Tapestry of the Past (2 page)

Probably asking a higher power for patience,
Kalesia
thought, feeling a tug of amused sympathy despite the fear knotting her stomach.

Major Tom Harley of the Marion County, Florida, Detective Bureau, cleared his throat and fiddled with the pile of papers on his desk. He looked up and pinned her with shrewd, brown eyes. “Let me get this straight. You want to report a murder?” One finger pushed aviator-style glasses up an uncompromising nose broken sometime in the past. He seemed oblivious when they promptly slid back down.

Kalesia
nodded. “That’s right. Mine.” The knot twisted at the blatant disbelief on his face. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Look, I’m going to be honest with you. I’m having a hard time buying your story. You don’t look like a crazy,” he waved his hand at her neat business suit, “but I don’t get many people in here saying that they’ve seen their own deaths. At least, not many who are not on meds.”

She’d chosen the cheerful yellow skirt and white jacket and pulled her hair into a neat twist for precisely that reason, to lend credibility. Might as well have saved herself the trouble. Some things never changed, she admitted with a sense of hopeless resignation.

“I wonder if you’ll believe me when I’m dead.” Too bad she wouldn’t be around to see the major’s reaction. She’d love to see the look of remorse on his face. The bitter taste of defeat choking her,
Kalesia
reached for her purse. “I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

“I’m not trying to make light of your situation, Ms.
Brannigan
but this office can’t act without evidence. As of this moment there have been no threats, no unexplained accidents, no lurking strangers. All you have is what you saw in a dream. I’m sorry, it just isn’t enough.”

Kalesia
straightened in the narrow wooden chair. He actually sounded as though he meant it. “It’s all I have. It’s all I ever have.”

His chair creaked as he shifted. “But I can’t act on what you’ve given me. Even if I were inclined to believe you, I can’t tie up the department’s resources on the basis of a dream. I really wish I could help but I can’t.”

A lump formed in her throat. So that was that.
Kalesia
clutched her shoulder bag and rose. She hesitated and then offered her hand. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He stood, his hand engulfing hers, the grip firm and somehow reassuring. Much like the man, himself. It really was too bad he didn’t believe her.

“For treating me as a human being and not like a deranged freak or a refugee from a cult. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t bother.” Aware she was clinging to his hand, she forced herself to let go.

Unable to meet his eyes, to see the pity in them, she smoothed a wrinkle out of the pencil slim skirt. Normally, you couldn’t get her near a place like this. She hated the way they looked at her as if she needed professional help but this time
Kalesia
found herself lingering.
Say goodbye and leave. You can’t hide here forever.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to leave.

“Ms.
Brannigan
?”

Kalesia
turned. “Yes?”

“You really think someone is going to kill you, don’t you?”

“I know someone is.”

“I have a friend.” He spoke as if weighing every word. “We used to work together. He’s retired now and has started his own business but he might be willing to assist you.”

“You say he’s retired? Are you sure he’s…” She paused delicately, then started over. “Are you sure he won’t mind? It could get dangerous.” Desperate as she was for help, involving a man in the twilight of his years made her uncomfortable.

Amusement flashed across Harley’s face and settled in his eyes. “I think it’s just what he needs. If he decides to help, that is.” He became serious. “Look, I can’t promise anything. He might well refuse to listen. You can never tell with Gabe.” He rummaged in the middle drawer of his desk and finally produced a business card. Harley scribbled on the back then passed it to her. “Here are the directions to his place.”

Glancing at the card he’d handed her, an odd sensation passed through
Kalesia
. She shook it off and was halfway out the door when Major Harley called again.

“Ms.
Brannigan
? Be sure to mention that I sent you.”

* * * * *

Butterflies fluttered in
Kalesia’s
stomach as she executed a turn onto Highway 27 twenty minutes later. She gripped the wheel of her sporty yellow compact. The sun hovered just barely above the horizon. Glancing at her watch, she groaned. It was already after seven. If she had the sense God gave a goose, she’d wait until morning. Goodness knew what time this Gabriel Steele went to bed. Harley was nearing sixty and this guy was already retired. From the way Harley talked, she could tell the two were close. Hell, the man probably trained the major. Waking him would not be the ideal way to get him to listen. And she desperately needed him to listen. To believe.

Ocala was several miles behind her and a deepening purple twilight cloaked the sky by the time she found the turnoff. A small sign pointed the direction toward Tranquility Nursery. She nearly missed it. Hidden behind uncut Bahia grass and brush, the sign drooped wearily as if tired of trying to attract attention.

Kalesia
perked up. In return for his assistance, maybe she could offer Gabriel Steele more than money. As a small businessperson herself, she knew the value of appearance. Maybe he’d be open to a few suggestions.

“Blast!”

The word burst forth as the left tire dropped into a pothole that could have easily doubled for a small crater. Her first suggestion would be to fix the road. She patted the car’s dash reassuringly. “It’s all right. If anything is permanently damaged, we’ll sue the pants off the man.”

Her teeth snapped together as the low-slung car found another pothole. “Maybe we’ll sue anyway,” she muttered, trying to weave a path between potholes and ruts. She just hoped Harley knew what he had been doing when he suggested she look up this Gabriel Steele.

Low growing palmettos and palms crowded the
limerock
-graveled path like huge, malevolent toads and their minions just waiting to pounce. She fought growing dismay and panic at the general air of neglect. If the man was in no shape to take care of his own place, how in the world was he going to help her?

Rounding a bend,
Kalesia
stomped on the brakes. A cloud of white dust settled on the car and flew in the window to coat the inside with a fine powder. She blew out a gust of air, waving away the dust.

Amazed, she stared at row after row of precisely aligned potted plants and shrubs. The lawn surrounding the house and leading toward a huge greenhouse flanked by two smaller greenhouses, was immaculate. She doubted there was a mole cricket alive that could muster the nerve to invade that expanse of green.

“Well, so much for first impressions. Maybe Major Harley knows what he’s doing after all.”

Gabriel Steele, it appeared, was a neatness freak.

Easing her foot off the brake, she let the little car roll under a stand of ancient Live Oak. She sat for a moment, soaking in the atmosphere surrounding the nursery. Above, Spanish moss swayed with ghostly elegance as an errant breeze played a silent minuet.

Kalesia
rubbed her palms over her forearms as a sudden shiver engulfed her.

Little more than an indistinct shadow against the darker shade under the eaves of the greenhouse, Gabriel Steele watched the woman negotiate the uneven flagstone walkway in fuck-me high heels. He blinked lazily at the outrageously sassy color. The lady’s shoes were a bright, shocking yellow, a perfect match for her car and skirt. Intrigued, he allowed his gaze to travel up shapely calves and settle on a firm ass.

A hard fist of intense desire hit him, catching him by surprise. His cock swelled and hardened as his gaze settled on the gentle sway of lushly curved hips. Gabriel adjusted his jeans. Damn, it’d been years since his body had reacted so fast. His mouth pulled down in a frown. He hadn’t been ruled by his cock since high school. Maybe not even then. He sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. Not even for the rounded curves of a heart-shaped ass, he told himself as he willed the unruly organ to behave. It swelled further, making his comfortable work jeans suddenly too tight.

Son of a bitch.

Leaving the concealing shadows of the greenhouse, Gabriel stalked after the woman responsible for his body’s unwonted betrayal.

“May I help you?” he growled.

Chapter Two

Kalesia
, hand poised to knock, whirled around and met ghost-filled gray eyes.

His eyes weren’t brown. The incongruous thought flitted through her mind. For some reason, she had expected them to be brown like Major Harley’s. Instead, they were a pure crystalline color that left her with no place to hide.

Kalesia
froze, pinned by that haunted gaze.

His lashes lowered. The next instant
Kalesia
was left wondering if she had imagined the ghosts. She searched his eyes but ran up against a wall mirroring reflections but not the soul within. Whatever she had seen was gone. Now she couldn’t read impatience, curiosity…anything at all. A quiver ran through her.

“What can I do for you?” Midnight soft and whiskey warm, his voice slid through the evening air and stroked her nerve endings. The unexpected sensation of being licked and enveloped by hot flames shook
Kalesia
to the core. Her mind went blank. She tightened her fingers on the strap of her purse until the leather cut into the soft skin of her palm. The crinkle of heavy paper reminded her why she was there.

She held out the crumpled business card. “My name is
Kalesia
Brannigan
. Tom Harley sent me.”

The man’s expression hardened. “And to think it isn’t even my birthday.” Then, his reluctance obvious, he opened the screen door and motioned her inside the darkened house. “Somehow I had the feeling you weren’t here to buy a caladium.”

Kalesia
hesitated, beset by the uncomfortable sense of entering a predator’s lair. She jumped as he leaned in close and spoke in her ear. “Going or staying?”

Her heart hammered in her chest. Did she dare enter?

Did she dare not?

Mouth so dry cotton wouldn’t stick to it, she stepped inside.

A work-hardened forearm reached around her, brushing her breast as he switched on a lamp. Her breast tingled from the small contact and, beneath the brushed silk of her shirt, her nipples contracted into small, hard nubs. Oh God. Cheeks hot, she hoped he couldn’t see her reaction to the inadvertent touch. She inhaled, trying to get a hold on herself.

Wild, earthy, rain-soaked. His scent surrounded her, wrapped her senses in heady, sexy folds and settled low in her stomach. Her nostrils quivered and her pussy lips plumped and swelled. She closed her eyes for a second. Oh God, she was in so much trouble.
Kalesia
didn’t think she was picky when it came to looks, height or eye color but a clean, feral scent? She was such a sucker for it. And for firm buns. She chanced a discreet peek. Dead. Dead.
Sooo
dead. The man had an ass you could bounce quarters off.

With the wave of an arm, he indicated
Kalesia
should take a seat. Tugging the lapels of her jacket closer together, she fastened it as she sank into the nearest chair. Sweet mercy, she really hoped he’d put down her scarlet cheeks to awkwardness over asking a complete stranger for help, instead of the mixture of embarrassment and lust it was. When he settled in the chair across from her without comment, a tiny sigh of relief slipped free from the bottom of her soul. Until she realized the glow of the lamp fell full on her face but somehow managed to keep his in shadow.

He snagged her gaze.

The hairs on the back of
Kalesia’s
neck lifted. She knew without a doubt that she was in the presence of a predator. It was in the glitter of his eyes, the utter stillness about the large form and the aura of infinite patience that surrounded him as he waited for her to tell him why she was there.

Kalesia
ran the tip of her tongue over parched lips, everything inside her tightening when that crystalline gaze followed the small movement. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the man lounging across from her. Night black hair with a few threads of silver running through the short length, it made her think of moonlight on a lake.

The image of that powerful form sprawled on a bed, wearing nothing but the light of the moon, flashed into her brain.

No, no, no. She was so not going there. Just because the guy pushed every button she owned and maybe a few she just rented, did not mean she was going to forget why she was here. And it was not to jump his bones.

Between her thighs, her lace panties grew wet.

She saw his nostrils flare.

Embarrassment, acute and immediate, heated her face until even her ears burned.
Pleasepleaseplease
. Tell me he cannot smell his effect on me
. She chanted it over and over, like a mantra.

He shifted in his chair. Without thinking, she looked at his lap.

The dusty, black jeans had a distinct bulge. A very large, distinct bulge.

“I need someone to protect me,” she blurted.

“Go to the authorities.”

“I did. I told you, they sent me to you.” The hard face was closed, his very demeanor anything but encouraging.
Kalesia
felt that familiar sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. He wasn’t going to help. She began twisting the citrine ring on her finger.

Gabriel noted the nervous gesture as he stretched his legs out, hoping to ease the pressure on his erection. “If they can’t help you, what makes you think I can?” Across from him, the woman fidgeted, rubbing her palms on the yellow skirt before crossing her legs neatly at the ankles in a purely feminine gesture. For such a small woman—she couldn’t be more than five-two or three without the heels—she had surprisingly long legs. Under his steady gaze, she crossed and uncrossed them again. On a white-gold chain circling one slender ankle, a tiny unicorn with bells for hooves winked at him.