From the Heart

forget it. He was a cop, she was a suspect. His job was to find out what he could, even if it meant turning evidence on her. Listening to her steady stream of excitement as he uncarted boxes, Slade thought he’d never known anyone who appeared less capable of dishonesty. But that was a feeling, a hunch. He needed facts.
    In his temporary position as mover and hauler, he was able to examine each piece carefully. He caught no uneasiness from Jessica, but rather her appreciation for helping her check for damage during shipping. The twinge of conscience infuriated him. He was doing his job, he reminded himself. And it was her damn Uncle Charlie that had put him there. Another year, Slade told himself again. Another year and there’d be no commissioner to hand him special assignments as a baby sitter cum spy for goddaughters with amber eyes.
    He found nothing. His instinct had told him he wouldn’t but Slade could have used even a crumb to justify his presence. She never stopped moving. For the two hours it took to unload the shipment, Jessica was everywhere, polishing, arranging, dragging out empty crates. When there was nothing more to do, she looked around for more.
    “That’s it,” Slade told her before she could decide that something might be shown to a better advantage somewhere else.
    “I guess you’re right.” Absently, she rubbed at the small of her back. “It’s a good thing those three pieces are being shipped out Monday. It’s a bit crowded. Hey, I’m starving.” She turned to him with an apologetic smile. “I didn’t mean to keep you so long, Slade. It’s after five.” Without giving him a chance to comment, she dashed to the back room for their jackets. “Here, I’ll close up.”
    “How about a hamburger and a movie?” he said impulsively. I’m just keeping an eye on her, he told himself. That’s what I’m here to do.
    Surprised, Jessica glanced around as she pulled down thelast shade. From the look on his face, she thought, amused, he was already half regretting having asked. But that was no reason to let him off the hook. “What a romantic invitation. How can I refuse?”
    “You want romance?” he countered. “We’ll go to a drive-in movie.”
    He heard her quick gurgle of laughter as he grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.
     
    It was late when the phone rang. The seated figure reached for it and a cigarette simultaneously. “Hello.”
    “Where’s the desk?”
    “The desk?” Frowning, he brought the flame to the tip and drew. “It’s with the rest of the shipment, of course.”
    “You’re mistaken.” The voice was soft and cold. “I’ve been to the shop myself.”
    “It has to be there.” A flutter of panic rose in his throat. “Jessica just hasn’t unpacked it yet.”
    “Possibly. You’ll clear this up immediately. I want the desk and its contents by Wednesday.” The pause was slight. “You understand the penalty for mistakes.”

3
    J essica woke thinking of him. She took time on the lazy Sunday morning to ponder the very odd Saturday she had spent—most of it with Slade. A moody man, she mused, stretching her arms toward the ceiling. By turns she had been comfortable with him, exasperated by him, and attracted to him. No, that wasn’t quite true, she amended. Even when she’d been comfortable or exasperated, she’d been attracted. There was something remote about him that made her want to pry him open a bit. She’d put quite a lot of effort into that the evening before and had come up with nothing. He wasn’t a man for divulging secrets or bothering with small talk. He was an odd combination of the direct and the aloof.
    He didn’t flatter—not by looks or words. And yet she felt certain that he wasn’t indifferent to her. It wasn’t possible that she’d imagined those moments of physical pull. They’d been there, for him as well as for her. But he had guards, she thought with quick frustration. She’d never known a man with such guards. Those dark, intense eyes of his clearly said “Keep back; arm’s length.” While the challenge of piercing his armor appealed to her, her own instinctive awareness of what the consequences would be held her back. Jessica enjoyed a dare, but she usually figured the odds first. In this case, she decided, they were stacked against her.
    A nice, cautious friendship was in order, she concluded. Anything else spelled trouble. Rising, she picked up her robeand headed for the shower. But wouldn’t it be