You Can't Hide (45 page)

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m trying to catch my damn cat,” she bit out. “And it’s not going well.”

“Tess-
Hell
.” She felt the shelf give and his hands grab her at the same time her fingers closed around Bella’s col ar, then everything seemed to tumble. Bella jumped and the shelf pul ed from the wall, sending fifty books crashing to the floor. The cat prissed away, unhurt, but perturbed. Leaving Tess standing with the cat’s col ar in her hand, her heart going a mile a minute because Aidan’s arm had banded across her stomach, pul ing her off her feet and against his hard body.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice throaty and rough.

“I’m confused, Aidan,” she said quietly. “What do you want from me?”

“I don’t know yet.” He turned her in his arms, cupped her face. “I know I don’t want you to go. Not like this. If you need to go back to your parents, that’s one thing. But don’t go because of what I said.”

“You didn’t say anything. That was the problem.” She shook her head wearily. “This doesn’t really change anything. What about Rachel?”

“She’s home and safe with my folks.” He huffed mirthlessly. “She was right, the squirt. She said I’d hurt you and I never meant to. I promise you that. I figured you’d…” He shrugged.

“Understand how I was feeling. I wasn’t mad at you, Tess.”

“Who were you mad at then?”

“The situation. Myself. I was supposed to protect her and I didn’t. But I wasn’t mad at you. You’re not responsible for any of this.”

“You’re not just saying that so I’l stay and cook for you?”

One side of his mouth bent up. “Now that you mention it, all the cannoli is gone.” He kissed her softly and she melted into him. “Stay with me, Tess.”

“I will, if you do something for me.”

He glanced at the bed. “I can’t. Murphy’s coming in a few minutes.”

Her lips curved. “That wasn’t what I meant. Aidan, I’m a psychiatrist, not a mind reader. You do understand the difference, don’t you?”

His thumbs stroked her mouth. “I’m still on the bed. Sorry.”

She chuckled. “You are single-minded.” Sobering she frowned. “I don’t know how you feel if you don’t tell me, Aidan. My job is to get people to talk to me so I can figure out what’s going on in their mind. You don’t talk to me.”

“I talk all the time.”

“Not about what’s important. I told you everything about me, but you put me off.”

“You want me to talk… right now?”

“Not right now. But definitely later. Why did you come back here?”

“I have to meet Murphy. We’re going to go search the house of one of the assholes at Rachel’s school. Then I have an appointment across town with a witness.” He kissed her hard. “I’l be back in time to take you to Ernst’s viewing.”

Tess’s gripped the front of his shirt, holding him in place when he tried to step away. “You’re also the company I keep, Aidan,” she said fiercely.

“I know. I’ll be careful.”

169

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“I’ve been trying to think of who can hate me this much. I can’t.”

“I know, Tess.”

“I was thinking he might come to Harrison’s viewing tonight.” Her fingers tightened. “But if I go, every person there will be a target. If I go shopping, they’re a target. You’re a target. Your family. My family.” She closed her eyes. “It’s starting to drive me crazy.”

“That’s what they want to do,” he murmured. “We won’t let them.” He kissed her again, slow and serious this time, leaving them both breathing hard. “Now I’ve got to go. Walk me out and lock the door.”

She walked him to the front door and waved as he got into Murphy’s car, her glands still pumping. She closed the door and turned to find Vito scowling at her. “Don’t,” she said. “Just don’t.”

He fol owed her into the kitchen. “He must have done some smooth talking in there,” Vito said sarcastically and Tess slapped the cat col ar on the counter.

“What is your problem, Vito? Just spit it out.”

“Fine. You’ve known this guy for three days.”

She started peeling tomatoes with a vengeance. “Four, but you’ve made your point. I’m a slut that falls into bed too soon. You’ve been thinking it. You might as well say it.”

“Fine. It’s too soon.”

Tess waved the paring knife under his nose. “You sleep with women you’ve only known a few days. And don’t tell me you don’t.”

Vito glared. “Not lately.”

“So go get some! Maybe it’ll sweeten you up!” She put down the knife and calmed herself.

“Vito, it’s none of your business, but I love you and what you think about me matters so I’l tell you anyway. I’ve been with four guys in my life. Four. I made all of them wait a hell of a long time, except for Aidan. It wasn’t about him. It was about me. What I needed. Right now, he’s what I need. So be nice to him. For me.”

“Doesn’t it matter that he tried to hurt you?”

“When? In the police station? That was a misunderstanding.”

“You let a misunderstanding with Dad keep you away for five years, Tess. This guy waltzes in and all of a sudden you’re living with him. He hurts you and you forgive him just like that.” He snapped his fingers in the air.

“Maybe my misunderstanding with Dad taught me a few things. I lost a lot of years. And I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been lonely since Phillip. I missed having someone. I don’t think that’s so wrong.”

Vito leaned against the wall, his shoulders slumping. “I don’t want him to hurt you.”

“If he does, I’l survive.” Bella sauntered in and Tess scooped her up. “Here, hold her. I need to put this back on.” She grabbed the col ar and pul ed at the buckle. Then stopped. And stared. “Oh my God.”

Vito stooped to stare with her, then looked up, his eyes narrowed and angry. She put the collar on the counter and ran out the front door to the street, dialing her cell frantically. “Aidan? I know how he found out about Rachel.”

Thursday, March 16, 3:15 P.M.

Kristen was waiting for them in front of Poston’s house, warrant in hand. “What’s wrong?”

she asked, seeing the scowls on their faces.

“Tess’s damn cat was wired for sound,” Aidan muttered. “Rachel held the cat in her lap the entire time she told me everything. That’s how he knew. Why are you here?”

“Andrew Poston Senior is a judge. Patrick called it preemptive damage control.”

Mrs. Poston was waiting at the door, her face fil ed with dread. “What is it?”

“We’re here with a search warrant, Mrs. Poston,” Kristen said, fol owing Aidan and Murphy up the stairs. “You’l find it all in order.”

170

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

Aidan shoved at Andrew’s bedroom door. “It’s locked. Let us in, Andrew.” When the boy didn’t respond, Aidan shoved his shoulder into the door. Cracking wood was fol owed by Mrs. Poston’s cry of outrage as Aidan burst into Andrew’s room where the boy stood, a CD in his hands.

“Hand it over,” Aidan demanded.

“No.” Andrew snapped the CD in two, the crack loud as a gunshot. His startled look changed to a sly grin. “I’ve been right here since my lawyer sprang me this morning.”

Aidan looked at the broken CD in the boy’s hands and the smug smile on his face and tamped back his temper, knowing that ripping the kid’s fucking face off would jeopardize this case and his career. Still, for Rachel, it might almost be worth it. “You do realize that whoever sent you that CD is responsible for the deaths of eight people. When you become dispensable, that number could go up by one.” Andrew’s grin faded and Mrs. Poston gasped. Andrew tossed his head back, arrogant. “I can take care of myself.”

“Like you took care of that girl Monday night? Like you took care of Rachel Reagan?” Murphy asked, his anger barely masked.

“The girls wanted it. I don’t need to force myself on anyone. And I never touched that Reagan bitch. If she says so, she’s a dirty liar. I was here. Al day. Right, Mom?”

His mother wrung her hands. “Yes, he was. I cal ed my husband. He’s on his way.”

“That’s fine, Mrs. Poston,” Aidan said mildly. “Just fine. Tell your husband he can meet us at the police station. Being a judge, I’m sure he’s familiar with it. Oh, you know, Murphy, we never got a chance to introduce ourselves to young Poston here. This is Detective Murphy. Over there is States Attorney Kristen Reagan. And I’m Detective Reagan.” The punk’s face paled, a gratifying sight to see. “Let’s go, kid.”

“Where?” His bravado was largely diminished.

“Downtown with us,” Aidan said. “For now, we’l call it obstruction. Once this is all sorted out, then we’l see what else we can tack on.”

Thursday, March 16, 4:00 P.M.

“Can you fix it?” Aidan asked after Rick had examined the CD pieces for several silent minutes. He, Murphy, and Spinnelli had been quiet as long as they’d been able.

“So that it’l play like a CD again? No. Doesn’t mean I can’t recover some of the data. It’l take me a little while.”

“How long?” Spinnelli asked impatiently.

“A few days? It’s like putting Humpty Dumpty together. And I may not find anything.”

“Get started,” Spinnelli ordered. “What about the microphone in the cat’s col ar?”

Rick shrugged. “Similar to the ones we found in Tess’s clothes. It was transmitting using your wireless Internet connection, Aidan. You need to get a better firewall. I had Jack’s guys do a sweep of your house. We didn’t find any other devices.”

“Thanks.” Aidan didn’t want to think about what the microphone had picked up the night before. Neither he nor Tess had been overly quiet in the… throes of passion. Rick gathered the CD fragments careful y. “I’l call you when I have something.”

Murphy slumped when the door closed behind Rick. “It could be a dead end.”

“You always say I’m the pessimist,” Aidan said. “Maybe he’l find something good. We’ve still got the Poston kid in Interview. What do you want to do with the little prick?”

Spinnelli scowled. “For now, I have to release him to his parents. I don’t want to charge him with anything until we know what’s on the CD. We picked up the two boys who hurt Rachel, by the way. As enforcers go, they didn’t do a very good job. Nearly every kid in school knew they’d gotten cold feet afterward and tried to fol ow her.” His mustache twitched. “Your dog has apparently taken on legendary proportions, Aidan. She’s a two-hundred pound mastiff who took a bite out of their asses as they ran crying.”

171

Karen Rose

[Suspense 5]

You Can't Hide

“Good. I wish Dol y had taken a chunk out of their-” A knock at the conference room door had him turning. One of the clerks stuck her head in, papers in her hand.

“Aidan, I got the LUDs you requested.”

“Thanks, Lori. Denise Masterson’s LUDs,” he told Spinnelli and Murphy.

“Denise Masterson is Tess’s receptionist,” Murphy explained to Spinnelli.

“The one that didn’t call 911 right away yesterday?”

“She’s the one.” Aidan ran his finger down the page while Lori waited. “Here it is. A call made one minute after Tess left for Seward’s on Tuesday. Lasted eight and a half minutes.” He looked up. “Can you do a reverse lookup on this number?”

“Already did.” Lori’s brows went up. “It’s the features editor at the
National Eye
.”

Aidan blinked. “A tabloid? Tess’s secretary called a tabloid instead of 911?”

“You want me to run a check on her bank accounts?” Lori asked.

“Yeah. As soon as you can. Thanks.” He turned back to Spinnelli and Murphy. “That’s why it took the cops so long to get there. If they’d gotten there sooner maybe Malcolm Seward’s wife would still be alive.”

“Bring her in,” Spinnelli said. “Let her wonder what she’s going to be charged with.”

“She had access to all the patient files, Marc.” Aidan mul ed the loose ends in his mind. “Our guy had to know that Bacon made the videos-that’s why he killed him.”

Murphy scowled. “Denise was there when Tess got that blackmail CD from Bacon, so she knew about the cameras. She could be an accessory, maybe unconsciously.”

“Bring her in,” Spinnelli said again. “And ask Tess to come down and observe. She knows this woman. Maybe she can help us get at her motives.”

Thursday, March 16, 5:05 P.M.

Through the glass, Tess stared at Denise Masterson who was sitting at the interrogation room table, nervously twisting the rings on her fingers. Tess looked up at Aidan’s profile, disbelieving. “You guys can’t be serious. Denise? She’s no killer.”

Beside her Aidan was unsmiling. “Maybe she didn’t kill anybody, but it looks like she sold information to the
Eye
. If she’s willing to sell information to a tabloid, maybe she sold it to somebody else. Somebody had to have access to your office, Tess, to plant all the cameras and mikes. If she didn’t, maybe she let them in. For a fee.”

“You’re sure she sold to the
Eye
?”

“She deposited ten thousand in her checking account this morning, Tess,” Murphy said quietly. “You give her a raise recently?”

She sighed. “Not ten thousand dol ars. Shit. Go ahead.”

Spinnelli joined Tess as Aidan and Murphy moved into the little room where she herself had sat just days before. Aidan sat on the corner of the table nearest Denise, arms crossed over his chest. Murphy made himself comfortable in the chair next to her.

“How much money do you make, Miss Masterson?” Aidan began. Denise blinked once. “I… I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Aidan,” Murphy chided gently. “You already know how much she makes.” He aimed a benign smile at Denise. “We checked before we picked you up.”

Her eyes flicked up to Aidan’s face before returning to Murphy. “Then why ask?”

Murphy kept smiling. “We were hoping you’d tell us where the ten thousand dol ars came from-you know, the money that appeared in your account this morning.”

She paled. “It was a gift. I was worried that with Dr. Ernst’s death and Dr. Ciccotelli’s losing her license that I’d lose my job. My aunt gave me the money.”

“Generous aunt.” Aidan leaned a little closer. “What’s her name?”

Again Denise licked her lips. “Lila Timmons.”

172

Karen Rose