yell. I merely expressed my displeasure. And he might find Dietrich up there trying to remove something valuable or incriminating after all the agents have left. Or he might find nothing at all, but then we’d know to look somewhere else.”
She frowned. “Metcalf was sure Dietrich wasn’t up there any longer. But if you think there’s a chance of finding something, we should go back there, too.”
“No, you’ve had enough for today. Did you eat dinner?”
“I wasn’t hungry. Olivia made me a sandwich.”
“Good.” He took her glass from her and put it on the coffee table. “Then lie back down on the couch and try to take a nap. I know you won’t go to bed until you hear from Metcalf, but it won’t hurt you to rest.” He was scooting her to a more comfortable position and putting one of the couch pillows beneath her head. “I’d massage your back but you’d probably object. I can tell you’re edgy and brimming with independence at the moment.”
He was wrong. She did feel driven, but she was also uncertain and disappointed and didn’t want to be alone right now. “I wouldn’t object.” She rolled over on her stomach. “That would be stupid. The sooner I get over this pinched nerve, the better. Since she tried to kill you, Madam Nadia was obviously a terrible person, but she taught you well and I might as well reap the benefits.”
“Always practical.” He chuckled. “That’s a philosophy I can understand.” He fell to his knees on the floor beside her. He pushed up her shirt and unfastened her bra. “Close your eyes and relax your muscles. It’s only a little different from the neck massage. It will hurt a little at the beginning but then it will all come together.”
She flinched. “Ouch.” Then she did as he’d told her and relaxed her muscles.
His fingers were rubbing, smoothing, deep circular movements that were like nothing she’d ever felt before.
She was light-headed.
As if she were being whirled down and around…
Every muscle relaxed.
After a while, he fastened her bra and pulled down her shirt. “Okay?” he whispered. “Relaxed? No more aches?”
“If I was any more relaxed, I’d be unconscious.” Her voice sounded slurred, even to herself. “But I have to stay awake until I talk to Metcalf when he finishes at the cliff…”
“I thought that would be the next objection.” He brought her phone to her and set it on the coffee table beside her. “Metcalf will call me first and then I’ll call you.” He turned off the overhead lights. “I promise I’ll keep ringing until you answer.”
“You’re leaving?”
“I think it’s best. I can take only so much of Madam Nadia’s hands-on therapy when it’s you who’s the subject. You’ve been very trusting today and I don’t want to blow it.”
“You wouldn’t. You compartmentalize beautifully.” She yawned. “I’ve always thought that about you.”
“Have you?” He bent down and kissed her forehead before he asked softly, “And how do you think I do walking on hot coals?”
“What?”
He laughed. “Never mind. Just a thought.” He headed toward the front door. “I’ll call you as soon as I hear from Metcalf.”
The next moment the door was closing behind him.
She lay there in the darkness, thinking. She hadn’t meant to be a tease, but she probably has been. She had just been tired and upset, and she was accustomed to Lynch’s iron control and the way he brushed off everything but what he wished to accept. She had needed not only that magic touch but the comfort of having him here, and she had taken it. That didn’t excuse her, and she should be more careful. She couldn’t tell Lynch one thing and then ask for another. It wasn’t fair.
Stop thinking about it. There were a lot of unfair things in this world. It wasn’t fair for good people to have to die. It wasn’t fair that there were killers like Dietrich. All she could do was try to be as good and honest as she could be.
And watch out for moments of weakness like the one that had occurred tonight…
* * *
Her phone was ringing…
Kendra could see the light blinking on the phone on the coffee table.
Lynch, she thought drowsily as she reached out for it. Lynch had promised to call her after Metcalf—”
“What did he say, Lynch?” she asked as she pressed the ACCESS button. “Did he tell—”
“Hello, Dr. Michaels. Or may I call you Kendra? I feel so close to you that I believe a certain intimacy