at his sides. "Was all the stuff you spouted about sticking together just a bunch of crap?"

Danni reholstered her revolver and planted her hands on her hips. "I couldn't let him get away. He could be the key."

Nick grabbed her shoulders and barely restrained himself from shaking her. "A lot of good that key would do if he killed you."

"No problem there. He got away." Sarcasm oozed from Danni's voice.

Too frustrated and incensed to be rational, he released her and stamped back along the route he'd come. "Let's get out of here."

"But—"

"Now."

If Danni didn't get her ass in gear and follow him, he was going to throw her over his shoulder and haul her back to Paddy's. Another wave of anger crested through him as he realized she'd managed to turn him into some prehistoric caveman ready to drag her away by her hair.

He was relieved when he heard her footsteps behind him. However, he also heard curses that would've embarrassed seasoned Rangers.

He found where he'd parked his SUV, which fortunately was in one piece, complete with hubcaps. Once he and Danni were in the vehicle, he peeled out onto the street.

Strained silence enveloped them all the way back to

Paddy's house. Danni sat with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, glaring out the windshield. If she glanced at him, he didn't notice.

She had no right being ticked off.
She
was the one who'd acted rashly and ignored her ironclad rule about sticking together. Nick had only gone after her to guard her backside, like she'd insisted they do for each other ever since she'd heard the phone message left by her father.

Braking sharply, Nick parked along the curb in front of the house. Danni reached for the door handle, but he grabbed her wrist before she could escape.

"Don't you ever run off by yourself like that again," he said in a low, menacing tone.

"Or what?"

Her contempt provoked Nick further. "Or I'm going to find Paddy's handcuffs and cuff us together."

She pressed her lips together, and her nostrils flared, but she didn't challenge him.

He released her, and she jumped out of the vehicle. By the time Nick made it to the porch, she had the door open. He followed her inside and snapped the two locks into place after shutting the door behind them.

Gus merely glanced up from her prone position on the living room carpet and thumped her tail once, then closed her eyes. Obviously, she didn't need to go outside.

Danni tossed her jacket on the sofa and climbed the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked.

She paused and glared at him over her shoulder. "To bed. Did you want to come with me?"

Three hours ago the question would've been asked in a playfully seductive voice. Now, however, her tone cut with razor-sharp sarcasm.

He scowled at her. "Damn it, Danni, don't make me the bad guy here. How can we watch out for each other when you go flying off like damned Wonder Woman?"

"He was getting away. I
had
to go after him."

Nick marched to the foot of the stairs and stabbed a forefinger up at her. "And if he'd had a gun or a knife? What then? You'd be hurt or dead."

"Or
he
would've been."

"You don't know that." He struggled to regain his composure. "Losing one Hawkins was hard enough."

Danni's eyes widened, but then stark bitterness filled her features. "Too bad you lost the most important one."

Fury, disbelief, exasperation, and regret swirled through Nick. How could she not realize that her life was just as important to him as her father's had been? In three steps he was beside her on the stairs, and he gripped her shoulders tightly. He wanted to yell at her, but he had no idea what words to use—they all jumbled together with his chaotic feelings.

Instead, he followed his instincts and ground his lips against hers. He tasted a hint of blood—hers or his?—and gentled the bruising kiss. He teased her lips, urging them apart so he could show her how much she meant to him, not because she was Paddy's daughter, but because she was Danni.

Her lips yielded, and a soft moan vibrated in her slender throat as their tongues intertwined. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him impossibly closer.

Only when Nick felt the need for oxygen and a less precarious position than the stairs did he ease away from her. He rested his chin on her head as his pulse and breathing raced. He was gratified to hear Danni struggle to bring her own body back under control.

"It was a stupid thing to say," she whispered, her gaze downcast.

"Yes, it was." Nick kissed her pert nose. "Too many people I've cared about have died. I don't want to lose you, too."

Surprise flashed through her eyes, followed by uncertainty. She took a deep breath and eased away from him to return to the living room. After dropping to the floor to sit cross-legged with her back against the sofa, she bent down to stroke Gus.

Nick rubbed his brow where a headache throbbed and followed Danni down the stairs. He sat on the couch, his leg brushing her shoulder. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She turned her head to cast him a smirk that was marred slightly by her red, swollen lips. "Nah, I'm as tough as I look." She waggled her eyebrows. "It was actually pretty hot."

Nick chuckled. Just when he thought he knew her, she'd throw him a curveball. Did she have any idea how thoroughly exasperating and desirable she was?

He reached out to run his fingers through her thick hair. A silky curl wound around his finger like an affectionate lover. "It
was
pretty hot." He sobered. "But I'm still sorry for losing control like that."

He felt a shudder pass through her. "And I'm sorry for running off like I did. I'm just not used to having a partner."

"And I am?" He kept his voice light as he continued to toy with her soft curls.

"You have Gus."

"Who I keep on a leash."

Danni leaned away from him, and her hair slid through his fingers, leaving them forlorn and empty.

"No way. Cuffs can be kind of sexy, but a leash?" Mischief sparkled in her eyes.

Nick's heart rate quickened. "Do you still have your handcuffs?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She laughed and shifted until her back was resting against Nick's legs.

He leaned back against the sofa, content to merely watch Danni pet Gus. The fear he'd carried since Danni had run off to chase Gary loosened its talons. He hadn't lied about caring for her. In fact, if anything, he'd understated his feelings. Not many people could make him lose control, but she did. In record time. One moment he'd been furious with her, and the next, he'd wanted her with fierce intensity.

The seesaw of emotions frightened him. Was he falling in love with Danni?

He dismissed the possibility immediately. It was a moot point. Danni had made it clear that she wasn't looking for a serious relationship, and he'd be damned if he'd lose his heart to someone who was only interested in sex as a form of recreation.

Danni rose gracefully. "I'm going to the kitchen. Would you like something?"

"No, thanks."

She nodded and walked away.

Gus raised her head to gaze longingly after her. Then the dog sighed and lay back down, which elicited a smile from Nick.

You and me both, Gus.

A familiar beep came from the kitchen, but Nick couldn't understand the subsequent tinny voice on the phone's answering machine. Curious, he went into the kitchen to find Danni punching a number in the phone.

"Who was that?" Nick asked.

"Sam," she replied, obviously listening to the ringing at the other end. "He invited us over for dinner tomorrow evening."

"Good. That'll give us a chance to ask him some questions."

Danni didn't appear happy, but she didn't argue either. They both knew there were too many things that didn't add up for the retired police officer.

"Hi, Sam. It's Danni," she said into the receiver. "Sorry it's so late, but I just got your message. Nick and I would love to come over tomorrow evening."

Nick leaned against a counter and listened to the onesided conversation.

"Six o'clock sounds fine. Is there anything we can bring?" She smiled. "Just ourselves. Right. How's Nancy feeling?" A long pause, then Danni spoke again. "I'm glad to hear it. You tell her to take it easy. She doesn't have to cook anything fancy for us." Another break, and her expression sobered. "I'm looking forward to it. Yep. Good night." She hung up the phone.

"Well?" Nick asked.

"Six o'clock dinner at their place." Danni gazed past him, her eyes unfocused.

"What else?"

She seemed to shake herself. "Sam said he had something for us."

"About Paddy's death? Or Matt's?"

"He didn't say, but I got the impression it might be about both."

"So their deaths are related?"

Danni pressed her lips together and shrugged. "We've been making that assumption. Sam may have evidence either linking them or blowing our theory to hell."

Nick's mind raced, and his mouth followed. "If Sam had something to do with it, he might try to feed us some BS to convince us Paddy and Matt committed suicide so we stop snooping around."

Danni crossed her arms, and a familiar stubborn expression took residence. "No, I don't believe it."

Nick leveled a steady gaze on her, refusing to be drawn into another argument. She was too smart to let her emotions get in the way of the investigation. He just had to let her figure that out for herself.

Finally, Danni closed her eyes and tipped her head back. "God, Nick, I don't
want
to believe it."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged them gently. "I don't either."

"It'll kill Nancy if Sam is involved."

The anguish in her voice made Nick look away in empathy, but one of them had to remain objective. "How about we hope for the best but prepare for the worst?"

Danni cracked open her eyes and a smile played at the comers of her lips. "Spoken like a true Boy Scout."

He snorted. "Hardly. Not where I grew up."

She narrowed her eyes as if examining him under a microscope. "So tell me about yourself, Nick Sirocco."

Her gaze was steady, her expression curious but not morbidly so. Still, it was an ingrained habit to keep his past to himself. Paddy had known the most about his childhood, and much of that he'd surmised from what Nick
didn't
say.

Nick smiled disarmingly. "I grew up in the neighborhood, went to college, spent eight years as an Army Ranger, and the last four as a writer. End of story."

Danni placed her palm over his heart.
"Who
is Nick Sirocco? How did he escape the neighborhood? And don't tell me it was all my father's influence. He saw something in you. What was it?" Her eyes appeared even darker blue, blending seamlessly into her black pupils.

Nick searched for an answer, but only found a memory he'd buried long ago. He stepped away from Danni to cross his arms and stare out the window above the sink. "I wondered that myself. When I was sixteen, before I knew Paddy, he caught me lifting a guy's wallet. He convinced the man not to file charges, but Paddy laid into me about right and wrong. I asked him then why he was wasting his time. You know what he said?"

Danni shook her head.

"He said
I
was the one wasting time, and that if I wanted to end up in prison, I should keep on wasting my time." Nick smiled wryly and slid his hands into his jeans pockets. "But he said if I had higher aspirations than being Bubba's girlfriend, he'd help me. And he did."

"And you climbed out, unlike a lot of kids."

Nick shrugged. "I wasn't the only one. Paul Gilsen got out, and two other guys I knew did, too."

"Did Dad help Paul, too?" Her voice sounded stiff.

Nick recalled those days when all he could think of was escaping his parents, the dealers on the corners, the gangs in the streets, and the pall of hopelessness that hung over the neighborhood. "He spent some time with Paul, but he was more Sam's project than Paddy's."