Page 31

M ax stepped outside of the police department and walked through the rain along with Ana toward her rental car.

“Max?”

He turned when his name was called and found Detective Ward hurrying up to him.

“How can I help you, detective?”

“I have another suspect I want to run past you.” The older man held an umbrella and pulled his heavy coat closer.

“Blake’s dead,” Max said.

“I know. But there’s something else.”

“You should talk to Lieutenant Tiller.” Max pointed to the building.

“I already did while you were out processing, he said to run it past you,” Ward said.

“There’s a diner across the street, let’s not stand here getting rained on,” Ana cut in and gestured before marching across the street.

Max and Ward followed her and before long, they were encased in a booth with hot coffee in their hands.

“Start,” Max said. He had somewhere to be and every moment away from Lily was increasing his stress.

“There was a man who entered Stevenson’s apartment building yesterday around the time he was killed.” Ward placed his cell phone on the desk and pointed to it.

Max hit the play button on the screen and a video of the hallway streamed.

“That’s how we knew it wasn’t you. This person is much smaller than you.”

“Plus the fact that I never entered the apartment building,” Max said dryly.

“Yeah, that.” Ward smirked. “Tiller is eating crow at the moment.”

Max didn’t give two shits what Tiller was eating. He gazed at the video. The man or woman moved tentatively through the hallway, but seemed to know where they were going. No hesitation. That meant the person had been there before or had staked out the place.

“Is that a woman?” Max squinted at the screen.

“Maybe, but I don’t think so. It’s a guy with a slender build,” Ward said.

“Is this all you got?” Max said.

“I have one of my investigators looking into another possibility. That not only Blake traveled to Montana, but someone else.”

“Who else went?”

“I don’t know yet, we’re checking airline, train stations, and bus manifests, but I bet you money that the stalker and the person responsible for those men’s deaths are one and the same.”

“Thank you, detective,” Max said, sliding out of the booth. “Keep me posted and I’ll let you know what I find out on my end.” He tossed bills on the table, helped Ana with her coat, and they were soon speeding down the street toward Sara’s house.

“Who do you think that was?” Ana squeezed the steering wheel tightly.

“On the video? I don’t know.”

“I know some slender men of that build who are around Lily,” Ana said, getting over to the right to turn the corner.

“I do too.”

“Chris, for one,” Ana said.

“Shane, Sara’s brother.”

Ana sighed. “I don’t think Shane did this.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s not smart enough to pull it off.”

“People with obsessive love can do sinister things. Plus, you’re forgetting about Ryan. He’s a slender build as well.”

“Do you really think it’s someone we know? What if Lily ran into someone and smiled at them?” Ana turned down the street in Sara’s neighborhood.

“It could be, but we can’t take the chance it’s not. Staying alert to the possibility of it being someone we know is key.”

“Why?”

“That way there’re no surprises.”

Ana agreed. “I see.”

“You do criminal law. How often or not is it some random person?”

“Not very often. Unless it’s a serial killer,” Ana admitted. Pulling up to park in front of Sara’s place, she shut the engine off.

“Exactly,” Max stated and got out of the car.

He pulled out his keys. When the repairman for the new lock on the door came, Max made certain to get a key made for himself. Just in case Lily couldn’t get to the door.

He shoved the key inside and opened the door.

Levi was standing with a gun pointed at him and Lily rushed up from the couch and ran to him.

Max caught her close.

“So, you’ve been cleared of all charges?” Lily asked, holding Max’s hand with both of hers. The man had arrived minutes ago and she had never felt so relieved in her life.

Now, they were sitting on her bed in the spare room where she had dragged him after Max had finished talking with Levi.

She overheard him warn Levi not to trust anyone around them. It was an odd conversation and she was only privy to it because Max had refused to let go of her hand from the moment he’d walked in the door.

During that conversation, Levi had agreed to stay on and help keep watch. After all, there was a killer on the loose.

“Yes, I’ve been cleared,” Max assured her softly, running his thumb over the top of her knuckles.

Her sigh of relief escaped, sounding loud in the room and she flushed. “Not that I thought…”

“I’m sure you didn’t.”

Her eyes darted up and she caught his smirk. She smacked him on the arm.

“Ow.” Max rubbed at the spot.

“Okay, I did think for a moment that you had killed him,” she admitted, gazing into his eyes. “But it was only a moment.”

“I wanted to kill him.”

She smoothed the line between his brows with the tips of her fingers and he caught her hand and brought it to his lips. The touch of his mouth on her skin gave her goosebumps and she wanted to take him into her arms, but now was not the time.

Who was she kidding? She wanted to jump his bones and fuck him senseless so they could both forget the terror of the last several hours.

“Max,” she breathed and lifted up onto her knees.

He stayed still, the only thing alive in the man’s hard face was his piercing, storm-colored gaze. She inched her mouth toward his lips.

“Lily?” Sara opened the door after two short knocks.

Lily groaned and fell back on the bed, breathing hard at the near kiss.

Shit! She rolled off the edge and headed across the room.

“What’s up?”

“Come and eat,” Sara said, catching her hand and pulling her out the door.

Lily glanced back at Max. The man hadn’t moved from where he sat on the edge of the bed, but his eyes were locked on her.

They flickered briefly to her mouth and then back to catch her gaze.

Lily flushed and followed Sara with her heart pounding.

And when Max got up and silently followed them, she wondered how the hell she was going to eat a bite of food.

A few hours later, closer to dinner, the kitchen was buzzing with activity. Ryan and Shane were arguing about the latest level in the game while Chris was on his phone playing a video game that was equally noisy.

Max’s gaze swept over all three men suspiciously, but when Lily tugged insistently at Max’s hand, he followed her to the table.

“Where are the headphones I bought you?” Sara scolded Chris, who shrugged.

Levi had already eaten standing at the window and the man had rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher.

Lily sat next to Max and he dished them both up platefuls of spaghetti and Lily pushed the noodles around her plate, trying to make it appear that she was eating.

“Take a bite,” Max murmured close to her ear and she shivered. She wanted him. She wanted to throw herself into his arms. She wanted to strip him naked and have him take her until she screamed his—.

“Lily?” His voice cut into her fantasy and she took a bite of the garlic bread.

“There, happy?” she said around a mouthful.

“Getting there,” he told her, his eyes on her mouth. He lifted a thumb and caressed the side of her lips, coming away with a crumb of bread.

She gazed at him wide-eyed when he lifted his thumb to his own mouth to consume the crumb.

Chris coughed and Ryan’s fork clattered to the dish.

Lily ducked her head and took another bite of bread. Her throat was so dry that she thought she’d choke until Sara pressed a glass of water into her hands.

The tension in the room was palpable.

And Lily wasn’t sure if it was the sexual tension between her and Max.

Or something else entirely that created it.