Dangerous Melody by Dana Mentink

careful,” Luca said to Stephanie.
    I won’t let anything happen to her, he wanted to say. It would have been false assurance. Besides, Luca would never trust him again after he’d almost killed Stephanie. Tate was not sure he fully trusted himself, for that matter.
    It’s just a drive. Take her, get the info and bring her back. He put a hand on the small of her back to guide her,wishing his fingers didn’t relish the play of muscles there, wondering when the riveting movement of her dark hair would cease to mesmerize him.
    Probably never, the same way he would never stop missing her, stop feeling the pain of his leg, which seemed somehow twined with the ache in his heart. The past is passed, but it was also unchangeable and unforgettable. He shut the door after her,which elicited an exasperated look from Stephanie, like it always had.
    “I can shut my own door,” she’d perpetually insisted.
    “My mother taught me right,” he’d responded a million times. A lady deserves that much, and she deserved so much more.
    She was oddly quiet on the way back to Lone Ridge, tapping keys on her computer or gazing out the window onto the road, which was now onlylit by a fat yellow moon.
    A car zipped by going the other way as they approached the town, which was quiet and still.
    “First car we’ve seen in miles,” he said with a twinge of uneasiness.
    “Mmm,” she murmured.
    He pulled the truck to a stop a couple blocks from the music store. “Best not to be too obvious.”
    “In case Bittman has someone watching, like he did at the restaurant?I don’t trust him.”
    Tate drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
    Stephanie took a small pair of binoculars out of her pocket and trained them on the music store. “Looks dark.”
    “Could be we’re early.”
    “It’s ten-fifteen.” She put a hand on the car’s door release. “Let’s check it out.”
    He stopped her. “Why don’t we watch awhile first? Take our time.”
    Her mouth tightenedinto a luscious bow. “Because we don’t have any time to spare. My father isn’t eating, your sister is still missing and someone else is searching for the treasure that I’m going after.”
    She was out the door before he could say another word. He followed, trying to keep from stepping on the numerous small twigs that littered the walkway to the music store. The place was dark, windows shuttered.
    He caught up with her as she knocked softly.
    “Mr. Devlin?” she called. After a moment, she knocked louder and called again.
    “Maybe he’s gone home.”
    She shook her head, face pale in the moonlight. “He lives here, in a room in back.”
    He didn’t ask how she knew, but he did manage to get ahead of her as she made her way toward the rear of the store. They saw it at the sametime—the gleam of lamplight, showing from underneath a curtained window.
    She tapped on the rear door and called Devlin’s name again.
    No answer. She dialed Devlin’s number on her cell phone. They both heard it ringing inside, two rings, three, five before the answering machine came on. Stephanie pocketed the phone, her look mirroring the concern he felt.
    “Something’s not right,”he whispered, mouth pressed to the delicate shell of her ear. “We should get back in the truck, wait and see what develops.” He knew she wouldn’t go for it, though.
    Ignoring him, she tried the handle. It turned.
    “Unlocked,” she breathed.
    “Breaking and entering,” he retorted.
    “Since when did you get all concerned with the rules? You’re still the same guy who stole a pig fromthe high school ag department.”
    “The pig came willingly, and I borrowed, not stole.”
    Her grin sent his heart spiraling. He grabbed her hands and pulled her closer until her mouth was inches from his. Fighting a wild desire to kiss her, he shook his head. “Steph, this isn’t a good idea.”
    She cocked her head but didn’t pull away. “Devlin told us to come. He might be in there needinghelp.”
    “Or it