Alone in the Dark (12 page)

He'd never used her first name before. She'd always been just "Doc." Patience felt tears materializing and silently called herself an idiot. There was no reason to feel this

vulnerable. Nothing happened.

This time.

"Walter came."

A tightness formed in Brady's chest. Damn it, he should have talked to the man when

she'd told him her story. "What?"

"His bird was sick."

"What?" Hands on her shoulders, Brady held her away from him. Anger joined forces with

disbelief as he looked at her.

"Mitzi, his pet cockatiel," she explained. Even as she said it, she felt stupid for being this skittish. And yet she couldn't seem to be able to quite shake off the feeling, couldn't

quite get a handle on her resolve. "He wanted me to treat her. He seemed distraught."

"Not as distraught as he's going to be," Brady muttered under his breath.

His words made her rally. She didn't want to start something, she wanted it over with.

Behind her.

Patience squared her shoulders and pulled back. Away from the shelter of his hands, of

him. "Brady, I'm all right. I just got upset, that's all."

"Did he try anything?"

"No." She shook her head. "No," she repeated. "He was just grateful I could help Mitzi."

And then, because she wanted to be honest about what happened, she added, "He did say

that he wished things had turned out better between us."

Storm clouds gathering over the plains appeared lighter than the expression forming on

his face. "I just bet he did."

She pushed her hands deep into her pockets. "Look, I didn't mean to break down like that.

I'm just a little punchy, that's all. I haven't been sleeping all that well lately."

There was a lot of that going around, Brady thought, but he said nothing.

"I'm behind," she told him, stepping to the door. Routine. She needed to lose herself in her routine. That was the only way to keep going. And then she paused. He'd told her

earlier that he'd take a rain check. What changed his mind? "Why did you stop by?"

"Just to tell you that all the results are in and no one touched the box or card who

shouldn't have. The woman at the florist can't remember who ordered the flowers, only

that it was paid for in cash." He'd questioned her himself, but had gotten nowhere.

According to the man who ran the shop, it had been an unusually busy day.

Patience nodded. "So that's that."

He let her think it was over, but he didn't believe that it was. Most stalkers kept after

their target; they didn't just fade graciously away.

"I'll stay on top of it." They walked out into the reception area together. "Be sure and call me if anything turns up."

She flashed him a smile before turning to the next exam room and her next patient.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Coltrane, but I hope I don't have to call you. At least, not

about that," she amended.

Brady made no comment, nodding absently as he left.

Walter Payne's address was in his pocket and Brady lost no time in driving over to the

man's house. King rode shotgun, alert and taking in this new neighborhood.

"No drug bust here, boy," Brady told the dog. "Just a possible vermin bust."

Walter Payne lived in the oldest part ofAurora. The fifty-plus-year-old neighborhood was

comprised of a combination of houses that were either sagging with age and neglect, or

beaming with brand-new and relatively brand-new renovations. The Willows, where Payne

lived, was a development in transition.

Brady wondered where Payne fit in. He got his answer when he stopped in front of the

man's house. Except for a new paint job that, by the looks of it had been done some time

in the last few years, the house was sadly in need of major repair. Its entire demeanor

appeared dark and forlorn.

Much the way Walter Payne looked when he answered the door after Brady had rung the

bell twice. The moment Payne saw the uniform, he straightened, apprehension all but

permeating from his every pore. He swallowed audibly before asking, "Yes?"

Brady wasted no time with preliminaries. The man knew why he was here, otherwise he

wouldn't look like a frightened rabbit staring at an oncoming eighteen-wheeler. "You come

near her again and you're going to be arrested."

There was no need to clarify who he was talking about. They both knew. Payne's broad

nostrils flared. It was his only outward sign of bravado. "I only went there because she's

Mitzi's doctor."

"Not anymore," Brady informed Payne tersely. As a rule, he was a man of few words. The

angrier he became, the fewer the words. "Find another one. Look under V for Vet." His

eyes narrowed as he stared down the man. "And vermin."

Payne took a step back into the dark shelter of his home. It seemed as if light refused to

cross the threshold or find its way through the windowpanes. "But she—"

"You've had your warning, Payne. Now the choice is yours. And just in case you make the

wrong one, remember, a lot of things can happen to someone in the back seat of a squad

car before they get to the precinct."

With that, Brady turned away.

Brady heard the door close quickly behind him. The sound of chains being set in place and

locks being flipped followed.

Agrim smile curved his mouth. He'd done a little background research into Walter Payne.

The man was a perfect example of someone who lived a life of quiet frustration. Unless he

missed his guess, Payne was the type to pine away after a woman. Violence was a step he

wouldn't be willing to take easily. Nothing in his very nondescript life pointed to it. There

wasn't so much as a parking ticket with his name on it.

Payne lived modestly and definitely not out of his means. He owned and ran a small,

relatively successful computer business. Brady could see how the man could yearn after

someone like Patience, but he was reasonably sure that a veiled threat was all that was

necessary to get Walter Payne back on track again.

And if not, well, he'd deal with that, too. Nothing got to him faster than a man who

threatened a woman's peace of mind.

The rest of his day was uneventful. Brady debated going home after his shift was over.

Stretching out in front of the TV with King and a pizza sounded pretty good right about

now.

Seeing Patience sounded even better.

He got in behind the wheel of his Mustang and glanced at his watch. According to his

estimate, she was calling it a day, as well. There was nothing wrong in stopping by to give

her a quick update and a little relief. Despite her words to the contrary and that

independent act of hers, he knew she'd been shaken up by Payne's visit and he wanted to

assure himself firsthand that she was all right.

"Pizza's on hold, King. We're going by the doc's place first."

King barked his approval.

A grin he reserved only for his furry companion graced Brady's lips. "Sometimes I think

you're more human than I am, King."

Again, the dog barked.

Patience was just closing up the clinic when he pulled his car up in the driveway. Seeing

him through the window, she stopped and came outside. As he got out of the car, he tried

not to let her smile affect him. But it was getting harder and harder to block it.

King was hanging out the window on the passenger side. The canine barked for her

attention.

Patience shook her head as Brady approached her. "What did I tell you about letting him

hang his head out like that?" She'd given the warning to all five of the officers attached

to the K-9 squad.

Brady glanced back at the dog. "It makes him happy. You argue with him."

She crossed her arms in front of her, pretending to scrutinize the officer on her

doorstep. "Don't tell me that Officer Coltrane can be manipulated by a furry four-footed

animal."

"Let's just say King and I understand each other. I give him space, he gives me space."

The evening air was crisp, but she hardly felt the chill. She was warming herself standing

beside this brooding policeman.Ican see right through you, Brady Coltrane. You're not as

tough as you'd like me to believe."Is that what you like, space?"

He shrugged. "I work better that way." At least, that was what had always worked for

him before. But if that was true, why was he here, in her space, when he could have been

home? After all, he'd turned down her invitation.

She nodded back toward the building behind her. "Want to come upstairs for some

coffee?"

Yes, he wanted to come upstairs. But not for coffee, which was why he should remain

right out here, where the air was cool and the temptation a little less intense. Or, if not

less intense, at least he couldn't allow himself to act on it.

He shook his head. "No, I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

She smiled. "You really are very nice. Sorry—" Patience raised her hands in mock

surrender "—no compliments, just doing your job, yes, I remember." She thought of this

afternoon. At this point, he probably thought she was afraid of her own shadow. "Look, I

want to apologize about this whole thing. I was overreacting—"

He didn't see it that way. What he saw was a brave woman being justifiably frightened.

"No, you weren't. The roses were real, the message was real. That's not overreacting, Doc,

that's being sensibly cautious."

Her mouth curved. "If you say so."

He had this overwhelming urge to take her into his arms. To hold her to him and to feel

her warmth. But Brady reminded himself he was the one who was supposed to be giving

comfort, not the other way around. "I don't think you'll have anything to worry about

anymore."

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at him. "What did you do?"

"I went to see Payne."

The wind whipped her hair into her face. She combed it away with he fingers so she could

look up at him. "And?"

"And I told him to find another vet. He promised to look."

He'd been coming around with King for two years now. She knew a little something about

the way he approached things. "Was this before or after you flipped him and stood on his

chest?"

"Before," he quipped, his expression so serious that a look of concern entered her face.

How could she be concerned about someone who made her constantly look over her

shoulder? What kind of a woman was she? Just how big was her heart?

"Don't worry, I didn't lay a hand on the rodent. But he looked smart enough to be

worried."

She laughed, shaking her head. The sound wound itself around him, sealing away the wind.

"I would be, too, if you growled at me the way you probably did at him."

This time, when the wind moved her hair into her face, he was the one who combed it

away. He watched the pupils of her eyes widen and found himself struggling against falling

in. Something tightened in his belly. "You're not the type to be intimidated."

It was what she needed to hear. He made her feel strong, as if everything was going to be

all right. And grateful to Brady. "Thanks," she murmured and then, because a part of her still felt vulnerable, still felt the need for someone to turn to, she looked up at him.

Everything she was feeling was in her eyes. He felt himself being drawn in, felt himself

wanting to protect her. To keep her out of harm's way for as long as there was breath in

his body.

Lightly he slid his hand along her cheek, tilting her head up a little more. He rubbed the

tip of his thumb along her lips.

And then, before he knew it, before he could talk himself out of it, he kissed her.

The man watching them from within the shadows swallowed the red-hot curse that burned

his throat.

«^»

Patience sighed as she leaned into the kiss, into him. Surprise quickly turned to pleasure.

Pleasure turned to desire.

All the fears, all the anxiety that had been dancing around inside of her suddenly burst

forth. Overwhelmed by it all, she clung to this tall, dark, silent hero who had stepped out

of the shadows into the center stage of her life.

Patience was feeling things, things she'd promised herself she'd never feel for a

policeman, never wanted to feel for a man of the law. Or perhaps for any man because

feelings like this bound her when she wanted to remain free. But she couldn't dictate to

herself now, couldn't reason herself out of what was happening to her. All she wanted to

do was to feel.

And to lose herself in his arms. The kiss grew to be all-encompassing and Patience

disappeared into it willingly.

Desire came, strong and hard, gripping him by the chest and spreading swiftly out to the

tips of his limbs. The feeling was alien to Brady, at least to this degree and with this

intensity. Always before, desire had been physical, to be heeded or not, to be satisfied or

not. The result was never all that overwhelming to him. Passion was something that never

broke through the restraints that he had surrounded himself with.

But this was different.

This was physical and yet … more. The word intense was not sufficient enough to explain

it.

He couldn't explain it. Didn't want to examine it. Just wanted it to be. Just wanted to

keep on kissing Patience.

He wanted to make love with her.

Damn, he was going to have to watch himself. Otherwise she'd think he was just using this

stalker thing as an excuse to get her into bed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd