Night Watch (Kendra Michaels #4)(68)

Kendra was about to toss off a flip rejoinder, but she saw Lynch was no longer smiling. “You’re still shell-shocked from losing your friend. I’m not going to take anything you say seriously.”

“I’m more serious than I’ve ever been. If Rye’s death tells me anything, it’s that it’s foolish to waste time.”

“Is that we’ve been doing? I thought that we were assessing which way we wanted to go and what was wise. At least, that’s what you—”

He’d pulled her close and was kissing her. “Assessed, hell. I’m done with that game.” He kissed her again. A hot rush surged through her, and once again she felt overwhelmed by everything that was Adam Lynch. The whiff of his scent, the feel of his facial stubble, and the heat of his deep, almost animalistic breathing.

He finally pulled away. “I’m not waiting anymore. When I get back, I want to see what this can be. What we can be. Together.”

“Really?” She was having trouble putting words together when all she wanted to do was go back into his arms, then the nearest bed. “Don’t I get a say?”

“Not at the moment. You’re still too edgy about committing to anything, and you’ll just annoy the hell out of me. I’m too aware right now that at any time a ten-ton truck could come barreling around a corner and smash one or both of us into the hereafter. Not to mention those sons of bitches who killed Rye and are still out there.”

“I told you that you were shell-shocked.”

“Yeah, maybe. Besides, it’s not necessary that you have your say.” He picked up his suitcase. “You’re not the only one who knows how to read people.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes. Of course, you make it easy for me. You have a terrible poker face, at least as far as this subject goes.” His eyes were suddenly glinting with mischief. “You keep pushing me away, but I realize how irresistible I am.”

That damn smile was irresistible.

And he was going away, and might face fatal ten-ton trucks and those men who’d killed Rye without her.

She found herself smiling back at him. “And so very modest, Lynch.”

“False modesty is no virtue. Like I said, I’m tired of wasting time.” He walked to the door, opened it, and turned around. “I hate doing this, you know. I’ll call you from England. I’m going to find out what happened, but you need to be careful. If they got Rye, they can get any one of us.”

She nodded soberly. “I know. You be careful, too.”

“Hey, I guarantee nothing’s going to happen to me.” He said grimly, “I’m mad as hell, and I have an agenda. Both of those factors can move mountains.”

He turned and left the condo.

*

KENDRA WAS JUST ABOUT to leave the condo again when the front door buzzed. She punched her wall-mounted intercom unit’s talk button and spoke into it. “Let me guess, Lynch. You forgot your toothbrush. Or was it your semiautomatic?”

Jessie Mercado’s voice blared from the speaker. “Neither. But it sounds like he left behind some good memories.”

Shit.

“Jessie?”

“Yes. I can come back if you want to spend more time lolling in the rosy glow of your night with Adam Lynch.”

“No lolling. No rosy glow. Come on up.”

“If you insist.”

Kendra pushed the button that unlocked her building’s front door. Jessie entered her condo a minute later. “Sorry to drop by unannounced. I was nearby and decided to take a chance.” She slipped out of her leather jacket. “Where’s Lynch?”

“On his way to England.”

Jessie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Was there a break in the case?”

“Not exactly. We told you we had someone working the case from there…”

“Yeah?”

“He was murdered. They found his body early this morning.”

Jessie flinched. “God, I’m sorry.”

“It hit Lynch pretty hard. They were old friends.”

“That begs the question … Is Lynch going there to kick ass, or is he going to pick up the trail and actually work the case?”

“Hopefully both. His friend was investigating an abandoned factory that had something to do with Dr. Shaw.”

“And with Night Watch?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“Well, I’ve been investigating your pants-pissing kidnapper.”

“My pants-pissing attempted kidnapper, thanks to you.”

“Yeah, that guy. I decided to see what I could find out about him.”

“Between last night and this morning?”

“Sure. Hospitals don’t close.”

Kendra’s eyes widened. “What did you do?”

“There’s one nice thing about large health conglomerates … The minute Wallace Powers’s social security number went into the system, his entire medical history could be accessed from any computer in their network. Even if that computer happens to be in a fairly quiet, twenty-four-hour urgent-care location.”

“Don’t you need a key card and a password?”

“A pretty smile and a couple hundred bucks will go a long way in a place like that at three in the morning.”