Watch Me (11 page)

“Exactly. At this point, our best move is to admit what happened and act as if it didn’t matter, quit giving him and Amy something to go after.”

And if their cooperation didn’t appease Amy’s
jealousy? Was Sheridan ready for Whiterock’s response to her past sins? Her parents would just be getting back from their cruise….

Cain shoved away from the wall and came closer. “You might be well enough to fly home in a few days.”

She opened the jar and, despite the smell, began applying the ointment to the ugly yellow bruises on her legs. “You’re suggesting I leave town?”

“You could avoid the backlash that way,” he said, watching her.

She arched her eyebrows at him. “Tired of babysitting me?”

“I just want to keep you safe.” He picked up the jar. “Take off your shirt and lie down. I’ll get your back.”

Turning away so he wouldn’t see her, she removed her top and did as she was told, mostly because she wanted to believe that if Cain touched her, it wouldn’t mean more than when any other man did. “There are probably dozens of dangerous people in California who’d like to see me dead,” she told him and flashed him a smile over her bare shoulder. “I seem to bring that out in a person.”

His hands ran over her back, working the ointment into her stiff muscles. “So you’re staying?”

“Until I’m done here, until I see this through.”

“Then you’re nuts.”

“Maybe.” She stifled a moan as his strong fingers focused on a knot in her neck. “But it doesn’t make sense to save the fight for another day. Whatever trail my attacker left will only have grown cold.”

“You know Amy will do anything she can to humiliate you.”

It was all too easy to enjoy his touch. It’d been ages since she’d been with a man—and he wasn’t just any man. “I deserve it. I was an idiot.”

His hands stilled. “There’s nothing wrong with innocence.”

“Except the stupidity that so often goes with it. You’ve got to be laughing inside.”

His voice grew deeper. “You think I like knowing I hurt you?”

“Not in a vengeful way, like Amy. I’m just saying you’ve got to be amused that a 4.0 student could be so gullible.”

He began to rub her back again. “I’m amused that you think you’re so much wiser these days.”

“I am.”

“Because now you know that all I care about is nailing another girl?”

She moved her hair to one side so he wouldn’t get the nasty-smelling salve in it. “You don’t seem to care so much about nailing girls anymore. I think you’ve changed. But, regardless, I don’t regret the lesson you taught me. Just my own ridiculous reaction to it.”

There was another slight hesitation in his movements. “What lesson did I teach you? That men are scum? That they’re only after one thing? That sex doesn’t mean what you thought it did when you were sixteen?”

She didn’t want to get involved in a debate. She was still embarrassed over her puppy-love crush, the revelation of which made her look like a fraud, as well as a
liar, to the whole town. “Fortunately, stupid and jaded are not the same thing. I merely learned what every woman should know.”

“Which is…”

She let her eyes drift closed. “You have to be careful who you trust.”

“Lucky me. I get the credit for that?”

His hands moved down both sides of her back, kneading her flesh. She thought about claiming she’d learned it elsewhere, too, but he was the one who’d forced her to take off those rose-colored glasses. “Like I said, it was a good lesson,” she muttered into her arm.

“What you deserved for getting involved with the wrong boy.”

She opened her eyes. Where was he going with this? “More or less,” she said. “Anyway, now that our little mistake’s out, they’re going to be taking a hard look at you in relation to the shooting. You know that.”

“They were already taking a hard look at me.”

“There’s no way Amy will let this go.”

“I was keeping my mouth shut for your sake, not mine.”

For some reason, she believed him. Maybe he hadn’t fallen in love with her as she had with him, but he’d been honorable enough not to brag about what he’d done with her. “You’re not worried?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. I think you should get out of here before it gets any more uncomfortable.”

“I refuse to let the person who chased me away twelve years ago make me run a second time. If I’m not equipped to take a stand now, after all my training, I never will be.”

“What kind of stand?”

“I’m going to catch him.”

“How?”

“I’ll use myself as bait if I have to.”

Cain set the salve on the nightstand and stepped back. “Don’t even talk like that.”

“Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.” Feeling oddly reckless, she rolled over and sat up—and began applying the ointment to the bruises on her chest as if he was no emotional threat to her at all, no different from a girlfriend.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still in the room,” he said.

She hid a smile at his stunned expression. “So? You’ve already seen me. You said so yourself. And the past is behind us. I’m over my first-man-to-touch-me insanity.”

“I get that,” he said, taking the jar from her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, growing nervous.

“If I’m no temptation to you, I might as well help. This is purely clinical. It’s like I’m a doctor and you’re my patient. Isn’t it?” His enigmatic green eyes were riveted on hers as his hands, covered with the slick ointment, slid over her breasts.

Arousal shot through Sheridan so hard and fast she could no longer breathe, and she was afraid he could tell. Especially when his palms scraped over her nipples.

“Sometimes fighting fire with fire means you get consumed in the flames,” he murmured.

Stubbornly lifting her chin, she refused to flinch or cover up. She wanted to prove that she could take him or leave him, that
she’d
be the one to walk away this time.

But it wasn’t long before she began to tremble. Taking the jar from him so he wouldn’t notice, she forced a polite smile and moved out of reach. “I think that’s enough, don’t you?”

The doorbell rang but he stayed where he was. Lowering his eyes to what she’d revealed, he devoured the sight in a hot glance. And then he turned away—but turned back at the door. “Unless you plan on making love to me, don’t ever taunt me like that again.”

He wasn’t joking.

Sheridan was so breathless, she wasn’t sure she could keep her voice steady enough to speak. But she wasn’t about to succumb to his temptation a second time. She’d already learned her lesson—the hard way. “Yeah, well, I’ll call ya,” she said.

N
ed wrinkled his nose the moment he walked into her bedroom. “Smells terrible in here. What is that?”

Cain followed him but didn’t seem to be in a particularly loquacious mood, so Sheridan spoke up. “Salve. For bruises.”

“Where’d you get it?”

“Cain made it for his clinic, I think.”

Cain didn’t confirm her answer or offer an alternative. He obviously wasn’t interested in making Ned feel comfortable.

“If the smell’s too strong, you’re welcome to come back another time,” she said and prayed Ned would give her a brief reprieve. She was still jittery from the hormones that had flooded her system only seconds before he arrived.

“No. Let’s get this over with.” He looked around for a seat and pulled over the one Cain had used when he fed her. The padding flattened as he sank into it. Then he looked back at Cain, who stood resolutely at the door, like some kind of gatekeeper. “Could we have a few minutes alone?”

“No,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ned’s frown said he wasn’t pleased by this response, but Cain set his jaw, making it clear he wouldn’t change his mind.

Grumbling under his breath, Ned faced Sheridan. “You probably know why I’m here.”

“Of course.”

“Good. Than maybe we can talk about what you didn’t tell the police twelve years ago.”

“I told them everything that mattered.”

“You didn’t tell them about your relationship with Cain in the weeks leading up to the shooting.”

“We didn’t have a ‘relationship.’” How was a bad case of unrequited love a relationship?

“But you did have sex with him. Then you lied about it.”

“I didn’t lie.”

He withdrew a small pad from his shirt pocket. “You didn’t tell the police. Or it would be in the file.”

“It’s in the file now,” Cain said. “I suggest you move on.”

He shot Cain a dour glance. “From what I’ve heard, this happened at a party.”

“That’s true.”

“Was Jason there?”

“No. Jason and Cain didn’t really hang around with the same people.”

“Were there any drugs at this party?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Cain asked.

“I’m trying to establish whether either of you had a history of using drugs. That might tell me whether or not drugs were involved in the shooting.”

“There weren’t any drugs at the party. Cain had been drinking a little, I think.”

“And you?”

“I didn’t drink at that age.”

Ned tapped his pen against his notepad. “Or so you say.”

Sheridan clung tightly to her temper. “You know I didn’t drink.”

“I don’t know anything. Until yesterday, I thought you never put out, either,” he said with a bark of laughter.

Cain closed the gap between them so quickly Ned flinched and almost fell off his chair. “What?” he complained, dropping his pad on the floor.

“Either treat her with some respect or get the hell out of here.”

The two glared at each other for several seconds, but it was Ned who backed down. “Fine,” he grumbled. With a dramatic sigh, he focused on Sheridan again. “Did Cain ever mention to you that he and Jason were having problems?”

“No,” she said. “As far as I know, they got along just fine.”

“And you didn’t feel you might be causing trouble between the two brothers by having sex with one and then the other?”

Anger sparked in Cain’s eyes. “Damn it, Ned. Take it easy or I’ll throw your ass out.”

“I didn’t have sex with Jason,” Sheridan said.

“You were at a popular make-out spot. And, according to witnesses, the windows were thick with steam. No one could even see in.”

“That doesn’t mean we were having sex!”

“If you slept with Cain the first night you were together, what stopped you from doing the same with Jason?”

Sheridan pressed her palms to her eyes. “Jason was just a friend. We were only
talking.”

“About…”

“Life. School. Parents.”

“That’s it?”

She attempted a shrug. She didn’t want to let him know how much this was costing her, but talking about Jason always made her feel sick inside. Why had she involved him in her childish attempt to get Cain’s attention? How many times had she asked herself if Jason would still be alive today if she hadn’t been so stupid and immature, if she’d been able to face the fact that Cain had merely used her?

“Did he know you just wanted to be friends?”

No. He had hopes of more. That was what made her cringe the most. “He—he wanted to kiss me,” she admitted.

Ned scooted closer. “Could you speak a little louder?”

With effort, she raised her voice. “I said he wanted to kiss me, but I wouldn’t let him.”

“Why not?”

More skepticism. As she’d expected, Ned believed he’d uncovered a hypocrite. She hadn’t been what she’d appeared to be, so she had to be the exact opposite. “Because I didn’t really want to be there with him.”

“Then why’d you go?”

She was desperate to see Cain and thought he might be at Rocky Point, and being with Jason gave her a le
gitimate excuse to be there, too. From the moment Jason had picked her up until the blast went off, Cain was all she could think about. “Cain didn’t call me after the…after the incident in the camper. I guess I was…trying to see if it would bother him if I went out with someone else.”

She could feel Cain’s eyes on her but refused to look at him.

“So you tried to make him jealous with his own brother.”

“Ned…” Cain warned.

Swallowing hard, hoping to relieve the terrible burning in her throat, Sheridan motioned to let Cain know she didn’t need him to intercede. As ugly as it sounded, Ned had stated the truth, and she had to take responsibility for it. “That’s
exactly
what I was doing, okay?” she said. “I was at Rocky Point with Jason that night because I was doing anything I could to get Cain to react.”

Ned didn’t bother to conceal his contempt for her behavior, but it didn’t matter. His contempt was nothing compared to how she felt about her own actions.

“Did Jason have any idea he was a pawn?” he asked.

“That’s it.” In one swift motion, Cain lifted Whiterock’s police chief by the shirtfront and yanked him to his feet.

The chair hit the floor as Ned scrambled to get away. “What the hell are you doing?”

Quixote growled low in his throat, and Koda and Maximillian came to their feet, their ears back as they studied the situation for any sign of a threat to Cain.

Cain released Ned but shoved him toward the door. “Go.”

“You can’t attack a police officer!”

“I haven’t attacked you. Yet.”

Ned’s gaze darted between Cain and his dogs. “You’re in deep shit. You know that? I’m going to see that you finally get what you deserve.”

“Just go,” Cain said. “You’re not here to investigate Jason’s murder. You’re here to make Sheridan feel like a tramp. And I’m done listening to it.”

Amy sat in the booth next to her brother and across from Kent Lazarus, another police officer on their little force.

“He nearly hit me!” Ned said, telling them what’d happened at Cain’s.

“What made him so mad?” Kent asked.

“He said I was humiliating Sheridan. But she might’ve caused Jason’s death. She
should
be humiliated.”

“No kidding.” Amy couldn’t believe Cain would stick up for Sheridan. Sure, she was pretty, but it wasn’t as if they’d been friends back in high school. “She also pretended to be better than the rest of us while she was screwing my boyfriend behind my back.”

“He wasn’t your boyfriend,” Ned grumbled.

Amy let the comment go because, technically, her brother was right. She hadn’t managed any type of commitment from Cain until he married her. “But who would’ve thought she was messing around with Cain?”

“Her parents would’ve disowned her if they knew,” he agreed. “They were so strict she had an eleven-o’clock curfew. She could only go out on one night
each weekend. And they wouldn’t allow her to date at all until she turned sixteen.”

“Even then she could only double-date or go to official school dances,” Amy chimed in. “You asked her out once, remember? She turned you down because it wasn’t a school dance. And your reputation was much better than Cain’s. They never would’ve allowed her to be with him.”

“How’d Cain get in her pants?” Kent asked. He’d moved to town three years ago, well after Cain had started keeping a low profile, and didn’t know him that well.

“Cain could’ve had
anyone
in high school,” Amy said.

Kent snickered. “So was he sleeping with you at the same time?”

Amy wanted to reach across the table and smack him. “Shut up!”

“That’s really what’s pissing you off, isn’t it?”

Ned interrupted before they could break into an all-out argument. “The question is, how are we going to make sure Cain gets what’s coming to him? I’m not letting him get away with more of his bullshit.”

Kent lowered his voice. “It shouldn’t be too hard. The rifle was in Cain’s cabin. Sheridan was attacked on Cain’s land. Cain had the only motive we’re aware of for killing Jason. Cain was at the hospital when that mysterious guy showed up. And we know Cain had emotional problems as a teenager. It’s all Cain. He’s the common denominator. I think we take what we’ve got to Judge Brown and try to get a search warrant.”

Ned pursed his lips as he considered it. “If we could go through Cain’s belongings, maybe we’d find the ski mask or a piece of bloody clothing or something.”

Amy flicked the lid on the metal creamer. “Bloody clothing won’t be enough. He carried Sheridan into his house the night she was hurt, so there’s a legitimate reason for her blood to be there. Owen knows it, too. And he’s loyal to Cain. He wouldn’t talk to me about what he saw in that camper, and I got the impression he was pretty unhappy with Robert for telling us.”

“So he’ll testify that Cain was trying to save her, not kill her.”

“Exactly.”

“Who would’ve thought she could survive such an attack?” Ned muttered.

“It’s a miracle she didn’t die.” Amy halfway wished she had. Then she wouldn’t be at Cain’s place right now and Amy wouldn’t be spending every moment consumed with the fear that he might become emotionally attached to Sheridan Kohl.

“What if we found
Jason’s
blood?” Kent asked.

“We’re not going to. It’s been too long.” As much as Amy wanted to punish Cain for rejecting her, and as much as Cain’s unapologetic and aloof nature inadvertently helped make him look bad, she knew he hadn’t shot Jason. But her brother didn’t, and neither did Kent, which made them perfect tools to badger Cain. He was going to need an ally soon; he was going to need
her.
She wanted that so badly she could taste his skin, his kiss—

“Then what?” Ned said.

“We keep talking to the neighbors, try to come up with someone who saw Cain in the neighborhood before Sheridan went missing,” she responded.

Skepticism etched lines in her brother’s forehead.
But he has family there. His stepfather and stepbrother live a few doors down. Even if we find someone to place him on that street, he’s got a good reason to be there.”

“Robert’s on our side.”

Ned toyed with the sugar packets on the table. “Robert’s an alcoholic, and alcoholics don’t make the most credible witnesses.”

Amy pushed the bowl of sugar packets back against the wall. She didn’t want Ned to destroy every one of them. She had more coffee coming. “His statement got them to admit what they did.”

“But John would be a more reliable witness,” Ned said.

“He won’t do it.”

“He might. He wants to get whoever murdered Jason. And with the discovery of that rifle, he’s beginning to wonder about Cain.”

Amy shook her head. “He has Marshall to consider.”

“What does Marshall have to do with anything? He’s been over at Sunrise Vista ever since John’s mother passed.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Amy argued. “Marshall got a pile of money when he sold his hardware stores, and he won’t leave it to John if John doesn’t watch himself. Maybe John doesn’t get along with Cain, but Marshall thinks Cain hung the moon.”

“Maybe we could establish more testimony about Cain’s presence at Rocky Point,” Ned said. “Find someone who’ll say he was enraged at seeing Jason and Sheridan together, that he made some threats.”

The ice in Kent’s glass clinked as he finished his water. “We already have Maureen Johansen.”

“That’s not enough,” Amy said. “She won’t go beyond saying she ‘thought’ Cain ‘might’ have been upset. If we’re going to make a case out of circumstantial evidence, it needs to be overwhelming. We need more.” More with which she could bring Cain to his knees.

Ned dropped the last mangled sugar packet she’d allowed him and rocked back. “We can find it.”