Cord started to worry if hed bought enough. The blanket wasnt much protection against the cold ground, but her jacket was warm enough for the Arctic, and overall, she just seemed to calm down. I love the Washington Monument, she said-or tried to say. Her mouth was pretty full.
Yeah, me, too. Hate politics. Hate a lot about Washington. But when I look at the monument lit up at night
It gives me shivers. Good shivers.
It didnt give him shivers, but something was right about this place, this time, this country. Her. Him. Although, once shed inhaled all that food, she lost some of that lost look and started talking.
Both those policemen knew you, she said in an accusing tone.
Yeah, of course they did.
Why of course?
Because theyre the ones who told me about Jons death. Ive spent more hours with them than Id care to count. When she tucked up her legs and didnt respond further, he pushed with a What?
Theres something youre not telling me. Something everybodys not telling me. Somethingswrong.
Of course there is. Two serious crimes took place in your apartment building in less than two weeks.
That part, I get. What I dont understand is why I keep getting the feeling the police are hiding information from me. As if they know something about who might have vandalized my place, but for some reason they dont want to tell me the whole story.
There were others out, enjoying the night. People always loved seeing the monuments at night, and lovers traditionally used the strolls around the mall to snuggle together. Yards away, Cord heard the hum of conversation, a womans whispers.
The only whispers he wanted to hear, though, were Sophies. Her hair looked like a spill of silver in the starlight, her eyes liquid dark. Magical. He wasnt the kind to believe in magic or spellsyet, there was something he couldnt explain when he was with Sophie. For one thing, he knew perfectly well the cops didnt want him telling her the truth.
Yet, how could he possibly protect her if she didnt understand more of the bigger picture?
SophieI think the police dont totally trust you.
Her response was an immediate chuckle. Of course they do. Everyone trusts me! She pointed to her face, as if it would be obvious to anyone looking at her that she couldnt fib without broadcasting it to the universe.
But when he looked at her face, all he could think of was wanting to kiss it. To see her eyes widen with vulnerability. To see those soft red lips part, to let him in. Just him. Only him.
Hell. Where had that come from?
He tried to get back on track. The police think you might have some idea what the thief wanted from your apartment.
How am I possibly supposed to know what that could be?
He said patiently, From what Bassett saidyou had a stash of money in your cookie jar. A hundred bucks. No one took it. You had some jewelry, but no one took that, either. Computer, TV, electronics-all the stuff thieves go for was still there. So the thief had to want something else. And maybe that something is related to my brothers death-because why else would the two traumatic incidents take place in the same building, within two weeks of each other?
She cocked her head, looked at him with such empathy. Cord, I understand why you want there to be a reason for your brothers death. The fire that killed my parentsit haunted my sisters and me for years. We just wanted there to be a reason, some way to make sense of what happened, something we could blame. But there was never a reason, not that anyone could find. I know its hard. I know. Even if you werent close to your brother, I totally understand why you feel pushed to find a reason for his death, something that mattered. Something that could help you put closure on the loss
Guilt felt like a coffin nail. He hated not being able to totally fill her in. Sophie still didnt know Jons death was a murder. The authorities had honest reasons for keeping the cause of death quiet, but that failed to appease his conscience. Her warm compassion bit. He knew he hadnt earned her sympathy.
Sophie Hed brought a bottle of wine with the take-out dinner. Maybe wine wasnt precisely legal out there in the open, but she stopped looking so white and anxious after a couple of paper cups. He poured her a little more. Were not talking about me. Were talking about you. About any reasons you can imagine why someone might have broken into your place. Think.
She took another sip. Wellmy foster parents left me a nest egg. At the time they took me in, they were considered too old to adopt, by the rules then. But they created a trust for me, because they knew She gulped again. They knew I had nightmares for years, about losing my home, my parents, my family, everything. They didnt want me to be afraid that could ever happen again. So they wanted me to have something to fall back on. But, Cord, I cant imagine anyone knows about that but my sisters. Ive traveled too much with my job to have accumulated much, and Im pretty sure no one would say I run around looking wealthy.
He definitely wouldnt say that. She ran around in clothes and colors that made her look nondescript-and he was beginning to understand why. She didnt want trouble. She did everything but stand on her head to not attract trouble, any kind of troubleso this whole mess had to be her worst nightmare.
Her revealing the business about her nest egg showed that she trusted him-was risking her trust on him.
That alone revealed her innocence to him, in both senses of the word. The more he knew her, the more time he spent with her, the more beautiful he could see she was. The wrong kind of beauty. The dangerous kind of beauty. The true-blue vulnerability in her eyes was the kind that could attract the worst predators. And Cord sure as hell couldnt be the only man who saw beneath the silly clothes and glasses to the Sophie underneath.
Impatiently, he said, Come on, Soph. There has to be something else.
This conversation was getting nowhere-at least not in the direction it was supposed to go. The more Cord believed in Sophies innocence, the more he realized that the guilty party, the one who murdered his brother, was still out there free. And Sophie was a stop sign in the way.
Sophie shrugged her shoulders. You keep saying there has to be something else. But Ive told you all the something elses I can think of, Cord.
He tugged at the collar of her jacket when he caught her shivering. When the police looked into Jons death, they were uneasy about some loose ends. They had the impression Jon was hiding something.
You mean drugs?
Not drugs. But something that explains all the trap doors and hidey-holes and locked gadgets in his apartment. I dont have the whole picture, he said, with complete honesty. But Im getting enough to beworried. And now someones ransacked your place.
She shook her head in bewilderment. Youre making it sound as if you believe theres a connection.
Cord had had it with juggling what he could tell her and what he couldnt. Maybe he couldnt tell her the authorities truth. But he could sure as hell choose to share his own. I believe my brother was involved in something unsavory. Even as a kid, he was always looking for ways to make a buck without having to do anything as annoying as real work. The way this appears, I think Jon had information about certain important people. Affairs, mistakes-that kind of thing. I dont know who or what. But I believe his victims want that information back, and are particularly worried what happened to it since Jon died.
Sophie gulped down more wine and held out her paper cup. No matter what the police said, you dont think your brothers death was an accident, do you?
Nope. I dont.
She waggled her cup. More wine.
Dont you think youve had quite a bit?
Not if were going to talk about murder.
He filled her cup again and quit arguing.
Chapter 5
Amazing what a little wine and food could do. Granted, she was seeing streetlights in triplicate and her head felt a little woozybut she wasnt scared anymore.
She was mad.
I never get mad, she told Cord.
So youve mentioned, several times.
Its an amazing relief. Instead of feeling scared, to just let go and feel mad. I mean, what is this? She waved her arms to illustrate. Ive had enough rotten stuff to deal with. Getting broken into is just ridiculously unfair. Finding your dead brother was even worse. I mean, maybe your brother wasnt the most ethical knife in the drawer, but She frowned, not certain if she was making sense. Although that didnt seem to stop her from talking. Im going to get regularly mad from now on. Loud mad. Mean mad. Its so much better than being scared. When I was a little girl, I used to stand on the porch and sing at the top of my lungs, did you know that? I was a brat. A ham. An attention grabber. It took years, years, to turn me into the pissy, button-down fuddy-duddy I am todayOh God, did I say pissy? I meant prissy. I would never say prissyI mean pissyoh, shoot, which one did I mean?
Sophie, lets wait until the car stops before you get out, cookie.
And then theres you, she muttered. Fresh air slapped her in the face when she climbed out of the car. Good thing, since the whole street was revolving like a carousel. Suddenly, she wondered why she didnt drink more often. This was so wonderful. The whole night looked magically sprinkled with stardust.
Sophie?
No, she said firmly, and abruptly danced down the street. Cord did that to her. Made her feel like dancing. Made her think about moonlight and stardust. It wasunsettling. Somewhere beneath the taste of all that wine was the taste of temptation. Not the temptation of stardust, but the temptation of plain old lust. No man had tempted her in years-not really tempted-the kind of temptation that made her want to strip off more than clothes. The kind of temptation to throw all her fears to the wind and just grab hold of him for the lust of it.
Oh, no, she muttered. I learned a long time ago that monsters dont hide under the bed. Theyre everywhere. At least my monsters are. You cant feel safe if you think someones going to disappear on you. And they all do. Everyone does. So, for darn sure, you dont open the door to someone youre not sure of. And for damn sure, Im not sure of you.
Abruptly, she found Cord standing directly in front of her. I havent a clue what youre talking about, Soph, but your apartment is that way. He motioned behind her.