Hot Stuff

and tried to stay calm. Her heart was still banging in her chest. I’m not cut out for this, she thought. I never wanted to be James Bond. I always wanted to be Mr. Rogers. The phone was no longer ringing, but the alarm continued to wail. It was pitch-black in the closet. Too dark for Cate to read the dial on her watch. And then the alarm stopped and the silence was crushing.

Cate took shallow breaths and listened. She could hear someone try the front door. Her heart was stuck in her throat. She was going to throw up and faint, she thought. And when she regained consciousness she was never going to talk to Kellen again. What the heck was he thinking? Normal people just didn’t do this stuff. This was burglar stuff. This was crazy.

The door rattling stopped and Cate stayed statue still. She felt her pulse normalize a little, and she slumped against the closet wall and waited. And then without warning the alarm came back on. She heard footsteps on the stairs, the closet door was yanked open, and Kellen reached in for her.

“We’re leaving,” Kellen said. “We’re going to use the kitchen door. It’ll let us out into the alley behind the house.”

“It’s totally black in here. How can you see?”

“Penlight,” Kellen said, flicking his hand.

Cate looked down and saw the point of light on the floor. She was so scared she hadn’t picked it up on her own.

Kellen tugged her down the center hall, quickly moving her through the house. They were in the kitchen, out the kitchen door, crossing a small enclosed patio, out the patio door, and standing in a one-lane, very dark alley that ran behind all the houses. They were two houses from Gloucester Street. Cate could see the streetlight at the end of the alley. Kellen still had her hand, pulling her along. He broke into a run. They were in sneakers, and they made almost no noise as they ran for Gloucester. They crossed the street at Gloucester and headed for Prudential Center and, beyond that, the South End.

They’d just reached Boylston when Cate saw the police cruiser. It was moving toward them fast, lights flashing, no siren. Kellen stepped into the shadow of a doorway and pulled Cate hard against him. He kissed her, and the cruiser slowed but didn’t stop as it rolled past. Not the world’s most romantic kiss, both of them with eyes wide open, watching the cruiser.

“I’d like to stay and do a better job of kissing you,” Kellen said, “but we need to keep moving.”

“What happened back there?”

Kellen silently cursed himself for not being more careful and endangering Cate. “The alarm reset itself, and I tripped the motion sensors. It would have been nice to have a little more time, but I found out what I needed to know.”

They were walking down Boylston, holding hands and talking, looking like a couple on their way home from a late date. They turned at Dartmouth and walked toward Columbus and Tremont, and Cate finally began to relax.

“Marty has been using the house,” Kellen said, “but I think it’s a stopover, as opposed to a second home. I didn’t see any expensive artwork, and the furniture doesn’t reflect Marty’s taste. He has some clothes there, but not a lot. Bare essentials in the bathroom. No condoms that I could see, so I’m guessing he doesn’t use the house for fun. It didn’t seem like he shared it with anyone. Nothing in the refrigerator. There was a wall safe upstairs, but it was open and empty. He had a suitcase on the bed. It was partially unpacked. I think Marty was snatched, and so far hasn’t been returned.”

“Snatched by Kitty Bergman?”

“That’s my best guess. And I bet when I check the tax records I find Bergman owns that townhouse.”

“I don’t get it. I don’t understand any of this. What on earth is Kitty Bergman’s involvement? She’s rich, and she’s a social powerhouse. I knew she and Marty were friends, but I thought they just shopped for dresses together.”

“Maybe charity is boring.”

“Do you think we should try to rescue Marty?”

“I’m not in rescue. I’m in retrieval. Marty’s on his own… at least for tonight.”

Chapter TWELVE

Kellen was hands on hips in an oversized gray T-shirt and navy boxers. The boxers looked new and had little green-and-yellow palm trees on them. “What the heck are you wearing?” he asked Cate. “You look like you’re ready for Alaska.”

They were standing beside Cate’s bed, and Cate was wearing socks and sweatpants and a hooded sweatshirt. The twenty-first-century equivalent to a chastity belt.

“This is what I wear to bed,” Cate said. In January. And when I’m sleeping with a man I’m not ready to sleep with.

Kellen grinned. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kellen slipped under the covers. “It means you can avoid a relationship with me for a while but eventually I’m going to win.”

Kellen didn’t want to alarm Cate, but after an evening of breaking and entering, dinner with her family, and a morning picnic where he watched her feed her giant dog breakfast sandwiches, Kellen was having thoughts of happily ever after. Yes, sir, Kellen thought, he wasn’t just going for the sheet time. He wanted the whole enchilada. Kellen was thinking marriage. How weird was that?

The air-conditioning was on, but Cate was starting to sweat. And it wasn’t sweat from passion. Cate was sweating from fleece.

“Tell me again why you have to sleep in my bed.”

“I tried sleeping on the leather couch but it was too slippery. I kept sliding off. And we agreed that I shouldn’t sleep in Marty’s room again because if he figured it out he wouldn’t think we were a couple. And the truth is, that’s all a lot of bullshit. I’m in your bed because I want to be in your bed.”

“Whatever,” Cate said, “but you’re on my side. Could you at least move over?”

“I can’t move over. Your dog is sleeping there.”

Beast was stretched out with his head on the pillow, sound asleep. Cate tried to roll him to the edge, and he opened an eye and growled.

“He didn’t mean that in a threatening way,” Cate said.

“Uh-huh.”

“Beast,” Cate said in his ear. “Wake up. You have to move over.”

Beast half opened his eyes.

“Poor baby is sleepy,” Cate said.

“I’m sleepy too,” Kellen said. “I wish you would get into bed.”

“Okay, fine, perfect!” Cate said. And she climbed over Kellen and wedged herself in between him and Beast.

“Comfy?” Kellen asked.

“Yes. And you?”

“Yep.” And he turned the light off.

Truth was, Cate wasn’t comfy. Cate was roasting. Sweat was rolling down the side of her face. She tried to move to find some cool sheet but there was no open space.

“Now what?” Kellen said.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re thrashing around like a fish out of water.”

“I’m trapped in here. I can’t breathe.”

Kellen turned the light on and looked at her. “You can’t breathe because you’re in this stupid sweat suit. What have you got under it?”

“Tank top and underwear.” Actually the underwear was a pink lace thong, but she thought it best not to share