Adam turned up their street. “I’m not sure. There’s a missing link somewhere. Miranda goes to work at Saffron Blue because she needs money. Then she quits just when she’s making the really big tips in the back room and continues to walk dogs. A year and a half later, she skips.”

“I can’t explain it entirely, but the list of her customers is in my BlackBerry.”

“The list she gave you, right? Miranda is one smart cookie. If she stole something, she probably deleted that particular client. What we need is her cell phone records. She must have called those people to make arrangements to care for their pet.”

“Shouldn’t we tell Detective Romberg what we know? He’ll have more manpower to chase down leads.”

He slowly nodded. “As much as I hate to rely on The Dud, we need help.”

They pulled into the driveway of Calvin’s home. They’d left the house and yard lights on. In the shadows, Whitney could make out the charred skeleton of the cottage.

When they stepped inside the back door, Adam punched in the alarm code. He checked the panel on the security system to make certain no one had entered, then reset the alarm.

“Should we take a closer look at the photos of Miranda at the beach?” Whitney asked as they got out of the car.

“Let’s go for a swim first. It’s a perfect night for it.”

“Unless there’s a swimsuit in those bags of clothes, I don’t have anything to wear.”

“I won’t mind if you don’t wear a stitch,” Adam teased. “Or you could strip down to your undies. Won’t that work?”

“I guess,” she replied, attempting to keep the excitement out of her voice.

Adam unlocked the door. “Meet you in the pool. I’m going to call Romberg first.”

Whitney knew better than to tempt fate by getting out of her clothes to take a swim in her underwear. But she decided to do it anyway. All the dogs were huddled inside the door to the maid’s room. She nudged them aside, except for Jasper. As if launched from a cannon, the little dog bolted out of the room. No doubt he was streaking upstairs to find Adam.

Still puzzled by who’d left her the clothes, Whitney dumped the contents on the bed. Some items still had their price tags. She found shorts, capris, assorted tops and a few dresses. No swimsuit.

She changed into the black bra and thong she’d purchased at Wal-Mart. It wasn’t any more revealing than a bikini-if she were in Rio. Covering up with a bathrobe she found among the clothes in the bag, Whitney grabbed a towel and left the room. Da Vinci, Maddie and Lexi followed her outside.

Adam hadn’t come down to the pool yet so she took the opportunity to quickly get out of the robe and submerge herself. She released a pleasure-filled sigh as the warm water welcomed her. She looked down and decided the wavering water obscured the view of the demibra. If she kept her back away from Adam, the thong would just appear to be skimpy panties.

“That was fast,” Adam called as he walked outside in swim trunks. “You found a bathing suit?”

“No. I couldn’t get that lucky. I’m in my underwear.”

“Want me to turn off the pool light?”

“Good idea.” The light at the bottom of the pool went on automatically each evening, but it wasn’t necessary for swimming.

He switched off the pool and yard lights, saying, “I spoke with Romberg. He contacted everyone on the client list. No one reported anything missing. He did the usual background check. Never can tell what you’ll turn up that will lead to an arrest. Nothing much surfaced. A DUI. A guy behind on child support. A few unpaid parking tickets.”

“Did Detective Romberg like our theory about drug money?”

Adam walked down the steps at the shallow end of the pool. Jasper parked himself next to the other dogs at the edge of the water. “Yeah. He’ll look into it. The guy’s under a lot aof pressure to solve this. Pipe bombs are rare. Just say the word bomb and everyone thinks terrorists.”

“Miranda couldn’t have come across a terrorist plot, could she?”

Adam moved through the water and stopped a foot from her. “What do you say to letting the police handle it tonight? Tomorrow we can check and see what they found.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

The small waves his body generated lapped seductively against her skin. Above them a crescent moon gilded the water with beads of sparkling light. The moonlight played across the hard contours of his bare chest. There was something mesmerizing about his looks. His eyes were intense, but not that much different than other blue-eyed hunks. His lower lip was full, yet determined. She’d seen other lips that had been almost as intriguing. His angular face emphasized a strong jaw that sported a slight cleft in his chin. She’d studied other men’s facial structure and found them equally as masculine. What set Adam Hunter apart, she realized, was her reaction to him.

Yes, other women found him attractive. She’d noticed them sneaking second looks, but she was captivated by him in a way she hadn’t been drawn to another man. Not even Ryan. True, she had been taken with her ex-husband, but this was completely different, and it frightened her. Those feelings were too complex to analyze with him standing so close. She sucked in a breath that seemed to vibrate through her entire body.

Adam’s eyes scanned her alluring figure. The caressing moonlight played across her soft skin and accentuated the sheer black bra lifting her full breasts. Her slim body nipped in at the waist where a thin band of black held up a small triangle of black satin. He’d seen bikinis that revealed more. None of the women wearing them had been this hot.

This sexy.

He extended his arms. “Come here.”

She edged closer and her eyes glinted in the moonlight. The irises were wide and banded by a slim hoop of silver. He studied her mouth with its irresistibly full lower lip. He could feel her mouth against his, had been imagining it all day. Reliving those potent kisses.

Primitive desire coursed through him, hot and powerful. In a heartbeat he was dealing with a world-class hard-on. He reached out to pull her into his arms. She halted, a mischievous smile playing across her lips. She pivoted, jackknifed and dove away. With a few swift strokes and flutter kicks, she was across the pool.

Out of reach.

He was about to go after her when Whitney flipped over and backstroked toward him. The sexy bra lifted her breasts upward and emphasized the flatness of her tummy. The swatch of black silk between her thighs shimmered in the dim light.

Yeah, oh, yeah.

He was in real trouble here. ’S okay. He’d been through hell and survived. He intended to live each day, each moment to the fullest. Right now every fiber of his being screamed for this woman.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

WHITNEY STOPPED NEAR Adam and tossed her wet hair away from her face, flinging a shower of tiny water droplets into the warm night air. With her hair slicked back, the rise of her cheekbones was more prominent. Her expressive eyes seemed larger and exceptionally blue. He reached out and touched the soft curve of her shoulder.

The magnetic pull of desire surged through him, dismaying Adam. The throb in his swim trunks kicked up, his pulse accelerating. Hopefully, the darkness and the water concealed his erection. He forced himself to gaze up at the whirlpool of stars overhead.

Don’t rush this, Adam.

“Come here,” he repeated, a slight rasp to his voice.

Her matchless eyes surveyed him with mock suspicion. “Why? You aren’t thinking about kissing me, are you?”

“It might have crossed my mind.” He looked over his shoulder. “But the dogs are watching.”

The dogs were standing at the edge of the pool and gazing at them expectantly, as if they would be receiving a doggie treat any second.