FOR THE BABY'S SAKE (7 page)

Chapter Six

“You need to stop doing that,” he warned.

“But...” She looked up at him, confusion clear in her green eyes. “I just wanted you to see—”

“I see. I don’t need to see another thing. Let’s go.” He turned away, not looking as she maneuvered those long legs out of the car.

“They came out of a cereal box,” she said.

He’d never be able to eat his Cheerios again. “Fine. Let’s not talk about tattoos anymore, okay?” He motioned for her keys, and she handed them to him. He unlocked the apartment door. He held up his palm, stopping her. He went inside, took a quick look around the apartment, and when he came back, he pulled her inside and shut the door.

“You and I are going to talk. But first, go take a shower. I’ll make coffee.”

“I don’t really drink coffee at night. I’d prefer some tea. Something herbal. It’s in the cupboard.”

Herbal. He needed strong, get-a-grip caffeine and she wanted herbal. “Fine. Whatever. Just get that stuff off your face and get rid of those tattoos.”

He made the stupid tea and tried not to think about how she’d look in the shower, the water sliding over her slim, firm body. The woman truly had an incredible shape. He’d appreciated it before, but now that he’d seen a bit more of it, he might have moved into the worship stage.

He had already finished one cup of tea when she came back to the kitchen. Her long hair, looking a bit darker when wet, was pulled back in a loose braid. She had on a T-shirt, a pair of jogging shorts and white socks. No makeup. Not a speck. She looked about sixteen. He felt better. He wouldn’t be tempted to stick his hands up her shirt if she didn’t look legal.

“Here’s your tea.”

“Thanks.”

She sat on the stool next to the kitchen counter and took dainty little sips. Neither of them said a word for a few minutes. When she did speak, she surprised him.

“I did a stupid thing tonight,” she said.

Yeah, that was exactly what he’d intended to tell her.

“Something bad could have happened, and it would have been my own fault.”

Right. That about summed it up. Why didn’t it give him more pleasure to hear her say it? To have her admit that she was out of her league?

“I didn’t want to miss meeting Mary’s friends. I didn’t stop to think about all the other people who would be there.”

He hated—absolutely hated—seeing her this beaten. “Just forget it,” he said. “It’s over.”

And then she started to cry. She might sip daintily, but she cried loud and rough. Her nose got red, big tears slid down her cheeks, her shoulders shook and she made choking sounds. Knowing it was stupid, knowing he’d probably regret it, he walked around the counter and wrapped his arms around her.

“Now, now.” He tried to comfort her. “You had a tough night. Everything will be better in the morning.”

“I hate being a girl. I hate being smaller, shorter, weaker. I hate being afraid.”

The muscles in his stomach tightened.

“Did somebody threaten you?” He pulled back just enough so that he could look her in the eye.

“No. It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

She was lying. “Did somebody touch you tonight?” He felt a burn. It started in the pit of his stomach, then exploded into his arms and legs, making him shake. He was going to kill the bastard.

She shrugged her shoulders, trying to dismiss him. He stopped her. “I told you once. Don’t lie to me. Don’t ever lie to me.”

She gave one last sniff and lifted her chin in the air. “When I got out of the cab, there were a bunch of teenagers outside of the building. One of them said something. He looked a bit older than the rest, maybe twenty or so. I just ignored him. But when I got inside, I couldn’t shake him.”

“What did he do?” He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to hear it.

“He wanted to dance.”

“Okay.”

“I tried to get out of it. He was too strong. I couldn’t get away without making a scene. I’d gotten the information I needed. All I wanted to do was get out of there without a bunch of people wondering who I was and why I was there. I think he might have been high on something. He seemed just on the edge of being out of control.”

She’d gotten information about Mary. He didn’t care. “What did he do to you?”

“He pulled me close and I could feel...him.” She blushed but recovered quickly. “I could feel him poking into me and I got scared. I was in a strange place, I didn’t know a soul and he outweighed me by at least eighty pounds.” She blinked her eyes, where tears still clung to her thick lashes. “Then there was a fight. I guess that’s why the cops came. Anyway, I told him I had to pee and I ran to the bathroom. When the cops came, I almost hugged them.”

He pulled her close, held her next to his heart and bent his mouth very close to her ear. “I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m sorry he touched you. I’m sorry he scared you. But you need to forget it. You’re never going to see him again.”

She moved even closer, and her curves suddenly filled his hands. Her heat warmed him. She kissed the side of his neck.

Let it be enough,
he prayed.
Let it be enough.
But he knew it wouldn’t. He wanted her mouth, he wanted her hands, he wanted her legs spread apart. He wanted to make love with her for about a day. That might be enough.

“I’m very grateful,” she said, making him feel like a lecherous old man. She looked sixteen, and she’d just given him a shy, sweet little kiss and a gracious thank-you. And all he could do was think about pushing her backward, getting her legs hooked over his arms and coming inside of her until one of them passed out.

Then she wrapped her arms around his back and hugged him. He could feel the whole length of her body. It pressed up against him, tempting him. She smelled so good. Sweet and fresh. He bent his head over her wet hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. He moved his hands across her back, fingering the bottom of her T-shirt. God help him, he needed to touch her.

He put one hand under her shirt, lightly rubbing her bare back. He moved his fingers over her warm skin, loving the silky feel of her. He moved his hand a bit higher, finding only skin. The woman hadn’t put a bra on. Was she crazy? Didn’t she have a clue what that did to him, to feel her warm skin, to know that he was just inches away from holding her breast in his hand?

And when she lifted her face and her lips were just inches from his, he went down for the count. He kissed her. Long and slow. And when he slid his tongue into her mouth and she suckled lightly on it, he got instantly hard.

Never taking his mouth away from hers, he moved his hand across her ribs and cupped one breast, loving the feel of the heavy weight, loving the softness, the warmth. He brushed his fingers across her nipple, groaning when she arched her back and pressed her breast more fully into his open hand. He shifted, pressing his hardness against her softness.

She jerked her head back, her eyes wide open.

Her soft, liquid warmth had turned into a hard, solid block of ice.

He was an idiot. A senseless, selfish idiot. She’d already had one man tonight poking into her, causing her to be scared. And now he was doing the same thing. With grim resolution, he pulled away from her, putting a good foot between their bodies.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t believe I did that. I...I should be shot.”

She laughed. A bit shaky perhaps but it gave him a little hope. “I think that’s extreme,” she said.

“I’m not so sure. I’m attracted to you,” he said. “But you don’t have to worry. It would be unprofessional for me to pursue a relationship with you.”

She stared at him.

“I’m a cop,” he said, reminding both of them. “I’m investigating a murder. I can’t do anything to compromise that investigation.”

He could tell that she was starting to get it.

“Never mind,” Sawyer said, thinking he’d rather be just about anywhere else than explaining to her why he couldn’t even think about sleeping with her. “I think I’d better go.” He grabbed his keys off the counter.

Liz’s braid had flipped over one shoulder, and she played with the wet ends. “Don’t you even want to know what I learned about Mary?” she asked, her voice subdued.

Yes. No. Hell, he’d been so far gone that he’d forgotten all about Mary. He moved behind the counter, needing the physical barrier. “What?”

She took a sip of tea. “Mary and Dantel Mirandez are fishing in Wisconsin.”

He laughed, glad that he still could. “Sure they are.”

Her cheeks turned pink. “I talked to one of Mary’s friends tonight. At first, she wouldn’t tell me anything. But then I think she decided that I might be able to help Mary.”

“Did she say Mary needed help?”

“No, but she acted nervous, like she didn’t want to be caught talking about Mirandez or Mary.”

“Smart girl. Liz, I can’t see Mirandez with a fishing pole. Not unless he’d diced somebody up and was using them for bait.”

“You said Mirandez was smart. If he wanted to disappear, doesn’t it make sense that he’d go somewhere you’d never think to look?”

“Yeah, but fishing? And anyway, even if I believed it, there has to be at least a thousand lakes in Wisconsin. We’d never find him.”

“It’s someplace near Wisconsin Dells.”

Near Wisconsin Dells. Or The Dells, as all the vacationers called it. One of the detectives he worked with had just taken his family there. He’d called it Little Disney. There were lots of water parks, miniature golf courses and restaurants. Home of the Tommy Bartlett ski show and the boats shaped like ducks that cruised up and down the Wisconsin River.

He couldn’t for the life of him see Mirandez at a place like that. “It just sounds too bizarre,” he said, absolutely hating to see the look of disappointment on her face. “Even if he’s there, we wouldn’t have a clue where to start looking.”

“Yes, we do. He’s at a cabin. We just have to check out the cabins in the area.”

“It’s Wisconsin. The state is full of cabins and campgrounds. Even if we know it’s around The Dells, it’s a big area to search.”

She didn’t look convinced. “I have to try,” she said.

He got a bad feeling in the bottom of his stomach. “You’re not trying anything. Wasn’t tonight enough of a lesson?”

She swallowed hard, and he felt bad about throwing it in her face. But if that was what it took to keep her safe at home, he didn’t feel that bad.

“Yes, tonight sucked. I got hit on by a kid and spent a half hour sitting on a dirty floor. But it’s nothing in the grand scheme of things. I have to find Mary.”

“The police will find Mirandez. And Mary will be there. We’ve got a huge amount of manpower out on the street. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Not if he’s fishing.”

“Gang leaders do not fish.” Sawyer pounded his fist against the kitchen counter.

“You can’t be sure of that.” Liz started to pace around her apartment. “I don’t know what’s going on here. I’ve thought about it for days, and nothing seems to make sense. Well, maybe one thing. That first day we met, after the shooting, you said that it seemed like Mirandez wanted Mary’s attention. That he wasn’t actually trying to hurt her.”

“Right. She’s his girlfriend. Maybe he’s partial to sleeping in the same bed every night.”

“No. It’s more than that. I think Mirandez thinks it’s his baby.”

“You told me it belonged to a student at Loyola.”

“Yes. But I think Mary told Mirandez something different.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s young and alone and probably desperately wanted someone to want both her and the baby.”

“Then the Loyola kid was just convenient.”

“Perhaps. But he didn’t deny that he’d slept with Mary.”

“Who knows how many men she slept with?” He hated to be quite so blunt, but Liz needed to stop looking at Mary with rose-colored glasses. She surprised him when she didn’t look offended.

“You’re right. We don’t know. And maybe Mirandez doesn’t, either. You said that Mary had been his girlfriend for the past six months. She’s eight months pregnant.”

Sawyer sat down on one of the counter stools, tapping two fingers against his lips, deep in thought. “So, she’s two months along before she ever sleeps with Mirandez. But he doesn’t know it.”

“Maybe she didn’t even know it. But she probably figured it out fast enough. By that time, Mirandez was taking care of her, giving her money, making her feel important.”

“So, she doesn’t want to walk away from a good thing.” Sawyer didn’t bother to try to hide his disgust.

“Or she was afraid to try to walk away. Especially once she saw the murder. Maybe that’s why Mirandez tried to frighten her. To let her know that he wasn’t going to let her walk away.”

“Because he loves her?” Sawyer shook his head. “It’s possible, I suppose.”

“Maybe he wants the baby?” Liz raised an eyebrow.

Sawyer shook his head. “He’s a killer. Why would a gang leader, a professional drug dealer, want a baby? And what’s so special about this baby? Who knows how many kids he already has running around the city?”

“I don’t know. But if I’m right and he does want the baby, then Mary’s life isn’t worth the price of bubblegum once she gives birth.”

Sawyer didn’t say anything for a few minutes. “Or maybe she and Mirandez are playing house somewhere, and she doesn’t want to be found. She might not be in any danger at all.”

“I can’t take that chance. Mirandez might be holding her against her will. She’s the one person who can send him to jail. Once she has that baby, she’s a loose end that he can tie up.”

“She should be safe enough for a couple weeks. Didn’t you say that the baby wasn’t due until September?”

“Babies are known to come early.”

“We’ll alert every hospital in the state. In Wisconsin, too. Hell, in the whole damn country. If someone comes in matching Mary’s description, we’ll have her.”

“But what if he won’t let her go to the hospital?”

“He’s a drug dealer, not a doctor.” Even Mirandez wouldn’t be stupid enough to try to deliver a baby.

“Blood probably doesn’t bother him.”

Yeah, but delivering a baby? Sawyer had watched the obligatory films in the academy. But in all his years on the police force, he’d never had to deliver a baby. Even before that, when his son had been born, his girlfriend hadn’t called until it was all over. He’d raced to the hospital to see his four-hour-old son. He’d barely left the hospital for the next thirteen days. He’d slept and eaten only when he’d been on the verge of falling down. He’d stayed there until they’d taken the body of his son from his arms, leaving him forever alone.