02 Madoc (6 page)

As they reached the outskirts of Denver, Shayna glanced at the handsome man beside her, wondering if she should try to plead her case with him again, but then decided against it. She had spent the past two days working on him. If she hadn’t swayed him during that time, there was really nothing left to say. Besides, she didn’t want to spend the remaining freedom she had left arguing with Madoc. With a sigh, she tore her gaze away from the Marshal to gaze out the window again.

Shayna was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t realize Madoc had turned into a parking garage until he pulled the SUV into a space. Her brow furrowing, she gave him a curious look.

“Where are we?” she asked.

He turned to look at her with those incredible golden eyes of his. “My apartment,” he said. “I’ve decided not to turn you in. At least not until I can check out your story.”

Shayna blinked in surprise, unable to believe what she’d just heard. “What made you change your mind?” she said softly.

Madoc said nothing for a moment, and Shayna held her breath as she waited for him to answer.

“I didn’t say I changed my mind. I just said that I was going to check into it before I turn you in, that’s all,” he said gruffly.

Shayna made no reply, but she knew from the way he said the words that it was more than that. If he were just interested in checking into her story, he could have done it while she was in jail. He must really think she was innocent for him to put himself at risk like this. Of course, some part of her was also hoping that his reasons might be a little more personal than that. That maybe last night had meant something to him after all. She tried to control it, but her heart began to beat wildly at the thought that not only might she finally have found a way to get out of this mess, but that Madoc might actually care for her.

What the hell was he doing? Madoc asked himself as he let Shayna into his apartment. He was risking his career, his reputation, even his freedom, all for a woman he had just met! And for what? Maybe going to his brother’s wedding had infected him with some kind of mental disorder or something, he thought. What else could explain such a serious lack in judgment?

But no matter how much he tried to tell himself that he was being crazy, and that he should just drop Shayna off at the Denver PD, he couldn’t. She was innocent; he knew that deep down in his gut. And while he hadn’t said anything to Shayna until they had gotten back to Denver, he had actually made the decision not to turn her in while they had been in bed that morning. She had looked so vulnerable lying there sleeping that he couldn’t bear the thought of her spending even one night in a jail cell much less going to prison for the rest of her life.

Especially for something she didn’t do.

And if he hadn’t slept with her, would he still be so willing to help her clear her name? he wondered. Of course he would be, he told himself. The fact that he had just spent the night having the most incredible sex of his life with her hadn’t factored into his decision at all.

Madoc ground his jaw. Who the hell was he kidding? He had criticized his brother for getting involved with a protectee in the Witness Protection Program, and here he was falling for a fugitive! That thought stopped him cold. He was definitely not falling for Shayna Matthews! He was helping her in the interest of justice, that was all.

His hand tightening on the handle of the overnight bag he held, Madoc cleared his throat. “I’m going to grab a quick shower and a change of clothes, then head over to the office and see what I can dig up,” he announced.

“Make yourself at home.”

Before Shayna could reply, Madoc walked down the hallway and into his bedroom. Stripping off his clothes, he took a shower, and then pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a clean shirt. When he went back into the living room, it was to find Shayna standing at the window, gazing out at the snow-covered mountains in the distance.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, pulling on his coat. “Don’t answer the phone or open the door to anyone.

And whatever you do, don’t go anywhere.”

A small smile curved her lips. “I won’t,” she said.

Digging into his pocket for his keys, Madoc started for the door.

“Madoc?”

His hand on the doorknob, Madoc turned to see Shayna chewing on her lower lip and looking at him gratefully.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

Madoc wanted to tell Shayna that she shouldn’t be thanking him yet. That if he didn’t succeed in finding something to clear her name soon, then she’d very likely end up going to prison anyway. But she looked so worried standing there that it was all he could do not to stride across the room and take her in his arms. Not trusting himself to speak, he merely gave her a nod and walked out.

The building that housed the U.S. Marshals offices was across town from his apartment, but the traffic was surprisingly light, so it took less than a half hour to get there. Once inside, Madoc went directly to his boss’

office. Since he knew he wouldn’t get much investigating done with the workload that was sure to be waiting for him, Madoc had decided to take a couple more days off. Though Deputy Chief Evans wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Madoc taking more time off, the other man agreed. Of course, it helped that Madoc went into great detail about the two “miserable” days he’d had to spend holed up in the cabin.

Deciding that the best way to check out Shayna’s story was to find what the Denver police had on the case, Madoc went over to the precinct where she had been arrested. Fortunately, he had a friend that worked as a detective there, so getting a look at the file wasn’t as difficult as it might have been if he’d had to go through normal channels. That didn’t mean his friend didn’t wonder why Madoc was interested in a case that had already been solved.

“It might be connected to another case I’m working on,” Madoc told the other man with a shrug.

Opening the folder, Madoc read through the file. Though everything had been done by the book, it was clear that the police hadn’t wanted to investigate anyone else after finding the evidence on Shayna. Though Madoc supposed he couldn’t really blame the cops. The evidence against Shayna was solid, and if he had been working the case, he probably would have come to the same conclusion.

With a sigh, he began to read through the file again, more slowly this time. Things had unfolded just like Shayna had told him. According to the lead detective that had investigated the case, the police had received an anonymous tip from someone saying that Shayna had embezzled the money. Of course, the call had come from a pay phone so there was no way of knowing who had actually made it, but the caller had to be the person who had framed Shayna. As for the emails she had supposedly sent to her boss, Evan Mercer, they had all come from her work email address. While that wasn’t as bad as being sent from her personal computer, it would be almost impossible to prove she hadn’t been the one who wrote them. Which left the bank account in the Caymans, but since there was no way to find out who actually opened it, that was another dead end.

Madoc picked up the crime-scene photos from Evan Mercer’s house. When Shayna had told him the police said they had found some blood, Madoc had assumed there would have been more than the half dozen droplets on the carpet in the picture. After seeing that, Madoc was even more inclined to think that Shayna’s boss had set her up.

Now, they just needed to prove it. But how?

Madoc thought a moment. The next logical step was to search Mercer’s place. While the police had probably already done that, there might be something they overlooked, especially if they were only looking for evidence against Shayna, he told himself. At least, he hoped they had.

Wondering whether to go straight there or back to his apartment first, Madoc opted for the latter. Since he was going to have to break into Mercer’s place, it made more sense to do it after dark. Besides, he hadn’t eaten anything since that morning and he was starving. Figuring that Shayna was probably just as hungry, especially since there wasn’t much in the way of food back at his apartment, he decided to pick up some Chinese food on the way home.

As he left the police station, Madoc realized that he was looking forward to seeing Shayna. Hopefully, she hadn’t done anything foolish while he’d been out, like call her family to tell them she was back in Denver, he thought. He could just imagine her telling them the whole story.

Shayna stared at the door in disbelief. She couldn’t believe Madoc had gone out and left her alone in his apartment. If she wanted to, she could make a run for it, she told herself. But she wasn’t going to. Outside of her family, Madoc was the only other person that believed she was innocent, and that meant a lot to her. She trusted him to help her, and she wasn’t going to let him down.

With a sigh, Shayna put her hands on her hips and surveyed the apartment. It was nice, she thought, taking in the roomy living area and modern kitchen. Very masculine, but then had she really expected any less from a man like the Marshal. Her lips curving into a smile, she decided she liked it. Then again, she had been living in the boarding house for so long that she probably would have liked his apartment if he’d had shag carpeting on the floor, a lava lamp on the coffee table, and a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Well, maybe not, she conceded.

Abruptly, she remembered Madoc’s invitation to make herself at home. While raiding his refrigerator was tempting, Shayna decided she needed a shower first. After being in the same clothes for the past two days, she felt totally grimy. Making her way through the living room, she walked down the hall toward the room the Marshal had disappeared into earlier.

Madoc’s bedroom was as masculine-looking as the rest of his apartment, and there was something equally inviting about it, Shayna thought. As she took in the huge four-poster bed with its navy blue comforter, she blushed hotly as she pictured Madoc making love to her there. An image of her beneath him, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist while he plunged deeply into her, played over and over in her mind. That thought, as well as all of the other ways the gorgeous Marshal would pleasure her with his body had her pussy practically purring, and she let out a little moan as she walked into the adjoining bathroom.

Thirty minutes later, Shayna had showered and dried her hair, and was standing in front of the mirror, wearing only her bra and panties. The thought of putting on her jeans and long-sleeved shirt again after she’d just gotten all nice and clean wasn’t very appealing, but neither could she walk around Madoc’s apartment in her underwear.

She chewed on her lower lip, wondering whether Madoc would mind if she borrowed a shirt to wear. While he had told her to make herself at home, she wasn’t sure that extended to borrowing his clothes. But it was either that, or put hers back on, she told herself. With a shrug, she padded back into the bedroom and over to the closet.

Madoc had a variety of shirts to pick from, including several white dress-shirts. Choosing one of those, Shayna slipped her arms into the sleeves and buttoned it up. It was big on her, coming to mid-thigh, and it reminded her of wearing her boyfriend’s shirt, something she’d always kind of liked. She knew it was improbable since the shirt was obviously clean, but she could have sworn she still smelled Madoc’s masculine scent on it. Regardless, it made wearing the Marshal’s shirt extremely comforting.

Going back out into the living room, Shayna started to make her way to the kitchen, but then stopped at the sound of a knock on the door. Remembering Madoc’s warning not to open the door to anyone, she ignored whoever it was and continued on her way to the kitchen, only to stop when the knock came again.

“It’s Mrs. McMurray from across the hall, dear,” a woman’s voice called. “Are you in there?”

Her brow furrowing, Shayna walked over to the door and looked out the peephole to see an elderly woman standing there. As if somehow sensing that Shayna had looked out to verify the identity of her visitor, the woman smiled and lifted the plate of cookies she was holding in offering. Shayna knew she should probably ignore the older woman, but she couldn’t. When Madoc had warned her not to open the door to anyone, he obviously hadn’t meant his sweet, elderly neighbor. Besides, with her gray hair back in a bun and that warm smile, she reminded Shayna of her grandmother.

Running her hands over her long, dark hair, Shayna fixed a smile on her face and pulled open the door. “Can I help you?” she asked.

The elderly woman’s smile broadened. “I’m Mrs. Murray from across the hall,” she explained again. “I heard you and Madoc coming in earlier, and I thought I’d bring over some chocolate chip cookies. They’re homemade,” she added, holding out the plate.

Automatically taken in by the other woman’s sweet manner, Shayna couldn’t help but reach out to take the plate of cookies from her. It would have been rude not to, Shayna told herself. Besides, they smelled so delicious. It was all she could do not to grab one off the plate and bite into it right then. “Thank you,” she said. “That was very sweet of you, Mrs. Murray.”

Mrs. Murray waved her hand. “’Twas no trouble at all, my dear,” she said, and then glanced over Shayna’s shoulder. “I couldn’t help but notice Madoc leave earlier, so I thought you might like to sit down and have a little girl talk.”

Shayna didn’t know what to say at first. Madoc had told her not to let anyone into the apartment, but the sweet woman had gone to all the trouble of making cookies for her. Shayna didn’t know how well Madoc knew the older woman, so she wasn’t even sure if he would want her in his apartment. But what was Shayna going to do, slam the door in Mrs. Murray’s face?

“Actually, Madoc just went into work for a little while,” Shayna said. “He’ll probably be back any minute.”

Mrs. Murray made a tsking noise. “I’ve lived next door to that boy for years, now, and one thing I know. When he goes into work, he’s never right back,” she said. “So, since he’s probably going to be awhile, what do you say we girls get some coffee to go with these cookies, dear? You can tell me all about the wedding.”

If the woman knew about the wedding, then she must know the Marshal fairly well, Shayna thought. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to let the woman in for a little while. Besides, it had been a long time since Shayna had been able to sit down and just chat with someone about everyday things. Smiling again, she took a step back to let the other woman into the apartment. With her sweet, take-charge demeanor, Mrs. Murray was beginning to remind Shayna more and more of her grandmother.

“Why don’t you sit down and I’ll make some coffee,” Shayna suggested as she set the plate of cookies down on the coffee table.

“I don’t think you told me your name, dear,” the older woman said as she took a seat on the couch.

“It’s Shayna,” she said, giving the woman her real name without thinking.

Shayna cringed inwardly. Oh God, what if Mrs. Murray remembered hearing her name on the news? It wasn’t a common name, after all.

But Mrs. Murray merely smiled. “What a lovely name,” she said. “Is it Irish?”

Shayna breathed a sigh of relief. “You know, I’m not really sure,” she said, and then quickly added, “Why don’t I go make that coffee?”

Still chiding herself for tripping up like that, Shayna hurried into the kitchen before the other woman could stop her. However, since Madoc’s apartment had an open floor-plan, Mrs. Murray was able to continue their conversation while Shayna made coffee. To her relief, the older woman had let the subject of Shayna’s name drop and had moved onto Madoc’s brother’s wedding, wanting to know how it was. Though that wasn’t necessarily any better, Shayna thought as she got the coffee going. While Madoc had opened up quite a bit to her at the cabin the day before – something which still surprised her – he hadn’t really said all that much about his brother’s wedding. She needn’t have worried, though, because the sweet, elderly Mrs. Murray didn’t let her get a word in edgewise. All Shayna had to do was smile and nod her head in agreement at the appropriate times.