Flawless(86)

Craig tried to keep looking directly into the director’s eyes. It was a struggle. “Good night, sir,” he said.

“Good night.”

Craig drove straight to Kieran’s. He parked the car and hurried down the street, almost forgetting to watch out for himself. Then something stirred the hair on the back of his neck and he paused, suddenly certain someone was following him.

He turned but didn’t see anyone, so he retraced his steps, checking out the entryways along both sides of the street. No one.

He hurried back to Kieran’s place and headed up the stairs.

The karaoke club was going late. How the hell did anyone sleep around here?

He paused outside Kieran’s door then hurried back downstairs.

Monday night, after 1:00 a.m., and the club was still crowded. He walked inside and looked around. All he saw were groups of college students, a lot of them wearing sweatshirts identifying them as NYU students.

He headed back to the door. It wasn’t that the killer couldn’t be there and wearing a college shirt.

It was just that he had no way of knowing who might have just slipped in and who’d been there all night.

Back at Kieran’s place, he knocked.

Marty opened the door just as Kieran came out of her bedroom wearing panda pajamas. Her eyes were big and blue as they settled on him questioningly, and her auburn hair tumbled around her shoulders in disarray.

At that moment he didn’t think he’d ever seen a woman—or an outfit—that was more seductive.

He managed to get Marty out the door quickly, promising to explain everything in the morning, and then he turned to Kieran.

“Craig—”

“Not now,” he told her softly. “Not now.”

He folded her into his arms, and she seemed to understand instinctively that this was a time for action, not words.

She kissed him hard and moved seductively against him.

They stumbled together back into her bedroom, where they made love. And then they made love again.

And somehow that eased all the tension from him and brought on the exhaustion.

When he opened his eyes again it was morning and she was straddling him, smiling.

“I have a present for you,” she said.

He managed a sleepy grin at that.

“I think you gave me the best present in the world last night. Are you telling me you’re ready for more?”

“Not yet,” she said. “It’s a cell phone.”





CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

KIERAN SHOWERED, THEN started coffee and bagels while Craig studied Jimmy McManus’s phone. He made a few calls, then joined her.

“So I heard you found an address etched into a table,” he said. When she nodded, he shook his head. “The cops sent men to watch, but nothing happened. They’ve called the store manager to tell him to be especially vigilant. The thieves might have planned to hold it up last night, before one of their own was killed. Or maybe they got wind the police were onto them—who knows? So, does Jimmy know you have his phone?”

She shook her head. “I doubt it. He must know by now that he lost it at the pub, though, so I figured we’d have it back there by this morning and he’d never know.”

“Found in plain sight?” he asked her.

“Yes, of course. It was on the floor,” she said, waving a hand in the air.

He was thoughtful a moment. “Do you think your bosses will mind if you call in late?”

She shook her head. “I’ll tell them I’m with the FBI. Plus I worked on a Sunday.”

“Why did you work on a Sunday?”

“Dr. Miro does a lot of work for battered women. She took on a case pro bono, and the woman wanted to open up more, so I went out to Rikers to see her.”

Kieran made a point of pouring coffee as she spoke. She didn’t like lying to him. She still didn’t want to tell him about Tanya Lee Hampton and what she had heard. It was just too dangerous—not for her, but for Tanya.

She still felt uncomfortable lying to him, though.

As uncomfortable as hiding the fact that Danny had stolen a diamond for Julie.

She paused, remembering that Gary had been in the bar the night before.

She set a cup of coffee in front of him and asked, “You haven’t said anything about your night. I guess it’s all in the line of duty? You’re shot at, so you shoot back.”

“No,” he said, looking at her steadily. “Most of the time we’re just sitting around and watching people. Or asking questions. Following leads and clues, and hoping that people will talk to us.”

“So we’ve both been marked for death,” she murmured.

He shook his head. “I think they were after a woman who is helping us. Anyway, the guy is dead. And I’m pretty sure you’d recognize him.”

He went on to explain, taking care not to throw suspicion on Jimmy, since he was a friend of hers, even though the guy’s disappearing act looked like a pretty clear admission of guilt to him.

“And you think he was one of them—one of the thieves?”

Craig nodded. “I’m going to grab a shower before we head in and let my tech guy see that phone. Then I’ll get you to work.”

“I’ll call the office,” she said.

Craig showered and dressed at the speed of light. In ten minutes they were out of her apartment and on the way to his office.