Savannah reached out, grabbed Grayson’s hand and pulled him into the house.
She closed the door behind him and did what she’d vowed never to do again. She hugged him. Tightly. And looked up into his wonderful blue eyes. Which also looked down at her, but only for an instant, until he bent his head...and they kissed.
Oh, what a kiss. Savannah felt Grayson’s hard body against her, his heat surrounding her, his slight beard scratching her face just a little, his—well, she definitely knew that he was as aroused as she.
Bad idea. Bad idea. The words started circulating through her brain even as she pulled him even more tightly against her, her mouth absorbing every heated moment of that kiss.
But this couldn’t go on forever. And that it had happened at all felt foolish.
And amazing...
She gave him one more kiss against that hot mouth of his, the slightest, most wonderful of pressures, then pulled away.
“Wow,” he said, looking at her once more.
“Well, that’s what you get when you show up when you’re not supposed to,” she said, then realized how absurd that sounded. “I mean—”
“I get it,” he said. “And I’ll remember it. Maybe what I should do is tell you each time I come here that you won’t see me again for a while, and then come anyway the next day.”
She made herself scowl at him, though it wasn’t real and he undoubtedly knew it. “I don’t like being lied to—even when the results are...are...well, good ones.” She stepped back even further. “Anyway, why are you here today? I had the impression you had a lot of things to take care of at your office, or whatever.”
“Well, I got quite a bit done after I left here yesterday. And part of it made me want more answers that maybe you can give.”
“Oh,” Savannah said. “What are the questions?”
“We’ll discuss them in a minute,” he said. “For now—well, I’m not sure if you like coffee, but I brewed some in my apartment and brought it in two insulated travel mugs so it’s still hot. And none of my family was around when I left, so no one saw me carrying two, so don’t worry about that. But if you don’t want any, I’ll—”
“I’d love some coffee,” Savannah said, feeling herself smile as if he’d offered her a bag of diamonds.
Diamonds. They made her think of commitments—although she of course no longer wore the one Zane had given her when they’d gotten engaged. She’d kept the ring with the big, expensive jewel, though. It served him right for being such a jerk while they were married.
And that was also part of their negotiated divorce settlement.
Not that it would do her any good now, especially since she had it locked in a safe deposit box at her local bank. She couldn’t just show up there and claim it, even if she got access again to the code to let her in.
Divorce. Relationships. She never wanted another one again, after Zane and his nastiness and infidelities. Not even with a man who looked and kissed like Grayson, who seemed so nice, who was helping her...
Enough.
She looked at Grayson. “Hey, can I come out to your car and help you carry the coffee in?”
“No thanks, but in case you didn’t eat breakfast, or even if you did, I also brought a half dozen doughnuts.”
When things normalized a bit, Savannah figured she’d be able to eat more sensibly, more healthfully. But considering everything, including her mood and lack of much appetite, she doubted she would gain much weight right now.
“Sounds good,” she said, then watched him head back out the door.
She returned to the bathroom again to see what she looked like. She’d used her fingers to comb her hair, as was her norm right now. But even with no makeup, she figured she didn’t look too bad.
Maybe she would look a lot better soon. Or at least a lot different.
Grayson was gone only a few minutes before coming in with two metallic coffee mugs with caps, as well as a plastic bag containing the doughnuts he had mentioned.
They both sat down at their now-regular places at the table. Savannah immediately took a nice, long sip from the mug Grayson placed in front of her. It tasted good, not too strong or too light, and it had maintained a sufficient amount of heat. She closed her eyes for a moment to savor it.
“I gather you don’t mind drinking coffee,” Grayson said.
“Not at all.” But after taking a glazed doughnut from the bag, along with a napkin, Savannah said, “So what brought you here today? What questions do you have?”
“Well, out of curiosity, how did you happen to hire Ian Wright as your lawyer? Did you already have a professional relationship with him?”
“No. I...well, I did have a local lawyer, John Morton, representing me in my divorce. When I recognized that I needed a criminal attorney when...when it appeared that Zane had been killed, I asked him for a referral. He suggested a couple but said that Ian, whose office was also in his building, had experience in different legal areas but had recently successfully defended a client in a murder case in a nearby town. I looked that up on the internet, thought he sounded good, so I called him and he came to see me at my home before the cops came for me, and I hired him.”
“Got it,” Grayson said.
“Why did you ask that?” Savannah felt a bit puzzled.
“Well, I spent some time on the computer yesterday checking into Mr. Wright’s background, as well as Schuyler Wells’s. And funny thing.”
Both curiosity and anticipated dismay rocketed through Savannah. “What?”
“It turned out that your supposed buddy, Schuyler the real estate mogul, had a lawsuit filed against his company a few years ago. Nothing criminal, but a civil suit. And guess who his attorney was?”
“Ian.” Savannah knew better than to turn that into a question—not with the way Grayson was staring at her with both inquisitiveness and compassion. “But...but Ian never mentioned that, despite all the lies about my supposedly having an affair with Schuyler leading me to murder Zane.”
“My initial reaction is to assume they were in collusion over this,” Grayson said. He reached across the table and grasped Savannah’s hand with empathy. “Maybe with Zane, too, if he really is alive, though I didn’t find anything specific to make that more than a possibility.”
“So Ian had a reason to not represent me fairly? He was somehow in cahoots at least with Schuyler, and possibly Zane, too? But why? Though that would explain why he wasn’t able to get me out on bail...”
Savannah felt like putting her head down on the table and crying. What was she going to do now? How could she ever prove her attorney was a phony? Especially when she didn’t dare contact the authorities for any reason, at least not at the moment.
“I... I don’t know what to do about that,” she finally said to Grayson.
“I have some thoughts,” he said. “No one is aware that I know where you are, but since I found the van you were in I can certainly express professional curiosity as a first responder. In fact, I have an idea how to introduce myself to your lawyer to see his reaction. I can lie a little and tell Mr. Wright I’ve been hired by local authorities to try to help find you since I did discover the van you were in, plus, thanks to my background, I know the area pretty well. We’ll see what his reaction is to that. But I won’t do it without your okay.”
“You’ve certainly got my okay,” Savannah said, feeling shocked by this new twist on her situation. “I’ll be eager to hear his reaction.”
“I’ll let you know how it goes as soon as I can,” Grayson said.
“I... Things keep getting crazier and crazier.” Savannah shook her head, partly to keep the tears welling in her eyes from falling. “I just don’t know how I’m going to get out of this.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Grayson captured her gaze with his own.
“I wish I could be there when you question my wonderful lawyer. Maybe he really is as good as he tells me, and the fact he once knew Schuyler is irrelevant.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what he says when I can.”
“Right,” Savannah said. “And ask him who he thinks the most likely suspects are in Zane’s murder, excluding me, of course.” Savannah had already expressed some of her ideas to Ian, including members of Zane’s bank staff, since she’d gotten the sense from some things her ex had said, that he might have played games with the company’s income and blamed it on them, or maybe some of the women he’d had affairs with, but she had nothing that even barely resembled evidence.
And even if she got all the things she was going to request Grayson to get for her, it wouldn’t make sense for her, whoever she became, to accompany him.
But she would broach the subject of his obtaining a good disguise for her before he left.
That greeting. Grayson had been only partially kidding when he’d told Savannah that from now on he’d say he wasn’t coming, then show up. Both times he’d visited her now, they’d wound up kissing.
He took a long swig of coffee as he remained at the table with her, half wishing it was alcohol, even at this hour of the morning.
He wanted to hang out here a lot longer, but he needed to leave now to get started on his upgraded research for Savannah. Also, he had to spend a few hours in his office getting in touch with some of his police and fire contacts to make sure they were happy with First Hand’s response after the quake, and to seek more assignments.
Besides, he wanted to make some suggestions regarding official preparations for any future quakes. After all, he wanted, needed, to keep a good relationship with all of them.
So, as much as he regretted leaving Savannah, he said, “I’d better get on my way now. I can see you’re doing okay, and I’m glad you consented to my talking to your lawyer the way we discussed—although he’s likely to claim attorney-client privilege and all that if I ask him some of the pertinent questions I have in mind.”
“About his knowing Schuyler, the liar who convinced the cops I killed my ex? Good old Schuyler—and good old Ian. I’ll definitely be eager to hear what Ian says. But—well, I have something to ask you before you go.”
Her expression after she said that appeared both eager and apprehensive. What was she going to ask?
“I appreciate all you’ve been doing for me, Grayson,” she began, picking up the pad of paper he had given her previously and fiddling with it somewhat nervously. He could tell that she had written notes on it. “And that you’re continuing to help me. But I’m sure you can imagine that I’m going nuts hanging out alone here, knowing that if I go anywhere else I’m likely to be spotted and taken back into custody.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s difficult,” he said, wondering where she was heading with this. And he did sympathize with her. Even with her ability now to look things up on the phone he’d brought her, watch videos on it, read free magazines on it and whatever, she remained alone out here in the middle of nowhere.
“And I hate to ask you to spend more money on me now.”
He began to react, since that wasn’t a concern to him and she knew it.
“But,” she continued, “as I said before I’ll repay you when I’m able to. The thing is, I don’t want to be me any longer. Or at least I don’t want to be recognizable in any way.”
“What do you mean?”
She immediately jumped in to explain, showing him the list of items she wanted him to purchase for her—and suggesting he not shop anywhere near Mustang Valley, where he could be seen, and where people would know he didn’t have a significant other to buy all of this for.
And those people could become suspicious.
She jumped up from her seat then and motioned for him to follow her into the bathroom, where she looked in the mirror and gave a better explanation of what she intended to do with the makeup and all, pointing out what changes she would make.
He had to hand it to Savannah. Of course, as a former debutante and someone who had apparently been featured in a few high school acting roles, she’d come up with a lot of good ideas for disguising herself.
“So, if I’m able to find all this stuff, I gather that your nose will look longer.” He reached over and touched her nose softly with his index finger. “Your hair will be deep brown instead of blond—and in this style that no one but me has seen you in anyway.” He gently touched the side of her hair. “Your eyes will appear larger, with dark lashes and brows over them that match your hair.” He touched those brows, too.
As he was doing this, he realized how ridiculous it was—and yet how sexually stimulated he was becoming. And Savannah’s eyes widened as she met his gaze in that mirror.
It was as if he was getting emotionally attached to her. In some ways, maybe he was. But he knew only too well that he didn’t want to get involved with any woman.
This one had particularly gotten under his skin with her sad situation. Well, he didn’t need any kind of relationship with her except as her helper. Anything else would be way out of bounds.
He still believed she was innocent, believed it enough to continue to help her.
Bu what if he was wrong? What if she actually was guilty of killing her husband?
Nah...although he hoped that confronting her attorney and learning more about her that way would convince him even more of her innocence.
It had better. He didn’t want to get caught abetting a genuine murderer.
And touching her here and now? He had to stop. And so he did. He took a step back though he continued to look at her in the mirror.
“Sounds like a good idea,” he said. “But once you look that different, what do you intend to do about it? Run away? Unless you have someplace specific in mind and means to get there, it’s a bad idea.”
“Even so, I really can’t just stay here forever.” Her usually sweet voice had turned into a bit of a wail, and he couldn’t help putting an arm around her.
But she wasn’t having any of that, at least not now. She pulled away and returned to the table, where she sat back down and put her hand on that notepad.
“So what do you suggest?” she demanded, her tone harsher.
“Well, here’s what I think we should do.” He purposely emphasized the “we.” He had already dived into this situation on her side, and she certainly should recognize that—and listen to him.
But would she?
“What’s that?” she prompted.
“I’m going to go see your buddy Ian first, assuming he’ll grant me an audience. I’ll go get the things you’ve asked for, but only after that discussion and some business I need to conduct, when I have some time to get away from the office without anyone questioning where I am. That means I’ll have to get a few things done first. Until then, you need to stay here. Okay?” That, of course, was important.
“Sure, as long as you call me when you can to let me know what Ian says, or tell me if you didn’t get to see him.”
“Sounds fair.” But now he was going to impose a condition she probably wouldn’t like at all—even though it was for her own sake. “The other thing I want you to promise is that, even after I buy the things you want, and you change your looks, I’ll want to give you the once-over before you leave here, to confirm that you really do look like someone else.”
“Fine, as long as you get here quickly after I notify you. I’ll just send you a text message that says ‘Done.’”
“Okay,” Grayson said. “That was the first condition. The second is that you don’t leave until I agree it’s the right time, and then only after you’ve told me where you’re going and how long you’ll be there—and I will also have to agree with that. Might even come with you.” He stared at her hard across the table. He recognized that was being pretty restrictive, but as a professional first responder he had a better sense of where she should or shouldn’t go.
“You’re awfully controlling, aren’t you?” Those amazingly attractive green eyes were hard and she was clearly irritated.
“Yes,” he said in as jovial a tone as he could muster. “When it makes sense.” He hunkered down then, leaning across the table toward her. “And you can be sure that in this case it does. Do we have a deal?”
Savannah sucked in her lips and closed her eyes for an instant, obviously reining in her emotions and most likely her inclination to say no. She finally opened her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. “Do I have a choice?”
“No,” Grayson said.
“Well, under the circumstances, then I guess we have a deal.” She put her hand up, and he noticed the shortness of her plain fingernails, probably required while she was in prison. Did she usually wear polish?
“Good,” he said, standing and reaching for her hand to give it a businesslike shake. “I’ll get on my way now and let you know as soon as I can what happens with Ian—and also go on your shopping expedition as fast as I’m able.”
Her hand grasped his a bit more tightly than he’d anticipated, and didn’t let go immediately. “Thank you, Grayson,” she said in a soft voice. “I might not always agree with you, but you do seem to have my best interests in mind.”
“Yeah,” he said, pulled her closer around the table and gave her a quick hug before he left.
And as he walked out the door, now locked behind him and headed to his car, he wished he could do something to reassure Savannah that everything would be okay for her, and soon.
But first, he needed to do whatever was necessary to start believing that himself.