L.A.P.D. Special Investigations Series, Boxed Set: The Deceived, The Taken & The Silent (40 page)

She couldn’t help a tiny smile. “Do the police offer to share their homes very often?”

“No, but you’re a friend. Remember?”

Yes. It seemed they were friends. When had that happened? “I thought your family was coming.”

“They are, but they don’t stay with me. My place isn’t big enough for the whole gang.”

She looked at him, questioning.

“But it’s big enough for one more.”

What would it be like staying with Rico? She had to admit the idea appealed to her more than it should.

“I’d be there,” he repeated. “Me and my gun.”

That sounded good. Too good. “As inviting as that is, I don’t think it would work. I don’t know what I’d do with Hercules.”

“Bring him along. He’ll get to run around outside for a change.”

“You have a yard?”

“A small one. The house is small, too. One of those old California bungalows they built back in the twenties. But it works for me.”

His eyes searched hers. Eyes that looked even darker in the soft glow of moonlight. “So when is this barbecue then?”

“Sunday.”

“But I have so much stuff. And my computer practically controls my life.”

He arched his eyebrows. “I suspected as much.”

“You know what I mean. When I’m not at the office, I work from home.”

“No problem. Copy what you need onto a CD and bring it along. I do have a computer. In fact, I have several.”

She’d forgotten his geek side. “You should’ve been an attorney. You make a good argument.”

He coughed. “You do know not everyone would take that as a compliment?”

“Yeah, I know. But I happen to know a few attorneys who aren’t so bad.”

“So, you’ll stay then? At least until we get a fix on this guy.”

Relenting, she said, “Okay. But only if you promise not to make me obey orders.” She was kidding but there was an element of truth in what she’d said. Rico was good at giving orders, and she wasn’t good at taking them.

“Hmm. Jordan said I had a few control issues. Maybe he was right.”

Now she had to smile. “I’ve heard the same thing from various people about myself. But it’s not true, of course.” At that moment, Hercules jumped off the bed and ran from the room.

“Guess he didn’t like the conversation,” Rico said.

Macy rolled off the bed and started after the dog, a reflex reaction after what’d happened earlier. Embarrassed, she came back to bed and slipped underneath the sheet. Glancing at Rico, she saw his pupils dilate. Message received.

All her earlier apprehensions dissolved and she was suddenly acutely aware of his mouth. His perfect lips. Her desire. Her need — as palpable as the blood surging through her veins.

He trailed a fingertip gently down her cheek.

Her pulse accelerated. And in that one mind-spinning moment, she realized how desperately she wanted him. Right now, she wanted to make love with him more than she wanted anything.

She said softly, “I think it’s time to get some sleep.”

“You think?”

“No, not really.”

His warm breath fanned her cheek. Anticipation pulsed through her with every beat of her heart. She turned so her lips were almost on his.

“Me neither.”

As he breathed the words, his lips met hers. He kissed her hungrily, then gently and carefully, as if he’d suddenly decided she was a fragile China doll. She liked hungry better and kissed him back fiercely, opening his mouth with her tongue and letting him know she wasn’t at all fragile.

She reveled in the raw physical need. She didn’t want to think about this, she only wanted to feel. It had been too long since she’d lost herself in another human being.

If ever.

Now she was transported to another plane, and all that mattered was this one moment. She pressed against him, instantly feeling his arousal on her thigh. He lifted her shirt. A gasp escaped her lips when he touched her breasts and teased her nipples, first with his finger tips and then his tongue.

Somewhere between the kisses her shirt went over her head and then he slipped her shorts and panties below her hips. She helped remove them the rest of the way and then slid next to him.

His skin was hot. He was hot. And deliciously naked. “You always sleep au natural?”

“Uh-huh” was all the answer she got before he was kissing her again. Then he pulled back abruptly and muttered. “Damn. You have any condoms?”

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve got it covered, and I have no diseases. How about you?”

“Nope. Cops get regular physicals.” That conversation taken care of, he slipped a hand between her legs, rubbing gently, making her even more crazy with desire. She arched into him, letting out a deep moan, sounding like a wounded animal.

She needed him. Maybe loved him. Too soon? Maybe, but the thought was like a bright light, a beacon leading her from doubt to certainty. This was okay. They were okay. For now.

He rubbed his fingers against her, harder and faster and yet his mouth never left hers, not even when he spread her legs and settled his body between them.

“It’s been a while,” he whispered. “And you’re driving me crazy.”

In the soft, dim light she could see his sleek, tanned body and was fascinated at how muscular he was. Much more so than he appeared in his clothes. She wanted to give him pleasure, too, but she couldn’t think beyond his touch.

“We have all night, don’t we?” she said. “I can’t wait any longer, either.”

He was ready and, in one swift move, he was home.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

RICO WOKE FIRST, smiling and feeling as if he could fly to the moon on his own power. Macy was spooned, warm and soft, against him. He couldn’t see her face, but he felt her slow breathing, felt her chest move up and down. Last night, she’d given herself to him without reservation and he’d taken whatever she had to give.

Which begged the question, what did he have to give? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He’d wanted to make love to her and had without a thought to the consequences. And she’d been right there with him. It was mutual.

He closed his eyes. Who was he kidding? He’d felt her deep need in every breath she took, in every moan and shudder. The truth was there and he was making excuses for it.

He’d taken advantage of a vulnerable woman.

He closed his eyes, guilt growing until it felt like a rock in the pit of his stomach. She’d had her condo broken into, been attacked by some slimebag lowlife and had to fight for her life, and he’d let his lust take over.

How had he let it happen?

Hell, he knew why. Macy got him. She got him like no other woman he knew. She’d managed to find that one spot in his heart he doubted would ever be filled. Was it love? He wasn’t sure he knew what that was. Didn’t love take a long time? First lust, then infatuation and then, eventually, the real thing. He wondered where they were on the list.

If she was even on it.

In the short time they’d known each other they’d told each other things they’d never told anyone. That had to mean something, something more than just friends.

She stirred. Opened her eyes. She looked beautiful with her blond hair fanned across the pillow, her eyes sleepy and her lips full. His groin tightened, and he wanted to make love with her all over again. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Her voice was low and heavy with sleep. She reached up to touch his chin. “I didn’t think I’d sleep very well, but boy was I wrong.”

He smiled. “Me, too. Slept like a baby.”

Then they just looked at each other. Finally he said, “You okay?”

She nodded. “I’m perfect.”

“I thought that I might’ve…that you might think I’d taken advan—”

Two fingers came up to quiet him midsentence. “I think you think too much.”

Surprised, he said, “Maybe you’re right. I’ve been told I need to just go with the flow.”

She snuggled into him, her skin like fire against his. “Well, then. Let’s go with the flow.”

***

“What took you so long?”

Macy shut her car door and glanced at Rico standing on the steps of the cutest little house she’d ever seen — and looking as anxious as she’d ever seen him. He stalked across the lawn to meet her in the driveway.

“I stopped at the hospital to see if there was any change.”

“Yeah, I checked, too. No ID yet. Was he still unconscious?”

She nodded. “Then I followed your directions to get here. They weren’t the clearest directions I’ve ever read. I had to read lots of signs.”

“You should’ve followed me.”

She shrugged. “Hey, I’m here.”

“True.” He opened the back door of her car and took out two suitcases.

Her nerves hummed. This was probably the stupidest thing she could do. But wasn’t she already emotionally involved? Even more reason why staying here was a bad idea.

Or maybe it was the best way for them to realize that good sex doesn’t make a relationship. That an affair is all it could ever be.

“What do you have in here?” He dragged her suitcases toward the door.

She followed alongside. “One has clothes and the other some work I have to do.”

“Lots of work, I’d say.” He stopped at the steps. “Well, this is it.”

“Your house is very pretty,” she said. “Like one of those cottages in an English storybook.”

He dropped her suitcases and reached for the knob, hesitating before he opened the door. “Just to warn you, the outside is not a good representation of what’s on the inside. I’m not much of a decorator.”

She figured that. Utilitarian would probably be his style. “Well, I’m not, either. I had someone else do my place. Saved me time and a lot of angst.”

“Okay.” He swung open the door. “Let’s move you in and then we can both get some work done.”

They walked directly into the living room. No foyer. He was right. The place was small, and she could almost see the whole layout from right there at the door. Dining room on the right, and in the back through an archway, what looked like a family room that connected to the kitchen. She put Hercules down to sniff it out.

“He can go out back if he needs to do his thing,” Rico said. “It’s fenced. In fact, there’s a doggy door that the previous owners put in. I’ll just take out the nails and he’ll be all set.”

“Ha!” She laughed. “The poor little guy won’t know what to do,” she joked as Rico walked her down a center hall, to the bedrooms she assumed.

“Three bedrooms.” He pointed them out. “Mine, my computer room and the guest room. One bath. And like I said, nothing fancy.”

They’d have to share a bathroom? She’d never shared a bathroom with anyone, but she found it oddly appealing. “I hate to put you out like this.”

He gave her a wicked look. “It was my idea. Remember?”

She did. And after last night, the idea was more exciting than it should be. “I remember.”

“I’ll let you get settled while I get the nails out of the doggy door.”

“Great. I have to go to the office this morning and then I’ve an appointment to keep.” She was going to see Cody. She’d told Rico they were testing the boy’s DNA and that she’d let him know when the results were available. But she really didn’t expect it to be good news for Rico’s case. “I’ll take Herc with me because I don’t think he’d like being alone in a strange place.”

“Be cautious, okay.”

“Definitely. But a person would be pretty stupid to try something with so many people around.”

“There are a lot of stupid people out there, so don’t take any unnecessary chances. I’ll be all over today, too, but you have my cell number if you need to reach me. And I’m going to stop at the grocery store on the way home.”

“Don’t do any special shopping for me,” she said, and the moment the words left her lips she realized how presumptuous that must’ve sounded.

“Maybe you want to come along? That way I won’t get anything you don’t like.”

Very funny
. “I won’t be back until five or so.”

“Perfect. We’ll do it then.”

She was ready to do
it
right now. She felt as if he’d unleashed an insatiable lust inside of her. She’d never been as comfortable with someone as she was with Rico. He made her feel special, as if she mattered. And if she read the emotion she saw in his eyes correctly, he might be the one to get hurt if she let things go any further.

She couldn’t let that happen.

***

RICO’S FIRST STOP was the hospital to see if Macy’s attacker had regained consciousness so he could question the guy — if the other officers didn’t mind him horning in on their case. But the creep hadn’t come to yet, and the docs weren’t sure he would. “Got print results?” Rico asked the officer on guard. If the perp was in the system, they’d know right away.

“We’re working on it.”

But they didn’t seem to be in any hurry. Next he went to the House and sweet-talked Susan in Accounting to fill out the forms for Haven’s Gate’s financial records. He wouldn’t hear anything over the weekend, but it was a start. Back at his desk, he punched Dixon’s name into the database and, waiting for the information to process, went back to Chelsey Ray’s file. He was missing something. Every time he looked at the case he felt he was missing something.  Gut feelings. And his gut was usually right.

When they’d interviewed the staff and residents at the shelter five years ago, the questions hadn’t been what he’d think to ask now. He had questions about the adoption process and record keeping. He wondered if the physical evidence collected at that time might be more useful now that they had better testing methods. Another avenue to check out.

He tipped back in his chair, hands laced behind his head to wait for the computer to spit out information. Jordan came in and sat across from him. He looked preoccupied and a little disheveled, a strange phenomenon for the always pressed and perfect Jordan.

“You look like shit,” Rico teased. “What’s up?”

Jordan rubbed his eyes. “Nothing. Didn’t get much sleep, I guess.”

“Woman trouble?”

His partner raised an eyebrow. “I wish.”

Stupid question. Jordan never had woman trouble. The only trouble he had was too many.

“So, what then?”

“I approached my parents about finding my biological mother. They weren’t too happy about it.”

“Whoa. You’ve never mentioned that before.”

“I had a checkup the other day and the doctor was asking about hereditary diseases. It got me thinking.”

Rico sensed it was more than that. How could anyone not want to know something about the person who gave him life? He also knew how heartbreaking that search could be. “What if you found out something you didn’t like?”

Jordan frowned. “I could handle it. What I couldn’t handle is if it caused a lot of problems for my family, which apparently it would.” He shrugged. “I’m not pursuing it.”

“Okay.” Rico knew how important Jordan’s family was to him — even though they’d had their problems.

“You heard about last night?”

His partner’s gaze narrowed. “No, what?”

Rico told him everything that had happened after he left Macy’s.

“Man,” Jordan said, “I’m glad she wasn’t hurt.” Then he smiled. “She’s a bad ass woman, eh?”

He pressed his lips together. “Seems so.” He shook his head and grinned. “Man, I never saw that one coming.” Then, getting serious again, he said. “But it was tramatic for her. So,—” he scrubbed a hand across his scruffy two-day growth of whiskers, “—now I have a houseguest for a few days.”

Jordan drew back, eyes wide. “Macy Capshaw’s at
your
place? That’s hard to imagine.”

Rico feigned hurt. “Hey, don’t dis my crib. It’s a palace.”

“Maybe — if you’d been raised by a wolves.”

Jordan was joking, but it made Rico think. What was in his head? Getting involved with Macy Capshaw was a no-win situation. “She’s safe. That’s the important thing. It’s nothing more than that.”

“Methinks the man protests too much.”

“Think what you want. Nothing is going to happen.” A street kid from New Jersey, the grandson of Italian immigrants, and the daughter of a famous Beverly Hills attorney, a woman who never wanted for anything in her whole life — no way was that happening, not for any length of time, anyway. No way would they ever find common ground.

No way but in bed. He smiled at the thought.

“That’s the problem,” Jordan said. “You think nothing can happen and it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. You think too damned much.”

He’d been accused of that so many times before he was starting to wonder if there was some truth in it. “Yeah, well, it helps to think because I have cases to solve.”

Jordan raised his hands. “I’m cool.”

Turning, Rico went back to the computer and pulled up the information he’d punched in earlier. It was a futile search. There was nothing on Dr. Dixon.

What next? He punched in a different name. Maybe
that
would get some results.

***

THE SUN WARMED Macy’s face, the bright afternoon a reflection of her feelings as she watched Cody playing with Hercules at the park not far from the Appletons’ home. Despite her mixed emotions about staying at Rico’s, the move had dispelled some of her worries about her own safety and she could concentrate on other things. Like work.

Oddly though, she didn’t feel the urgency about work she usually did. She was content to sit and watch Cody enjoying himself. More relaxed than she’d been in ages.

Maybe it was because she felt safe. Right now, with everything going on in her life she needed that sense of security. Even if it was temporary.

“Yay!” Cody shouted. “I got a point.” Two boys had joined him and they were playing kick ball, with Hercules running interference. Watching them, she felt that things just might be coming together. Cody seemed to be adjusting at the Appletons’, and she was glad her earlier apprehensions had no foundation.

Just then, the ball bounced her way. She sprang to her feet and kicked it back and before she knew it, she was pulled into a game of kick ball.

By the time the other boys were called to leave, Macy was out of breath and crumpled in a heap on the grass. Hercules jumped into her lap and Cody tumbled down beside her, his brandy-colored hair tousled and hanging in his eyes. His cheeks were all pink from playing so hard, his clothes were dirty — and he was adorable. How could anyone leave a child like this to fend for himself? Any child.