Killing Time Read online

Nikita tilted her head. What was so funny about the pope going to the moon?

  When he returned, his eyes were wet and his lips kept turning up in a smile. “Sorry,” he said in a strained tone. “It was just . . . I imagined him sitting in a rocket, wearing all his vestments . . .” His voice trailed off and he shook his head.

  “Don’t be silly,” she said. “He wore a space suit just like everyone else.”

  Knox choked, and went back to the bathroom.

  He was the most easily sidetracked person she’d ever seen, she thought. They could be having a serious discussion about the investigation and the next thing she knew she was explaining about how time travelers would arrive naked if they wore polyester.

  While he was gone, she looked back at the notes she’d scribbled on her EN, and did some more thinking. What was the benefit? The why and the who were always tightly connected; find one, and you could find the other.

  The killer—or killers, since there were certainly at least two, perhaps more—obviously hadn’t found what he was searching for, and he was working his way down the list of people who’d had anything to do with that time capsule.

  Knox finally returned, and Nikita forestalled any more possible outbursts of hilarity by tapping the list of names. “Someone on this list is the killer’s next target. What can we do to keep them alive?”

  That question wiped the last remnant of amusement from his expression. He stood looking down at the list, and he finally said, “Not a lot. There are too many of them. The sheriff’s department and the city police combined don’t have the manpower that would be needed. Several of them have already died”—he took his pen, leaned down, and drew lines through their names—“but that leaves twelve people. The best Sheriff Cutler could do would be to warn them. That’s if any one of them would believe someone was out to kill him because of a time capsule that was buried twenty years ago.”

  “We have to interview them ourselves,” she said.

  “Nope. I have to interview them. You have to stay out of sight. Agent Stover left town, remember? You’re Tina, my new live-in lover.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said coolly.

  “I know so.” He planted one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair, leaning over her. “That’s exactly what Ruth was thinking at Wal-Mart this morning, and exactly the way we’ll act when we’re out in public. It’s the only way I can think of to keep you safe and keep you involved. The other option is for you to hide out somewhere.”

  She stood so fast he had to straighten or have his head cracked. “Very well. But if you take advantage of the situation, the next time I have to hit you, I’ll break your jaw. That’s a promise.”

  “I never doubted you for a minute,” he said, and grinned.

  20

  Knox had taken the time to acquire a new cell phone and charger for Nikita on his account, and paid extra for a battery that already had a full charge. Figuring he’d keep it when she left—after all, it wasn’t organic, so it wouldn’t make it back to her time—he splurged and got one that would take pictures, just because he liked gadgets. That meant he needed to upgrade his computer so he could download the pictures and print them, but what the hell, it needed upgrading anyway.

  After he picked her up at the library, he took her to a drive-through hamburger joint, figuring that would be the most anonymous, and while they sat parked in the shade of a large oak, munching on greasy burgers and hot salty fries, he showed her all the features of the phone and how to use them. He was in the middle of an enthusiastic explanation about the digital-photo feature when he glanced up and saw the expression of profound patience on her face.

  He stopped in mid-sentence. “I’m guessing you’re either totally bored with all this, or you can operate gadgets like this with your eyes closed. Which is it?” he asked, beginning to smile.

  “The latter,” she said in a kind tone.

  “Well, if you don’t mind, let me finish telling you all about it, because some of this stuff is so cool I have to show someone.”

  What could she do but smile? “I’ll listen.”

  When he was finished playing with her phone—setting the ring tones to a tune she liked, “Toréador,” then setting it on Vibrate instead of Ring, which made the whole exercise useless; placing his cell number in her phone book, then putting her number in his—she had finished eating and his food had grown cold while he played.

  While he was occupied with his food and his mouth was full, Nikita broached a subject she knew he wouldn’t like. “I’ve been thinking; there’s no need for me to be so dependent on you. It constrains both of us. You can rent a car for me, put it in your name, and who’ll be the wiser? I’ll repay you with my supply of cash.”

  Not to her surprise, he frowned, and swallowed a little too hastily. “I guess I like knowing where you are,” he admitted. “After the screwup I made yesterday, I’m afraid you’ll leave before I can make it right.”

  Nikita sighed and stared out through the windshield. She didn’t want to talk about the devastating question he’d asked, because the reason it had been so devastating was none of his business. She glanced at him, saw the seriousness in his blue eyes, and felt her insides clench. Another reason that his comment had hurt was that she liked him too much. Given the time and opportunity, neither of which she had, she thought she would likely even grow to love him. He had that inner warmth she had always so admired in people, a bedrock sense of himself, and a relaxed sexuality that drew her like a beacon.

  If she was successful at her mission, however, she would be leaving at the end of it, going to a place where he couldn’t follow. If she wasn’t successful, she would either be dead or “wink out,” as he’d phrased it. She would be at home with her family and none of this would ever have happened, because there would be no time travel to bring her to this place and time.

  She wished she were the type of person who could throw herself into an affair simply because she was attracted to a man, but she wasn’t. She always had to be cautious. Until her legal status was decided, no one in his right mind would consider marrying her, and she refused to keep something like that secret from someone she loved. In a perverse little twist, if some man still wanted to marry her after she’d told him the truth, she knew she wouldn’t be able to trust his judgment ever again, and did she want to legally ally herself to such a burden? Unfair, perhaps, but true.

  “Say something.” Setting his soft drink in the cup holder, he reached across the seat and lightly cupped her chin in his right hand. His fingers were cool and damp from holding the cup, but she could feel the heat just below the surface of his skin. His touch was light, a caress instead of actually holding her, but the sensation went all the way to her bones.

  “You shouldn’t touch me,” she whispered. “It’s a distraction we can’t afford.” She turned her head and looked at him, their gazes meeting there in the shady car, and her insides jolted again, this time stronger. The man looking back at her, blue eyes narrow and intent, wasn’t relaxed. There were other words to describe him, such as low-key, but he wasn’t relaxed. He was focused and determined—focused on her, and determined to get what he wanted. She remembered the hard-eyed stranger standing over her in Taylor Allen’s backyard, and abruptly knew that was the real core of the man.

  He could be patient, he could be understanding, but underneath all the little quirks and dents of his character was pure steel. He’d been holding back; he’d been courting her.

  A primitive excitement whispered along her spine, bringing a particularly apt idiom to mind. “You’re playing me.” He was playing her like a fish on a hook, being given the freedom to run with the line patiently being fed off the reel, but slowly, so slowly, as the fish tired, it was being reeled in. So good was he at the technique that even though she suddenly realized what he was doing, she had no inclination to spit out the bait and run free. Was he good enough to bring her in? The challenge of it kept her here, because she wanted to know the ans