What's in a Name? (40 page)

She saw the pain in his eyes, but more
than that, the anger. Or had she injured his pride? Unconsciously,
she took half a step back. “I tried. As soon as I discovered
Hollingsworth had been skimming from Berlyno.” She handed him his
cell phone. “This was in your bedroom.”

He winced. “Sorry. I guess you shook me
up when you came back.”

“
I couldn’t risk
calling your office or emailing you in case someone was with you.
While you were at work, I was going through the files Justin sent
from the Berlyno job. I had backups on disc and hadn’t bothered to
return them when they let me go. I’d have tossed them, but after
Charles … things got … complicated … and I forgot about them until
now.”

Blake reached for his glass and
grimaced. Kelli gave him another head shake, but went to the bar
and brought the bottle over. He extended his hand, but she ignored
it and poured a modest portion into his glass. He glared at her but
didn’t say anything, merely took a swallow.

“
I went to your
office,” she continued, “but you’d already left. I’d just gotten
off the elevator when Vance grabbed me.”

“
So when did you call
the cops? He had you the whole time.”

“
I called nine-one-one
while the phone was in my pocket and left the line open. It took a
while, but the cops used the GPS chip to trace the call. I was so
glad when you said North River. I had no clue where we were and I
wasn’t sure they’d get a decent signal. I tried to relay enough
information and to get Vance to talk—to say enough to show we were
in danger. I was afraid the operators would hang up when things
were quiet so long—”

“
They never hang up on
a nine-one-one call. So they got a fix on our location and sent the
police to the rescue.” He looked up at her and she was drawn in by
those chocolate-colored eyes.

She sat on the arm of Blake’s chair and
stroked his hair. He closed his eyes and she massaged the creases
out of his forehead. “I didn’t mean to snap.”

“
I should have figured
you had a plan. You were talking so loud and clear. I thought you
were being brave.”

“
Brave? Hardly. Even
though my brain said he wouldn’t shoot while we were in such a
public place, all that registered was a gun in my back. I was
scared to death. And at the end, when I heard the gunshot, I was
scared that you were dead. Then, when I knew you were alive, the
cops wouldn’t tell me anything, they just hauled me to the police
station to answer their questions.” She kissed his brow, afraid if
she did anything more she wouldn’t be able to leave. “Thanks for
coming to my rescue.”

“
Like white on rice.”
He sighed and finished his drink. “In a way, it’s probably a good
thing Vance tried to take matters into his own hands. He’s a
lawyer, a politician and a sleaze, but he didn’t make a good
murderer. If he’d gotten Scumbag, or someone like him to come back
for us, we’d likely both be dead now.”

“
You’re probably
right.” She took a deep breath. Facing Vance Griffith had been
nothing compared with this. Get it out. Clean break.

“
I’m going back to
EnviroCon. I called Jack. I’ll have to give a statement about
Scumbag. I told the cops here Vance Griffith thought I had
incriminating evidence against Dwight Hollingsworth. But that’s all
I said. I left a flash drive with everything I had from Berlyno on
your desk. You can give it to the cops, the newspapers—or not. It’s
your choice. The cops should have the nine-one-one tape of the
call.”

Blake wiped a hand across his eyes.
“It’s complicated, isn’t it? I told them pretty much the same
thing—barely hinted at some prior unsubstantiated indiscretions.
I’m sure the investigative reporters will sink their teeth into the
story.”

“
Blake—I meant what I
said before. Maybe even more now. Things between us—they’re crazy.
We need to step back and put things in perspective. Besides, we
both have jobs that take us all over the place. We’d hardly ever be
in the same place at the same time. It wouldn’t work.”

He studied his drink for a long moment.
“If that’s what you want.”

When he met her gaze, she knew he’d
given up. Which was what she wanted, wasn’t it? True, he’d saved
her from Scumbag and had been ready to do whatever it took to save
her from Vance Griffith. But saving someone’s life didn’t mean you
wanted to spend the rest of your life together. All it meant was he
probably didn’t want to live with the guilt if he hadn’t tried to
save her. She’d convinced herself that leaving was the best thing
for both of them. Why did it feel like she was the one being
abandoned?

She stood. “I’ve got reservations on
the red-eye. I’ve ordered a cab. I need to get going.”

“
You could stay here,
you know. Take a morning flight. Get some rest. I’ll take the
couch.”

The couch. After all they’d had in bed.
Sex. That’s all it had been, after all. Glorious, mind-blowing,
toe-curling sex. Better to remember it that way.

“
You know I can’t.”
She struggled with the effort it took to meet his eyes. “I wouldn’t
even be here now, except I was worried about you. The cops said you
were fine, but I had to see for myself.” And say goodbye in person.
She owed him that after the way she’d left him before.

Blake stood, a little unsteady on his
feet and lifted her hand to his lips. “Godspeed, Kelli.”

“
Take care of
yourself,” she whispered. Tears blurred her vision. She gathered
her computer bag and let herself out. She waited in the lobby for
the cab, one eye on the elevator, but its doors remained closed.
What had she expected? She’d gone to great pains to make him
believe she didn’t want him. Obviously, he didn’t want her,
either.

The cab honked. Lamonte, eyebrows
raised, opened the door and she stepped into the chilly night air.
“O’Hare,” she said to the cab driver.

Three months later

“
Drop me off here,
please,” Kelli said to Ike. “And can you wait?”

Ike turned and gave her a solemn stare.
“Moment of truth is it, then, Miss?”

“
I faced my truth
weeks ago,” she said. “Now it’s time to see if his matches mine.
I’ll be right back.” Either to return to the airport, or to
retrieve the bags piled in the back of Ike’s Aerostar. By the time
she exhaled, Ike had scuttled around the shuttle and placed the
footstool by the door. She took his gnarled hand and gave it a
squeeze. “Wish me luck.”

He tapped his fingers to the brim of
his cap.

Much as she wanted to run, she kept her
pace sedate. It had snowed yesterday and her boots crunched as she
walked down the road where she’d asked Ike to wait, out of sight of
the house. The smell of smoke from fireplaces filled the air.
Christmas decorations had abounded along the drive, but nothing at
this house indicated the holiday was days away.

She had made it a point to be as far
away from Washington as possible when Blake had to give his
statement. The forensics had borne out their stories about Scumbag,
and Blake had been dismissed. She’d begged Jack for every single
job he could throw at her, hopping around the country doing
surveys, filing reports from dingy motel rooms—anything to keep
busy. Nothing had worked. Thoughts of Blake consumed her until she
couldn’t tell a pack rat from a possum.

She peered down the driveway. A red
Corvette and the old green pickup sat by the back porch. At the end
of the driveway, the garage door was open. She leaned against the
oak tree and caught her breath. Sounds of a power saw ignited old
memories. She envisioned Blake at Camp Getaway, working shirtless,
muscles gleaming. A lifetime ago.

When she crept closer, she saw the new
structure wasn’t a garage at all, but a workshop. Blake’s back was
to the door, moving a board through the table saw, placing it on a
stack of similar boards nearby and picking up another. His hair was
tied back and he wore a black, long-sleeved jersey. A tight-fitting
one. She watched him cut half a dozen planks before she entered the
space. Not sure of how to start, although she’d rehearsed this
moment for weeks, she cleared her throat.

The saw noises stopped. Without
turning, Blake straightened. The plank fell to the floor.

“
Am I interrupting?”
she asked. God, how lame. Of all the lines she’d practiced, that
one hadn’t come close.

* * * * *

He’d been half-aware of an approaching
shadow, but too engrossed in his work to pay attention. Until he
smelled it—her scent. Even above the sawdust. Emily. Kelli. He
didn’t dare turn around. His heart drummed against his sternum.
She’d all but disappeared. Jack Stockbridge wouldn’t tell him
anything other than she was busy working and unavailable.

The shadow had stopped moving. He
turned. “Kelli?” Or was she Casey? Or Karen? Or someone new?

Her short hair was blonde now, with
thick bangs that drew his eyes down to hers. No glasses, no
contacts. Solemn gray eyes, round with questions. She wore jeans,
not slacks. Whether she had on an Emily sweater or a Kelli
sweatshirt was disguised by a bulky parka.

“
Hi,” she said. “You
going to kick me out? I wouldn’t blame you. But Ike’s waiting with
my bags and if you don’t want me around, I’ll go back
and—”

Her words registered and he pushed past
her at a dead run, toward the street and Ike’s shuttle. He waved
Ike forward, pacing the front porch for what seemed like the
eternity it took Ike to get down the block and up the driveway.
Without waiting, Blake yanked the Aerostar’s side door open and
grabbed a suitcase. And a second. Ike wrested the third one from
the van.

“
You can leave them
here. I’ll get them inside.” He patted his hip pockets. His money
was in the house. “Give me a second. I’ll get my
wallet.”

Ike grinned, his eyes crinkling. “This
one’s on me, Mr. Windsor. Merry Christmas.”

Ike disappeared down the block in a
cloud of exhaust. Kelli appeared from the side of the house and
picked up the last bag. Neither spoke. They carried the suitcases
into the entry, dropped them and stood there, two feet apart.

He looked at the luggage, then at Kelli
for the span of several heartbeats. “You took a big chance I’d be
here. And alone. For all you knew, I could be married—or living
with someone. Or on the road.”

“
You’re right. But I
was pretty sure you weren’t.”

“
Right. The computer
queen.” He crossed the room and sat on the couch. She followed, but
sat in a chair, not beside him. Memories of her at Camp Getaway,
both avoiding and enticing him, sent his blood rushing south. “I’m
sure you dug out everything about my life.”

“
I could have. What
would I have found? A marriage license? Joint checking account?
Other cars registered at this address? Other names listed with the
phone company?” There was a hint of a smile behind her
words.

“
So, did you? Dig, I
mean.”

This time the smile came out in full
force and lit up the room like a searchlight cutting through the
darkness. “No.”

He looked at her, willing her to sit
next to him, so he could feel the warmth radiate from her body to
his. She didn’t move. He went on. “Then what made you decide to
load up three huge suitcases and come out to Middle of Nowhere,
USA?”

“
I decided it was
worth the risk.”

He shook his head. “That’s not the
Kelli I know. Or are you done being Kelli?”

“
No, I’m sticking with
Kelli. We’re a good fit.”

“
Well, the Kelli I
remember plans everything down to the last detail. She knows what
she’s going to find before she gets there. So, answer my question.
Why did you show up?”

She blushed and he savored her
embarrassment.

“
I called
Brian.”

Brian had talked to her? And hadn’t
said a word? He’d kill him. He tried not to shout. “And?”

“
And, he told me if I
was half as miserable as you were, I should drag my sorry ass back
here from wherever it was.”

Brian. His meddling big brother. God,
he loved him. “So you came.”

“
I came. Me, almost
everything I own, and my sorry ass. Forgive me?”

“
Sweetheart, if
there’s anyone who needs forgiving, it’s me, for letting you walk
away. I should have been the one dragging your sorry ass back. I
let my damn macho pride almost ruin my life.”

She got up and walked toward the couch.
Her hands clasped his and placed them on her buttocks. “You’ve got
my sorry ass. You think we can make it work?”

Afraid to move, he left his hands where
she’d put them and gazed into her eyes. “Well, I’m not on the road
anymore. Griffith is awaiting trial, but he’s got a team of
expensive lawyers on his side. Dwight quit the political arena.
Pled guilty to the embezzlement charges, made restitution and
turned the company over to his V.P. The business community didn’t
blink. It’s not like everyone else hasn’t got something they’d
rather sweep under the rug. He’s not going to hurt for money.”

She escaped his grasp and curled up on
the couch beside him, resting her head on his shoulder. Much as he
wanted to ravish her right there, he respected what appeared to be
her need to go slowly. He stroked her hair. “What about you?”

“
I spent a lot of time
hating myself for being played the fool. And more time trying to
figure out if it made a difference—if I felt any better about
taking a life, knowing Robert was sent to take mine.”