CHAPTER 14

FIFTEEN minutes later, Rio gazed around the table in the conference room on the second floor of the Federal Complex. Eddie, Chris, Dickie, Paul, Blake and Gabe were all there. Silence lingered over the room for what seemed an eternity.

“Okay, somebody cried emergency. What’s the deal?” Rio’s insistent tone rattled the composure of more than one face around the table.

“Can somebody explain to me why the two of you were without your devices this morning?” Gabe’s intimidating voice grumbled across the room. A clear indication he was worried.

He’d started looking at her and Eddie as a joint force. He’d never liked being left in the dark. This was his bid for details.

There were some things that neither Rio’s godfather nor her boss needed to know.

“Because we were having a private conversation and it had nothing to do with the cases we’re involved in.” Rio’s tone was icy enough to chill the room by at least ten degrees.

“Perhaps I was misled when I accepted this position.” Eddie paused, as if pondering that decision. “Private issues between Laraquette and me are nobody’s business but ours.” His cold glare settled on Blake with daring implications. “Least of all any of you.”

“I shouldn’t have to remind you of the importance of this investigation.” Gabe looked at Rio with a reprimanding eye. “Limit your personal conversations to your hotel rooms. When you’re outside those rooms, I expect to eavesdrop on your conversation.”

“You just remember you said that.” Rio gave Gabe a smile that made him wince.

He cleared his throat and flashed her an authoritative glance before pushing himself up from the table. Gabe headed out of the room. The meeting was officially over.

The roundtable disbursed and Chris Bradley approached Eddie. “Can I talk to you?” he asked so quietly that Rio barely heard him. “In private.”

“Sure,” Eddie said and turned to Rio. “You want to wait for me upstairs?”

“I’ll meet you at the casino,” she said. “I’d like to drop by and see my Dad.”

“Nah, that’s not going to happen.” Eddie shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”

“Before you go, Laraquette,” Dickie said, dismissing Eddie’s bid for control. “Drop by my place downstairs. I’ve got a couple new trinkets for you.” He flashed her an enticing look.

“Ooh...wait up.” She chased after Dickie. “I’ll go with you,” she added, following him into the corridor.

* * *

Chris chuckled inside. The mention of jewelry had reeled Rio in, but that was no surprise. Girls loved to adorn themselves. It was a natural fact, encoded in their genes.

“So what’s up?” LaCall drew Chris’s attention as the conference room cleared.

“I wanted to talk to you about Naomi,” Chris said, treading lightly.

“What about her?” LaCall shot him a troubled expression. “She didn’t come back, did she?”

“No.” Chris hesitated. An ex was always a touchy subject at best. Hopefully, LaCall wouldn’t take his solicitude the wrong way. “I’m just a little concerned about her.” He put it out there and waited to see LaCall’s reaction.

“Like how?” LaCall asked, giving nothing about his thoughts away.

“She ever done anything...in the heat of the moment?” Chris pushed the discussion in the direction he’d been targeting all along.

LaCall stared at Chris with a blank expression. Something Chris figured didn’t happen to LaCall every day. He sensed the scenarios filling LaCall’s head. Chris knew in an instant when the right one landed there.

Eddie’s face lit up with shock. With each passing thought, his face stiffened. “No...why?”

“I don’t know, man.” Chris shook his head. “There was something in her eyes last night that freaked me out. She was either really pissed off...or really hurt.”

“If she’s hurt,” Eddie said with an easy defiance, “I’m sorry.” His shrug suggested that he had no sympathy to give. “I cannot make it better for her.”

“I hear you.” Chris nodded and tried to tamp down the nagging feeling congealing in his gut. “I’m just trying to figure the odds of Naomi going off the deep end.”

* * *

God, Eddie hoped not. He didn’t want the responsibility for placing Rio’s life in danger.

But the idea that Naomi was to blame was ludicrous. Absolutely crazy. She was not the culprit. Quite frankly, she didn’t have the tenacity or the forethought it’d take to pull off something like this. Naomi was a fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants kind of girl. Her mind never settled on one thing long enough to consider such a devious plot.

Even though Eddie didn’t consider Naomi a serious suspect, his defenses stirred and he had a sudden urge to see if he could catch up with Rio before she left the premises.

Eddie bid his coworker adieu and headed downstairs to Dickie’s lab. With any luck, he’d find Laraquette there.

Luck was not on his side. She’d already left.

He went to the elevator and waited for the doors to open. A sinister feeling of impending doom crawled up his back and knocked at the base of his skull.

Something was wrong. Rio was in trouble.

His cell jingled and he checked the caller ID. Laraquette. Good. “Where are you?” he said into the phone.

“Standing beside my car.” She sounded annoyed. “Do you have my keys?”

Eddie fingered the front pocket of his Levi’s and felt the metal bulge. “Yes, I do. I’ll be right there.” He ended the call, feeling better now that he’d succeeded in catching up to her.

As long as he was with Rio, he could protect her.

* * *

Rio leaned against her car and waited for Eddie’s arrival. She’d known it was a bad idea to let him drive the Vette in the first place. Now she didn’t have control of even her keys.

Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” poured out from her cell. “Yeah...” She grabbed the phone. “I hear you, Aretha.” She glanced at the display.

Digger. She answered and waited to see what her friend had to say.

“Hey, I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record,” Digger’s worrisome tone traveled across the airwaves and tangled Rio in doubt. “But I cannot shake this thing I’m feeling.”

“Like...” Rio let the word trail off. She didn’t care for the tension knotting in her gut. It wailed trouble.

“I wish I knew specifics.” Digger’s frustration poured out in her tone. “I’m seeing a rattle.”

“A rattle?”

“Yeah, you know,” Digger said. “Like a baby’s rattle.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Trepidation clouded Rio’s thoughts. There’d better not be a baby in her future. That was a whole different kind of threat. “I’m not in danger of getting knocked up, am I?” The words shuddered out.

Digger’s roaring laughter rippled through the earpiece. “That’s rich, Rio. Thanks for the laugh.” The amusement faded from her voice and her tone turned somber. “Only you would make a joke out of danger.”

“Come on, Dig,” Rio said. “Give me something to go on here.”

“Wish I had more for you,” Digger’s antsy voice flowed through the phone. “I just know there’s trouble looming all around you. And it has something to do with a rattle.”

I better not be pregnant! A dark feeling coated the base of Rio’s stomach. “I don’t feel so good.”

“Look, just keep an eye out.” Her tone tried to offer comfort but the words prevented it. “Trouble can come from where you least expect it.”

“Will do. Thanks.” Rio turned around and propped her elbows on the top of her car.

“Rio,” Digger said.

“Yeah.”

“Keep in touch, okay?”

“Sure thing,” she said and disconnected the call.

She said a silent prayer that there was no baby in her immediate future. A chill whipped past her. She checked the vicinity and saw nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. She widened her comfort zone and looked out across the street. Fixing her gaze on the construction site across Central, a side street, she contemplated the secrets it could be shielding. A new building, not quite finished and still vacant, anyone could be hiding there.

Like a stalker.

A wave of distress pushed her to go back inside and look for Eddie. She spun around and crashed into the arms of Blake Switzer.

A choppy gasp, the only thing she could muster, somehow stopped the scream clawing up her throat. “Damn it, Blake!” Rio sucked in a breath, trying to soothe her racing heartbeat. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry.” A worrisome laugh shuddered out with his response. A glimpse of concern projected from his eyes. “What’s up? You get another letter?”

“No,” her tone softened as she gained control of her panic. “I’ve just got the willies, that’s all.” She looked around for Eddie, goose bumps shivering up her arms.

Where are you, LaCall?

Off in the distance he appeared around the corner. She sighed and rushed toward him in a speed-walking gait.

“Thank God,” she whispered and slowed her pace to match his.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, studying her face. “What happened?” His troubled expression showed he sensed something was wrong.

“Nothing.” She paused, trying to diminish her own doubts. “I’m just spooked.” She moved closer to Eddie. “Maybe it’s Switzer. He gives me the creeps.” A nervous chuckle shuddered through her.

It was easier to blame the man she’d rejected than admit something else might be going on. There was no easy way to start the conversation, “Hey, you knocked me up.”

Eddie stopped. “What did he do to you?”

She looked at him curiously, having lost that train of thought. Oh, Switzer. “Nothing.” She shook her head. “Me and my overactive imagination, is all. The fact that he creeps me out is just an added bonus.”

* * *

Blake Switzer couldn’t hear a thing but their whispers. He’d give anything to be privy to their conversation. Actually, he’d give anything if Rio would give him half the attention she showered on the new guy.

Seeing her schmoozing it up with LaCall fanned the flames of Blake’s anger. It was mostly the lie she’d told him that fed his resentment. She’d said she didn’t date anyone from work.

Well, obviously, that was not entirely accurate. Anybody with eyes could see that LaCall had already had his way with her. Blake’s cheeks felt fiery.

His anger was tempered by the sight of LaCall charging at him like a bull.

“You stay away from her.” LaCall’s eyes lit up with his own hatred.

He was too invidious. LaCall considered Blake a rival. Good. “Easy there, LittleFeet.” Blake’s mockery seemed to anger LaCall further. Oh, well. “I’m in charge of the investigation revolving around her.” As far as Blake was concerned that gave him carte blanche.

“In the future—” LaCall stared at him with such open animosity. “Any contact that you need to make with her,” he said, and pointed at Rio. “You’ll do through me.” A long silence filled the space between them. LaCall’s glare encased Blake in a hard shell and wouldn’t allow him to relax. “Are we clear?”

“Crystal.” Blake countered Eddie’s fury with a stare down. He held it and didn’t think about walking away until he’d hit the count of five.

Jerk. Blake backed away and headed for the elevator. If Rio had favored him with a fraction of the attention she so freely bestowed upon LaCall, he’d probably react the same way.

Blake figured they’d head back to her place or the hotel where LaCall would have his way with her again. That thought scorched the deepest corners of his soul.

It was bad enough that LaCall was driving her car everywhere they went. That salted Blake’s already wounded ego since everybody knew she thought of that car like it was her kid or something.

Rio Laraquette, the object of Blake’s affection, had relinquished everything, including herself, to the new guy. But, she’d have a change of heart once he, Blake Switzer, saved her from the menacing stalker.

* * *

Eddie kept his eye zeroed in on Switzer until the guy disappeared around the corner. Satisfied that he was gone, for now, Eddie looked at Rio and pulled her keys from his front pocket. He held her gaze while opening the car door.

“You’re scared,” he said. His protective streak returned. “Want me to go with you?”

“I’ll be fine.” She dropped into the driver’s seat but kept her feet on the pavement outside the car.

The rattle was soft and barely audible, but Eddie heard it. His adrenaline dove into overdrive. He dropped to the concrete and inspected the space beneath the car.

Nothing.

He jumped to his feet and looked inside the car, checking the floorboard beneath the steering wheel.

Nothing.

It must be under the seat.

“Rio,” he said just above a whisper. “I’ve got to get you out of the car. Slowly lift your hands and grab hold of me.” He’d managed to keep his tone incredibly calm, even while his heart hammered against his chest.

“What? What is it?” she murmured the trembling words just under her breath.

“Just grab hold of my arm.” He let a measure of insistence enter his voice. The snake peeked out from under the driver’s seat. Fear shuddered through Eddie. “Do it now!”

She latched onto his arm, and with the force of a tidal wave he yanked her from the car.

The snake shot out from under the seat and settled into a predatory stance at the pedals and began striking at the edge of the driver’s seat.

Eddie slammed the car door shut, trapping the danger inside.

She fell into his arms, clearly frightened. “What was that, Eddie?” Her panic-stricken voice evoked his sympathy.

He draped his arms around her. “It’s a rattlesnake.”

“What?” She melded her body against his. “How the hell did a snake get in my car?”

“It didn’t get there all on its own.”

Enough was enough. It was time to get to the bottom of this stalking business. Right here. Right now. Before Rio got hurt—or worse.