Police Protector Page 9

  “And the greens keeper is new? Had Mr. Fillmont met him before?”

  “I couldn’t say. It was the first time I’d seen him, and he didn’t last.”

  Lucan’s interest perked. “He’s not here any longer?”

  “No, he quit the next day. Didn’t even bother coming in.” Curiosity gleamed in her eyes.

  Lucan changed track. “What about the person your golf pro was showing around? Did he join?”

  “Oh, I’ve no idea. You’d have to ask Mr. Ventner.”

  “Is that typical? The golf pro showing someone around?”

  “No, usually Ralph or Sara would do that, but if they’re busy, one of us fills in. We’re pretty flexible around here.”

  Lucan felt certain Jordan Fillmont had seen something, or more likely someone who had caused his hasty departure on Saturday. He thanked her and went looking for others to speak with. Everyone liked Fillmont. And everyone was dying of curiosity.

  Fillmont had left the pro shop at three thirty-two according to Alice Drubowski, yet he hadn’t called his wife until she and the children had returned home after dinner. Where had he been in the interim? And where was he now?

  KYRA STARED AT THE computer screen, her fingernails absently tapping the desktop. She’d selected the smaller bedroom because it had a desk and a plug for her computer. Once Maureen shooed her out of the kitchen, she’d gone to work.

  Jordan Fillmont had lived a squeaky-clean existence until two years ago. Too clean. Not only was there no trace of drugs or a criminal record, he’d never had so much as a parking ticket until two years ago. Now he had not one but six tickets, plus two speeding tickets, two warnings and a drunk-and-disorderly-conduct arrest with the charges dismissed. His on-line résumé claimed he’d managed a men’s wear store—now out of business—and prior to that a sporting good store, also defunct. Kyra couldn’t find any record of the man dating back more than two years.

  Her cell phone rang and she opened it, still staring at the computer screen.

  “Kyra? Where are you?”

  Simon Testier’s voice was a cold shot of water to the face. “Simon?”

  “Of course it’s Simon. I’m at the airport. Where are you?”

  “Busy.”

  “You aren’t picking me up?” He managed to sound hurt.

  “No, Simon. I’m not picking you up.”

  “You’re still mad. I’ll get a cab.”

  “Get a flight to Boston instead. I don’t have time to deal with you right now, Simon.”

  His voice gentled in that suave, soothing manner that had once captivated her. “Your sister is still missing, right? I can help.”

  Kyra hesitated. She knew there was a chance he could help. Hadn’t she nearly called him earlier? Simon was a suave manipulator, but he was also a top-notch investigator.

  “I got the message, babe. I know you want some distance, but this is special. Let me help. Where are you?”

  She was going to regret this, she just knew it. “I’m staying with Casey’s children at a friend’s house.”

  “I didn’t know you had close friends in the D.C. area.”

  Kyra didn’t respond.

  “Right. Give me the address. I’ll take a hotel room and pick you up for dinner about seven.”

  “The children need to eat earlier than that, Simon,” she told him mock-sweetly. “And they prefer fast food. Make it six.” She recited the address and closed her cell phone with a satisfying snap. Simon hated fast food. She suspected he wouldn’t much care for young children, either.

  Lips curving upward, Kyra turned off her cell phone before he could call back. Maybe something in this situation would work out to her advantage.

  LUCAN’S THOUGHTS TUMBLED as he drove. At the last minute, he changed his mind and veered toward his mother’s. He hadn’t questioned the children in depth. Maybe Kip would know if Jordan had been acting odd lately.

  Lucan dismissed the stray thought that he just wanted another excuse to see Kyra.

  He was only a few blocks away when he heard a call come in over the radio and recognized the address. An officer was in foot pursuit of a subject fleeing the Fillmont house. Lucan made a quick U-turn. He followed the pursuit on his radio so he knew when the suspect made it to a green four-door sedan.

  Lucan saw the car minutes later as it sped up a narrow residential street. There wasn’t time to think and plan. The driver came around a corner right at him at a ridiculous rate of speed. Trees lined the street on one side, parked cars on the other. There was no time to plan and nowhere for either of them to go once the other driver lost control.

  Lucan tried to turn aside, knowing it was hopeless. A detached part of his mind registered the fear on the driver’s face a second before his sedan slammed into the passenger’s side of Lucan’s unmarked police car.

  The impact threw his head against the side window with enough force to close his eyes. When he forced them open seconds later, his car was on the sidewalk. The driver’s door was wedged against the bole of a maple tree. Blood trickled down his face, blurring his vision, but he saw Jordan Fillmont running from the scene.

  Even as the welcome sound of approaching sirens filled the air, Lucan realized he wasn’t getting out of what was left of the car without some help. Then everything went black.

  Chapter Eight

  Lucan looked up as the curtains on the hospital cubicle parted once more. His brother Ronan’s wife, Sally, looked him up and down with a critical nurse’s eye.

  “Honestly, between you and your brother Flynn, we’re going to have to start setting aside an ER cubicle just for the O’Shay men. Or did you total your unit so you could come here and flirt with Tina?”

  “Who?”

  Her expression softened. “The nurse I introduced you to the other day. Never mind. You know, I used to worry about being married to a pilot. Now I’m just glad he isn’t a cop or a fireman. Why couldn’t you all be lawyers like your brother Neil?”

  “My mother asks that question every day.”

  Sally laughed. “Dr. Phanlo says your head is rock-hard, but you do have a mild concussion and you’re going to feel every one of those lovely bruises come morning.”

  “Do you know if they caught the guy who hit me?”

  She shook her head. “You can ask Todd and your captain. They’re outside along with a very stunning young woman named Kyra.”

  Lucan jerked and winced as all sorts of muscles protested. “Kyra’s here?”

  His sister-in-law’s expression was knowing. “Uh-huh. Your mother sent her.”

  He groaned. “Mom knows I’m here?”

  “Yep. And since I’ve seen for myself that you’ll live, I need to get back upstairs.” She paused to smile at him. “Maureen is excited to have Kyra and the children staying with her. I’m glad you suggested it. They’re good for her. She’s decided to put up a Christmas tree this year after all.”

  This time his wince had nothing to do with his injuries. “Tell me you’re kidding, Sally. The last time I got stuck picking out a tree with her we were there for three hours and I nearly froze to death.”

  Sally grinned unrepentantly. “Dress warm. The temperature is plummeting and forecasters are predicting possible snow showers all week. I’ll let Captain Walsh know he can come in and see you now. Catch you later.”

  Lucan leaned against the gurney like an old person, surprised at how difficult it was to do something as simple as pull on his pants. He had them halfway up his legs when Todd and the captain entered.

  “Wow. You’re a mess. Those bruises have to hurt. How’s the head?” Todd greeted.

  “Throbbing, and thank you so much. Did they get him, Captain?”

  “No.” Walsh eyed him with a dark look. “You could have been killed.”

  Lucan resisted an impulse to shrug. “He lost control around the corner. There was nowhere for me to go. The driver was Jordan Fillmont.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I saw his face right befo
re he rammed me.”

  “Okay, good to have confirmation. The car belonged to him, but the uniformed officer never got a look at his face. We couldn’t be sure he was the driver. We recovered nearly forty thousand more in cash from the house.”

  Lucan whistled. Todd helped him into his shirt after watching him struggle. “Thanks. No wonder he was trying to get back inside. What about drugs?”

  “No sign of any so far, but DEA is helping with the investigation.” He ignored Lucan’s sour expression. “There are other things to account for the money as you well know. Theft, blackmail…or it could be the guy simply didn’t like banks. What did you get at Forest Oaks?”

  Lucan related what he’d learned while he fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, feeling all thumbs. Todd made notes as he talked.

  “Berringer will check out the groundskeeper tomorrow.” The captain waved off the start of Lucan’s protest. “You will take the next four days off. Doctor’s orders. Besides, we don’t have another unit available right now to give you.”

  Todd offered him a sympathetic look. “Your unit’s so much scrap metal. They had to cut you free, in case you don’t remember.”

  He remembered. At least most of it.

  “Take it easy for the next few days,” Walsh ordered. “I can’t afford to lose anyone until we catch these killers targeting the wealthy.”

  “Another house got hit?”

  “No, thank small mercies. Now rest.”

  “Thanks, Captain. Todd, will you see if you can find someone out there so I can sign a release and get out of here?”

  As they left, he bent to retrieve his shoes. The room started to spin and go gray at the edges. Strong, supple fingers gripped him, keeping him from collapse.

  “Easy there, hero. Let me get them.”

  Kyra’s sexy contralto startled him. “What are you doing here?”

  “At the moment, keeping you from falling on your face. Sit.” She yanked a plastic chair over beside him. “I’ll get your shoes.”

  “You aren’t supposed to be driving around in your car.”

  “I’m not. You didn’t say anything about me driving your mother’s car. She sent me to check on you. I gather this sort of thing happens often?”

  There was genuine concern in the warm blue depths of the eyes that regarded him.

  “No. I can truthfully say this is the first time I’ve tried using my car as a Jersey barrier.”

  “From what Todd says, it leaves a lot to be desired.”

  And when had she and Todd come to be on a first-name basis? “What are you doing?” he demanded as she bent down and lifted his foot.

  “Putting your shoes on for you.”

  “I’m perfectly capable of putting on my own shoes.”

  Kyra gave him the same look his mother used when he said something foolish. “You just demonstrated that you can’t without falling flat on your face. Besides, turnabout is fair play. You took my boots off for me, so I put your shoes on for you.”

  A surge of physical awareness slammed into him. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He was always cool and collected. Hadn’t his ex-wife claimed that was part of his problem?

  Cool and collected was the last thing he felt as Kyra deliberately caressed the arch of his foot before sliding his shoe on and tying it deftly.

  “You’re playing with fire,” he warned.

  “Really? I thought it was a shoestring.”

  He reached out, tangling his hands in her hair. Aches and pains were banished as desire arced between them.

  “You’re hurt,” she reminded him, sounding breathless.

  “Not that hurt.” Her lips trembled under his, warm and achingly soft.

  “Whoops.”

  Flynn’s voice snapped the connection. Lucan straightened up to glare at his brother. “Your timing sucks.”

  “So I see. Hi, I’m Flynn O’Shay. You must be Kyra. My mother said you’d be here.”

  Red-faced, she hastily put the other shoe on his foot and tied it before looking up. “Nice to meet you. I was just helping Lucan get his shoes on.”

  His eyes twinkled. “Uh-huh. I do the same for my wife every morning. She’s pregnant,” he teased. “I’ll have to try it your way tomorrow.”

  “What do you want?” Lucan growled. The biting edge of frustration made him grumpy. The simple kiss had left his body demanding more.

  “I come bearing a gift offer. We picked up the new minivan. Whitney wants you to take her car for now. Your unit’s toast and I know you never got around to replacing your old clunker. You may as well use her car. It’s only taking up space in the garage until we can sell it. Besides, you’ve been drooling over that car ever since she let you drive it.”

  “Very funny.”

  “What sort of car is it?” Kyra asked.

  Flynn’s eyes lit up. “A Mercedes-Benz E 320 convertible with a six-cylinder engine, four-speed automatic and it’s in mint condition despite the fact Whitney let this guy behind the wheel once.”

  “Why are you getting rid of it?”

  “I’m a fireman. Whitney’s about to have our first child. While it’s a dream to drive, it just isn’t practical. If you’re interested, I’m sure Whitney would give you a good deal as well.”

  “Forget it,” Lucan told him. “I’ll call Whitney.”

  Flynn grinned smugly. “He’s been lusting after that car, too.”

  “Too?”

  Flynn gave her a meaningful look. Kyra’s skin reddened, but she didn’t look away. “It sounds like a great car.”

  Lucan came to his feet, annoyed for no good reason. “I’m going to find a nurse and go home.”

  “You’re in luck,” an older woman with a clipboard told him stepping into the overcrowded cubicle. “I’m a nurse.”

  KYRA DROVE LUCAN TO his home, still shaken as much by that simple kiss as the panic she’d felt when Maureen had told her Lucan had been hurt in the line of duty. Her first thought had been to rush to his side. She barely knew the man, yet somehow it felt as if she’d known him all her life.

  She liked his family. At least the ones she’d met so far. They all had such big, loving hearts. Kyra felt at home with them in a way she hadn’t since the death of her parents. She sneaked a look at Lucan and found him watching her.

  Her pulse began racing. She could still feel the sensation of Lucan’s lips on hers.

  What had she been thinking? No matter how irresistible she found him, any sort of relationship with Lucan O’Shay was out of the question. She hadn’t succeeded in getting the last man out of her life quite yet. She certainly wasn’t ready to take on a long-distance relationship with a sexy, handsome cop.

  “I did some checking,” she blurted out in a rush. “I can’t find a record of Jordan Fillmont until shortly before he met my sister.”

  Lucan straightened painfully, but his expression went all cop again. “What are you talking about?”

  She told him what her search had yielded, and what it hadn’t. “Obviously, I don’t have access to everything, but Dowling has a pretty good research team and I asked for some help. There’s no service record, no criminal record, no credit statements going back more than three years. In my line of work, that’s a red flag.”

  “You involved Dowling people in a criminal investigation?”

  His scowl pursed her lips. “It’s what we do, Lucan. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Most of the research was my own. It’s as though Jordan Fillmont didn’t exist until two years ago.”

  “Did you tell Captain Walsh about this?”

  “I didn’t have a chance, but I’d think you’d be grateful for a little help. This creep married my sister and nearly killed you.”

  “This is a police investigation.”

  “Well pardon me, but Dowling works closely with police departments around the world. Instead of complaining, why don’t you take the information and have your people run their own check?”

  She could hear the rising anger in her voice an
d strove for control. “He’ll have left fingerprints all over his car. Have them run the prints. I’m betting Jordan Fillmont is an alias. What do you want to bet it’s a case of identity fraud? We need to find out who he really is.”

  Lucan started to say something she knew she wasn’t going to like, but stopped before the words were uttered. Instead he opened his cell phone and pressed a button. His expression was still angry.

  “Todd? Listen, have someone run Fillmont’s prints. Jordan Fillmont may be an alias. No, just run him. Oh. You did? Okay. I am resting! Let me know when you hear something, all right?”

  He hung up scowling. “They’re running his prints. Todd will let me know what they find.”

  “Good.”

  “You need to let us do our job, Kyra.”

  “I’m not stopping you,” she snapped back. “But my sister is missing and I intend to find her. Casey’s just another case to your department. She’s my sister.”

  He rubbed the side of his nose with a knuckle and the anger faded from his expression. “I know. We’re going to find her. Turn here. My house is four doors down on your right.”

  Still fuming, she stared at the small, family-sized house tucked between its brightly lit, lavishly decorated neighbors. His house looked dark and abandoned by comparison. Her anger faded as quickly as it had come. How long had he been coming home to an empty house like this?

  She turned his mother’s car into the driveway and put it in Park, leaving the engine running. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go fill your prescription?”

  “No. A couple of aspirins and I’ll be fine.”

  “Tough guy, huh?”

  “That’s me. You want to come in?” he invited.

  Excitement raced through her at the suggestion but common sense won out. “I can’t.”

  “That’s right. Your boyfriend is in town.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him Simon was no longer her boyfriend, but she held the words in check. “His plane was delayed. I told him I’d see him tomorrow.”

  “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”