Guilty as Sin (39 page)

He backed away from her, looking at her as if she were a mountain lion ready to spring.

“But I feel fine,” Kate said as she slid off the bar stool to follow him. She hid a wince as she put her weight on her sore hip. Yesterday’s attack had left her bruised and battered, not to mention terrified beyond all reason.

It also made her realize how life could turn on a dime, how quickly they could lose everything.

Though Michael’s death and her work made her keenly aware of how brutally short life could be, she’d never faced her own mortality as she had yesterday when that hand was closing around her neck. And to think she could have died, without ever seeing Tommy again, touching him, feeling him inside her…

She was afraid, deathly afraid of making another mistake, of getting hurt and hurting him back. But she wasn’t going to let that fear stop her from taking what she wanted. And right now she wanted Tommy.

She reached out, slid her hands up his chest, cupping one around his neck to draw his mouth down to hers. “Please, Tommy, I promise I’m fine.”

His lips closed over hers on a groan. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he repeated. Kate felt his hands slide around her waist. She knew she’d won when he pulled her closer and flicked his tongue across her lips, urging hers to part.

Kate tangled her tongue with his and let him guide her backward to the couch. She sank back against the leather cushions, heat pooling between her thighs as Tommy slid his hand up one bare leg…

The phone rang so loud it made her jump, followed by a cry of protest as Tommy stood up, cursing.

“It’s the intercom, someone’s here,” he said as he marched over to the box by the door and pressed a button. “What?” he snapped.

“It’s CJ.” The speaker filled the room with his voice. “Open up, it’s important.”

Tommy placed his thumb over a sensor and muttered something that sounded like “cockblocker.”

“Did you find out who broke into Kate’s?” Tommy said before he’d even fully opened the door to reveal CJ. Instead of his usual uniform, the sheriff was dressed in a T-shirt, nylon shorts, and running shoes. Sweat darkened his hair and ran down the sides of his face. His chest heaving like a bellows. “That’s the only reason I can think for you to be bothering me right now.”

“What about something that might help us find Tricia?” CJ bit back, his green eyes flashing in irritation. “No offense, Kate, but she’s still my first priority.”

Kate saw a look of shame flash across Tommy’s face as she hurried off the couch. “None taken. What did you find?”

“This.”

Kate looked closer, her breath freezing in her chest when she saw what rested in his large palm. A small jar made of frosted glass, with the name of the product written in loopy pink and gold writing across the front.

Beaute D’or.

T
ommy listened intently as CJ described how he’d stumbled across the jar while running on a nearby trail.

“I needed to get out to clear my head,” CJ said after he’d gulped the glass of water Kate had brought him. “I didn’t want to run into anyone, so took that trail you showed me, the one that you can pick up over by your parents’ place.”

Tommy knew it well, ran it several times a week any time he was in Sandpoint. “It doesn’t get much traffic,” Tommy said to bring Kate up to speed. “It goes from the top of this ridge down to the lake, but the trailhead isn’t obvious from the beach, and the other access point is from up here. We need to get Jackson in the loop on this,” Tommy said.

Tommy lent CJ a pair of jeans and a clean T-shirt. CJ took a quick shower and then the three of them loaded into Tommy’s truck and headed to Jackson’s house.

Jackson’s expression was wary as he opened the door and saw the three of them. “What is it?”

“We may have found something that will help us find Tricia,” Kate said simply.

Jackson quickly ushered them into the living room. “Tell me what’s going on.”

CJ cast a look over Jackson’s shoulder at Brooke, who was curled up at the end of a couch. Next to her was Ben
Kortlang, who seemed to have taken Kate’s advice about keeping an eye on Brooke very seriously if the protective vibe he was throwing off was anything to go by.

Jackson tracked his look. “This is a family issue, and she deserves to know exactly what’s going on as much as I do. As for the kid, well, he seems like a good enough sort, and I think you’ll need a crowbar to get him away from her.”

CJ and Tommy exchanged a look. “The information we’re about to share cannot leave this room. I don’t want any of this getting out to the press.”

“We won’t say anything,” Brooke said tightly. “I just want Tricia to come home.”

As Jackson absorbed what CJ had found and what it might imply, Tommy unpacked the laptop that never seemed to leave his possession. He quickly pulled up a website that provided maps of the area surrounding the trail and came up with a strategy to conduct the search.

“Most of the trail runs through open areas,” Tommy said as he traced his mouse over the line on the map. Kate felt a presence next to her and looked over to see that Brooke and Ben had come to get a closer look at the maps on Tommy’s computer screen. “But this area here—it’s about a hundred acres or so—” He circled the cursor around the indicated area. “This is private property.”

“Will we need a warrant?” Jackson asked.

Kate shook her head. “Not if we have reason to believe Tricia could be in the vicinity.”

“And I’m more than happy to put up with a trespassing charge if it means we find Tricia. CJ, you can stay on the other side of the property lines if you’re worried it’ll come back to bite you in the ass later,” Tommy said.

“We’ll jump off that bridge when we get to it.”

They agreed to keep the search parties small. Other than
Tommy and Jackson, only police officials would be involved in the search. While they wouldn’t be able to cover the area as quickly, the more civilians involved, the higher the risk that the press would somehow get wind of it.

“I can’t emphasize how important it is to keep this to yourselves,” Kate said, giving both Brooke and Ben meaningful looks. “If this turns out to be the break we hope it is and our suspect finds out, it could be disaster.”

They both nodded solemnly. “I want to help,” Ben said suddenly. CJ started to shake his head, but Ben continued. “I’ve been out with search parties every day for the last three, and you need all the eyes you can get if you’re not going to call in volunteers.”

CJ looked like he was going to protest again.

“He can come with me,” Tommy said.

CJ shrugged his shoulders as though to say “Suit yourselves.”

“I want to go too,” Brooke said, her voice shaky.

“Absolutely not.” Jackson’s voice cracked sharply across the room.

“Why?” Brooke asked, her eyes shiny with tears. “Do you think I’m going to do something to screw it up again?”

“No, Jesus.” The fight seemed to drain from him as he walked over to his older daughter. “That’s not it at all,” Jackson said, awkwardly reaching out his hand and letting it drop before touching her. “I’m just afraid… we might find…”

Kate’s throat tightened, mirroring Brooke’s sob as she nodded in sudden comprehension.

“I don’t want you to have to see that,” Jackson finished.

Brooke nodded in horrified silence, and Kate’s heart cracked as Jackson turned back to Tommy without another word.

As CJ called in all the deputies for a debrief back at the
station, Tommy packed up his computer and went out to the truck. He returned shortly with a black equipment bag that he set on the wooden dining table.

“What is that?” Kate asked as he passed what looked like a set of earbuds to both Jackson and Ben.

“Communications,” Tommy said shortly. “Your standard tactical communication set.”

“Can’t you just use the radios?” Kate asked, indicating the handset hooked to CJ’s belt.

CJ’s boots thudded on the wood floor as he walked over. “Usually, but we can’t completely secure the frequency, and we wouldn’t want anyone picking this up on the scanner.”

“You need extras?” Tommy asked.

CJ shook his head. “Thanks, but after I was able to show the bean counters in the capital that the meth kings could monitor our surveillance operations with a scanner, I got them to kick down for better equipment.”

Tommy gave a grunt and a nod of approval, and Kate listened as they discussed exchanging frequencies followed by a lot of technical stuff she didn’t understand.

Tommy turned to her and held out a set and reached for her ear. Kate held still, forcing herself not to lean into him as he placed the earpiece in her right ear.

“How’s that?” Tommy asked, and Kate shivered at the feel of his warm breath skidding across her cheek.

“Fine,” she said, and risked a look up to meet his gaze. Big mistake, as the dark fire in his eyes told her he was just as affected by her nearness as she was. Her tongue flicked out to moisten suddenly dry lips as she tried to keep her knees from turning to water.

His eyes locked on her mouth, and he leaned a millimeter closer before he stepped away. But not before his fingers trailed down her neck, underneath her hair in a secret caress
that promised all kinds of wickedness when the time was right. “You should be able to hear everything through that.”

“What about my mike?”

“You won’t need one since you won’t be out there with us.”

“No, I want to be out there. I need to help—”

“It could take us hours, and we’re covering potentially eighty square miles. No way in hell you’re up to that.”

As much as she wanted to protest, the ache in her ribs and hip told Kate otherwise. She was maintaining, all right, but she could feel her pain levels creeping up even in the brief time she’d spent on her feet.

“Not only that,” Tommy said before Kate could concede, “someone should stay here with her,” indicating his chin in the direction of Brooke, who was curled up on the end of the couch with her knees pulled tightly to her chest. “I think she needs someone who can understand what she’s going through.”

Kate nodded and stood by as Tommy made sure all of the communications equipment was working. Then he pulled out four handheld devices and handed one to all the men, including CJ.

“Now this we don’t have back at the station,” CJ said appreciatively.

“What is it?” Ben asked, turning his up and over in his hand, pushing buttons at random, jumping when the machine let out a shrill beep.

“It’s a thermal imager,” Tommy said as he swiped it from Ben’s grasp and pressed a button to silence the machine. “They’re less useful when it’s light out, but since nothing came up in that area in the previous foot searches and flyovers, I figured it could help us find a structure or something underground that was missed.”

They all gathered eagerly around Tommy as he went over the features of the state-of-the-art gadget. Boys and their toys, Kate thought with a little grin.

Kate followed them to the door, her heart in her throat, a knot in her stomach that was equal parts anticipation and dread. After nearly five endless days, they might have a real chance of finding Tricia.

The question was, what condition would she be in?

“I don’t like leaving you here alone,” Tommy said grimly as he gave his equipment one last check.

“We’ll be fine,” Kate said, but that didn’t stop the ripple of unease from skittering down her spine. “No one knows I’m here except you. Even if someone wanted to hurt me, he couldn’t find me.”

Tommy curved his hand around her neck and leaned close. “Lock the door and set the alarm. Don’t open the door to anyone but me, CJ, or Jackson.”

Kate nodded and Tommy started out the door.

Brooke’s voice stopped him short before he closed it. “Wait,” she said, and rose from the couch. “Can I have one of those ear things too?” Crossing her arms around her waist, she walked slowly to him. “I need to know what’s happening. I need to know if—” She bit her bottom lip rather than finish the thought.

“Of course,” Tommy said with a sad smile that transformed his harsh features. Kate watched, a pinching sensation in her chest as Tommy patiently helped the girl insert the earpiece. When he was done, he pulled Brooke in for a brotherly hug and told her what she desperately needed to hear. “Don’t you worry. We’re going to get your sister back.”

Whether she believed him or not, Brooke nodded and gave him a wobbly smile. “And you need to understand,” he added, “none of this is your fault. You didn’t do this to your sister.”

Tommy looked up over Brooke’s head and met Kate’s stare, and the look in his eyes demolished any last barrier she might have tried to keep between them.