Just a quick reminder that I'll be drawing for a signed copy of Blood and Bone on Monday. All you have to do is leave a comment to enter.
In the meantime, enjoy.
Bait
Copyright © 2012 Dawn Brown
Part IV
Ella watched the detective’s eyes
narrow, but he didn’t say anything for a long moment. Probably trying to decide
if she was lying or not. Let him wonder. She didn’t care what he thought of her
so long as he didn’t get in her way.
“Let me get this
straight.” Andy leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “You plan to
get the man to admit to foul play by having dinner with him?”
The mix incredulous
humor and disgust in his tone made the hair at the back of her neck bristle.
“Dinner is just the beginning. You’ve heard the expression keep your friends
close and your enemies closer? Well, I intend to do just that.”
The mirth vanished
from his expression. His golden eyes bored into her, as if seeing the secrets
she kept hidden. She struggled not to look away. “If having dinner is just the beginning,” his
voice was quiet, but with an edge like sheered metal, “just how far are you
willing to go? Would you sleep with the man?”
Her stomach gave a
sharp twist. The skin on her cheek still crawled with the memory of his lips on
her cheek. God, she hoped not. For her plan to truly succeed, she needed Luke
to trust her enough to get him alone. And she would do whatever it took for
that to happen.
“I won’t come to
that,” she told him with more confidence than she felt.
“So you think that if you get close to him,
he’ll just tell you what you want to know?”
That mild disgust had
returned to his voice, as if he were speaking to a complete idiot. For the past
year he’d barely spoken ten words to her. Too bad he couldn’t have kept it that
way. Sullen and silent had to be better than mocking and hostile. Though in
fairness, she hadn’t told him her plan in its entirety, and without the final
stages it did sound kind of dumb.
“If I can get close to
him, I might find something that will tell me what happened to Phoebe. I can’t
stand by and do nothing anymore, Detective.”
“Andy. My name is
Andy. You have to let us do our job.” He took a step toward her, something
dangerously close to sympathy softening his features.
She’d rather deal with his sneer than
his pity.
“Then do it,” she
snapped.
His face hardened, and
some of her tension eased. “I understand
your frustration—”
Anger
flashed through her. He understood? Not likely. How could he? Did he lie in bed
at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering what hells the person he loved most
in the world had suffered? Might still be suffering? Did the images cloud his
imagination, turning his stomach and driving him into the bathroom to retch and
dry heave? Did he live with ever present fear that the only person who meant a
damn thing to him was dead and he was completely alone in the world?
“You don’t have clue,”
she said, hating the emotion clogging her throat and turning her voice thick.
“My sister vanished. Every moment of every day I’m left wondering where she is,
what happened to her. Not knowing is eating me alive. You want to know how far
I’ll go with Luke to get the truth?”
He didn’t answer, just
watched her stonily.
“I’ll go as far as I
have to. I’ll do whatever it takes. If I have to strip naked and crawl on
broken glass, begging him for the truth I will.” But it wouldn’t come to that.
By the time she was done with Luke, he’d be the one begging. “Can you
understand that, Andy?
He didn’t answer, but
started toward her, closing the distance in two strides. She barely had a time
to react as his hands, big and warm, cupped her cheeks and his mouth closed
over hers.
His lips were firm and
strong as his mouth drew on hers. She acted on instinct, responding to his
touch. She opened her mouth, accepting his invading tongue, letting hers slide
along his. He smelled of the cold and snow, tasted faintly of mint. Her fingers
curled into the fabric of his rumpled shirt.
Somewhere deep in
subconscious she knew this was wrong, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. She
needed human contact. After pushing through the past year alone, she craved it
like a junkie craving a fix.
The shrill electronic
pulse from her phone cut through the quiet.
She jerked back from
Andy, and those rich, golden eyes held hers. The frantic thud of her heart
echoed inside her ears. The phone continued to ring, but she didn’t move. She
couldn’t. She stood staring as if caught in a thrall.
What had she done? Her lips still
tingled where he’d kissed her. Need still ached low inside her.
She turned away and
snatched up the cordless phone from the side table.
“Hello,” she said.
“Ella?” Luke asked,
his tone unsure. And why not? Her voice sounded oddly husky even to her.
She cleared her
throat. “Yes, Luke, it’s me.”
“Oh, you sounded
strange when you picked up.”
Sorry about that. You caught me at a bad time. I was just making out
with the detective investigating Pheobe’s disappearance who I don’t particularly
like. Her face turned hot and she kept her back to the man in question so
he wouldn’t see. “I’m fine. Is there something you wanted?”
“Yes,” he said. “I have
a question for you, and I hope I don’t sound too forward.”
Her heart accelerated,
this time having nothing to do with Andy. “What’s that?”
“I’m planning to spend
Christmas at the chalet this year, and wondered, since I’m on my own and you’re
on your own, maybe you’d like to join me.”
Her mouth had gone dry
and she had to swallow hard before she could speak. “I would like that very
much.”
“Great. I’m sure
Phoebe would be happy to know that we’ve become friends.”
Yeah, right. “I think so too.”
“Why don’t you drive
up on the twenty-fourth and spend the night.”
“That sounds
wonderful. I’ll see you then.”
They said good-bye and
she hung up, a darkness falling over her like a shroud. This Christmas she
would finally get what she wanted, and Luke would be the one to give it to her.
“Who was that?” Andy’s
voice broke into her thoughts. She’d nearly forgotten he was there.
“I was just finalizing
my plans for Christmas.” She turned and faced him, meeting his narrowed gaze.
“I trust I’ve answered all your questions to your satisfaction.”
He nodded slowly,
those eyes never leaving her face. When he looked at her like that, she could
easily believe that he could see inside her, read her thoughts, know her every
dark secret. “Then you should
probably be on your way. Would you like to call for a taxi?”
“Sure.”
After a short phone
call, he scooped his coat from the couch and pulled it on. She walked him to
the door, but before he stepped out into the hall he stopped.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Ella.”
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