“You sure you don’t want me to walk you back?”
She paused, but then nodded.
“I’m sure. I’ll be fine.”
It hit him then that she didn’t want him knowing where she lived. She was afraid of him—or afraid of men, in general.
There were only a few good reasons women had for this kind of reaction, and thinking about any of them made Jarod’s blood boil. The lady had some serious fear, and he knew he had to find out why. Then he’d make sure she had no reason to fear anything, least of all him.
“Fair enough, then,” he said, knowing when to give in and when not to. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow for that appointment, and you can let me know more of what’s expected of me?”
“Yes. Thanks,” she said, though he wasn’t exactly sure what she was thanking him for. He just nodded.
She walked off without another word, and he veered off in the direction of his hotel—at first.
Within a minute he looped back, caught sight of that hot-pink shirt and didn’t take his eyes away from her the rest of the way. He kept his distance and watched. She checked her surroundings constantly, as if the devil himself were after her.
Jarod stayed with her until he saw her turn into a building. He waited, saw a light come on, didn’t see her come out. Walking up closer, he noted the address, the spot, and committed it to memory. Only then did he walk back through the dark street to his own place, quietly planning to find out what had Lacey Graham so spooked.
Chapter 3
JAROD SAT IN THE SUNLIGHT of the large hotel window, the city sprawled out below him while he perused the Net, making good use of the wireless connection that came with the room. He enjoyed touching base with law enforcement colleagues on various boards and Web sites, and he was taking an online course in further forensics study.
He didn’t particularly want to become a forensics expert. He was more interested in chasing down perps directly, rather than investigating the mess they left behind; still, he found the material interesting.
Mostly.
Today, no matter how intently his eyes traveled over the words on the screen, his mind kept returning to the image of Lacey’s green eyes. He loved her eyes, and the way she pushed her hands through her short blond hair every five minutes. She had hair like corn silk, soft-looking in spite of the blunt edges of the style she wore. He flexed his fingers unconsciously, thinking about touching it. The ring of his cell phone jostled him out of his fantasy, and he recognized the number as his captain’s.
“Hey, Cap.”
“Jarod. How are things in the big city?”
“Noisy. Busy. Damned good pizza, though.”
Tom chuckled. Jarod liked him. He was a good man, no-nonsense, and had as much tolerance for political bullshit as Jarod did.
“Thought you might be out somewhere with twenty half-naked women draped over you for this calendar thing,” Tom said lightly, razzing him. There would be no end to that when he got home.
“Nope, no women, just eleven other guys, unfortunately, except for the photographer, and she’s pretty tough.”
“Would have to be to deal with the likes of you.” Tom laughed again. “Anyway, I’m calling about Darren Hill.”
“What about him?”
“He jumped bail last night, thought you’d want to know.”
Jarod cursed. Darren Hill was the worst of the worst, selling everything he could get his hands on to pay for drugs, including his six-year-old daughter. Jarod had intervened, and the girl had escaped serious harm in the nick of time, taken away and placed in a foster home. No one knew if she’d been born on American soil or not, but Hill claimed she was. Meanwhile, the mother was long gone. Poor kid. Jarod still felt a twist when he thought about it. Still, she had a real chance now, placed with a good family in Houston. Hopefully they would keep her permanently.
Jarod had a feeling they needed to be looking for the mother’s body, unfortunately. Hill was scum.
“How the hell did he even make bail?”
“It was set high, but his drug-dealing friends must have come up with the cash.”
“Great. That’s just great.” Jarod narrowed his eyes, peering out through the window. “Any idea which way he headed?”
“Pretty sure he wouldn’t go back over the border—he wouldn’t take that chance. And he has a bone to pick with you taking away the kid. We wouldn’t want to ignore that.”
“Oh, yeah, he was a really devoted father.”
“It’s about the power and control. You know that. You damaged his rep. He might be looking for revenge. ”
“Yeah, well, he can bring it on. I’ll get the first flight back.”
“No, you’re out there until this calendar thing is finished—brass made no bones about that.”
“Dammit, Tom, if Hill’s looking for me, the easiest way for me to bring him in is to be there, not here.”
“It’s being handled, Jarod. Stay there, and enjoy being out of the line of fire for a bit.”
“Tom—”
“Jarod, you know I don’t care about this PR crap any more than you do, but the brass does care and you’re supposed to be doing this. So do it.”
“Aren’t you the brass?”
“You know what I mean. We’ll find Darren. The place does tend to run without you, you know,” Tom added jokingly, and Jarod blew out a breath.
“Fine. Keep me up-to-date on what’s happening?”
“You bet. By the way, you put any more thought toward taking that captain’s position that’s opening up? You’re the perfect candidate. You’d have no problem getting through the interviews. I’d be happy to write you a rec.”
Something nasty squeezed at Jarod’s temples, and he told Tom the truth. “All due respect, and believe me, being asked to fill your shoes is an honor, but I don’t know if I want that, Tom. I like where I am now. Too much paperwork comes with being a captain.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Tom agreed, laughing good-naturedly. “Still, there are more guys who can do your job, and not many as well suited as you are to this chair. You’re a natural leader, Jarod. And captains are still hands-on much of the time. Better pay, too. Maybe a chance of living a little longer,” Tom joked, having been in the captain’s seat for ten years before recently being promoted to assistant chief.
Jarod knew Tom wanted him to take the spot, and it was getting harder to resist. “I’ll think some more on it.”
“Think
