Stonebrook Cottage by Carla Neggers Page A

he was paying for it.
    "Let me tell you what I think." He fingered a bright yellow sunflower, then looked back at the older woman. "I think Kara showed up at your house late last night and said I might stop by and ask questions. She wanted you to stonewall me, told you it wasn't anything that'd get you in trouble. You trusted her because she's an attorney, because she's Jack's sister and because she was desperate."
    "Sam—"
    He held up a hand, stopping her. "Ma'am, I'm not accusing you or anyone else of committing a crime. I'm just trying to find out a few things before I put my head any deeper into the lion's mouth."
    Eva Dunning stood up from her bucket of sunflowers, the hot sun washing out her eyes. "How deep has Kara put in her head?"
    "She's up to her ass, Mrs. Dunning."
    Eva nodded, a little pale. "I thought so."
    "Did she have anyone with her?"
    "She wouldn't say. She never came into the house— she asked to borrow my car."
    "Did she say why?"
    "Hers had something wrong with it, I don't know what."
    It had nothing wrong with it. She didn't want the police spotting it if Sam put out an APB on her.
    "I gave her my keys, and she said she wanted to get a little sleep before she headed out. I urged her to come in and use one of the bedrooms upstairs. We have loads of room. She refused."
    "She slept in your car?"
    "Yes. She left about four o'clock this morning. I was going to go out and check on her—Sam, I've known Kara since she was a kid. She's always been very purposeful, devoted to her sense of right and wrong. She can be irritatingly uncompromising." Eva took a breath, droplets of sweat forming on her upper lip. "But if she's in trouble, I will be there for her. I think you should know that."
    He took her statement for what it was—a threat. He'd have the whole damn Dunning and Galway clan down his throat if they decided he'd screwed up Kara's life, which was why he'd warned himself off her in the first place. He'd wanted her for months, but she was forbidden territory—Jack Galway's little sister.
    Sam could taste her even now, feel her body under his and hear her soft moans as she reached her climax, pulling him deeper into her, any discomfort she'd felt early in their lovemaking gone.
    He'd definitely gone too fast with her. Way too damn fast. She hadn't been in her right mind that night. He should have seen it more clearly.
    But he hadn't been in his right mind, either.
    "Thanks for your time, ma'am," he told Eva Dunning. "I'm sure this will all turn out fine."
    He got the suitcase Susanna had packed for him out of the back of her car and tossed it in his front seat, every fiber of him screaming for rest, sleep, at least a quiet place in the shade to think. What was it about Susanna's story that didn't add up? What was it that was still eating at him?
    If he just dawdled, he could run into Jack, take his thrashing, then they could work this problem together. But instead he climbed into his car, and when he reached the end of the street, he turned and drove in the opposite direction Jack would take to get to the gallery.
    Halfway out to the airport, his brain clicked into gear with such an abrupt force he nearly ran off the damn road. He pulled over, dialing Susanna's cell phone number while he pushed down his annoyance with her and her labyrinthine ways.
    She answered on the third ring. Probably knew it was him and had debated answering at all.
    "You were on your way to Austin when the airport called you," he said. "Why did you have my suitcase already packed? Why were you coming here if you didn't already know about the plane?"
    "Sam, Jack's in the driveway—"
    "Then answer me quick or I'm turning around and heading back there."
    "All right, all right. I lied. I called the airport myself."
    "When?"
    "On the road to Austin, after I packed your suitcase. I was double-checking. I already knew she had the key to the plane."
    "Did you give it to her?"
    "No. She'd never put me in that position. I guessed after she