LITMIR.BIZ

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no other reason why he would have deliberately woken Osborn and his wife up, tied them up and then dragged them downstairs to bear witness to the robbery. It was most likely someone Osborn belittled or stiffed in some deal—or both. I’d bet my pension on it,” she concluded.

      “Which probably amounts to fifty dollars a month at this point in your career,” Kane said dismissively. “As to it being someone Osborn had wronged somehow, it looks like that club includes everyone over the age of three. That’s a hell of a lot of people to question,” Kane concluded.

      “There has to be a way to narrow down the list,” she told him.

      Kane frowned as he reached his vehicle. Offhand he couldn’t think of a way to accomplish that. He glanced in her direction as he sat behind the steering wheel. “I’m open to suggestions if you have them.”

      Getting into the passenger side, Kelly shook her head. “Right now all I can think of is that I’d like to strangle the condescending, smug, giant creep myself.”

      For a second, Kane allowed himself to be amused. She was almost cute when she got angry. Now there was a word that shouldn’t ever be paired with the word partner. He knew without being told that if he said as much to her—that she was cute when she got angry—there would be hell to pay. Something to think about, he mused, “Tell me, does that go above or below the part that says protect and serve?” he asked.

      She took no offense at his so-called question.

      “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.” She turned her attention to another detail in the investigation. “Those marks on Mrs. Osborn’s wrists looked pretty deep,” she commented. “You think that whoever is responsible for this has a grudge against her, too?”

      He shrugged. “It’s possible,” Kane allowed. “Or maybe, for our suspect, it’s a matter of guilt by association. She’s married to the miserable reptile, so in the burglar’s mind she’s every bit as bad as her husband is.”

      She nodded. “Could be that, too,” she agreed.

      “Let’s see what their so-called friends at the club have to say about the Osborns,” he suggested, then Kane looked at her. They were currently missing one little detail. “Did Osborn happen to mention what club he belongs to?”

      She shook her head. “There are four clubs in Aurora that a man like Osborn might want to belong to. My vote is with the one that’s the most exclusive—and the most snobbish.”

      Kane knew the exact place. “Valhalla,” he said. “That’s the one that checks into your lineage before allowing you to join. Members had to have relatives that go all the way back to the Mayflower.” He saw the frown on Kelly’s face. Out of left field, the thought came that even when she was frowning, this pain in his posterior was damn attractive. He promptly buried it, forcing himself to focus on the case. He caught himself wondering if she knew something he didn’t.

      “What?”

      She waved a hand at his question. Her reaction had nothing directly to do with the case. “I just hate snobs.”

      “If your hunch is right, then apparently the snobs have the same kind of feelings about Randolph Osborn and his wife.”

      Satisfied that they might be onto something, Kane put the key into the ignition. The engine had trouble catching the first two times. The third try was the charm. The sedan dutifully purred into service.

      Kelly nodded toward the front of the car. “You should have that looked at,” she suggested.

      Kane shrugged dismissively. “It’s just being temperamental.”

      That he was assigning feelings to the vehicle took her completely by surprise. “It’s a car,” Kelly pointed out. “It doesn’t have any emotions to govern its actions.”

      “My car might disagree,” he told her, completely tongue in cheek.

      Kelly found herself laughing. “If you had a car that was actually capable of disagreeing, you’d be at least ten times more wealthy right now—if not more—and definitely living the life of ease.”

      Money, and its lack or presence, didn’t play a role here. Not for him.

      “If I were wealthy,” he told her, “I’d still be doing exactly what I’m doing right now. Protecting and serving. And chasing bad guys.”

      The admission caught her completely off guard. She hadn’t pictured him as being that dedicated. “You’re kidding.”

      “I don’t kid,” Kane deadpanned.

      The way he said it, Kelly caught herself thinking that she could really believe it. But it was what he said next that really threw her for a loop.

      “Cavanaugh.”

      She turned her head to look at him, waiting for what she assumed was most likely going to be a put-down.

      “Nice work back there.”

      Stunned, for a moment she had absolutely no comeback for that.

Chapter 4

      Was that a compliment?

      Seriously?

      Kelly looked at her solemn partner in barely contained astonishment.

      “Excuse me?”

      “You heard me the first time,” he told her flatly.

      “Actually, I did,” Kelly admitted, then smiled broadly at him when his glance toward her turned accusatory. “But it has such a nice ring to it. Humor me and say what you said again.”

      Kane blew out a breath as he shook his head. Served him right for going soft for a second. So far, none of what transpired was convincing him that partnering was a good way to go for a man such as him. He returned to his original belief: There was no upside to having a partner. Definitely no upside to having a crazy partner.

      “You’re a real pain in the butt, Cavanaugh. You know that?” Kane accused her.

      Kelly pretended to seriously mull over his words. “No, I don’t think that’s what you said. It was something about my having done good work.”

      Scowling at her, Kane continued to face forward, his eyes on the road. “Keep this up and you’ll negate any good effects you managed to accomplish.”

      Kelly merely laughed as she shook her head. “You are a very tough crowd to please, Durant.”

      He was beginning to think this woman he’d been stuck with would drive him crazy inside of a week. He didn’t do his best work agitated. One way or another, there would be a breakup in their future—and very soon.

      “I don’t know what the hell that means,” he growled. “But I’m not going to ask.”

      “It means—”

      Still driving, Kane took his right hand off the steering wheel and held it up much the way an old-fashioned traffic cop directing the flow of vehicles would have.

      “I said I’m not going to ask. That implies that I don’t want to hear you dissecting your own words. In case you’re unclear on the concept, that means—”

      “Okay, moving right along,” she quipped, interrupting his explanation and calling a halt to that line of conversation. With a sigh, Kelly looked out the window at the road before them. For the first time she took note of the route he was taking. It was a different one than they had taken to the high-end residential community. “Are we going directly to the club?”

      This time Kane didn’t even bother glancing in her direction. “What does it look like?”

      She had a great deal of patience, but it was in finite supply. This man had to be put on some kind of notice, she thought. Otherwise, this testy behavior

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