Ghostly Game, page 9
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Miss Chappel,” Detective Carver said. “That wasn’t our intention. These men are persons of interest in the murder of a police detective.”
“Harvey Matters and Jarrod Flawson could be in danger,” Detective Abbott said. “You can see how important it is for us to find them.” He jerked his chin toward the door, and the other three detectives made their way out. “Please accept our apologies.” He gave Rory a little salute and followed the other detectives out.
“I can’t believe you said those things to them, Rory,” Sally said. “I was afraid they’d arrest you right on the spot.”
“For what? Calling them out? Speaking the truth? They were being assholes.” Rory wrapped her arms around her middle. “Did you see little Moses? He was drooling. His face was slack even when Cindy took him from Janice. I think she’s going to have to take him to the hospital.”
“Cindy did,” Janice confirmed. “She took both boys. I was glad she took them, even if Moses didn’t need to go. That way the police couldn’t question them even if they wanted to. Once the doctor sees Moses, he’s not going to give anyone permission to talk to the kid without the psych doc right there.” There was satisfaction in her voice.
“Moses can’t tell them anything anyway,” Rory said. “What would he be able to say? But you saw them. I don’t care that Detective Abbott apologized. He didn’t sound all that sincere to me. They would rip those little boys to shreds.”
“I agree,” Lydia said. “Well, maybe not Detective Larrsen. He didn’t seem nearly as aggressive and mean as the others. He kept interrupting them and frowning at that awful Detective Westlake.”
“We should try to remember Detective Ramsey, the man who was shot to death practically right in front of him, was his longtime partner,” Sally reminded gently. “Westlake had to go home and tell that man’s family he was killed.”
Pam sighed. “I know Ramsey was his partner, but he doesn’t have to be so nasty.”
“And did you see the way he kept looking at Rory’s ta-tas?” Janice was indignant. “He had a wedding ring on his finger and was staring at her boobs.”
“She does have amazing boobs,” Lydia pointed out. “I’m a little jealous.”
Rory burst out laughing and then sobered, looking at her watch. “I’ve got to put together a picnic basket and forget all about Ret’s face wrapped up in a plastic bag and those detectives yanking my chain. I have a date with Gideon, and I’ve already blown it. I’m late. I’m supposed to put a picnic basket together and meet him. I even cooked earlier. I should have been there fifteen minutes ago. I’ll have to text him and tell him I can’t make it.”
For some reason she wanted to cry. She never cried.
“Oh no.” Lydia jumped up, reaching down to gather her sleeping daughter into her arms. “Go shower. Text him. Tell him you’ll explain everything when you get there, and then do it, Rory. Don’t make this worse by not going. If he’s really into you, he’s not going to mind waiting another half hour while you get ready.”
Rory’s stomach dropped. She pressed her hand hard into the roller coaster to quiet it. “You think?” She looked around at her friends.
They nodded.
Her hand shook when she texted Gideon. She didn’t want him to tell her that he didn’t want to see her again. She couldn’t text him when the detectives had been interrogating her. It had felt like an interrogation, not simply asking questions. They’d been abrupt with everyone, but she felt like they’d been especially nasty with her.
She waited for Gideon’s reply to her simple I’m sorry I’m late. Unexpected holdup. If you still want me to come, it will be another half hour before I can get there. Will explain when I see you. She hadn’t taken a chance on saying anything else.
Rory waited. Her friends waited with her. All eyes were on her phone. The answer came fast, proving Gideon had been waiting for a text from her. She didn’t know if fast was good or bad, but she took a deep breath and looked down.
Will be waiting on roof. You have the code to get in. Looking forward to seeing you.
She couldn’t understand the joy that blossomed through her, but she knew it was in her eyes when she looked at her friends. “He’s waiting for me.”
“Then go get ready,” Lydia urged. “Do you need us to throw together food?”
“I’ve got that covered, but thank you,” Rory said, rushing for the elevator.
* * *
Gideon, she’s on the move, Javier reported. She’s being followed again. Same man. He’s staying way back. He’s not the only one watching her. Two cops. Undercover, dumb enough to think no one’s going to make them. I spotted them going into her building earlier with two other cops.
Gideon moved across the roof to the street side of his building, staying in the shadows of recesses he’d had built into the thick railings. It didn’t take him long to spot Rory. She was beautiful, totally feminine, moving with her natural grace around the few people on the sidewalk. She had her head up, and she wore a long skirt that flowed over her hips to her ankles. A sweater buttoned down the front clung to her breasts and ended at her midsection, drawing attention to the fact that she had a small waist. Her hair cascaded down her back in a riot of curls and waves.
Gideon pressed his palm over his heart and forced his gaze from her. He was looking to find the man following her. It didn’t take long to spot him. It was definitely the same man who had been in the restaurant. He was about a block and a half behind her, staying in the shadows, keeping to the doors and alcoves, his gaze on the two undercover cops more than on Rory.
The two detectives—Javier had identified them as John Westlake and Leo Carver—were watching Rory as she walked from her apartment to his building. Gideon didn’t like the idea of anyone spying on her, not even the cops. He was aware a body had been removed from her apartment complex. Since it had become apparent to other members of Gideon’s unit that Rory was important to him, they had set up surveillance on the complex. Javier had made it his mission to keep Rory under his eagle eye once they realized someone was following her.
Gideon could see Javier talking and laughing with a group of teens. He stood right next to the cop car, obscuring the detectives’ vision of Rory as she stopped at Gideon’s building and put the code in to unlock the door. Gideon couldn’t help smiling as Westlake shoved open the passenger door and leapt out onto the street in an attempt to see around the group of teenagers who had stopped in the wrong place. With much more dignity, Carver got out onto the sidewalk. Rory had already disappeared into the building.
Cursing, Westlake shoved through the crowd of teenagers and hurried up the sidewalk to try to catch up with Rory. He seemed to forget he wasn’t wearing a badge or a uniform or driving an official vehicle. Led by Javier, the teens flipped him off and shouted curses at him. Carver got back into the car, leaving Westlake to stomp back on his own, muttering curses back at the teens and flinging himself into the car, glowering at his partner. Carver drove away.
Gideon found himself grinning. He knew Javier would follow the man stalking Rory. Gideon could enjoy himself with the woman he’d been looking forward to seeing all day. He looked around his rooftop to make certain he had everything ready for her. Two comfortable chairs close to the firepit, which was already lit, the flames burning low. His night flowers were in bloom, looking beautiful, the blossoms turning their petals up toward the moon. Even the weather had cooperated, giving them a relatively clear night so the stars could be seen.
The trapdoor opened slowly. Gideon knew he should help, but he found himself frozen, unable to move a muscle, watching Rory’s face come into his line of vision. She was really here in his home, on his rooftop, meeting him. He’d never been open to relationships at all. In fact, he knew he was a very closed-off person. He had been since he’d been that boy who was homeless with the other street kids. He’d seen too much, had been betrayed too many times. To be in any kind of a relationship, one had to have trust. He had lost that ability far too many years ago.
His first sight of her face and that hair of hers, with the moonlight shining down on her, robbed him of his ability to breathe. There was no air left in his lungs. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t stop. “You’re so damn beautiful, Red,” he whispered. The wind brushed across his face, and he hoped it carried his silly words away from her and all they admitted about the way he felt.
Her lips tipped upward, and if she could have gotten any more beautiful, she managed it. Her smile lit her entire face. The green in her eyes became even more vivid, deepened into a brighter emerald.
Gideon forced himself to break free of his frozen state and hurried to help her off the staircase and onto the roof. He took the basket from her but didn’t let go of her arm.
She tilted her head to look up at him. “Thank you for being understanding. I was hoping you’d wait for me.”
“I would have waited all night to see you, Rory.” He couldn’t help the sincerity in his voice, although he was afraid he was going to creep her out with his intensity.
She gave him another smile, and it eased the knots that had gathered in his belly. He really wasn’t good at this. He’d watched Kane with Rose and Mack with Jaimie, but there wasn’t a lot to guide him into the newness of a relationship. Mack had known Jaimie from childhood, and Kane had a history with Rose before the others had ever known her.
He hadn’t learned a thing from observing the couples together, other than that they didn’t seem to be able to keep their hands off each other, and the men were extremely protective of the women. That seemed to exasperate the women. Gideon understood Kane and Mack. He felt protective toward Rory already. As far as keeping his hands off her, the chemistry was explosive, and he didn’t dare get too close and test it until she knew he wasn’t about having a one-night stand with her or just using her and then walking away.
He took the picnic basket from her. “Food is always appreciated, Red, but you didn’t have to go to the trouble, especially when something clearly happened to make you late.”
Gideon led the way to the area he’d set up for the picnic. He’d made certain the space was surrounded by his plants to make it more intimate, although the rooftop was extremely private. This area had the best view of the harbor and out to sea. The plants gave them some protection from the wind.
“This is so beautiful, Gideon.” She spun in a slow circle. “I’m on the third floor. Having a view from the fourth floor really makes a difference.”
“I have a throw blanket for you just in case it gets cold.”
“I’m sure the firepit will keep me warm enough, but that was very thoughtful,” Rory said. She took the chair closest to the planters and held out her hands to the fire. “You wouldn’t believe what’s been happening at my apartment complex recently.”
She told him about the police detective, Peter Ramsey, being shot and killed that first day he’d come to her bar when she’d been late. She disclosed that Dustin Bartlet, a man living in the apartment building, had been found dead a couple of days later. She finished by filling him in on what happened that day.
“You’re telling me a cop was killed there the other day, along with a man you knew, and now another man’s body has been discovered?” He didn’t let on that he had all that information already.
Rory nodded, her green eyes fixed solemnly on his. “Yep. Ret was in the garbage chute, wrapped in plastic like a mummy. Someone had killed him by putting a plastic bag over his head. It was really disgusting. When the detective was shot, my friends and I were in the lounge. We like to meet for coffee and visit when we can. It was our day to sort junk mail. The next thing we know, we hear the guns going off, and the cop staggers in with blood all over him.”
“You didn’t tell me any of this,” Gideon pointed out.
“Well, no,” she conceded. “I thought it was over. I didn’t know they were going to find Ret in the garbage chute. Poor little Moses is traumatized for life. He was playing with his brother, sliding down the chute, which they were not supposed to be doing, and Moses got stuck on top of Ret’s head.”
Gideon sighed. “Red, your life is crazier than mine.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Red? You keep calling me Red.”
“Your hair. Dark cherry–colored. I can’t help but think of you as Red.” He flashed a smile he hoped didn’t make him look like more of an ass than he already felt like.
He was discovering he wasn’t the kind of man who courted a woman. He was more the caveman type, like Javier. If he could, he’d just keep his little redheaded woman safe in his home and persuade her he was the right choice for her—somehow.
“You’re frowning.”
He wasn’t. He knew he wasn’t. Inside maybe, but not on the outside. “You’re not supposed to be able to read my mind.”
Her laughter slipped out. Those bright notes that sounded too much like sunshine when nothing in his life had ever made him feel the way she did. It wasn’t even the chemistry arcing between them like electricity—so much he expected to see white sparks snapping off their skin whenever they were too close. It was the things about her that he’d learned while watching her from a distance. From reading the reports Javier had given to him. The generous way she interacted with others. She was real.
Gideon had no idea how or why she managed to take away his demons, but she did. “It’s probably best if you can’t read minds.” It slipped out before he could stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth. Hell.
Her eyebrow went up. She had a hint of red in her eyebrows. Staring at them was much safer than staring at her lips.
“What is going on in your mind that I shouldn’t know about?”
Gideon turned fully toward her, drawn by a source outside himself that was much more powerful than he could control. He shook his head. “I didn’t lure you up here to scare you. I’ve never been so attracted to a woman in my life. I didn’t expect the kind of chemistry we have between us. I’m hoping it isn’t all on my side.”
Her emerald eyes drifted over his face inch by slow inch. He swore he could hear his heart drumming out a beat louder than the pounding sea. A slow demure smile curved her full lips, drawing his attention right back to her mouth. “I don’t believe it is all on your side, Gideon.”
He let his breath out, the relief tremendous. She was honest and she hadn’t taken the least offense. He reached for the cooler in an effort to distract himself from his need to kiss her. “Beer? A soft drink? Water? Flavored water?”
“Water sounds good to me.” She opened the picnic basket. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“I waited to eat, so yes, I’m very hungry.”
He loosened the cap on the bottle of water and held it out to her rather than putting it on the table between them. Mostly it was an excuse to touch her. He wanted to feel her skin again. The pads of his fingers slid over her wrist when she took the bottle. Once again, he felt electrical charges snapping between them.
“What did you bring?” He slid his index finger back and forth along her inner wrist. He knew he shouldn’t, but the sensation created between her satin skin and the snapping electrical flashes was too hot to resist. Heat poured through his veins, and he felt the answering fire in hers, as if the connection between them was growing stronger.
She didn’t pull away. “Traditional picnic fare. Fried chicken and potato salad, but then I went off the rails and made spring rolls and shrimp fried rice. I thought it would be fun to try a couple of different dishes, and you seemed open to new possibilities.”
He liked that she thought he would be adventurous enough to try something different. “I do like to try new foods. When I travel for work, I make it a point to try the local dishes.” He had to release her, and he did so reluctantly.
“Do you do your own gardening?”
“For the most part. Gardening is soothing to me. Everything up here is designed around making this a peaceful retreat.” That along with protecting him if he had to defend his team from enemy fire.
“I do the same thing with my much smaller rooftop patio.” She made up a plate of food and passed it to him with a fork and napkin. “Your rooftop is huge and has all sorts of cool recesses built into it. Were they already there?”
He hesitated. It was a natural question. “I tried to stay as close to the original blueprints as possible on the outside of the building, but not up here. I designed most of this myself.” He could see miles out to sea, all over the harbor, blocks on either side of the road. It was a sniper’s dream, and if drones or helicopters were put in the air, he had so many places to hide, it would be impossible to see him.
“I’ve never quite understood what makes a person decide to put roots down in one place,” Rory said, curiosity in her voice. “Or what causes them to choose that place.”
Her green eyes met his intently but then slid away from his gaze. To give himself time to assess the situation properly, he took a bite of the potato salad. “This is outstanding,” he declared after chewing it properly and taking a second bite, just to be sure that he was right about it. “Yep, fantastic.”
He studied her averted face. “It’s perfectly all right that you enjoy seeing new places. I see them when I’m working. I’m certain traveling to various places for work satisfies my need to see new horizons. Do you think traveling is something you want to do, or something you’re compelled to do?”
Rory’s eyebrows drew together. The elegant lines had those same hints of dark cherry red when the lights fell across her face directly. He had to keep himself from leaning into her and brushing kisses over those winged brows. He even liked the way she contemplated his questions. She was thoughtful, not answering immediately.
