Renegade

by Lora Leigh

  "I didn't know he worked for Dad." There wasn't so much as a glimmer of warmth in Nik's eyes. "I rarely talk to him about business or his employees."

  "How well do you know Jarvis?" Nik asked.

  "He was a few classes higher than me in school." She sipped her coffee thoughtfully. "He's different. Really quiet. The last I heard, he was living in Nolan Village with his sister and niece since he served six months in jail for shoplifting. I heard he was fired from the construction job where Eddie was killed about three weeks before the murder, but I didn't hear why."

  Nik nodded slowly. "I have the address to the apartment. We're going to see if we can't catch Jarvis before he leaves this morning." His gaze flicked over the lacy summer blouse she wore. "I'd change clothes if I were you. Jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers would work best."

  She bit her lip nervously as she continued to watch him. There was something too cold, too hard, about him. As though the veneer of ice was only hiding a seething volcano. It made her nervous, made her wonder what that volcano actually consisted of. Finishing the light breakfast, she moved from the table while Nik was going through the file he'd managed to somehow accumulate through the night. Retreating to her bedroom, she quickly changed clothes before braiding her hair, then lacing white sneakers on her feet.

  She didn't often wear jeans and T-shirts. They weren't the best attire for the shop, and that was where she spent the majority of her time.

  Returning to the kitchen, she found Nik waiting for her. The dishes were cleared away, the coffee cups rinsed, and he was waiting with an air of impatience as she walked 145

  into the room.

  "Remember what I told you last night," he warned her. "If I say 'jump,' don't bother asking how high; just jump as high as possible. If you get in the way, this will be the last trip you make with me."

  "I feel so welcome," she murmured as they left the house and Nik quickly set the alarm and locked the door behind them.

  "Then I'm not using the proper tone of voice," he growled before catching her arm, swinging her around, and glaring down at her. "Get hurt and I promise you, you'll regret it for far more reasons than the obvious. Don't dare question an order I give, and if you even think of making a move I don't approve of beforehand I'll make a drive-by shooting look like a picnic in the park. Do you understand me?" Her eyes narrowed. He was big, brawny, and giving her orders she didn't need.

  "If you don't get out of my face you're going to find my knee in a very sensitive area of your body."

  She had managed, as she spoke, to maneuver said knee until she was pressing against the heavy, thick bulge in his jeans.

  His jaw tightened. So he was mad. Big deal. She was mad, too.

  "This isn't playtime, Mikayla." He was almost snarling. He was cute, sexy as hell, but the fire burning beneath the ice in his eyes was almost mesmerizing.

  "Then don't make it playtime, Nik." Her knee pressed more firmly into place. "Or we might be later leaving."

  She didn't give him a chance to pull her away or to retaliate with mockery, sarcasm, or male disgruntlement. Turning, she moved around the truck, leaned against it, and waited patiently for him to help her. The truck was a little too high.

  "I don't feel like mountain climbing," she stated as he stared at her from the other side of the truck.

  If his jaw became any tighter, it was going to crack.

  He strode forcefully around the truck, opened the door, and lifted her into the passenger seat before closing the door and returning to the driver's side. The drive to Jarvis Dalton and his sister's residence in Hagerstown was made quickly, if quietly, and filled with tension. Mikayla didn't even try to speak. As the truck pulled into Nolan Village, Mikayla drew in a deep, slow breath. Parking, Nik left the truck, helped her out, then keeping carefully in front of her moved to the apartment where Jarvis and his sister lived.

  Jarvis was the same beady-eyed little pervert Mikayla remembered. From the second she and Nik walked into the apartment, Jarvis's eyes didn't seem to want to leave the area of her breasts.

  "So whatdya want?" Jarvis ran one hand over his greasy black hair as he ran the other hand over his bulky chest while staring at her breasts again. Slimy dog.

  Barefoot and clad only in sweatpants, Jarvis made his way along the stained carpet into a living room piled with pizza boxes, beer and soda cans, and a heavy layer of dust.

  Nik pulled the black leather badge wallet from his back pocket and flashed the official identification. "FBI Agent Nik Steele. I have some questions for you."

  "FBI." Jarvis blinked back at Nik before staring blurrily back at Mikayla. "I didn't 146

  hear your boyfriend was FBI, Miki."

  Nik gritted his teeth at Jarvis's nickname for Mikayla.

  "My relationship with Mikayla isn't the issue," Nik informed the other man briskly. "You are."

  "Me?" Jarvis scratched at his head, parting his oily hair. "Whatdya want from me?"

  "I want to know where you were the night Eddie Foreman was killed," Nik stated as he stood in front of Mikayla just inside the door.

  Mikayla watched as Jarvis turned, stalked across the room, then threw himself into a threadbare recliner, slouched back, and cupped himself between the thighs as he stared back at Mikayla.

  "I was at a nightclub, man," he drawled with a yawn. "I was with friends, though I bet my friends were really there. Can Maddix Nelson say the same?"

  "This isn't about Nelson; it's about you, Jarvis." Nik's voice became dark, dangerous, on the edge of deadly.

  Like an animal sensing its death just around the corner, Jarvis sat up straighter, his small brown eyes staring back at Nik warily.

  "How's it about me?" Jarvis swallowed, giving Nik his full attention now.

  "Why were you at the job site the day Eddie was killed?" Nik stood tall, firm, his feet planted slightly apart, his arms relaxed at his sides, as he questioned Jarvis again. The intimidation value was ratcheting. The way Nik stood, Jarvis could catch just the slightest glimpse of the Glock Nik carried at his side, beneath the light leather jacket he'd pulled on before he and Mikayla left the house.

  "Look, I just needed my job back." Jarvis's gaze was trained on the area where the gun rested. "I wasn't there for no trouble and I didn't start none. I wanted my job back, we argued, and I left. No biggie."

  "Why were you fired, Jarvis? What made Eddie let you go?" Nik's voice lowered, became darker.

  "Because he was an ass," Jarvis breathed out roughly. "Some materials were missing and he had to blame someone. I didn't steal nothin'. I had no reason to. But he had to blame someone, so he fired me. If I'd stole 'em, then I wouldna come back like that."

  "You were pissed at him then," Nik pressed.

  "Hell, yeah, I was pissed." Jarvis's gaze flicked to Nik's face. "But I didn't kill him, man. I had no reason to kill him."

  Fear was beginning to glitter in Jarvis's dark brown eyes and bead on his forehead as perspiration dampened it. He looked like a man facing a firing squad, and Mikayla couldn't blame him. If Nik had turned that look on her, then she would have probably gone running home to her parents.

  "Did you see anything strange or unusual while you were there? Anything out of the ordinary?" Nik finally asked.

  "Not that day." Jarvis shook his head. "That last week, though. I was there after work. Eddie was talkin' to some guy. Big guy. He looked familiar, but I couldn't get a good enough look. Dark curly hair, maybe a goatee, I'm not sure." He shook his head.

  "That's all I know, man. Ask Maddix Nelson if you need anything else. Everyone knows Mikayla don't lie for no one. If she says he shot Eddie, then you better fucking believe he 147

  shot Eddie." Jarvis nodded to Mikayla with a plea in his eyes, as though he were begging her to get Nik out of the apartment.

  She almost rolled her eyes. Yeah, he was going to listen to her for sure. She didn't think so.

  "Eddie, I find out you're lying to me and I'll be back," Nik promised, and there was no doubt in Mikayla's or
Jarvis's mind that he meant every word of it. Jarvis was still nodding as Nik turned, gripped Mikayla's arm, and they left the apartment.

  "The bar won't be open until later," she told him as they walked back to the truck.

  "You intend to check out his alibi, right?"

  She glanced up as Nik leveled a hard stare down at her.

  "I'm not Jarvis," she informed him, irritation creeping into her voice. "That look doesn't scare me." Yet.

  He grunted. As they crossed the yard he pointed the remote to the truck, and a second later it started with a smooth hum. It didn't take him long to walk around the truck, check it out, then open the door and lift her inside.

  Mikayla buckled her seat belt and waited as he came around, got in the truck, and reversed out of the parking spot.

  "Gina Foreman," he growled. "I called her this morning. She agreed to meet with us if we showed up before she went to work."

  Mikayla's lips parted in surprise. "Gina? She wouldn't talk to me at all."

  "I had some help," he informed her. "Her boss called her and gave her the goahead to talk to us."

  "And you pulled this off how?" Mikayla asked sweetly, anger churning inside her now.

  "My charming personality." His voice was dark and rough, the smile he shot her all teeth.

  Yeah, she could see how that would work. No doubt his buddy Maddix Nelson had arranged that one. Sometimes, Maddix made no sense whatsoever. For a killer, he was doing everything he could to cooperate with Nik, rather than trying to cover any information Nik might find.

  Nik was snarly, growly, and uncommunicative as they drove to Gina Foreman's home. Mikayla was glad to see this part of the ride come to an end. Gina met them at the door, her expression concerned, her eyes dark from weariness as she stood back and let them in.

  "Please, sit down," she invited as they stepped into the worn, though spotless, living room. "I have to leave for work soon, so we'll need to hurry." Mikayla perched on the edge of the couch as Nik sat back beside her and Gina took the chair across from them.

  "I'm getting the house ready to sell," Gina sighed as she looked around. "It's lonely here alone."

  "I'm sorry, Gina." Mikayla reached across the narrow coffee table to grip the other woman's hand as it lay in her lap.

  "Thank you, Mikayla." Gina nodded as Mikayla pulled back. "And thank you and your family for the flowers as well. They were appreciated." Nik refrained from staring at Mikayla in shock. This woman had refused to talk to 148

  Mikayla after the funeral, yet Mikayla acted as though she thought nothing of it? She had to be the most gracious person Nik had ever known. Even his own sisters would have been biting the other woman's head off at this moment.

  "Mrs. Foreman, I just have a few questions," Nik promised as he leaned forward.

  "Was Eddie acting strangely before his death? Was anything unusual going on?" Gina shook her head slowly, thoughtfully. "He was often tense, yelled a lot. Though he was worse in the months before he was killed." Nik bet he was. Eddie Foreman had been up to something; Nik could feel it. He just had to figure out what.

  "Did he have enemies?" Nik probed.

  Gina's lips curled mirthlessly. "Plenty. A lot of people didn't like him, Mr. Steele. He could be offensive."

  "What about Jarvis Dalton?" Nik asked, wondering where the other man really tied into things. "Did he have problems with him?"

  "Jarvis?" Surprise showed in the woman's face. "They were friends. Jarvis was one of the few friends Eddie had. As far as I know they had no problems." To give Mikayla her due, her surprise didn't show on her face, though Nik felt her stiffen beside him.

  "Did you know Eddie fired Jarvis a couple weeks before he was killed?"

  "Fired Jarvis?" Gina stared at them in confusion. "Why would he do that?"

  "According to Jarvis, Eddie accused him of stealing." Nik watched her face closely, her eyes. Gina Foreman acted like a woman who had no idea what he was talking about.

  "I wouldn't put it past Jarvis to steal," she finally breathed out roughly. "But I didn't know about it."

  "Was Eddie having money problems?" Nik probed further, trying to find an angle, any angle to push him in the right direction.

  "Money was always tight; it still is." Gina shrugged. "But no more than usual."

  "Did Eddie have an office?"

  Gina nodded slowly. "He turned one of the bedrooms into an office."

  "Could we check through it?" Nik asked her. "Maybe there's something there that can help me figure out what happened."

  "This way." Gina stood and led the way down a short hall to a bedroom. "Just please hurry; I have twenty minutes before I have to leave." She turned and left the room and a second later Nik heard another door close, likely her bedroom. He turned to Mikayla.

  "What do you think?"

  She sighed deeply. "I think Jarvis was lying and Gina is telling the truth."

  "What is Jarvis lying about?" Nik asked curiously as he moved to the cluttered desk.

  "That I don't know," Mikayla answered softly. "I don't know him really well, but he kept shifting his eyes away from you, even though he was trying really hard not to." She winked back at Nik playfully. "He must watch too much CSI. "

  "Ya think?" he grunted as he shot her an irritated look. There was a hint of softening in the hardened attitude, though, as though the icy demeanor was deliberate. Sitting behind the wide desk Eddie had used, Nik began 149

  looking through the papers as Mikayla wandered through the room. Eddie hadn't been big on neatness, she noticed. The office was piled with papers, magazines, a few books, and a lot of dust.

  Moving back to the desk, she eased in behind the chair Nik was sitting in and laid her hand on his shoulder as he went through the papers, looking for what she wasn't certain. She doubted Nik even knew exactly what he was looking for. His body tensed, though, as she braced herself with her hand on his shoulder and leaned forward to watch what he was doing.

  From beneath scraps of paper, business cards, time cards, and files of material lists Nik pulled a small index card free.

  "Reed Holbrook" and three phone numbers. Home, cell, and office were listed.

  "Reed Holbrook," she said softly. "That's the owner of Holbrook Construction out of D.C. If I'm not mistaken, Reed is a hometown boy, too. He and Maddix grew up in the same area of town."

  "Do you know everyone in Hagerstown?" Nik frowned back at her. Lifting her brows, she shot him a cheery smile. "Don't make the mistake of going to the store with me. It takes me hours to shop once I stop and say hello to everyone I know."

  The look he gave her was one that baffled her for a few moments. As though he couldn't imagine having to deal with stopping to talk to anyone at a grocery store. She was well known; she couldn't help it. She enjoyed people, and she enjoyed being social.

  "It looks like we need to talk to Reed Holbrook then," Nik stated as he turned away from her and pocketed the card.

  "Are we finished here then?" She stared around the room, wondering how they could possibly be certain they hadn't missed anything else.

  "We're finished here." He nodded.

  "We didn't go through everything," she pointed out.

  "We'll have it all later." His voice was pitched low, carrying no farther than her, as she stared back at him in surprise, then excitement.

  "We're sneaking back in tonight?" Mikayla could feel the anticipation beginning to surge through her, even as he stared at her in something akin to horror. The excitement glowing in her eyes, frankly, scared the shit out of him, Nik thought. The idea of breaking into the Foreman home and stealing papers had her all but rubbing her hands in glee.

  He was creating a monster.

  "No," he enunciated clearly. "We are not." Gripping her arm, he steered her to the doorway as a little pout shaped her lips.

  "That's so not fair. You shouldn't do this stuff by yourself. You need a lookout." She was laughing at him. It was in her voice and in her eyes.

  "Don't you h
ave dresses to make?" he growled, wondering how the hell he was going to maintain the emotional distance he was trying to keep between them.

  "Maybe this is more fun." Her brows arched as he opened the door and stepped into the short hall. "Besides, I called Bailey and Kira. They're going to meet me at the house this evening instead."

  Gina Foreman was waiting for them in the living room, her gaze somber as they 150

  walked toward her.

  "Did you find anything?" she asked.

  "Nothing yet, Mrs. Foreman," Nik answered her.

  She nodded slowly as her lips turned down with an edge of bitterness. "At least someone is trying to find out what happened. It gets hard working at the police station, wondering if the chief is lying, wondering what really happened." She shook her head as she shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. "It destroys your faith in people." Nik watched as Mikayla crossed the room and wrapped her arms around the other woman as though a hug could fix anything. Everything.

  "I'm sorry," he heard Mikayla whisper. "I'm so sorry, Gina." The woman's arms went around her as Gina nodded, sniffed, and, strangely enough, seemed to find strength from that hug.

  "You call me if you need me." Mikayla stepped back and gave the other woman's arms a brief rub. "I mean it. Come by the shop, whatever." A timid, saddened smile pulled at Gina's lips. "Thank you, Mikayla." And she suddenly sounded as though somewhere, somehow, she had found hope. Would he have felt differently after his daughter's death if he had felt such hope?

  Nik wondered as he and Mikayla left the house. Would he have made different choices, found other ways to strike back at the men who had killed his family?

  If Mikayla had been a part of his life would she have shared her fairy charm with him and helped heal those shattered remnants of his soul?

  It was possible, he admitted. She seemed to carry with her a capacity for love that astounded him. But even more, an ability to find softness within people that they didn't know existed.