Got Your Number

on Cape this morning, since I was already at the courthouse," she said wryly. "And I have my pepper spray."
    "Don't remind me."
    "Is it possible Cape could've wrecked my van when he threatened Nell? I didn't check it."
    He shook his head. "Surely Nell would have noticed, or the police when they came to make the report."
    Her laugh was dry. "I'm not overly impressed with the South Bend detectives, although Warner seems okay. But I don't think they're going to go out of their way to find another suspect. Did you tell them about Elise?"
    He nodded. "Last night when they were, um, taking you in. But you're right—they didn't seem very excited about the prospect of a new lead."
    "Yet the more I think about it, the more I think she might be involved somehow."
    "Why?"
    She wet her lips.
    "Dammit, Roxann, tell me."
    She sighed—she did need a sounding board, and Capistrano was the most solid surface around. "Remember that Nell told me Tammy Paulen was holding something over Angora's head? Well, it has something to do with a blond wig."
    "What is it?"
    She waved her hand. "That's not important, but whoever trashed the van knew about it, and knew that I knew about it. And it makes me think that Frank Cape isn't in this alone."
    "So you know what this girl had on your cousin?"
    She looked away. Too painful to think about—she never allowed the memories to fully materialize. Angora probably felt the same, which explained why they always skated around the topic.
    "You were involved in it, too, weren't you?"
    She kept looking away.
    He dragged his hand over his face. "Okay, whatever it is—would Elise know?"
    "Possibly. If Tammy told her."
    "They were friends?"
    "I don't know, but she was going to school here when Tammy died."
    "But how could Elise get hooked up with Frank Cape?"
    "I have no idea."
    "Okay, then we need to find Elise."
    "That's what I was planning to do today."
    He pulled into the hotel lot and parked. "Oh, you're working alone now?"
    She nodded and handed him a slip of paper.
    "What's this?"
    "An e-mail address where you can reach Melissa Cape. She's willing to go to a local courthouse, be sworn in, and answer questions over a videocam about what she knows regarding the robbery. In return, though, she wants her ex-husband's custody and visitation rights rescinded."
    He looked up, his mouth parted. She'd succeeded in surprising him.
    "She's expecting to hear from you," she said.
    "This is breaking some kind of rule, isn't it?"
    "Only all of them."
    He folded the piece of paper in his hand. "Thank you, Roxann. Thank you for Officer Lafferty and his family. We'll get Cape one way or another." Then he angled his head and leaned closer. "But if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get rid of me."
    She met his gaze squarely. "You got what you wanted, now you're off the hook."
    He sat back and a little laugh escaped him. "You don't think very highly of yourself, do you?"
    "What's that supposed to mean?"
    "It means that in the beginning, yeah, I wanted information on Melissa Cape, but now...hell, I'm interested."
    "In the case?"
    "In you, since I have to spell it out."
    She chewed on her tongue and studied his eyes, the set of his jaw. He was sincere...at the moment. And God, it was tempting to fall for him. But men like Detective Joe Capistrano needed a damsel in distress to whisk off the railroad tracks as the train was barreling down. And when she was out of harm's way, he'd move on to another case, another damsel. Besides, even if this nightmare ended right now, she had too many issues to work out to be tying herself to a person or a place. Or a...situation.
    "I'm flattered," she said. "But I don't think so."
    One dark eyebrow went up. "You don't think so? That's your answer?"
    "Yep," she said, then lifted the door handle, climbed down, and slammed the door.
    His door slammed and he was right behind her. "Hey." Then he caught her arm and stopped her. "Hey, I'm sorry. I have lousy timing."
    "That, too," she agreed.
    He took the box of junk from her. "But like it or not, I'm not leaving while Cape is still on the loose."
    She turned and walked toward the hotel. "Suit yourself. As long as you know where I stand. Right now, I want to get a room and take the world's longest shower."
    "You're not going to be able to find a room," he said. "Not with so many people in town. I had to pull out my badge to get mine."
    "Will you pull out your badge to get me one?"
    He sighed. "So I can camp outside your door in