Wed., May 10, 9:55 p.m.
Lara brushed her disheveled hair and wondered what the fallout would be. The sex had been incredible, but she’d been celibate for so long, even bad sex would have seemed good. Caden had been forceful and hot in the beginning, burning straight through any hesitation she might have had, then tender and slow for the long haul. Just the way she liked it.
The encounter didn’t mean anything, she told herself. They were just two horny people who’d found some pleasure in each other’s company. Lara drank a glass of water and gave herself a minute to think. The contest rules forbade sexual encounters between contestants, but didn’t mention other circumstances. Still, she felt vulnerable, knowing Minda needed only one more reason to scratch her from the Gauntlet. She had to get Caden out of her room and get some sleep before her first round in the Battle tomorrow.
Lara opened the bathroom door and he was standing there, naked and smiling, his sexy eyes making her want to trust him. She started to back away, but he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to him. He kissed her forehead and worked his way down to her neck.
“You have to go,” Lara said, with little conviction. “I have to get some sleep.”
“I know,” he whispered, still kissing her neck.
She closed her eyes and allowed herself another moment of pleasure. Finally, she pulled back. “This might be against the competition rules and I don’t want to risk getting booted.”
He grabbed both her hands and held her eyes with his. “I know there’s something you’re not telling me about the man who killed Kirsten. I watched the video in the auditorium. When he saw you coming, he looked startled. He recognized you, then turned and fled.” Caden stepped toward her. “Please tell me. I’m a detective, and I can’t do my job without all the facts. You understand that.”
She did, but she also felt used. “Is that why you slept with me? To get the information you needed?”
He let out a soft laugh. “I fantasized about seducing you six months ago when you made the finals in the Oregon competition. Believe me, it was all pleasure.”
Any kind of attachment was not what she had in mind. Lara moved past Caden and grabbed her clothes from the floor. Her emotions were in turmoil and she regretted acting on her sexual impulses. Damn. When would she learn?
They dressed in silence and the guilt of not helping his investigation weighed heavily on her heart. What if Blondie killed the commissioner while she was competing tomorrow? How would she live with that? Intellectually, she knew she wasn’t responsible for Thaddeus Morton, but once she’d treated his wound and kept his secret, she’d taken ownership of his problem. Still, she couldn’t deal with Blondie and compete at the same time.
Dressed, she turned to Caden. “I’ll tell you what I can but you have to promise that most of it will never go in your file.”
“I don’t know.” He lifted his shoulders in frustration.
“Then I can’t tell you. I have too much to lose.” She looked at the door, willing him to leave.
“Come sit down and talk to me. We’ll take it one step at a time.” His eyes pleaded with her.
“I need your promise it won’t be part of the official record.”
“I promise.”
She wasn’t sure she believed him-cops lied to suspects-but she’d wanted to get the gunshot incident off her chest since it happened. Lara sat on the couch and he took a seat opposite her, just as they had earlier. She realized if she’d told him everything at that point, they wouldn’t have gone to dinner or ended up in bed. Maybe things had worked out this way for a reason. She scratched the thought and scoffed at herself. Shit happened and there was no rhyme or reason.
“Who is he?” Caden prompted.
Lara knew she shouldn’t think of him as Caden. “I really don’t know. I call the guy Blondie for lack of a name.” She took a deep breath. “I saw him in Eugene the day before I flew out here.”
Caden waited, like a good detective should.
“I responded to an emergency call through the freelance service I contract with. When I arrived at the house, a man came running out. He had a gun and when he saw me he fired. But I hit the ground and he got in his car and drove away.” Caden would want the details of the car, but not yet. Her throat felt dry.
“Do you want some water?” He was out his chair and headed for the sink before she could respond.
When he returned, she continued. “Inside the house, a man had been shot and I treated his shoulder wound. He begged me not to report the incident. He said Blondie was his lover and they’d had a fight. Considering how the victim was dressed at the time, I believed him.”
“Why didn’t you report it?”
Lara swallowed hard. “I was scheduled to compete in the Gauntlet. I didn’t want anything to derail that. I need this win.”
“I don’t understand. You were just doing your job.” Caden looked confused.
“The man with the gunshot wound was Thaddeus Morton, the employment commissioner.”
She watched him control his surprise, then process the information. After a long moment, Caden asked, “Did Morton threaten to sabotage you in the competition if you reported it?”
“More or less.”
Caden shook his head. “If the shooter is the commissioner’s boyfriend, why would he kill Kirsten?”
“He’s not Morton’s boyfriend. The commissioner made that up to minimize the incident, hoping I would forget the whole thing. Then Blondie showed up here and Kirsten ended up dead. I think Blondie meant to silence me and stupidly stunned Kirsten by mistake. I confronted the commissioner about it and he claims to have no idea who the shooter his. I think I believe him.”
“Wow.” Caden shook his head. “It’s certainly not what I expected to hear.”
“The shooting was the last thing I needed going into this competition. Being arrested for murder was the frosting on this whole shit cake of an incident.”
They were both quiet. Then Caden said, “I need to talk to the commissioner.”
“You can’t. If he finds out I told you, he might ruin my chance of winning. He’s worried about losing his position.”
“Then why did you tell me all this?”
“Because I want you to find Blondie before he kills Morton-or me. The commissioner thinks the shooter might be some crazy guy obsessed with the Gauntlet.” Lara shifted in her chair. “If I wasn’t competing throughout the next two days, I’d find him myself.”
Caden’s expression softened and he almost smiled. “I believe you would. I just don’t know how I’m going to tie Kirsten’s death to the shooting of a federal employee without mentioning-”
He stopped cold and she watched him make a mental connection.
“What is it? You know something about Morton.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“That’s not fair. I told you what I know.”
“This is different. It’s another investigation involving federal employees, and now I’m wondering if they’re connected.”
Lara itched to know everything. She loved working complex cases and wanted to help with this one. “I used to be a detective and I’m good at making connections.”
“I have to look at a file first.” Caden leaned forward as if to get up. “Anything else you should tell me?”
“No.” Except the last four hours had been the best she’d spent in many years. “Can you get the charges against me dropped?” Lara held up her ankle, indicating the monitor.
“I’ll try.” He kissed her gently. “I wish we had more time and different circumstances.”
“Story of my life.”
Caden Harper walked out and Lara wondered if she would ever see him again.