Crime and Passion

“How do you feel about having a houseguest? Two,” he amended, remembering the boy sleeping upstairs.

“Two?” The long pause on the other end surprised Clay. “Look, Clay, this is just as much your house as it is mine, you know that, but, call me old-fashioned, I draw the line at something kinky—”

The seriousness of the situation eroded for a moment as Clay struggled not to laugh. Obviously, his father thought of him as a wild stud. “Dad, Dad, hold it. It’s not like that. I need a safe place for a friend and her little boy.”

There was relief in the sigh Clay heard. “Oh, sure. When?”

“Now.” Clay kept his fingers mentally crossed.

His father didn’t disappoint him. “Right. I can be home in about fifteen minutes.”

Clay grinned. The man was a rock. He should have known there was nothing to worry about.

“Thanks, Dad.” Time to launch into the second phase of his plan. “Do you know if Shaw and Callie are still at the party?”

“Callie left with Brent, but Shaw’s still here.” Andrew made no effort to disguise his curiosity. “Why?”

Clay glanced toward Ilene and wasn’t surprised to see that she appeared to be listening to every word. Why shouldn’t she? It was her future that was being bandied about here. “I’m going to need decoys.”

This time the pause was pregnant, as if Andrew was entertaining various scenarios. “Is it that serious?”

“I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t.”

“Well, I don’t know where Rayne is, I never do with that girl, but I did see Teri a few minutes ago, will she do?”

All three of his sisters had basically the same height and coloring. Their hair was lighter than Ilene’s, but their builds were similar and they just needed the suggestion of Ilene, not an exact duplicate. “Just as good. I’ll give them each a call. See you in a little while.”

Clay rang off. But before he could start punching in his brother’s cell phone number, Ilene placed her hand on his wrist. “Why do you need decoys?”

He saw the heightened state of alert in her eyes. Despite her protest, maybe she was finally beginning to see how really serious the situation was.

“Because if I’m right, they might still be watching the house, waiting for me to leave. If I leave with you, they’re going to follow.” He saw her brow furrow. “But not if they think we’ve already left.”

“I don’t understand.”

He didn’t have time to go over the particulars. There were things left to do. “Just leave it all to me.” He flashed her a smile. “Think of it as your tax dollars at work.”

She dropped her hand from his wrist. Like an arrow with a homing device, the smile he’d flashed at her had gone right through her. She doubted that he knew the effect he still had on her, and there was no way in hell she was ever going to let him even guess. But having him in charge of the situation did make her feel better.

“Why don’t you go and throw a few things together for you and the boy? Take some of his favorite toys so he doesn’t feel so uprooted,” he added.

“I’m whisking him out of his bed in the middle of the night. How can’t he feel uprooted?” she challenged. She stared at the drawing he’d taken down from her window. Clay was right, even if this was just a warning, it had spooked her. And it could only escalate from here.

“Because you’re whisking him away to another home. Trust me, he won’t be traumatized. My father’s very good with kids.”

“Your father?”

“I thought you and the boy could stay with him. Dad’s good with kids,” he repeated before he turned away to call his brother.

Within a few minutes he had everything arranged.

“Is this really necessary?”

Ilene left the question open to anyone who wanted to answer it. Clay had just admitted two people into her house via the patio door. From what she could ascertain, the man and woman had entered via the backyard. Which meant that they had to climb over the fence, coming from one of her neighbor’s yards. How could they have done that without being detected?

The same way whoever had left that warning had, she told herself. He’d been in her backyard before she’d heard him.

Nothing seemed safe anymore.

“This is all so cloak-and-dagger,” she protested when no one answered her question.

The woman was the first to speak. Her eyes were kind and her smile looked as if it had been lifted directly from Clay’s face.

“A lot more cloak, a lot less dagger,” she laughed. Extending her hand, she took Ilene’s in hers. “Hi, I’m Teri. Clay and I are twins,” she said in response to the quizzical look creasing Ilene’s brow. Then winked. “But I’m the pretty one.”