Bad Habit (17 page)

He placed a call to the convent and
asked to talk to Sister Clem. He gazed at Teri while he waited for
her to come to the phone. “Do you ever wonder what would have
happened to you if I hadn’t insisted that you leave the apartment
and come with me?”

A spiral of fear snaked along
Teri’s spine. “I imagine I’d be dead by now.” Her voice sounded
flat and hollow to her own ears.

“
I’m glad you’re not.” He turned
his attention back to the phone. “Sister Clement?” He pushed the
button for speaker phone. “This is Detective Garcia.”

“
Angel?”

“
Yes, Sister.” He grinned at Teri
and nodded. “How are you and the others?”

“
We’re fine. We’ve been staying at
the convent when we’re not teaching.”

“
That’s good, Sister. I’ll let you
know when it’s safe to go back to the apartment.”

“
Good. We miss our little place,”
she said. “How is Sister Bernie? We miss her, too.”

Teri ducked her head under Angel’s searching
stare.

“
Sister Bernie is good.” Angel
said. “You’ve got my cell phone number, Sister. Call me if you
notice anything out of the ordinary.” He hung up with Clem and put
his arms around Teri. “Don’t feel sad.”

“
Sad would be a step up,” she said.
“I feel guilty.”

“
You did what you thought you had to
do.”

A prickle of anger stabbed through
her. “Stop making excuses for me.” She tried to pull
away.

Angel held her firmly. “I’m not
making excuses. I’m excusing you for making a bad choice. If you
had gone to the police at the beginning I could have protected
you.” He sighed. “But things might have turned out differently.
Someone else could have caught the case and I might never have met
you.”

“
I wouldn’t have met your family,”
she said.

“
You wouldn’t have slept in my arms
at the motel.”

She felt her color rising. “Thank
you for reminding me of my shameless behavior.”

He grazed her cheek with his fingers and raised her
chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Every morning when I wake up
without you, I ache for you.” He lowered his lips to hers and
brushed a kiss across her mouth. “I ache for you,” he
whispered.

A wave of desire roiled up from her
gut. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears like hoof beats. “Me
too.”

He gave her a little smile. “What kind of
declaration was that?”

“
That---that I have strong feelings
for you.”

“
Strong feelings?”

She held up her hand, effectively
ending the conversation. “Yes, but don’t push me. I can’t define
how I feel. Too many other things are going on.”

“
Right.” He rose from the sofa and
stood gazing down at her. “I’m going to drive by the nun’s
apartment tonight and see if anyone is still staking it
out.”

“
You mean Altman?” Her throat
constricted when she visualized his face.

“
Or someone else. I’m just going to
check it out. Do you want to come with me or stay here?”

She sprang up from the sofa. “With
you...I want to be with you.” She reached out for him and he laced
his fingers with hers.

Angel kissed her fingertips and
drew her outside to his car. She felt the prickle of excitement as
he pulled out of the driveway. He drove to the convent and
slowed.

After circling the block and
scanning the cars lining the street, Angel parked behind the nun’s
apartment and told her to stay ducked down. He slipped out and
locked her inside.

Her heart rate increased. When she
was with Angel she wasn’t afraid. But she was alone hunched down in
his rental car while he was checking out the apartment she had
shared with three nuns. A place where a man died while hiding
behind a tree waiting to catch sight of her.

And she was afraid.

The minutes ticked away. Teri was
uncomfortable. She raised her head and peered over the dashboard in
the direction Angel had disappeared. Nothing but shadows. She
ducked down again.

She rested her head on the seat,
feeling naked and vulnerable. This was how she felt when she’d
found Colin and afterwards when she had seen the killers in the
parking garage. When had it stopped, the fear that choked her
now?

Teri smiled. The fear started
fading shortly after she met Detective Angel Garcia. At first he
frightened her but then he challenged her, infuriated her,
intrigued her. Now, he was the enigmatic and loving talisman who
kept her safe from evil.

Why is he taking so long?
Her gut clenched with apprehension. Surely
something hadn’t happened to him, not to Angel. She raised her head
again.

A man was standing beside the car
parked directly in front of Angel’s. He was tall and thin with
wispy brown hair crawling back from his forehead. His nose was long
with a thin bridge. He stared at Teri.

Panicked, she ducked down on the
seat.

A moment later, the driver’s side
door was wrenched open. Teri gasped. The fear drained from her when
Angel slammed the door behind him.

“
Sorry. Did I scare you?” He
started the car.

“
Not you,” she said. “That
guy.”

“
What guy?”

“
The tall man standing beside the
car in front of us.”

“
By the black Mecedes? There’s no
one in sight.”

Teri raised her head and scanned
the surrounding area. Angel was right. The man was nowhere to be
seen.

“
Was it Altman?” he asked as he
pulled out into the street.

“
No. It wasn’t him or the other man
either. This man was just standing by the car and he saw
me.”

Angel was silent, his brows drawn
together as he pulled out into the street. “He probably wasn’t even
connected to this case.”

She shivered in spite of the warm
night. “I know, but he was so creepy.”

Angel grinned at her. “Not all creepy looking guys
are really creeps.”

“
Don’t make fun of me.” She punched
his arm. “He saw me and it was like he recognized me.”

“
It’s possible he thought you were
hot.”

“
I know what you’re trying to do,
but it’s not working. You’re trying not to scare me, but I was
scared the second you got out of the car. That man recognized
me!”

“
Okay, Teri. I believe you.” Angel
drove for a few blocks in silence. “The man you saw wasn’t one of
the men who killed your...Colin?”

“
No, but he didn’t look like a San
Antonio native. Just like you, his clothes were from New York.
Trust me, I know clothes.”

Angel turned into Brackenridge
Park. It was dark and shadowy with brightly lit areas. He drove
around the narrow twisting lanes, glancing in the rear-view mirror
from time to time.

“
No black Mercedes?” she asked,
turning in her seat.

“
Just making sure.” He pulled the
car into a dark, brushy area and turned off the lights, but kept
the engine running with the air conditioner on.

Angel removed his holstered weapon
and his shield from his belt and tucked it into the glove
compartment.

“
What are you doing?” she
asked.

He pushed his seat back all the way
and turned to Teri. “I’m making out with my girlfriend.” He reached
across and unbuckled her seatbelt.

Strong arms enveloped her and
dragged her across the seat. She found herself sprawled against
Angel’s broad chest.

He raised her chin and regarded her
face by the dim glow of the dials on the dashboard. He kissed her
forehead, her nose and her lips.

Teri slipped her arm around his
neck, wishing the kiss would never stop. She felt his hands graze
her body, sliding over her breast, her waist, her
buttocks.

“
You’ve done this before,” she
said.

“
Maybe,” he said, his voice smoky
with desire. “I thought you should experience a great San Antonio
tradition. Making out at Brack.”

“
What would we be doing if we were
still in The City?” she asked, settling against him.

“
I’d take you to my apartment and
cook for you. And then I’d make love to you for hours.” He kissed
her temple. “And in the morning, I’d watch your face as the sun
crept in through my curtains. I’d hold you and never let you
go.”

Teri couldn’t catch her breath. She
was grinning but she felt lightheaded. “What does your apartment
look like?” she asked when she could breathe.

“
One bedroom on the third floor of
a brownstone. Unfortunately, it looks like a single guy lives
there.”

“
A guy?”

“
A working cop who doesn’t spend
much time there. It could use a woman’s touch. Are you trying to
resist my attempt at seduction?”

“
I don’t think so,” she said. “I
have a condo.” Teri unbuttoned his shirt and stroked his chest with
her fingertips.

“
I know you do,” he said. “I’ve
been there. When you first went missing I entered your place to see
if you were lying on the floor.”

She jerked her head up. “Dead? You
thought I was dead?”

“
Not necessarily. I was just
following up all the leads.” He kissed her again. “Your condo looks
like the photos you had all over the place. Very slick.”

“
You didn’t like my decorating?” She
pulled away slightly. “What was wrong with it?”

“
Nothing at all. Everything was
beautiful and it looked like you. Pale and luxurious.”

“
I sense disapproval.”

“
Don’t twist my words,” he
said.

“
Then, what are you
saying?”

“
Your place looks like the public
image of Teri Slaughter. Here, with me now... You don’t seem like
that woman. You’re beautiful but you’re down to earth and
real.”

“
I think I’m the victim of
stereotyping.” Teri moved back to the passenger seat. “You decided
that I was a snotty bitch because I was a model and had a nice
place. You thought I’d be cold and aloof.”

Teri turned her face to the window, staring out into
the inky night, hurt that Angel could think badly of her.

#

Angel stared at her across the
width of the vehicle. “You could be right, Mia.” He crawled over to
her and, reaching between her legs, grabbed the lever and shoved
her seat all the way back. “I looked at your photographs a thousand
times and I thought you were gorgeous.” He reclined her seat and
settled himself on top of her. “But I thought you lived in an ivory
tower.” He kissed her again, trying to convey the intensity of his
need. “I judged you by what you left behind, mementos of a lavish
lifestyle I could never share.”

Her mouth looked pouty, driving his
level of passion one notch higher.

She gave him a sharp glance through
narrowed eyes. “What made you change your mind?”

He grinned and ruffled her hair.
“Who said I changed my mind?”

“
Beast!” She pinched him, managing
to pull his chest hair.

Angel grabbed her wrist and kissed
the inside, feeling her pulses throb against his lips. In one move
he rolled her on top of him. He heard her intake of breath as he
pressed her against his erection.

Teri reclined against him as he
kissed her neck and raised her knit shirt to nuzzle her bra. She
pulled the shirt off, tossing it into the back seat.

He laced his fingers through her
hair and cupped the back of her head to draw her to him. Slowly her
lips melted against his. He kissed her until she couldn’t breathe.
She tore her lips away and gasped for air as he kissed her neck
gently nibbling her skin. He touched her breast, circling her
nipple with his thumb through the pink lace.

Teri arched her back, taking
obvious pleasure in his touch. He trailed his fingers down over her
ribs and flipped open the snap on her jeans. She unzipped them as
Angel slid his hand inside.

“
Are these the pink ones I bought
you?” he asked, fingering the silky panties.

She giggled. “Yes.”

A bright shaft of light illuminated
the interior of the vehicle and then extinguished.

Teri covered her breasts,
momentarily blinded.

Angel heaved her into the driver’s
seat and reached into the glove compartment to recover his gun. He
flipped off the overhead light that would have come on when the
door opened and stepped out into the warm, humid night. Locking the
door, he closed it soundlessly; leaning against it to make sure it
latched.

He squatted, low to the ground,
peering into the darkness. His ears were alerted to every sound.
His car idled smoothly. Crickets chirped and the frogs they called
peepers sang their odd song. He could smell animal odors from the
nearby zoo.

He made his way around the car. No
other sounds. No movement.

A car door slammed some distance
away and an ignition turned over before it pulled out onto the
winding road without its lights.