Annie on the Lam: A Christmas Caper Read online

  Annie averted her gaze. “Before I found out the truth—” She sighed, looked at him again. “I used to think they were paying me a compliment, or at least I convinced myself of that. If I’m honest, though, I think I always knew there was a different side to her, that she had problems. But I didn’t want to hear it or admit it any more than my father wanted to tell me.” She shook her head, huffed a humorless laugh. “I guess I’m just as guilty of keeping myself in the dark about my mother as he is.”

  “You’ve told me some great things about her…”

  “And some not so great things.”

  “But it’s those good things you mentioned that I see in you. Her laughter. The times when she was happy, when she put you and your dad first and made things special.”

  Annie felt tears of gratitude gathering behind her eyes. It was so hard…loving her mother, wanting to be proud of her, but doubting her, too.

  “My dad,” he continued. “After my brother was killed and Pop lost himself, I had to keep reminding myself of the way he was before he started drinking too much and gambling away every penny he made. I had to hold onto the memories of the father and husband he was when I was growing up. I knew that man was still inside him.” Joe paused, added, “I think it’s the same with you and your mother.”

  She brushed her knuckles against his beard-stubbled cheek. “There you go again, ruining your tough-guy image by being sweet.”

  Joe slid his hand to the nape of her neck and pressed her head down toward his until their mouths touched. Still, Annie sensed conflict in him.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Annie. No matter what happens—”

  “My eyes were wide open going into this. They still are. I don’t expect anything,” she repeated.

  But she wanted it. Oh, how she wanted it.

  Joe didn’t look at her.

  Desperate to lighten his mood, Annie tilted her head to one side and said, “Do you realize we’ve known one another less than twenty-four hours?” She smirked at him. “And you thought I was a prude. Now, I suppose you think I’m a loose woman.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, and I love it.”

  “After what we just did, you may find this hard to believe, but being naughty is a whole new experience for me.”

  “And you chose me to help guide you down the path to corruption. How’d I get so lucky?”

  “You looked as if you’d be good at it.”

  “And what do you think so far? Am I measuring up?”

  She nuzzled his ear with her mouth, felt him harden against her thigh. “Oh, you definitely measure up. I had a very good time.” She giggled. “Next time, that is if you’re up to it—”

  He closed his eyes.

  Gawd. Why couldn’t she stop saying the wrong things? Maybe he intended this to be a one-time incident. “I only want sex from you, Brady,” she said, trying to tease him out of his funk. “I’m not asking for your soul, just this.” Annie slipped her hand between their bodies and touched him. “I promise I’ll return it in the same condition I found it in.”

  Joe groaned. “Sweet Tea, after tonight it’s never gonna be the same.”

  Laughing, Annie propped a forearm against Joe’s chest and trailed the fingers of her opposite hand down a jagged scar that stretched like a tiny lightning bolt from his collarbone to his shoulder. “What happened here?”

  “Knife wound.”

  She flinched, stunned by his indifferent tone. “Did it happen in the line of duty or during your wayward youth?”

  “Line of duty. When you work undercover, sometimes it goes with the territory.”

  “Can you tell me about it?”

  His eyes remained closed. “We should sleep.”

  “I’m not sleepy. I slept while you drove.”

  “Well, I am.” After a moment, he opened his eyes, and when he found her staring down at him expectantly, Joe exhaled noisily. “Okay. I’ll tell you, but then you’ve gotta let me get some sleep.”

  “Deal.” She balanced her forearms on his chest.

  Joe waited a few beats, then said, “It helps to be a good liar when you work undercover. If you screw up and they call your bluff, you might wind up in the E.R. or worse. I screwed up.”

  “How?”

  “I was posing as a customer trying to buy cocaine. The dealer was a cop. That academy classmate of Willis’s I mentioned. I’d met with him before under an assumed name to arrange things. This particular time, though, he brought a friend, and it just so happened the guy knew me.”

  “You mean he knew you were a cop?”

  Joe nodded. “I got a little cut up, but it was worth it. That wasn’t the first time I took in a crooked cop. Wasn’t the last time, either. Which is why I developed a reputation that didn’t set well with a few of my fellow officers.”

  “I don’t understand their way of thinking. They should’ve applauded you.”

  “I don’t get it, either. Most cops don’t. It’s hard enough dealing with the criminals on the outside without being forced to deal with them inside the ranks, too.”

  Annie studied him. “Why did you do it if you knew they’d come down on you?”

  “I was good at it.”

  Annie caught a hint of something cold and bitter in his expression as she traced the scar. She sensed more to the wound than what she could see. As he sifted through his thoughts, it occurred to her that they might as well have existed on different planets before they met. Her run-in with Harry Landau last night was the closest she had ever come to touching the darker side of life.

  “I told you about my little brother,” Joe finally said. “He was an addict by the time he turned fourteen. When he was in junior high, the neighborhood we lived in was really starting to go downhill. So it was no big surprise he got mixed up with a gang. A lot of kids did.”

  He shook his head. “Ma tried to talk my dad into moving out of the neighborhood to a safer place, but Pop grew up there and he had the attitude that he wasn’t going to let any scumbags scare him away from his home.”

  “I can understand him feeling that way,” Annie said.

  “I do, too. But it’s not easy keeping a kid straight in that atmosphere. Once they’re caught up in the culture…” He shrugged. “When you get right down to it, my brother was just another statistic.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  His jaw clamped tight. “After Pete died, they arrested his gang’s supplier. A patrol officer who worked our neighborhood. A guy everybody looked up to. I guess that’s part of the reason that I chose to work narcotics. Because of my brother.”

  Because he’d wanted revenge, like she did for her mother. No wonder Joe understood her so well.

  “I didn’t hesitate to go after guys who used their badge for the wrong reasons.”

  Lowering her head, she kissed the thick white mark that pocked his chest. “It must’ve been horrible for you and your parents, losing your brother like that.”

  “I was old enough to see where he was headed. I should’ve done something.”

  “Nineteen is still a boy, Joe. A boy can’t be expected to save the world.”

  He didn’t respond, and in the short silence that followed she thought of the woman who had been attacked on his guard, an incident he obviously blamed on himself. “Neither can a grown man,” she said. “You aren’t responsible for everyone, Joe.”

  He closed his eyes again. “I know that.”

  Annie laid her head on his chest. After awhile, she felt Joe relax and he began rubbing her back. She didn’t believe him. He did feel responsible. Even for her. “You’re not responsible for me, either,” she said quietly.

  His hands stilled, and after a long stretch of silence, he said, “What happened between us tonight…you may not believe it right now, but you’ll probably regret it some day. When that day comes, you’ll hate me.”

  She flinched, lifted her head. “I could never hate you. Why would you say that?”r />
  He cradled her face between his palms, scattered kisses across her eyes, her cheeks, her lips. “I couldn’t stand it if you got hurt because of me, Annie. I couldn’t stand for you to hate me.”

  “I won’t get hurt,” she whispered, her throat closing. The hopelessness in his tone, the inevitability, frightened her. “Be with me because you want to, not because you think I can’t take care of myself. I’ve dealt with that enough all my life.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, held her. “Let’s get some sleep. We have a long day ahead tomorrow.”

  Annie sighed, caught between the contentment she felt in Joe’s arms and the worry his words inspired. “I don’t want to think about tomorrow. I just want you to hold me.”

  THE DISTANT BUZZ of a motor stirred Joe to consciousness. He tried moving his hand but couldn’t feel it. And then he remembered…Annie.

  Joe opened his eyes. Sunlight filtered through the snow-encrusted window. The glass sparkled like a sheet of tiny diamonds. When he moved, Annie moaned quietly against him. He reached down and felt on the floor for his clothes.

  “Annie, I think someone’s coming. We’d better get dressed.”

  Yawning, she tugged the coat to her chin and sat up, her hair forming a pale, tangled halo around her sleep-lined face. She blinked, then widened her eyes. “Willis?”

  “I doubt it’s him.” Joe twisted his legs around and sat up. “If he followed us off the exit, he probably got stuck, too.”

  They dressed in a hurry, hastened by the biting cold as well as the vehicle’s approach. Joe put on his gloves then reached over the seat for his coat. He put it on, too, then tried to open the door. It had frozen shut and he had to use his shoulder to give it a few hard shoves. Finally, the door gave way and he stepped outside into a three-foot snowdrift.

  Joe trudged up the incline and out of the ditch as a blue pickup truck slowed to a stop at the road’s edge. The driver’s window rolled down and an old man with sagging jowls and an orange stocking hat with a fluffy round puff on top of it looked out. “Hey, buddy,” the old man said. “Looks like you could use some help.”

  “Sure could.” Joe approached the truck. The wind had died down, but the temperature still felt like ten below. “Is that a four-wheel drive?”

  The man nodded. “Yessir, and I’ve got chains. I’ll pull you out of there, no problem.”

  The elderly man left the truck idling while he climbed out. He was overweight, with friendly gray eyes and a firm handshake. “Name’s Nate Kilroy. You’re lucky I came along,” he said, whistling softly as he talked. “This road isn’t traveled much.”

  Joe introduced himself, then followed Nate’s gaze toward the GTO where Annie was climbing onto the road.

  “You two spend the night out here?”

  “We did, sir,” Annie answered, shoving her hands into the pockets of Landau’s coat. “I wouldn’t recommend it.” Her eyes flicked to Joe a second as she smiled and added, “We managed to stay warm enough, but you’re still a sight for sore eyes.”

  They exchanged introductions, then Nate hauled a coil of chains from the bed of his truck.

  Joe pulled out his wallet, noted his cash was dwindling fast, then said, “Will ten bucks pay for your trouble?”

  The old man scowled at him, then turned and spit onto the road. “No charge. I hope someone would do the same for me.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Joe’s GTO was out of the ditch and Annie was getting directions to her aunt’s place from Nate. After saying their goodbyes, Annie and Joe climbed into the car. “We’re only minutes away from Aunt Tess’s,” Annie said, waving at Nate as they passed by his truck.

  Joe glanced into the mirror, noting that the old man followed closely behind them. “Nice old guy.”

  “Yes.” Annie laughed softly. “He needs new dentures. They whistle.” She leaned across the space between the seats that separated them, brought her mouth up to Joe’s ear and murmured, “One of Aunt Tess’s bedrooms has a fireplace and a bed so big you could get lost in it.” She nibbled his lobe, and added, “Why don’t we get lost in it together once we’re there? My feet are getting cold again.”

  “I’m starting to think you have as much of a one-track mind as I do.”

  She grinned up at him and unzipped his coat. “Is that a problem?”

  “Not as long as we’re on the same track.” Desire twisted inside him again as she slipped her hand beneath his shirt-tail. “I need some nourishment first if I’m going to keep up with you.”

  “Maybe Aunt Tess has some canned goods in the pantry.” She poked her finger into his navel.

  Joe jumped. “Jesus, Annie! I’m going to slide off the road again if you don’t behave yourself. Move on over to your side and buckle up.”

  Her laugh skittered goose bumps up his arms. “You’re no fun.”

  “I wasn’t hearing any complaints out of you last night.”

  Joe gripped the wheel, his mind in turmoil. He couldn’t think of anything better than a day spent in a real bed with Annie. But he couldn’t do that with a clear conscience unless he told her the truth about himself. And that was the problem. In bed with him was the last place she’d want to be when she found out he was really an investigator working for her father, when she realized that he’d kept that from her long after he should’ve. As it stood, he could either satisfy his conscience or satisfy his lust. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out a way to do both.

  Annie nuzzled his neck, and Joe bit the inside of his cheek. Hard. What did it matter? When the truth came out, Annie was going to be hurt and pissed off whether he slept with her again or not. She had implied she just wanted sex with him, no strings. If that was the case, the truth shouldn’t make any difference.

  His self-serving rationalizations disgusted him. First of all, he didn’t believe her. He’d been right; Annie wasn’t the type of woman who had flings. If he’d been thinking straight last night, he would’ve respected that, realized what he was setting himself up for and backed off.

  “You’re quiet,” Annie murmured.

  “Just tired,” he said. “Someone kept me up last night.”

  Joe flexed his fingers on the wheel, shifted in his seat. If he wanted to hang onto his one last shred of self-respect, he had to tell Annie the truth. He would remind her that he hadn’t known her when he made that deal with her father. He had just been doing a job, following orders. When she thought about that, she would be fine. He tried to convince himself that was possible. He’d lay it all out rationally, she’d listen, and like a reasonable adult, she’d understand. The air would clear and they could get down to the business of wading through those files while enjoying one another’s company.

  “Annie?”

  “Mmm-hmm?” she answered drowsily.

  “Does your aunt’s place have a phone?”

  “I think so. Why?”

  “We should probably let our families know we’re okay.”

  She sighed. “You’re right. Daddy’s probably been sitting by the phone all night.”

  Joe felt a sudden case of indigestion coming on. Through the rearview mirror, he saw Nate take the cut-off into town. He waved at the old man and stayed on the road Annie told him to follow. “About your father—”

  “Oh, look!” Annie pointed out the front window. “There’s the house. See?”

  It wasn’t a house, it was a barn. A big, red barn at the edge of a snowy meadow adorned with a scattering of trees and a frozen pond perfect for ice-skating. The sight seemed familiar. Joe pondered that, and realized he had seen it on at least a hundred Christmas cards. “Where’s the house?”

  “The barn is the house. It’s been converted. Wait until you see inside of it. Tess left the beams exposed and had wood plank floors installed. It’s full of antiques, and besides that bedroom I told you about, there’s an enormous great room with another fireplace.” She squeezed his arm. “After we call our folks, I’ll give you a tour. Then we can scrounge up some food.”

/>   Joe’s stomach growled. He decided the truth would have to wait until after they ate. Yesterday, he’d witnessed Annie’s temper. Joe knew he couldn’t face the full force of it on an empty belly. He saw what she did to that three-hundred-pound gorilla back at her apartment. He was going to need his strength.

  For just a moment, his thoughts drifted to the bedroom with the fireplace. He reined them in. First, calls home. Second, food. Then the truth. No excuses. After that, if he was lucky…

  PACIFYING HER FATHER was no simple task. Annie understood his worries. She even felt guilty about causing them. By getting involved with Harry Landau, she had pulled her father back into the past. He was reliving what had happened to her mom so long ago, and terrified that his worst nightmare might be coming true—that he might lose his daughter like he had his wife. As upset as Annie was with him, her intentions when she took a job with Harry had never been to hurt her father.

  “He wants to talk to you again,” Annie said, passing the phone to Joe. When he took it, she added, “I’m going to take a quick shower before we eat. Feel free to join me when you’re finished with Daddy.”

  He didn’t. In fact, when she went looking for him after her shower, she heard water spraying in the bathroom next door to the one she had occupied. She tried the door and found it locked.

  Baffled and a little hurt, Annie walked barefoot down the hallway to the bedroom she hoped they would share. She loved the feel of the polished plank floor beneath her feet, loved the splashes of color in the rugs and pillows and throws Aunt Tess had scattered everywhere. The house was decorated for comfort and relaxation. A perfect place for lovers.

  In Tess’s closet, she was surprised to find an assortment of lingerie, from elegant to gaudy with every style in between. Annie was aware that her aunt periodically entertained guests here. Now she wondered if those guests were men. The thought made Annie smile. Tess loved the opposite sex and made no effort to hide the fact.

  A thought struck her again, and her smile fell away. Had her mother entertained lovers, too? Was Frank Reno one of them? While the prospect of Tess’s risqué love life pleased and amused her, the possibility of her mother’s did not. Tess had no commitments to anyone. Lydia had had a husband and child who loved her. Did her mother betray them both?