Murder List

Chapter Twenty-eight

Henry told her what had happened. He rushed into her office, closed the doors behind him, and said, “I know you were worried about Kevin, so I just wanted you to know it all worked out.”

She’d been searching through her desk drawers looking for her stash of M amp;M’s. She immediately gave Henry her full attention. She looked up and saw how relieved Henry was. “That’s good to know.”

Henry wanted to talk. “Kevin is on his way up. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is.”

“He said it was real bad for a while.”

“It was?”

“Alec had it all set up. He told Kevin’s dad to keep the kids out of there, and he did. Anyway, Kevin didn’t want to leave, so he saw it go down.”

“Was Kevin in the house while this was happening?”

“No,” he said. “He was across the street, staying out of the way. I think maybe he was hiding so Alec wouldn’t make him leave. He said that for a minute there he was afraid of Alec. I guess a couple of his mother’s friends resisted, and Alec and the others with him had to get… uh, physical so they could get the cuffs on them. I sure wish I’d been there. Kevin said the look on Alec’s face when he was… you know, having to get physical, was scary.”

“I’m glad you weren’t there,” she said.

He pushed some papers out of his way and sat on the edge of her desk. “I’ll bet they knew Kevin was there. Alec told Kevin’s mother she’d get the opportunity to go into rehab, but she turned it down.”

“How’s Kevin doing?”

“He’s okay. He’s kind of come to terms with the way things have to be.”

“You’re a good friend, Henry.”

“Yeah, well, he’s helped me get through some tough times.” He spotted Kevin in the outer office and said, “Kevin was okay with me telling you what happened, but…”

“I still won’t mention anything,” she assured him.

Regan bent down to check her bottom drawer for the M amp;M’s, and when she looked up, she saw Alec standing next to Henry’s desk talking to him. Kevin was there too, standing beside his friend.

Alec evidently hadn’t gone home to change clothes after the action at Kevin’s house. He walked into her office, asked her if anything was going on, and then told her he’d dismissed the policeman and was taking over the bodyguard duty.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

He looked comfortable in his jeans and T-shirt, but the gun and holster were very noticeable. He caught her staring at it. “It’s part of the job, Regan.”

“I know.”

“Good, because you need to be okay with it.”

Why was he getting all worked up? “What’s the matter with you?”

He glanced into the outer office, saw Kevin, and shook his head. “Nothing’s the matter. Some people just don’t get the breaks they should. It was a bad way to start a morning, that’s all.”

“But it turned out all right?”

He shrugged, and that was the end of the conversation.

Alec could close up quicker than a clam. If he hadn’t been so aggravating, she would have been impressed.

By midafternoon they had fallen back into their routine. Alec took a nap on her sofa while she cleaned out files.

That evening they went back to her suite, ordered pizza, popcorn, pop, and beer, and watched a movie. It was an old classic, a love story that made her cry and made him laugh. She accused him of not having a sentimental bone in his body, and he took that as a compliment.

The next night he chose the movie, and they watched another old classic. It wasn’t a love story, though, it was a rip-’em-up, shoot-’em-up, skin-’em-alive movie with lots of special effects and aliens. He loved it.

Both of them had their feet propped up on the ottoman. She was barefoot; he was wearing socks. One had a big hole in it.

The credits were rolling when he asked, “Want to watch it again?”

She didn’t think he was kidding. “No, thank you. It was too violent for me.”

“You thought it was violent?” He acted surprised by her reaction.

“Alec, I counted thirty-two dead bodies.”

“That’s not so bad,” he said with a straight face.

“Thirty-two in the first half hour. I stopped counting after that.”

“Hey, they were aliens, and humans were their food source. What did you expect?”

“A little less face eating would have been nice.”

“Yeah, but not as scary. Man, I loved those kinds of movies when I was a kid.”

“You liked being scared?”

“Sure.”

“What about nightmares?”

“I shared a room with my brother Dylan, and I figured if any monsters got in, the two of us could take them.” He grinned as he added, “I was kind of cocky back then.”

“Back then? I’ve got news for you, hotshot. You still are.”

He laughed. “Hotshot? I come from a family of eight, and we were all hotshots at one time or another.”

“Where do you fit in?”

“I’m third down from the top. There’s Theo, the oldest, then Nick, then me, then Dylan, Mike, two sisters, Jordan and Sydney, and then baby Zack. He’s still a wild man.”

She nudged his shoulder. “I’ll bet you gave your parents gray hair when you were a child. It’s lucky you grew up. But I guess I did some pretty foolish things too.”

“Is that a boast?”

When she didn’t answer, he nudged her shoulder.

“I’m sure I was just as reckless as you were,” she finally said.

They then spent the next hour trying to one-up each other with the dumb stunts they’d pulled as children. Alec won hands down.

“How come all of your stories about your childhood involve power tools?” she asked.

He laughed. “Not all, just some. How come you never mention your parents in any of your stories?”

“I know I told you my father died when I was little, and my mother was never at home. I remember saying good night to her over the phone.”

“Now, that’s just sad.”

She laughed. “No it isn’t. It’s just the way things were.”

“That’s no way for a little girl to grow up. How come you turned out so normal?”

“Who says I’m normal?”

“I do. I’ll bet that I know just about everything there is to know about you.” He was teasing her and being very arrogant. “I know what you like and what you don’t like.”

“I doubt that,” she said.

“You hate salmon; you’re allergic to strawberries, and you sneeze whenever you’re around roses.”

She retaliated. “You’re a ketchup freak. You put it on everything, even peanut butter sandwiches. You hate thin-crust pizza, and you aren’t allergic to anything.”

“My turn again? Okay. You’re very competitive; you’re a fullblown liberal trapped in a family of conservatives, and honest to God, I don’t know how that happened; you think you’re good at hiding your emotions, but you’re not, and you don’t trust men or marriage.”

He had touched a nerve, and she sounded a bit defensive when she responded. “You’re far more competitive than I am; you think you’re a liberal, but you’re really very conservative; you have strong, unbendable values, and, Alec, I do trust some men.”

“And marriage?”

“My mother was married twice, and both of her husbands were unfaithful. I don’t want to make her mistakes, and I’ve learned there’s no such thing as now and forever.”

“Unless you marry the right man.”

“That’s the trick, isn’t it? Knowing who’s right and who’s wrong. I think it’s all a guessing game.”

“No, it isn’t,” he argued. “And it’s not a science either.”

“Oh? Then how will you know who’s right for you?”

“Are you asking me to describe my perfect woman?”

“There’s no such thing as a perfect woman.”

“Sure there is,” he said.

“Oh? What does she look like?”

Their arms were touching, and neither one of them moved away. “She has dark hair.”

“Yes?”

“And blue eyes. The color of violets. Incredible blue eyes.”

He was leaning down toward her now, and she thought he might kiss her. She hoped he would.

“She’s got a great body.”

“Of course she does.”

“Are you mocking my fantasy woman?”

“No,” she said, smiling. “Go on. What else? Does she have magic powers?”

He leaned a little closer. “It’s gonna be magic when we’re together.”

Oh, God, he was going to kiss her. She held her breath.

“And long legs,” he said, his voice whisper-soft now.

His knuckles gently trailed down the side of her face. She had to force herself to stay still and not lean into the caress. Why wouldn’t he kiss her? What was taking him so long?

“Does this perfect woman have a brain, or is not having a brain what makes her perfect.”

“Of course she has a brain. She’s very intelligent, has a quick wit, and she makes me laugh. She’s got this wonderful combination of vulnerability and stubbornness. And that, Regan, is my perfect woman.”

His mouth was just inches from hers. She closed her eyes and waited.

He tweaked her nose. “Got to go.”

She blinked. “You… what?”

“Got to go.”

He had his tennis shoes on, his laces tied, and was halfway to the door before she had her wits about her.

She stood, grabbed the bowl of popcorn she’d forgotten was in her lap, and put it on the coffee table.

“You have fun teasing me, don’t you?”

He was tucking his T-shirt into his jeans. “You make it easy.” He opened the door and stepped out into the hall. “Come here, Regan.”

The way he was looking at her made her stomach flutter. She walked over to the door. “Yes?”

“Let me hear you flip the dead bolt.”

“Oh. Yes, okay.”

He pulled the door closed. “Night.”

She could have sworn she heard him laughing as he walked away.