“Exactly.”
“Or…he killed the man in the lake and the murderer of the woman left the area, and he’s after him.”
“Could be. Or he murdered both the man in the lake and the woman.”
“No, couldn’t be because the woman was supposed to be a werewolf, and the man in the lake, a werewolf hunter.”
“Okay.” Allan had hoped they’d find both men and learn the truth, because the hunter could definitely be after other wolf packs if he’d learned how to identify and locate which ones were lupus garous. The newly turned wolf scenario was as much of a problem as the other. Allan and his pack wouldn’t have any peace of mind until this was resolved. “Rose called me and told me about a woman who was going to stop in and see her about joining a LARP in Helena. But she never came to see her.”
“Why in the world would Rose want to join a group like that? That’s three hours from her home. And with triplets on the way?”
“This was before she met Everett. And she thought it would be a fun lark.”
“Oh, okay. So the woman never got in touch with Rose and…?”
“Rose was thinking about it and said what if Sarah Engle was playing a wolf, and she—”
“Ohmigod, and she’s the woman Lori and Rose found murdered?”
“Yeah. It might be a really far-out notion, but—”
“We don’t have any other leads.” Debbie glanced at her watch.
“I was planning on running down there and talking with the woman who runs the group in Helena.”
“Did Rose or you try calling Sarah?”
“Yeah. There’s no answer on her phone. I called Zeta Johansson, the moderator of the LARP group, and she said Sarah’s been missing.”
Debbie frowned at him. “It’s her then.”
“The far-out scenario began to look not so far-out when I learned that. She hadn’t lived there for all that long, and anything else could be possible.”
“Did Zeta call the police and report Sarah missing?”
“Yeah, she did.”
“And they said?”
“They didn’t believe she had enough evidence to prove the woman didn’t leave of her own free will with her lover.”
“Let me guess. He’s also missing.”
“Right. But it’s still a hunch and nothing more. There’s no real evidence of foul play. Sarah didn’t have a job yet, so no one reported she was not at work. She’d paid her rent up for two months, required by the management, so no alarm bells went off there.”
“And the lover?” Debbie asked.
“Lloyd Bates. I ran a check on him, but he didn’t come up in any databases.”
“Now that sounds like alarm bells to me.”
“Right, but without anything to go on—no evidence of foul play or dead bodies, at least that we can confirm—you know the rest. They didn’t feel they had a case. But we have another clue. Rose went to see the group and met a bunch of the players. Sarah wasn’t at the group meeting that night, but a man was that Rose said looked a lot like the man murdered at Van Lake. She couldn’t be a hundred percent sure because the man in the lake was bearded, and the one she met had been clean-shaven.”
“Did you tell Rowdy?”
“Not yet. If we learn this man is still with the group and not missing, then we don’t have the right man. I wanted to show Zeta the photos in person to see if she could identify the dead man and woman.”
Debbie was quiet after that as Allan pulled up to her back door.
“I had such a lovely time tonight,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind me talking about this case. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Not at all.” He shook his head. “Truth is, I can’t either. I wake in the middle of the night thinking about it. I hate cases that grow cold.”
“Me too. But maybe this is the lead we needed.”
Chapter 11
When Debbie and Allan parked at her duplex, she invited him in. Since this was the first time they’d had a real date, though he had been careful not to call it that, she wanted to end it with something special after all the trouble he’d had getting there in the bad weather.
She hadn’t planned on anything other than having some hot cocoa, although she’d picked up some beer in case he wanted one. It was probably safer for him to have a beer rather than cocoa and whipped cream again.
She knew he was holding back, wanting something more, but for some reason believing they should keep their relationship on more of a professional basis. Yet, tonight, the dynamics had changed some. He’d been more relaxed, and she wondered if that had anything to do with Rowdy not being at dinner with them.
She was also thrilled to think they might have a lead on the dead woman’s identity and maybe something about who murdered her.
Whatever the reason, Debbie felt less stressed tonight with Allan and just wanted to finish the evening with something nice. “Would you like to come in?”
He hesitated.
She thought of just dismissing him. Just telling him, “Maybe some other time.” But she wasn’t sure she’d give him another chance. A woman had to have some pride. Then she smiled sweetly and was about to say, “Okay, well, see you tomorrow then,” but it never got to that. He moved into her space, capturing the door and locking it behind him, while never taking his eyes off her.
Just as before, she felt his raw, primal need as he pulled her into his arms and looked down at her. “What did you have in mind?”
Oh…my…God. He was already kissing her before she could answer. But this…this was what she’d hoped for, except she hadn’t expected it right this minute. Not that she was complaining.
Nor had she imagined what kissing would be like if he really let go of his reserve. He was one hot kisser, his mouth on hers, and then their tongues were tangling, his hands unzipping her coat as she tried to get to his. The living room was way too warm for parkas, especially when he began to kiss her like he was going to die if he didn’t have her this very instant.
He pulled her parka off her shoulders, their mouths still fused. Her parka hit the floor, and she held his face with her hands, kissing him back.
He yanked his parka off, tossed it aside, and pulled her into his arms, breaking free from the kiss for a moment. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
His eyes were dark with lust, his sensuous lips enticing her to kiss them again, and she did, ignoring whatever he was going to say. Why? Because they were working together? She wasn’t buying it.
Another police dive-team couple had ended up getting married, so getting involved wasn’t off-limits. Maybe Allan thought it was wrong somehow, but she didn’t have a problem with it.
They took the kiss slower this time, and she relished the way his tongue felt sliding against hers, so eager, the way he brushed his mouth against hers in a hot and sexy manner. Then he pressed his mouth tighter against hers again, conquering, demanding, passionate.
He groaned a little and pulled his mouth free, pressing it against her forehead, then her cheeks.
“I was going to start a fire—”
He smiled down at her. “You did.”
She chuckled. “In the fireplace. Just to put a nice ending on this snowy, wintry night. Sharing a mug of piping hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies. Playing something we both might like on the CD player. Or maybe putting a movie on.”
He didn’t let go of her, and she wanted to say, “Or we could just continue this.” But she couldn’t quite read him. He seemed reluctant to let go of her, like he really wanted to keep kissing her. But he didn’t, and she was afraid he was thinking about why he shouldn’t be staying.
He combed his fingers through the strands of her hair, surprising her. His touch felt so sensuously divine.
“You don’t have your car,” he said quite practically.
“I don??
?t,” she agreed.
“I’d have to drive all the way home in the snow in the dead of night and then come all the way back here in the morning to pick you up so we can interview Zeta in Helena.”
“You would,” she said, trying not to smile.
“So unless you object to my staying overnight again…”
“I’d be the worst kind of partner if I sent you home tonight, considering how bad the weather is.”
He smiled. “Okay, so where are those chocolate chip cookies? Homemade?”
“You bet.” She snagged his hand and led him into the kitchen. “They were freshly baked this morning. I couldn’t sleep and baking helps me in that regard. And they’re double chocolate chip. It’s not a chocolate chip cookie if it doesn’t have a chocolate chip in every bite.”
He laughed. “I could smell them.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked with her into the kitchen, smiling when he saw the tray piled high with chocolate chip cookies.
“All for you?” he asked, his brows raised a little.
“I was going to drop some by the police station, but they never made it because I had car trouble.”
“We can do that tomorrow, if there are any left over by then.”
She grinned. She couldn’t help it. She was always pleased when someone loved her cookies. Of course, she’d better reserve judgment. After he took a bite, he might not care for them at all.
She realized then that he didn’t have an overnight bag. Although he always carried a change of clothes or two for emergencies. Maybe he had a shaving kit in his bag. She had some spare toothbrushes and toothpaste. If he didn’t have a razor, she might have some spare throwaways. They would be pink though.
“Music or a movie?” she asked as she made the hot cocoa and he carried the tray of cookies into the living room.
“Movie. We can get our mind off work that way.”
“Okay. Just pick out whatever you’d like.”
Allan had rationalized that driving back and forth from his home to hers on the snowy and icy road would be unsafe when they were going to do the interview together tomorrow anyway. And further, with her car in the garage, they didn’t have any other choice but for him to pick her up. The kiss? That was harder to rationalize. He told himself that the situation between them wasn’t going anywhere. But as soon as he kissed her and she kissed him back—just like a hot alpha she-wolf would—he knew he was going to have trouble stepping away from any further relationship with her.
Wolves could have flings with humans, no mating for life allowed. So a brief relationship—a couple of dates and maybe a little sex—could work. As long as they both knew this wasn’t going anywhere. But if Debbie wanted this to go somewhere further with him, she wouldn’t understand why he couldn’t. That was the trouble. She would be hurt in the end, and he didn’t want that.
He sifted through her movies and found the Underworld series, all about werewolves and vampires, and tons of other paranormal movies. Maybe she was more into the paranormal than he’d suspected.
“Anything you would prefer to watch?” Allan asked.
“Jingle all the Way.”
“In January?”
“Yeah, I want to watch something funny and lighthearted. Or whatever else you’d like.”
He saw she had Game of Thrones and The White Queen and other historical fiction series he’d heard had a lot of sex in them. He smiled. He’d always seen Debbie as very sexy. She had a natural appeal. Her movie selection was an interesting side to her that he hadn’t known about.
He figured it was safer sticking with humorous stories like Jingle all the Way. He could just imagine snuggling with her on the couch, watching something with sexual overtones, and wanting to take her to bed.
She joined him with two steaming mugs of cocoa, this time in bright green mugs. She’d already topped the cocoa with whipped cream, which was for the best, since he was fully dressed this time. He thought the night couldn’t get any better.
At least he didn’t think things could get any better, until he wrapped his arms around her while they watched the movie. She was warm, soft, and cuddly, and smelled like lilacs and spring, while the winter storm covered everything outside with a fresh coating of snow.
One last night of staying at her place with her like this, he told himself. One last night, and he could never do it again. Making love to her could lead to trouble in their work relationship—which up until now had been the best.
“Have you ever done that?” Debbie asked, feeling so good in his arms. In a way, he wished she was a wolf, but then again, he loved her just the way she was. But if she was a wolf, he’d love to go for runs with her and tackle her in the powdery snow.
“Forgotten someone’s Christmas gift and it was too late to buy it? Nah. My family is really laid back. They’re happy with whatever I get them. We always share a Christmas list way before Thanksgiving so everyone knows what we’d like to have, and we don’t get a bunch of duplicate gifts that way.”
Debbie smiled. “That sounds nice.”
“What about you?”
“Not buying a popular gift in time? No. Not me. I think that’s why I enjoy the story so much. I can just imagine having my own kid someday who hears about something everyone else in school wants, and then not ordering it in time because it’s a limited edition. Actually, that happened to me once. On the receiving end. I wanted a doll all the kids were talking about. But”—Debbie shrugged—“only a couple of the girls in school got them, so it wasn’t like I was the only one who didn’t.” She looked up at Allan. “Don’t tell anyone else I played with dolls.”
He laughed. “Your secret is safe with me. My sister loved playing with dolls. Lori was more of a tomboy. I don’t see anything wrong with either.”
“I bet you were hunting things when you were a kid, playing tactical maneuvers with Paul…”
“Fishing, ice skating, swimming, hiking, you name it. But yeah, hunting and playing tactical maneuvers too.”
“Me too, except for the hunting and tactical maneuvers. But I also liked to play with dolls.”
They watched the movie and had a really nice time—laughing, cuddling, and enjoying way too many cookies. Now the time had come to retire to bed.
“Ready to go to bed?” she asked.
“Yeah. Let me grab a bag out of my car.”
“Okay. I’m going to get ready for bed.”
* * *
When Allan returned to the house and locked up, Debbie was in the kitchen in her pajamas putting away their cocoa mugs.
She wasn’t one to jump any man’s bones. Not even Allan’s. Though she really was going to make an exception in his case if he was all for it. Not because she was so needy—well, maybe a little needy—but because she really, really liked him. What could be wrong in that?
His smile broadened.
It had been a long time for her. Her last relationship had ended over a year ago, and it hadn’t ended well. He hadn’t been ready to settle down, and he especially hadn’t been interested in her diving sport. He hadn’t liked when she wanted to take trips to places where she could dive and he couldn’t join in on the fun. But if she was going to invest all that time and money, she wanted to do what she loved most: dive. Diving was such a big part of her life, it didn’t make sense to have a boyfriend who disliked it.
In that regard, Allan seemed like perfect boyfriend material. He loved to dive with her, either on the job or off.
He set the empty glass in the sink, grabbed his Glock, snagged her free hand with his, and then headed for her bedroom. She took that as a hot damn, yes!
“No commitment,” she said when they reached her bedroom and she set her gun on the bedside table. Not that she wasn’t interested in having one with the hot SEAL, but she wanted him to know that she understood if he wasn’t ready for anything like that and mayb
e wouldn’t ever be.
“Right,” he said.
She climbed under the covers, pulled off her pajama top and then her bottoms, and dropped them on the floor.
He set his Glock on the other bedside table, then slipped out of his clothes before coming to bed, smiling. Judging by how erect he was, he appeared every bit as willing.
Feeling self-conscious, she explained about stripping underneath the covers. “You don’t want to see my appendectomy scar.” She didn’t want him to see the other scars, in truth. She’d managed to hide them with the towel when she had changed in the car after they rescued Franny and her baby. She didn’t want him to see her as anything but as gorgeous as she saw him, and she didn’t want to explain why she had the scars either.
“You’re beautiful,” Allan said simply, and then all sexy six feet of him climbed into her bed.
But then he paused.
“Condoms?” she asked. “In the left bedside table. My ex-boyfriend had some in there.” Too much information, she scolded herself. But Allan was already hard—could a man be built any more perfectly than that?—and ready, and she didn’t want to stop in the middle of the action so she could mention all of that.
“I like a woman who is prepared,” he said, smiling again.
She was glad he didn’t seem to mind.
He was so gloriously good at kissing, and his hands were so gloriously good at touching, she felt she would come undone within a matter of minutes. Her body was so ready for him. The heat flared between them, making her wet and driving her to satisfy this incredible want.
The teasing, the heated looks. All a prelude to this moment.
His kisses were slow and tender and loving, and then they turned passionate and hot and pressuring. She loved his kisses and matched them with just as much heat and enthusiasm, their tongues caressing in a sensuous dance. Her blood was on fire as he rubbed his erection against her, tantalizing her. She slid the palm of her hand over it, molding to him, loving the rigid feel of him. His hands caressed her skin all over, his tongue stroking hers as his hand slid over her breast, his fingers playing with her aroused nipples.