Kendra was definitely worth the trouble. She’s fairly incredible. I wouldn’t have brought you here if I hadn’t thought she could get us the information we need.”
“Then we’ll find a way to get her to go along with us.” She wrinkled her nose. “But this time, we have no children in danger to dangle before her to get her to help us at that hospital. Is she really that difficult?”
He pulled into a strip mall. “In a few minutes, you’ll be able to judge for yourself. I called her from the airport, and she said she didn’t want to see me, but she’d give me thirty minutes so that I wouldn’t keep bothering her.”
“Did you tell her I was coming with you?”
“No, she knows nothing about you. She saw to it that we didn’t get chummy enough for confidences while we were working on the Vick case. She did her job, but she definitely resented my pulling her into it.”
“That doesn’t sound promising.”
He shrugged. “She’s tough.” He checked his watch. “She’s probably still busy with an appointment. She told me that I’d have to wait in the viewing room until she was finished.”
“Viewing room?”
“Some of Kendra’s students are autistic or have big-time emotional problems, and she likes to work with them alone and without interference. But she gives the parents the opportunity to watch the lessons from an observation room with one-way glass if they prefer.” He nodded at a small brick building. “Her office is right over there on the left.”
CHAPTER
5
JOE MUST BE WRONG, Eve thought as she studied Kendra Michaels’s expression through the one-way window. She was sitting beside a little six-year-old boy while he played the xylophone. Joe had called her a tough lady, but this woman’s face was alight with eagerness, intelligence, and understanding as she focused all her attention on the child’s complete intentness as he played the instrument. She was of medium height and slim but far from fragile-looking. Pale brown hair was shoulder-length and sun-streaked and framed a strong face that reflected control and discipline. Large hazel eyes set far apart shone with intelligence and humor as she watched the boy. Kendra wasn’t a beautiful woman, but her smile was beautiful.
Kendra finally put a gentle hand out to stop the boy. “It’s time for you to go, Justin. Your mama is outside waiting.”
He ignored her, still pounding the keys. She held out her hand and took the stick. He started to fight her, then was still, staring up into her face. “Pretty?”
She nodded. “Very pretty, Justin. Beautiful. Next time, it will be even more beautiful because while you’re at home, you’ll hear the sound and the notes in your mind. Then when we get together, you’ll let me hear them, too.” Her finger reached out and traced the outline of his mouth. “A smile can be beautiful, too. It can be like a song that goes on and on and echoes inside you and around you. Maybe you’ll let me hear that song, too?”
His intent expression didn’t change.
She smiled. “No?” She took his hand. “Think about it.” She put his fingers on her lips. “I’ll give you my song. Here it is. I’ll be waiting for you to give me yours.”
He didn’t move, his gaze on her face. Then he jerked away and ran toward the door across the room.
Kendra stayed by the xylophone. “Good-bye, Justin. I’ll see you in two days.”
He stopped at the door and looked back at her. Then he was suddenly running back to her.
Kendra smiled as he stopped before her. “Yes?”
He reached out a tentative finger and slowly traced the outline of her smile. “Pretty … song…” Then he whirled and was running back to the door and out of the studio.
The smile remained for an instant while her gaze lingered on the door. Then it faded as she stood up and began to tidy the studio. “You might as well come in, Quinn. You’re on the clock. I have another student in thirty minutes, and I won’t keep her waiting.”
Kendra’s tone was completely different from the way she had spoken to the little boy. It was crisp, cool, and there was a distinct edge. Her demeanor had the same coolness, and that warm, affectionate magnetism that had been present when she’d been interacting with little Justin had disappeared.
Joe wasn’t wrong. Kendra was, indeed, one tough lady.
“You heard her,” Joe murmured as he got to his feet and headed to the door that led from the booth to