Conard County Marine (12 page)

She cast her gaze down, letting her thoughts roam. A black rose. A definite message of some kind. But something else was niggling at her. She just wished she could figure out what it was.

A black rose...

Suddenly she lifted her head. “Coop? Could you give Connie a call? Ask her to find out if there was anything in the Denver police report about a black rose?”

“About your attack, you mean? What is it?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, hating the emptiness in her mind. “Just a feeling. I don’t know what good it could be but...”

“It might be a link,” he said firmly. Without wasting time, he pulled out his cell phone and called his cousin. Swiftly he outlined what Kylie was thinking and ended with, “Thanks.” He faced Kylie. “She’s going to check into it. She sounded excited, if you can believe it.”

Kylie tried to smile. “We’ll see. But, Coop, what I said before about sending you back to war? I’m so very sorry.”

He slipped his arm around her and tucked her into his side. “I’m not. I’m designed for this and you need me. You know, that means a whole lot to me.”

It meant a whole lot to her, too, to have him beside her, ready to protect her. She leaned her cheek on his shoulder and gave thanks for Evan Cooper. Without the anxiety plaguing her, the strength of his arms felt better than anything she’d felt in a long time.

Sexy, even. She let herself enjoy the feeling. God knew, it probably wouldn’t last long.

Chapter 7

G
lenda came downstairs at three and found the two of them playing Parcheesi on a card table in the living room. “Well, isn’t this cozy?” she said brightly.

“It passes the time,” Kylie answered. “Now, don’t be mad at me, but Connie came by. I couldn’t see any reason to wake you up because it wasn’t informative. The envelope provided no information. All they found was a dead black rose.”

Glenda’s cheer vanished instantly. She sank onto the arm of the couch. “You didn’t think it was important for me to know that?”

“Not unless you know where to buy black roses around here,” Kylie answered. “I told Coop that waking you up to wonder about it would be a waste of your sleep. So there you have it. No real news, really.”

“But a black rose!” Glenda was clearly disturbed. “What an ugly thing.”

“Ugly, but maybe meaningless,” Kylie answered. “Somebody with a sick sense of humor. Oh, and Coop has been deputized to be my bodyguard, so you can relax about everything.”

Glenda looked at Coop. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Enjoying Kylie’s company, yes.”

“Some leave,” Glenda said. “You came for some R and R and wind up on sentry duty.”

“I don’t mind one little bit. What I’d mind is being told to go away with all this happening. That just doesn’t suit my nature at all.” He rolled the dice and moved a couple of pieces. “Kylie’s too good at this game. I keep trying to talk her into chess.”

“Not a chance,” Kylie answered.

“She always did prefer to win,” Glenda said wryly. “God, a black rose. I guess I’m glad you didn’t wake me because I’d have been pacing up and down worrying about the threat. How can you be so calm, Kylie?”

“Because now I actually have something in my head to focus on besides a big blank. And Coop was kind enough to ask Connie to check into something for me.”

Glenda stiffened. “Which was?”

“Whether there were any black roses involved in the attack on me.”

Glenda swore, unusual for her. “Damn, next time you promise to wake me, would you for heaven’s sake please do it?”

“We haven’t heard anything. Why shouldn’t you sleep?” Kylie pushed back from the card table and hugged her sister. She felt as if the big block of terrified ice that had been encasing her was melting. First she had feelings for what all this must be putting Coop through, and now she ached for her sister’s distress. At long last she was rediscovering feelings for someone besides herself. It hurt, but it was the start of healing. At last, a giant forward leap.

“Glenda, I love you. Nothing’s happened that you can do anything about. And I’m feeling better because now we actually have something to work on. So cheer up for my sake.”

Glenda looked up at Kylie. “Cheer up? Really?” Then she shook her head. “You’re going to promise me something and this time you’re going to keep your promise. If Connie calls about roses, you’re going to call me, even at work. I mean it.”

“I promise I will.”

Glenda looked at Coop. “I’m counting on you to make sure she does. Sheesh!” She threw up her hands. “What’s for dinner? I didn’t even think about that. It’s got to be fast.”

“It’s got to be already in the oven,” Kylie said. “I made some mac and cheese.”

Glenda sagged a little. “Why am I suddenly feeling useless?”

Kylie hugged her again. “You’re not. You saved me. You got me home. You’re not useless at all, sis. I love you. I need you. But I don’t need to be totally useless, either.”

Glenda nodded finally. “Okay, then. Dinner’s cooking. You guys got room for another player?”

*

After Glenda left for work, the house felt terribly silent for a while. Coop apparently didn’t have much to say, but he paced the perimeter of the house from time to time, like a sentry. He paused and listened and then walked some more.

Finally he said to Kylie, “How are you doing? If this waiting doesn’t make you anxious, I’d be surprised.”

“What I’m doing is feeling better.”

He faced her. “Better? How?”

Shame danced across her face. “Since I woke up in the hospital, I haven’t thought about a thing except myself. Today I started thinking about other people again. You. Glenda. I’m so glad I haven’t forgotten how.”

“I don’t think you ever forgot,” he said. “Other matters just overwhelmed you.”

“Maybe. But I was being truly selfish, and that’s not the kind of person I ever want to be. So...” She ventured a smile. “I’m sorry I’m putting you through this, I’m sorry Glenda’s worried and I wish I could do more to help.”

“You don’t need to help me,” he protested. “Like I said, I’m designed for this. Second nature. As for the entire situation...Kylie, you didn’t bring this on yourself. You were attacked. You have no responsibility to any of us except to heal and stay safe.”

Lord, she liked this man. Wherever he’d been, whatever he’d done, he had a heart of gold. His warmth, she realized, had touched her heart. Like a hot fire on an icy day, it was helping thaw her out.

Given the times he’d been in combat and all the hardening it must cause, that made him pretty damn special.

*

Connie called at eight that evening to talk with Kylie. “I don’t know what you remembered,” she said, “but the police report says there was a black rose on your chest when they found you. God, Kylie, what that man did to you. I’m so glad you’re still alive.”

Kylie had some idea of the injuries she had suffered, of course, but didn’t want to discuss them. They didn’t matter right now. Ice coursed through her veins as Connie’s words penetrated. A black rose on her chest. A signature.

A warning.

She nearly dropped the phone back into the cradle and was grateful to feel Coop’s arms wind around her from behind. Tight, they pulled her hard against his chest, feeling like steel bands of protection.

“What?” he demanded.

“There was a black rose on me when the cops found me.”

He swore then, vile words she would never speak herself, but somehow they made her feel a little better, as if his anger was driving back the ice.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I feel frozen,” she said, her lips stiff. “Frozen.”

“God, I can imagine why. Let me call Glenda for you.”

“But...” But what? Glenda would be upset, but she’d be even more upset if she broke her promise again. And Coop had promised, too.

But the darkness was swimming close, the demons seemed to be emerging from hiding, laughing in glee as shock and terror warred inside her. A black rose. There could be no doubt now.

She sank onto the couch and put her head between her knees while Coop called Glenda. The worst of all possible nightmares had happened.

The killer had found her and, what was worse, he clearly wasn’t finished with her.

*

Todd never really left town. He drove away toward Saint Louis, but returned that night, concealing his car in the old barn he rarely used. Having a few lights on at night was something that he always did when he was away, so unless he made himself visible in some way or changed something, everyone would assume he was gone.

But he wasn’t. The only thing that maddened him was that he’d never know the reaction to the black rose. From a distance he gathered that the cops were still busy worrying about the kids, but he had no idea if they were paying additional attention to Kylie.

Not that he really cared. He had time, and he enjoyed thinking of her fright dragging out day after day. He had no doubt that she’d learn soon he’d left a black rose with her after he was done in Denver. They’d figure that one out, and they’d tell her.

But they were stretched so thin watching the children that he figured they wouldn’t have much left over for her. Which left Cooper. What a bad time for that guy to be hanging around Glenda’s house.

He knew plenty of people, though, and it was easy enough to pretend to be calling from Saint Louis when he phoned a friend or two. They were only too eager to update him on the latest stranger contact with a child, and to tell him the cops were all over it. As for Kylie...well, no one knew a thing about that situation. He wondered if a call to one of her friends might seem out of line.

Or if he could call Kylie himself to see how she was doing.

He wanted to savor her terror, and it killed him that he couldn’t be close enough to taste it and watch it. But he was also smart and realistic. The time would come when he’d get her alone again, and then he was going to finish the job.

God, he had finally come to hate that woman and to hate himself for pursuing her. She’d treated him like crap in high school, and it hadn’t improved much over the years. So pretty, so sweet, liked by nearly everyone. Only
he
could see how ugly she really was inside, where it counted. Only
he
knew how little she cared for the feelings of others.

But he knew it intimately.
I just don’t feel like we’re connecting, Todd. I’m sorry.
Why not? No answer to that question. She just didn’t want to date him. Then she’d turned him down for the prom and stayed home rather than go with him. Selfish bitch.

Oh, when he ran into her in Denver, just once despite what he’d said to confuse the issue, she’d agreed to have coffee with him, but he could feel her reluctance. Well, there was nothing wrong with him, so there had to be something wrong with her. And he was so tired of her snubs, of her barely concealed dislike of him. She could smile so sweetly, then stab him in the back.

That coffee meeting in Denver had been the last straw. He’d asked her to take in a movie with him—how much more innocent could you get?—but she’d turned him down. Too much work, she said. Too much work to spare a couple of hours? He wasn’t buying it, especially since he’d started following her and discovered she had time to go out occasionally with her friends.

No, it was him she objected to, and for no good reason. He’d had enough. Her rejections had stung for years, and then she’d added another one.

Now here she was, almost in his grasp again, and all he had to do was separate her from her watchdogs long enough to take her away with him. He now knew he wasn’t going to get over what she’d done to him until she never drew another breath.

It was the only way to erase the slate.

*

Eventually Coop settled on the couch. The night had deepened, and whatever had made him so edgy seemed to have let go. That made Kylie feel better. She wondered how many of his ghosts and bad memories this situation was reawakening, but she wasn’t sure she should ask.

He tucked her against him, as if it were the way he expected them to sit, and she didn’t object at all. Everything about him appealed to her. Everything. His scent, his strength, his appearance, but mostly his good, brave heart. A lot of men would have wanted no part of her in her damaged state, and even fewer considering the trouble she brought with her. At every single turn he had treated her with kindness and patience.

“You’re a good man, Coop.”

“Sometimes.”

She wanted to argue with him about that, but figured she couldn’t. He had memories he’d never share with her, memories that clearly troubled him. She just hoped that someday he would once again believe that he was a good man. Because he was.

He ran his palm lightly up and down her arm, from shoulder to elbow. Tingles of pleasure began to run through her, warming cold and hollow places inside her. Because of her amnesia, she didn’t know how long it had been for her, but she knew how desperately she needed this feeling now. Good, normal feelings. Nice feelings. As naturally as breathing, she turned into him and smiled up at him. “I like that.”

His gaze jumped to her upturned face, then a slow smile was born. “Dangerous words, lady. And a dangerous time to have them.”

But despite his warning, he bent his head a bit so he could brush a kiss on her lips. Sparklers ignited inside her. Just that light, soft touch, and she was sizzling.

“Wrong time,” he murmured.

“Is there ever a right one?”

“Actually, yeah. Trust me, when you’re waiting for the enemy, you don’t want to be distracted the way you’d distract me.”

Her heart sank, but she knew he was right. It was nice to know, however, that he was responding to her. Now she not only had something on which to focus her anxiety, but she had something truly pleasurable to think about. Coop. She imagined that if she let him, he’d fill her whole world, at least for a while.

He dropped another kiss on her lips, caressing her cheek lightly with his thumb, then hugged her a little closer. “Now behave yourself. Never let it be said that a marine was caught with his drawers down.”

A little giggle escaped her, leavening her heart again, filling the house with a much-needed happy sound.

“Does anyone call you Evan?” she asked.

“Not much anymore. Coop to friends, or Gunny. I’m not sure I’d answer if anyone called for Evan.”

“I’ve never been anything but Kylie. Well, except for a few people in Denver who called me Nurse Brewer. But mostly it’s Kylie, or Nurse Kylie. We’re very casual at the hospital here in town. The docs go by first name even with the patients. Dr. Ted, Dr. Joe, that kind of thing.”

“It’s certainly friendlier.”

“Evidently we think so here.” And that finished that topic. Funny how hard it had become for her to make casual conversation since she lost her memory. Losing three years shouldn’t have meant losing every ordinary skill she had.

But maybe other things had gone wrong with her, and she was going to discover them one by one. Like her occasional tendency to blurt things she once wouldn’t have said. God, what a depressing thought.

She dragged herself away from that mire. It was likely to suck her in without offering a single answer. Some matters were just going to have to await the experience of time.

Easier said than done, of course, but Coop’s continuing hug, and the gentle stroking of his hand, helped. Soon she was able to let go of her fears and sink back into the present moment. There was no escaping the fact that the future would come, but it didn’t do a lick of good to worry about things she didn’t know yet.

There was something much more immediate on her horizon, and she didn’t want to think about that, either.