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 Give me both numbers.
Rowena rattled off her old and new numbers.
 Tommy, I m telling you he has nothing to do with
this. It s not his style.
 Meaning what?
 Meaning if you ve been keeping up with the
gossip columns, you know what he does to hurt
people.
 Twenty million dollars is a pretty strong
motive.
 It s peanuts to him. His ex-wife got three times
that.
Tommy narrowed his eyes.  How long had he
been divorced when you met him?
She didn t answer right away. Van fought an urge
to scoot his chair around so he could see her face.
 His divorce wasn t final when we met, she said
quietly.
Van s heart skipped a beat. She d never told him
that. The picture of Cheryl standing across the street
in Peter Templeton s shirt rose in his mind, and he
tried to push it away.
 So you broke up his marriage, said Tommy,
softly.
 I did not break up his marriage. It was over long
before I came on the scene.
 Then what were the calls about? asked Tommy.
 Nothing.
 Rowena, don t lie to me. I can t help you if I
don t know everything.
 I m not lying to you. They were empty threats.
 What kind of threats?
 Leaking more personal info to the press.
Whatever. He has a gag order, same as me. That was
part of the settlement. Neither one of us can publicly
trash the other. The phone calls were him trying to
regain his dignity by making me think he had the
upper hand.
Van rose from his chair and walked to the
windows. He couldn t let Rowena see how upset he
was, especially not in front of Tommy. But he didn t
think Brett Fontaine was involved.  What about Trace
Coleman? asked Van.  Aren t you even going to
consider the possibility? Tommy hadn t seen the
look on Trace Coleman s face the night of Corn
Festival. Van would bet a month s pay that idiot ghost
hunter was the person behind this.
 Does Trace Coleman have keys?
Van whirled to face him.  Tommy, knock off the
sarcasm. He grew up less than ten miles away.
Anyone in this town could have given him a set of
keys. Aunt Loony opened her home to everyone.
 Well after tonight no one will have a set of keys
unless Rowena gives it to them.
 Tommy, I don t appreciate your sarcasm either,
said Rowena.
 I m sorry, Rowena, but right now this all points
to random acts against you personally. Just like last
time, nothing was stolen. Your purse and your laptop
are still on the kitchen table where you left them
when the lights went out. You said you heard
footfalls race up the basement stairs, back toward the
kitchen, then heard a door slam. Whoever was in this
house wasn t here to rob you, or he could have done
so before you came home. And if he wanted to hurt
you, he would have done that when you came down
into the basement.
Rowena nearly toppled her chair as she stood up.
 Stop it.
 Knock it off, Tommy, said Van.
 If you want us to find this guy, cooperate with
me.
 How do you know it s a man? asked Rowena.
 I don t. Maybe it s a jealous ex of Van s. We d
better start interviewing all the women he s dated.
Rowena made a sound of disgust and stormed
from the room.
 What the hell s the matter with you? asked
Van, taking a step toward Tommy.
 Look, I have no clue what s going on here, but
it s obvious someone has targeted her, and right now
the only person with a clear motive is her Hollywood
actor ex-boyfriend.
 Why the wisecrack about my dating habits?
Don t you think she s been through enough?
 Like I said, I don t know if it s a man. And you
have to admit that a few of your old girlfriends don t
exactly love Rowena.
Van had to sit down.  Christ, Tommy. This is
nuts.
 You should hear what people are saying about
you.
 I don t give a damn what anyone is saying about
me. I only want her safe.
 Then stay away from her.
 What?
 You heard me. I ve been on the force nine years
and no one s been called to this house in that time.
Not until you started spending time with her. Hell, no
one is called to this neighborhood more than twice a
year, and it usually turns out to be nothing. I ll check
out Trace Coleman as a favor to you, but personally
my money s on either Brett Fontaine or one of your
ex-girlfriends.
* * *
Rowena was still on the phone with Trish when
Van opened her bedroom door. He sat on the edge of
the bed and waited until she finished her call,
 Who was that?
 Tricia. I was right about Brett. He s out of the
country on location and has been for over a week.
They re shooting in British Columbia. No way he had
time to fly here and stake out the house.
 I know. Just between you and me, it s a bullshit
theory.
All she wanted to do right now was take him into
her arms and make love to him until neither of them
could breathe. Shut out the world and pretend they
were the only two in it. The smell of the basement
was still stuck in her head. She needed to fill her
senses with his warm, outdoors scent.  Van, I m so
sorry I wasn t home earlier. I still can t believe you
made dinner for me.
 It was nothing.
 Not true. It was everything. Thank you.
He caressed her cheek, and she sighed, her entire
being aching for him.
 I owe you an apology for this morning,
Rowena.
 No, you don t. I should have changed my phone
number as soon I got to town.
 How often has he called you?
 Every freaking day.
 Why did you answer the calls?
 I didn t answer all of them. But he would always
leave a message.
 Sounds to me like he s not over you.
She rose from the bed and walked toward the
windows.  Trust me, he is.
Van was at her side before she had time to turn
around. He took her face in both hands and held it
tightly.  If we have any chance at all of making this
work, I need to know if you still love him.
 Absolutely not. How could I? Do you
understand what he did to me?
 Yes, I do. But look what I did to you, and yet
you made love to me like nobody s business. Was it
just sex between us, Rowena? I need to know that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]