When Night Falls (21 page)

“Exactly. Armstrong was looking for you when he saw your notes, and everything clicked. He’d never met Heather’s ex but remembered her saying she hoped they never met. That it would be messy if they did. It was a long shot, but he had me call Kirby’s mother, ask if he’d ever known Heather Manning. When she said yes—”

Jess shivered. “My God.”

McKnight shucked off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. “We need to get you to a doctor.”

“I’m fine.”

He took her hands and turned them palm up, revealing her cut and bruised wrists. “Humor an old friend, then. Let me be Uncle Ben for a change, rather than Commander McKnight.”

Somehow, she smiled. She looked into his kind eyes, and for a moment, time slipped away. She saw him as he had been some twenty years before and remembered how he used to throw his beefy arms around her and hoist her high above his head. She would laugh and laugh…

Everything had been so simple then. So uncomplicated. So innocent.

“It’s a shame your dad isn’t around to see this day,” he told her, draping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his side. “He was wrong about Armstrong, but he would have been proud of how you handled the investigation. You exhibited courage and objectivity in the face of very difficult circumstances.”

The emotion her father had trained her to conceal broke free. She looked toward Kirby’s old wood-frame house. Liam and his daughter continued their reunion inside.

I’m one of two detectives assigned to find your daughter,
she’d told him that morning, when her body still hummed from their loving.
And that’s what I’m going to do. After that, I’ll walk away, and we’ll both go on with our lives. Case closed.

Her job was done. Liam had what he wanted. Not just his daughter, but a future free of the shadow that had dogged him for years. His life could go on.

Jess straightened her shoulders and looked at Uncle Ben. “Come on then,” she said. “Our job here is done.”

* * *

“Let’s get you to the hospital,” Liam said, pulling back to look at his daughter one more time.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. Really. He didn’t hurt me at all. I think he wanted me to like him—he brought me Molly!” The dog had yet to quit licking their hands. “Heather didn’t mean for this to happen,” she added.

Liam went very still. “She’s been gone a long time.”

Emily frowned. “It’s kinda weird, you know? I’m not sure I can ever call her Mom, but I kinda hope she stays for a little while. I … always wondered what she was like.”

“It’s going to take some time.”

“I know.”

Pride zinged through him. His daughter had always been wise beyond her years. “Now there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” Liam said, glancing toward the living area behind him.

But no one stood there.

The detectives had taken a sluggish Kirby away. She must be outside.

“Who, Dad?”

He took Emily’s hand and led her outside, where the sun was just about gone. He didn’t understand why the hollowness had returned to his gut, why his heart pounded so hard. Several black-and-whites had joined the scene, and a paramedic was tending the wound at Commander McKnight’s temple, but Jessica was nowhere in sight.

And then it hit him.

I’m one of two detectives assigned to find your daughter, and that’s what I’m going to do. After that, I’ll walk away, and we’ll both go on with our lives. Case closed.

Detective Jessica Clark was a woman of her word. He could still see her as she’d been that morning, staring at him with defiant eyes, the breeze whipping her auburn hair about cheeks still flushed from their loving.

She’d done exactly what she promised to do, what he’d told her he wanted her to do. She’d given him back his daughter, and then she’d walked away.

Case closed.

Chapter 16

«
^
»

”
A
nd this afternoon, an unexpected footnote to a bizarre story of obsession and revenge.
Former state congressman Carson Manning and Commander Ben McKnight of the Dallas PD held a news conference to address the appearance of Manning’s daughter, Heather.”

The name grabbed Jess’s attention from the two wrestling puppies she’d brought home from the animal shelter earlier that day. Heart pounding, she reached for her remote and zipped up the volume on the television.

“You’ll recall,” the stern-faced anchorwoman said, “Heather Manning vanished some seventeen years before, leaving a cloud of suspicion hovering over her boyfriend, Internet mogul William Armstrong. Today, the elder Manning and Commander McKnight addressed reporters to set the record straight.”

Three days had passed since the ugly showdown at Kirby’s house. The press had jumped on the story of a cop gone bad, turning tragedy into melodrama. Jess was surprised Manning and McKnight would join the frenzy, but curiosity got the better of her. She watched the picture on the television switch to the steps of the courthouse. Carson Manning and Ben McKnight stood side by side.

“Very few things in life are as abiding as a parent’s love for their child,” Manning began. “When my daughter, Heather, vanished seventeen years ago, the shock and grief ripped me apart. I wanted her back. And when that didn’t happen, the need to place blame overrode all else.”

One of the puppies, a fourteen-pound shepherd mix named Bonnie, nudged Jess’s hand. She obediently scratched behind the pup’s floppy ears, but her gaze remained on the television set.

Manning cleared his throat, looked acutely uncomfortable. “William Armstrong was an easy target. At the time, he and my daughter were involved in a fading but volatile romance, and it was easier for me to blame Armstrong than accept the fact my daughter might have chosen to leave. I dedicated everything I had to proving Armstrong guilty of a crime we now know he didn’t commit.”

McKnight stepped in. “There was never any concrete evidence against Armstrong, but a good cop is trained to never quit. To keep looking. Evidence often surfaces long after the fact to solve cold cases. We wanted to give the congressman his daughter back. We wanted justice.”

“I have my daughter back now,” Manning said. “And now it’s time for justice.” He paused, a dramatic effect no doubt left over from his days in the state legislature. “William Armstrong had nothing to do with my daughter’s disappearance. She left of her own free will, the exact same way she returned. I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to Armstrong for the difficulty he’s endured over the past seventeen years.”

Jess stared at the television. Surprise pounded through her, making breathing difficult. Manning finished his statement and took a few questions, but the words blurred together. Something about his daughter, and time, and healing.

“Well, what do you know,” she said to the second puppy, a black Lab named
Clyde
. “I didn’t think Manning had it in him.”

But joy swamped her that he did. Liam deserved to be vindicated. He deserved his happy ending.

She’d not seen him since the afternoon at Kirby’s when she’d fulfilled her promise to him. She wanted to remember him as she’d last seen him, holding his daughter. The image had the power to warm her heart and break it clear in two.

Emotion clogged her throat. Determined not to succumb to it, she returned her attention to the puppies happily destroying a stuffed hot dog. She’d spent entirely too much money at the pet store, particularly if Bonnie and
Clyde
were going to shred everything she bought, but giving the abandoned pups a home filled her with warmth. They were so innocent. Full of life and vitality, gratitude. Their antics made her smile.

She was sitting there watching them strew white stuffing all over her floor when the doorbell rang.

Jess stood and stretched, moved cautiously to the door. Reporters had hounded her the day after the showdown, but the past two days had been fairly quiet. Still, she looked out the peephole before pulling open her door.

The sight awaiting her knocked the breath from her lungs.

Liam.

Her heart surged, staggered. With the setting sun at his back, he stood on her front porch, all tall and strong, dressed in black jeans and a dark gray
Henley
shirt. The lines of his face were more relaxed than she’d ever seen them. Salt and pepper whiskers covered his jaw. And his eyes… The midnight-blue that had warned of a storm on the horizon was lighter, like a bright spring afternoon after the rain and thunder had blown away. The diamond stud winked from his ear.

The real William Armstrong, she knew. The wickedly sexy man who not only believed mountains were made to be moved, but who moved them. Liam.

Her mouth went dry. She thought about pretending she wasn’t home, but she’d told him she didn’t run anymore, and she didn’t. Pulling open the door, she offered him a tight smile.

“Liam,” she said politely. “This is a surprise.” And the
Grand Canyon
was just a little erosion.

His gaze was unreadable. “Is it?”

“I didn’t expect to see you again,” she said with a well-practiced indifference. Not like this, anyway. Here. In her condo. On the news, in the tabloids … she’d never fully get away from William Armstrong in the public domain. But here, on her doorstep, that was different. More intimate. He stood close enough to touch.

“Is that what you want?” he asked quietly.

The question jarred her. The man couldn’t read her mind. “Now’s not a good time,” she said, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the puppies hadn’t carried their destruction further than their toys.

“That’s an awfully cold greeting for the man you made love with lock, stock and block just a few days ago.”

She looked at him and reminded herself to be strong. To tear a page from his book and let herself feel nothing. “A different lifetime, Liam. One that’s over now.”

“Is that what you want?” he asked again. “Why you left?”

Her defenses crumbled a little more. What she wanted had nothing to do with what was good for her. No matter how much she loved this man, she absolutely refused to share her life with a man who wouldn’t share his heart.

“I—”

“Hey, Dad!” The energetic voice came from the driveway. “Is she home?” Molly came charging onto the porch, followed by a laughing Emily Armstrong clutching a funky purple leash. A bright orange bandanna adorned the dog’s neck. “Oh. Hi.”

A smile sprang from Jess’s heart and touched her lips. The teenager looked wonderful, her long dark hair loose and flowing around her flushed cheeks, her blue eyes sparkling. She bore no visible signs of her ordeal. “Emily. It’s good to see you.”

Liam dropped an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “Detective,” he said, “Emmie wanted to officially meet the woman who saved her life.”

Jess tried to keep her expression blank. She refused to wince. But it was hard, so hard, when her heart bled and hope crumbled into dust.

Granite,
she reminded herself. Liam hadn’t come here to see her. He’d come here because of his daughter. Because of the case. Just like all the other intimacies they’d shared.

“That’s very sweet of you,” she said to Emily, “but I didn’t save your life. Your dad did.”

The girl smiled. “That’s not what he says.”

“Oh?”

“He says he never would have gotten through this without you.” A twinkle lit her eyes. “And trust me, for my dad to say something like that, it must be true.”

Startled, Jess glanced at Liam.

“You showed me the way,” he said in a husky voice. “Now can we come in for a few minutes?”

Jess blinked.
No. Absolutely not.
“Yes. Yes, of course.” She’d been staring, she realized. Searching those amazingly blue, inscrutable eyes of his for a hidden meaning behind his words.

Inside, Molly made a beeline for Bonnie and Clyde. The puppies barked rambunctiously, prompting Molly to begin eagerly licking them. The Lab’s frantically wagging tail just barely missed a cup of hot cocoa on the coffee table.

Jess couldn’t help but laugh.

“New friends?” Liam asked.

She reached for a box of treats and shook three into her hand. The dogs immediately sat and gazed at her, swishing their tails eagerly. “They needed a home,” she said simply. She left out the part about love. “I had one to give.”

“The fish weren’t enough for you anymore?”

The quietly spoken question hit a little too close to home. She glanced at Liam, reminding herself not to read too much into his words or give him too much with her answer. “Sometimes there’s no such thing as enough.”

“How old are they?” Emily asked, breaking the tension. She’d picked up the female puppy and held her against her chest. Liam’s daughter was even more striking in person than in her pictures, Jess realized. Because of her vitality. The energy and happiness she radiated. In many ways, she looked like her father, with all that dark hair and those moody blue eyes, her height, but the features looked softer on her. More feminine. She was a real knockout.

Jess could see why Adam Braxton had fallen hard.

She could also see why Liam had growled protectively.

“Twelve or thirteen weeks,” she answered. “The shelter wasn’t sure. They were found abandoned along
White
Rock
Lake
.”

“They’re so sweet!” Emily gushed. “Dad, I think Molly needs a friend,” she said quite emphatically, gesturing to where Molly was bathing
Clyde
‘s ears.

Liam grinned. “Oh, do you?”

“No one should be alone,” the teenager said sagely.

Jess winced, glancing from father to daughter. A decided undercurrent zinged between them.

A knowing grin lit Emily’s expression as she glanced at Jess. “My dad’s told me a lot about you.”

She smiled. “He told me a lot about you, too.”

“That’s why I wanted to meet you.” Emily returned Bonnie to the floor, laughing when the pup licked her hand. “You gave my dad a fair shake. You listened to him. You helped him. And for that I wanted to say thanks.”

Jess marveled at the girl’s maturity. She was clearly wise beyond her years, reinforcing what a terrific job Liam had done raising her, especially since he’d pretty much been raising himself, too.

“She was just doing her job,” Liam said.

Emily shrugged, eyed her father, then picked up the purple leash. “I think Molly wants to go outside,” she said, smiling at Jess. “Would it be all right if I took her and the puppies into the back yard?”

No,
Jess thought wildly.
I don’t want to be alone with your father. There’s nothing left to say, and the silence is too damning.

“Jessica?” he asked.

Her gut screamed mischief, but when she glanced at her eagerly wiggling puppies, she realized she had no choice. Motherhood was a new adventure for her, putting her needs aside in favor of those younger, less able. “They do seem to want to go.”

“Cool.” Emily led Molly across the room, Bonnie and Clyde bounding behind her. When the door opened, a blast of cold air rushed in, but when they went outside, all the oxygen seemed to go with them. The air thickened, the silence turned deafening, and Jess was left alone. With Liam.

Just looking at him hurt. She could hardly meet his gaze without remembering the sight of him over her, under her, inside her. The glow that had been in his blue eyes, the lust she’d mistaken for love, the need she’d thought was for her rather than just the release of his body.

He was looking at her, too, his expression completely unreadable. She’d seen a similar expression on the face of the department’s lead hostage negotiator.

She didn’t know why that thought made her heart strum harder, deeper.

But then the moment shattered, and Liam swore creatively, strode across the room. She stiffened, completely unprepared for him to pull her into his arms and flush against his body. He muttered something between an oath and a prayer and just held her, running one hand along her back, into her hair.

Jess stood completely still. The smell of sandalwood and smoke permeated her senses like a heady drug, triggering the urge to let go and simply melt into this man. The steady thudding of his heart echoed through the quiet room. The warmth of his body seduced. God, how she’d wanted this. Dreamed of feeling his arms close around her. Longed for it. Even that first night, when she had more reason to doubt him than to love him, she’d been drawn to him. She remembered the feel of his body beneath her hands when she’d frisked him, all that hard muscle and angry male.

She’d known then how dangerous the man was.

She just hadn’t paid a lick of attention.

Emotion streamed through her, and she figured it was a good thing Liam was holding her. Otherwise she might shatter.