hotel hallway and Liz had been killed, the man could be the killer.
Also from the message Liz had left on the answering-machine tape, it sounded as if she planned to threaten the man with what she’d learned about him. Add to that the exchange between Liz and the man in the hotel hallway. Whoever the man was, he was definitely a suspect.
Jack played the tape again, careful to keep the volume down so Karen wouldn’t hear it. Liz’s voice disturbed him. She seemed to go from upset to angry and vengeful. Karen was right. Liz’s last statement did sound like a threat. Is that what had gotten her killed?
He turned off the tape and closed the file. Liz was dead. And now Karen Sutton had threatened the killer in the newspaper. Jack feared more than ever that the killer would come after her.
He pulled out his cell phone and punched in Denny’s home number. “I thought I’d better let you know, I have Karen Sutton with me,” he said when Denny answered.
“I figured something like that when I didn’t hear from her,” Denny said. “I’m sure you think you’re protecting her—”
“I am protecting her,” he interrupted.
Denny swore. “You’re a damned fool sticking your neck out like this, especially for a woman you don’t even know.”
“Yeah.” Except that he felt as though he knew her, had always known her. But since he couldn’t even explain it to himself, he sure wasn’t going to try to explain it to Denny. “I also have the answering-machine tape. I guess I stuck it in my pocket and forgot about it.”
“Right. Have her and the tape at my apartment by eight in the morning. I hope you know what you’re doing.” Denny hung up.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Monday morning
Jack found Karen sitting outside on the same rock wall they’d shared the night before. He could tell something was wrong the moment he saw her face.
“Wanna talk about it?” he asked as he sat down next to her. He could feel the warm morning sun on his back, that indefinable smell of spring in the air and this woman, making him feel weightless as he glanced out at the open expanse of landscape and sky—then at her. Just sitting this close to her was like sitting next to a bug zapper on a hot summer night.
“I keep thinking about the man I saw—” She frowned in obvious frustration. “If I just had a better description.”
“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “We’ll find him.” This morning he really believed it. Or maybe because of Karen he wanted it so much, it seemed possible. “In the meantime, you can stay here.”
“Jack, I’ve been thinking—”
He didn’t like the sound of this.
“—I can’t stay.” She touched his arm, stopping him before he could tell her how much he wanted her to stay. Her touch was light and quick, but it made him want to catch her hand and draw her closer. He regretted not kissing her last night. Chivalry be damned, he wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“I appreciate you bringing me here more than you can know,” she said. “But I feel too…safe with you, Jack.”
He laughed softly. “Isn’t that a good thing?” Her eyes were the color of forget-me-nots this morning. Bluer and brighter than he’d ever seen them but also more troubled.
“No, feeling safe when you’re not isn’t a good thing,” she said adamantly. “I can’t let you do this.”
“Do what?”
“Jeopardize your career. You should be enjoying your time off, not baby-sitting me, not making me feel…” She waved a hand through the air.
“Safe?”
She nodded but hesitantly.
He wanted to keep her safe, but if she thought she was completely safe with him, she was wrong. After all, he was a man. And she was a woman. He met her gaze. And if this wasn’t sexual tension smoldering between them, then one of them was about to spontaneously combust.
She dragged her gaze away. “After my father’s heart attack, I was scared,” she said, the words seeming to come hard for her. “My mother and I had always depended on him for everything. I was terrified that I couldn’t take over his business and keep it going until he got better, afraid I didn’t have what it took.”
Jack suspected this woman could do anything she set her mind to, but he said nothing as she continued.
“Then when he died less than six months after I came home, suddenly I had not only the responsibility of the business, but my mother, who was lost without