I laughed under my breath. Zach had resorted to looking down now instead of making a fool of himself. I couldn’t blame him. Without knowing Kipp’s location, he did look rather silly talking to thin air. “Kipp is standing right in front of me.”
Zach raised his head and smiled a thank-you, which I returned.
“From Hannah’s description,” Kipp said, “I think we’re safe to say that neither Max nor Eddie is involved.”
“Why would you suspect either of them?” I retorted. “Shouldn’t you know and trust the people you work with?”
Kipp shook his head. “You can never take chances.”
“Suspected who?” Zach asked.
“I can see Eddie, but Max?” He had to be in his late forties and he was no Sean Connery either. “Robbing the cradle a little bit, don’t you think?”
“Women make strange choices sometimes,” Kipp responded.
“What are we talking about?” Zach asked in a huff.
“Kipp doesn’t think Max or Eddie had any involvement in Hannah’s murder.” I glanced back at Kipp and needed to state my point. “No woman in her right mind, who’s Hannah’s age, would chase after Max’s tail—that’s all I’m saying.”
Zach laughed. “I think I might make you repeat that when we get back to the station. I bet Max would get a real kick out of hearing he’s less than appealing to women.”
Insulting Max was the least of my worries, especially since something Zach had said hit a nerve. “What do you mean, when we get back to the station?” They could not be thinking…
The implication of what he meant sat hard on Kipp’s face—his expression became a little pleading, a lot of sorry, with a big chunk of demanding. “No way,” I said, adamant. “I’m not doing that again.”
“It won’t be as bad as before.” Kipp smiled.
I would refuse this until I went blue in the face. There was no way I’d go through that embarrassing moment again. I put my hands on my hips and glared at Kipp. “Do I look stupid to you?”
“No.”
“Really?” I practically growled at him. “I find that hard to believe, since you just fed me some serious bullshit.”
“Tess…”
I shot my hand up in front of his face to stop his next words. I didn’t need—or want—him to give me some lame excuse. “They didn’t believe me before. In fact, I seem to remember them laughing in my face. What makes you think they’ll act any different now?” Kipp opened his mouth to speak, but I shot up my hand in front his face. “And furthermore, what makes you think I’m about to agree to this?”
Kipp examined me. Was he waiting me out to see if I would stop him? I waved him on, releasing a loud huff. His reassuring smile returned. He gestured toward Zach and looked at me knowingly. “Just as we did with Zach, we’ll get them to believe.”
“It’ll be easier this time,” Zach said, missing Kipp’s comparison. “I believe you now. Once they hear that, it’ll make them more open to the idea.” He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and turned away to place the call.
I kept my glare firmly aimed at Kipp, not knowing what to say. I did know I wanted to say something that involved every single curse word known to man.
Kipp’s eyes squinted in amusement, though he never outright laughed. Zach rambled something on the cell phone, but my anger wouldn’t allow me to hear what he said. It’d been hard enough going through all that the first time around with Zach. Repeating the event was so not on my to-do list.
“Max and Eddie will come back to the station,” Zach said. “They’ll be there in twenty, so best we head off and meet up with them.” Without waiting for my response, he walked by me toward the front yard.
Kipp grinned, a smart-ass special, before he followed in behind Zach.
I hadn’t moved an inch and planned to remain that way. “Excuse me?” I called out after them.
Kipp glanced over his shoulder. “Yes.”
Zach continued walking. He laughed quietly, but his body shook from the force of suppressing it. My anger doubled. “What part of I’m not going there don’t you get?”
Kipp sighed and came over to me. The air around me dropped a few degrees and my breath shortened. He bowed his head down toward mine and gazed at me with a soft expression. “Now, Tess, I’m going to tell you two ways of how this is going to go.” He raised one finger. “One, you are going to get in the truck and willingly come to the station with us.” He held up another finger. “Two, you and I will stand here and argue. You’ll try to prove your point and I’ll listen because, frankly, I enjoy the sound of your voice. But in the end, you’re going to end up with that sexy ass of yours in the truck.”
I narrowed my eyes.
He grinned. “You tell me, which one seems like a better choice for you?”
I pondered, long and hard. The idea of arguing with Kipp actually appealed to me. I liked squabbling with him and enjoyed seeing the amusement pass through his eyes when he made steam come out of my ears. Deep down, I took pleasure in the knowledge that he enjoyed me.
With such awareness came the flashing indicator I needed to go against my better judgment and do the exact opposite. If I acted on instinct, I’d only land myself in heaps of trouble when it came to Kipp. My resolve about him hung on by a fine line, and if I didn’t change my ways soon, the thread would break.
Something I couldn’t allow.
“Fine. But let me just point out again, you owe me.” I glared the deadliest look I could muster. “If you get to heaven, you better put in some good words for me with the big guy. After all this, I deserve to be named a damn saint.”
Kipp arched an eyebrow. “Now that will not be a problem.”
* * * * *
The drive to the station should have been longer. Maybe then I would’ve found some resolve. I stood outside the interview room, feeling hesitant, apprehensive and more than irritated. I didn’t want to go into the room and suffer such humiliation all over again. “Must I do this?”
“I have to bring you into the case so I can work with Kipp.” Zach’s firm expression didn’t waver. “And I need the okay from the sergeant. Plus, we need to bring Max up to speed on what Kipp’s discovered.”
“But Hannah said she would locate Percy,” I countered. “Let’s just go find her.”
Zach shook his head. “She won’t find him.”
“We haven’t been able to locate the suspect, even though we’ve talked with Hannah,” Kipp said. “She knows nothing of him and everything he told her was a lie. She’ll be running around in circles.”
“But, but, but.” I searched for a way out. “They think I’m nuts.”
“Yes, they do.” Zach said and winked. “Don’t worry, we’ll change their minds.”
“Besides, it’s either you go in or I use my persuasion techniques to get you to agree. Would you like me to replay the night in the bar?”
“God no!” I exclaimed.
Even I heard the doubt flow off my words and Kipp’s wicked grin said he heard it too.
My stomach fluttered with butterflies, but I tightened my abs and bit the inside of my cheek to focus elsewhere. What’s wrong with you? He was a ghost, not some guy I could roll around in the sheets with or have a future with. I needed to stop feeling these little inklings of interest toward him.
Now!
“All right.” Zach closed his hand around the door handle. “Are you ready?”
“No,” I replied, adamantly.
He laughed, said nothing more and opened the door. I groaned, loud enough for all to hear, as I eyed Max and Eddie seated, both with looks of pure amusement shining on their faces. Even so, I saw the exhaustion through their caffeine-laced expressions. Being nearly ten at night, everyone had already had one hell of a long day, including me.
“Thanks for coming back,” Zach said to Max as he pushed me forward to take a seat at the head of the table.
Max lowered the coffee cup from his mouth. “Not a problem.”
&nbs
p; Of course they wouldn’t have a problem. Everyone wanted to see the freak at the circus show. I plopped down into the hard plastic chair and glanced between Eddie and Max while I waited for someone to say something.
Minutes later, the room remained silent.
I glanced over at Kipp. “Am I supposed to say something here?”
“Are you talking to him?” Max whispered, which caused Zach and Eddie to laugh.
A nasty retort rested on the tip of my tongue. I drew in a deep breath and forced diplomacy into my tone. “Yes, I am. He’s standing right there.” I pointed toward Kipp, who stood beside me.
My breath sucked back into my lungs, as Kipp’s expression could melt ice on the coldest of days. Intensity burned in the depths of his eyes. His focus showed the importance that the others believe me, but the look made me wonder if he held this expression when he had other passionate thoughts on his mind.
The longer I stared, the more I reacted, which made me squirm in my chair. I’d never been so attracted to anyone in my life. What is it about you?
Yes, he was drop-dead gorgeous and had the personality to boot, but I’d seen men like him before, even dated a few, and I hadn’t responded so intensely before. My body lived in a constant state of arousal around him. Maybe our first encounter together still lingered on the sound of his dirty talk? Or maybe because he’d been the first ghost I held an attraction for and the hands-off rule made him more tempting?
All things I couldn’t answer. All that remained was the knowledge I had a serious attraction to him and it proved undeniably strong.
I blinked, realizing I was ogling him, and tore myself away from my thoughts. Kipp’s gaze remained locked on mine, only now the intensity had grown, focused on me. I apparently hadn’t seen anything of what those amazing eyes could do, because it appeared he enjoyed the way I had watched him.
My suspicions were answered; he shared in the attraction, judging by the smolder in his gaze and the tense set of his jaw. The way he looked at me, so matter of fact, demanded I acknowledge my feelings toward him and almost dared me to respond.
I almost did.
Almost.
I focused back on Zach and breathed deep to settle myself, aghast at the fact I’d been so obvious. What the hell is wrong with you? “Sorry, where were we?”
“They asked if you were talking to Kipp,” Zach answered before he cleared his throat, a sound rapidly followed by a low chuckle. “Which, apparently, you were.”
My cheeks warmed. I acted like one of those ridiculous women from romance novels, all smitten and unable to control myself.
“Didn’t hide much there, did you…” Kipp all but purred.
I’d been so focused on my feelings for Kipp, I never noticed his cold presence had drawn closer. The icy breeze danced along my neck and I shivered. I swatted behind me so he’d catch the drift to leave me alone and forced myself to remain deaf to anything else he had to say. I wasn’t going to go there again.
“All right, let’s just get to this,” Max said. “We have questions. You’ll answer them, and until we’re satisfied you’re being truthful, we’ll keep you here. Understood?”
“God yes, please.” I had to get my head screwed back on straight and needed space from Kipp.
Max inhaled, pondering for only a moment. “How long have you been able to see and talk to ghosts…”
One question led to a hundred more. After an hour of questioning, they quizzed me on my ability, made me run through the car accident that caused my cursed gift. Then their questions shifted to how many ghosts I’d helped, what I did for them and so on. From there, the questions focused on Kipp. I learned his entire life story, which was the one part I hadn’t minded, and nothing he told me had been bad. A flaw would’ve been nice to see so I could stop my ridiculous behavior. The problem being, he didn’t have one.
Now the random questions were tedious and personal. I had my arms crossed on the table with my chin resting on top of my hands. “Your wife’s name is Cynthia,” I answered Max’s last question as I counted the little specks of black dots on the fake wood table.
“I’ve got one she can’t know,” Eddie exclaimed. “Where’s my birthmark?”
“On his balls,” Kipp replied.
“Balls,” I said, then realized what had come out of my mouth. I raised my head, glancing at Kipp, whose eyes hadn’t wavered from their position on me. “How do you know his birthmark is on his balls?”
“He told me,” Kipp answered, appearing comfortable with his admission.
“Y’all talk about birthmarks on each other’s balls?” I laughed. “Men think women get personal with each other, what a strange piece of knowledge to know about someone else.”
Kipp shrugged. “It came up one night.”
I shook my head in disbelief and glanced back at their stunned faces. Finally! “Oh, thank God. You believe me.” A burst of renewed energy swept through me and I straightened up in my seat.
Max sighed. “There’s no way for you to know these things. I suppose we have to believe you.”
Zach winked. “Told ya we’d get them to believe.”
“Kipp,” Eddie called out. “I miss ya, bud.” His young face looked aged with sadness and the dark circles under his eyes spoke truth behind his words.
I glimpsed at Kipp, who smiled. “Tell Eddie I’m doing all right.”
“He misses you too,” I replied.
Kipp arched an eyebrow. “I never said that.”
I smirked at him. Just because he appeared a tough, show-no-emotion type of guy didn’t mean I had to comply with him. Eddie looked devastated over the loss of Kipp, so my words would console him more. Kipp would just have to deal with my little word changes.
For the first time since the whole crappy adventure began, I had more control and strength filled me. “So, I can leave now, right? I’m exhausted and I’ve already called in sick today. My boss will kill me if I’m not in tomorrow.”
“No,” Max replied.
“No?” I repeated, a bit lost and more than a little puzzled by his refusal. “No what? No, I can’t leave or no, I’m not exhausted?”
“No, you can’t work. Give me the name of the company you work for and I’ll inform them you’ll need an extended leave of absence.”
“Excuse me?” He might have the authority to boss people around here at the police station, but that didn’t include me.
“The only way to talk to Kipp is through you, and since he seemed to be onto something, then you’ll have to stay with us.”
He dismissed me as if I had said nothing at all. The choice apparently hadn’t been mine to make. As if that would stop me from trying to find a way out. “But I’m not qualified for a job here.”
“You are now. I’ll do up the paperwork. You can come on board as a specialist in…” he paused. “Well, I haven’t quite figured out the details yet, but I’ll come up with something.” He stared at me sternly. I mumbled out Randall Marketing, and then he sent his no-bullshit stare Zach’s way. “Tell me what you know about the Hannah Reid case?”
Another incredibly long, boring hour later, I rested my elbow upon the table with my hand up against my cheek—even a daydream couldn’t have saved me. Zach, Kipp and I went through all their findings, right down to minute details since day one of their investigation on the Reid case.
As the conversation ended, the disbelief in Max’s expression deepened. “Unbelievable—fucking unbelievable.”
“Believe it,” Zach replied. “One of our own shot Kipp.”
Eddie slammed his chair back and paced the room. “Dirty motherfucking cop.”
Max’s bothered expression shifted to one of confusion. He glanced at the chair, which I revealed had been Kipp’s location. “How are you sure the attack on you is connected to the case?”
“Tell him what we know,” Kipp said to me.
I didn’t need him to clarify further. “Percy Mills.”
Max’s brow furrowed. “Percy Mills?”
Here we went again with the ridiculous repeats, which had become my new best friend. “Yes, Percy Mills—he’s the killer and also an alias.”
“So Kipp had discovered a suspect?” Max asked with interest.
“Exactly,” I replied, not needing Kipp to answer. I’d grown tired of repeating myself—over and over again. I didn’t need his words to relay the information. “And he got shot to keep him quiet.”
Kipp sighed. “I never said that either.”
“Yes, I know,” I told him with a sigh of my own, “but I knew the answer, so why wait? Repeating myself all the time is like being that annoying kid who always mocks what you say. It’s not fun.”
Either he enjoyed that I took control or liked my snappy response, because a heated smile grazed his lips.
Oh no you don’t. I wouldn’t embarrass myself all over again in front of these men. No thank you. I focused my thoughts on how it’d feel to stand nude in the Arctic.
Max glanced at his watch. “It’s close to midnight.” He rubbed his hands across his tired eyes and raised his gaze to Zach. “I suspect there’s more you need to say here?”
Zach nodded.
“Right, let’s regroup in the morning.” He gestured toward me. “Bring her with you. Eddie and I will assist you with the case.” He stood from his seat, heading toward the door with Eddie following behind.
“Great. I can go home.” I stretched and smiled. “Oh, how sweet that sounds.”
Zach shook his head. “Sorry to ruin your good mood, but you’re not going home. Since I can’t talk to Kipp without you, you need to stay close to me until this case is solved.”
I huffed, folded my arms across my chest and even stomped my foot. Yes, I’m capable of such things after the shit I’d gone through. “What do you mean I can’t go home? Where am I supposed to go?”
Kipp’s expression swept with raw intense heat. “To my bed, of course.”
Chapter Five
The cozy bed and warm blanket invited me as I snuggled my head against the pillow with a sigh. Kipp’s room was the definition of a man’s space—dark-gray walls, cherry wood furniture and black bed sheets. But it provided me with everything I needed, peace and quiet.
Supernaturally Kissed (Frostbite, Book One) Page 7