Ash made a mental note to go out later to check for any indication there’d been someone sneaking around her backyard. For now, however, he concentrated on his suspicions swirling around Doug Gates. “How did your neighbor know?”
She absently pulled her hair from the ponytail, allowing it to spill over her shoulders. Ash’s hands twitched. He’d loved running his finger through the satin strands. Or, better yet, feeling her hair brushing over his bare skin when they were in bed.
“He came out when I was looking around,” she said.
Ash crushed the fantasies that threatened to distract him. Right now he was trying to keep Remi safe. Later, he would discover if her hair was as soft as he remembered.
“Came out or was already out?” he demanded.
She paused, considering his question. “I didn’t notice. He just appeared.”
“Definitely a person of interest,” Ash murmured. He’d get Jax to run the background check ASAP.
She rolled her eyes. “You sound like a detective, Dr. Marcel.”
He gave a lift of his hands. He did sound like a detective. Probably because deep in his heart, he still felt like one.
“I’ll try to sound more scholarly in the future,” he promised.
Their gazes met and held, a strange understanding passing between them. It was like the first time they’d crossed paths in the squad room. She’d come to take her father to lunch and he’d been sitting at the older man’s desk. They’d stared at each other in silence, both caught off guard by the intensity of their first glance.
Ash had known in that moment his life was never going to be the same.
And he’d been right.
Remi’s face flushed, her eyes darkening with need before she was abruptly turning away. “I need a shower,” she muttered.
He forced himself not to reach out and pull her back to him.
“I’ll make some breakfast,” he said, his tone deliberately light. “And we can head to Bailey.”
She nodded, scurrying toward the hallway without looking back. Ash smiled wryly as he headed toward the kitchen. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the awkward awareness that smoldered between them.
He hated the realization that the easy relationship he’d taken for granted between them was gone. But then again, he would have been devastated if she’d felt nothing.
Entering the kitchen, Ash distracted himself with cooking a decent breakfast. It wasn’t easy, considering that Remi’s cabinets were nearly bare. She’d never enjoyed spending time in the kitchen and it appeared that hadn’t changed.
He had the plates on the table when she entered the dining room smelling like soap and delicious strawberry lip balm. She’d pulled her damp hair into a braid and wrapped herself in a pair of jeans and a warm, fuzzy sweater. She looked like she should still be in college, not teaching troubled teens.
They ate in silence, then Remi poured out food and water for Buddy and they headed back out of the house. Ash led her toward the sleek, silver Mercedes coupe, his lips twitching as Remi arched her brows. Clearly, she hadn’t paid any attention to the vehicle before now.
“Is this your car?” she demanded in surprise.
“I rented it,” he explained, lifting his hand as her eyes widened. “And no, I’m not going through some midlife crisis. The rental agency had this car, a van that could fit twelve people, and a sedan with a broken defroster.”
“’Tis the season,” she murmured.
“No crap.”
She glanced up at the sky. The sun was shining, but this was the Midwest. Any second the clouds could roll in and the snow could start flying.
“Maybe we should take my car,” she offered.
It made more sense to take the sensible sedan. But while Remi had been in the shower, Ash had considered a dozen different ways to approach the people of Bailey and ask questions. He’d been in enough small towns to know they were friendly enough with one another, but they didn’t like strangers. They were going to need a tempting excuse to get them to share information about Angel Conway.
“I was thinking we might pass ourselves off as reporters,” he told her. “Maybe even imply we’re making a documentary. The flashier our transportation, the better.”
She sent him a startled glance. “That’s actually a good idea.”
Ash snorted, pressing the button on the key fob that would unlock the doors. “I do have them now and again.”
With a chuckle, Remi pulled open the passenger door. Ash hurried around the car to settle behind the steering wheel. Once they were both buckled in, he loaded the address into the GPS and fired up the massive engine. In less than ten minutes they were on the interstate headed south.
Settling into the butter-soft leather seat, Remi remained silent as she watched the tightly packed neighborhoods spread out to sprawling suburbs and finally to farmland.
“Has the family been notified?” she finally demanded.
“Yeah. Jax called while you were in the shower,” he said. Jax had already been at his office when he’d phoned Ash. “Angel’s mother is expected to ID the body today.”
She sent him a startled glance. “Shouldn’t we wait until she’s back home?”
“No. Jax will interview Ms. Conway after she’s done at the morgue,” he said. “I’m more interested in Angel’s friends. She would be more likely to tell them her true reason for going to Chicago. Especially if it was something she wanted to keep hidden from her family.”
“That makes sense,” she agreed. “But how are we going to find her friends?”
That was one part of the plan to which Ash hadn’t given much thought. He shrugged. “It’s a small town. We’ll be able to figure out where Angel would hang out.”
She didn’t bother to argue as Ash exited the interstate onto a narrow county road. Probably because he was using the long, empty stretch of highway to see precisely how the expensive car would perform. He grinned at the throaty sound of the engine and the way the vehicle hugged the pavement as they rounded a curve.
“Maybe I am going through a midlife crisis,” he admitted.
She blinked in confusion. “Why do you say that?”
“I’m liking this car.”
She released a startled laugh. “I’m sure your students would be impressed. A hot professor in a sports car.”
He pounced on her teasing words. “You think I’m hot?”
She blushed, quickly looking away. “Do you like teaching?”
“For now.”
Ash turned his attention back to the road, slowing to a reasonable speed. The turnoff into Bailey was only a few miles away. He didn’t want to miss it.
He sensed her curiosity. “But?”
He didn’t have an easy answer. There was a part of him that enjoyed being a teacher. Most of his students were eager to learn and it was fulfilling to know he was helping to train the lawmen of the future. Still, another part of him had started to chafe at being in the classroom. Especially when that classroom was so far away from Chicago.
“I’m starting to reconsider my future,” he told her in soft tones.
“You miss being a detective?”
“I miss a lot of things.”
She shifted in her seat, no doubt sensing he was talking about more than his job. Before she could respond, however, the GPS was telling him to turn right and they were driving into Bailey.