Never Coming Home (6 page)

He’d never even told that part to Bobby
 
…

With her dark eyes skewering him to the leather sofa, Devlin could only blink.
So much for the hard man image.

She sat back, apparently satisfied. ‘I want my daughter returned to me. I want justice for a mother I don’t even know. I think you’re the one to help me get them.’

Devlin swallowed. Hauled his wits back from wherever it was they’d danced off to.
Get your butt in gear, salvage something here
.
Get out of this!

‘My firm provides security, protection, expensive baby-sitting,’ he pointed out hoarsely. ‘I’m not a private detective.’

‘But you’ve done other things. Before. You can do this.’ Her eyes didn’t let up.

‘That was a long time ago.’ Now she’d got him admitting – what?
Much more of this and she’s gonna have the number of the Swiss account and all the shares in the mine.

‘I bet you don’t forget. Besides which
 
–
 
’ The little breath she took told him she had her clincher. ‘I think you want to know, just as much as I do. That dying child pulled you in. Now that she no longer has a name, or a family
 
… You’re the only one who can stand for her. You’re involved, as much as I am. So – will you take my money? Give me – what – a week of your time, at whatever the going rate is?’

She blinked when he told her. But clearly it wasn’t going to dissuade her.

‘Do we have a deal, Mr Devlin?’

Devlin exhaled. This woman was Trouble. Definitely capital T. Trouble with his name on.
Since when did that stop you? You’ve been stuck in a nice warm rut for quite a while now. What if you’re losing your edge? One way to find out. Sucker.

‘Okay. One week.’

‘Oh!’ She gave a little jump of surprise, he noted, with a glimmer of mean satisfaction. ‘That’s great.’ Her voice wavered. Now she had him, she seemed at a loss what to do with him. ‘Where do we start?’

Time to take the game back.

‘We need to talk about that, but first I have something to show you. Upstairs.’

‘Oh, yes. I
 
…’ She got up. He stood too. There was a strand of hair curling across her face. She pursed her mouth, blowing upwards to dislodge it, but it fell back. Devlin reached out and brushed it aside for her. He saw the flash of emotion in her eyes. It wasn’t just him
 
–

The air in the room went abruptly to treacle.

‘You feel it too, don’t you?’ Her eyes were like saucers, jet black, and the words came out on a gasp.

‘Uh huh.’ No point in denial.

‘What
 
… what do we do about it?’ There was a tremor in her voice. Then her chin came up. He knew that look. She’d sleep with him, if that’s what it took. To get her child back. Brave, desirable, ruthless, vulnerable, a mother. And attracted to him. Definitely Trouble.

He sighed. ‘Nothing. We do nothing. We both just have to get over it.’ He gestured that she should precede him out of the room. ‘Golden rule of security work – don’t make out with the client, it’s bad for business.’

Chapter Four

They stood at opposite corners of the lift, as it rose silently to the ninth floor.

Kaz’s shoulders sagged as she tried to sort out her emotions. Relief, confusion, shame, a weird thrill of
 
… power? What was happening to her? For a moment there she’d lost herself. Known that if it took more than money to convince Devlin to help her, then she would offer it. Had offered it? And been refused. She exhaled. She’d hired Devlin. That was key. Forget the other stuff.
Need to get this back on a business footing. Let him know where you stand.

‘I want you to know Mr Devlin, that although I’m
 
… attracted to you, I appreciate that we have a business arrangement and I’ll keep my side of the bargain.’

‘Good to know.’ His eyes were on the lift indicator. ‘And it’s just Devlin. Or some clients call me Dev.’ She must have made some involuntary movement of disapproval, narrowed her eyes or something – though how could he know, when he wasn’t looking at her? ‘Protection gets up close and personal. You’re lying on top of a guy, stopping someone from putting a bullet in him – gets kind of friendly,’ he explained smoothly as the lift stopped.

Kaz followed him out, not sure what to make of the remark. Had he
 
… The image he’d put in her head
 
… of them lying on the floor together
 
…

She caught his eye, and saw the amusement. He
had
known what he was doing. Of course.
Teasing you.
She straightened her shoulders, gave him a cool stare, and swept through the door he was holding open for her.

He had a suite, so she wasn’t confronted by a bed the minute she walked in. Devlin crossed to a side table, opened a laptop and punched a few keys, gesturing for her to join him. She looked curiously at the screen.

‘After I left you, I got my partner – you spoke with him last night – to check out a few things.’ Devlin had called up a list of e-mails. Kaz watched him loading a file. ‘If the girl wasn’t Jamie, then she had to be someone else.’ He gave a lopsided shrug when Kaz threw him a
duh
look. ‘Bobby checked out disappearances of nine-year-old girls and upwards, in the Atlanta area. This is what he found.’ Devlin swung the laptop towards her. The image cleared, then resolved. Displayed on the screen was a picture of a young girl. Blonde, pretty, carefree, her smile showing up the braces on her teeth. ‘Sally Ann Cheska. Eleven years old. Been missing from home for six months, three weeks, two days. Last seen October 1
st
, last year.’

‘Three days before the accident.’

‘You said it. And
that’s
the girl who died.’

‘Oh God!’ Kaz sat down on the nearest chair, with a thump.

‘Makes it kind of real, doesn’t it?’ Devlin looked broodingly at the screen. ‘My partner is doing some digging. If he finds anything more, he’ll call.’ He looked at his watch. ‘You want to order lunch from room service while we talk?’

Kaz speared a piece of lettuce, then let it drop back onto the dish. The Caesar salad was delicious, but she had no appetite. She put down her fork. ‘That little girl, Sally Ann, what could she have been doing with Gemma?’

Devlin dipped his head. Not quite a shrug. ‘Seems like she was a runaway. The woman probably picked her up on the road.’

‘A good turn that went horribly wrong?’

‘Looks that way.’ He was eating grilled swordfish, impassive. ‘One interesting thing, she wasn’t reported missing until 8th October – over a week later. Bobby’s looking into that too.’

‘So
 
–’ Kaz picked up her glass. The wine Devlin had chosen was easy on the palate and a shade too welcome to her overstretched nerves. She sipped cautiously. ‘At the time of the crash, no one was looking for her? That would have made it easier for Jeff to do
 
… what he did.’

‘Yes.’ Devlin picked up his own wine. ‘Tell me about him – Jeff,’ he demanded abruptly.

‘What do you want to know?’ Kaz gave up the pretence of eating and wrapped her hands around her glass. ‘Jeff is – oh – everything from a fairy tale. Prince Charming, the Pied Piper, Peter Pan, Robin Hood – except he doesn’t believe in sharing the loot with the poor.’

‘A reckless, charismatic hustler, willing to take a chance to make a buck,’ Devlin translated, after a moment. ‘Capable of sizing up a situation fast and making it work for him?’ he suggested quietly.

‘Even when it’s the death of his girlfriend and an unknown child.’ Kaz put her glass down with a bang. ‘Yes. My ex-husband is slick enough’ She looked away, her eyes burning.
Damn.
She thought she’d cried herself out over Jeff, years ago. But these tears were hot.
Anger.

‘If he had everything in place to snatch his daughter, then this was a gift for him.’ Devlin’s voice was very soft, reflective.

Kaz pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘When I think
 
… All the arrangements
 
… flights, hotels
 
… the funeral. He was
comforting
me, for Christ’s sake!’

‘Did you sleep with him?’

‘No!’ Kaz’s body jerked. ‘No,’ she repeated more quietly, meeting Devlin’s eyes. He’d shocked her but, curiously, she wasn’t offended. Taking prisoners clearly wasn’t Devlin’s style. He was blunt. And intuitive. She hadn’t slept with Jeff, but she
might
have. She shivered. Once the horror had got a grip on her she’d been too numb, too sick – but that first night, when Jeff had held her as she wept
 
…

They’d cried together
 
…

Devlin was watching her, eyes hooded. ‘It wouldn’t have been impossible, in the circumstances,’ he suggested.

‘I know.’ She let out a pent up breath. ‘All that time he was with me.’
Those awful, endless hours.
‘He had Jamie hidden somewhere. Who did he leave her with?’

‘Friend, another girlfriend, a business associate, a paid sitter?’ Devlin topped up their glasses. ‘It’s a possible lead. If we can find out, they might know something. If anyone comes to mind, feel free to share.’

‘Nothing at the moment. Do you think that they might still be in the States? Will I need to come back with you?’

Devlin’s face went blank. ‘You don’t need to go anyplace. Wherever they are, I’ll handle it.’

‘No.’ Kaz shook her head for emphasis. ‘I’m coming with you. If
 
…’ She swallowed. ‘
When
we find my daughter, she’ll need me.’ She slanted her chin up, ready to fight dirty. ‘How much do you know about five-year-old girls?’

‘Squat,’ he admitted, after a short, interesting pause. There might have been a hint of amusement at the corner of the mouth. Or maybe it was just a nervous tic, at the thought of being alone with a five-year-old. He held up a hand. ‘Okay. You don’t need to draw me a picture. If I get a concrete lead, I’ll call you.’

‘Not good enough.’ Kaz leaned over the table. ‘I want to be part of it. All of it.’

‘No way! This guy snatched your daughter and told you she was dead. This is not some fucking treasure hunt.’

‘You don’t need to protect me.’ Kaz felt herself bristling, made herself relax. Emotion wouldn’t cut it with Devlin. ‘I was married to the man – I know him – he’s a chancer. He’s never been violent. Of course, if there is another reason for
not wanting me along, then tell me now, and we’ll deal with it.’

She saw the irritation flash across his eyes, before he battened it down. She had intuition, too. He didn’t want her because he didn’t want a civilian involved. No inconvenient baggage, and no camp followers. Well, too bad. Even so
 
–

‘Look – I don’t think this is a game, I’m not playing detective. I won’t get in the way, or interfere. But I can’t sit at home and wait. She’s my
daughter
.’ Despite her efforts, her voice hitched.

‘Yeah, well.’ Devlin shifted in his seat, deep unhappiness in every line of his body. She saw him shake it off. Resignation? Or was he planning something? She needed to keep her wits sharp here. ‘You come along
 
–
 
’ he continued at last. ‘You do as you’re told. When I tell you.
Before
I tell you!’

‘Absolutely,’ she agreed, concealing relief. For whatever reason Devlin had decided not to fight her, she could be grateful. ‘Thank you.’

‘Hrr.’ It was a low pitched growl. ‘Seems to me, as husband’s go, your ex was pretty much a waste of space. So – why d’you marry him?’

Kaz shrugged. ‘Because he asked me?’

Devlin’s spiked glance told her
exactly
how that wasn’t good enough. She took a reckless slug of her wine.
You may as well tell him the truth
. ‘Jeff
 
… swept me off my feet,’ she said, after a second’s pause. ‘He was all those storybook things I told you. Every girl’s fantasy. And
 
… I wanted to believe him. I wanted the whole thing, with him. Husband, home, family. Roses round the porch. My mum and dad
 
… They never married. You knew that?’ She skimmed over Devlin’s swift nod. She’d got used to it now. The admission didn’t wound any longer. ‘Oliver and Suzanne – it never seemed to matter to them – it was all part of the bohemian lifestyle.’ Kaz wrinkled her nose. ‘When they split up, it was just Mum and me. She was great, and I still saw Oliver occasionally, when he was in London, but I always wanted to be part of a family. Childhood dream, and all that. We – I thought Jeff and I were starting something of our own. Jamie was meant to be the eldest of six kids. I wanted that solidarity. I wanted to belong. It was all about what
I
wanted. I didn’t see
 
…
 
’ She studied the pattern made by a speck of salad dressing, spilled on the tablecloth. ‘I really
did
think Jeff wanted all those things, too.’ She looked up. Devlin’s face wasn’t telling her anything. ‘I was blinkered and self-absorbed and pathetically needy.’ She kept right on looking at Devlin. Now there was an expression in his eyes she couldn’t read. ‘And Jeff had his own agenda.’