Night Watch (Kendra Michaels #4)(12)
Shea dropped a fluorescent yellow evidence tag on the spot. “I’ll get forensics back here to sop up a sample.”
“Thank you.”
Shea nodded. “Just doing my job. You surprised me. I like to be surprised. That FBI guy told me that you were born blind and you’d still probably be that way if it wasn’t for Waldridge.”
“That’s right.”
“In that case, I’d be doing everything in my power to help him, too.” He nodded thoughtfully. “He’s lucky to have you in his corner, Dr. Michaels.”
*
AFTER A QUICK ONCE-OVER in Waldridge’s rental car that turned up absolutely nothing, Kendra gave her card to Shea and walked out to her car on Second Street. She leaned against her car for a long moment.
What now?
Everyone involved would probably prefer that she just sit back and wait for a call.
Dammit, Waldridge deserved better than that. But with no clear sign that a crime had occurred, it would be days before the police treated the case with any kind of urgency.
By then, it could be too late. She had been uneasy as hell at what she’d seen at that crime scene. So what could she do to make sure Waldridge received the same single-minded dedication from her that he’d given her all those years ago? She knew the answer. She’d known it all along. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed help. She needed the big guns.
And she had one of the biggest guns of all on her speed dial.
CHAPTER
3
ADAM LYNCH PICKED HER CALL UP on the first ring. “What a complete pleasure. Though I knew you’d call sooner or later, Kendra. I’m glad it turned out to be sooner.”
Kendra gripped her steering wheel harder. It had been two and a half hours since she’d left the hotel, and she’d spent most of the drive wondering if she was really going to make this call.
“Lynch, your smugness is actually radiating through the phone.”
Lynch let out a laugh that boomed through her car speakers. “No smugness. Just happy to hear from you. Is that such a surprise? What’s going on?”
She hesitated. “Something’s come up. I can … use your help.”
He paused so long that she thought the connection had dropped. “Lynch?”
“I’m still here. I’m just a little stunned. I’m the one who always has to ask you for help. I’m not quite sure how to deal with this.”
She mouthed a silent curse. Lynch wasn’t going to make it easy for her. They both knew there wasn’t anything Lynch couldn’t handle and manipulate to suit himself. He was a former FBI agent who now worked freelance for whatever government agency needed his unique abilities. She had teamed with him a few times recently, and she was now violating her own pledge to put some distance between them.
“You’ll find a way to deal, Lynch. The question is, are you even in the country right now?”
“It so happens I am. I just got back from Madrid, and I’m sitting here thinking about unpacking. Do you want to meet somewhere?”
“How about your place?”
“Sure, but if you don’t feel like driving up here, we could always—”
“I’m looking at your house right now. You wanna open the gate for me?”
“Seriously?”
Kendra looked up at Lynch’s beautiful two-story Tudor-style home in an exclusive neighborhood in northern San Diego County. “Yes, I was driving back from Santa Monica and thought I’d give it a try. I just pulled up. Turn off the motion sensor weaponry and let me in, okay?”
As if in response, the tall iron gates silently swung open.
She cut the phone connection and drove up the stone-tiled driveway. As always, the landscaping was garden-club beautiful, and the house’s beveled-glass windows twinkled in the late-afternoon sun. She parked in front of the garage. As she climbed out, Lynch stepped out onto the driveway.
“Miss me?” He hit her with his movie-star smile. He wore white cotton slacks and a blue shirt that brought out the intensity of his eyes. And, as usual, he was totally high-impact.
“Should I have?”
“I can but hope. Well, I’ve certainly missed you.”
She raised her brows.
“Stop being so skeptical. I think I’ve been very considerate giving you your space. But after all you’ve been through in the last year, you made it clear that you wanted to step back from the FBI, the police, and everything that reminded you of that part of your life.” He tapped his chest. “And that evidently included me.”
Not included. He was in a class by himself. Lynch managed to dominate both her thoughts and her responses when she was with him.
“Oh, I’m sure your bikini-model girlfriend kept you company.” Kendra looked up at the house. “Is she here now?”
“No. No, she’s not.”
Kendra studied him. Lynch had suddenly become guarded, which was totally out of character for him. “I see. Is there a story there?”
“Well … maybe. Ashley moved out of the country.”
Kendra’s eyes widened. “That’s quite a power over women you have. A few months with you, and they run screaming to distant lands.”
“Cute. She’s been working more and more in Europe, and it seemed whenever she was here, I was gone. Not a great recipe for a relationship. She lives in Rome now.”