Wedlocked?! (10 page)

“You're right,” Cole conceded, “but I still want you to be careful.”

“I should just quit,” she grumbled. “You're impossible to work with.”

His grin was smug. “I'm great to work with, and you're not a quitter.”

She was about to tell him that he, on the other hand, was—but she didn't want to open up that particular can of worms now. Somehow she had to keep their personal relationship separate from the case, or Lily would be the one to suffer.

“All right,” she said ungraciously. “And I'm serving notice right now that my next steps are go
ing to be getting the photos of that necklace developed and checking out the pawnshop that ticket came from. Do you want to go with me when I drop off the film, or do you trust me to handle it on my own?”

“I'm more worried about the pawnshop,” Cole replied, ignoring her sarcasm. “What if you run into Lockhart there? He may have noticed by now that the ticket's missing.”

“Oh, gee, I'll look around before I go barging in,” Annie said, and now there was no mistaking her sarcasm.

Color crept up Cole's jaw, making her slightly ashamed of her outburst. Perhaps she should be flattered that he cared enough to worry.

“I'm sorry,” she muttered. “It's just the case.”

“I know.” His voice was soft. Of course he knew. It was his mother they were trying to save.

Cole turned on the radio and soft classical music filled the car.

“I want to tell Ryan about those clippings you found,” he said. “It seems odd that Lockhart would have them.”

“Both his sisters married into the Fortune family,” Annie reminded him. “Maybe he's just concerned, but I agree that there could be something more to it.”

“Yeah,” Cole replied, and it was his turn to be sarcastic. “Maybe Lockhart is really a bighearted
softie who's worried about a helpless baby and couldn't possibly murder anyone, even in a rage.”

There wasn't anything to say to that, so Annie remained silent. After a few minutes, Cole cleared his throat, and she noticed that his knuckles had paled on the steering wheel, as though he were gripping it too tightly.

“Where do we go from here?” he asked.

“I told you,” Annie replied impatiently. “I'm going to get the film developed—”

Cole glanced at her briefly before he returned his attention to the road. “I'm not talking about the case.”

“That's all we need to discuss,” she said quickly. No way was she ready to talk about what had happened back in that room, not until she'd sorted it out in her own head.

“You can deny it all you want, but something important happened between us back there, and I think we need to discuss it,” he said.

“Isn't it supposed to be women who like to analyze a situation afterward, not men?” Annie grumbled, digging her sunglasses out of her bag and putting them on. Maybe it was superficial, but she felt like she needed the protection. “Perhaps sleeping together again was inevitable.”

It was Cole's turn to shake his head in denial. “If you're saying it happened because we were sharing a room—”

“I'm saying it happened because we share a history and we were probably both curious.”

Cole swore under his breath. “That was a hell of a lot of mighty damn combustible curiosity in that room. When are you going to face the fact that there's still something between us?”

Annie turned to stare out the side window. “Never,” she said firmly. “Whatever was between us ended a long time ago. That was all the closure I needed.”

“Then how do you explain what happened?” he asked.

“Did you ever think you might have been scratching an itch caused by someone else?” she blurted, trying to distract him.

“Not for a second,” he replied. “You haven't changed that much, honey, and Lockhart's not your type.”

“I suppose you are?” she demanded. Talk about ego!

He was so silent that she couldn't resist the urge to look at him.

“I used to be,” he said then.

“And we know how that ended.” Annie could hear the bitterness in her own voice and it made her cringe. What if he figured out she was still as besotted with him as ever? She'd die of shame.

“I heard the charges were dropped against you,” he said, throwing her off with the abrupt change of subject. “I was glad for you.”

“Thank you,” she managed in a chilly voice.

“Good thing your partner finally admitted you weren't a part of the bribery scheme.”

Annie didn't say anything. What was the use after all this time? It wasn't a part of her life she liked to think about.

“Why didn't you explain that your partner was the guilty one when I asked you?” He slowed to take a turn, his hands skillful on the wheel of the Lexus.

“Would you have believed me if I had?” she shot back. “I didn't have any proof, only my word.”

“Your word would have been good enough for me,” he insisted. “It was your refusal to tell me anything that I couldn't deal with.”

Oh, no, she wasn't about to let him get away with that. “You might have convinced yourself, but I knew you. You're an attorney. I knew the way that orderly, analytical, tidy mind of yours worked. You would have pelted me with questions that I couldn't answer.”

“And why not?” Cole demanded, hurt creeping into his voice. “We were lovers. Were you afraid to confide in me?”

“I
couldn't
talk to you or to anyone,” Annie said, all the frustration she'd felt at the time coming back in a rush. Her father had told her, over and over,
Annie, you don't rat on a fellow cop.
“Les was my partner,” she said.

Cole shook his head in disgust. “And you
couldn't betray your partner, even though he betrayed you.”

“That's right,” she agreed hotly. “I couldn't break the code of silence. Besides, in the end Les did the right thing, admitting that I didn't have any idea what he and a few others were up to.”

“Yeah, I heard he finally came clean when Internal Affairs had their case against him nailed shut. Took his time about it.”

“He couldn't say anything without incriminating himself or the others who were involved.
He
was hampered by the code of silence too. After I.A. completed their investigation, it no longer mattered.” She'd understood the system. She hadn't liked it, but had no choice but to go along with it. The whole experience had soured her for police work, though. Even now, the memory of how scared and alone she'd felt were enough to make her shiver.

“What good did that code of silence do you?” Cole asked. “You still left the force.”

Annie pushed her sunglasses back up her nose and wrapped a strand of hair around her finger. “I left with my honor intact,” she said softly. “Maybe it's hard for you to understand, but ratting on Les would have dishonored my father as well as myself.” He'd never asked if she was guilty, and she hadn't said, not even to him. “I couldn't do that, but once I was cleared, I realized I no longer wanted to be part of it. I left on my own terms.”

How disappointed her father had been when she
quit.
Annie, you don't know what you're doing,
he'd said.
Give it time. You'll feel differently.
Until the day he died, he'd never understood why she left, but she liked to think he'd eventually been proud of what she accomplished. He'd never said, so she didn't know for sure.

“Ryan told me about your father,” Cole said bluntly. “I'm sorry. Was it his heart?”

“A stroke,” Annie replied. “The doctors said he probably never knew what hit him.” Not being able to say goodbye had been painful for her. Since she was small her father had raised her alone, and being a single parent with a cop's schedule couldn't have been easy. Despite Cole's obvious family problems, she envied him his relationship with his mother.

“Would you actually have taken the fall with Gordon?” he asked. “Gone to jail if it came to that?”

Annie bowed her head and stared at her clenched hands. “I don't honestly know,” she admitted, “but I'm glad I didn't have to find out.”

Cole shook his head. “I guess I just don't get that kind of blind loyalty.”

“No kidding,” Annie couldn't help but retort. “You didn't have much loyalty toward me at the time.”

“I didn't know what to think!” he retorted. “You wouldn't talk to me.”

“I thought you'd know I was innocent,” she cried, the pain pressing down on her chest. “I was
a good cop. How could you ever think I'd do something so dishonest?”

It was Cole's turn to glance away. They'd loved each other. Was he thinking about all they'd lost because of something neither of them could control. “I needed to hear it from you,” he admitted. “I'm sorry.”

Annie appeared surprised, he noticed. At the time he hadn't understood the pressure she must have felt to honor that stupid code. There had to be some way to convince her to forget the past and enjoy what they had now. But if there was, he sure didn't know what it might be. Maybe after the trial was over and before he went back to Denver, he could figure out how to make things right between them.

 

“Are you sure you don't remember seeing it on Sophie?” Annie asked Ryan the next afternoon as she showed him the photo she'd had developed of the necklace she found hidden in Lockhart's boot. They were standing with Cole in the living room at the ranch, and Rosita had just gone upstairs to fetch Lily.

Ryan shook his head. “Sophia had a lot of jewelry,” he said regretfully, “and sometimes I didn't even recognize what I bought her myself, but I sure don't remember this.” He looked at Annie. “Maybe it wasn't hers.”

“Maybe not.” She tried not to let her frustration show. It would have been nice to link Lockhart with
Sophia. She was running out of ideas. “What about this?” she asked, sliding the gold watch she'd redeemed at the pawnshop from an envelope and holding it out. “Did you ever notice Lockhart wearing anything like this?” She'd been disappointed when she first saw what it was, had been hoping instead that the ticket might be for something more damning.

She'd questioned the pawnshop owner about Lockhart, but he claimed not to remember anything, even when she offered him a little incentive. It had cost her a twenty just to find out he didn't think Lockhart had been in before the one time he'd pawned the watch.

Now Ryan picked it up between two fingers, frowning, and turned it over. “It's not a brand I recognize and it doesn't have the weight of a quality piece. This is like Lockhart himself, just a cheap copy of something with value. But I don't remember him wearing it. Sorry, I wish I could be more help.” There was frustration in Ryan's voice.

“Has anyone at the bunkhouse complained of anything turning up missing over the last few months?” Annie asked.

Ryan's frown cleared. “I'll find out. You think he stole it?”

“I don't know,” she said thoughtfully, “but if he pawned it, he must have been low on funds. Before he left here so abruptly he bragged that a woman friend was coming into a lot of money. Then Sophia
gets herself killed, and suddenly Lockhart is pawning things.”

“So why didn't he pawn that necklace?” Cole asked.

“Because he thought it might be traced?” Annie shrugged. “I'm no expert, but that necklace appeared to be a lot more valuable than this watch.”

Footsteps sounded above them, and Annie looked up to see Lily descending the staircase with Rosita trailing behind her. Like the rest of them, Lily was wearing jeans. Her coral tank top matched her bright lipstick and revealed her tanned, shapely arms. It wasn't until she joined them that Annie noticed the lines of strain bracketing her mouth.

“I'm sorry I kept you waiting,” she said as Ryan slipped his arm around her shoulders. “I was taking a nap.”

“Did you get any rest?” he asked.

She managed a smile. “A little.”

As soon as she and Annie exchanged greetings, Annie showed her and Rosita the watch and the photo. “Do you recognize either of these?”

She held her breath while they both studied the watch. “This could be anyone's,” Lily said, handing it back. “I know men who wear gold watches, but there's nothing about this one that stands out.” Then she looked at the picture of the necklace. “I think Sophia had one like this.” She tapped it with her finger.

“Are you sure?” Annie asked.

“Pretty sure. At least it was similar.”

Rosita frowned. “I don't know. It could have been hers.”

Lily handed back the photo. “Where did you get this?”

“I found the necklace in Lockhart's possession.” Annie was relieved when neither Lily nor Ryan asked for details. “As you can see from the picture, it has a broken chain.”

“What does it mean?” Lily asked, obviously puzzled.

“It means if the necklace did belong to Sophia, he knew her better than we realized,” Cole told her. “He could be the one who was feeding her information about you and Ryan. It's even possible the necklace broke when they were struggling.”

Lily glanced from him to Annie and back. “Do you think he's the one who killed her?” Her voice was breathless, as if her throat had closed.

Annie could imagine how she might feel. She laid her hand on the older woman's arm. “It's a possibility,” she said softly. “Unfortunately nothing we found is admissible in court.”

Lily's elation faded. “But why not?”

“There are rules of evidence that we didn't exactly follow,” Cole explained. “But it may point to something else. In the meantime, we have some other leads to explore.”

“You're doing a great job,” Ryan exclaimed.
“Thank you, both!” After a couple more minutes of conversation, he invited Annie to stay for dinner.