She visibly shook herself. „I’m being selfish here. You invite me to share a nice dinner and I go all maudlin on you. Let’s talk about something else.“
„Okay, something else.“ He tilted his head, scrutinizing her. „You surprised us this afternoon at the target range. You never told us you could shoot.“ But she could. He’d watched her standing in front of Diana Givens’s glass counter methodically choosing her weapon, his mind thinking about how pleasurable it would be to show her the fundamentals of handling a firearm. How it would feel to put his arms around her, to feel her slender body against his. His body had responded instantly to the fantasy, leaving him almost relieved when she’d declined his and Mia’s offers of help. Instead, she’d emptied the magazine into the paper target with speed and accuracy, leaving them all momentarily speechless. „You hit the chest cavity every time.“
„I’m no sharpshooter, but I can hold my own with a tin can on a fence rail.“
„So you lived on a farm in Kansas?“ he asked, pulling together the scant details about her life she’d let drop over the last few days.
She shifted uncomfortably, but nodded. „My father had an old.38 we used to use for target practice.“
She’d effectively sidestepped that question about the old Mayhew family homestead. „So who got your father’s gun when he died?“
Her expression chilled. „My father isn’t dead.“
Abe frowned. „But you said you don’t have any family.“
„Because I don’t.“ Once again she drew a breath and visibly shook herself. „I’m sorry. There I go again. I’m just mad I have to wait three days to get my gun. The reality of gun laws hit me pretty squarely when I was filling out the paperwork.“
„What do you mean?“
She grimaced. „Just that the guys I’m protecting myself against will have purchased theirs from a dealer that doesn’t exactly comply with gun laws. They’re armed while I wait“
„You probably could have the waiting period waived.“
„And wouldn’t that look just peachy in Zoe Richardson’s report?“ She shook her head. „I don’t think so. No, I’ll just keep a tire iron under my pillow until I get my permit.“
He opened his mouth to say more, then closed it on a groan when the restaurant door opened. Kristen instantly sat up and pulled her hand back to her side of the table. „What?“ she asked, twisting to look behind her, alarm on her face. „More reporters?“
„No, worse. My sister.“ It was true. Rachel came in with what appeared to be a busload of teenagers, and the volume in the restaurant became suddenly overwhelming.
That Rachel wouldn’t see him was too much to hope. That she wouldn’t recognize Kristen was just pipe dreaming. From across the restaurant he could see Rachel’s eyes grow wide, and in less than a minute she was standing beside their table.
„Abe!“ She leaned down and pecked his cheek. „I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight. Did you ask her? Did you?“
Abe sighed. Rachel’s request for an interview with Kristen for her school project. In all the activity it had simply slipped his mind. „No, Rach, we’ve been busy.“
Rachel frowned her displeasure. „Then at least introduce me so I can. Please?“
Abe sighed, more heavily this time. „Kristen Mayhew, this is my youngest sister Rachel. Rachel, this is Assistant State’s Attorney Mayhew.“
Saturday, February 21,
7:30 p.m.
„He doesn’t want to be disturbed.“
Jacob Conti could hear the voice of his butler outside the door of his darkened office where a tenor’s voice soared from the speakers to greet the final notes of his favorite aria. Normally he found this the most relaxing way to end the day, but today it was a farce. Angelo was missing, Elaine was in tears and Jacob knew what came next would be bad.
„He’ll want to see me,“ Drake Edwards said.
No, I don’t want to see you, Jacob thought. But he silenced the aria with the remote. „Let him in.“ He rose, furious that his legs trembled. He took one look at Drake’s face and sank back down into his chair. His head of security looked grim.
„I’m sorry, Jacob,“ Drake said quietly. He brought a set of keys from his shirt pocket and Jacob instantly recognized the Northwestern emblem hanging from the chain. „We found the Corvette. Some kids say they found the keys on the front seat and were taking a joy ride.“
„And Angelo?“ Jacob’s voice was hoarse.
Drake shook his head. „He was last seen at a bar off campus. His friends say he’d had a lot to drink, but he wouldn’t let anybody call him a cab.“
Stupid, stupid boy. „No, I guess he wouldn’t. Not Angelo.“
„Jacob, we…“ Drake closed his eyes, his expression pained. „We found blood spattered on the driver’s seat.“
Jacob drew a breath. He’d have to tell Elaine. This would kill her. „I’ll wait to tell Mrs. Conti until we’re certain. Keep looking, Drake. And put men on Mayhew and those two detectives… Mitchell and Reagan. According to Richardson, the killer sends Mayhew letters. If Angelo’s – “ He forced the word from his mouth, „hurt, they’ll know soon enough.“
Drake nodded stiffly. This was hard on him, too, Jacob thought. Drake had been with him for a long time, long before he was Jacob Conti, wealthy Chicago industrialist. Drake had been his right-hand man since he was running two-bit cons on lonely old ladies and doing the dirty work of others on the side. Drake was family. He’d changed Angelo’s diapers, taken him to the circus when he was just a kid. Drake’s heart had to be breaking.
„I already put men on the three of them and their bosses and the Richardson woman,“ Drake said. „Jacob, try to get some rest I won’t stop until we find Angelo.“
No, Drake wouldn’t stop looking. Jacob knew it as well as he knew his own name. But when he does find Angelo, will I still have a son?
Chapter Thirteen
Saturday, February 21,
9:30 p.m.
With a wave to the cruiser, Reagan pulled into her driveway, his headlights illuminating another vehicle sitting under her carport. „Looks like you have company,“ he said.
„I don’t think so.“ She never had company. Except for him. „I think the rental car company brought me another car.“ Kristen squinted to see the make and model in the darkness. „It’s a Chevy.“ She glanced over to find him studying her, his expression as intense and expectant as it had been the whole way to her house. There had been an air of anticipation hovering between them that made her jumpy and wistfully anxious all at once. „Maybe it’ll come with a global positioning system just like Skinner’s.“
The corner of Reagan’s mouth lifted. „Couldn’t hurt.“
The silence between them grew heavy and still his eyes held hers. He was waiting. For what she wasn’t sure. Yes, she was. Trouble was, she had no idea how to begin.
„Thank you,“ she said. „I had a good time.“ She really had. She’d met his sister and what seemed like four dozen of his sister’s friends. The kids had been noisy and brash, but their youthful enthusiasm served to dissolve her depressed mood. They’d been curious about the case, which thanks to Rachel everyone knew about, and asked questions, most of them surprisingly pertinent. Rachel lapsed into an imitation of Zoe Richardson so irreverently funny that Kristen laughed until her ribs ached. Then the middle school crowd took over the other half of the restaurant, leaving Kristen and Reagan to talk in relative peace.
Reagan liked art, he told her, and they found they had Impressionists in common. Music was a slightly different matter. He preferred seventies rock while she admitted owning every Bee Gees’ album ever made, much to his disdain. She’d found Reagan’s company utterly charming. And comfortable. And enticing.