Guarded (6 page)

“Excuse me,” Dev’s deep voice broke in. “But if you’re helping out the clinic, it seems like a fair deal to me. I think that’s called payment for services rendered.”

“That’s right. Thank you, Dev.” She turned to Dev, who gave her a friendly smile. A strange green color pulsed around him. She blinked in confusion.
Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

“Okay.” A slow smile slid across the boy’s face. “In that case, see ya!” He was out the door, the bells jangling as it closed behind him.

He bolted up the street as Shelley, fighting back tears, watched him through the window. Although she wasn’t sure why her eyes stung. It’s not like the boy was hurt, this time. Just hungry.

She couldn’t let herself get so involved. She couldn’t get attached. Not to a needy child. Not to anyone.

“You okay?” Dev whispered in a deep baritone.

“Yeah. Sorry. It’s . . . it’s . . .” What? Certainly not fine.

“Small-town life.” Dev nodded. “I can imagine. It’s why I prefer the city.”

The silence that followed was awkward. Because, really, there was nothing to say to that. Nothing that would have made a difference anyway.

“So how about that lunch? And then we can talk about why you wanted me to come to town.”

“Sure, but we need to go to the zoo first.” She glanced at their clothes. “After our shower.
Showers
.”
God, I’ve got to stop saying that.
Because, yes, the image of a shared shower was hot and wet in her head. Hoping to hide the heat crawling up her cheeks, she hurried down the short corridor to her office calling over her shoulder, “Okay, just let me get my ferret.”

Dev followed behind her, his steps nearly silent on the linoleum floor. “You have a ferret?” The wonder in his voice made her grin.

“Yes, and her name is Lucy. Wait till you see her. She’s beautiful.”

Shelley glanced at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall behind her desk. It was supposed to make the room look bigger. It didn’t work. Instead, it afforded Shelley a frontal view of herself walking into the office.

Yeah, Lucy might be beautiful, her owner, however . . .

Shelley cringed at her reflection. She had dirt smeared down one cheek, the center of her shirt, and up both sleeves—no doubt from where she’d hugged Dev. Her blouse was once again hermetically sealed to her muffin-top tummy, accentuating every single curve.

Jeez! She looked like the before picture in a laundry-soap advertisement. Dev’s reflection appeared slightly behind hers. Despite the mud caked on his suit and—
oh my Lord
—in his hair, he exuded a devastatingly sexy charisma. The kind that would have beauty queens lining up to offer him their showers along with a chance to run a loofah over his body.

The man might be quiet, but
day-um
he rocked the word
sexy
. And wow, it suddenly got very, very warm in her little office.

Resisting the temptation to fan herself, Shelley bent over and unlocked Lucy’s cage. Gently, she tugged the sleepy pet from her paisley-green hammock and cuddled her close. Lucy nuzzled Shelley’s neck then sniffed the air.

“Hello, Lucy,” Dev said, bending over to peer at the ferret more closely.

Lucy twitched her pink nose.

Then leapt into the air, claws extended, aiming for Dev’s head.

S
HELLEY WAITED UNTIL
Dev started his shower before she spoke to Lucy. The ferret, locked in her cage in the bedroom, had finally settled down. But from the moment she had seen Dev at the clinic, she hated him.

“What is the matter with you?” Shelley asked, kneeling in front of Lucy’s cage and feeding her special ferret treats in very small pieces. Lucy accepted a treat, nibbled it, then gazed at Shelley. Her beady black eyes sparkled in the afternoon sunshine pouring in through the bedroom window. “He’s a great guy. Why did you attack him at the clinic?”

It had only been Shelley’s quick reflexes and Dev’s backward jump that kept the ferret from landing on his head. The moment Shelley caught her, she’d shoved Lucy back in her travel cage and hadn’t let her out again until Dev was locked safely in her bathroom.

“Come on, Lucy. Talk to me.”

This time, Lucy answered. Sort of. An image of the ferret gnawing on Dev’s ear sprang into Shelley’s mind.

“Okay,” Shelley said, struggling for patience. “I understand you wanted to bite him, but why? He’s a nice guy, and he came to town to help me.”

Lucy gobbled the last bit of her treat then went into a weasel war dance. She hopped around, all fours paws leaving the ground. Her back arched and her tailed frizzed. All the time, she maintained eye contact with Shelley. That essential bond that allowed Shelley to read the animal’s thoughts.

The anxious ferret sent a myriad of images flooding into Shelley’s mind. Some were nonsensical and appeared centered around the steak-bone–shaped food pellets. Others were of Shelley crying after Cam had walked out, six months before their wedding. And then there was a distorted image of Dev’s face. Overblown, like seen through a fishbowl, the black, red, and white image of the man’s face appeared much too close to the ferret, in the most menacing way. As quickly as it appeared, it zapped out and was replaced by food again.

“You thought he was going to eat you?” Shelley frowned. “Gross. Just because you’re obsessed with sleeping and eating doesn’t mean humans are. I can guarantee you, Dev is a strictly non-ferret-eating kind of guy. Trust me. But what does that have to do with—?” Shelley cut her question short at the sound of the water being shut off. She leaned closer and whispered, “What is wrong with you?”

Again the image of Shelley crying flashed through her mind. “Do you think Dev is going to hurt me like Cam? Not a chance. No one will ever hurt me like that again. Besides, we’re just friends. Now chill out.”

Lucy leaped again. A new weasel war dance in motion.

The bathroom door opened and steam wafted into the bedroom. Lucy ran and dove into the small cardboard box tucked into the right corner of the cage against the wall.

“How’s she doing?” Dev asked, stepping into the room. Dressed in snug, faded blue jeans and a heather gray sweatshirt that hugged his upper body, the man looked even more delectable than he had in a suit. He shook his head, then brushed the damp strands out of his face. His hair appeared almost brown when wet. And with his feet bare, he looked like a calendar model come to life in her bedroom.

“Um . . .”
Don’t drool, remember what he asked.
“Lucy?”

The right side of his mouth kicked up in a half grin. “Yeah.”

“She’s fine. She’s, uh, napping right now.” Shelley pushed to her feet, facing him. He was clean and smelled wonderful, like Irish soap. She, on the other hand, still reeked of dog and mud. She pointed to the bathroom door. “If you’re done, I’d like to get cleaned up.”

“Sure.” He stepped out of her way. She started past him, but he caught her hand. His large, warm hand engulfed hers. “Thanks for the shower. And I’m glad to see you.”

She couldn’t hold back the smile. He was glad to see her.

Not half as glad as she was to see him. Maybe, just maybe, he could help her solve the case of the missing animals
and
indulge her in a long-time fantasy, the one of them naked, which she’d had all through college, despite being devoted to Cam. It was the kind of fantasy one might have about a superstar. Only her superstar stood deliciously real in her bedroom.

Oh, she couldn’t do this to herself. When she’d brought up his girlfriend, he hadn’t said a word about her being gone. Or even his being single. Frack! So her little fantasy was completely out of the realm of possibility.

She needed to focus. He was here because she needed his help to solve a mystery.

Extracting her hand from his, she stepped around him.

“Give me fifteen minutes to shower, and we can drive over to the zoo. I can tell you all about what’s been happening on the way over.”

*   *   *

“W
AIT, IT’LL BE
close to check-in time. Why don’t I drive separately and we can talk at lunch after. There’s someplace to eat over there, right?” Dev said, then wished he hadn’t. Shelley looked slightly crestfallen.

“Sure, that makes sense. There’s a little café across the street from the zoo. We can grab a bite to eat there. Then you can check into the hotel, it’s just a few blocks up.”

“How do you know where I’m staying?”

“It’s Elkridge.” She gave him a look that said she thought he was a complete idiot. “There’s only one hotel in town.”

“Oh, right.” Way to go, Dev.

“I’m going to get cleaned up.” Although her voice had lost some of the excitement, she pasted a smile on her face that was nearly believable. “Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be ready to go. Do you need anything? There’s tea and coffee in the kitchen. Help yourself.”

“Thanks, but I’m good. I’ve got a few calls to make.” Dev pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of his ruined jacket, shoving the jacket and suit pants into his duffle bag. He zipped it up at the same time the shower turned on.

Dev stepped into the living room and exhaled a hard sigh. This was pretty damned weird. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in three years, and within thirty minutes of their reunion, he’d learned Cam had lied
again
, he’d been attacked by a dog
and
a ferret, and he’d gotten the impression his unrequited attraction to Shells wasn’t so unrequited.

If the afternoon hadn’t been
Twilight Zone
enough, Dev had gotten naked in Shelley’s apartment. Too bad the naked part had been solo and relegated to washing up after said animal attacks.

Scrubbing a hand down his face, he dialed Seth’s number. He slipped his wristwatch on while the phone rang.

“English here.” Seth, his partner, formal as always, must not have checked his caller ID.

“It’s me,” Dev said. “I’ve found her.”

Seth audibly exhaled. “That’s great. When are you two coming back to Tidewater?”

“She doesn’t know yet.”

“Damn it, kid. What are you waiting for?” Seth’s voice carried a mixture of relief and anxiety. “Tell her and come on home. I want to surprise Jules with the good news.”

Dev rolled his shoulders to release the tension coiling in them again. “Look, it’s been a crazy day. I’ll tell her soon.”

Silence.

And more silence.

Dev let it go on a bit too long because Seth said, “That’s it? ‘It’s been a crazy day, I’ll tell her soon.’ Jones, help me out. Why are you taking so long? Just tell her and get your ass back here. We have a new case. They just found McGivern’s partner, Colbert Rush. In pieces.”

Pieces. Christ, that’s gruesome.
“Sounds like a case for O’Dell and Reynolds,” Jones gritted out. As much as he wanted to work homicide, he and Seth were stuck squarely in robbery/burglary.

“You’re right, but the captain wants us on it. Seems good old Colbert was stealing from his partner. He couldn’t be smart about the embezzlement. No, the fool actually logged in the sales of more than $20,000 in semiprecious jewels, then walked out of the store with the cash over a period of ten years. Seems last month’s murder had McGivern going over the records, and he stumbled across this little hiccup in the books. He claims he’s been trying to find his partner to confront him. Instead, Rush has been dead for some time. I was going to fill you in on the case when you got back. Captain Peterson was so impressed by what we did with the Diamond Gang case, he wants us to solve this one. And did I mention Phil McGivern asked for us specifically? Reynolds and O’Dell are looking at him as the killer. McGivern wants us to prove he’s innocent.”

“Since when do we do anything but chase the evidence?”

“Hey, just sharing what he said.” Seth laughed lightly. “McGivern is friends with the mayor. His Honor called the captain and asked for us to, quote, ‘look into it’ for him.”

“Holy shit.” Phil McGivern owned McGivern’s Jewelers. It had been the last jewelry store the Diamond Gang had hit before Dev and Seth solved the string of burglaries turned murder.

“No shit. Seems McGivern’s got pull in City Hall. So now the case is ours. Once you get your ass back here, that is.”

They had begged the captain for a chance to work on the murder of one of the Diamond Gang members last month, and now they were being offered another murder case.

And Dev was here. In bumfuck Elkridge. Yep, his luck sucked.

Fine. He’d look into Shelley’s case, then tell her about her sister. No doubt, the moment Shelley heard about Jules, she’d race him back to Tidewater. He hoped. A lingering memory of Shelley refusing to search for her sisters tickled at the back of his neck. Shelley
would
be happy to be reunited with her sister. Wouldn’t she? Dev wasn’t so sure, not that he’d tell Seth that.

Dev glanced toward the bedroom. “I’ll be back ASAP.”

“With Shelley?” Seth’s voice was tinged with irritation and . . . desperation?

“Yes. Tell Jules I found her.” The shower shut off and Dev stepped farther down the hall, lowering his voice. “Give me twenty-four hours and I’ll be back with Shelley. I just need to check into Shelley’s mystery of missing zoo animals, then we’ll be on our way.”

“Explain to me again how a town the size of a postage stamp can have a zoo and missing animals? And what in the hell Jules’s little sister has to do with it?”

Dev ran a hand through his hair and down the back of his neck. “I don’t know, but I damn sure intend to find out and get us both back to Tidewater before sunset tomorrow.”

*   *   *

“W
ELCOME TO THE
Elkridge Zoo,” Shelley said, with a tentative smile twenty minutes later, as Dev stepped from his car and glanced around at the less-than-inviting environment.

“This is a zoo?”

She nodded, her eyes wide. “Believe it or not. Just give me a minute to pay for our tickets and we can go in.”

We have to
pay
for entrance
here
?

Dev didn’t shake his head. He didn’t grab Shelley in a fireman’s hold, toss her over his shoulder and haul ass out of this weird little town, but he sure as hell wanted to.

No, he waited.

The zoo was hardly a zoo. It looked more like someone decided to put up a wooden For Sale sign in the woods but instead of the words
For Sale
, they had painted the words
Elkridge Zoo
. The land itself appeared to be a nice piece of real estate, located on a small one-square-mile peninsula that jutted out into the James River.

Afternoon sunlight dappled the foliage. The red, yellow-green, and emerald leaves of the maple and oak trees were mixed with the dark greens of scrub pines and the lush, if somewhat overgrown, grass. Somewhere, just beyond the trees, the river lapped at the zoo’s shores. Gulls cried overhead. Squirrels chattered. And a tiger roared.

Dev turned toward the sound but couldn’t see anything past where the paths twisted through the trees. From the front gate there were three small dilapidated wooden signs sticking in the ground, marking the trails, and branching out into different directions. Each sign was freshly painted, despite the obvious deterioration of the placard. Broken and misaligned red-brick pavers made the rugged trails treacherous. The signs appeared to be a guide for the muddy footpaths that ran alongside them.

Dev squinted to read the signs and stepped closer. They bore clever names: Beaver Trail, Reptile Trail, and Tiger Monkey Trail.

What the hell is a tiger monkey?

“I can’t thank you enough for doing this,” Shelley said, breathlessly.

“Shells, what are we doing here? What do you have to do with the zoo?”

“It’s complicated. Look, I’ll explain it all after I show you. Just trust me, okay?” Her cheeks were pink with excitement, but her eyes were somber.

He should make her tell him everything, right now. But this was Shells. Sweet, honest, naïve Shells. “Sure. Of course, I trust you.”

She grinned wide, then leaned closer and whispered, “Thanks. We need to hurry. Just play it cool walking through here.”

“Play it cool?” That didn’t sound good.

Shelley nodded and hurried up the muddy Tiger Monkey Trail. “Yeah, I’m not very popular around here these days.”

“Wait. What? Shells,” he called after her in a stage whisper, but she didn’t respond.

Dev double-timed it to catch up with her. How could she jog in that hip-hugging skirt? Not that he didn’t like it. He most certainly did, but it was distracting. It groped the curves of her ass and showed off her long shapely legs. Next to her, he looked decidedly underdressed in jeans.