Smoky Mountain Investigation (9 page)

She accepted his offering and arranged it on the desk in front of her.

“That was one of the things I used to love about you. You never were afraid of trying new things.”

She broke eye contact with him and took a bite of her sandwich, but not before he saw her gaze turn stormy.

Nick nearly choked on the bite he’d taken.
Love.
Why’d he have to say that? Let alone
used
to love.
Open mouth, insert foot.
Size thirteen, at that.

“I’m glad you still have an inquisitive spirit. It’s nice that some things don’t change.” He tried for clarification to make amends.

“I’ve changed plenty, Nick.”

“Oh?” Now he was curious.

She took another bite, and he did also.

“So.” He swallowed. “What changes have you made?”

“Well,” she muttered, dabbing the sides of her mouth, “I’m more routine and settled. Not quite as impulsive as when I was younger. And, yes—” she met his gaze, her eyes focused on his “—it is awkward when you use the word
love.
Especially in the past tense.”

The woman could read his mind. That hadn’t changed.

“Sorry. I’ll try to watch my words.”

She lowered her lashes, hiding her expression. “Thank you.”

He took a bite of his sandwich, chastising himself for his poor choice of words.

“I just don’t like to be reminded of my mistakes.” She finished her statement with a sigh and Nick bit his tongue to keep from choking. Mistake?

Ouch.
That hurt, in more ways than one.

Nick sat there a moment, mulling over a response for a comment like that. True, their relationship hadn’t worked out, but he’d never considered it a mistake. A growing experience, maybe. Could she really believe it was anything other than that? Or was she just trying to get back at him?

No. That didn’t sound like Kylie. She was too sweet.

Taking another bite, he didn’t bother to try to figure out her motives. His years of training in psychological criminology had supplied him with insight into the behavior and mental processes of the criminal mind. But when it came to the mind of a woman, he was still at a loss.

Nick wadded up the sandwich wrapper and tossed it into the trash. He’d let the
mistake
comment ride for the moment. For now he had more important tasks to attend to.

Catching a stalker was number one on his list.

* * *

An awkward quietness lapsed between them.

Setting her canned drink on her desk, Kylie shot a quick glance at Nick from beneath her lashes. The bewilderment that had momentarily captured his features was displaced by a cool and relaxed expression.

The poor man was probably confused by her sensitivity to their past. Obviously it wasn’t something he dwelled on.

Kylie raised her drink to her lips again and took another sip. The logical part of her brain shouted,
Good for him.
But emotionally, her heart slipped a little.

“By the way, I had a nice conversation with Dave today.” Nick finally spoke after chasing his last bite of chips down with a drink of cola.

“He gave me permission to look over the facts in the case,” Nick continued, wiping his fingers with a paper napkin. “I plan to compile them on a flowchart and see how the pieces fit together.”

She glanced at him, impressed. “You sound so organized.”

The glint of fervor in his eyes impressed her even more. “It’s helps to write things down and study them on paper. I call it my investigative road map. Hopefully, the trail of clues on that map will lead us to your stalker.”

“Sounds like a great plan.” She nodded.

Nick displayed the dedication and zeal he’d had when he was young. A man of integrity who had a passion to fix what was broken, lend a helping hand and not let anyone down. Although it was an impossible quest to live up to, as it turned out.

The precarious situation she’d put him in the night Conrad was killed still haunted her.

With a plan to capture a panoramic view of the campsite at sunset for the yearbook, she’d coerced Nick into sneaking away from camp and coming along, knowing he wouldn’t let her go alone. Though the trek took longer than either of them had expected, she’d still selfishly pushed forward, not concerned enough about getting back before curfew.

If her youthful judgment hadn’t been skewed, maybe Nick’s presence would have diverted the killer and spared Conrad’s life.

She and Nick had pondered that question for days after the murder. It was no surprise that Nick had ended up fighting for his country, involved in the most deadly missions on earth. Penance.

And her wrenching penance: a life without him.

Kylie had played by the rules all her life, but one slipup had cost her everything.

Stop it!
She swallowed a sigh along with her bite. She’d rehashed enough. Besides, who was to say the outcome would have been different even if Nick had been there?

Acid burned in her stomach and made eating impossible. She wadded up the last of her sandwich in its wrapper.

From the corner of her eye, she caught Nick’s skeptical gaze.

“Are you okay?”

Kylie hesitated, then shrugged, twisting in her chair to face him. “Fine. Just thinking.”

“The last few days have been pretty scary. I’m sure you have a lot on your mind.”

Much more than he could imagine. She wiped her hands. “I’m coming along. I’m not too worried. I’m trying just to trust in the Lord.”

Nick nodded, appearing to buy into her comment, but the strain in his eyes told her differently.

He, too, was worried.

Warmth trickled through her knowing he still cared. Then she came to her senses.

Beyond Nick’s caring disposition, he was a master of intelligence, trained to take on hijackers, terrorists and serial killers. He’d stumbled into this mess, and being who he was, he couldn’t walk away. He was doing his job. Doing what he did best.

She was only extraneous baggage.

Gathering herself, she shoved away the troubling thoughts and got back to business.

“Beyond collecting clues, what are we going to do about this maniac?”

Nick laughed and the tension in the room dissolved some. “Believe me, I have plenty of ideas on what to do with this creep once he’s caught. But a bigger question still remains—who is he?”

“That’s what we need to find out before law enforcement does. We have exclusive rights to this story and we need to hold on to them,” a deep voice rumbled from behind her.

Kylie knew the culprit even before she shot a glance over her shoulder and locked her gaze on Max.

“My life is in danger and you’re worried about an exclusive?”

A slow grin cracked his lips as he made his way to her from the doorway. “Safety first, of course. Still, keep an investigative mind. Don’t push the creep away—draw him in. And once all the facts are in and the culprit is exposed, you’ll need to pounce on the story before our competition does.”

Nick shot her an unamused look and Kylie breathed easier. She recognized that expression and it wasn’t a passive one. Settling back in her seat, she decided to let him take it from there.

* * *

“What are you thinking? This is some sort of James Bond adventure flick?” Nick fried Max with a glare. “There’s a lunatic on the loose. When this thing finally ends and the credits roll, I don’t care who has the exclusive.”

Max grinned and walked toward Nick. He thrust out his hand. “I’m Max Dawson, chief editor and Kylie’s boss. You must be Nick Bentley.”

Nick rose from his seat and shook his hand, not impressed.

“Kylie told me you were in town. I remember the article she wrote about you a few years back. You have quite a résumé.” Max fell back a step and draped his lanky frame along the edge of a desk. He crossed his arms.

“Article?” Nick’s glance flicked to Kylie.

A rush of bright pink invaded her cheeks and she smiled. “We ran a series on local heroes. Steven sent us information on you. We interviewed him for the story. Didn’t he tell you?”

So that was how Kylie knew about his endeavors, not of her own accord. Nick’s ego deflated a bit. He reclaimed the seat.

“No. Steven never mentioned it.” Good thing his brother was already laid up, because Nick wanted to wring his neck.

He had enlisted in the military to do his part to protect his country. It wasn’t personal. It was duty. Leaving a friend in the lurch and abandoning the woman he loved—that was personal. And he had failed on both accounts. Hardly a hero.

“The article received a lot of interest. Folks were quite impressed by the job you were doing to protect our country.” Deeper color flooded Kylie’s cheeks.

“Well, I suppose everyone could look good on paper. I’m a skilled soldier, nothing more. However,” he added after a pause, “I appreciate the tribute.”

Although a stretch, he didn’t want to sound ungrateful, for Kylie’s sake.

“Hero or not, I’m glad that you’re keeping an eye on Kylie.” Max stood and squeezed Kylie’s shoulder before he walked away. “Keep me posted on any new developments.”

“Sure, Max.” Kylie shook her head.

The vibes Nick was getting from Kylie’s editor were leaving him wary. “Is this guy for real?”

“If you mean, is he really only in it for the story? Then probably.”

Nick locked eyes with Kylie and settled back in his seat. Absently, he scratched his jaw. “I believe we have our first suspect.”

“What?” Kylie’s mouth fell open. “Max is crazy, but not
crazy
crazy.”

“Guilty, sweetheart, until proven otherwise.”

“I believe it’s the other way around.”

“Not in my book.”

EIGHT

O
ver the next couple days, seconds ticked by like hours.

Bumping up her stride, Kylie paced the length of the living room to the kitchen and back again, pausing every now and again to glance out the window. Waiting was something she had never been good at, and with her stalker still on the loose, overcoming that flaw wasn’t happening.

“Hey.” Nick caught her by the hand, interrupting her next step. “Remember, stalkers try not to be obvious. So I doubt he plans to come strolling up the driveway.”

Absently, Kylie whirled toward him. “I can’t sit around and do nothing.”

“Sure you can.” Nick gestured to a seat at the table.

She hesitated, torn between her repetitious march and taking a break and sitting. A tangle of nerves knotted her stomach. Neither option enticed her.

A moment later, Nick pulled out the chair and twisted it slightly, the legs skidding against the hardwood floor. “Here. Now sit. You can see out the window.” He patted the seat.

Great. He was making fun of her.

Not that she blamed him. If she were him, she’d think she was crazy, too. Burning a path from one room to another, as if that would resolve anything.

Nick resumed his seat, leaned back in it and folded his arms across his chest.

Kylie drew in a breath, discounting the paranoid voice in her head. She hated feeling anxious. Then again, waiting for the next threat of terror wasn’t easy.

Spent from restless sleep and frustrated, Kylie dropped onto the padded seat and blew out a breath. “Okay. I’m officially sitting around and doing nothing. Satisfied?”

“Oh, yes. Very.” A tease in his voice.

Kylie shifted her gaze and found his familiar coffee-brown eyes staring back, glinting in amusement. Warmth curled through her, relaxing her shoulders and bumping up her heart rate. She couldn’t help but smile at Nick’s antics. His ability to spike her emotions with a glance still amazed her.

She gave herself a mental shake. She needed to keep a rein on her wayward emotions. Once the ordeal with her stalker was over and his brother healed, Nick would be out of her life again.

Once more tension grabbed at her muscles. Alarmed at how easily romantic notions took hold of her heart, she reined in every fanciful thought, vowing to stay focused.

“You need to relax.” Nick leaned in, closing his large hand around her smaller one, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “Getting stressed out isn’t going to help us solve this case.”

Kylie pulled her hand away before melancholy thoughts could take over again. Straightening in her seat, she flexed her fingers, still warm from his touch. “But if the killer doesn’t make contact with me soon, we’ll never get this case solved.”

Nick pushed back in his chair and drummed his long fingers on the wooden armrest. He looked way too relaxed for someone traipsing through the same nightmare she was. “Don’t worry. He’ll be in touch.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“Remember, I’ve got your back,” he said with a wink.

Hearing him say that brought tears to her eyes. She blinked to keep them at bay and sent up a silent prayer, asking for strength and a clear mind. She didn’t want to put too much trust in this man. “Thank you. It’s just hard to wait. Especially since I don’t know what to expect next.”

A glint of understanding entered his eyes. “It is hard to wait, and your stalker knows that.”

Kylie hated being manipulated. Drawing a deep breath, she mumbled, “I wish he would call so we could just get this over with.”

A hearty laugh deepened the indentions on either side of Nick’s face. “And to think a few days ago you were worried that your phone might ring.”

“So true.” Kylie rubbed her hand along her jeans, trying to flatten out a wrinkle beside the seam rather than look at Nick. Just a fleeting glance at his infamous smile and her willpower not to fall in love with him again was greatly in jeopardy.

“Funny how your priorities change when there’s a target on your back.” She worked up a pleasant smile. “After three days without a word from him, I’m getting a bit antsy.”

“Remember, every move this guy makes is strategically planned. He wants you off guard. This is his ball game and he wants to remind us that he’s in charge.”

Kylie shrank back against the chair and crossed her arms. “Believe me, I’m quite aware. Frankly, this guy’s boldness scares me to death. Not only is he watching every move I make, he broke into the house and made sure I heard him, while knowing you were only steps away.”