You Can't Hide (39 page)

“It was psychosomatic, then.”

She rol ed her eyes. “Posttraumatic stress disorder was what the doctor finally called it. It was humiliating. I was a shrink and it was all in my head. I was too scared to work.” She shrugged. “But then it didn’t matter anymore because three weeks after that I lost my contract with the court. I didn’t have to worry about psycho cons with chains anymore.”

“Did it get better?”

She looked up at the ceiling again. “Actually it got a lot worse. Phillip was getting impatient with me. He’d been solicitous as he could be, but he wanted me well. He wanted… sex. And I couldn’t. I had no energy and I couldn’t eat. I could barely dress myself, much less burn up the sheets.” She changed the subject. “He was traveling a lot, so he gave Jon and Robin keys. Amy already had a set. They’d come by when I was too weak to go to work. Check on me.” She grimaced. “Feed me soup. I really hate soup. Robin’s at least tastes good. Amy’s was nasty. She’s not a good cook.”

“I’l remember that.
No soup for you,
” he added in a
Seinfeld
Soup Nazi imitation and she chuckled. “So what happened to Dr. Damn-him-to-hel ?”

“After a few months of forced abstinence, he decided he’d get some elsewhere.” The pain resurfaced, but with less vigor than before. “He had her in my bed.”

Aidan was quiet, his eyes steady. “Tacky of him.”

She huffed another chuckle. “Yeah. Tackier of her to leave an earring under my pillow and her panties wadded under the sheets at the foot of the bed. Happened when I was at the damn doctor’s office. I came home and he was gone. Her perfume wasn’t.”

“Did you confront him?”

146

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“Yes. He didn’t deny it. He just packed up his things and left that night. Never said a word. And I haven’t talked to him since. That’s all.”

“When did you start feeling better?”

“After my honeymoon.”

His brows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“The cruise tickets were nonrefundable, so Amy and I drank our way up and down the west coast of Mexico. Somewhere on that trip the nausea passed and when I came back I went back to work. All our friends knew what had happened. You can’t cancel a huge wedding two weeks before the date without explaining. Phillip became persona non grata in our little group. Last I heard he had a new girlfriend. Rich bitch from the North Shore.”

He smiled. “Tess, you’re rich.”

“Uh-uh. I’m comfortable. Eleanor was rich. Come next summer, my lease on the apartment expires and I’l be hoofing it from an apartment in a less trendy part of town.”

He was frowning again. “Lease?”

“Yep. Eleanor liked to prepay things. She’d paid for her apartment several years out and when she died, she left her remaining months on the lease to me, both the apartment and the Mercedes. On June thirtieth, the clock hits midnight and it all turns to a pumpkin.” He looked surprised and that satisfied her. “Told you I wasn’t a snob. I’m more of a squatter. With attitude.”

He barked out a startled laugh. “Yeah, I guess we saw that tonight. How did you break his nose anyway? He wouldn’t say.”

She demonstrated, gently pushing the heel of her hand to his nose. “Like this.”

He kissed her wrist. “Vito show you how to do that?” he murmured. She hesitated. “No. Vito showed me how to use a gun.”

He pressed his lips to her chin. “You’re evading again.”

“My dad showed me,” she said, annoyed with his persistence. “We lived in a rough neighborhood. My dad wouldn’t let me date until I could do the self-defense moves. Although no boy was stupid enough to try anything with me. Not with four big brothers.”

“Are they all as big as Vito?”

“About.” She sighed. “I miss them. A lot. Vito wants me to come home, permanently.” She watched him frown. “My dad is really sick. I don’t want it to matter to me, but it does. Seeing you with your parents tonight…” She closed her eyes. “I haven’t seen my family in a very long time.”

“How long?”

“Five years.”

“Why?”

“We are estranged.”

“Tess.”

She lifted a shoulder wearily. “My dad was always very strict. Very Catholic and very strict. We went to mass every Sunday. Excepting Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, I honestly believed he’d never lied to me.”

“But he did.”

“He… lied to my mother.”

“He cheated on her?”

“Yeah. He and Mom had come to Chicago, visiting. I didn’t have Eleanor’s place then. Amy and I shared this tiny studio apartment near the hospital where I’d interned so they stayed in a hotel. Mom and I were going shopping.” Her mouth tipped sadly. “It’s what we did together for fun. We’d gotten all the way to the store when Mom realized she forgot Dad’s credit card, so I went back to the hotel to get it for her.”

“He was with somebody else.”

“A skinny-assed bimbo young enough to be his daughter,” she confirmed bitterly. “I think I lost my childhood that day. I’d always been my daddy’s girl. Now I have no idea who that man is. He denied he’d done anything wrong, said it was a mistake.”

“Could he have been telling the truth?”

147

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

Tess tightened her jaw. “She was naked and all over him. I thought that was pretty conclusive. I didn’t tell my mother at first, but when I finally did, she believed him. It was a family crisis. Dad was so furious that I’d told, yelling and screaming. He had a coronary. Literally.” She swallowed. “I thought he was faking it so I didn’t help. I walked away.”

“He wasn’t faking it.”

“No. He’d had a heart attack. Not a bad one, but enough so that his life changed. As did mine. He wouldn’t speak to me. His daughter, the doctor, left him to die.”

“He’s dramatic.”

She nodded. “He can be. Anyway, Vito says it’s really bad now. He’s going to have to sell the business, all his tools. He’s a cabinetmaker. One of the last great artisans in Philly. He’d made furniture for the finest families in the city. ‘Blue bloods’ he’d call them. He thought it was funny that they paid him thousands for a bookcase when they wouldn’t look him in the eye on the street. When I was growing up, I hated them.”

Understanding lit his eyes. “Because they were snobs.”

“I’m not that hard to figure out, Detective.”

“Harder than I thought,” he said quietly. “But worth the trouble.” He covered her mouth with his, tenderly. “I got rushed earlier. I missed a few places.”

Reflexively she arched, making him smile. “I didn’t mind.”

“I think we can do better.” He pressed his lips to her throat where the scar marked her flesh and reflexively she pul ed away, making him frown. “Don’t do that, Tess,” he ordered, his tone soft, his words firm. “Don’t hide from me.”

Phillip had been repulsed. In fact more than half of the scarves she owned had come from him in that month between bringing her home and bringing home someone else. “It’s ugly.”

“You’re beautiful.” He kissed her throat, from one side to the other, making her sigh. “Some places,” he slid down until his mouth was again at her breast, “more than others. Let me show you.” And he did. And it was better than before. He gave tribute to each part of her body, with his eyes, his hands, and his mouth. And Tess closed her eyes and let him do it all. Let him suckle her breast, first one, then the other until each pul from his lips tugged an answering pulse in her core. She let him kiss his way down her stomach and up her inner thighs and once again he showed her exactly how responsive she could be, dragging desperate pleas from her throat until she was hoarse. He slipped his hands under her bottom and tilted her so that he could stroke deep with his tongue and drive her crazy. He brought her to climax with his mouth, then before her heart had settled, with his clever fingers drove her up and over again, leaving her hol owed out and liquid.

And finally, where he’d plunged hard and fast before, this time he was slow, entering her with a reverence that made her eyes fill even as she moaned with the sheer pleasure of being filled again after so many months alone. He filled her, thick and hard and deeper than she’d ever had before. She blinked, sending tears sliding down her temples and into her hair. He ceased moving, holding himself perfectly still. “Am I hurting you?” His voice rumbled in his chest, husky and strained.

“No, no. Don’t stop.” She bent her knees, flanking his hips with her thighs, drawing him even deeper, hearing the quick intake of his breath. “It’s just that you feel so good.”

He didn’t stop. He kept going until she convulsed around him. Until the scream she heard was her own. His face set, feral in its intensity, he lunged a final time and held himself taut inside her as he came, arms shaking, teeth bared.

He col apsed on top of her, knocking the wind from her lungs. His breath beat the hair from her face. He was sweaty and heavy as a rock, but when he tried to move, she wrapped her arms around his back and held him. Felt his heart thundering against her breast. “Not yet. Stay.”

He dragged in a rasping breath. “I’m too heavy for you.”

In the hall Dol y growled and Aidan lifted his head. A minute later the doorbell rang, sending the dog into a barking frenzy.

148

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“Reagan! Open up.”

Tess’s eyes widened. “It’s Vito. What’s he doing here?”

Aidan slid off her, flipping to his back like a landed trout. “Probably making sure I don’t do what I just did. I don’t have the energy to get up.” But Vito started pounding on the door and Dol y’s barking grew more frenetic.

“He’s going to wake up the neighborhood,” Tess hissed. She rol ed out of bed and tested her legs, laughing when they felt like rubber. Quickly she pul ed on a pair of jeans and Aidan’s sweatshirt and went to answer the door.

Vito stood outside, looking all the world like a crazed man. He moved to step inside and Dol y growled, baring her teeth.

“Dol y, down,” Aidan commanded softly. “She doesn’t like men at night.”

Vito ignored him, his hands on Tess’s shoulders. “Did he hurt you?”

She blinked. “Who, Aidan?”

“No,” he said frantically. “Wallace Clayborn. I tried to call your cell but you didn’t answer. I was scared to death.” He searched her face. “Your face is red.” He rubbed her cheek with his thumb, then his eyes flew to Aidan’s stubbled face, darkening. To his credit, Aidan didn’t flinch. She patted Vito’s arm. “Come on in. I’l tell you all about Clayborn. You would have been proud of me.”

Chapter 16

Thursday, March 16, 6:15 A.M.

Tess, your cat is in the sink.”

Tess rol ed over lazily and looked at him standing in front of the sink in the bathroom. Still naked and damp from his shower, Aidan Reagan made a fine picture first thing in the morning.

“Turn on the water. She wants to drink from the faucet.”

“I thought cats didn’t like water.”

“She does.” She staggered into the bathroom and sat on the edge of the tub, smiling at him as he shooed the cat from the sink and lathered his face. Offended, Bella prissed across the tub and into her lap. “It’s your own fault we don’t have time for breakfast. Just one more time, you said. A quickie. Yeah.”

He grinned. “I didn’t hear you complaining a few minutes ago.”

She grinned back and it felt so good to do so. “Nope.” She watched him another minute more, petting the purring Bella. And sobered. “What will you do today, Aidan?”

“Tie up all the loose ends on Bacon. See if CSU came up with anything else.”

“Because you don’t think he did it.”

“No. But I’ve got other cases to close, too.”

She remembered the autopsy report she’d seen on his desk. “The little boy.”

“Yes. I still can’t find his father. And I think his mother knows where he is.”

“A father killing his own son.” She blew out a breath. “I never get used to those.”

“Me, either. So what will you do today?”

“I don’t know. Bacon’s dead, Clayborn’s in jail… I’l probably go into the office and start cleaning up. And Harrison’s viewing is tonight.” Grief resurfaced, painful. “The funeral is Saturday.”

“Tell me when it is and I’l go with you.”

Warm gratitude softened the sharp edge of her grief. “Thank you. I’ve got to see Ethel Hughes today. Will you tell her about the note he left on Mr. Hughes’s coat?”
Be judged by the
company you keep
.

149

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“We’l talk about that this morning. I’l let you know.” He dried his face, then turned to face her grimly. “There’s something I didn’t tell you about yesterday. Come here.”

Dread gripped her gut as she stood up, sending Bella to the floor. “Okay.”

“Rick was sure Bacon would have kept a stash of videos, but we couldn’t find any.”

She swallowed. She’d known this, deep down. It had been easier not to think about it. “So the video he took of me is still out there.”

“Somewhere. He may have moved them to another hiding place. We have a couple of places to start looking, but it’s not a priority for homicide anymore. It’l move to the Electronic Crimes Division. They cover Internet porn and things like that.”

She couldn’t control the wince. “So, if it does get out… Will it matter to you?”

His eyes were solemn. “Some. I don’t cheat and I don’t share and I guess there’s enough macho bul shit in me to care that other guys see what I see. What will you do?”

She attempted a grin. “Make a calendar and schedule a signing tour?”

He chuckled and kissed her lips. “Get dressed. If I don’t get you to Vito by seven thirty I’l be late for the morning meeting because I’l be a mashed-up pulp.”

Thursday, March 16, 7:30 A.M.

With his arm locked firmly around her waist, Aidan knocked on Vito’s door and endured her brother’s silent head-to-toe assessment in silence.

“Reagan. Tess.”

Tess rol ed her eyes and pecked Vito’s cheek. “For God’s sake, Vito. Stop it.” Then she hooked her hand around Aidan’s neck and pul ed him down for a chaste good-bye kiss. “Now go or you’ll be late.”