Deadly Desire (Carrington-Hill Investigations Book 2) (5 page)

He grinned. “I always knew you were smart.” He walked back over to the apartment door. Sara laid a hand on his arm to stop him. “He’s
gotten phone calls in the middle of the night.” She tilted her head toward the apartment door. “Just like the one I heard on Tonya’s machine while I was waiting for you. Someone called started breathing heavy and hanging up. It might be worth pulling the records and tapping his line.” Marco winked and grinned before pushing open the door and walking back inside. “You need to get him out of here before the press shows up. I’m sure they’ll catch wind of this on the police scanners.”

Sara followed
Marco back into the apartment and placed a gentle hand on Collin’s shoulder. “We’ve got to go down to the station, Collin. The sheriff needs to take your statement.”

He looked up with red
-rimmed eyes and nodded. And that pissed her off more. Gone was the playboy she’d read about in the tabloids, replaced with a man that cared.

“No, no, no
. No crying on my watch.”

She sat down facing him and grabbed his hand. “I promise you this
person is going down. I’ll hunt him or her down, and I promise to make it hurt.”

He squeezed her hand before pulling her off the couch. “Let’s get this over with.
”

She needed to get him out of there before the media showed up or
, worse, the killer. They needed a game plan, one that ended with him staying alive and Sara throwing this asshole in jail. 

Chapter
6

Sara pulled into a parking spot in the garage at the sheriff’s department, a place she’d visited plenty of times while working for the FBI. There was a high probability that people would recognize her and her cover would be blown. She pulled the keys from the ignition and turned in her seat. “Okay, this is how we’re going to play this.”

He sat dazed as he stared out of the
windshield. Unsure if he’d even heard her, she reached for his hand and slid her fingers through his. The physical contact was intimate and worked exactly like she’d wanted it to. He glanced down at their joined hands before his eyes met hers.

“They are going to ask you questions about how you knew Tonya and what we were doing there
to find the body. Just be honest. Tell them about the letter you received and remind them that you’ve already filed a report.”

“I’m sorr
y I dragged you into my drama. If you want to back out, I’ll understand.” He lightly squeezed her hand. His words were a mere whisper in the quiet of the car. He was somber and quiet as though his life was being sucked right out of him; he was nothing like the man she’d met a few days ago.

Sliding her fingers from his, she opened the door. “
Not on your life, not until this is over. Come on. Let’s get this over with, and then we can get back to finding this asshole.”

He
got out of the car and started walking toward the door. He grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. His action made her stumble over her own two feet, but she quickly righted herself.  He held up their entwined fingers. “Appearances.”

The butterflies in her stomach ravished her from the inside out
and twisted into tiny knots, making her heartbeat work double time. Something as simple as holding the man’s hand turned her into a clumsy idiot. What the hell was wrong with her?
Get a freakin’ grip.
Appearances
, she reminded herself. That was the whole reason she was there. She hoped the mental pep talk would get her through the next few weeks because being in this close proximity to him was leaving her in a constant state of sexual frustration. One that threatened to send her into a tailspin, and she refused to go down in a ball of flames.

His hold on her hand tightened as they made their way to the front desk.
Half of the lobby was occupied by people in chairs. There was a woman weeping into her palms while a man sat next to her rubbing her back. Phones down the hall rang several times before she heard them answered. Men in green uniforms and badges walked by, sipping from mugs. The scent of coffee permeated the air around her. The place was orderly, unlike the probable scenes from the night before when the criminals had been arrested and cuffed.

A woman with
blinding, bleached blonde hair was poised behind the counter, with the phone pressed to her ear while she picked and played with her pink gum. Wow, where was Sara’s sunglasses when she needed them. The woman glanced up and grinned as she set the phone back into the cradle.

Little Miss Sunshine
stood up, and her eyes lit up like a woman given the best, most expensive box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day. If Sara hadn’t been there, Collin would have been fresh meat, and that was sooo not happening. Not today, not with her. “Collin, it’s nice to see you again.”

Collin glanced down at Sara. His brows knit together
, and he squeezed her hand. “Uh…you too.”

Sara smiled and playfully batted Collin
’s arm. “Well, honey, aren’t you going to introduce us?” She held out her hand to the twit that had eyes on her client. “I’m Sara Johnson.”

A dark brown brow hitched into her
white bangs. The fake blonde glanced between both of them and then down at Sara’s hand before she took it and shook.

“I’m Katrina.” She beamed a big white smile as she glanced over at Collin. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone. You should have brought her to the last fundraiser. I’m sure mom would have loved to meet her.”

Huh
.
Sara let her hand drop, leaned over the desk, and tapped the surface. “Can you tell the Sheriff that we’re here? He’s expecting us.”

Katrina kept her smile as she picked up the phone and announced them.
Awkward silent seconds ticked by as Collin threw his arm over Sara’s shoulders and steered her away from the desk. When out of the woman’s earshot, she whispered, “Please tell me she isn’t another ex.”

He leaned down and whispered in her ear. The move would appear to onlookers that he was kissing her cheek. “
She looks familiar but, honestly, I have no idea who she is.”

Sara giggled and leaned f
arther into his arms to give any onlookers a good show. The more people thought they were a couple, the quicker they could draw the killer out into the open.

The door to the station burst open. A well-
dressed older gentleman, wearing a business suit and tie walked in. He was followed by two huge men dressed in black with comms pressed in their ears, the kind with the black coiled wires disappearing into the back of their coats. The men reminded Sara of the Secret Service agents that would follow behind the president or other high public officials.

One of them turned to look behind him
, and she noticed the gun and immediately stepped in front of Collin blocking him from the unknown. Security detail or not, they had a weapon, and she didn’t have any idea who the hell they were.

“Congressmen Benton?”

The well-dressed yet, somewhat, frazzled man turned toward the sound of Collin’s voice and stepped forward with an extended hand. “Collin, this is a surprise. I hope you’re just visiting someone you know and not in any sort of trouble.”

Collin put his arm around Sara’s shoulders. “I could say the same for you…what brings you down to the
sheriff’s office? I wasn’t even aware you were in town.”

The
congressman frowned and his shoulders sagged in defeat. “Natasha came here on vacation and didn’t return home. We’ve been trying to call her for the last forty-eight hours with no luck.”

The congressman’s eyes were bloodshot with bags sagging beneath; he was clearly out of sorts and worried about his daughter.

Collin patted the congressman on the back. “We both know how Natasha is. I’m sure she just met up with some friends and lost track of time.”

The deep lines on the Congressman’s forehead didn’t ease.
Collin’s words did little to lighten the worry still present in the official’s eyes. One of bodyguards motioned the congressman down the hall. They turned into an office and out of sight.

Sara leaned into Collin
and whispered, “You didn’t date her too, did you?”

Collin shook his head. “No, Natasha was a bit too wild for my taste, although that didn’t stop her from trying to hook up with me every time we saw each other.”

Sara plopped down in one of the hard chairs to wait as he continued to stand in front of her, giving her a view of the bulge behind his zipper. Packs to the left and from the looks of it, he was a bit turned on too. She instinctively licked her lips and glanced up at him.

He winked
, leaned down and placed a quick kiss on her lips. For the love of god, she’d been busted again, not very stealthy of her, and not really the ideal place for her to have been looking. She was in a police station to give a statement about a murder, and what did she have on her mind? Sex, yep, leave it to her to pick the most inappropriate times for her libido to kick in and take notice.

He brought out the worst in her. Her thoughts had been deep in the gutter since she’d met him. If she wasn’t busy laughing at him, she’d been busy undressing him with her mind.
Her cheeks felt red hot, like even an ice cube couldn’t cool them down. Damn man. Flustere
d
,
she glanced up. “How do you know him?”

Collin
slid into the seat next to hers. “I met him several years ago at a fundraiser, and we’ve been friends ever since.”

She didn’t have time to dig deeper before they were
interrupted as a muscular man with a holster strapped to his broad shoulders headed in their direction. He had short salt-and-pepper hair and an air of authority. The Sheriff, if she had to guess. He extended his hand. Collin took her elbow and pulled her to her feet.

“Collin, it’s good to see you again. I just wish it w
as under different circumstances.”

Collin removed his arm from around her shoulder and shook the man’s hand. “Sheriff.”

Okay, so maybe the way the sheriff carried himself wasn’t because of the big guns he had strapped to his body. The man was all about business, hardly sparing time for pleasantries, and somewhat reminded Sara of her father. The sheriff turned and motioned them to follow him down the hall. The scent of coffee got stronger, almost making her salivate. The banter between two cops at a water cooler ceased as they passed. “We just need to get an official report.”

They all walked in silence
, turning and filing into the cluttered office at the end of the hall. The white plastered walls were littered with commendations and pictures. A younger version of the blonde, only with dark hair, was in most of them. Sara pointed with her thumb back to his door. “Is the blonde at the front desk your daughter?”

He nodded. “That’s Katrina, my oldest. She’s
covering for Martha while she’s on maternity leave. This is only a temporary gig until she finds another job, one more suitable to her liking.”

Collin crossed one ankle over his other leg. “
That explains it. I knew she looked familiar, but she wasn’t blonde at the benefit. She was a brunette back then, wasn’t she?”

The
sheriff shrugged. “It’s possible; she changes her hair color when the wind blows. The whole family was there.”

Collin nodded
, dismissing the information, and they got down to business. He explained about the letter and the reason they’d gone to Tonya’s apartment. He also explained that he’d bumped into her one week prior. Sara interrupted and explained her theory about the murderer probably also being a stalker and that Carrington Hill Investigations was in the process of moving another one of Collin’s exes to a secure location just to keep her safe. After an exhausting hour of rehashing the events from the last two days, they all said their goodbyes. The sheriff told Collin not to leave town without notifying him and that he’d call if he had any more questions or information. The sheriff’s down-to-business demeanor and series of questions were enlightening, instantly telling her from the way the questions were worded that Collin wasn’t a suspect. 

They arrived back at Collin’s house and headed inside just as the sun was starting to set on the horizon. Her mind
was running ninety to nothing with all of the questions she needed to ask him, questions that she shouldn’t put off any longer. If that meant she was going to be cooped up with him in his study, she had some frustrations to work out before they talked. She walked into the kitchen and started the coffee maker as he slid into one of the stools on the other side of the bar. “Is your pool heated?”

“Yeah, it’s a consistent eighty degrees. Why?” Collin asked as he rubbed his neck.

“We need to come up with a plan, and I do my best thinking while I’m swimming laps. How about we meet in your office in about an hour?”

He flashed her one of his dimples and her mind went immediately to
trying to figure out if she could make him flash her both. Yet, another reminder why she needed the time alone. Not just to think about his case, but to douse her hormones to get them back under control. The indentation in his cheek deepened.

“Sure, my office in an hour.” He
stood and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her alone to finish making her coffee. Then she planned to go back to the pool house and change into her bathing suit.

She slipped into a white fluffy cotton robe and stepped out onto the patio. The moonlight glistened off the water in the
heated oversized pool. Stars twinkled high in the night sky. Even though it was a brisk October, the heated pool and a night swim promised to relieve the knots that had taken up permanent residence in her shoulders ever since she’d met the un-dateable bachelor. For the next hour, she would submerge herself into her workout, a surefire way to bring a little bit of sanity and rational thinking back into her overactive imagination and uncontrollable desires. She only hoped that neither Collin nor Drew would appear thinking that she’d want the company, because she didn’t.

She set her phone on the patio table
, untied the sash of her robe, and slid out of the warm material before draping it over a nearby chair and stepping down into the warm water. It was a nice contrast from the cool night air. The smell of fresh-cut grass drifted on the slight breeze. She stepped off the last step and dunked her head, submerging her body into the welcoming arms of the familiar routine. She ran her hands over her head and wiped the water from her eyes to find Collin standing by the table where she’d left her phone.

“Hope you don’t mind.” He s
et his beer down along with the extra one he had in his hand and untied his robe, leaving it draped over the back of the patio chair next to hers. His perfectly muscled body had been kissed by the sun. The muscles in his arms tightened as he picked up his beer and took a big swig. She stood there like an idiot and admired the man standing before her. He was the epitome of perfection. Everything about him oozed sex appeal, drawing unsuspecting women to him like a moth to a flame. He leaned over dropping the robe on the chair flexing his abs.