Her cheeks reddened as she started toward the bedroom, but he caught her arm and forced her to look at him. His breathing was erratic, his heart hammering, his body pulsing with desire.
“Peyton, let me set the record straight. I’m the one who should apologize. I’m supposed to protect you, not jump your bones.”
A frown crinkled her forehead. “You didn’t jump my bones. I started this. But it’s obvious you don’t want me.”
He took her hand and pressed it over his throbbing sex. “Make no mistake. I want you all right. I think you’re a brave, smart, amazing woman. But I can’t take advantage of you.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “You’re beautiful and desirable, but you’re hurting and frightened, and I don’t want you to hate me in the morning.”
Emotions glittered in Peyton’s eyes. “I understand.”
Then she turned and fled into her room and shut the door. Liam walked to the sliding glass doors and looked out at the inky sky. The wind rustled leaves and trees, the sound oddly calming and eerie at the same time.
The mountains beyond rose with sharp ridges and dangers, the dense woods a perfect place for a predator to hide. Was someone out there watching Peyton? Waiting for her to be alone so he could strike?
In the bedroom, he heard footsteps, then saw a light flicker off and imagined Peyton crawling into bed alone.
His body throbbed with need. His heart ached to put a smile on her face. His arms begged to hold her all night.
But his mind whispered that if he did, he’d be crossing the line. His own rules echoed in his head. Never get involved with a suspect or a witness. Keep your professional and personal life separate.
Guard your heart.
Loving someone and losing them hurt too damn much. And if he allowed his emotions to lead him, he might fail on the job.
Peyton needed him to be on his A game until she was safe.
His phone buzzed. Jacob.
Grateful for the intrusion to get his libido under control, he pressed Connect and stepped outside on the patio for fresh air. “Jacob?”
“Yeah. We searched Inman’s house and guess what we found.”
“Opioids?”
“A stash full. Mostly oxy and hydrocodone.”
“The husband said she wasn’t taking any.”
“Either he’s lying, or the poor idiot really was oblivious to the fact that his wife had an addiction.”
“Some people hide it well,” Liam said.
“They do. I’ll show the pills to him in the morning and gauge his reaction.”
“Were they black market or prescribed?”
“A little of both. There are three different prescribers listed on the scripts, so I’ll look into that angle. If we’re dealing with a pill mill, we need to shut it down.”
The ever-growing problem of opioid addiction. Shut one pill mill or dealer down and another one cropped up the next day. Could it be linked to Gloria’s death? And the threats against Peyton?
The discrepancy between the drug log and Peyton’s statement might indicate it was.
Liam relayed his conversation with Dr. Butler and the fact that he’d lawyered up, then filled him in on Mrs. Weiss’s condition.
“Sorry to hear she’s not doing well,” Jacob said. “Oh, gotta go. Cora was having some back pain earlier, so I want to be close in case she goes into labor.”
“Text us if she does, man. You know we all want to be there.”
Jacob muttered he would, then hung up. Liam’s heart clenched. He was happy for his brothers. But dammit, now he was starting to want a family of his own. Peyton’s face taunted him.
Don’t go there. At least, not yet.
He’d finish the case and see how she felt. He wanted her to want him, not to be beholden.
A noise sounded from inside, and he stepped back into the house, alert. The front door was locked. Everything in place.
But the noise had come from the bedroom. A crash? Voice?
He pulled his gun and ran down the hall toward the bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-One
Val was calling her name. Screaming for help.
Peyton stood at the edge of the woods, scanning the area for her sister. Sometimes Val liked to play games. Hide and seek. Where was she now?
A noise toward the west sounded, and Peyton stumbled in the bushes toward it. Her foot caught on a vine, and she fell in a tangle of weeds and briars. The prickly points stabbed her skin. The scent of a dead animal wafted toward her, and she pushed to her hands and knees. It was so dark she