First Do No Evil: Blood Secrets, Book 1 (6 page)

“Deal.”

His eyes swept down her delicate body as she rose from the chair and faced him. She looked so damn fragile. Her white blouse, wrinkled and grimy from a long day tending the sick, hung loosely over her collarbones. Aware of his gaze, she tugged the collar of her shirt close just as a wave of crimson crept across the creamy skin of her throat.

Averting his eyes from the swell of her breasts, he found himself staring at the lush fullness of her mouth, and even the remorse balling up in his stomach didn’t stop him from imagining what it would be like to lick that mouth until it opened beneath his. He raked a hand through his hair and pasted on his best choirboy face, afraid she could read the salacious thoughts running through his head. He didn’t want to burden her with that little piece of intelligence.

“You look well,” she said neutrally.

He had no idea if she bought his act or not. Only a moment ago, her eyes had been brimming with emotion, but now, squaring up with his, they revealed nothing. Now, looking into her eyes was like peering through the windows of a house no longer lit from the inside. He could only guess at the contents. “I’m in your debt, Sky. And I don’t intend to let you down again.”

“I’m a doctor. I did my job.” Her tone, like her eyes, concealed her reaction to him. If she harbored any resentment against him, she was too kind to show it.

“But I didn’t do mine.”

She moved in closer. “If it hadn’t been for you we might all be dead. That man wouldn’t have hesitated to slaughter everyone in the diner. Nevaeh’s going to be okay. My brother, that boy, Cookie…and me. We’re all alive because of you.” Her hand lifted to touch him.

Despite the layers of clothing concealing his scar, her fingers found and grazed the very spot where the bullet had entered his chest. Warmth radiated across his skin from the point of contact, and he stiffened, fighting back the urge to draw her to him.

The only comfort he had any right to offer her was justice. “If I’d had my gun on me, I could’ve stopped the robbery before anyone—before
Edmond
—was shot. I didn’t do my duty that day, but I promise you, I’ll do it now.”

“Don’t be stupid.” The volume in her voice rose, and its frailness disappeared. “I’ve read the newspapers. The op-ed pieces about police officers carrying off-duty. But you can’t let that get to you. Even if you’d had your gun, the outcome might have been the same, maybe worse. To believe otherwise is a distortion of the truth.”

He covered his mouth with his palm. She was wrong. In his heart, he knew Edmond would still be alive if he’d been armed. But arguing the point with Sky now was like trawling for absolution. And that was a fish he didn’t deserve to catch in his net. Not until he solved this goddamn case. “You’ve lost weight.”

“I don’t hold you responsible for Edmond’s death,” she said.

He used his teeth to scrape away a bitter taste on his tongue. “Thank you for that.”

“I did wonder though. Why? Why were you unarmed?”

At last. The sixty-four-thousand dollar question. “That morning, I’d been out shooting the sunrise over the Peaks, with a camera, I mean. I was lugging a tripod, a bunch of lenses. I didn’t think it was necessary to bring a weapon.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Besides, being alone in the wilderness brings me peace, I guess.” He found a nickel and rubbed it between his thumb and forefinger. “At the risk of sounding like a sap, it brings me a feeling of connection with the universe and…”

“And a gun would ruin that feeling.”

He felt a catch in his throat so strong it pissed him off. Sky seemed to understand something about him others didn’t. His body canted forward. “I know how rough this has been on you.”

“I doubt that.”

Glancing down at the photograph of Sky and Edmond, he reminded himself to keep the conversation professional. Yet he understood her grief all too well. Their mutual pain bridged the gap of short acquaintance, bonded them together. And she was so vulnerable it felt like he wielded an unfair advantage over her. Maybe if he shared his own private agony it would even the playing field.

No. He’d have to be an asshole to tell her about Grace. She’d only wind up comforting him when what he meant was to comfort her. He tapped his fingers on the desktop, hesitating, and eventually opted for partial disclosure, “I lost my wife shortly after Katie was born, so yeah, I know a bit of what you’re going through.”

She touched his wound again, and the room went silent except for the soft sounds of their breathing. At last she said, “You mentioned something about the case?”

The case
. Shit he was an asshole. Drawing his shoulders back, he pulled his hands close to his sides, and his left arm bumped reassuringly against the bulge of his sidearm. He damned sure wouldn’t be caught unprepared again. “I’d like to ask you some questions pertaining to the robbery.”

“Now?”

“I don’t think they can wait.”

“But…I don’t see why. Your colleagues have been investigating for months. Last week the mayor was kind enough to call me personally—he and Garth went to school together. He said the case is closed. Jack Spurlock was a career criminal, out on parole. Now he’s dead. I hate to admit I’m glad a human being lost his life, but I am. It’s a relief to know he can’t harm anyone ever again.”

So the mayor was buddies with Novak. That might explain why he’d pushed the captain to close the case when there were more holes in it than farts in the precinct locker room. The mayor wanted to set his friend’s mind at ease. Well, Danny still had a motherload of questions. “I have a few concerns.”

Soyla knocked at the open door. “Sorry to interrupt, but Doc, it’s nearly eight, and I finished balancing out an hour ago. Maybe this clinic is all you got, but I got a hungry man at home who claims he can’t work a microwave. If we don’t lock up and get out of here, he may go looking for a divorce lawyer on the grounds of me lookin’ out for you more than him. And that would be a rotten shame ‘cause he may not know how to work the buttons on the microwave, but he sure knows how to work mine.”

Sky laughed, and the sound flashed through the room, unexpected and bright. “Of course, let’s get you home STAT. If you lock the front, I’ll take Detective Benson out the private entrance. Have you got the deposit ready?”

“Yes ma’am.” Soyla tossed a zippered bank bag at Sky, calling back as she fled the room. “Nice catch, Doc. I’ll schedule you up a tryout with the Cardinals.”

Sky crossed the room and lifted a monogrammed lab coat that had been hanging on the wall, concealing an oversized safe. Danny suppressed a chuckle as she removed a key from the coat pocket and opened the safe. “You can’t seriously expect to fool a criminal with the old coat-over-the-safe routine.”

Without turning around, Sky replied, “What would you suggest?”

“An alarm system. Outside lights. A security guard maybe.”

Glancing back over her shoulder she said, “All that to protect a bank deposit that rarely exceeds double digits. Hardly seems worth the trouble. Besides, an alarm system has to be backed up by a service, and that’s one more monthly expense we just can’t afford.”

“What about your computers? The flat screens in the waiting room, and I’m guessing some of your meds contain narcotics. Aren’t those things worth protecting?”

“Point taken, but we really can’t afford a security system. This is a nonprofit clinic. Most people in town know we don’t have much in the way of cash and valuables. A security system’s something to keep in mind though, when things aren’t so tight as now.”

“You’ve got grant money, don’t you?”

Sky nodded. “Sure, but it’s not enough. I have to supplement the grants by moonlighting in the emergency room.”

He let out a low whistle of admiration. “Keeping this place open with your own dough, huh? You’re something else, Rocky.”

She raised puzzled eyebrows.

“You’ve got raccoon eyes. You’re having trouble sleeping. I’m surprised you haven’t gotten your brother to write you a prescription.”

“I don’t want to rely on medicine to help me sleep.”

“Good.” He’d already gone so far afield of his purpose… “I don’t approve of drugs.”

“You
are
a cop.”

“Yes. And I need to ask you some questions, if I may.”

A heavy-lidded expression was the only reply Sky gave him. Her unadorned face was drawn, her skin wan. But as he watched her now, she appeared even more beautiful than the day he’d first seen her. How she pulled it off was a mystery. Or maybe not. He’d always been a sucker for character.

Before Sky locked the door of the safe and dropped the key in her purse, he spied a stash of folders inside. “You keep medical files in the safe?”

She arched her brows at him again. This time she seemed annoyed. He didn’t care. He was a detective. He’d ask what he pleased.

“Those aren’t medical files, they’re Edmond’s musings. He likes—liked—to keep personal notes on some of his complicated cases. Questions, hypotheses, observations…things best not made part of the medical record. A few months ago, he started locking up some of his notes. Don’t really know why.”

“Interesting.”

“I don’t see how. I need to lock up.”

“Sure. It’s late.” Danny followed Sky out the back entrance and walked her to her car. An older model gray Honda. Not your usual luxury doc-mobile. Leaning forward, he reached one arm around and rested a gloved hand on the frozen body of the car, trapping her against the vehicle. One look at her face and he realized his mistake.
Old habits
.

Dropping his arm, he took a quick step back, leaving her plenty of breathing room. “I know you’re tired, but you’ve gotta eat. Plus all that talk about microwave cooking got me hungry.” That was all true, but he didn’t want to talk to her anywhere they might be overheard. “How about you follow me to my place, and I’ll whip us up a frozen potpie? Then we can talk.”

Surprisingly, she bobbed her head yes, and slipped behind the wheel of her car.

Sky followed Danny from a residential street into the driveway of his two-story flagstone home and killed the ignition. She was tired, and she just wanted to go home. The last thing she needed was to keep reliving the robbery, to keep reliving Edmond’s death, but she figured it was better to go with Danny now and get this over with. After all she owed it to him to answer whatever questions he might have.

Once.

After that, she could put the past behind her, and focus on the clinic. Her patients needed her. She noticed her car keys trembling in her hand and dumped them in her purse. Truth: She needed her patients more than they needed her. Without them she’d have no reason to keep on going.

Battling a frostbitten wind, she heaved open the door, pulled her cap over her ears and stepped out of her Honda. Danny’s yard was small, mostly taken up by a stubby tree with reptilian bark. A ridiculous thought brought with it a welcome gust of distraction and made her smile—the gnarly old tree looked like an upended alligator wearing a Christmas wreath.

“What kind of tree is that?” She took a step forward, dissecting the fog of her frozen breath with karate chops.

“Alligator Juniper…and from the top…best view of the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff. My brother Christian and I used to climb it as boys. That is until Mom got it in her head that climbing trees was dangerous and banned us from Yee Olde Alligator.” Danny made a break for the front porch.

Sky dropped back for a better view of the house. At first she’d believed it to be new construction, but now she could see it was an older home that had been renovated. The lot was so small adding a second story must’ve been the only way to create space. The design maximized efficiency yet had unusual charm. “You grew up here. Did you make the renovations then?”

“Guilty. Designed them myself. After Grace’s—my wife’s—death, I had to get out of that condo. I needed a real home with a tree and a yard to raise my daughter. My childhood memories aren’t so hot, but I wanted to fill this place with good ones for Katie.”

She shouldn’t pry, but Danny seemed willing to share, and she had to admit she was intrigued by him. She’d never met a man with his combination of derring-do and humility. “And how’s that going…with Katie, I mean?”

“A work in progress, for sure.” He opened the door for her. “Hurry up. I’m freezing my balls off out here.”

At last. The Danny she’d met outside Jolene’s put in an appearance. She hugged her chest and walked through the entryway into the great room where the smells of nutmeg and coffee greeted her. The kitchen must be nearby. The lights were on, and a copy of
To Kill A Mockingbird
was splayed open, face down on the coffee table, as if the reader planned to return momentarily.

“Katie, you home?” Danny called out.

Above the fireplace, family pictures adorned a travertine ledge. Sky ran her hand over the cool stone. Beneath her feet, colorful shag rugs made her want to shed her shoes and socks and wriggle her toes in their warmth. Firelight reflected off polished cherry floors, and walls the color of snow and pine showcased a variety of breathtaking photographs of the area: Fall foliage on the San Francisco Peaks, wildflowers in Lockett Meadow, sunset at the Wupatki Ruins. She could just make out the same faint pencil signature in the right hand corner of each photograph: Daniel Benson. Heart stuttering in her chest, she took a quiet turn about the room. This was truly a home. The kind she’d hoped to make with Edmond.