He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not (30 page)

Logan stood by the garage while Riley got into his car. He rolled his window down and waved as he exited the parking lot and turned onto the street in front of the police station. When Riley was out of sight, Logan turned around and headed into the garage.

F
rustrated with his lack of success in locating the mechanic who’d been arguing with Riley, Logan sped up his gravel driveway less than an hour later, and had to slam his brakes and swerve to the right to avoid the unexpected car parked in his usual spot.

A cherry red Mercedes convertible.

There was only one person Logan knew who would drive a flashy car like that.

Madison.

Damn it. He’d told her not to come. He should have known she wouldn’t listen.

Normally, he’d welcome his baby sister with open arms. Not today. Her timing couldn’t be worse.

The entire day had been hell. At the hospital he’d been relieved to find that Redding had come out of his coma and his prognosis was good. But Clayton had made up for that joy by spending the better part of an hour complaining about his aches and pains. He’d followed that up by threatening a lawsuit against both the city and Logan for putting him into a dangerous situation. Right. Like being a cop didn’t automatically mean you were in danger every single day.

Logan’s attempt to locate the mechanic Riley had argued with had been just as futile as his conversation with Clayton. There was only one mechanic in the garage when Logan went inside and he wasn’t the man Riley had been talking to. Apparently that other mechanic had headed out the back door for his dinner break while Riley was driving away.

There were no clues about where Frank Branson was, no new leads about the killer’s identity. And now Logan’s sister had put herself in danger by coming into town.

The one bright spot in Logan’s day—the anticipation of coming home to Amanda and letting her beautiful spirit wash away all the dirt and filth of a horrible day—was now gone. Instead, he’d have to put up with his fireball of a sister and somehow convince her to get the hell out of town.

Convincing Madison to do anything she didn’t want to do was next to impossible.

He took a deep breath and got out of his car. He slammed the door and trudged up the steps to the back deck. Karen was waiting at the door when he came inside, her purse already on her shoulder. She didn’t normally meet him so quickly. Alarmed, he looked past her into the house. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all. I saw you drive up and it took you a while to come in. I’m in a hurry to meet Mike, dinner plans. What about you? I heard it was quite the mad house today back at the station and the hospital.”

“Not the best day in SFPD’s history. Frank Branson is still unaccounted for, and we don’t have any suspects in his disappearance.” He spoke in a low voice so his sister and Amanda wouldn’t hear him. Their laughter trilled in from the living room.

“I heard you think he was abducted, that he didn’t escape on his own. You think the killer has him?” Karen asked in the same hushed tone.

“I can’t afford not to think it. We’re doing everything we can to locate Branson, and we’re also operating on the assumption he could be armed and has an accomplice.” He stood back so she could step outside. “I appreciate you keeping an eye on Amanda all this time. I can get someone else to trade off if you want to get back in the office for a few days.”

“I’m fine with the way things are right now. My commute here is shorter than the office. Besides, I enjoy hanging with her. She’s a great lady. And I’ll enjoy talking to your sister tomorrow. I didn’t get to catch up with her today because she and Amanda were having such fun together.”

“Fun?” Knowing his sister, that didn’t bode well for him.

“They’ve been going through photo albums and laughing like they’ve known each other for years. Today is the first day I’ve seen Amanda so lighthearted. Even before Madison got here.” She grinned at Logan. He felt his face flush like a horny teenager caught necking with his girlfriend in the backseat of his car.

Except he’d been doing a hell of a lot more than necking.

He met her grin with his best scowl, but she only laughed and headed to her car. Logan waited until she was speeding down the driveway before locking the door and resetting the alarm.

Another burst of laughter from the living room had him swallowing his disappointment. Any remaining hopes that he could kick his sister out and have some time alone with Amanda dissolved. If Madison was bringing some much needed laughter to Amanda, he wasn’t about to interfere.

She deserved, needed, to get away from the fears and worries that plagued her.

He couldn’t put it off any longer. Time to see what kind of damage his baby sister had done. She’d wreaked havoc with his love life in the past, telling one of his girlfriends in high school that he had herpes. Madison thought the lie was hilarious. His girlfriend didn’t. That was the end of their relationship.

Not letting Madison see how he felt about Amanda would be a challenge. Not letting her know how furious he was about her coming to Shadow Falls when he’d asked her not to would be even more challenging.

Then again, maybe it was a good idea to let her see how furious he was. It might knock some sense into her, make her see that he had serious concerns about her safety. But he didn’t want to scare Amanda, make her dwell on the killer again. It was a hell of a situation.

“I
haven’t told you yet about Logan’s date to the senior prom and his alleged medical condition.” Madison laughed.

“And you’re not going to.” Logan strode into the room.

Amanda looked up at Logan standing on the other side of the coffee table, hands on his hips, scowling at his sister.

“Logan,” Madison said. “You’re home.”

“And you’re not. Why is that?”

“I’m on vacation. You knew that.”

He leaned forward, placing his palms on the coffee table, his scowl even darker. Amanda was glad his anger was targeted at Madison instead of her. She wouldn’t want to face him in his current mood. His sister was grinning, not daunted in the least.

“You were on vacation the last time I talked to you,” he said. “I told you to either stay where you were or go back to New York. I specifically told you not to come here.”

“Since when have I ever done what you told me to do?”

He gritted his teeth together and straightened. “I’m serious, Madison. You shouldn’t have come. It’s not safe.”

“But it’s safe for Amanda to be here?”

“That’s different.”

“Why? Because you don’t want her to leave? You would put your own desires over her safety?”

A tic started in his cheek. “Do you really think I’d put anything above Mandy’s safety?”

Madison grinned at Amanda. “He calls you Mandy? How sweet.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” he growled.

“Oh, for God’s sake, yourself,” Madison said. “I haven’t seen you in months. At least give me a hug before you go all cop on me. I’ve missed you.”

She jumped off the couch and charged around the coffee table toward him. Amanda thought she was going to tackle him but at the last second, he opened his arms and caught his sister against his chest.

“I missed you too, trouble.” He gave her a hug and kissed the top of her head. His anger seemed to evaporate as soon as she hugged him, but lines of worry still crinkled his brow.

He looked over her and gave Amanda a slow, sexy wink.

Instantly her pulse sped up and an ache started in her belly.

Oh, boy, did she have it bad.

Madison pulled back and looked up at him, her face serious for once. “If it makes you feel better, Amanda already lectured me about coming here. She explained what was going on and that I should have listened to you. And if I’d known all the details, I would have followed your advice. But as usual, you tried to protect me by dancing around the issue. All you did was make me curious, which is why I came. So, it’s really your fault that I’m here.”

“I told you not to come. That’s the only detail you needed.”

“You hear that, Amanda? My brother thinks
telling
a woman to do something is the same as
asking
. It’s going to take a special woman to put up with his archaic views and bring him into the current century.”

Without giving Amanda a chance to respond, Madison pointed her finger at Logan’s chest and poked it against him with every syllable to emphasize her words. “Amanda is a very special woman. I hope you appreciate her.”

She turned and strode toward the archway. “I’m going to go upstairs and get ready for bed. I chose the blue bedroom on the opposite side of the house from yours, Logan. I’ll turn my iPod up really, really loud. Good night, you two. Have fun.”

Amanda’s eyes widened at Madison’s parting words.

“She’s a real force of nature, isn’t she?” Logan sat in the recliner opposite the couch.

“I like her,” Amanda said. “I can’t always follow what she’s talking about, but I like her. She’s sweet.”

“You think she’s sweet?”

“I do.”

He laughed, obviously not agreeing with that statement.

“Logan, I hope you don’t mind but I looked through your files today. The ones on your desk in the study.”

His grin faded. Tension lined his brow with worry. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”

“I know, I’m sorry, but I wanted to help. Since my computer program didn’t yield much, I decided to take another stab at it myself. I made a list of suspects based on the interviews and descriptions in the files. If you don’t mind looking at it, I can go grab it.” She started to get up but he waved her back down on the couch.

“In a minute. First, I want to discuss what Madison said. She has a good point, about me putting my needs above your safety, because God knows I need you. And I can’t stand the thought of you not being here with me. I thought I could keep you safe, but with Branson missing, maybe I should take you to a safe house after all.”

She frowned at him. “You’ve kept me safe here this long. I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else. About that list I made. If you’ll just take a minute—”

“You’ve only been safe this long because no one knows where you are. It’s only a matter of time before someone figures that out. Madison’s right. You need to be somewhere safer while I work on the investigation.”

Pain knifed through her. Last night they’d shared their bodies and their souls. How could he want her to leave? “If you think you’re getting rid of me that easily, you’d better think again. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Get rid of you? Is that what you think I’m trying to do?”

“Is it?”

“Hell, no. I want you here, in my house, in my bed. But with Branson missing, and the killer possibly escalating, I can’t risk him finding you. I should turn you over to the Feds tomorrow.”

“Turn me over? Just like that? Don’t I have any say in it?”

His face hardened and his eyes took on a flinty color. “No, you don’t.”

She wasn’t about to back down, not when her heart was at stake. “The answer is no.”

His knuckles whitened where his hands clenched the arms of his chair. “I didn’t ask. I’ve made my decision. I’ll call Pierce, ask him to come over in the morning and take you to a federal safe house out of town. I’ll have Madison pack your things, and I’ll see that they get to you.”

Panic sent butterflies swirling through her stomach. “None of this makes sense. I was safe here before, but now that Branson is missing, I’m suddenly not safe? Did something happen to compromise my location?”

“No.”

“Then why are you trying to send me away?” she whispered, unable to hide the pain in her voice this time.

Logan flinched but he didn’t waver. “If I screw up again, if I miss anything . . .” He raked a hand through his hair. “I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you and it was my fault. I need to get you out of here, so I can focus on the case.”

She felt the blood drain from her face. “I’m a liability now?”

“Damn straight. I can’t think with you here.”