Heart of the Raven(5)

She should do them both a favor and just call him and let him know how it went with Darcy.

Then she pictured the look in his eyes when he'd said his child was missing.

She glanced at her watch. The traffic would be miserable.

She gripped the steering wheel. There was nothing to accomplish by going  to his house. She would only add to an attraction that should be buried  in businesslike behavior.

If only someone had cared about me like he cares for his unborn child.

Cassie blew out a long breath. Okay, so she was drawn to the wounded man  in more ways than were good for her. Decency was a big lure. She'd  known too many not-so-decent people.

She leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. He had to be  especially lonely now. The hours must drag by as he waited for word.

She resigned herself to the inevitable, started her car then eased into traffic.



Heath eyed the telephone on the desk beside him. If Cassie had news she  would call. He knew that. But the waiting was almost too much to handle.  She'd called once today to say she had nothing to report. That was  hours ago.                       
       
           



       

He shoved away from his desk. He couldn't work.

After Kyle died Heath had thrown himself into work, resting only when he  fell asleep at the computer. Mary Ann had left him the day of the  funeral. It should have been the least creative, least productive time  of his career. Instead he'd overflowed with ideas. He'd designed  buildings that would never be built, futuristic-looking skyscrapers  beyond man's ability to engineer. But he'd also produced winning,  workable designs-buildings he'd never seen except in video, whether  already constructed or under construction now.

A psychologist would undoubtedly tell him it was avoidance, that he was  only delaying his grief by immersing himself in work. And to a  psychologist, that might be the easy truth. Heath knew it was much more  complicated.

When Eva told him she was pregnant he was stunned at first, then in  denial. But he'd come to believe that the child would be his chance to  do it over, and do it right.

The doorbell rang. He dragged himself out of his office, grabbing his wallet as he went. He'd ordered dinner from Villa Romano.

It wasn't the delivery boy at the door, however.

"Am I interrupting you?" Cassie asked.

Except for the fact she was wearing a blue shirt instead of white, she  was dressed as she had been yesterday. Her uniform, he decided. Damn but  it looked good on her. He tried to read her expression. Do you have  good news for me or bad?

He fought the urge to take her in his arms. His need for human touch-her touch-came from out of the blue.

"I'm sorry," she said, angling as if to leave. "I should've called."

He'd stared at her in silence for too long. She didn't know he was  fighting a rush of feeling for her-the last thing he needed right then.  Especially since he couldn't define what that feeling was.

"No. Cassie, I'm glad to see you."

A refurbished postal Jeep left dust in its wake as it sped up the driveway and came to a quick stop.

"Dinner," Heath told Cassie.

"Hey," said a kid with sixteen or so piercings and tattoos down his arms. He hopped onto the porch. "How's it goin'?"

Heath traded the boy money for the take-out containers. "Thanks."

He jogged off with a backward wave.

Heath moved aside to let Cassie in.

"I was presumptuous," she said.

"Not at all." He waited for her to say something about Eva. Anything.

"I don't have any news to speak of," she said, following him into the  kitchen. "I made a lot of calls to obstetricians' offices, without  results."

He wondered how many more blows he would have to take. Damn you, Eva. "Would you like a beer or something?"

"No, thanks." She leaned against the counter. "I went to her previous  apartment, but I didn't find anyone at home who remembered her. I'll go  back tomorrow when I might catch a few more tenants. Of course people  are often out running errands on Saturday, but it's worth a shot."

"Okay."

"I contacted her business school, but they're on a two-week break before  the next semester. They wouldn't tell me if she was registered. Then I  went to the two maternity-wear consignment shops. One of the clerks  recognized her photo but said she hadn't been in for a couple of months.  Which makes sense. At some point, you've got enough maternity clothes.  Anyway, I left her my card and asked her to call if Eva came back."

"You were busy."

"Yeah. And just before I came here, I met Darcy. Eva left the apartment a  month ago, no notice. Darcy doesn't know where she went, and she's  pretty ticked off that she's been left with the full rent to pay."

"Too ticked off to give you any information?"

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't know anything, but I'll try her again, too. She may know more than she thinks."

He opened a bottle of beer for himself. If Darcy didn't have any  information, what chance did they have? Eva could be anywhere. With  anyone. He may never see his baby. Ever.

What the hell had he done to deserve this? Hadn't he paid a big enough  price already? He took a long swig of beer then plunked the bottle on  the counter.

Cassie rested her hand on his. "We'll find them. We will."

He didn't pull his hand away, but he tried to figure her out. "You could've called and told me this, Cassie."

She straightened, probably because he'd sounded accusatory. "I could have."

Why didn't you? "I've got enough ravioli for two," he said by way of invitation, testing the waters.                       
       
           



       

She hesitated. They seemed to do that a lot with each other.

"I appreciate the offer," she said, "but I need to get going."

He'd read her wrong. It only served to frustrate him more. "Just thought I'd ask."

"Thanks." She walked out of the kitchen.

He followed. His mood, not good to start with, got blacker. Just  yesterday he'd been glad she was the investigator on his case. Now he  wasn't sure.

"I don't know how much I can do until Monday and the doctors' offices  are open again. I contacted every local hospital and will continue to do  so," she said.

She'd been as efficient as he'd expected. But he still didn't know why  she'd come instead of called, especially since she wouldn't even share  dinner with him.

She waited, apparently giving him the opportunity to say something. When  he didn't, she opened the door and stepped outside. It was a beautiful  evening, warm and breezy, a good night for driving the silver  convertible parked in his garage. The one he hadn't driven in three  years. The one that undoubtedly wouldn't start. He should take care of  that.

"I'm sorry," Cassie said, then walked away.

"For what?"

"For disturbing your evening."

He didn't tell her she was wrong, because she had disturbed his  evening-and he liked the disturbance. But it was better that she leave.

He watched her walk away, her pace even quicker than usual. He'd never  been drawn to a woman this fast before. He'd known Mary Ann for months  before they dated. Eva hadn't been any temptation at all until almost a  year of seeing her once a week and then only because of her overt  come-on. But Cassie-

She was gone. He returned to the house to wait for the phone to ring. He  ate dinner because he knew he needed fuel, then he retreated to his  office. Midnight came. One o'clock. Two. He fought sleep. Until recently  every time he slept he heard Kyle call for him. Daddy. Dad-dy! He woke  up sweating and trying to catch his breath. Recently he'd been hearing a  baby cry.

He jerked up, hitting his head on his work lamp. The baby was crying again-

No. It was his doorbell. He blinked to clear his eyes and looked at the  clock. Four thirty-five. He'd fallen asleep at his worktable.

The bell rang again. He shook his head and hurried out of the room, down  the stairs. He glanced out the glass panel next to the door.

Eva. Holding a baby.





Four




Heath yanked open the door. His gaze went to the bundle in Eva's arms  then to her face. Her eyes were blank, her hair straggly, her freckles  prominent.

"Come in," he urged her, picking up the diaper bag she'd set on the  ground beside her. He looked over her shoulder and spotted her car. He  hadn't heard her drive up, he'd been so soundly asleep.

He guided her toward the living room. She sat down gingerly. He took a  seat beside her and waited, knowing he couldn't push her for information  but wanting to yell at her, Where have you been? Why did you worry me  like that?

"It's a boy," she said.

A tornado of emotion spun through him, fast and furious, destroying the  walls of resistance built months ago, obliterating uncertainty in one  gigantic whirl. A boy. A son.