Love Can Be Murder

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 In return, though, she wants her ex-husband's custody and visitation rights rescinded."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 case our man shows? Look, your clothes are already in my room, and I can keep an eye on you there."
    She stared.
    "And I won't... anything."
    She worked her mouth back and forth. "On one condition."
    "What?"
    "Help me break into Carl's house."

Chapter Twenty-nine

    "I CAN’T BELIEVE I'm doing this," he muttered, pulling next to the curb a few yards away from Dr. Seger's house. The weather had taken a nasty turn—cold and a steady drizzle of freezing rain. The truck's antenna was coated with ice, as were the parked cars.
    Roxann pulled on knit gloves and tugged a wool hat down over her ears. "We couldn't find Elise, so she's probably long gone. The only way we'll be able to connect her to Dr. Seger is if we find something in his files—a letter, a picture...something."
    "I could lose my badge over this."
    "Stop exaggerating and look small." She opened the door quietly and slipped out into the frigid darkness. She heard a click, then Capistrano was next to her. The murder had obviously frightened the neighbors because outside security lights blazed, which didn't help their cause. They moved carefully to the cover of the shadows cast by the trees between the sidewalk and the leaf-covered lawns, then walked in the ice-encrusted grass rather than taking a chance on the slick sidewalk. They passed a bundled woman walking a dog, but avoided eye contact.
    "Which door?" she asked as they neared the house, which stood out because it was the only residence in total darkness.
    "Front door," he murmured. "The trick to breaking and entering is to act as if you're supposed to be there." Then he frowned. "Scratch that—I forget who I'm talking to."
    When they approached the steps, a motion-activated light came on and she practically wet herself.
    "Relax," he whispered.
    Her heart beat double-time and an uncontrollable shiver traveled through her body. The front door was plastered with yellow "crime scene" stickers. Capistrano was through the ornamental brass lock in less than thirty seconds, then pushed open the door.
    "What if there's a security alarm?" she whispered.
    "The police wouldn't bother setting it." Then he