Witness Seduction. Elle Kennedy

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СКАЧАТЬ to ring, a much-needed distraction from the woman next door.

      Sighing, he snatched the phone from its perch near the computer keyboard and pressed the talk button. “Ford,” he said. His voice came out hoarse, and he had to clear his throat before speaking again.

      “I’m at the Starbucks around the corner,” came AJ Callaghan’s southern drawl. “Want some coffee?”

      Caleb tore his gaze away from the monitor. “Hell, yes,” he told his partner.

      “Huh. You sound cranky. Ms. Kincaid doing yoga again?”

      “Nope, cleaning the rain gutters.”

      “Darn. I won’t hurry then. But call me if she starts up with the yoga.” AJ’s tone revealed the man was no doubt sporting a huge grin. “You know,” AJ added, “I can’t see Grier staying away from her for much longer. We already know he was infatuated with Nurse Hottie, and seriously, with that bod, who could blame the guy?”

      Oh, Caleb couldn’t blame Patrick Grier for craving Marley’s extremely delectable body, either. Thanks to all the cameras Caleb and AJ had set up around the perimeter of Marley’s house providing visuals of the kitchen, living room and bedroom, Caleb had firsthand experience with Kincaid’s assets. And he was doing a little bit of craving himself.

      Fortunately, all it took was one swift glance at the picture taped to the side of his computer monitor, and the need for vengeance replaced his desire.

      As Caleb hung up the phone, he stared at Patrick Grier’s grainy features. What pissed him off the most was how normal Grier looked. Brown hair, brown eyes, handsome in a preppy sort of way. That was drug-dealing murderers for you—they rarely ever looked like the scum they were.

      If it were any other scumbag dealer, Caleb might have handed the case over to a junior agent and focused on the bigger fish swimming around in the drug pond. But this particular scumbag had murdered Caleb’s best friend, and he wasn’t going to rest until Patrick Grier was behind bars.

      He looked back at the monitor and grinned when he noticed Marley leaning to the side, one slender arm stretched out as she attempted to tackle a clump of leaves that refused to dislodge. The grin faded, however, when something caught his eye. One of the rungs on the ladder looked…wrong. He leaned closer, squinting at the screen.

      “Damn it,” he muttered under his breath.

      Sure enough, the rung he’d noticed was sagging on one side. He couldn’t see much more than that, but he suspected it was cracked. The thing would probably break the second she stepped on it.

      Fortunately Marley’s feet were on the rung below the broken one, but the way she was reaching her arms out, it wouldn’t be long before she needed some more height to connect with her target.

      Crap. What should he do in this situation? Sit around and wait for her to fall?

      Caleb gritted his teeth. He couldn’t go over there and warn her. Making contact with the person you were watching defeated the entire point of a stakeout. And he wouldn’t risk the possibility of losing Grier. In his gut, he knew the other man was bound to show up here. When they’d raided the office Grier had been using for his web design company, they’d found more than a dozen pictures of Marley taped on the walls. Grier was obsessed with her, and Caleb knew he’d come for her.

      He felt it deep in his gut, a certainty his supervisor, unfortunately, didn’t quite agree with. But at least Agent Stevens had green-lighted this stakeout. How long he’d let it go on, Caleb wasn’t sure, but for now, he could sit tight and see if his hunch played out. The local cops were already watching Marley at the hospital, but Caleb knew Grier wouldn’t make a move there. Too many witnesses around. Here, though…Marley lived alone, didn’t have many visitors and her house sat at the end of a cul-de-sac with a large park right behind it. This was the perfect place for Grier to make an appearance.

      On the screen, Marley was looking up at the roof in dismay. An ominous feeling crept along Caleb’s spine. He watched as she lifted one foot. His chest tightened with sickly anticipation.

      “Don’t do it,” he mumbled at her, though of course she couldn’t hear him. “Look down first.”

      But she didn’t, and it was like seeing the chain of events that led up to a disaster, in slow motion, unable to do a damn thing about it.

      She climbed up onto the next rung of the ladder, and he could practically hear the wood splintering beneath her feet. He couldn’t see her face, but he could imagine the look of terror filling her pretty features as the rung gave way. She lost her footing, and the ladder swiftly toppled onto the grass down below.

      Caleb shot to his feet, adrenaline pumping through his veins. A faint flicker of admiration lit his chest as he saw her arms whip up like an acrobat’s, grabbing at the white-painted eave.

      Relief flooded through him. She hadn’t fallen. Instead, she dangled ten feet off the ground like a really crappy cat burglar attempting to scale a building. Caleb couldn’t help but grin at the thought, but his mouth hardened when Marley twisted her neck, glancing down at the grass as if contemplating whether she could land the jump.

      Sure you can, sweetheart, except you’ll probably break your ankle. Or your neck.

      Letting out a sigh, Caleb took one last look at the screen, then tore out of the room.

      He ran out the front door of the house the agency had rented from a pair of retired teachers who were traveling for the summer. The afternoon sun nearly blinded him, making him realize he hadn’t been outside in a week. It felt weird after being cooped up indoors for so long.

      He crossed the perfectly kept lawn toward the side of the house. Only a couple of yards separated the two homes, and when he approached, Marley still hung from the eaves, cursing to herself under her breath.

      He cleared his throat. “Need some help?”

      She yelped in surprise and nearly lost her grip. Her legs swung wildly, making his heartbeat quicken. “Don’t let go,” he ordered.

      “Who are you?” Her voice sounded tinny as it floated down from above.

      “Your next-door neighbor,” he replied. “And possibly the guy who saves your life.”

      She peered down at him, her light-brown eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I know my next-door neighbors, mister, and you aren’t them.”

      “The Strathorns are in Europe. I’m renting their house for the summer,” he called back, annoyance tightening his lips. “Now, do you think we can discuss this after we get you down from there?”

      There was a long pause. Then she was scrutinizing the ground again. “I think I can make the jump,” she said. “I once saw a documentary on stunt doubles.”

      He suppressed a laugh. “That’s terrific. But no, you cannot make the jump.” He swallowed. “I’ll catch you.”

      She let out a squeaky protest. “What? No way. What if you miss? Or what if I crush you—”

      “With the hundred pounds you’re packing?” he interrupted in amusement. “You won’t crush me, and I won’t miss.”

      Caleb stepped closer, assessing СКАЧАТЬ