Elisabeth Naughton - Wait for Me

“Ryan, I’ll be fine. I can check the database at work. The article I’m thinking of will be listed there. I need to find it.”

“I don’t want you going there. Not until we know who’s connected to this.”

Fighting him on this wasn’t going to help. He was stubborn and domineering and way too sexy standing there in her living room for her to want to argue with him.

Biting her lip, she rested the palms of her hands on his chest and tipped her eyes up. “You could come with me.”

His hand slid up to cover hers. “Teasing me will not get you what you want.”

She moved closer, rose up on her toes, ran her lips softly over his. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not that easy.”

She laughed, trailed her lips across his jaw to his ear, pressed her body against his. His sharp intake of breath told her she was doing a good job at seducing him. His arms came around her, and the muscles in her stomach tightened when his lips caressed her neck. She felt his arousal against her hip.

“You can have your shirt back if you go with me,” she said in his ear.

He walked her forward until she bumped into the couch. Swift fingers streaked up under the hem of his shirt, whisking it over her head. It landed on the newel post. He flipped her around and bent her over the arm of the sofa. “I think I get my shirt back either way, babe.”

She gasped, then shuddered when his lips found her nape again, when his hand dipped between her legs. Then finally sighed when he stroked the fire already burning inside her and made her forget everything but him.

* * *

Kate slipped on her sunglasses as she stepped from Ryan’s Jag. She waited on the sidewalk with a frown while he took his sweet time. He’d been dragging his feet all morning, almost as if he didn’t want to help her after all.

He’d wasted time making her breakfast, had lured her into a long, hot shower where he’d washed her with his hands and tongue, then convinced her he had to stop at his house on the way in to change clothes and see the kids before they left again. It was now close to noon. Not that she was complaining about any of it, but she was itching to find that article. And his snail pace was grating on her nerves.

“You’re worse than a woman.”

He slipped the keys into his pocket. “Don’t start with me. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Okay, so he was worried. She could deal with that. Then why was that underlying feeling that there was more to this still eating at her? Shaking off the thought, she tucked her arm in his and pulled him toward her building. “Come on. We’ll be in and out. No one will even know we’re there.”

The office was abuzz when they stepped out of the elevator and onto Kate’s floor.

“Kate, you’re here. Thank goodness.” Jill scrambled from her desk, grabbing a handful of messages. “The phone has been ringing off the hook since Monday morning.”

Oh, great.

Kate glanced at Ryan. “Jill, this is Ryan.”

To his credit, Ryan said nothing about Jill’s nose ring. Or the plethora of tattoos up and down the twenty-something girl’s arms. “Hi.”

Jill’s gaze darted from Kate to Ryan and back again. Her eyes widened when she finally recognized him, and a silly grin spread across her face. “Oh. Hi.”

“Go on in, Ryan. I’ll just be a minute.” Kate motioned toward her office

When he was gone, Jill asked, “Is that who I think it is?”

“Yes.”

“Is he really your husband?”

“Looks that way. I’ll take those messages.” Kate pried the messages from Jill’s fingers.

“Oh.” Jill finally tore her gaze from Ryan, standing in her office. “And Tom’s looking for you.”

“How does he know I’m here?”

“Rumor mill. Honey, you’re practically a celebrity. And you go anywhere with Ryan Harrison, and people are going to talk.”

“Fabulous,” Kate muttered. She moved toward her office. “I’m not staying long. I just need to check on something. I’ll take a stack of work with me, but if anyone asks, I’m not here. Got it?”

“Sure. Hey, Kate?”

Kate stopped with one hand on the door.

“Is he as good as he looks?”

Kate feigned disgust. “You’re hopeless.” Then added with a smile, “Better.”

Ryan was studying the pictures on her shelf when she stepped into the room.

“Not as big as your office,” she said, closing the door behind her.

“Where was this taken?” He lifted a picture of Reed playing in the sand.

“On the gulf. He loves the beach.”

Emotions brewed in his eyes when they turned toward her. And, for the first time, she realized he’d lost time too. “I have more pictures at home. I can show you if you want.”

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. But his eyes were distant, almost as if he were holding something back. “I’d like that.” His voice changed before she could ask what was bothering him. “Where do we start?”

She moved to a shelf across the room and pulled out medical journals. “You can flip through these while I pull up the database on my computer.”

He dropped into a chair opposite her desk and lifted a stack. She scrolled through screens on her computer. The quiet hum of the outer office was the only sound in the room.

“Kate?” The intercom buzzed. Jill’s voice chimed through the quiet. “Heads up, Tom’s on his way—”

Her office door pushed open before she could respond, and Tom Adams strode in without knocking.

“You dodging me?” he asked.

Kate stood. Ryan rose too, eyeing her managing editor with suspicion. He obviously recognized Tom from that day at her house when he’d come to talk to her and had learned about Reed. So much for avoiding anyone at the office. “Tom Adams,” she said, making introductions, “Ryan Harrison.”

“Jesus,” Tom muttered. “It’s true.”

“I’m not staying today, Tom. I know the office is in an uproar, so I’ll get out of your hair. I’m just looking for something.”

“Looking for what?”

“An article about a cancer drug tested in Canada.”

The color drained from his face.

“Son of a bitch.” Ryan stepped around Tom and closed the door. Then he glanced at Kate. “I think we just found our link.”

Tom Adams’s Victorian row house sat on a quiet street in Pacific Heights. Ryan tapped a hand against his knee as he and Kate waited in the immaculate living room. Wide windows looked out over the city. Trees swayed gently in the afternoon breeze.

Kate caught Ryan’s tense shoulders, his tight jaw. “Relax, would you? You’re stressing me out.”

He shot her an irritated look and went back to tapping.

Kari Adams came down the stairs with Tom at her side. Her face was drawn, the swell of her very pregnant belly protruding from her slim body. “Sorry we kept you waiting.”

Ryan tensed at Kate’s side, but she ignored him. “It’s all right. I’m sorry we’re bothering you. I know how tired you must be.”

Kari smiled, running a hand over her belly. “I’m not able to sleep much these days.”

“Practice for B-day,” Tom said, his fingers skimming their baby.

“Look.” Ryan shifted his feet. “I don’t mean to be rude, but we really need some answers. The first of which is why you dragged us all the way over here when you could have answered our questions at Katie’s office.”

Kate slanted him a warning look, which he ignored. The man had no tact when he was on a mission.

“That’s my fault.” Kari sank onto the floral couch. Even with her pregnant belly, the couch seemed to gobble up her petite body. “Tom knew I’d want to be involved.”

“I’m not following you.” Kate sat in a plush, cream chair across from Kari. “How do you have anything to do with a medical study?”

“Do you recognize me at all?” Kari asked.

“No, should I?” Worry tickled the back of Kate’s throat.

“I suppose not. We only spoke a few times when I was in the nursing home, but I could never forget your eyes.”

Kate glanced up at Ryan. His jaw twitched. Kari Adams. Why hadn’t the name clicked when she’d looked at the list from Janet Kelly’s house?

Tom stepped behind his wife, rested a hand on her shoulder. “Kari had ovarian cancer. We decided to try experimental treatments after we’d exhausted all other avenues.”

“I didn’t think I’d make it,” Kari said, looking down. “But Dr. Alexander was so optimistic, he gave us hope. The treatments lasted over six months. I was in and out of the nursing home, being monitored by the staff there. That’s when I met you.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “I was awake?”

“Some. You’d been in a car accident, were in a coma for several months. Your husband…” She glanced at Ryan. “Dr. Alexander, I mean, had you relocated to the nursing home so he could keep an eye on you since that’s where most of his patients were. After your baby was born, you woke up, but you were in and out of consciousness for quite some time. One day you’d be up and moving around, the next completely out.”

She’d been awake. She’d been moving. Which explained why her recovery hadn’t been so extreme. Why her body had bounced back relatively quickly. People had seen her, talked to her. And she couldn’t remember any of it.

“Go on,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Jake said he was my husband?”

Kari nodded. “Yes. Another doctor was overseeing your care. I didn’t know his name. Tall, dark hair, the lightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. They seemed to know each other well. I think it must have been his nursing home—or he knew the person who owned and operated it.”

“Reynolds.” Kate glanced at Ryan again. He’d been right. Her Houston doctor had been involved. Had probably been killed because of that involvement.

“What was the name of the experimental drug treatment?” Ryan asked.

“Amatroxin,” Tom said. “It completely cured Kari’s cancer. A handful of other patients were taking it as well. Last year, Dr. Alexander compiled a list of research and he and another doctor published this article in our medical journal.” He handed Ryan a journal from the table behind him.

“This references a study in Canada,” Ryan said.

Tom swallowed. “Yes.”

“You published false data?” Kate asked.

Tom drew in a deep breath. “Yeah.”

“Why? Why didn’t you tell me any of this, Tom?”

Tom shifted his weight nervously, gripped Kari’s shoulder tighter. She reached up and grasped his hand in a sign of support. “Jake and I had an agreement. He let Kari into the research project, and I kept what I knew about the studies to myself. When the time came to publish the information, I’d help. We were desperate, and willing to try anything. After it cured Kari’s cancer, I owed him. He needed to show proof the drug worked; I knew it did. The way I looked at it, it didn’t really matter where the studies took place.”

“Tom didn’t know you were married before, Kate,” Kari cut in, her eyes shifting from Kate to Ryan. “What he knew was you were in the nursing home under Jake’s care, that you were his wife. Jake asked him to keep things quiet around you. He said that the trauma from the accident had been especially bad. Jake was very worried about your prognosis.”

Kate rubbed the scar on her head. So much of this still didn’t make sense. “And when I woke up, he arranged for me to do freelance work for the publishing house.” She glanced up at Tom. “You never questioned my background? What I knew?”

Tension gathered in fine lines around Tom’s eyes. “I didn’t know he was a McKellen until after he’d moved you to Houston. When I saw your name listed on one of your freelance articles, I contacted him. He said he didn’t like to use the McKellen name because of a falling out he’d had with his family. I believed him. He’s the one who set you up with the Dallas branch. I wasn’t in a position to question anything he told me. It made sense, and I was indebted to him. And then when I saw your work, I realized he was right. You’re more knowledgeable about geology than anyone I know.”

“You still didn’t say anything after Jake died. Why not? I was here in San Francisco. You knew I was looking for answers. You knew I’d been to that nursing home, but you didn’t say anything?” She stood, anger bubbling through her. Ryan reached for her arm to steady her.

“I don’t think you understand what’s going on here, Kate,” Tom said. “Someone doesn’t want you to find answers. After you called me and asked about a job here at the San Francisco branch, we started getting warnings.”