A Royal Baby on the Way. Susan Mallery

and the rest of the Cassandras had a new promise to keep—solving the enigma of Rainy’s death and ensuring that all involved paid dearly.

      For that single reason she would do whatever it took. Like risk getting close to a man who reached her on a level beyond the professional.

      She realized Hadden was waiting for her to answer his question. Should they talk? Kayla glanced at her watch. “I don’t know, Hadden.” She shrugged indifferently. “It’s my day off and I actually have plans.” It was a lie but he didn’t know that. Well, there was one little thing she had to do—smooth things over with her partner. As she’d suspected, Jim had called during the middle of the wrap-up with the county investigator. He wasn’t happy. “I should probably get a move on.”

      Hadden angled his head skeptically, clearly struggling to keep another grin off those nice lips. God. She resisted the urge to shake her head. Why did she have to notice his every damned asset?

      “You expect me to believe that you just happened to be driving by this morning?” He gestured to the rows of storage units. “And discovered a deal going down involving a group of felons you, among others, have been tracking for months?” He was the one shaking his head now. “Give me a break here, Lieutenant Ryan.”

      “I got a tip, all right?” It was true. She’d received an anonymous call just after she’d dropped Jazz off at school and headed for the gym—her plans for the morning. For a single mom with a career in law enforcement, free time was at a premium. Most of what little she had was either spent as quality time with her eleven-year-old daughter or in physical training.

      Just another thing she’d already lived to regret—never taking the time she should for friends and family. Rainy was dead. And Kayla barely remembered the last time they’d gotten together before that tragedy.

      “So, are we having coffee or what?” Hadden pressed.

      Kayla looked straight at him, assessed what she saw in those intense blue eyes. He needed to share something with her. Anticipation and an underlying urgency radiated from his every feature.

      “Sure, why not.” She shrugged again, as if whatever he had to say didn’t matter. “As long as you’re buying.”

      Kayla climbed into her Jeep without looking back. When she heard Hadden pull out onto the road she backed up her vehicle, pulled forward and followed him. Attempting to guess what was on his mind would be a supreme waste of time so she didn’t bother.

      He drove to a coffee shop on Olympus Road, the main drag in Athens, and parked in the lot. Kayla’s little community wasn’t that large, a few shops, a bank, a post office, and a supermarket. The only reason the tiny spot in the road had actually developed into a town was because the Athena Academy, the all-girls school Kayla had attended from seventh through twelfth grades, was nearby. Luke Air Force base was also close by, but there wasn’t much else around. Most folks around Athens went to Phoenix for major shopping and medical care.

      Still, the town had amassed a population of about five thousand, and the powers that be had managed to wrangle a satellite station for the town from the Sheriff’s Department. The small law enforcement office was manned by two sheriff’s deputies at all times. With its continued growth Athens would no doubt be incorporating and forming its own city government in the next couple of years. So far members of the community had been in no hurry to take the formal steps. But that would soon change.

      Nothing stayed the same.

      Hadn’t she learned that the hard way?

      Hadden emerged from his car and strode toward Kayla’s Jeep. She took her time getting out, turning her attention once more to consideration of his motivation for keeping her under surveillance. Professionally speaking, the only thing they had in common was the murder of Lorraine Carrington. Kayla flinched at the memory of that Saturday night back in late August. More unpleasant thoughts tumbled in on the heels of that memory.

      Somehow Athena Academy was involved in Rainy’s death. Kayla didn’t want to believe it. She’d reasoned that the involvement only went as deep as certain personnel, but she couldn’t be sure.

      That suspicion was just one of the secrets she couldn’t share with Peter Hadden. Was the primary reason she’d backed off from her original plan to work fairly closely with him. This was Cassandra business, to be shared on a need-to-know basis only.

      His gaze locked with hers at precisely that moment, as if he’d read her mind and somehow summoned her full attention.

      Keep this on the surface, in neutral territory, Kayla. You don’t know all the facts and Athena Academy certainly doesn’t need the bad publicity.

      Shannon Conner, a TV news reporter and the only person ever to be expelled from Athena, had already done enough damage in that department. In the early months after Rainy’s death, the vengeful woman had done all within her power to make the school look bad. She’d showed up at Rainy’s funeral and implied that Athena Academy used its students for scientific experiments. More recently she’d tried to compromise Kayla’s fellow Cassandra Josie Lockworth, a captain in the Air Force. She’d reported on Josie’s fast rise in the force; but had tried to win her career by implying Josie was involved with a fellow officer. It hadn’t worked.

      Victoria Patton, better known as Tory, another of the Cassandras and a top TV news reporter, had worked overtime to put the right spin on Conner’s negative reporting. But there were others out there who would like nothing better than to bring down the unusual preparatory school. Just another factor to consider in all this. Perhaps someone wanted Kayla to believe that the school was responsible for what had happened to Rainy. But the evidence continued to mount…there was no denying that.

      When she and Hadden had settled at a small table in the farthest corner of the shop, away from the few other customers, he didn’t waste any time.

      “There’s a new development in the Carrington case.”

      Anticipation raced through Kayla. She’d been right. “What kind of development?”

      Before he could respond the waitress arrived and took their order. Two black coffees. Kayla considered having a pastry but this wasn’t a social meeting. Even though there were times when she would kill for a chocolate-filled croissant, this wasn’t the time. She needed to focus.

      “What kind of development?” The question was out of her mouth the instant the waitress moved away.

      “As you well know, we’ve exhausted all avenues in an attempt to determine exactly what happened to Lorraine Carrington.”

      The one thing she did know well was that she and the other Cassandras were the real ones who made up the we he spoke of. As far as Hadden and his department were concerned, there was no overwhelming evidence to prove Rainy’s death was anything more than an accident. Another reason Kayla couldn’t help being suspicious of Hadden’s continued interest in the case. A seat belt malfunction and a driver dozing off and running off the road was hardly the stuff murder investigations hinged on.

      But Kayla knew the real facts. Rainy hadn’t simply fallen asleep at the wheel. Her sudden collapse into slumber had been brought on by the Cipher and a gadget he’d used on Alex—Alexandra Forsythe, another of Kayla’s Cassandra sisters—as well as on Kayla herself. On separate occasions in totally different locations, both she and Alex had fainted for no apparent reason during the weeks after Rainy’s death. Like Rainy, Alex’s incident had occurred while she was driving. It was a miracle she hadn’t been badly injured…or worse.

      The Cipher had paid for his part in Rainy’s death. CIA agent Sam had tracked him down and had been forced to kill him in a standoff. But they were still no closer to finding whoever had sent the assassin than they had been weeks ago.

      “In pursuing this investigation,” Hadden went on, “we’ve uncovered a number of details that don’t add up where Marshall Carrington is concerned.”

      Kayla’s hackles rose instantly. “Look, Hadden, I know it’s SOP to suspect the spouse first and foremost when someone dies,