Hot Pursuit (18 page)

Damn, but he’d screwed that up six ways to
Sunday. He should go back in there, talk to her—

“Yo, Richie Rich, whassup?” Kev’s voice was
gritty with sleep. Not out fucking some waitress then. Matt was
kind of surprised, but then they’d had a helluva tour in the
sandbox this last time. Sometimes it messed with your head and you
just wanted to be left alone. He didn’t know if that was the case
with Kev or not—though Kev had seemed more introspective since
they’d lost Marco and Jim—and Matt didn’t have time to find
out.

“I need a favor, Big Mac.”

“Name it.”

Matt raked a hand through his hair. “The
shit’s hitting the fan down here, dude. So before you agree, you
need to know it’s not gonna be kosher, okay? Mendez will have your
ass if he hears of it.”

He could almost hear Kev shrug. “Shoot.”

Matt grinned in spite of himself. He knew Kev
would have his back no matter what, but he had to give him a way
out. After the last mission, he wouldn’t blame anyone who didn’t
want to fly into the face of trouble with him.

He gave Kev a rundown of everything that had
happened since he’d started that fateful dance with Evie a few
hours ago. His second in command whistled softly.

“Mendez is plenty pissed already.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Matt wasn’t too surprised Kev knew about the
ass-chewing. When Matt lost his job, which was becoming more likely
by the hour if it wasn’t already a done deal, Kev would be breaking
in a new team commander.

“If you want to refuse, I understand. Hell,
if I wasn’t on this side of it, I’d order you not to do it.”

Kev snorted. “You know I’ll give you whatever
you need.”

“It could mean both our asses. You think
about it first.”

“I already did.”

Matt sank onto the couch and grabbed the
remote, turning on CNN International and hitting mute. Man, he
loved these guys. He felt more at home with his team than he ever
had with his own family. Not that he didn’t love Chris. He did and
he’d do anything for her. But the old man, well, the guy had never
been full of warm fuzzies to say the least.

Matt and the senator didn’t see eye to eye on
anything. Never really had.

“I need all the stuff you can give me about
David West. I want to know every place he’s been in the last five
years, his jobs, his favorite color, and even how he likes his
eggs.”

“Hoo-ah, sir. Anything else?”

Matt gazed down the darkened hallway and
thought of the woman he’d left in his bed. A wave of need washed
over him. He pushed it away, focusing on his job. Forewarned was
forearmed. He’d learned the hard way and he was never getting
caught off guard again.

Organized crime ties. That’s what she hadn’t
told him earlier when she’d told him about David West. Not that he
thought Evie was involved, but he knew from experience you couldn’t
be too careful.

“Yeah. Get me everything you can on
Evangeline Marie Baker, too.”

* * *

When Evie woke, Matt wasn’t there. The room
was dark. Though she could see light between the shutters, she had
no idea what time it was. She lay there, thinking. Confusion
swirled in her brain, along with anger, fear, and a sense of
helplessness. Not all those feelings were tied to Matt, of
course.

She turned her head to look at his side of
the bed. The covers were rumpled, but his pillow appeared
untouched. And wouldn’t she have known if he’d slipped back into
bed with her after his calls? She’d intended to wait up, but she’d
fallen fast asleep almost the instant he left her alone.

She reached across the bed and ran her hand
over what was supposed to be his side. He hadn’t come back. He’d
spent the night in another room. After what had happened between
them, she wasn’t quite sure how that made her feel.

No, she wasn’t setting up house, dammit. She
didn’t expect a wedding, God forbid. But she did expect something
approximating normal. She’d never had a one-night stand, other than
the first time she’d slept with Matt, and she certainly hadn’t
expected one now. Or, even if it was a one-time deal, she hadn’t
expected they’d act like this—like awkward strangers who didn’t
know how to behave.

Damn him and his rotten nobility anyway.

She stumbled into the bathroom and turned on
the shower. The sooner she was ready, the sooner she could get out
of here, go see Mama, and find out where Sarah was. Ten minutes
later, she rummaged through the suitcase Matt had left in the room
last night and found something to wear.

“You need anything?”

Evie stopped in the act of sliding on a pair
of Capri pants and nearly fell over in the process. Matt stood in
the doorway, watching her. Her heart began a fast tattoo against
her ribcage.

“Do you mind?”

He was leaning against the frame, arms
crossed over that impressive chest. “You’re kidding, right? I saw a
lot more than your underwear last night. Or did you forget
already?”

Serve him right if she said yeah, it was
plenty forgettable. But they both knew it wasn’t. “Just because we
had sex doesn’t mean you get a free peep show whenever you
like.”

“Does for me. You just let me know,
chère
, and I’ll strip for you any time you want.”

“And here I thought you were a one-and-done
kind of guy.” She said it softly, but she didn’t miss the guilty
look that crossed his features.

“Sometimes.”

Evie stood there with her pants halfway up,
wearing nothing but panties and a bra, and stared at him. “Where
were you last night?”

He speared her with a heated look, his eyes
glittering hot. “I had work to do. And you needed to sleep.”

“I was sleeping.”

“But you might not have been if I’d joined
you.”

He let that hang in the air between them.
Evie swallowed hard. “Can’t keep your hands off me, Girard?” She
said it jokingly, but the intensity of his look didn’t change.

“It’s a distinct possibility, especially if
we’re naked and in bed together.” Matt crossed the room while she
stood immobile, her heart thrumming, her body heating. She wanted
him to touch her, wanted him to take her in his arms and—

He walked past her and opened the shutters.
Disappointment welled up inside her as bright sunlight streamed
into the room and seared her eyeballs.

“Get dressed, Evie. We’ve got things to
do.”

How could she forget, even for a moment? But
she had. Evie yanked the pants on and zipped them up before pulling
a stretchy T-shirt over her bra. “How late is it?”

“It’s only eight. I’ve got coffee made if you
want some.”

She followed him into the kitchen and stopped
to gape. She hadn’t made it into this part of the house last night.
It had been remodeled in the last few years and this was not the
kitchen she remembered when she’d been a kid. This kitchen was a
chef’s dream. A gleaming stainless Thermidor stove sat beneath a
stone French hood, while miles of marble counters beckoned her to
roll dough, chop veggies, and create recipes. There was a prep sink
in the center island and a pot filler over the stove.

If she could ever afford such a thing, this
was her idea of kitchen heaven in a home.

Matt glanced up at her as he poured coffee in
a mug. “You like the kitchen, I take it?”

She took the cup from him. “What’s not to
like?”

He looked around the room and shrugged. “It’s
nice, but a bit overdone for a guesthouse, don’t you think?”

A pint of half and half sat on the island
along with a sugar bowl. Evie fixed her coffee and took a sip.
Pricey stuff if her taste buds were any expert. And they were.

“Who cares? It’s gorgeous. If you could
possibly talk your dad into renting it out cheap, I’d consider
staying in Rochambeau indefinitely.”

Matt grinned. “I doubt that. On both
counts.”

Evie sighed as the coffee began to hit all
the right receptors in her brain. No, she really didn’t want to
stay in Rochambeau permanently. And, right now, she had far more
pressing things to consider.

“If you could take me to Julie’s house, I’d
like to get my car.” She’d left it there last night before they’d
gone to the lake. She’d planned to drive herself, but then Julie
had pretty much insisted they ride together—most likely because she
knew Evie would have ducked out the first second she could have
managed it. Since Julie’s house was closer to the lake than Mama’s,
Evie had followed Julie to her house before she’d ditched her
car.

“No problem.” Matt looked all broody and sexy
as he sipped his coffee, and she found herself thinking about his
body thrusting into hers. Her breath shortened, her heart flipping
in her chest. What a ride it had been, the heat and skin, the
passion.

And she wanted him again with a fierceness
that shocked her. She bit back a heavy sigh before she made a fool
of herself over him again.

“I, um, I should call Julie and see if Sarah
might have turned up there.” Nothing like forcing her mind back on
track. Her body, however, had other ideas. Desire bloomed in her
core, flushing her skin with heat. Her sex throbbed with want.

Oh, but once hadn’t been nearly enough.

Matt looked at her as if he knew what was
going on inside her head, his gray eyes narrowing, an answering
heat flaring in them that made her want to go over to where he
stood and wrap herself around him.

His words, however, dowsed the heat.

“She’s not there, Evie.”

Her stomach sank. “How do you know?”

He set a plate in front of her. A bagel
slathered with cream cheese lay on it.

“Eat and we’ll talk.”

She would have argued about his bossiness,
but her stomach decided to growl at that precise moment. She took a
bite and chewed. Waited. She had the feeling Matt was assessing
her, the way he stared hard, his expression giving nothing away.
She finished half the bagel before he said anything.

“It’s possible she’s at a friend’s house, or
even with the guy Mindy told us about. They weren’t together when
Mindy saw him, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t hook up
after.”

Evie’s heart pounded. “You think she’s with
him now?”

“Could be. I’m looking into it.” He sighed
and put both hands on the counter. “There’s something else, Evie.
Kyle Jenkins has a criminal record.”

She dropped the bagel she’d just picked up.
“Oh my God, I have to find her. Mindy said they were
fighting
. What if he hurt her?”

“Wait a minute.” Matt reached for her,
clamping an iron hand around her wrist before she could take off.
“His record is for petty stuff—blowing up pipe bombs in his yard,
larceny, loitering, shoplifting, stuff like that.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”
She swallowed against the dread curling in her throat. God, if
she’d been here in Rochambeau longer than a month, or at least
visited more often, checked in on Sarah and tried to make sure
everything was okay with her, maybe her little sister wouldn’t have
gotten tangled up with a jerk like Kyle Jenkins.

They’d be closer and Sarah might have
confided in her instead of being so openly hostile.

“Yes, it is. The guy doesn’t have a record of
violent acts against other people. That’s a good thing.”

Evie was furious. And scared. “Maybe he’s
crossed that line now. They were fighting.”

“And they might be making up. She might be
scared to go home because she’s afraid she’ll be in trouble.”

Evie didn’t like to think of Sarah making up
with some guy the way Matt was suggesting, but if the girl had been
out all night with the jerk, that’s probably exactly what was going
on. And she had to consider it.

“How do you know all this?” No matter what
kind of shark Mrs. Doucet was, she didn’t think Detectives Odell
and Proctor had opened up the police files for Matt just because
he’d asked.

He shrugged. “It’s my business to know these
kinds of things. I’ve got guys checking, but neither your sister
nor Jenkins has been seen since last night. It’s possible they’re
together.”

“What are the police doing about it?”

“Their resources are engaged with the murder
investigation. This is peripheral.” Matt looked grave. “There’s
something else.”

Evie didn’t think her stomach could sink any
lower. But it did. What more could there be? “Tell me.”

“Jenkins is twenty-one.”

Evie’s jaw went slack. A twenty-one-year-old
man was dating her sister? Her
baby
sister? She wanted to
find this Kyle Jenkins and strangle him herself. “So a
sixteen-year-old girl with a grown man doesn’t faze the
police?”

“If they had more people, yeah.”

Evie stared at him, her chest heaving.
“Doesn’t it bother
you
?”

He slapped the counter hard enough to make
her jump. “Fuck yeah, it bothers me. But there’s a lot about what
happened last night that’s bothering me.”

Evie felt a shiver slide down her spine. She
thought of David’s body lying on the porch, of the blood that
looked like oil. He’d looked different than when she’d last seen
him—the goatee, a bit more weight than he’d had before—so that for
the briefest of moments as she’d stood there, she’d entertained a
ridiculous hope it wasn’t him, that it was some stranger who looked
like him.

But what kind of stranger would be dead on
her mother’s porch after she’d had a call from David not more than
a few minutes before? Hell yes, there was plenty about last night
to be bothered about.

She lifted her chin. “You can back out at any
time if you don’t like it.” And she meant it too. Except that she
had no idea how she’d proceed without him.

His eyes flashed. “That’s not happening,
Evie. It’s far too late for that now. Besides, you’re in deeper
than you think.”

She wiped her damp palms on her pants and
looked at him across the width of the island. Morning sunlight
shafted through the windows, illuminating the white marble of the
island. Matt stood in a nimbus of light. He looked handsome,
fierce, and so sexy it hurt.