But then, evading a homicide charge was a little more complicated. He expected Drake’s murder to be pinned on her as well.
Concentrate on the matter at hand, Carson.Everything was on the line right now.
Dane’s apartment was empty. They checked each room twice.
“Doesn’t look as if he’s been here in a few days.” Carson checked the fridge. The milk had gone out of date several days before.
“He disappears all the time,” Annette reminded him. “The last time we talked I told him to lay low for a while.”
Carson and Dane hadn’t kept in touch. He had no idea what the guy was up to or even where he lived.
If this was home, he didn’t eat or sleep here on a regular basis.
The place was a mess. Clothes tossed here and there on the floor. The walls were bare as were the shelves. Carson had checked the closet: more haphazardly stored clothing items. A couple of crumpled dollars on the dresser. And not much else.
“I have a few contacts I can reach out to,” Annette offered as they prepared to exit the apartment.
“I’ll give Elizabeth a call.” He hated to bother her with this on a day like today, but he needed to check on her and Patricia. It was the right thing to do. And finding Dane was their only hope of finding some answers.
“Be careful what you say to her,” Annette suggested. “I’m not so sure you should trust her.”
The woman had to be kidding. “Elizabeth would never do anything to hurt anyone.” He glanced at Annette as they entered the elevator once more. “Not even to protect her brother.”
Annette said nothing to that. Carson selected the first floor. As the doors glided closed he watched the woman waiting on the opposite side of the car. A paradox. Definitely.
“How do you do it?” He had no business asking the question, but there it was. With all that was going on, with his career—his entire future—in the toilet,thisshould be the last thing on his mind.
“How do I do what?” Her steady gaze rested on his.
“Be so distant and cold, like in the interview today.” He studied her closely, too closely for his own comfort. “That night at the Tutwiler, you were hot and wild. Was that night just an act?”
She reached out and pressed the stop button on the control panel. The elevator car jolted to a halt between the third and second floors, but the doors remained closed.
She reclined against the wall and analyzed him a moment. “I play the part that’s called for in any given situation.”
Well, he’d asked for that one. “So you’re saying that when we had sex, you didn’t really want to, you just played the part. Didn’t feel a thing, like you suggested.” This was not the time for his bruised ego to enter the picture. Or maybe he just needed a break from the escalating tension. Either way, this was just one more indication of how out of control he was.
“That’s right.” Her frank tone left no room for speculation. “Don’t beat yourself up, Tanner. No man has ever given me an orgasm.”
He tamped down the incensed protest that was automatic. “And the lack of panties in today’s interrogation, was that part of getting into character?”
A ghost of a smile haunted her lips. “You should have recognized that one. It was a distraction tactic. Don’t you use a similar technique in the courtroom when you’re out of forthright options?”
Before good sense could stop him, he’d crossed to her side of the elevator. “That’s one I haven’t used.” He braced a hand on either side of her, trapping her with his body. As ludicrous as it was just now, there was one thing he had to know. “So you felt nothing when we were together that night? Nothing at all.”
She tilted her head back and stared directly into his eyes. “You mean, when we fucked?”
“Yes, when wefucked.”
“Nothing, Mr. Deputy District Attorney. I turned that off a very long time ago.”
“Maybe,” he allowed. “And maybe you’re just protecting yourself.” He leaned in closer. “Maybe you’re afraid to feel something that personal.”
She laughed softly. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
He didn’t believe her. “I think you’re scared to death.”
She searched his eyes, his face. “I think you have something to prove.”
