I ended up in the elevator with Brenda, which was like a sign from above. I smiled at her and nodded to the bag of chips in her hands. “Looks like we had the same idea.”
She looked down at my bag of apple slices and pouted. “You’re being so much healthier than me. Jealous.”
I just hoped she wasn’t eating those chips off of her desk. “I’m only eating these so I can eat the cake that’s waiting for me at home.”
“Makes sense to me.”
I wanted to talk to her more, but we weren’t alone in the elevator, so I just bit my tongue and made plans to talk to her later. She was just one on the list, anyway.
I spent the rest of the day at my desk, being a good worker bee. By the time five o’clock came around, I was bouncing in my seat with anticipation. I was going to start my first big move at cracking the case as soon as I could get out of the office.
I rushed down the stairs and hailed a cab before they were all taken. I had the driver pull up, away from the sludge of people coming out of the building, and waited for Helena to come out. Her personal driver was waiting in a black town car at the front of the line of cabs. It wouldn’t be too long.
“Lady, this seems weird.”
I didn’t take my eyes off of the entrance to the building. “The meter’s running. You’re not losing anything and you’re getting to take a little break.”
“You don’t seem like a break.”
I looked up at him and frowned. “What’s the problem?”
“What is this? What are we doing?”
“I found the only damn cab driver in the city who can’t mind his own business,” I mumbled to myself. Shaking my head, I opened my purse and found a twenty. I tossed it into the front seat and forced a smile. “A tip.”
He pocketed it and patted his pocket. “That’s all you had to say.”
I looked back at the building just in time to see the black car pulling away from the curb. I couldn’t be sure that Helena was in it, but I had to take the chance. “Follow that black car.”
“What the hell do you think this is? There are serious stalking laws in this state.”
I sat forward and gripped the seat. “If I had my car, I’d do it myself. If we get caught, you can act like you don’t know me. Just follow it.”
“No way.”
“Oh, my God! Follow it!”
“No!”
“Here!” I threw him another twenty. “Just go!”
“Why didn’t you just say so?” He stepped on the gas pedal and we lurched forward, cutting off another cab in the process. He swerved around traffic and landed up directly behind Helena’s car.
I sank in the seat and slapped his headrest. “What is wrong with you? This is supposed to be secret! You’ve practically driven us up their asshole!”
“As soon as I saw your red hair, I knew you were going to be trouble.” He slammed on the brakes, making them squeal, and setting off a series of horns around us. “Go, go, go! Stop, stop, stop! Make up your mind.”
I sat up straighter. “Don’t talk about my hair like that. Just follow them without driving into their backseat, would you?”
He scoffed and moved again, cutting off another car. “That red hair is the sign of the devil. My first wife had red hair. She was evil, too.”
“I’m not evil! I’m trying to do good.”
“No one ever did good by following black town cars around.”
“The cops do.”
“The cops never did good. Period.”
“Do you like anyone?” I spotted the car turning right and slapped his headrest again. “Right!”
“Lady! You hit my seat again and I’m going to drive you straight into a ditch.” He swung the car right and then left, after Helena’s car. “And I like plenty of people. Just not redheads. Or the cops.”
“You’re insane.”
“Says you.”
“I’d give you a bad review if I could.”
“What? ‘My cabby didn’t stalk the person I wanted him to stalk good enough? He protested’?”
“More like, ‘He was insanely moody and pessimistic.’ ”
“Do you ever shut up?”
“Do you?”
Like he was proving a point, he shut his mouth and kept quiet. I decided it was for the best and kept my own mouth shut, too.
We followed Helena’s car for a bit longer and then pulled to the curb when it pulled into the driveway of a large, unmarked brick building. Helena got out and strolled to the side door. The metal door was opened by a large man in a suit and Helena flashed him a little card or sheet of paper before he stepped back and let her in.
“What the hell was that?”
I was wondering the same thing. “I don’t know, but it was interesting.”
“Well, this just got cool.”
“See.”
“Don’t push it.”
The car pulled back onto the street and I watched as it drove away. Shit. I hadn’t thought about what to do if she had a long stop somewhere.
“Now what?”
I sighed and gave him my address. “Now we go home. I can’t afford to keep tipping you to be nice.”
He started driving. “Too bad. I was starting to have fun.”
Chapter 9
Branson
Thursday morning and another few nights with Mercer screaming in my guest room. I was exhausted. I’d survived on less sleep before, but that’d been a long time ago. I had the day off and I should’ve been home sleeping while Mercer was at work. Instead, I was in the city, unable to explain away what I was doing.
After the night before, I needed a break. The habitual barbecue at Black Dog had gone from mostly okay to tense in one single phone call. After being badgered by me, my contact had finally dropped that they’d found blood at Mercer’s house, in his kitchen. It wasn’t looking good, in the slightest. A tense barbecue with a couple of SEALs was all it took to send me running to the one thing that’d been able to distract me. The one person.
My mind had been polluted with bad shit, but she’d constantly broken through. Red hair and a pouty smile had drawn my mind away from everything else. She’d even kept me from being bored senseless at Charlotte Crier’s house while I was acting as furniture.
There was something about the sexy redhead that wouldn’t allow her to move very far from my mind. She kept popping up.
I was going to return the favor. I headed up to the top floor of the Stelton Firm, under the guise of checking on her. Really, I just wanted to see her. It was insane, but after everything, I wanted to know if seeing her was as intoxicating as I remembered.
I drew more stares than normal as I exited the staircase and moved down the hallway, looking for Caldwell’s office. People stepped aside to get out of my way, bumping into walls, and I almost felt bad for scaring the hell out of them.
When I found the nameplate on the door for Caldwell, I stepped into the doorway and looked in. Like the security guard had told me, Elizabeth was there, blocking anyone’s entrance to Caldwell.
She was standing over the side of her desk, looking down at a stack of papers, another stack in her hands. I took the chance to stare at her and felt that same feeling of my blood overheating at the sight of her. In a tight pencil skirt and a button-down shirt, she looked like every dirty dream I’d ever had about my teachers, growing up. Her hair was up in an almost neat bun, and her long neck was exposed. The top buttons of her shirt were open, exposing more than just her neck. The soft curves of her breasts were just visible and it did more for me than even the sexy dress had.
Standing there, my dick at half-mast, I wondered what the chances were that she could actually look past my scars, if even for just a few nights.
Elizabeth tapped the papers and turned to leave the office when she spotted me. She gasped and dropped the stack in her arms. Paperwork fluttered to her feet and I couldn’t help but smile when she tossed me a glare before kneeling to pick it up.
I squatted next to h
er and helped her gather everything. Her skirt was even tighter like that and I couldn’t help noticing how soft her legs looked. She was in another pair of killer heels, too.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on you.”
“You can’t be here.”
I picked up the last of her papers and looked over at her. We were closer than we’d been at the diner. From that close, I could smell her. She smelled clean, like soap and something sweeter. “Why not?”
She stood up and dropped the forgotten work on her desk. “Because.”
“Because why?”
The tips of her ears both went red and she crossed her arms. “You know why.”
I raised my right eyebrow, the one not fucked up from the explosive. “Is this a game?”
She stepped into my space and wrapped her hand around the back of my neck to pull my face closer to hers. Then she moved her mouth to my ear and whispered. “I’m investigating the boss. You make me look suspicious.”
My breath was caught in my throat. I couldn’t remember the last time a woman had touched me. Her hand was soft and warm. Her breath was softer as it puffed out against my ear.
She pulled back slightly and stared up at me. Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine, and her hand was still holding me close. “Are you sure you want to be a dick?”
The question brought me back to reality. I laughed and gently moved away from her. She was too close to my face. “Am I sure I want to be a dick?”
She took a step closer. “It’d be a whole lot easier to forget myself if you didn’t write me off.”
I was smiling again. My face was already hurting. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit of a wild card?”
The grin on her face said that someone had told her that and probably hadn’t lived to tell about it without a few marks. “Are you single?”
My brain slowly caught up to me. “Wait. Did you say you’re investigating Helena?”
She slapped her hand over my mouth and stared up at me, her bright-green eyes as wide as saucers. “Have you lost your mind? Do you want to ruin everything?”
I gently took her wrist and pulled her hand to her side. “Have you lost your mind? I told you to leave it alone. What are you thinking?”
“My mind is perfect, thank you very much. I’m doing what you wouldn’t do. I’m going to figure out what happened.”
I shook my head. “Nope. I definitely suggested that you leave it alone. You should definitely do that option.”
She sighed. “This is what I’m talking about. I told you not to be a dick and look at you. You’re ruining it again.”
“You’re insane.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” She realized she’d raised her voice and winced. “Dammit—stop making me yell.”
I stared down at her and had to take a second to get control of all of the urges that were hitting me. I didn’t know if I wanted to shake her or kiss her more. She was stunning, especially irritated like she was. Her eyes looked even more alive than normal. She was putting herself in a dangerous situation, though.
“Leave it alone, Elizabeth.”
She shook her head and those lips pouted out. “You’re a disappointment. Don’t come back until you decide to support me. All of this is just a tease if you’re going to be a jerk.”
I laughed again, unable to help it. I didn’t know what to make of her. It was refreshing. “Are you going to leave it alone?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll be back around.”
“Don’t. It’s just mean.”
I frowned. “I’m not trying to be mean, Elizabeth. I just don’t want you to get yourself into trouble.”
She rolled her eyes and reached up to push my hair back from my face. When she saw me stiffen, she dropped her hand. “I meant it’s mean to come around and tease me with this package if you’re going to be a jerk. I did the math. It doesn’t add up for me to chance having great… chemistry… with you if you’re going to be a jerk. No matter how much I fudge the numbers.”
I just stared at her with my mouth hanging open.
“I know. I’m sad, too.” She glided back over to her desk and grabbed her paperwork. “I’ve got to run. Try not to break any more hearts on your way out, Mr. Wright.”
And then I was alone in her office. I stared at the spaces she’d been, spaces that weren’t nearly as interesting without her in them, and shook my head. I didn’t know what to make of her. The only things I knew for sure were that she made a room come alive and that she said everything she wanted to.
Against my better judgment, I was getting sucked in. I strode out of her office and found her hurrying into the same stairwell I’d taken up. I slipped into it after her and grinned when she looked back at me and scowled.
“Tell me about this investigation.”
She shook her head and kept hurrying down the stairs. “No way. You’ll just get in my way.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m a trained soldier. I think I might be more qualified.”
“Were a trained soldier. You might be out of shape now. I don’t know.”
I fell into step beside her and flexed my arms at her when she looked over at me. “I think I’m good.”
Elizabeth laughed and missed the next step down. She started to fall, but I reached out and caught her. She looked up at me and lightly sighed, more pleasure than anything. “Are you sure you don’t want to help me?”
“I’m sure I want you to stay out of trouble.”
She pulled herself away from me and straightened her skirt. When she looked back at me, there was ice in her eyes. “Well, then, it was nice to see you again. Thanks for catching me. I’ve got work to get back to. Just simple secretarial things, you know? Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about.”
I reached out and caught her arm. “What are you planning on doing?”
“Well, for today’s agenda, I’m going to tie some men to chairs in my basement and shine a big light into their eyes until they tell me what they know. And tomorrow I plan on dressing up like a Bond girl and getting my information out of people the old-fashioned way.”
“The old-fashioned way?” I rolled my eyes and let her arm go. “Just try not to get yourself locked up.”
“If I do, you’ll be my one phone call. I’d hate it if I was in trouble and I wasted my one chance for you to lecture me.”
“So fucking sassy.”
She shrugged. “I think you might like it.”
Before I could agree with her, she opened the door beside us and disappeared through it.
I stared at the door for a few seconds and finally forced myself to leave. I wanted to follow after her and spend the rest of the day listening to her, but I had my limits. I was ready to get home and spend the rest of my day in bed recovering, if I could. And thinking seriously about why Elizabeth wasn’t horrified by my face the way other women had been.
Chapter 10
Elizabeth
Cody Kanis liked to point out that he had the same initials as Calvin Klein. Like it meant something. He was also six inches shorter than me and so thin that I couldn’t help but worry about him. He highlighted his thin frame by dressing in the tightest pants I’d ever seen and a shirt that hung off of his shoulders like he was an Olsen twin.
I didn’t know what to make of his style. I’d never seen him outside of the office, but there we were. Porky’s was a restaurant in town that specialized in pork, obviously, but they also had an impressive list of steaks. Which didn’t matter because Cody was vegetarian, I’d just found out.
“I could show you some videos. You should watch them and really consider giving up meat.” He didn’t smile as he spoke. He never smiled. He just stared.
I swallowed the bite of shrimp I’d ordered as an appetizer and dabbed at my lips with a napkin. So far, things were not going well. “Should we go somewhere else? I don’t mind, Cody.�
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He stared at me some more and shook his head. “This is fine. I should hang around places like this more often. It could get me in touch with the people I don’t normally see, people who eat meat without a care.”
I hid a wince and took a deep breath in. I had a plan. It didn’t matter how much I wanted to strangle Cody for being terrible. I had to get closer to him to find out more about Paul. He’d been Paul’s best friend at work. I wanted to know what he knew.
Of course, taking him to Porky’s probably hadn’t earned me any points in his book. Wearing six-inch heels probably hadn’t helped, either. I was literally towering over him, a fact that he really seemed to notice and be concerned with.
I couldn’t give up, though. I sat up straighter and pushed my shoulders back. I was wearing a tight green dress that brought out my eyes and my tits, complete with a cut-out back. Anything for the case was what I was telling myself.
“I’m glad you agreed to go out with me. I know it was out of the blue, but I’ve seen you around the office and wanted to give it a shot.”
Cody nodded. “It was out of the blue, but I get it.”
I didn’t know what he got, but I had a feeling I didn’t want to know. “I’m just lucky you’re single, I guess.”
He nodded again. “Good timing on your part.”
I felt like I was pulling teeth. I wanted to run out of the restaurant and straight into traffic. “True. How have you been? I know you were close to Paul.”
“I was. Things have been weird. The cops keep showing up and asking me shit. Like I know anything about a murder.”
I ignored his blatant disregard for his friend’s life. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? As many people as there are at Stelton, I’ve never heard about anyone being murdered before.”
“Well, there was Janet in Accounting. Five years ago, she was killed by her husband.”
I repressed a shiver. He gave me the creeps. “True. I was listening to something the other day that said it’s very rare for people to be murdered by strangers. Do you think Paul could’ve known his killer?”
Cody’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in. “Why are you so curious? You sound like one of those cops.”
Black Dog Security- Complete 5-Part Series Page 21