Love at First Sight - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,51

off.

“Grave robbing is a felony, Karen, and I’m a cop.” A cop on suspension, but still a cop.

“Then I’ll do it myself,” she said.

He glanced over at her again. “I can’t let you do that.” But he could tell by the look in her eyes that stopping her would be a whole other matter.

“Would you take me by my shop?” she asked sweetly. Too sweetly.

But how could he deny her such a simple request? He waited while she went into the back for a few minutes. She returned dressed in all black, carrying a bag that clunked suspiciously of tools.

“Karen—”

“Haven’t you ever done something that you know is wrong, but you did it for the right reason?” she asked.

Oh, yeah.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Clouds scudded across the moon, dropping a cloak of darkness over the cemetery. Only a twinkling of stars lit the night sky. A breeze stirred the new buds on the deciduous trees and whispered in the tall evergreens as Jack boosted her over the six-foot-high chain-link fence that surrounded the silent graveyard.

Karen dropped onto the grass on the other side with a soft thud, then stood back as he tossed over the bag of tools. She couldn’t help shivering at the sight of all the gravestones that glowed white as skeletons even in the darkness.

She watched Jack scale the fence and drop effortlessly beside her. He looked at her, his gaze questioning. It wasn’t too late to turn back.

She shook her head slowly and glanced past him to the rows and rows of headstones. The mere thought of digging up the grave filled her with trepidation, but she believed in her heart that the answer to Liz’s death was in this cemetery, buried in that baby’s grave.

Just thinking about the baby unnerved her. What if she was wrong? What if the baby really had died and Vandermullen was telling the truth?

No. He’d lied about Liz’s fear of hospitals. He could have lied about the baby. Liz wouldn’t have been looking for her child unless she believed Joanna Kay was alive.

Karen and Jack stood in silence for a long moment. As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, she could make out the long line of railroad cars just across the road. On the other side of the cemetery, car lights flashed high on the hillside where Interstate 90 cut across the state.

IN THOSE FEW MOMENTS, Jack had time to contemplate the strange turn his life had taken since meeting his Girl Next Door. The irony of it didn’t escape him.

His job was in serious jeopardy, he’d just interviewed a suspect in a case he wasn’t supposed to be near, he’d lied about getting married and now he was standing in the cemetery in the middle of the night with a shovel.

He wondered if Karen had any idea what kind of effect she had on men. Or if he was just the lucky one.

Of course he’d argued that grave digging was illegal. That the thing to do was wait and try to get a court order to have the body exhumed. That grave robbing probably wouldn’t be good for her after her accident.

But even as he’d offered excellent arguments, he could see he wasn’t making a dent in her reasoning.

“You left out that it is probably morally wrong and will make for very bad karma,” she said when he’d finished, obviously not in the least dissuaded.

“Follow me,” Jack whispered and picked up the tool bag. Denny had said the grave was on Hope, one of the narrow roads that wove through the dark cemetery.

Jack led the way through the maze of white headstones, expanses of dark grass and winding roads with names like Charity. Faith. And finally, Hope.

Following Denny’s directions, he moved through the graves with Karen close behind. The moon broke free of the clouds. He stopped to get his bearings, feeling the steady thump of his heart inside his chest. God, he didn’t want to do this.

But as he looked over at Karen he knew she was going to do it—with or without his help. And one way or another this would end any more speculation about why Liz Jones Vandermullen had come back to Missoula. And for him, it would answer a lot of questions about Liz herself.

Jack knew that if Liz really had been searching for her daughter, it was possible that’s what had gotten her killed. It would definitely change Jack’s approach to finding her killer—and keeping Karen safe.

But if Liz and Denny’s daughter was