Broken Promises (12 page)

“Jersey, let’s go!” Alex shouted and motioned
for her to hop in.

“I didn’t think he’d find a scent trail so
quickly. I didn’t think he’d find one at all.” Bette gasped and
fastened her seat belt. “Just think. We might really find Jackie
and Cody today.”

“Let’s just see how far this dog can lead us.
Never know. We had a lot of rain yesterday. Scent could play out in
a block or two.”

“Dammit.” Bette all but stamped her foot like
a petulant teen. “Stay positive. This is the most encouraged I’ve
felt since she went missing.”

“Yeah.” Better keep his hands on the wheel
and his mouth shut. Stay calm and cool headed. No point in sending
Bette into another crying jag. Besides, listening to her cry just
about killed him.

Luckily, the early Sunday morning traffic was
minimal. The dog kept a good steady pace until it hit Eastern
Boulevard, then it slowed and cast about as if confused. “It poured
over here yesterday afternoon. Remember?” she said. “Shadow and I
were drenched.”

“Yeah.” Disappointment ground through him
like a buzz saw. Sharp. Painful. He chewed the inside of his jaw to
keep from screaming his frustration. “Knew this’d be a waste of
time.”

She popped him on the shoulder. Apparently,
she didn’t care for the resurgence of his negative attitude. “What
about those gut instincts you secret agents are known for? Get in
his head. Where would
you
take someone?”

“Special agent—not secret agent,” he
corrected with a growl, then pulled to the side of the road and let
the car idle. “I’d take ’em out of town. I’d need privacy.”
So
no one could hear her scream
. He shook his head and squinted.
Being a profiler never appealed to him. Getting inside the heads of
rapists and serial killers was ten degrees of creepy.

Bette glanced toward the hills. “See if Mr.
Rigby will try Duke with either the High Road or the Low Road. In
spite of all the development, there’s still a lot of woods and
hills up there.”

“Yeah, Bristol Mountain. Naples. Wine
country.”

“So…”

Alex called the dog handler over to the car
and explained Bette’s hunch and asked for his indulgence.

“Sure.” The older man sniffed. “Anything for
Dr. Jackie. But you know Naples had two inches of rain yesterday.
Good for grapes but bad for tracking.”

“I know it’s a long shot.” Bette shrugged. “I
wish the trail hadn’t faded so quickly.”

“The police department should’ve called the
Sheriff’s Department or me in sooner.”

“That’s just it. They don’t believe my
sister’s been kidnapped. And now they think she sneaked back and
took her son as well. Getting them to mount an Amber Alert took
some major arm twisting.” He glanced at Bette and acknowledged her
contribution with a quick nod.

“Not like Dr. Jackie at all.” Rigby dug his
forefinger in his ear as if it needed a good cleaning, then shook
his unkempt gray head. “So is it the High Road or the Low?”

“Let’s start with the High Road,” Bette
suggested, then raised an eyebrow in his direction. “Okay?”

“Yeah.” To Alex’s way of thinking, she’d
chosen wisely. The High Road, so called by the locals, was a scenic
branch off Route 21. It ran along the heights of the hills
surrounding the lake and had more than one pullover spot where
someone could look out over the lake. Too bad development was
consuming, one bite at a time, the natural beauty of the area. The
High Road was still less developed than the lower route. “That’s
the way I’d go, if I was of a mind to kidnap someone.”

And dump the body.

No small coincidence they would pass where
his brother’s body had been found near the Bristol Mountain Ski
Resort, if they continued that far. Too many memories lay dead and
buried that way. Doubtful they could find the exact spot now, but
he’d never forget the sheriff coming to the house and how his
adoptive mother had cried. How
he’d
hidden in the garden
shed and cried until his eyes were red and swollen.

“Alex?”

Bette’s hand on his shoulder brought him back
from that awful day. “Sorry. Forgot where I was for a sec.”

He motioned for Rigby and his bloodhound to
get in the backseat. “I’ll take you back to your vehicle, and we’ll
head out.”

~~*~~

He gripped the wheel, his hands set at ten
and two, his jaw clenched so tightly he couldn’t have spoken if
he’d wanted to. With Rigby on their six, they took Route 21 out of
Canandaigua, then passed through Cheshire before they hit the
scenic route, which quickly started to climb, the green hills and
farms on one side and the deep blue of the lake on the other. Hell
of a lot more houses. Nice houses—hell, some of ’em were
mansions.

Why did one of the most beautiful spots in
upstate New York have to be forever tainted with unhappiness in his
mind? Because of a promise he hadn’t kept.

Traffic on the High Road was nonexistent. At
the first lookout spot, Alex pulled over, parked, and waited for
the dog handler to do the same. Bette opened her door, got out, and
peered at the lake. “Gosh, it’s so beautiful up here. It’s almost
like looking at an Italian lake.”

The dog handler exited his SUV and released
the hound from his cage. Thankfully, there was only the one dog to
contend with.

Was it too much to put all his hopes on this
one lone bloodhound? With all the scientific equipment and services
available to the FBI, would finding his sister and her son all come
down to a single dog’s nose?

Rigby ambled over to them. “Y’know this is a
real long shot, don’t you, son?”

“Yes, sir.”

The trainer presented the bloodhound with the
scent sample again, then led him into the road. Bette gestured that
she’d keep a lookout for any oncoming traffic. The creature sniffed
but couldn’t seem to pick up anything. “It rained up here in the
hills yesterday—a real downpour, so my friends at the winery tell
me.”

Though Alex would rather avoid going within
ten miles of where his brother’s body was found, he said the words.
“Bristol Mountain Ski Resort—what about it?”

“You got some history there. That was a sorry
day.” Rigby scratched his chin and nodded. “Have to backtrack, but
guess it’s as good a place as any.”

Ten minutes later, Alex stood with Bette on
one side, her fingers entwined with his, and Rigby on the other.
They watched the stream of traffic turning into the ski resort. Up
ahead, he could see heavy equipment moving new ski lift supports
into place, and a helicopter buzzed in the sky above. He frowned.
“Lot of development since I was here last. Mansions on the ridge
heights. Condos line the lakeshore. What do they think this is—Vail
or Aspen?”

“Too many changes, if you ask me.” Rigby spit
on the ground. “Now they’re tearing down the old ski lifts and
replacing them with something newer and faster.”

“I sort of understand it. It’s a beautiful
area, even with all the new building. People like to get away from
the city and enjoy nature.”

“Nature used to mean camping. Now it’s cable
television and that danged Wi-Fi.” Rigby twisted his face into a
grimace. “Well, day’s not getting any younger. Want to try Duke
again?”

“Many thanks, Rigby. You might as well go on
home. He wouldn’t bring her here.” Alex shook his head. “Too many
people around.”

The dog handler nodded and headed back to his
SUV. He stopped long enough to offer his assistance if any new
leads arose.

“Was it close by? Where your brother was
found?”

He squinted and tried to remember the lay of
the land that horrible day. He’d made his adoptive father bring him
to the site. The city police, the sheriff’s department, and the
state police were all there. By then, everyone had known he’d left
his twin alone at the movie theatre. No one had said it was his
fault. Didn’t have to. Their unwillingness to look him in the eye
said it all.

Bones. Some scattered but still recognizable
as a human body. And a silver ID bracelet—Andy’s—discovered near
the right radius. The same bracelet Alex had worn on his right
wrist ever since the police returned it. Alex’s matching bracelet
had been buried with his brother.

He pointed toward the ski lift. “He was found
about ten feet into the tree line, about halfway up the mountain.”
He swallowed hard and fiddled with the silver links of his ID
bracelet, turning it round and round his wrist.

“Do you want to go a little closer?” Her
voice was hesitant. Was she afraid he’d bite or break?

He stared at the spot and shook his head.
“I’ve said my good-byes.” He choked on the words. “Said ’em long
time ago.”

Her fingers squeezed his, and he squeezed
back, taking comfort in her touch.

“If you’re sure, then…” She gazed up at him,
her dark eyes shining with a hint of tears. “We could just hike up
there and…”

“And what, Bette? Relive the worst day of my
life? Relive the biggest mistake of my life? Get up close and
personal so I can relive it all over again when my sister and
nephew are found? Want to be my shrink? That what you want?” He bit
back the rest of his anger and strode away from her.

“I know how it hurts to lose someone, Alex,”
she called after him. “My parents—”

He spun to face her and spit his words like
gunfire. “Your parents died in a
fire
. They weren’t murdered
and left on a mountainside to rot.”

“You’re only half right.” She set her hands
on her hips and jutted her chin. “They weren’t left to rot, but
they
were
murdered.”

Crap. What an idiot he was. He clenched and
unclenched his fists. “I’m sorry. You never said…”

“I’m not the only one who doesn’t like to
talk or even think about it. So I
do
understand.” She
blinked rapidly, and her face crumpled.

Crap. She was going to break down again.

Without thinking, he closed the distance
between them and slid his arms around her waist. “You don’t have to
talk about it.” He breathed in the lime fragrance of her shampoo. A
shot of whiskey would go well right about now. Her breasts pressed
against his chest. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.
“Unless you want to.”

“It was…uh, a business rival. At least that’s
what my brother and I figured. My brother runs the…uh, company
now.”

He frowned and pinched the bridge of his
nose. “Sounds like a harsh kind of business. Do you worry about
him?”

“Always. But I had to get away from there.
Too many memories. You understand?” She gazed up at him. Her
dimpled chin trembled just a little. “Anyway, that’s the real
reason I left Jersey and moved to Nashville. Fan Fair was just an
excuse.”

“Running away and reinventing yourself.
Careful, could get to be a habit.”

“Not like I had a choice this last time,” she
said with a bit of heat and pulled away.

But he pulled her back into his arms. Damn it
all. He didn’t want to let her go. She felt too good in his arms.
Too right. And too big a risk.

He must’ve stiffened, because she pulled back
a bit and looked up at him with questions in her dark chocolate
eyes. “What’s wrong?”

He clenched his jaw. No way would he take
advantage of the comfort she offered—the comfort he needed.
“Nothing.”

“For someone who’s supposed to be a secret
spy man, you’re a hell of a bad liar.”

He couldn’t hold back the smile twitching at
his lips. “You’re reading me like a book? Is that what you’re
trying to say?”

“Yeah.” She wrinkled her nose. “One with
large print.”

Why had he let her get so close? How could he
explain how much he wanted and needed her right now, and yet in the
same breath, tell her he didn’t want to get involved? He’d loved
’em and left ’em plenty of times, but she deserved better than
being used and discarded. Yet the thought of what it would be like
to wake up beside her every morning set his heart to racing.

Smiling, she gazed up at him and caressed his
cheek. “I don’t need promises of forever, Alex.” Her gaze was full
of an indefinable something. As if she knew him better than he knew
himself.

Damn. Was she reading his mind? “What?”

“Just sayin’…in case you need to hear it.
It’s okay. I want to be with you too. And it doesn’t have to be
more than that.”

His mouth grew dry as sandpaper. Where was
his poker face when he needed one? He looked around, anything to
avoid her direct but seductive gaze. In the distance, the old ski
lift towers were being dismantled and removed by a helicopter.
“Can’t keep much from you, can I? Sure you’re not a spy
yourself?”

“A woman knows these things,” she said with a
Cheshire-cat smile. “And I believe I qualify.”

“Oh, yeah, no doubt about it. Definitely all
woman.”

“Then let’s go home. We’re not going to
accomplish anything here.”

Home
. That one simple term was imbued
with layer upon layer of meaning. Some trite but no less true. Home
is where the heart is. No place like home. All roads lead to home.
“Okay.” It came out as more of a croak. Was he really agreeing to
go home with Bette at a time when they were both raw and
vulnerable? And could they keep it on a friends-with-benefits
basis?

He took her hand and led her back to the car.
His questions would have to wait. He stopped and backed her against
the passenger door. “I’m no good with relationships, Jersey.”

“Not my strong point either.” She crooked a
slim, dark eyebrow. “Are you going to kiss me or not? I’ve waited
long enough.”

He smiled down at her. “Hell, yeah.” He
pulled her close and dipped his lips to hers. Sampled them. He
found them soft and sweet. Her mouth opened to his, meeting and
mating his tongue with her own. A flood of lust swept through his
body. Staggered him. Braced against the roof of the rental car, he
lost himself in the heat of her response. Her breasts pressed
against his chest and her mound against his cock.