Silent Night Stakeout

He was staring at those bags when she reentered the room. She did look better now, like she’d taken the opportunity to gather herself. If anything she looked even more beautiful.

He saw she’d noticed where his attention had been focused. He made himself ask the logical question. “Going somewhere?”

“I’m supposed to be on vacation at the moment,” she explained. “I had a flight out this morning, but obviously I couldn’t go.”

That explained the lack of holiday decorations both inside and outside her home. She hadn’t expected to be here for the holidays. He wondered where she’d been going, who she’d been going with. A boyfriend? He pushed the thought aside. Whatever the answer, it was none of his business.

Polinsky chose that moment to walk through the door. “The guys are done out here. They’re going to take off. What about you?”

“Yeah, I think we’re done,” Marcus said. “You get anything from the neighbors?”

“Nobody saw anything.” Polinsky turned his attention to Regina, the gleam that entered his eye sending a warning through Marcus’s system. “Pretty nasty Christmas present, huh, counselor? Must have given you quite a scare.”

On the final words, his mouth twitched. Marcus had to fight back a sudden surge of anger. When she’d called to report her discovery, Polinsky hadn’t been able to keep from smirking, seeming to take a particular pleasure at the news. Not unexpected given how he felt about her, but not one of his finer moments as far as Marcus was concerned. It was one reason he’d insisted on taking Regina Garrett’s statement, even though he hadn’t really wanted to and Polinsky had been more than willing to talk to her in this instance.

Regina met Polinsky’s gaze calmly, seeming unruffled by his hostility. “It was certainly an experience I could have done without.”

“So how about it, counselor? Seems pretty clear somebody doesn’t want you talking about something your client told you. You ready to tell us what that is?”

“As I’ve already told Detective Waters, I don’t know what it is.”

“I know what you told him. I thought this might have jogged your memory.”

“My memory is just fine, and I can’t be reminded of something I never knew.”

From the way his lip curled, Polinsky didn’t believe her. Marcus wasn’t surprised. Considering Polinsky’s feelings and everything he’d heard about her, it made sense he would assume she was trying to be difficult, keeping relevant information from them, viewing him as much the enemy as he did her. The only truly surprising part was that Marcus didn’t feel the same way. He believed her. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to examine his reasons for that belief.

Before he could say anything, Regina turned toward him. “I’ve been thinking. We need to talk to Lauren Decker again. Now that she’s had a chance to absorb the news of Jeremy’s death, she may be more forthcoming.”

Marcus didn’t miss the glance Polinsky shot him at her comment, and knew exactly what had caused the reaction. “There is no ‘we,’ remember?” he told her. “I let you come along last night to break the news to her, but that’s taken care of.”

“Fine, I’ll rephrase. I need to talk to Lauren Decker, and I was offering to let you come as a courtesy. Because I am going to talk to her, and while we could speak with her separately, we’ve both seen which of us she responded to more. Chances are, the only way you’re going to learn anything is if you’re with me when I speak with her.”

He wanted nothing more than to argue with her logic. He needed her out of this, for multiple reasons. Trouble was, she was right. Lauren Decker had appeared to respond better to Regina than to him, certainly more than she would to Polinsky. His partner’s bulldog tactics might actually get something out of her, but Marcus wasn’t sure he felt right about siccing the man on her, especially when she just lost her brother less than twenty-four hours earlier. And if Regina did manage to get something out of the young woman, he didn’t want to learn about it secondhand, if she bothered telling him at all.

“All right,” he said, barely managing to keep it from sounding begrudging. “‘We’ will talk to her one more time.”

“Great.” She nodded, her expression much less smug than he might have expected since she’d gotten her way again.

“Waters, can I see you outside?” Polinsky asked.

Marcus grimaced. If he couldn’t already guess this wouldn’t be pretty, the dangerous tone in Polinsky’s voice made it clear. “Sure,” he said, swallowing a sigh. “I’ll be right back,” he told Regina.

She nodded, sending an uneasy glance between him and Polinsky, as though sensing the undercurrents between them. He would have been surprised if she hadn’t.

Polinsky had already pushed through the front door. Marcus followed, stopping when Polinsky whirled to face him at the bottom of the front steps.

“What the hell are you doing?” Polinsky demanded in a hushed tone.

“What’s best for the investigation.”

“The woman is lying. She knows a hell of a lot more than she’s admitting. Letting her be involved in any part of the investigation is a mistake. For all we know she’s just trying to get in the way to obstruct it, the same way she is by not talking.”

“I don’t believe that. We both saw her face when we first got here. She knows what that tongue meant and she got the message loud and clear. She knows her best bet is for this person to be caught.”

“Or she got the message and decided to take it to heart and make sure whatever they don’t want told doesn’t come out.”

“No way,” Marcus said without hesitation. “I’m the one who spent time talking to her last night, remember? She wants her client’s killer caught. You really think that woman in there, the one we’ve both heard plenty about, is going to cave because someone threatens her? Does that sound like the Regina Garrett you’ve heard about?”

Polinsky’s silence told Marcus he’d scored the point.

“Besides,” he continued. “She’s right. She can be an asset we can use. This is about solving the case.”

“Really? It’s not about you wanting to spend more time with her?”

“Of course not.” It was true. He really didn’t want to spend any more time with her.

So why did it feel like a lie?

Clearly that was exactly what Polinsky thought it was. He shook his head. “Right. Do what you want. I’ll see you back at the station.”

“You’re not coming again?”

“I’m not interested in spending any more time with Miss Bleeding Heart in there.”

Polinsky started to turn away, only to stop and glance back. “Watch yourself, Waters. She may be nice to look at, but don’t forget who she really is and what’s underneath the pretty face.”

With that parting line, he stomped away, leaving Marcus to stare after him and ponder his words.

Though Polinsky wouldn’t have believed it, he really didn’t need the warning. He knew he had to watch himself around this woman. The way she’d dogged his thoughts, that strange protectiveness he felt around her, made that clear enough. Most important, though, was the fact that she was involved in the case, and as always, that was all that mattered: the case. Anything that could interfere with that had to be avoided. That included distractions as sizeable as Regina Garrett, regardless of who she was and what she did—both of which were reasons enough in their own right.

He knew it, just as he already knew the resolution was going to be hard to live up to. In fact, the only thing he didn’t know was why.

Or maybe, he thought, his heart sinking into his gut, he just didn’t want to know, since the answer threatened to be even more disturbing than what Regina Garrett had found on her front step that morning.

“I GOT THE FILE ON THE burglary your client was charged with,” Detective Waters said as he drove them back to Lauren Decker’s house.

“That must have made for some interesting reading,” Regina said mildly, though inwardly she started gathering her energy for the upcoming debate. She knew everything he must have read, of course, and she was pretty sure she knew what conclusions he must have drawn. Which meant she was going to have to defend her client again, this time to him.

She was prepared to do it, and Lord knew she’d never been one to back down from an argument. The trouble was, she was having a harder than usual time focusing.

Because of him.

They were back in the close confines of his car, the small space accentuating his sheer size, his presence a palpable thing she couldn’t begin to ignore even when she wasn’t looking at him. He was too big, and she felt him too keenly, her skin practically buzzing with awareness of his closeness.

He was even better looking than in her dreams. She’d opened the door and been struck by it, the same way she’d been the first time she’d seen him, her heart simultaneously leaping into her throat and kicking into a higher gear. More than that, she’d been glad to see him again, an excitement that went far beyond simple relief that he’d come to help her with what she’d found. The feeling had remained as he’d taken her statement, until she’d had to excuse herself to get away from it—and him—for a few precious moments. Even now, her heart continued to beat faster than normal.

She wasn’t used to this feeling, wasn’t entirely sure she liked it, was positive she wasn’t comfortable with it. What was it about this man that caused such a reaction within her? Yes, he was good-looking, but this was something more than that, something entirely too disturbing. She was an intelligent woman. She believed in logic and reason. And there was nothing logical or reasonable about the level of response she had to this man.