Carnal Vengeance (29 page)

In the morning, she was hardly surprised to discover that he had come prepared with a change of clothes in his car. He insisted they had to spend the day at the National Zoo as it was the only way to balance out an evening of fancy clothes and the symphony. They visited the giant pandas, walked the elephant trail, played in the children's area and ate too much junk food. And they held hands the entire time.

For dinner he took her to a sports bar, where he and Harry often watched the big games of each season together on a big-screen TV. Instead of flatly informing him of her lack of interest in such a pastime, she was flattered that he wanted to share a favorite spot with her.

They arrived during halftime of a pre-season football game and ordered steak sandwiches and draft beers while a film clip of bloopers was running. As they were eating, the two commentators discussed the teams that would be playing each other in the season's opening games next Sunday. One player's name caught Holly's attention—a name she hadn't known three weeks ago, but which now held meaning.

"A lot of people were surprised to hear that Billy O'Day signed on for another season," the announcer was saying. "I figured, at forty, he'd be ready to retire."

"Yep, time for the old man to join us up here in the booth," the ex-quarterback quipped in reply.

"It looks like Coach Hubbard plans to make the most of it too. Billy's in the starting lineup next week in Philadelphia."

"Holly?"

She jerked her gaze back to David. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

With a laugh, he said, "I thought you said you didn't follow football. I would swear the look on your face was one of rapt attention."

"Oh, I, uh—" Holly swallowed her nervousness with a sip of beer. "I just thought how terrible it must be to be considered over the hill at forty."

He nodded his agreement. "Yeah, but O'Day's had a good long run and been paid plenty over the years. He won't suffer. Hell, I wouldn't mind being able to retire a millionaire next year."

"Hah! You wouldn't last a month before you'd be back to work."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Think you know me so well already, huh?" Her answer was a slow, confident smile. "Then what am I thinking right now?"

She stared into his eyes, but the sensual message she received made her lower her lashes shyly.

"I guess that one was too easy." His tone was light, but inside a heaviness invaded his thoughts. Insinuating she knew his mind better than he did himself was one of the lines a woman cast when they went fishing for a mate. It was one of many clues David had trained himself to beware of. Holly had gone this long without getting married but that didn't mean she wasn't interested in it at all.

He had wanted to form a bond with her, to gain her confidence and he thought he was beginning to make progress, but he couldn't deny that she was getting much closer than he'd intended. If he wasn't more careful, he could be the one who ends up in a trap instead of her.

Holly had no idea what had happened, but David's mood changed during the third quarter of the game, and she had the distinct impression it had nothing to do with the action on the big screen.

When they returned to her apartment, he kissed her quickly and left without following her inside. Though she was confused by his abrupt departure and the absence of any request to see her again, Holly had been hoping he wouldn't insist on staying.

Hearing William O'Day's name had been a sharp reminder of why she was with David Wells and it had nothing to do with great sex.

Chapter 14

Someone else had been watching the same broadcast as David and Holly and was delighted to hear that Billy O'Day would be in the starting lineup next Sunday in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia was an ideal location—near enough to come and go by car, no travel reservations that could turn into evidence.

Discovering what hotel O'Day was staying in would only take a few phone calls. Assuming the old rule still stood about retiring early and alone the night before a game, the same plan that went so smoothly with Ziegler should work again, only this time there would be no Secret Service agents to prevent the message from being made public.

The first execution had been dedicated to rape victims in general, with one particular person in mind. Perhaps this one should be devoted to Stella.

Of course, it would have to be done privately. One couldn't publicly dedicate a murder to one's own mother without being implicated. But the thought would be there.

Images flashed of the woman who had insisted her child call her by her first name rather than anything vaguely maternal, a woman who preferred the company of a bottle to that of her baby. The baby was a teenager before discovering the reason its mother couldn't tolerate the sight of it, but understanding hadn't erased the hurt.

Stella had been only a teenager herself when she gave birth. Her parents had tried to get the baby's father to do the right thing, but he had friends who swore they had all enjoyed Stella's generous favors around the same time. The picture they painted shamed her and her family—not enough for them to go against their religion and help her get an abortion, just enough for them to banish her from their home.

Stella hadn't been raped in the physical sense, but what her boyfriend had done was even worse—he had raped her soul and stripped her of the future she had deserved.

It was the baby's further misfortune that it bore a distinct resemblance to the father.

When the child had grown to adulthood, it had searched for that man, only to learn that he had died a few years before. As a young man the father had evaded his duty but as a dead man he had escaped his punishment.

Yes, Billy O'Day would make an excellent stand-in.

Chapter 15

Monday morning Holly was still bewildered by David's withdrawal, but she had plenty of work on her desk to occupy her mind. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite complex enough to keep her from being distracted by thoughts of him. If it wasn't his image creeping into her thoughts, it was some small thing he had done, not to mention the secret tingles that stole through her body at the thought of his kiss, or his touch, or even the way he grinned at her.

If that wasn't disruptive enough, both Bobbi Renquist and Rachel Greenley called her again. Bobbi asked if she'd like to meet for lunch. Rachel asked if she'd like to go out to dinner. They had each said any day, any time, to get better acquainted. Holly put them both off with the explanation that she was backlogged from her Florida trip, and promised to call them as soon as she had more time. Right after Hell froze over, she added to herself.

When she finally felt as though she was getting her mind back on her work, Philip appeared in her doorway with a deep frown on his face.

"Didn't your appointment with Senator Iverson go well?" she asked.

"Where were you all weekend?"

Holly blinked up at him. She took a slow breath and tried to ignore her guilty conscience. "Hello to you too. I was in and out, shopping, walking."

"I called your cell half a dozen times. It kept going straight to voice mail."

Guilt was rapidly being replaced by discomfort. "I forgot to plug it in. I guess it died. And the weather was so nice yesterday, I went to the zoo."

He stood rigidly on the other side of her desk, his hands fisted in his pockets. "The zoo? Why didn't you call? I would have gone with you."

She didn't like the way he was questioning her, but she reminded herself that she had never given him reason to question her whereabouts before. She was always exactly where he expected her to be. Forcing herself to soften her voice, she shrugged and said, "It was an impulse. Did you need me for something?"

The creases in his forehead deepened as he shook his head negatively then nodded. "Yes. I had a question... but I worked it out." Turning to leave, he paused with his back to her and asked, "Are we still on for tonight?"

"Of course. We've gone out to dinner every Monday night for years. Why would you even ask?"

Because I know you were out Saturday night after you told me you would be staying home.
"Never mind," he said, walking away. He didn't really want to know.

* * *

David caught himself smiling... again. This time, however, the cause was quite rational. His editor had questioned him until he revealed the true reason he wanted time off. Fortunately, he agreed with David that the lead about Frampton might be the basis for a really hot story and was allowing him to check it out on the paper's time and money. David had a few items to finish up, then he would begin.

He quashed the urge to call Holly and share his news with her. At least he could keep from breaking his telephone rule. It was one of the few he hadn't broken with her. In Florida, he had lost control and practically raped her that first time—and without precautions. Then this weekend he broke several more of his rules for dealing with women.

Never spend the night.
He had rationalized that with the logic that
technically
they had already spent two nights together in Florida. The truth was he had never before wanted to stay with a woman after he was satisfied.

If she had been the least bit encouraging last night he would not have been able to walk away without having her again. But she hadn't, and he had, breaking another rule. He could almost hear Harry telling him,
Never pass up a free meal or free sex. You might have to do without tomorrow.
Unfortunately, Harry's advice didn't hold up against David's need to prove to himself that he
could
walk away from Holly.

It had to be the novelty of her resisting him that made her so fascinating. She never made the initial move; never touched or kissed him first.

Though she burned hot as hell once he started her fire.

She had balked about him spending Saturday night and looked relieved when he didn't go for more than a friendly peck before leaving her last evening. Her surface indifference would be a blow to his ego, if he wasn't so damn certain she loved every minute they spent together. His real problem was that he had no experience with women who didn't chase after him. Holly was an enigma and he knew he wouldn't shake her out of his system until he had her figured out. He also knew they were nowhere near the point where she was ready to spill all her secrets to him.

All he had to do was break through that stubborn resistance of hers. Once he made her admit she was crazy about him, couldn't stop thinking about him, wanted him with her every minute of the day—then he would be able to put his own feelings back onto a more familiar track and get back to working on her connection with Donner.

Not calling Holly about this news was hardly sensible. After all, she would be interested in hearing that he was going to be looking into the lead they'd discussed, would probably even be pleased for him. But somehow that small gesture of familiarity had come to symbolize his control over their entire relationship. If he phoned her once, there would be no reason not to call her about other, less important things, and sooner or later, he'd be calling just to say hello. Eventually she would be
expecting
his calls, and before he knew it, she'd be bitching at him when he forgot. The best thing was never to initiate telephone communication at all.