Love at First Sight - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,57

felt a tidal wave of emotion that threatened to drown him.

He lay for a moment trying to wade through those emotions. But one kept pulling him under. Guilt. It drowned out everything else, leaving him confused and afraid.

He’d made love to her, letting her believe they were married. Something he’d promised himself he wouldn’t do. Couldn’t do. And yet, he’d never wanted anyone more in his life.

To make his guilt worse, he didn’t regret making love to her. How could he regret something so wonderful? He told himself it had been because he’d bought into his own lie. He’d truly felt “married” to her. He’d been caught up in that whole two becoming one thing. And it had been incredible.

But while he couldn’t regret what they’d done, he couldn’t forgive himself. Just as he knew Karen wouldn’t be able to when her memory returned.

All told, he felt rotten. Was rotten. He feared he had destroyed whatever they could have had together.

He tried not to think what that might have been or how remarkable and rare it was as he slipped his arms from around her.

She moaned softly in her sleep, the sound tugging at him like an undertow. The strength of that pull scared him. He already felt shaken from their lovemaking—and afraid. Afraid for Karen because of the killer after her. Afraid of the hurt she’d feel when she learned the truth about the man she thought was her husband. Just afraid he would have to pay an unbearable price for what he’d done. That price, he feared, was losing Karen.

She moaned softly and flung an arm out as if reaching for him. He stared down at the hand now resting on his bare chest. The sparkle of his grandmother’s wedding band gleaming like fool’s gold. He closed his eyes, the pain too much.

After a few moments, Karen seemed to fall into a peaceful sleep again. He opened his eyes and gently lifted her hand, trying desperately to ignore the sensations her touch evoked in him as he slipped from the bed.

He scooped up his hurriedly discarded clothing and left the bedroom, leaving Karen in the big bed they’d shared. Telling himself he didn’t want to wake her because she needed her sleep.

The truth was, he didn’t want to face her this morning. What would he say? He’d taken his lie too far. He’d let himself become too involved with this woman. Worse, he knew how this would end. He felt a hard, cold ache of heartbreak, knowing that he’d just put the kiss of death on what could have been.

He wanted to confess, to make himself feel better. To end it now before he caused either of them more pain. But doing that would surely jeopardize Karen’s life. That was the one thing he would not do.

He glanced at his watch, surprised to see how late it was. Early afternoon. Not that many hours before the third and final, he hoped, meeting with the third person who’d responded to Karen’s ad. He had to concentrate on that right now.

He didn’t believe for a moment that the meeting was anything more than a last-ditch attempt to draw Karen out and kill her. But he had a plan.

He picked up his cell phone and, taking it outside, he made his first call.

“I have Karen Sutton,” he said when Detective Captain Brad Baxter answered. “I’m bringing her to the third meeting.”

Silence.

Jack hoped Baxter had a little cop in him. But even the politician in the man would want this case solved. And Baxter had to know, just as Karen had pointed out, that unless the killer believed she’d be there, he had no reason to show.

The best way to get the word out, considering that Jack suspected a leak in the police department, was to tell Baxter. He’d gear up for a worst-case scenario. Word would spread. The killer, hopefully, would hear that Karen would be there.

“If I see you I will have you arrested for obstructing justice,” Baxter said without much force.

“Seems fair,” Jack said and hung up.

Baxter hadn’t threatened. Hadn’t even raised his voice. But then he probably hadn’t heard about the grave Jack and Karen had dug up last night. Yet. Nor did he know just how far Jack planned to go to get the killer.

Jack called Denny at the hospital next. “I’ll be by soon. I just wanted to let you know that I’m taking Karen to the third meeting. It’s the only way to draw out