Fatal Intent - Jamie Jeffries Page 0,86

why she loved him.

Only, she’d loved him before she knew him well enough to understand all those good qualities. With a smirk that caused him to question her with his eyes, Alex concluded that his physical beauty and the fact he could turn her insides to jelly with one kiss probably had something to do with it, too.

Lt. Watson was there as well, and they talked afterward. An appellate court had set the date for a hearing on whether Harvey Lloyd would get a new trial for two months away. Her mom’s remains couldn’t be released until after the new trial, if Lloyd was granted one.

“So we just wait, to put her and this nightmare to rest,” Alex said. She wasn’t as bitter as she sounded. Some peace and quiet seemed like a good idea right now. Hitting the books and doing well in her final year of school. Settling into her new family situation and learning to balance the needs of the boys and Dylan with her own. Learning to live with Dylan and all that meant. Especially all that meant.

Lt. Watson had answered her, but she hadn’t paid attention to his words. It was Dylan who responded.

“What’s your assessment of any violence directed at Alex? Is she safe with me in Tempe?” Alex looked up at Dylan, her eyes coming to rest on his tense expression.

Watson answered. “Very little, actually. We’ve rounded up most of them and from interviews, the violent ones are just two or three that are still in touch with Lloyd. The rest are passive participants. At most, they serve as lookouts.” Watson glanced at Alex, who blushed.

“You know I would have come straight to you with the information if I’d had a chance,” she said. “They didn’t give me one. I didn’t know what was happening until it had already happened.”

“I know, Alex,” said Watson. “And the majority of the group is like that. I found out they have a lot of turnover. Most people don’t want to be involved in criminal activity. They just want to get together and bitch about the way things are. They quit as soon as something like this goes down, and the Patriots have to have another round of recruitment. I just wish more of them would come to us, like you did.”

“Scared they’ll go to jail, probably,” Dylan remarked.

“Probably. Anyway, as long as Alex stays away from Pinal County and no one knows where she is, she should be fine in a bigger community.”

“We’ve taken steps to insure she can’t be found with online information,” Dylan said.

“That should be good enough.”

Relief swept through Alex. Her presence wouldn’t bring harm to Dylan, or the boys. She could relax, at least to some extent.

THIRTY-TWO

After Dylan had finally read her first two stories about Dawn, they had talked at length about their living arrangements. Alex wondered if couples who rushed into marriage ever sat down and planned it out, or whether their passion for each other overrode all the practical matters.

She and Dylan had started out rough five years ago and their time together since he came back had been crazy, too. They often found themselves at odds, and yet it hadn’t cooled their passion for more than a few days. They’d talked about that.

Dylan had found her sorting the boys’ laundry while he did some things on the internet to secure her blog and her computer.

“I swear, I don’t have any idea how those boys can get so dirty in one day,” she said, turning to him as he walked into the cramped room with her. When she looked at him, his eyes were smoldering with desire and her heart skipped a beat. “Dylan?”

“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” he said. He took the clothes from her hands and dropped them on the floor, then entwined her fingers with his and led her out, down the hall and to their bedroom.

Alex always felt loved when Dylan made love to her. But that day she felt cherished. He didn’t let her say anything, kissing her every time she opened her mouth. He undressed her, unhurried but insistent, and after her first instinctive hesitation, she let him.

He pushed her hands away when she tried to help him take his own clothes off, and then he stepped back, out of her reach, and drank her in with his eyes as he stripped off his shirt, then his shoes, then his pants. He never took his eyes off hers,