Part 5 (1/2)
Chapter 2
”She's going to be here any minute.” a.s.sistant District Attorney
Deborah O'Roarke Guthrie put fisted hands on her hips. ”I want the whole story, Gage, before Natalie gets here.”
Gage added another log to the fire before he turned to his wife.
She'd changed out of her business suit into soft wool slacks and a cashmere sweater of midnight blue. Her ebony hair fell loose, nearly to her shoulders.
”You're beautiful, Deborah. I don't tell you that often enough.”
She lifted a brow. Oh, he was a smooth operator, and charming.
And clever. But so was she. ”No evasions, Gage. You've managed to avoid telling me everything you know so far, but-”
”You were in court all day,” he reminded her. ”I was in meetings.”
”That's beside the point. I'm here now.”
”You certainly are.” He walked to her, slipped his arms through hers and circled her waist. His lips curved as they lowered to hers.
”h.e.l.lo.”
More than two years of marriage hadn't diluted her response to him. Her mouth softened, parted, but then she remembered herself and stepped back. ”No, you don't. Consider yourself under oath and in the witness chair, Guthrie. Spill it. I know you were there.”
”I was there.” Annoyance flickered in his eyes before he crossed over to pour mineral water for Deborah. Yes, he'd been there, he thought. Too late.
He had his own way of combating the dark side of Urbana. The gift-or the curse-he'd been left with after surviving what should have been a fatal shooting gave him an edge. He'd been a cop too long to close his eyes to injustice. Now, with the odd twist fate had dealt him, he fought crime his own way, with his own special talent.
Deborah watched him stare down at his hand, flex it. It was an old habit, one that told her he was thinking of how he could make it, make himself fade to nothing.
And when he did, he was Nemesis, a shadow that haunted the streets of Urbana, a shadow that had slipped into her life, and her heart as real and as dear to her as the man who stood before her.
”I was there,” he repeated, and poured a gla.s.s of wine for himself.
”But too late to do anything. I didn't beat the first engine company by more than five minutes.”
”You can't always be first on the scene, Gage,” Deborah murmured. ”Even Nemesis isn't omnipotent.”
”No.” He handed her the gla.s.s. ”The point is, I didn't see who started the fire. If indeed it was arson.”
”Which you believe it was.”
He smiled again. ”I have a suspicious mind.”
”So do I.” She tapped her gla.s.s against his. ”I wish there was something I could do for Natalie. She's worked so hard to get this new company off the ground.”
”You're doing something,” Gage told her. ”You're here. And she'll fight back.”
”That's one thing you can count on.” She tilted her head. ”I don't suppose anyone saw you around the warehouse last night.”
Now he grinned. ”What do you think?”