Arresting Developments

“They’re searching for her. Now that we know she’s nearby, Holder and the others won’t stop until they find her trail and bring her back.”

His stomach twisted into a hard knot. “She doesn’t want to be found.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

He frowned. For an aunt, she didn’t seem all that worried about her niece’s welfare. “Then why is this Holder person searching for her? It’s her right to be left alone if that’s what she wants. If he thinks she needs rescuing, believe me, she’s quite capable of taking care of herself. She’s pretty amazing in that department.”

She gave him a peculiar look, as if she thought he’d lost his mind. “Mr. Lassiter, Deputy Holder isn’t leading a rescue party. He’s leading a posse. Amber is a murderer.”

Chapter Five (#ulink_fc8bf15b-ea2b-5d93-b65a-d6361aa5b1c5)

Amber ducked down behind a trash can against the back of Callahan’s Watering Hole and waited for the newest group of men to get out of their cars and go inside. The foot traffic in and out of the bar all morning had been incredible, not to mention several suits in a limo a few minutes ago. Half the town and strangers she’d never seen before must have been inside at one time or another. And she didn’t have to guess why. They were looking for her, had been for three days now, carrying rifles and shotguns as if they were afraid she’d attack them. The resentment that shot through her was like a physical pain, making her double over. These people had been her friends, her family. At one time they’d have done anything for her. Now they just wanted to put her away.

She could have been safe and sound at home deep in the Glades by now, but she couldn’t stop worrying about Dex. She’d watched from a perch in a tree overhead to insure that her plan had worked—that someone heard her whistle and came to help him. And since the first person on the scene was someone she’d never met, she couldn’t just assume he had good intentions as far as Dex was concerned. He could have been a thief or some such. So she’d scampered down the tree and followed him to make sure Dex didn’t need her. Then she’d safely made it to her canoe and headed out. But she wasn’t comfortable with the things that she’d heard when she spied on the crash site and listened to the men gathering up the plane. So she’d gone back to check on him and had made a habit of checking on him every day. Once he was well and awake and able to fend for himself, she’d quit her vigil. But not before then.

The men she’d been waiting to pass finally went inside, letting the screen door slam shut behind them. Amber waited another couple of minutes, peeking out to see if anyone else was approaching and listening for sounds from inside the bar to tell her if anyone was about to leave. Then she hurried around the trash can and raced up the rickety wooden staircase attached to the back of the building that was supposed to be a fire escape but was so rarely used that it had fallen into disrepair. The way the boards sagged as she stepped on each one had her holding her breath the first day she’d snuck up them, but now she knew they were more solid than they seemed and she no longer held her breath as she hurried up to the landing.

The door was unlocked, as always. That was one thing she could be thankful for, that the residents of Mystic Glades rarely locked their doors. She pulled the door open a fraction to peer down the long upstairs hallway with doors opening off either side. With all the people downstairs in the business part of the building, she hadn’t expected her aunt to be up here in her private quarters and wasn’t disappointed. The hall was empty.

She headed straight to the guest room where Dex was staying. If he was still suffering from his fever she would sit with him as she had the past few days and use a cool cloth to soothe him. She wished she could speak to the doctor who came every evening and ask him if Dex was going to be okay. But with everyone searching for her, that wasn’t in the realm of possibilities.

She carefully eased the door open and hurried inside, shutting it behind her and flipping the lock. Movement to her right had her whirling around. A body slammed into her, tackling her to the floor. She landed hard, her elbows and head thumping against the wooden floor a split second before the person who’d attacked her landed on top of her. She grimaced at the pain that shot through her then blinked in surprise to see the very green, shocked gaze of Dex looking down at her. A very naked Dex, plastered to every inch of her body. And like when she’d ended up in his lap out in the swamp, his body immediately responded to their closeness and began to harden against her belly.

He cursed and rolled off her, grabbing her wrists and yanking her to her feet.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded in a harsh whisper as he pulled her to the bed.

She tried to focus on the unexpected anger in his voice, but she couldn’t resist a quick look down. The parts of his body that had been hidden from her when she’d been nursing him to health were now fully revealed. And she wasn’t disappointed in the least. The rest of him was just as...impressive...as his naked chest had been.

He grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around his hips. If they’d been in the swamp, he’d have made some flirty, corny comment. But the teasing flirtation she’d come to expect from him in their brief time together was replaced by a sullen, angry, serious stranger.

Her shoulders slumped. “You know.”

“That you’re wanted for murder? Yeah, hard to miss that topic around here. About that—I want you to know that I didn’t tell them about you on purpose.”

She waved her hand. “No worries. You were delirious. It’s not your fault.”

“How would you know I was delirious?”

She swallowed and shrugged. “A...ah, guess. I knew you still had the fever when I left you. And, since Deputy Holder headed up that posse after me so fast, they obviously knew about me. And I trust you—I know you meant it when you said you wouldn’t tell. Again, no worries. Not your fault.” She tugged her arm out of his hold. “It was a mistake. I’ll go. I’m sorry to have troubled you.”

He blocked her way. “Not so fast. There are things...we need to talk.”

“No, I need to get out of here before someone catches me.”

“If you’re that worried, why’d you come here in the first place?”

She blinked as if remembering something, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. “You dropped this earlier. I kept it at first to try to erase the pictures of me. But there’s no point in that anymore. So...here you go.” She handed it to him and he tossed it onto the bed.

“I don’t think you risked everything to come here to return a phone. What’s the real reason that you’re here?”

She blew out a long breath. “Guilt, I guess. I was worried that I’d left you unprotected. You’re obviously able to care for yourself now, so my job is done. Time to go.”

“Turn around.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m the only one naked in this room. Either you take your clothes off and we’ll be naked together, or you turn around while I get dressed.”

She hesitated, half wondering if he was serious.

“That was a joke, Amber. Turn around.”

She sighed and turned around, listening to the sounds of drawers opening and the whisper of fabric against skin.

“Okay, you can turn around.”

When she did, she was surprised to see him wearing dark gray dress slacks and a burgundy dress shirt tucked in, with a charcoal-gray-and-maroon-striped silk tie. The only thing missing was a suit jacket and he’d look at home in any boardroom. Pity. She liked him better half-covered in mud and jet fuel. He’d been a lot more fun and a lot less serious.

“Nice clothes. I can’t imagine anyone around here having a suit you could borrow, though.”

“They’re my clothes. My assistant brought them.”

“Your assistant. Okay. Well, you’re obviously doing fine and you have...an assistant watching after you now, so I’ll just be on my way.” She scampered around him and ran to the door. But he was surprisingly fast for someone who’d just woken from a near-coma after several days and he braced his hand against the door, keeping her from being able to open it.

“Damn it, Amber. We need to talk.”

The sound of voices outside the door and footsteps clomping up the wooden stairs had him breaking off. Amber’s eyes widened in dismay. She turned in a circle, surveying the tiny room for a place to hide. The tiny bathroom or the closet. She chose the closet.

“Wait.” Dex grabbed her arm in an unbreakable hold.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Please,” she whispered, as she tried to pry his hand off her forearm. “Let me go. I’m just going to hide in the closet.”

He shook his head. “No. You’re not.” He half turned toward the door. “Come in,” he called out.

Amber gasped in shock as the door opened. Her aunt gaped at her in surprise, then moved aside to let the group of men behind her into the room. The first two men, wearing suits much like Dex’s, were strangers to her. But the last man to enter the room was not. She’d seen him two years ago, the day she’d run into the Glades.

The look of surprise on his face was quickly replaced with a look of reproach as he pulled out his handcuffs.

“Miss Callahan.” Collier County Deputy Scott Holder pulled her away from Dex and turned her around. “You’re under arrest for the murder of your grandfather, William Callahan.”

Amber stiffened her spine while he locked the handcuffs around her wrists. Her face flamed hot as she endured the pat down with the others watching, except for Dex and one of the men in a suit who were currently deep in conversation by the window, completely ignoring her. She noted that he didn’t seem surprised by the appearance of a Collier County sheriff’s deputy at his door, either.

Holder took her knife and sheath from her belt. Then he escorted Amber to the door with her hands cuffed behind her back, past the admonishing look from her aunt. Dex never once looked her way.

* * *