Part 51 (2/2)
Overload, he realized. ”Let's go to my house,” he said, trying to interpret her uncertainty. ”Dom can meet us there.”
”And we have Beast,” she said.
”Did Sarah say anything about Nicky?”
”She would like to keep him if no one claims him.” She gave him a wry smile. ”I thought about keeping him, but Sarah has children. She's home more than I am. Especially now. It's best for the dog.” Her voice was wistful.
”There are always dogs needing a home,” he said. ”In the meantime you can share Beast. He'll be more than happy to oblige.”
Her smile was heartbreaking. He felt like Lancelot. Ivanhoe. All the heroes he'd admired as a boy. He'd never felt like that before.
He leaned over and touched his lips to hers. Gentle. Achingly tender. His heart caught, skipped a beat. His hand touched her cheek. It was cold.
He released her lips. ”Let's get out of here,” he said.
He locked the door as they left the house. She stopped suddenly as she saw a car parked across the street, then relaxed as she seemed to recognize it.
”Mack Thomas,” he said. ”He's been watching the house and my car. He's very chagrined that you lost him.”
”He shouldn't be. I've been helping battered wives escape husbands for several years now. I know all the tricks.”
”So should he,” Gage said critically. Still, he gave a small wave as they walked to his car. ”Do you want to take yours?”
She nodded.
”I'll follow you.”
”And Mack will follow you?” she asked with a slight smile. ”We'll look conspicuously like a parade.”
”He will go ahead and check out the house,” he said. ”You can meander a bit.”
”No one would go inside with Beast there.”
”Beast, unfortunately, is a marshmallow. Anyway, it's just a precaution.”
”I think I should go home. Alone. I don't want anyone else hurt because of me. I have a gun. I'll be careful.”
”Isn't going to happen, love.” The word slipped out, just as it had earlier. ”I'm not going to leave your side.”
She looked at him. ”Even if I asked you?”
”No.”
Her face clouded with fear, but this time he knew it was for him, not herself.
”The sooner we find whoever is behind this, the sooner you can get your life back,” he said. ”It won't be soon if we're at cross purposes, or if I have to spend valuable time trying to find you. It won't lessen their need to get me out of the picture. I already know too much.”
”And Dom?”
”I think he's put himself into the picture. He wants to find his daughter, and like you, he's h.e.l.l-bent on doing it.”
They reached her car and he opened the door for her. She slid in, gave him a rueful smile and nodded her head.
He hoped to h.e.l.l she meant it.
Mack met them at the house, a grim look on his face.
Meredith and Gage had arrived within seconds of each other.
The moment Gage saw his face, he knew what had happened. ”Drugs?”
”Cocaine in the bottom drawer of your dresser in the bedroom. Enough to charge you with distribution. I flushed it down the toilet but I think you should conduct a more thorough search.”
”Beast?”
”Wobbly. Whoever planted it probably drugged him.”
He went into the kitchen, aware that Meredith was right behind him. Beast was collapsed on the floor, tongue hanging out, eyes not as bright as usual. Gage dropped next to him, scratched behind his ears. ”Bad day, huh, guy?”
Beast looked at him pitiably, as if he knew he failed miserably.
”I knew what I was getting,” he told the dog. ”That's okay.”
The tail swished once.
Fury and relief flooded him. Beast was breathing fine. He would have to sleep it off. In the meantime, he wanted to check the rest of the house with Mack. He suspected the DEA or officers from the NOPD would be knocking shortly.
”What can I do?” Meredith asked.
”You take the kitchen. Look under the sink, the fridge, in the coffee can--any place you can conceive of being a hiding place. Mack checked the most obvious hiding place, my bedroom. But they might have left a second stash.”
He took his office. He went through every office drawer, peered behind books in the bookcases. Having been on the drug squad not so many years ago, he knew where to look.
”Gage!”
Meredith's voice. He hurried into the kitchen. She held a plastic bag filled with white powder.
”Where was it?”
”A can of coffee.”
”They're not very imaginative,” he said. He took the package to the bathroom and flushed the contents down, then the bag.
Meredith followed and he saw the worried look on her face. ”Gage?”
h.e.l.l, she was an attorney, and what he was doing was destroying evidence. He suddenly realized he had placed her in an untenable position.
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