If You Hear Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense (15 page)

She made a face. “Let’s just say that right now, I’m questioning myself. He says he’ll call, then he doesn’t. He says he wants to be friends, but that’s not exactly the vibe I’m getting … and hell, friend isn’t really what goes through my mind when I talk to him—and that doesn’t make much sense, seeing as how today is only the fourth time I’ve even talked to him. And then there’s that little fact that I’m questioning myself … a lot.”

“Well, stop.” The rain was coming down harder now, a light, steady downpour. “If you’re that interested in him, and if he’s got you that confused, then maybe you should push a little harder, see what the deal is. You’ve never quit on something, once you’ve set your mind to it. Why stop now?”

Lena smiled. “Good point.”

“Now that we’ve had this little heart-to-heart, how about we get out of here?”

They were halfway down Main Street when the light, steady downpour became a torrent. Blowing out a sigh, Lena muttered, “At least it waited until we were in the car.”

She pushed her hair back from her face and turned toward Law. “Ezra’s coming out to my place. Today.”

In that moment, Law was damn glad she couldn’t see him. He clenched his teeth, just barely managed to keep from swearing. “Yeah? He’s moving fast, especially for somebody who just wants to be friends.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw the confusion on her face, saw it fade as a slow blush took its place. “Eh, not for that. Don’t I wish. He’s going to look around in the woods. See if he can see anything.”

“The sheriff’s deputies already did that.”

“Yeah.” A somber frown on her face, she used the tip of her finger to trace a circle on the console between them. “But I don’t think they thought they’d find anything. Do you think when somebody expects to find nothing, that’s exactly what they find?”

“Could be.” He ran his tongue along his teeth. “Look, if he’s coming by, I’m hanging out at your place. Don’t take this wrong, Lena, but with all the weirdness you’ve got going on right now, I’m not going to trust some guy who just up and appears. I don’t care if he’s a cop, I don’t care if he’s June King’s grandson. He could be June Cleaver’s grandson for all I care.”

Lena chuckled. “Gee, Beave. If you insist.”

F
OR SOME REASON
, E
ZRA WASN
’
T THE LEAST BIT SURPRISED
to find Law Reilly at Lena’s place.

Torn between the resolve to keep things on a friendly basis and all but drooling over the way her butt filled out the seat of her jeans, he felt a pair of eyes on him. Even before he looked up, he knew who it was.

Shrewd hazel eyes bore into him like lasers and if looks could kill, Ezra would have been bleeding from a dozen vicious wounds. “Hey … ah, Law, right?”

“He wanted to go with us,” Lena said. She gestured toward the living room where Law waited. “Go have a seat. I forgot to dig out my hiking boots. It’s going to be muddy and I’m not wearing my tennis shoes.”

“You’re coming?”

She cocked her head. “Yes. That a problem?”

“No.” He heard an edge in her voice and he had a feeling he knew what had caused it. Uncertain how to proceed, he decided to take the safest course—silence.

“Good.”

She disappeared up the stairs. Law waited a few more seconds and then he snapped, “She’s blind, you know. Not helpless. If she wants to go walking around the woods, she can.”

“Did I say she couldn’t?” Ezra asked, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“You might as well have.”

Ezra sighed. “Look, I didn’t say that and I didn’t really think it, either. My mind might have started down that road, but it’s pretty damn clear that woman knows how to handle herself.” Then he rocked back on his heels and studied the man in front of him. “And that’s not what your problem with me is, either.”

“I don’t have a problem with you. Don’t know you.” Law crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the arched doorway that led to the living room. Then he shook his head. “Wait, scratch that. I do have one problem—if you weren’t going to call her, why did you say you would?”

Fuck
. Blowing out a breath, Ezra said, “Don’t you think that’s kind of between me and her?”

“Not when it hurts her,” Law said softly.

“She’s a big girl. I don’t think she needs you hovering over her to kiss her bumps and bruises.” He turned away, staring out the window. She had flowers planted, vivid bursts of them dotting the landscape here and there. “But I did plan to call her. It just dawned on me afterward that it was probably better for her that I didn’t call.” Shooting a look at Law over his shoulder, he said, “And that’s not your problem with me. Or maybe, that’s just part of it. She’s interested in me, and whether I’d called her or not, you’d still find a reason to be pissed off at me. You got eyes. You know I’m interested in her. I got eyes, too. I know you’re interested in her. Problem is that she doesn’t seem aware of your interest … and she is aware of mine.”

Something hot and angry flashed in Law’s eyes. “She’s a hell of a woman. She deserves to be treated right. She doesn’t deserve to be strung along.”

“I agree with you. And that’s why I didn’t call her.”

“You didn’t call her because you knew you’d string her along if you did?” Law said, scowling.

Ezra rubbed a hand over his face. Just why had he started this conversation?

“I didn’t call her because until I can tell if my head is in the right place, the last thing I need to do is get involved in anything more than a casual relationship. And again, I’m failing to see where this is much of your business. It’s not like we were getting married—we had one date, and I had her phone number. For all you know, a second date would have resulted in the two of us hating each other.”

Although Ezra knew that wasn’t likely.

He’d spent much of the past three weeks thinking about her, and ever since he’d seen her in the sheriff’s office, she’d all but dominated his thoughts. Shit. She’d dominated his thoughts since the first second he’d seen her. If he was one to believe in love at first sight, he’d almost swear he was hooked.

“I hope you’re doing a better job at convincing yourself than you are at convincing me,” Law said, shaking his head. He glanced toward the stairs and then back at Ezra.

“Shit, no,” Ezra muttered. He could talk friends all he wanted and it wasn’t going to do a damn bit of good. He didn’t want to be her friend—or at least just her friend.

A grin twitched the corner of his lips and as he met Law’s gaze, he saw a similar smile echoed there.

“So how come you’re here? Chauffeur? Making sure I behave? Keep my distance? Make sure she keeps her distance?”

Law snorted. “That one date you had definitely didn’t teach you much about her, did it? People don’t keep Lena from doing what she wants. Not once she makes her mind up.” He shot another look toward the stairs
and then sighed. “Just worried about her. Want to keep an eye on her.”

Understanding dawned. Reluctant admiration followed. “You’re watching me. She hears screams, some new guy suddenly pops onto the scene and seems to believe her when not many others do—made you suspicious.” As his grin widened, he studied the other man. “How close am I?”

“Dead on.” Law shoved off the wall and retreated into the living room. “Might as well have a seat. Lena will be a few minutes if I know her.” He flopped on the couch, focused those shrewd, insightful eyes on Ezra’s face once more. “I know a couple of state cops. Based out of Berea.”

“Yeah?” Ezra chose the chair closest to the doorway, stretching his legs out as he studied the room.

“Yeah.” He had a serious look on his face, and his eyes slid down to Ezra’s leg. “I guess I can understand why you need some time to make sure your head is in the right place.”

Ezra narrowed his eyes. Something hot and tight worked through his gut, spread through him. Irritation, anger, guilt. All of it, twining tighter and tighter, rising higher and higher. “You checked up on me.”

“Damn straight. Sounds like you’re lucky you can still walk with that leg—hell, lucky to be alive. Femoral artery—people can die when that one gets nicked.” Something that looked like sympathy darkened those hazel eyes. “Heard a friend of yours died, too.”

Tension climbed up his back, and he had to consciously work to relax those tense muscles. “You did more than a little asking, if you got that much.” Asking, and getting answers—just who in the hell had he talked to, and why the hell had he been told so much? But Ezra already had an idea why … whoever he’d talked to trusted the guy.

“I’m nosy. What can I say? Besides, I wanted to make sure you are who you said you are. Lena matters to me—I’ll do what I need to, to make sure she stays safe.”

Because Ezra could understand that, he told himself to let it go. Taking a deep, slow breath, he eyed Law closely. “Ever been told you’re paranoid?”

“Part of my charm.” Law shrugged, unperturbed.

“It’s not really that charming. But then again, I guess I can’t really be surprised. I’ve always heard that writers can be a nosy, paranoid bunch of bastards … aren’t they, Ed O’Reilly?” He had the pleasure of watching Law stiffen as he threw the guy’s pen name out there. Surprise and aggravation danced across his face.

Satisfied, Ezra smirked. “Come on now. Big shot crime-fiction writer like you, what would one of your cop characters do in this situation? He’d run everybody even remotely connected to the heroine, of course. And you’re connected.”

“You did a run on me.” Law’s eyes narrowed.

“Damn straight.” Ezra flashed him a grin and added, “You made a real killing with your last few books. Damn good racket you got going there.”

Abruptly, the disgruntled anger on Law’s face faded, replaced by amusement. “You know, I almost hate to admit this, because I get the feeling Lena’s falling for you—and if you hurt her, I’m going to kick your ass in a major way—but I think you might actually be an okay guy.”

“So you’d rather her fall for a bastard?”

Law scowled. “No. I’d rather her fall for me.” He glanced past Ezra to the stairs. “But I never made a move and I get the feeling it’s a little too late now to even bother trying.”

When she got downstairs, the two men were talking books.

Law’s voice had that animated, excited tone he always
got whenever he was in the presence of another bibliophile. Smiling, she stood in the door. “Oh, how sweet. You two went and bonded over books.”

In a scathing voice, Law said, “Your cop friend here doesn’t have the sense God gave a goat. He thinks Dean Koontz is the be-all and end-all of modern fiction.”

“Heaven forbid,” Lena said, tongue in cheek. “It’s got to suck to be that wrong. Everybody with any brain knows that’s a toss-up. It’s between Linda Howard, Lynn Viehl, and J. D. Robb.”

“Lena, you cut me deep,” Law said, blowing out a heavy sigh.

She laughed and shook her head. “Somehow, you’ll survive. I need to put my dog out before we go.”

“You’re not taking him?” Law asked.

Lena grimaced. “No. He doesn’t like the woods much these days. I’ll take my cane—between you and the cane, I’ll be fine.” She skimmed a hand through her hair and shrugged. “I can probably get him to go with me since I have you along, but I don’t want to stress him out.”

“You’ll just stress me out. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She grinned and called out, “Puck!”

She had a fantastic smile, Ezra decided. It lit her face up—like the sun slipping out from behind the clouds. Embarrassed by the strangely fanciful turn of his thoughts, he turned away and studied the movies lining her shelves. She had a hell of a lot of movies, too.

“So, cop. If we do find anything in the woods, not that I’m expecting we will after all that rain, but if we do, what exactly do you plan to do?” Law asked as Lena put Puck outside.

“Depends on what we find,” Ezra said, glancing over his shoulder.

Lena remained by the door, waiting for Puck to finish up his business. While she waited, she angled her head toward Ezra. “You really think you can find anything?”

“No.” Ezra studied the leaden gray sky, wondered if the rest of the rain would hold off or end up drowning them while they were out tramping around under the trees. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t look.”

“Any idea what you’re looking for?”

“Ideally? I’m looking for a woman in distress who would have been screaming at approximately two
A.M.
, two days ago.” Then he shrugged. “But that’s a lot to ask for. I’d settle for anything that just looks … out of place.”

What he found was wet, wet, and more wet.

The rain held off, but that didn’t mean it was anything close to dry under the trees. Rain dripped from the leaves, and water puddled on the ground. Thick columns of mist hung in the air, giving the entire forest a surreal, almost spooky look.

“Any idea how much area the trees cover?”

Lena shook her head. “I don’t. I only hike the area that borders my house. Too far back and there are cliffs. I don’t do cliffs without having somebody with me, which isn’t often around here.” A faint grin tugged at her cheek and she murmured, “Law doesn’t share my love for the great outdoors.”