A Cop in Her Stocking Page 7

  She brought up the list on the screen and tilted the computer toward him.

  He ran his gaze down the list of businesses. With some, it was obvious what business they were in. Ellenston Pharmaceuticals. Radiant Diamonds. Morgan’s Artisan Cheese. Others weren’t quite so obvious. “What is H&V?”

  “A clothing wholesaler.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “They have a warehouse near my house in Chicago. Once a year they’d hold sample sales. Nothing fancy. Just sweatshirts, T-shirts, that kind of thing.”

  “Okay.” He picked out another name on the list. “Julianne’s?”

  “I have no idea.”

  He dashed back into the spare room and grabbed a notebook. Returning to the couch, he scribbled down the name. “How about IGB Data? Data mining? A credit reporting agency?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Another note. “Fortune Gaming?”

  “That’s from across the border, too. They run some of the offtrack betting in the Chicago area.”

  Interesting. “The mob could be involved in something like that.”

  Megan’s eyes grew wide. “You think this might have something to do with the mafia?”

  “I hope not. But they’ve been known to do things like kidnapping.” He hated to bring up the possibility, but it was probably best Megan faced things straight out. Maybe if there was mob involvement in this, she would agree to talk to the FBI.

  He moved his gaze farther down the list, jotting down a few more names that needed checking out. He paused on a name that was far too familiar.

  “What is it?” Megan leaned close enough that he could smell the light scent of her shampoo.

  “Keating provides security for Harris House.”

  “Evan and Dee Dee? You’re sure?”

  He scanned the rest of the list. “It seems to be one of only a handful of residences, all in that same neighborhood. Of course it’s probably the biggest and most opulent residence in the county.”

  “True. And Keating is probably the biggest security company in the county, too. But I wonder…” She glanced up at him, her face only inches from his, and for a moment, the idea of kissing her flashed through his mind.

  Probably not the best timed thought he’d ever had. “Wonder what?”

  “Something Evan Blankenship told me this afternoon. He said if I needed help getting Connor back, I should come to him.”

  After the way she’d resisted his help the past several hours, the thought of her running to Blankenship made Ty a little queasy. Okay, a lot queasy. When it came right down to it, it was too reminiscent of what had happened years ago. “Megan? What are you thinking?”

  She shot him a look. “Maybe he could get me back into Keating.”

  “So you can steal security files, including the information for the system in Evan Blankenship’s own home, and give them to a criminal?”

  “I didn’t think about it that way.”

  Megan was desperate, and she had good reason to feel that way. Guilt niggled at the back of his mind. If he was honest with himself, he had to admit his main objection had little to do with the law and a lot to do with uncomfortable echoes from the past.

  He pressed his lips into a somber smile he hoped she would accept as something of an apology. “We’ll figure something out.”

  He nodded at the laptop’s screen, eager to get her mind working on something else. “Out of the names on this list, what raises red flags for you?”

  “Red flags?”

  “Which places do you see as a target for a break-in?”

  She skewed her lips to the side as if chewing on the inside of her cheek. “The pharmaceutical company might be a target. I’ve heard prescription drugs are pretty popular as street drugs, anyway.”

  He nodded. “That’s a good one.”

  “And the jewelry store, of course. And if the data company actually compiles credit information, that might be a good bet.”

  Megan may not be in law enforcement, but she was sharp. Those were exactly the ones he’d picked out at first glance. “So we know we’re probably not looking for someone who’s interested in stealing artisan cheeses.”

  Megan gave him a weak smile.

  It was a groan-worthy joke, he knew. He was trying to lighten things up, but he should have saved his breath. “We’ll get him back, Meg.”

  She looked away from him. Her eyes glistened in the lamplight.

  He’d never seen her look this way before, so utterly…defeated. Megan had always been so strong. So independent. She’d gone through hell with her parents, and still she’d soldiered on. She’d never seemed to need anybody, especially not him. Even though when he looked back on those times, he knew she had…and that he’d let her down.

  The past was the past, yet to see her like this now made him want to be there for her more than ever. He set the laptop on the coffee table, slid closer to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders.

  She placed a palm on his chest. “I…I can’t.”

  “I just want to hold you. That’s all.” That wasn’t all, of course. He wanted to kiss her, make love to her. He’d been wanting all of those things since seeing her again this morning. Maybe since he’d returned from the police academy five years ago and found her engaged to Doug Burke. But even he knew enough not to push that far. “I want to do something to make you feel better…less alone.”

  She shook her head. “There’s nothing that you can do.”

  No, of course there wasn’t. Nothing short of bringing her son home. “I’ll stick with you this time, Megan. Through this whole thing. We’ll get him back.”

  MEGAN SOAKED IN THE FEEL OF him through her fingertips. The woven texture of his shirt. The solidness of the chest beneath.

  She’d been so focused on Connor, on getting her son back, that she hadn’t really considered how much she was asking of Ty. Since Connor had been taken, he had been there for her, just like he was promising again now. Each time she’d needed him to cover up for her, he’d done it. Even if it had meant lying to the police, risking his career, even breaking the law. He’d stuck by her, regardless of how much it could cost him.

  And somehow that made her feel more unbalanced than anything else.

  She pulled her hand away and tangled her fingers together in her lap. “I know your career is at stake. You’ve done so much to help me, things that could get you in serious trouble. I know you feel responsible, but—”

  “I am responsible.” He blew a breath through tense lips. Reaching out, he enfolded her hand in both of his. “I lost Connor. You’ve been very generous about not blaming me for it, but it’s the truth. But even if I hadn’t, I would help you, Megan. So if you’re going to try to talk me out of it, don’t. I’m doing it for myself as much as I’m doing it for you.”

  She dropped her gaze to her lap, to her hand embraced by his. She had to admit, she was glad he was with her. She didn’t know how long or what it meant, but it felt good to not be facing this alone. “I’m sorry, Ty. I’m just not very good at this.”

  He let out a laugh. “Good at this? You think anyone is good at having their child kidnapped?”

  “Of course not. I meant I’m not good at accepting help. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten used to doing things on my own.”

  “It’s not just the past few years.”

  She brought her gaze back to his face. “What?”

  “You never were very good at accepting help, actually. At least not from me.”

  She frowned.

  “What? You don’t remember that Christmas before I left for the police academy? Insisting on cleaning out your parents’ house all on your own?”

  Of course, she did. She’d spent most of that horrible December packing up hers and her mother’s clothing and getting rid of everything she could in order to trim down their collection of household belongings to apartment size. Her dad had promised he’d help, but he’d never shown up. No surprise there. And Mom, of course,
she hadn’t been able. So the move had been up to Megan alone. “That seems so long ago.” And yet very little had changed. She was still reticent about accepting help from Ty. She didn’t know how long he’d be around. She was always more comfortable going it alone.

  Ty nodded. “It was a long time ago.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be difficult, though. It was just my way to work through some things.” Her way to have control over something that holiday. Anything.

  “I know it was tough on you, I just wish…I don’t know, that I could have been there for you, I guess.”

  “You had your own stuff to pack.” He’d been getting ready to leave for the police academy. He’d been excited about the future before him. She had been trying to clean up the messy pain of her past. “We were in two different worlds.”

  “My timing was terrible. I still feel bad about that.”

  She took a deep breath. She didn’t like to dwell on those days. She didn’t want to think of them now.

  “With your mom in the hospital and everything else, I should have waited. A year, two, whatever it took. I shouldn’t have left you to Doug Burke.”

  “No. Don’t say that.”

  “Why not?”

  “First of all, Doug and I had Connor. And I wouldn’t change that for the world.”

  “Okay. Fair enough. And second?”

  “You’re a cop, Ty. You had to go to the academy, especially when you got your way paid. It’s what you were always meant to do.”

  “Delaying the academy for a year wouldn’t have prevented me from becoming a cop.”

  “It also wouldn’t have changed anything between us.” It was a hard truth, and not one she wanted to admit to herself, let alone Ty. She knew saying it would hurt him. But his romanticized view of those days wasn’t realistic. And trying to rewrite the past wouldn’t get either of them anywhere.

  “How do you know it wouldn’t have changed things? How can you say that?”

  “Because you were only twenty. You weren’t ready to settle down. Not back then.”

  His lips pressed into a line.

  That wasn’t all of it, of course. But the rest…she shook her head. The past was done. She didn’t want to dwell on it. Not when it took all the energy she had to be ready for what the future might throw at her. “I knew what I was getting into when I married Doug. I didn’t just fall into his arms because you were gone.”

  He looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath. When he returned his gaze to hers, his face held a resigned calm that made her want to cry. “You’re probably right,” he said. “I wasn’t ready to settle down. But you deserved more than Doug Burke. I still wish I’d have gotten the chance to prove that to you.”

  The room grew watery. She blinked back the surge of tears. “Sometimes I wish I would have had the guts to let you try.”

  “I’m ready to try now. When we get Connor back. That was the reason I called you about Shop with a Cop. I wanted to see you again. Find out if there could still be something there.”

  She wanted to reach out, to hug him. She longed to lean across the gulf between them and kiss him. But longing it or not, she couldn’t take that kind of leap. Not when she didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.

  She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Megan?”

  She wanted to say it wasn’t him, it was her. But she couldn’t throw that kind of easy answer at Ty. He deserved more. He deserved the truth. She just wasn’t sure what that was. “I’m trying.”

  He brought his hand to her face and wiped tears from her cheek she hadn’t even known she’d shed. “What can I do to change things?”

  It was only a wisp of a touch, but one she could feel reverberate through her whole body. “I wish I knew.”

  Chapter Eight

  The grand total of snow had reached seventeen inches, but even though the street outside Ty’s house wasn’t a main artery, it was still largely cleared before noon.

  Ty had spent the morning on the phone. He’d called most of the businesses on Keating’s client list, asking basic questions, trying to get a feel for each place, attempting to determine if it had anything to steal that was worth risking a kidnapping charge. Those where potential profit didn’t seem to warrant such a risk, he crossed off the list. He ended up deleting a lot of names, and when finished, he was left with the pharmaceutical company, the jewelry store and two places that hadn’t answered their phones.

  With Megan’s help, he blew snow off the driveway and shoveled the steps clear. And they were just about to head out and dig out his car when his phone rang.

  Ty stared at the number on the caller ID. He’d figured Leo would call sooner or later. He wished he knew what his lieutenant wanted before he picked up. He’d love to get the news that the chief had reconsidered and his suspension was over before it really began. He needed to know whether they’d discovered Doug’s lie about having Connor. But he anticipated the call would be neither of those things. If he was a betting man, he’d wager Leo wanted to grill him about the incident at Keating Security last night.

  And that was a phone call Ty didn’t want to take.

  “Are you going to answer?” Megan asked. She cradled her fourth cup of coffee in her palms and was jumpy enough to have consumed eight.

  Not that Ty could blame her. She’d been through hell yesterday and hadn’t slept much last night. He’d heard her moving around in the spare room through the paper-thin walls. More than once he’d detected a sniffle, as if she was crying. He’d wanted to knock on her door, offer her what comfort he could give. But he knew she wouldn’t accept it any more than she had earlier in the night. “It’s Leo’s cell. I think I’ll pass.”

  The ringing stopped.

  “I’m sorry for dragging you into that mess last night. I don’t think I ever actually said that.”

  He shook his head. He could follow with another apology for losing Connor, but he wished instead that they could just stop this sorry game. “We’re in this together, Megan. Right?”

  She nodded. But the gesture did nothing to alleviate his concerns.

  After digging out Ty’s car, they tucked Megan’s in his garage out of the sight of the kidnapper. If he really was watching her apartment, he might be keeping an eye out for her vehicle, as well. They couldn’t risk him spotting Ty in Megan’s car.

  Megan pulled one of Ty’s Green Bay Packer stocking caps over her head. With that and her sunglasses and parka, she blended in with half the people in town. The two of them ventured out into the snowy streets to the first business remaining on their list.

  One of the businesses that hadn’t answered the phone this morning turned out to be a pawn shop. The doors were barred, the place having been put out of business, apparently. How a pawn shop of all places had managed to go out of business in this shaky economy, Ty hadn’t a clue.

  Their second stop was the pharmaceutical company. Just from one glance he could see the place had security that could rival the White House. They didn’t get past the front door, and even the employees had to go through intensive security, judging from the look of things.

  They climbed back into the car and set off for downtown.

  Megan stared straight ahead, clutching her bag in her lap with both hands, knuckles showing white.

  “You okay?”

  She glanced at him. The green in the hat and barely suppressed emotion made her eyes glisten like emeralds. “If whoever took Connor is planning to break into that place…” She shook her head as if she was totally at a loss. “Why didn’t they just get the codes from Keating themselves? Keating’s own security isn’t that tough.”

  He’d had the same thought. Only skilled professionals could get past the myriad cameras and scanners they’d seen at Ellenston Pharmaceuticals, even if they had the codes. “It is probably not the target.”

  She didn’t look relieved. “So we cross it off the list?”

  Just as he was about to suggest he talk to someone at the depa
rtment to see if there was any reason not to, his phone rang. He pulled it from his belt and glanced at the readout. Clipping it back in place, he continued to drive.

  “Your lieutenant again?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe something happened. Something important.”

  “If he wants to tell me something, he can leave a voice mail. Otherwise I’m not ready to put myself up for questions. Not without knowing what I’m getting into.”

  “You’re afraid he’s going to ask you about me?”

  “I’m afraid he’s going to interrogate me about you. Or Doug.” He wondered if she knew how hard this was for him. He was a cop, had always been a cop, had always wanted to be a cop. To cover up the mess at Keating, to duck his lieutenant’s calls…he felt like he was splitting himself in two.

  He pulled the car to the curb not too far from the little jewelry store on Main Street. He had no idea if Megan remembered this place, but he did. It had changed hands since then. But every time he drove past it, he remembered the Christmas right before he left for the police academy. He’d splurged on what he thought was the most romantic gift ever given. The diamond bracelet Megan had refused to accept.

  Sometimes it was hell living in the same town where you grew up.

  Before exiting the car to head into the store, he unclipped his phone. Sure enough, Leo had left a voice mail. Probably a warning that if he didn’t come in, his suspension would go from bad to worse. “I’ll be just a second.”

  Megan stared out the window as if thinking of something far out of her reach.

  He left the car running to power the heater, punched in his PIN and held the phone to his ear.

  “Ty, call me as soon as you get this. We need to talk about what happened last night at Keating Security.”

  He knew it. The thought of explaining why he’d chucked everything he knew was right and covered up for Megan made his palms start to sweat.

  “I also thought you should know the paper is doing a piece on you and the scare with the kid. You’re not going to like this, but I’ve gotten word they’re calling it ‘Wannabe Santa Claus’ to be cute. But the article is far from a feel good holiday fluff piece. Just wanted to warn you.”