Change of Heart Read online

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jeff said, grinning as he got into the passenger seat.

  When Eli and Chelsea heard the siren coming toward the house, they smiled at each other.

  Orin looked up at the sound, but he didn’t seem to think it had anything to do with him. He was examining the fourth drawer. But when the dark sedan with its blazing lights stopped in front of the house, he dropped the drawer and ran for the back door.

  “Stay here!” Eli said to Chelsea, then leaped out of the closet.

  Chelsea didn’t think about what she did, but as she’d always done, she just followed Eli. But when she burst out of the closet, she saw that Orin had a gun pointed at the middle of Eli.

  Chelsea’s mind seemed to work with lightning speed. It looked like Eli was going to leap and Orin was going to fire. There was no room for Eli to get away from a bullet.

  Remembering the lecherous way Orin had looked at her, she grabbed the top of her shirt with both hands and pulled hard. Buttons went flying—and exposed her breasts in a bra so tiny it was barely a whisper of black lace.

  For the flash of a second, Orin’s eyes left Eli and went to Chelsea’s nearly bare chest. And in that second, Eli was able to knock the gun from Orin’s hand. It hit the far wall and went clattering down.

  But Chelsea’s trick of exposing herself almost backfired when Eli saw what she’d done. “Bloody hell!” he said just before he made a leap for Orin.

  But when Orin saw Eli’s momentary distraction, he ran toward the door. Chelsea tried to step in front of him, but he pushed her so hard that she fell against Eli. She knew Eli was furious at her as he worked to get out of the spiderweb of her long hair and even longer legs.

  He tossed her onto the bed, then ran to the door. Chelsea was close behind him.

  When he stopped in the doorway, blocking her exit or even from seeing outside, she yelled, “He’s going to get away!”

  Eli stepped aside to let her stand beside him. In the backyard near the shed, Orin was clinging to the concrete block wall, frantically and futilely trying to get his out-of-shape body over it. Below him was Rex, the Ridgeway family dog, barking loudly as it jumped up, trying to bite Orin’s heels.

  “Get it off of me!” Orin shouted as his thick legs fought to get up the wall. “Get it—” He screamed as the dog clamped its teeth into his calf.

  Eli stepped forward, but then Melissa came through the side gate, gun drawn.

  “Down!” she ordered the dog, and it obeyed.

  “I’m going to sue!” Orin yelled as he fell to the ground.

  “You’re under arrest,” Melissa said as she put handcuffs on him and began to read him his rights.

  “What for?”

  “Trespassing. Attempted child molestation. We’ll come up with something to keep you locked up until we get to the truth.”

  Orin glared at Eli and Chelsea. “It’s those two who’ve been stalking me.” As Melissa pulled him toward the gate, he sneered at Eli. “I’ll have you in jail for this! I have connections! I have—”

  “Shut up!” Melissa said and pushed him through the gate.

  Jeff, who had stayed to one side as he watched it all, went to Eli and Chelsea. “You guys okay?”

  “Fine,” Eli said as Rex came up to him and he stroked the dog’s head. “You have any safety pins? For Chelsea’s shirt?”

  “Give me a break,” Chelsea said. “I saved your life, so what do a few missing buttons mean?”

  “You could have—”

  Watching them, Jeff grinned and put his hands in his pockets. “I’m going with Melissa. Chelsea, would you help me pick out a ring to give her?”

  That so startled her that she quit arguing with Eli. “So soon?”

  “When you know, you know. I gotta go. See you later.”

  When they were alone, Eli turned to Chelsea and smiled. “We got rid of them all.”

  “That we did. You want to go home and . . .” She shrugged.

  “I’d love to.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “Home. I like the sound of that.”

  “Mmmm,” Chelsea said as she rubbed her bare legs against Eli’s. “So what’s on the agenda for today?”

  “I figure you’ll spend every minute on getting dressed. You are planning to go to the dance tonight, aren’t you?”

  “You know me so well,” she said as she began kissing his neck. “Dealing with my clothes is just what I’m going to spend the entire day doing.”

  He pulled away to look at her. “I don’t like the sound of that. What are you actually planning to do?”

  Chelsea rolled to her back. Last night Melissa said she’d turned Peterson over to Dr. Tris, the local physician, with instructions to hold him as long as possible. He’d still be in the hospital during the prom tonight, so there was no danger that he’d show up. As long as whatever he wanted hadn’t been found, he would be a menace. Last night Eli had spent hours on the phone calling people in the government, pulling in favors, to find out about Orin Peterson and the truth behind Gilbert Ridgeway’s death.

  Even though no one had found whatever it was that Orin was after, Grace now had a reason to throw him out of her house.

  Chelsea knew that Eli was going to try to get her to swear that from now on, the case would be in the hands of the authorities. No more sneaking about in the middle of the night.

  “Actually, you’re right. Abby and I are going to do a girl day,” Chelsea said, her eyes wide in innocence. “Hair, nails, feet, all of it. My mom sent the dress for Abby and one for me. And your tux needs to be pressed. It’s a busy day ahead. By the way, Abby sent me a text asking if we knew where Scully was. What have you done with him?”

  “What makes you think it was me?”

  Chelsea narrowed her eyes at him.

  Eli chuckled. “My cousins flew in, and while you were wherever you were all yesterday afternoon, they were giving Scully dance lessons.”

  “That was really nice of you.” She flung the covers back to get out of bed, but Eli caught her hand.

  “In case you missed it, that was a hint for you to tell me where you were.”

  “The First Lady called me to ask—” She broke off at his look. “You’re not the only one who can lie. Where were you?”

  “Since we both ended up in the same place, I guess we were doing the same thing. How long will it take to do your hair today?”

  “Hours,” she said, smiling. She got up, pulled on one of his T-shirts, and went into the bathroom.

  When she came out, Eli was leaning back on the pillows, his hands behind his head. “You either tell me what you’re planning or I’ll have you kidnapped and held in custody until after the dance.”

  “Oooooh. By Men in Black? Men so physically fit they can hardly wear a suit? Will they have those little microphone thingies in their ears? Can they—”

  “Chelsea!” Eli said in warning.

  She sat down on the edge of the bed and began to rub moisturizer on her legs. “Okay, I’ll tell you—but only because we need you. And it’s nothing bad.”

  “We is you and who else?”

  “Pilar. I really like her! I’ve never had a lot of women friends in my life.”

  He looked at her long leg that she was stroking. “Can’t imagine why.”

  “You’re sweet. But anyway, do you think you could make Grace’s computer at Frazier Motors stop working for a day?”

  “Enough that the local repairman, who happens to be Scully’s dad, has to be called in to fix it?”

  She kissed him on the forehead. “Now who says men don’t have brains?”

  When she started to get up, Eli pulled her down onto the bed and began kissing her. “Are you the one doing matchmaking now?”

  “I am.” She kissed him back. “Pilar’s already told Lanny about it, and he’s ready for a system breakdown.