Unsafe Haven (28 page)

“Here’s the last of it.” Jo set the box down and peered around Denn’s living room. She toed off her sneakers and left them by the doorway. “Where are you gonna put all of this, Nulo?” She waved her hand to encompass the boxes stacked in the corner and the odd pieces of furniture crammed in with his sofa and chairs. “You’ll have to build another room.”

“Works for me.” Denn wiped sweat off his forehead as he flopped onto the nearest chair. “Hell, I’d build her a new house if she wanted it, Jo. Look what she’s already given up, for me and Luna. She’s selling her home in Portland. It’s in a great neighborhood, too. She lived there with her parents, then took care of the place when she was still a kid herself, after they died.”

He nudged a sealed box labeled,
Mom’s shakers.
“This is full of salt and pepper shakers Kendall’s mother collected most of her life. There are memories in these boxes. And she left a hell of a lot behind. Says she doesn’t need it. We’ll make another trip, maybe in a few months, and bring back more, before she schedules the auction. I’ll find room for anything she wants to keep.”

“You’re an old softie, Denn.” Jo sent him an approving nod and handed him a bottle of orange soda. “Here. You need fluids.”

Denn made a face. “Gack me.”

She snickered. “Don’t be a baby. It’s just a little warm.”

He took a swig and choked. “Tastes like cough syrup.”

“Oh, shut up.” She grinned at him. Yet her eyes reflected concern when she waved a hand toward the kitchen where Kendall and Luna unpacked boxes. “How’s Kendall doing?”

Denn swallowed more soda and repressed a shudder at the taste. “She’s good. A few nightmares now and then, but she’s always had those. She’s been through a lot.”

His throat tightened with emotion as he observed his girls through the wide doorway. Luna had snagged Kendall around the waist and they danced across the kitchen floor, both of them laughing like loons. “Look at them. Luna worships her. She’s a different kid, now. No more arguments about testing, or taking her meds. She smiles all the time.”

He set the soda on an end table, his thirst forgotten as he watched Kendall tease Luna. “You remember how rebellious and mouthy Luna was. All her bad attitude is gone. She helps around the house, even cooks meals. It’s Kendall’s influence, I swear. I’m a lucky guy.”

Jo poked him in the ribs. “I could have told you that first day when Kendall wandered into the station, trying to pretend she wasn’t looking for you. I knew, soon as I saw you two together. You’ve both got it bad.” She jerked her chin toward the kitchen. “Marry her soon, Denn. You and Kendall need a final commitment, and Luna needs a mother.” She winked at him. “Or at least a big sister.”

He nodded. “All she has to do is say the word.”

“I meant to tell you, Melinda Banks called the other day. Thom decided to retire. Can’t say as I blame him.” Jo rummaged in her purse for a piece of paper and a pen. “His oldest boy is taking over. Kyle, you remember him? Anyway, here’s his info.” She scribbled an address and phone number and handed the paper to Denn.

“I’m not surprised. Thom’s got to think of his health.” Denn folded the paper and stuck it in his wallet.

“Something else, too.” Jo laid a hand on his arm. “News from Portland PB. A raid on Conroy Herington’s estate turned up one Evelyn Herington. His mother. Cops found her stuffed in a closet. She’d been beaten and strangled.”

“Ah, Christ.” Denn rubbed his hands over his face as he digested the significance. He dropped them to his sides and cautioned, “We can’t tell Kendall. Not until she’s a hundred percent and those damned nightmares go away. She had some fondness for the woman.”

“Absolutely. She won’t hear it from me,” Jo assured him. “Anyway, with those new charges, he’ll never regain his freedom.”

“And he now faces the death penalty,” Denn mused. He exchanged knowing looks with Jo. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer bastard.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jo swigged more of her soda, and stretched. “Any other gossip I can provide you?” She emitted a tired chuckle. “I got the deets and the dirt.”

“Now that you mention it, heard anything from Wendy?”

“She returned to Beijing with Mei. Never said a word to anyone. I figure she’s too mortified by everything that happened. Probably still traumatized, too.” Jo collected her sneakers and leaned against the wall as she slipped them on and tied the laces. “The inn’s up for sale. You should buy it.”

“Hell, no. I’ve got enough on my hands.”

“Well, someone’ll buy it.” With a groan, she straightened. “Okay, I’m gone. Jeffie’s babysitting the kids and he can only take so much abuse before he explodes.”

“Tell him to line ‘em all up and slap them silly. That kind of threat would work on me.” Denn stood and mugged a face at his petite dispatcher. “Especially coming from those deadly hands of yours, Cream Puff.” He tweaked her nose and she swatted him away.

“You’re an ass. And don’t call me Cream Puff.” Jo frowned at him, all bark and no bite. Then, her expression went crafty. “Listen, have Kendall stop by the house, okay? We need to talk wedding.”

She snorted at the sudden panic on his face. “You men are all alike. Cowards, every one. Afraid of a cake and some bridesmaid dresses.” She dashed out the door before he could retaliate.

Denn chuckled in spite of himself as he collected the soda bottle she left behind, and capped it. Jo would want it later, even if the stuff lost its fizz and tasted more like cough syrup than ever. He moved toward the kitchen and stood in the doorway, unobserved.

Tired of dancing, his girls manned the sink. Kendall washed china and Luna carefully patted them dry with a soft cloth. A golden oak buffet with glassed-in shelves, one of the larger pieces they’d brought from her childhood home in Portland, stood next to the potato bin he’d built for his mother back in high school shop class. The delicate china and pretty green Depression glass stacked on the counter would be nicely displayed in the buffet. The two pieces, buffet and potato bin, might have been meant to go together.

He took note of the etched bowl filled with shiny red apples that she’d already placed as a centerpiece on the table. The kitchen seemed brighter, homier. His grin threatened to split his face in half.

Our kitchen, now. I could get used to this.

Kendall caught sight of him in the doorway. “Did Jo leave already?”

“A few minutes ago.” He crossed to her side and raised her chin for a kiss. Luna made rude, ralphing noises in the background while their kiss spun out, now gentle, now deep. Kendall broke away first and caught Luna around the neck, yanking her close until the giggling teen pressed between them like sandwich filling.

“You’re an annoyance and totally weird,” Kendall announced, then dropped a kiss on Luna’s head. Her eyes held Denn’s as she spoke.

Love for her swamped him, hard and fast. He pulled her in for another kiss.

“Gad, sexual stuff. Over my head, no less. You’ll probably scar me for life,” Luna complained. She snuggled against Denn while her hand sought and clung to Kendall’s.

Denn pinched his sister. “What do you know about sexual stuff? And never,
ever
, say that word around me again, not until you’re thirty. Maybe forty. Or I’ll have to flatten you.”

“Ha. By then, you’ll be too old and decrepit to flatten me.” Luna dug her fingers under his arm, rooting around for his ticklish spot.

He clamped down on her hand and trapped her, then amused himself by torturing her until she gasped with giggles. “You don’t even know what the word ‘decrepit’ means, you boob.”

“I do so. It means
you
, in thirty or forty years.” Luna wriggled like an eel and escaped him, then skipped out of the kitchen and yelled over her shoulder. “I’m going to rescue Jeffie. Later, fogeys.” The front door slammed behind her.

“She called us fogeys.” Denn adopted a severe affront. “Do I look like a fogey to you?”

“You don’t want me to tell you what you look like, Nulo.” Kendall ran her eyes over him, her expression lustful. “I’ll save it for later.”

Denn folded his cell and tossed it on the coffee table. “She’s staying for dinner and game night. That’s it, we’ve lost her to Jeffie.” He dropped on the sofa next to Kendall and buried his face against her neck. “I’m not the number one guy in my little sister’s life anymore. Hold me.” He worked up a mock sob and a dramatic sigh.

She patted his cheek. “Buck up, bro. It had to happen sooner or later. Besides, according to Luna, we’re too decrepit to stop her from learning all that sexual stuff.”

The color drained from his face as he thumped a fist to his heart. “Are you
trying
to kill me?”

His horrified expression was too much and she lost it. Her laughter filled the room. “You’re pretty easy these days,” she managed between guffaws.

“I’m fragile. She’s turning fourteen in less than a month. Before long, boys will come sniffing. Then what? I’ll have to oil up my shotgun.”

“Jeez, Denn, all you have to do is answer the door wearing your uniform and your holster, and you’d scare any boy’s hair white. After they pee their pants, they’ll leave skid marks on the porch as they run for their very lives.” She ogled him shamelessly. “When I first met you, I was so intimidated it’s a wonder I didn’t turn right around and jump back on Thom’s plane.”

“Nah. You were in instant lust with me.” Denn yanked her beneath him on the sofa and made a pincher of two fingers. “Admit it, or I attack in all your vulnerable places.” He demonstrated on the back of her thigh, making her shriek.

“I admit nothing. Well, maybe a tiny smidge.” She slapped his hand when it ventured along her lower ribs where she was most sensitive. “
Stop
. Yes, I confess. Instant lust.”

“And?”

She held his sexy amber gaze and feathered a finger across his lashes. “And I fell head over heels in like with you.” She caressed his chin, caught it between her fingers, then pulled him to her for a kiss that started on his lips and ended close to his ear. Against its curve, she whispered, “Then, five minutes later, all my ‘like’ turned to love.”

“Now, that’s better. Sorry I had to get tough with you.” His voice and his smile wobbled with emotion, but his hands were sure as they stroked beneath her loose clothes and cupped her gently.

Seconds stretched into minutes as they kissed, wrapped together on the wide leather sofa. At her urging, Denn tugged his shirt over his head and Kendall tossed her blouse on the floor. In the lamplight, his skin glowed dusky bronze, smooth and warm. His hair fell in a silky black curtain to muscled shoulders, and framed that mouthwatering face.

He’s mine. Every sexy, wonderful inch. Mine.

She curved her palms along his high, proud cheekbones, and ran her thumbs over his full lips. “So, Nulo . . . you want me to tell you what you look like?”

He smiled against her fingers. “Sure, go ahead. I can take it. Even if you say ‘fogey.’”

Kendall shook her head, her heart so full she could barely push the words out of her throat. “You look like someone I think I should marry, pretty damn fast. Just in case you change your mind.”

His eyes widened as he broke into the biggest grin she’d ever seen. “You’re gonna marry me.”

“Yep.”

Denn’s arms tightened around her until she could scarcely breathe. “I love you, Kendall.”

She didn’t even try to resist her inner imp. “Ditto.”