Desperate Intentions. Carla Cassidy

as if to protest Troy’s presence in their domain. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to think about the crime that had brought him here. But it concerned him that one of the six was apparently acting alone, and that hadn’t been the plan.

      He sat on the fallen log to wait for Nick and tried to keep his mind empty, but it was impossible. Surprisingly it wasn’t thoughts of murder, but rather thoughts of his neighbor Eliza Burke that intruded in his head.

      It had been a long time since Troy had really noticed any woman. After his wife had walked out on him three years before, he’d had no interest in any kind of a relationship.

      However, Eliza Burke had stirred him on a level he’d thought was long dead. She’d sparked something inside him he hadn’t felt for a very long time. Not that anything would come of it. He wouldn’t allow anything to come of it even if she was interested in him.

      He just wanted to know who in her house might have seen him last night. He’d join her for dinner and see if he got the answer. Once that question was answered, he would be done with her.

      Before he had time to really process anything more, Nick appeared. The tall, dark-haired man wore a deep frown. “What’s up?” He leaned against a nearby tree as if not wanting to get too close to Troy.

      “I was supposed to kill Winthrop last night, but somebody got to him before me.”

      Nick grimaced. “Just like what happened to me.”

      “Somebody has gone rogue and it’s got me worried.”

      “Look, I don’t want anything to do with this,” Nick protested. “I’ve moved on. I’m in love with a wonderful woman and we’re planning a wedding.”

      “I know you don’t want to be involved in this, but you are,” Troy replied evenly. “Doesn’t it bother you that one of us is acting alone? Do you have any idea who it might be?”

      Nick frowned again. “Adam is the one who planned all this. Maybe he just decided to take things into his own hands.”

      Adam Kincaid was one of the six men who had taken the lead and was in charge of the logistics of the plan. His wife had been murdered at a drive-through ATM where she had just withdrawn two hundred dollars. A drug-addicted man had yanked her out of the car and had stabbed her to death to get the cash. The case had ended in a hung jury and the prosecutor had decided not to retry the case.

      “If that’s true, then you know what that makes all of the rest of us? Liabilities,” Troy said.

      Nick raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think he’d come after one of us?”

      Troy released a deep sigh. “I don’t know what to think. I just wanted you to know that somebody isn’t playing by the rules we all set up, although I have to admit I was kind of relieved to wake up yesterday morning and realize I didn’t have to kill a man.”

      “Yeah, I felt the same way when my target was already dead when I went to his house to kill him.” Nick’s frown appeared once again and his eyes darkened. “I’ve got to tell you, man, that was a bad scene. Whoever killed Brian McDowell enjoyed it. His throat was slit, and that takes a special kind of killer. There was also a carving in his forehead. It looked like a V.”

      Tension once again tugged at Troy’s shoulders. “V for vengeance? For vigilante?”

      “Could be either, or maybe it was just a coincidence that it looked like a V. But who does that? Who carves up a man’s forehead after slitting his throat?”

      “Hell if I know. So, what do we do about it?”

      “Nothing. I told all of you before that I’m out of it. I feel like I made a pact with the devil when I got involved in this crazy scheme,” Nick replied.

      Troy studied him for a long moment. “How did you feel this morning when you woke up and read that the man who raped and killed your wife was dead?”

      “Nothing,” Nick replied. “I felt nothing. My wife was still dead and Winthrop’s murder didn’t change that. I’m building a new life for myself and that’s all that matters to me now.” He straightened from the tree trunk. “I hope nothing more comes of this, Troy, but in any case, please lose my number forever.”

      Nick turned and left the small clearing. Troy remained on the log, trying to figure out what in the hell he had hoped to accomplish by meeting with Nick. Maybe he’d just needed somebody else to know.

      Troy didn’t want to think about the pact anymore. He knew somebody was going to kill Dwight Weatherby. Troy definitely wanted that man dead, and he wasn’t about to do a damned thing to stop that from happening.

      And that made him a bad man.

       Chapter Two

      Nervous energy filled Eliza as she set the table for the evening meal with an extra plate. Would he show up for dinner? On the off chance he would she’d changed into a nicer pair of black skinny jeans and a lavender blouse that she knew complemented her gray eyes. She’d also let her hair down and it now fell around her shoulders in soft waves.

      She was a fool to be going to so much trouble, she’d thought as she’d applied a little more mascara and then a dash of pink lip gloss.

      It wasn’t like she was looking for romance. When Blake had left her she’d pretty much put that part of herself away forever. Besides, she was hardly an attractive package for any man to take on, considering the fact that she had two young children and one of them was blind.

      Tonight wasn’t about romance. It was about learning a little bit about the man who was her neighbor. She didn’t know about him, but she intended to be in this house for a very long time. Building good neighbor relationships couldn’t be a bad thing.

      “Mom, come and look what Sammy found,” Katie called from the living room.

      Eliza pulled garlic bread out of the oven and then went to check on the children. “What did you find, Sammy?” she asked.

      He ran his fingers along the white wainscoting and a panel popped open, revealing a space big enough for the two of them to stand in. “It’s a secret hiding spot,” he said.

      “Would you look at that,” Eliza said in amazement, although this wasn’t the first surprise the house had given up. Two weeks after moving in, Sammy had found a hidden stairway that went from Katie’s room down to the kitchen pantry.

      “That is a great hiding place,” she said. She stepped inside to make sure there was nothing dangerous in the space. “It could be your very own secret hideaway. But right now I want you two to wash your hands and faces for dinner. It’s possible we might have a visitor.”

      “A visitor?” Katie’s face lit up. “Who is it? Ms. Lucy?”

      “Not Ms. Lucy. Our neighbor might come to eat with us. Now go get cleaned up. Dinner is going to be on the table in about three minutes.” As the two headed for the bathroom, Eliza returned to the kitchen.

      The clock on the oven read seven minutes until five. It was very possible he wouldn’t show up at all and that was okay with her. The whole thing had been rather strange to begin with.

      The food was on the table and the children had just been seated when the doorbell rang. “Wait here, I’ll be right back,” she said, and tried to ignore the bolt of anticipation that leaped into the pit of her stomach.

      He stood on the front porch with his sexy smile and the sun gleaming on his slightly shaggy dark hair. His jeans hugged his slender hips and emphasized his broad chest beneath a light blue cotton shirt. “I hope I’m not too late. I got held up at work.” He thrust a bottle of red wine toward her.

      “Actually, you’re just in time,” she replied, and took the wine from him. “You didn’t have