Be With Me(92)

Sawyer laughed, and he was astonished at the lightness he felt. Relief. Hope.

Hutch caught his gaze and stared him in the eye.

“I’m sorry.”

Sawyer shook his head. “We’re good.”

Cam walked in carrying a handful of electronic equipment, a frown smeared across his face. He dumped the stuff on the bar with a clatter.

“Been out shopping?” Sawyer asked with an arched eyebrow.

The frown didn’t ease from Cam’s face.

“Either of you two know what the hel this stuff is?” he asked.

Hutch leaned over and perused the col ection.

“Looks like surveil ance equipment.”

“Yeah, my thoughts too,” Cam replied.

“Where’d you get it?” Sawyer asked.

“Good morning,” Reggie said as she entered the kitchen. She offered the three of them a smile, and only Cam didn’t return it.

She slid up next to Hutch first, snuggling against his side. Then she looked down at the stuff on the counter and froze. A peculiar expression crossed her face, fol owed quickly by a spark of guilt.

Sawyer frowned. This didn’t bode wel .

“I found it here,” Cam said darkly. “Cameras.

Recording equipment. It was surrounding the house.” Sawyer continued to stare at Reggie. “Got any ideas where it came from?” he asked her.

She stepped away from Hutch as Cam turned his surprised stare on her.

“Uh, it’s mine,” she said in a low voice.

“Yours?” Cam’s frown got deeper. “What the hel is going on, Reggie?”

She wiped her hands down the legs of her jeans and bit absently at her bottom lip.

“I had it instal ed. While we were in Houston,” she added.

The lightbulb came on. Sawyer saw the unease in her body language and knew that whatever explanation she came up with, he wasn’t going to like it. The others were quickly catching on as wel .

“Is that why you were so keen to get us al to Houston?” Sawyer asked.

Regina tried to quel the panic knotting her throat.

This wasn’t the way she wanted to explain things to them. She’d wanted to come clean with them, not be found out like she was sneaking around behind their backs. Which was in fact what she’d done.

She sighed and flopped onto a stool.

“Reggie?” Hutch prompted.

“A friend of mine owns a security company. High-tech stuff. Does a lot of police surveil ance contract work. I asked him to wire the place while we were gone.”

“Okay, why?” Cam asked. “I mean I understand why since the place was broken into, but why did you think you needed to keep it a secret from us?”

“Because you didn’t know the whole story,” she said in a low voice. “I didn’t want you to know the whole story.”

“Wel , by al means, do share,” Sawyer drawled.

They were annoyed. But she knew they’d be more pissed before the end of it.

“I was trying to protect you,” she said. “Al of you. I have reason to believe that the murder, the attack on me, the break-ins here and at Birdie’s . . . and the car bomb were personal to Hutch.”

“What?” Hutch exclaimed.

Sawyer and Cam looked equal y stunned.

“I don’t know that for sure,” she said mildly. “Misty Thompson was someone Hutch dated. The rest of the connections are self-explanatory. And the night she was murdered, the man cal ed me Reggie and told me it was ‘time to make him pay.’ ” She glanced at Hutch, wincing as he paled even further. It wasn’t the way she would have wanted to break the news to him. The victim’s name was public knowledge, but Hutch wasn’t very tuned in to the local news.

“My department fol owed the reasoning that it had to do with my father since he’s high-profile, wealthy and a politician. But when Birdie’s place was broken into, the only room disturbed was Hutch’s.”

“Goddamn it, Reggie, why didn’t you tel me any of this?” Hutch demanded. “Don’t you think I had a right to know if someone was trying to kil people close to me? That someone had already died because of me?”

“It wasn’t my decision to make. My department wasn’t convinced, and they were investigating every angle. They wanted to question al three of you . . .

today. But they made an arrest and got a confession for the murder, so it wasn’t necessary after al .”

“That’s bul shit,” Sawyer said bluntly. “Tel me something, Reggie. Why did you decide to stay?

Why the sudden about-face? I’d bet an awful lot that it had nothing to do with us protecting you, or that you even suddenly decided to quit fighting the attraction.” The blood drained from her face. This was what she was afraid of. Them making the connection. It hadn’t been like that, damn it, but she knew how it looked. How on earth was she supposed to convince them otherwise?

“He’s right, isn’t he?” Cam asked in a voice that sounded dead. “You were protecting us, weren’t you?

You moved in so you could keep an eye on us. Hel , you even set up an elaborate surveil ance system to monitor the house. You never had any intention of giving us a chance.”

“That’s not true,” she blurted. “Goddamn it, Cam.