Part 18 (1/2)

He grimaced. He may not have been willing to argue in Darryl's defence after discovering the man's penchant for dishonesty, but that didn't mean he was ready to concede the former commander was capable of murder.

”One thing we do know is that she didn't tell Daisyblu about any change in plans.”

Kate sighed. Turning back to the computer screen, she scrolled through the messages again. Her mouse stopped on an email dated July ninth, a day before her mother had been scheduled to leave. It was another email from Daisyblu.

All good here. Are you ready?

Kate rolled the wheel on her mouse, cursing when her fingers couldn't make it move fast enough. With another click, she opened the Sent items and scrolled through them. She stopped when she reached an email dated the same date. She bit her lip and clicked on it.

I'm good to go. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't be late.

Kate turned to Riley, a haunted expression on her face. ”I guess we now know she was alive until then.”

Riley nodded. ”It appears so.”

”You're right. Now that we know Darryl is computer literate, we can't a.s.sume it was Mom who wrote it.”

Riley compressed his lips and didn't answer. Kate turned back to the computer. With her jaw set at a determined angle, she returned to the Deleted box and once again, scrolled through the list of emails. She came to a halt on a message that had been received nearly two weeks earlier.

Riley's heart skipped a beat. The email was from Kate.

Kate opened the message and tensed, even though she must have known what it contained. Riley read it over her shoulder.

Mom, you still haven't responded to my emails. I've tried calling your cell, but you don't answer. Is everything all right? I'm worried about you. I'm coming over to visit-I'll book the next flight to Sydney and call you when I arrive.

Riley waited for her to lift her gaze to his. When she did, he almost winced at the bleakness in them.

”I'm not sure what was going on.” Her voice was toneless. ”Her emails had become very brief, her phone calls a lot less chatty. She always used to tell me about what she'd been doing-functions she'd attended, things like that. Darryl had retired, but there was still the odd invitation to a charity dinner or other similar events. He's a man much admired.”

Her caustic tone as she spoke about Darryl was not lost on Riley and after meeting the arrogant son of a b.i.t.c.h, he could understand it.

”But something was different those last few weeks, before she stopped emailing altogether. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, but looking back, and now knowing what we do about her connection to Daisyblu, I have to say, her emails started to sound like good-byes.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

As her words sank in, Riley stared at her. Anger started a slow burn in his gut.

”I don't get it,” he said, shaking his head. ”Why the h.e.l.l would you automatically think Darryl had done away with her? The very night you waltzed into town, you as much as demanded I arrest him for murder, yet before you'd even boarded the plane, you had suspicions that she was planning to leave him.”

A dark-red stain spread across her cheeks. Her eyes shot daggers.

”It's not what you're thinking. There's no way she would have disappeared without telling me or contacting me right away. She, of all people, knew what it was like to be the one left behind. All the questions, the silent recriminations. Searching the eyes of every stranger she met. She told me about the agony she went through when I disappeared. She'd never have done that to me.”

”Maybe she thought it was what you deserved?”

Kate stumbled away from the counter and paced the small confines of the room. Fury emanated from every pore. She rounded on him, her eyes flas.h.i.+ng blue fire.

”My mother would not have done that. She didn't have a vindictive bone in her body. She loved me too much to put me through the h.e.l.l she'd suffered.”

”That didn't stop you.” Riley braced himself as she came at him.

”You b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” she spat. She raised her right hand and struck him hard across the face. His cheek stung. He seized her wrist before she could attempt a second blow.

”I was fourteen,” she panted. ”Little more than a child. I hated the thought of leaving my mother, but I hated the thought of staying even more. I gave no thought to the effect my leaving would have on her.” She struggled to free herself from his hold, tears spilling down her cheeks. ”All I wanted was to escape.”

The helplessness in her eyes tore at his heart as fiercely as the sobs that shook her small frame.

”She wouldn't have left me like that. I just know it. I know it. I-I miss her. I miss her so much.” Her voice hitched.

He pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. She cried and cried, tucked within the safe coc.o.o.n of his arms.

Gradually, she quieted and relaxed against him. He tried not to breathe in too deeply of the clean, sweet scent of her hair, or think too much about her soft curves that melted against him.

”We need to stop doing this,” he murmured. ”It could become habit forming.”

She pulled away slightly and lifted her face. Her eyes were wide with sadness and vulnerability. She stared at him. Her lips parted on an intake of breath and his gut clenched in response.

He took her chin and tilted her face toward him. The tight rein he'd kept on his self-control snapped and he brought his lips down to hers. The touch of their mouths, whisper soft, left him yearning for more. Taking her silence for acquiescence, he did what he'd been longing to do from the moment she'd walked through the doorway of the police station.

Crus.h.i.+ng her against him, his mouth claimed hers in a kiss fueled by long pent-up pa.s.sion. Blood thundered in his ears, rus.h.i.+ng through his arteries to center in his groin. His erection pushed against the softness of her belly and he struggled to contain himself when she stood on tiptoes, wrapped tentative arms around his neck and pressed even closer.

A groan rumbled deep in his throat and still he kissed her. The lips that had driven him to distraction were even softer than he'd imagined and enveloped him in sweetness and warmth. For all her outward sophistication, there was a shy innocence about her and he drank it in like a man dying of thirst.

With his heart hammering against his chest, he broke contact and lifted his head, breathing hard.

Kate looked equally affected. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her eyes had darkened to indigo and were filled with equal parts astonishment and fear.

Fear? That couldn't be right. What the h.e.l.l was she fearful about?

But she'd already stepped away from him, hugging herself, her arms wrapped defensively around her slender waist.

He took a step toward her and she reared back. ”Please, don't.”

He frowned. ”Kate-?”

”Riley, just go.”

”I'm sorry. I thought-”

”I know. I know what you thought and I'm sorry. Please. I want you to leave.”

He stood with his hands clenched at his sides-confused, bewildered.

Her breathing had slowed and she seemed to have recovered from their kiss. It was more than he could say for himself. Somehow, the fact that she seemed to have brushed off their shared pa.s.sion with barely a second thought irritated the h.e.l.l out of him.

His jaw tightened. ”I guess I misread the signals. I apologize. It won't happen again.”