Unmasking Kelsey (3 page)

“I’ll remember, Ami,” he told her gently, and thought to himself that “Beth” had done a good job in raising this one. “So there are four of you?”

“Uh-huh.”

Something tugged at him. “Your names … there’s something familiar about them.”

“Little Women.”
Ami grinned. “I doubt you read the book; most men won’t admit to it even if they did. But you probably saw one of the movies. We weren’t named in order, since Beth is older than Jo, but Mama loved that book. I think she changed the order because she was superstitious; Beth died in the story, you know.”

He remembered then. “Of course. I did see a movie.”

“We get teased sometimes,” Ami confided. She led him up onto a wide front porch and through the door into the house, allowing the dog to come in with them.

It was a comfortable house. Old enough to possess the rabbit warren of small rooms that had been common when it was built, it had clearly been remodeled within the past few years. The rooms were large and airy, with pale walls and shining wood floors dotted here and there with thick rugs. The color scheme was mostly pastels, cool blues, and greens, with occasional splashes
of brighter colors. There was a great deal of quiet taste in the decorating, and Kelsey’s shrewd eyes saw also that whoever had done the house had been working with a limited budget and had done wonders with the place.

Then he was being led into a bright kitchen, and Kelsey found himself confronting the beautiful Elizabeth. She turned from a stove from which appetizing scents wafted, and froze the moment she saw him.

And Kelsey had a conflicting set of impressions and feelings. She was, he saw, even more beautiful than he remembered. Even obviously hot and a little tired, she was lovely. Strands of silver hair clung to her damp brow and throat, her iridescent green eyes were wide and angry, her magnificent body stiff. She didn’t want him here, didn’t want him here at all, he realized, and this was where he had to be. Where he suddenly wanted to be—and not for professional reasons.

As with Ami, he could see an underlying anxiety in her eyes, and there were hints of strain he hadn’t noticed before; at that first meeting, he’d
been too overwhelmed by her to see much more than surface beauty. But now he saw. He saw the evidence of stress on her face, the faint shadows beneath her eyes and the look of utter control holding her features. He saw a mouth innately curved with humor but held in a tight line, saw from the fit of her jeans that she had lost weight recently.

He wanted to help her. Suddenly, more than he had ever wanted anything in his life, he wanted to help her.

“Hi,” he said lightly.

Before Elizabeth could utter a word, Ami said firmly, “This is Kelsey, Beth. You remember him from this morning. I’ve invited him to supper.”

After a moment, Elizabeth said, “Ami, Meg went up to her room. Could you go and tell her supper’s ready, please?”

Her younger sister hesitated, then nodded. And the glance she left Kelsey with was full of entreaty. Unconsciously, he braced himself and returned his gaze to Elizabeth.

“What do you want?” she asked tautly the moment Ami vanished.

All Kelsey’s instincts told him that this woman would not be put off with vague reasons. So he folded his arms across his chest, leaned back against the doorjamb, and met her eyes squarely. “I want to know,” he said quietly, “why you distrust the local police. I want to know what it is you’re worried stiff about.” He reflected for a moment, seeing her tension increase. “I want to know who Blaine is, and why Ami was happy that Lobo bit him.”

“Get out of here.”

As if he hadn’t heard, Kelsey went on. “I’ve come to a few conclusions on my own. I drove through Pinnacle today. I have a room there, by the way. And I was absolutely fascinated to see what should be a dying town flourishing. Obviously, it’s a company town, and obviously the company pays well. But it’s odd, Elizabeth Conner, because that company isn’t very well known.”

“I said—”

“Doesn’t look all that big either.” Seeming to
ignore her interruption, he was watching her intently. “Meditron, a company listed as manufacturing medical equipment. Their books show a modest profit, nothing spectacular. I drove by there today. They have a surprising amount of security; it isn’t exactly usual for armed guards to man an entrance gate for such a small company—unless they’re doing something inside that they don’t want people to know about.”

“That has nothing to do with me,” she said tightly. “I don’t work at Meditron.”

“I know.” He ventured a small smile. “You raise peaches and sisters. I haven’t met the other two, but it’s obvious Ami is worried to death because
you
are worried. Now, since this is a tight-knit company town with the local law enforcement quite probably company-owned, I have to wonder.”

“Who are you?” she whispered.

After a moment, he shrugged. “If I told you who I worked for, it wouldn’t mean anything to you. We aren’t listed in the phone book and don’t offer guided tours of the home office. We’re—uh,
troubleshooters, for want of a better word. We got a tip that something was rotten in Pinnacle. A call from a distraught young lady was recorded by the FBI—the Washington office, by the way. It seems she wasn’t even sure of the state boys, so she called the national office. She was too frightened to leave her name, and she was virtually incoherent. But it was clear she was worried about something going on at Meditron. They were doing bad things out there, she said. And she said other things. That they were hurting people. Particular people.”

Elizabeth was frowning a little, wariness in her eyes.

“The matter was passed on to us,” Kelsey went on. “I got the job. Turning up on your doorstep was a piece of luck I hadn’t counted on.”

Her frown deepened. “I told you, I don’t—”

“Ami made the call, Elizabeth.”

She went white. “That’s crazy! Ami is fourteen, and she never goes around Meditron. She wouldn’t know—”

“No,” Kelsey agreed softly. “She wouldn’t
know, would she? Unless she had … overheard something? Unless she was convinced that your anxiety was tied up with Meditron. Unless she had realized what had happened to worry you so. Where’s your other sister, Elizabeth? Where’s Jo?”

She was utterly still, dead white, and there was anguish in her eyes. Then it was gone, and she was in control again. “Get out of my house,” she said flatly.

“Let me help you.”

“Get out.”

Kelsey drew a deep breath and released it slowly. “And if I did leave? I’m still on this job, Elizabeth, I still have to find out what’s going on, whether you help me or not. It’s what I
do
. I stick my nose into things and I turn over rocks to see what crawls out from under them. I shake the cage until something rattles loose. And if your sister’s in that cage, she could get hurt.” He paused. “Of course, you could stop me. You could call Meditron—or Blaine Mallory; he runs the place, doesn’t he? You could call him and warn him about me.”

“Stop it,” she whispered.

He could see she was trembling suddenly, and it hurt him. Unconsciously, his voice deepened and gentled. “Don’t you see that I have to know how your sister is involved in this? I have to know, Elizabeth, so I can help her too. If you don’t tell me, I’ll have to find out for myself—and she could get hurt. I don’t want that.”

“I can’t tell you anything,” she said from between stiff lips. “Anything at all.”

“You’re too damned independent for your own good,” he said softly. “Too proud to ask for help. Or is it something else? Are they holding Jo somewhere as a hostage, Elizabeth? Is that it? Have they threatened her if you don’t keep quiet?”

“Please leave.”

“You can’t go it alone, don’t you see? It’s obviously tearing you apart. And there’s Ami. She’s worried too. And maybe your other sister knows more than you think. If it’s blackmail, I can help; if they’re holding Jo, I can help.”

“You’re a stranger.” She spoke in the same soft, stiff voice.

“Yes. So you’ll have to decide to trust me, won’t you? Trust me, and let me help you.”

A door banged sharply at the front of the house.

“Beth?” a deep masculine voice called briskly.

Kelsey glanced over his shoulder, then quickly at Elizabeth.

“It’s Blaine,” she murmured, a riot of emotions in her eyes.

Taking two quick steps to stand before her, Kelsey reached to grasp her shoulders and draw her stiff body into his arms. “Trust me,” he whispered, and covered her startled lips with his own.

He could feel her resistance at first in the tautness of her muscles, feel her hands come up to his chest as if she would have pushed him away. Her eyes were wide at first, panicked. But then he felt a shudder pass through her. Her dark lashes slowly veiled the iridescent green eyes, and the tension drained from her body.

And in the space of a heartbeat, Kelsey’s half-formed plan became less professional and much more personal. He stopped thinking about knocking Blaine Mallory off balance and flaunting
his own presence innocently as a man interested in Elizabeth Conner. He stopped thinking about all the possibilities in this situation, the overtones and undercurrents of danger. He stopped thinking of why he was here. He stopped thinking.

Some distant part of him admitted silently that he had wanted to kiss her, and never mind professional needs.

She was warm and soft in his arms, her body melding bonelessly against his with no more than a slight pressure from his hand at the small of her back. Her mouth came alive in an instant, opening to him, her arms sliding slowly upward until her fingers lost themselves in his hair. And he pulled her suddenly even tighter against him, everything forgotten but the need to feel her body close to his.

“D
AMMIT
, B
ETH, WILL
you call off this brute of yours—” The man’s voice broke off abruptly.

Kelsey, drowning in sensation, didn’t want to hold his head above the water. And the woman in his arms seemed utterly unconcerned about having an audience. He heard the sound of footsteps, a jerky feminine exclamation, and a startled giggle from Ami. He also heard a vicious, suppressed sound from a man.

Slowly, he lifted his head, staring down into Beth’s vivid eyes and wondering distantly if he
looked as dazed as she did. Probably. He didn’t give a damn about it, though. And then he heard Ami’s innocent voice.

“That’s Kelsey, Blaine. He came to see Beth.”

And Kelsey heard a deep growling sound, along with the visitor’s voice, distracted but still vicious.

“Somebody call off this damned—”

“Lobo,” Kelsey murmured, allowing one hand to leave Elizabeth and fall to his side. Almost immediately, he felt the thick ruff of the dog beneath his hand. And he didn’t know if it was sheer, primitive male instinct that had made him show his mastery over the dog to the other man. Probably.

Elizabeth was drawing slowly away from him, a wave of faint color sweeping up her throat. She looked shocked, confused, and he touched her cheek with gentle fingers before he allowed her to leave his arms. It was up to her now.

In a soft voice she said, “I didn’t expect you, Blaine.” She was still gazing at Kelsey.

“Obviously!” Blaine snapped.

She blinked, but seemed unconcerned by his
anger. “Blaine, this is—Kelsey. Kelsey, Blaine Mallory.”

Kelsey turned slowly to face the other man. He saw a man about his own height but a good twenty pounds lighter. A strikingly handsome man somewhere in his thirties with jet black hair, a lean face, and an obvious habit of dressing well. A man with chilly blue eyes and a face whose muscles were tightly held in anger. Still absently petting Lobo, Kelsey said casually, “Hello. A friend of the family?”

Blaine’s nostrils flared slightly, then he seemed to dismiss Kelsey as if he were less than human. “Beth, I want to talk to you,” he said sharply.

In a polite tone, Kelsey said, “We’re about to sit down to supper, you know. Much better if you come back later. And call first next time, will you?”

“I’ll show you out, Blaine,” Ami said brightly, sending Kelsey a quick look brimming with satisfaction.

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but when Kelsey put an arm around Elizabeth and she came
to him as if she belonged at his side, his mouth closed with a snap and he turned on his heel to stalk back through the house with Ami helpfully following.

Kelsey looked at the other sister, who was staring at him with her mouth open. She was a typical teenager, her clothes too tight and her makeup lavishly applied with a less than expert hand. She was also a pretty girl with a discontented expression and sulky blue-green eyes, and Kelsey guessed shrewdly that she was less surprised at his presence than displeased to find her sister in the arms of
any
man.

“Hello. You must be Meg,” he said casually. “Why don’t you and Ami wait for us in the dining room, okay?”

“I—” Meg turned abruptly and left the room.

Elizabeth pulled away from him again. “I—I don’t understand.” Her voice was shaking.

Kelsey knew only too well that she was fighting to resurrect her barriers, shocked by him and by herself, quite literally knocked out of kilter by what had happened. And no wonder, considering
all she must have been through before today. He took her hand gently, pulling her around to face him again, and his free hand lifted to touch her hot cheek.

“I know. I also know,” he added with intentional dryness, “that you probably would have slapped my face under ordinary circumstances. But the circumstances aren’t normal for you, are they? You’re tired and tense, and undoubtedly scared—and I took advantage of that. I’m sorry, Elizabeth. Not for kissing you. I could never be sorry about that. Just for the timing, that’s all.”

She was looking up at him, baffled and uncertain. Not yet balanced enough to be embarrassed. “You … you acted like you wanted Blaine to think—”

“Yes, I did. I wanted him to think I was interested in you. Maybe even that I had a prior claim. That is what he has in mind, isn’t it?”

In a low voice, she said, “He wants me to marry him. His persistence is like water dropping on a stone.”