Did You Miss Me? by Karen Rose

Author:Karen Rose [Rose, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9780451414090
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2012-11-08T06:09:10+00:00

Tuesday, December 3, 11.20 P.M.

Clay tapped his foot impatiently. The elevator was so damn slow.

‘Clay,’ Alec said softly. ‘You can’t go to her family like this. They’re scared enough without you barging in looking like a drug dealer on meth. Your eyes are wild, man.’

Clay closed his wild eyes, slumping against the elevator wall. The kid was right. ‘Okay. I’m calm.’ He opened his eyes. ‘How’s this?’

‘Sixteen cups of coffee and a handful of uppers. But down from meth. Keep going.’

Clay had to smile. ‘You know, you’re actually proving useful, kid.’

‘Gee thanks. I’m touched.’ But Alec’s tone was amused and his eyes were kind. ‘Sometimes I’d be at Ethan and Dana’s when they’d get a new foster. Those kids can be wild too, like a wounded animal in a cage, ready to bite even a friendly hand. Ethan’s just a rock, you know? He can get them calm when nobody else can.’

‘So you’re channeling him?’

‘Something like that. He’s pretty much been my dad for the last six years. There are worse people to wanna be when you grow up.’

Yeah, like me. Helluva dad I turned out to be. His daughter wouldn’t even see him, no matter how many times he’d tried. ‘Not many better.’ The elevator opened, but instead of running out like he wanted to, he looked at the kid seriously. ‘Now?’

Alec studied his eyes. ‘Okay, now you’re down to a case of Red Bull. If you promise to play nice, you can go in.’

‘Thanks, Alec. I mean it.’

The kid’s cheeks heated. ‘That’s what you pay me for.’

No, it wasn’t, actually. They walked down the hallway to the ICU security door, but Clay didn’t push the call button. ‘I’m not trying to get rid of you.’

‘But?’

‘But, while I appreciate the many wild-animal-calming skills you’ve picked up from Ethan, what I pay you for are the technical skills he taught you.’

Alec’s brows lifted. ‘What do you have in mind?’

‘I’m not sure yet. But I got loose ends flapping around in my head. One of them that I keep thinking about is the webcam stuck in Gargano’s vent. That was a crime of opportunity that Doug made work for him. I mean Kimberly was invited to the party through an outside association. She didn’t crash it. But it worked.’

‘And because it did, maybe Doug and Kimberly tried it again?’

Clay nodded. ‘Exactly. But in a planned way instead of relying on chance party invitations to homes of cops. Kimberly was arrested for stealing from a cleaning client.’

‘Working for a maid service would get her into people’s houses. But if she had a record, nobody would hire her.’ Alec considered it. ‘Maybe she worked for herself. If so, we’d need to find her clients.’

‘Gargano filed an insurance claim,’ Clay said. ‘I’m wondering if any of Kim and Doug’s other victims did the same thing.’

‘Gargano was suspected of insurance fraud but they couldn’t prove it. Maybe there have been other insurance claims that were denied or dicey – places where Kimberly might have worked.’ Alec’s eyes had begun to sparkle.

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