“Now we can pretend to sleep and not notice each other,” Wyatt mumbled.
Just like that, he eased the tension rising in her body. The heat was there, too, of course, but it actually helped to get everything out in the open. They were attracted to each other, and they shouldn’t be.
Lyla closed her eyes, praying for sleep, since she was past the point of exhaustion, but barely a minute had gone by before the phone rang. Not Wyatt’s.
Hers.
Wyatt scrambled across the bed, and they looked at the screen together. Unknown caller.
Not a good sign.
“Answer it on speaker,” Wyatt instructed, and he turned on his own phone’s recorder function.
Lyla waited until he had his phone right against hers before she hit the answer button.
“Lyla,” the man said, his voice practically echoing through the room. “You’ve probably been waiting to hear from me.”
Wyatt and she exchanged glances, and there was just enough light filtering from the windows that she could see the lift of his right eyebrow, no doubt asking her if she recognized the voice. But she had to shake her head.
This was a stranger.
Or perhaps one of the hired guns. She hadn’t heard either of them speak, so she couldn’t tell if this was one of them or not.
“Who are you?” Lyla asked.
“My name’s not important. The only thing that’s important is for you to listen. Did you really think marrying Wyatt McCabe would stop me?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she answered.
“Sure you do. You married him to get yourself taken off the case.”
“We got married because we’re in love,” Wyatt lied.
The caller made a
yeah right
sound. “Well, you and your new bride have a decision to make. Except, it’s not really a decision. Lyla still has access to the crime lab and all the files on the Webb murder investigation.”
It wasn’t a question. “My marriage to Wyatt will disqualify me from working that case.”
“I don’t want you to work it. I want you to remove anything that implicates an accomplice.
Any accomplice,
” he emphasized.
“Why?” Lyla demanded. “From what I can tell, the evidence doesn’t point to a clear-cut suspect, and who knows, there could be something in the case files to establish your innocence. If you’re innocent, that is.”
“Since you’re likely recording this, I’ll neither confirm nor deny that. But since you’re recording this, it means there’ll be no misunderstandings about what you’re to do. Only keep evidence that proves Sarah Webb acted alone when she murdered her abusive husband. Destroy everything else.”
Her heart rate doubled. Wyatt had been right about someone wanting her to tamper with the evidence. But Wyatt had thought their marriage would prevent that from happening. Not according to the caller, though.
“And if we choose not to break the law?” Wyatt snarled.
“That’s easy. You’ll both die.”
And with that, the man hung up.
* * *
W
YATT
COULD
FEEL
the throbbing in his head before he was even fully awake. He blamed that on the hour or two—at most—of sleep that he’d managed to get after Lyla’s and his lives had been threatened.
These continued threats riled him to the core. But there’d been nothing he or his brothers could do to end this latest one, since there was no way to trace a call made from a disposable or burner phone.
Declan had the recording—Wyatt had given it to him the night before after the last call—and Declan would use it to try to get a voice match, but Wyatt figured that it hadn’t been their would-be killer on the phone.
No way.
He would have used a peon for that call so that his voice wouldn’t be recognized.
Wyatt forced his eyes open and came face-to-face with a sleeping Lyla. She was close to him.
Very
close. She was on her side, her left leg slung over his. Her leg was bare, and the new position hiked up her T-shirt so he could see her panties.
Pink.
He hadn’t taken her for the girlie-underwear type, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered what she was wearing. She could have had on granny panties, and his body would have still reacted. And he reacted, all right.
He went rock hard.
Great. Just what he didn’t need this morning.
He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was barely six, but he needed to get up and check for updates on the case. Wyatt inched away from her. Or that was what he planned to do, but the slight movement must have startled her.
Her eyes flew open.
And suddenly he was looking right into all those shades of brown.
“Oh,” she mumbled as if remembering where she was. But she didn’t back away. Lyla just lay there with her leg still positioned over his.
As the seconds crawled by.
Wyatt couldn’t be sure what she was thinking. However, it was pretty clear what was on his mind, and her gaze drifted in the direction of his erection, which was now pressed against her stomach.
She opened her mouth as if she might say something, but she clearly changed her mind. Wyatt changed his, too. A couple of times.
Should he kiss her? Should he do the smart thing? Smart would be, well, smart. But he decided to go the stupid route and kiss her anyway.
Wyatt slid his hand around the back of her neck, pulled her closer and put his mouth on hers. He didn’t push things by deepening the kiss, figuring Lyla would stop this. And maybe slap him straight into the next county.
But she didn’t.
No stopping.
Definitely no slap.
He remained firmly in the county, pressed against her and kissing her.
She made a sound of pure pleasure. A pink girlie sound that went through him like a lightning bolt. And Wyatt put that fire and heat into the next kiss.
Oh, man. She tasted good. Not like morning, but like something forbidden and hot. Which she was. His mouth didn’t let him forget that, and neither did the rest of his reckless body.
He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss even more. Deepening everything else, as well, since her leg had stayed on top of his, and the new position put his erection right against those pink panties.
Not good.
Because he already had some raunchy thoughts. Morning sex was usually the best. But sadly, he didn’t think time of day had anything to do with it. He just needed Lyla badly, and he did some bad things because of that need.
He ran his hand between them and under her shirt. Touching her. On her stomach and then making his way up to her breasts. No bra. Just his bare hand on her bare skin, which was warm and well past inviting.
The kiss continued. So did the touching, but Wyatt wasn’t the only one playing this game. Lyla touched, too. Her hand sliding over his chest. Her finger, easing through his chest hair. He’d never considered that a sensitive spot on his body, but he had to rethink it. Her touch was fanning the flames and making him crazy.
She made that sound again. A silky moan of pleasure mixed with some surprise.
Yeah, he was surprised, too.
Surprised this was turning into full-blown foreplay. Surprised that it felt far better than it should have.
And it was that last thought that kicked him in the head and caused him to back off and think. They couldn’t keep this up. Not with so little clothing between them, a good bed and semisleepy brains. It was a perfect storm for what would be great sex.
That both of them would regret.
It wouldn’t take long for that regret to set in, and Wyatt tried to focus just on that. And not on what would almost certainly be the pure pleasure leading up to the regret.
Her breath was gusting now, and she was staring at him as if trying to figure out what to say or do. She started to defuse things by slipping her leg away from his. That helped a little, but her scent was still on him, and he could still feel the sensation of his fingers touching her.
“Sorry.” Lyla had to clear her throat and repeat it for the word to have sound. “It’s the pregnancy. My hormones are all messed up.”
Wyatt glanced at her tightened nipples, which were highly visible with the cotton shirt pressed against them. “Hormones caused that?”
“And you.” She added some mumbled profanity. “That’s not a compliment. I’m always attracted to the wrong man. Two failed engagements prove that.”
It stung a little to hear himself called the wrong man. Even if it was the truth. But the rest of what she said wasn’t true at all.
“I think the only thing your two failed engagements prove is that you were smart enough to end things before they went too far.”
Of course, here she was married to him. Temporarily anyway. But in her mind, things had probably already gone too far in a really bad direction. That’s why she’d lumped him in there with the two other wrong men.
Wyatt suddenly wanted to punch both of those men.
And he didn’t know why.
There was just a lot of dangerous energy simmering inside him, and he didn’t know where to aim it. He definitely couldn’t aim it at another make-out session with Lyla, because this time he might not have the willpower to pull away from her.
“What about you?” she asked. “Other than your late wife, have you had any serious relationships?” But she frowned, moved away and pulled the covers over her. “Don’t answer that. A few kisses don’t obligate you to tell me your life story.”
No, but it felt as though they did. If not his life story, he wanted to share something with her. “I haven’t been involved with anyone long-term since Ann.”
Her chin came down a fraction. Her eyebrows came up. “If that’s true, it’s not for lack of opportunities.”
He thought maybe that was a compliment to offset the wrong-man zinger. “There have been opportunities,” Wyatt admitted. “But I gave up casual sex about the same time I grew chest hair.”
She laughed. It was smoky and thick, and it slid through him just as fast as the fire from that kiss. Still smiling, she climbed off the bed and started for the bathroom, but she came to a quick stop.
And glanced at the front of his boxers.
“Need a cold shower, or can I go first in the bathroom?” she asked.
“Go ahead.”
Once she was out of his sight, his other
problem
might take care of itself. And if that didn’t work, his conversation with Declan was sure to do the trick. Because by now Declan had no doubt set up the interviews with their suspects. In a few hours, Wyatt would need to face down the person who wanted Lyla and him dead. That was a surefire way to kill some of these lustful urges.
He hoped.
So far, nothing else was working.
Wyatt got up, grabbed a pair of jeans from his closet and pulled them on. A shirt, too. Best not to be half-naked when Lyla returned. But before he could even zip up, his phone rang. Probably one of his brothers, but considering the hour—and the fact that all but Declan thought he was on his honeymoon—this was no doubt something important related to the investigation.
Maybe they’d gotten lucky and the bomber had been caught. While Wyatt was wishing and hoping, he added that maybe this idiot who’d set the bomb had made a full confession so that the danger would be over.
But it wasn’t one of his brothers’ names on the phone screen. It was his boss, Saul Warner. Hell. Was Saul calling to say he was on the way to arrest him?
“We got a big problem,” Saul greeted before Wyatt could even say a word.
“What’s wrong?” And Wyatt wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer. He was sick and tired of bad news, and especially bad news that put Lyla in more danger.
“Wyatt, there’s been another murder.”
Chapter Nine
Lyla followed Wyatt down the stairs while he continued his latest call, this one to the medical examiner. There’d been a flurry of them since his boss had phoned to tell him the bad news.
That Sarah Webb had been murdered.
The news hadn’t just shocked Lyla, it had terrified her. This wasn’t some bomb set to destroy evidence in an abandoned building. Sarah had been murdered while in a coma in her hospital bed. A place most people considered safe, but obviously the killer had gotten to her.
And silenced her for good.
Since Sarah had confessed to murdering her husband—along with having an accomplice—that information was now dead along with her.
“We must be close to learning the truth,” Wyatt said when he finished his call. He shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Or the killer wouldn’t have murdered Sarah.”
True. Plus, Billy had said that Sarah appeared to be coming out of the coma. Her accomplice wouldn’t have wanted that if he or she thought that Sarah would implicate them in the murder. The penalty for assisting in a murder was the same as doing the act itself. So, the accomplice was looking at a life sentence, or maybe even the death penalty if premeditation could be proven.
“Does this rule out Billy?” Lyla asked. “Because I don’t see him killing his own mother, and I don’t see Sarah naming him as her accomplice.”
Wyatt made a sound of agreement and continued toward the back of the house. “But that doesn’t get the others off the hook.”
No. In fact, it made their three suspects, Sheriff Zeke Mercer, Greg Hester and Travis Weston, look even guiltier.
Of course, the same could be said for Wyatt’s family.
And speaking of family, Lyla hadn’t expected to find them all there in the massive eat-in kitchen.
They were everywhere.
At the table. The stove. Leaning against the counters. Even though they all seemed to be doing something, they all stopped and turned to look at Wyatt and her. It didn’t take long for a collective hush to settle over the room.
A long hush.
Since Declan was the only one who knew the marriage was a sham, they were probably all thinking that either Wyatt had lost his mind or she’d somehow trapped him. After all, she couldn’t be his usual type. They were probably used to him bringing home beauty queens and model types.
Lyla resisted the urge to make sure her ponytail and clothes were straight, but she wished she’d at least put on some makeup.
“Anything on the caller who threatened Lyla?” Wyatt asked Declan.
“Nothing.” Declan made an uneasy glance around the room, as if bracing himself for someone to demand to know more about the marriage. When no one did, Declan cleared his throat and continued. “There’s nothing in his voice or the background noise to indicate who he is or where he was when he made the call.”
“You’ll have to excuse our manners, but this is how crazy things get in the middle of an investigation,” a very pregnant blonde said, walking toward Lyla. The woman hugged her. “Welcome to the family. I’m Joelle.” She tipped her head to the lanky dark-haired man on one of the bar stools, who was talking on his phone. “Married to Dallas.”
Wyatt continued the introductions from there. “Everyone, in case you haven’t heard, this is Lyla, my wife.” He hooked his arm around her as if remembering at the last minute they were playing the part of honeymooners.
There were several more moments of pin-dropping silence. A few odd looks, too. Even a whisper between one of the couples. Then, the chatter and activity continued as if a marriage announcement wasn’t that unusual.
And maybe it wasn’t.
Because Stella was the only one in the room who wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
Stella took a skillet of sizzling bacon off the stove and came over to give her a hug, too. “That’s Harlan and Caitlyn,” she said, pointing to the couple at the table. The woman was also pregnant and sitting so close to her husband that she was practically in his lap. They both added a welcome after looking up from papers they were studying.
“That’s Lenora and Clayton,” Stella continued. “And their precious little boy, Clay, Jr.” She motioned toward the woman helping her in the kitchen and then to the man seated at the table next to Declan. Clayton was holding a sleeping baby only a few months old on his lap, and he glanced up from his computer, mumbled a welcome.
Declan managed a smile when he looked at Lyla. Forced, no doubt. And brief. He put his attention back on the laptop screen positioned in front of him.
“That’s Kirby.” And Stella’s smile was genuine when her attention landed on the man in the wheelchair at the head of the table. Even though it was obvious that the man was recovering from a serious illness, he didn’t look nearly as weak as Lyla had imagined he’d be.
“Welcome,” Kirby greeted. He, too, had some papers on the table. “Wish it were under better circumstances. Still, we’ll have time to celebrate soon.”
Yes, soon, if they managed to identify and catch this killer. And after that, there’d be no need to celebrate the marriage, because Wyatt and she would be able to either tell them the truth or get an annulment. First, though, they had to stop kissing and doing other things that would lead to sex. Because even though she had no legal training, Lyla was pretty sure that sex would nix an annulment.
It would certainly make it harder for her to walk away from Wyatt, too.
“Slade, his wife, Maya, and their two boys will be here soon,” Joelle finished. “And Declan’s fiancée, Eden, is in her office, working. She’s a P.I. and is trying to use her contacts to get a lead on the gunman Nicky Garnett.”
Joelle leaned in closer to Lyla. “Bet you’re wondering how we all fit in this room, huh? Especially with all the babies and pregnant bellies?”
Even though Joelle probably meant it as a joke, it had crossed Lyla’s mind. This massive dose of
family
was past being overwhelming, especially since she’d been an only child, and her parents had passed away a few years earlier.
“You okay?” Wyatt whispered to Lyla the moment Joelle stepped away to join her husband at the breakfast bar. “You’re looking a little pale.”
“I’m okay,” she lied. And she prayed the smell of that bacon didn’t trigger a bout of morning sickness. That would add another level of discomfort to this family gathering, and it would be darn hard to explain, since they didn’t know about the pregnancy.
“What about Sarah’s death?” Wyatt asked. “I was trying to talk to the medical examiner earlier, but he was tied up. Do we know yet how she was killed?”
Declan scrubbed his hand over his face. “No marks on her body, but something was injected into her IV. They’re examining it now.”
“Looks like it could be snake venom,” Clayton said, reading from his computer screen.
“Sweet heaven,” Lyla said under her breath. Some of the others responded with profanity, including Wyatt.
It was a first for Lyla. In all years of crime scene investigation, she’d never seen a case where snake venom had been used as a murder weapon.
“Once they know specifically what kind of venom was used,” Clayton continued, “then we might be able to find the source.”
True. There weren’t many places in the state where someone could buy it. Of course, the killer could have hired someone else to do the job. If so, there wouldn’t be a record, and judging from the dire expressions on Wyatt’s brothers’ faces, they had already come to that conclusion.
“What’ll you have to start you off? Coffee or tea?” Stella asked in an attempt to change the gruesome conversation.
It might seem too obvious if she asked for milk, something she’d been drinking a lot of lately. “Tea, thanks. Black.” Maybe she could hold that down.
“I’ll get that for you. And if you’re hungry, just help yourself to the bacon and eggs on the stove.”
Lyla smiled. Thanked her. But Lyla knew she wouldn’t be touching anything on the stove.
“Saul just got us the surveillance feed from the hospital,” Declan said, drawing Lyla’s attention back to him. “I’m looking at the hour and a half before Sarah’s murder. Clayton’s looking at the hour and a half after. If we don’t find anything, we’ll widen the time frame. It’s possible her killer sneaked in earlier in the day.”
And it was just as possible that it was a killer they wouldn’t know, since he could be just another hired gun. For that matter, the person could have even used a disguise. She doubted anyone was bold enough to walk into a room and murder a woman when there was a good chance that someone would recognize him.
“Was there a camera outside her room?” Wyatt went for the coffeepot and poured himself a huge cup. He gulped down some, as if it were the cure to the headache he no doubt had. He also snatched a piece of bacon piled high on a platter.
“No camera there,” Clayton answered. “The only ones inside the hospital are in the pharmacy and the emergency room.”
Both places where crimes were the most likely to occur. “What about the exterior?” Lyla asked.
Declan nodded. “And that’s what we’re focusing on now. There are two cameras that cover both the back and front parking lots and all the entrances except for several of the clinic doors on the west side of the building.”
“Anyone can go through those doors?” she pressed.
“No,” Wyatt answered. “But anyone could break into them, especially since Sarah was killed after regular clinic hours.”
Lyla groaned. It wasn’t much of a stretch to believe a killer would also resort to breaking and entering to get to his soon-to-be victim. Added to that, it wouldn’t have been especially hard to conceal a syringe filled with venom. It could easily fit into a pocket, unlike a gun that might be noticed.
Stella brought Lyla a steaming cup of tea, and even though there were empty seats at the table, she stood. Wyatt stayed next to her, though he continued to check his phone for updates while he wolfed down more bacon, which he sandwiched with some toast.
“I’m going over the report from the bombing,” Harlan volunteered. “The bomb squad says it was almost certainly a professional job. They’re hoping once they reconstruct the device, they’ll be able to tell us who made it.”
The bomb’s signature. Lyla wasn’t an expert in the area, but she knew someone who was. She nearly reached for her phone to call him but then remembered she wasn’t in a position to be asking favors from former coworkers. In fact, she wasn’t sure exactly what position she was in when it came to work, but she doubted it was a good one.
“So, what are we gonna do about this caller who threatened Lyla and Wyatt?” Kirby asked.
She looked at Wyatt, even though Lyla already knew the answer. “I won’t tamper with evidence,” she insisted.
“Wouldn’t do any good anyway,” Kirby concluded. “There’s little chance this guy would just let you live afterward. You’d be a deadly loose end for him.”
Mercy. She’d known that, of course, but it was hard to hear it said aloud. It didn’t matter which way she went, she was in danger. And that included this marriage arrangement with Wyatt.
“I figure we’ll just need to keep Lyla safe here at the ranch,” Wyatt explained. “Of course, that means everyone else should stay away just in case.”
Just in case bullets start flying.
Clearly that bothered Joelle, because she snuggled closer to her husband. Even though Dallas was reading something, he idly looped his arm around her and kissed her. The idleness vanished when he looked at her, and he kissed her again.
Lyla quickly glanced away. It was too private a moment. Except, her attention landed on Caitlyn and Harlan, and they were kissing, too.
“Ignore them,” Wyatt whispered, following her gaze. “They’ve had the hots for each other since they were teenagers. Dallas and Joelle, too.”
“What about them?” She tipped her head to Stella and Kirby, and even though they weren’t kissing, Stella had leaned in, her mouth close to Kirby’s ear as she whispered something.
“Them, too.” Wyatt cursed under his breath. “It’s possible we’re the only ones on the ranch not having sex.”
Lyla didn’t dare laugh, because in this case, the truth hurt. Despite all the danger and the trouble that sleeping with him would cause her, her body was still aching from the memory of Wyatt’s kisses.
“You should try to eat,” Wyatt suggested, and he led her into the kitchen. Nothing looked good, and her stomach felt ready to clench at any moment, so she settled for a piece of dry toast that was sitting in the toaster.
“Bingo!” Declan said, getting up from his seat and turning the laptop to face their direction. The others quickly gathered around.
Lyla saw the image that was frozen on the screen, and it appeared to be the back parking lot of the hospital. It was littered with cars, but there was only one person visible in the shot.
A man wearing jeans and a white cowboy hat.
“Sheriff Zeke Mercer,” Wyatt provided. “He was at the hospital.”
Declan nodded. “And from the time stamp on the surveillance, he was there about one hour before Sarah was found dead.”
That meant the former lawman had motive and opportunity. All that was left was the means, and to do that, they’d need to connect him to the snake venom.
“You got Sheriff Mercer,” Harlan said. “Well, I got his business partner, Greg Hester.” He turned the screen toward them, and Lyla saw the short blond-haired man getting into a black car.
“Greg didn’t come with Zeke,” Harlan added. “Because this footage was shot after Sarah had already been found dead.”
“Run the footage,” Wyatt insisted.
Harlan rewound and then hit Play, and it didn’t take her long to see Greg coming out, not through a side entrance but the front. And he wasn’t just walking. He was hurrying. Like a man on the run.
“Hell, what were they both doing there?” Wyatt asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer. “Maybe they were in on it together.”
“Maybe,” Lyla agreed. “But wouldn’t they have known about the security cameras?”
“They haven’t been up in the parking lot that long,” Declan explained. “Just a few months. Before that, there were only cameras in E.R. and the pharmacy.”
She thought about that a moment. “What about Billy? Any sign of him?”