Deadly Lies
Page 29
“Thank you.”
He smirked. “You won’t be thanking me when I tell you that we’ve been invited to my parents’ for dinner.”
Kylie groaned. “When?”
“Friday. It’s my dad’s birthday, so my mom tries to make a big deal of it.”
Kylie bobbed her eyebrows. “Cake?”
“Yep. A big one.”
Her smile grew bigger. “That means leftovers for a week since the stick insects you call your sisters-in-law probably won’t even take a bite.”
He laughed, pouring things into a pot.
In the couple days since Dustin Weiss had been arrested, Kylie’d actually gotten to know Linc’s father a little more. He was thankful to her for exposing Dustin as a creep, and so the whole bloodsucker thing had been largely forgiven.
“So, we are going to dinner with them?” she asked, needing the confirmation. “I hope so. It’ll be fun.”
“Root canals are more fun,” he grumbled, reaching under the counter and pulling out another pan.
“Stop grumbling! Anyway…” she drummed her hands on the counter, “I have two bits of amazing news I want to share with you.”
He looked at her suspiciously. “And…?”
She reached into her purse sitting on the table and pulled out a tiny white card. It wasn’t fancy, because Greg wasn’t, but it was all hers. And it was probably the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Greg had given them to her that morning. She had five hundred of them, just waiting to decorate downtown Asheville. It said:
Kylie Hatfield
Assistant Private Investigator
He read it and smiled. “Business cards, huh? Good for you, Lee.”
She clapped her hands excitedly. “I know! I feel so official. This morning, Greg told me I’d earned it. I think he’s still feeling guilty that my little car got destroyed.”
“Forget about the car. He’s happy you’re alive,” Linc said, turning up the heat on the stove. “And your second bit of good news?”
“Oh.” She couldn’t help bursting with excitement over this one. Because it was truly amazing. The most amazing thing that had ever happened to her.
Well, except for the man standing in front of her, but this was a close second.
She reached into her purse and pulled out the check, written in Emma’s careful script. She unfolded it and looked at it again, almost like it was a dream that would evaporate the second she shared it with someone else. She pushed it over to him.
He stared at it, and his eyes widened. “Holy shit.”
“I know!” She did a little victory dance, refusing to let the wound on her thigh stop her movements.
She’d finally succeeded in making Linc’s eyes bug out. “Holy…wow.” He was still staring at the check. “Is that for the whole case?”
“No, it’s just for me! She called it my bonus!” She snatched the check to stare at it again. “Fifty freaking thousand dollars! I gave it to Greg, thinking I should split it with him, but he said it was all mine.”
He turned to her, pride practically glowing from his expression. “That’s amazing, Lee. Really amazing.” He got back to work, setting the pans to heat on the stove and pulling out a cutting board. “This is turning into a celebration dinner. What are you going to do with your newfound wealth?”
Kylie smiled. She’d been thinking about it ever since she first got the check in her grubby little hands. She’d never had this much wealth, ever, but it had quickly sunk in how little it was in the grand scheme of things, compared to how much debt she currently had hanging over her head.
“I guess I should be practical and put it toward school loans.” She sighed, her bubble deflating a little. “I have a lot of those. Or just put it in the bank for a rainy day?”
She expected Linc to agree with her. He was nothing if not practical. But he shook his head. “To hell with that. It’s a bonus. You’re supposed to have fun with a bonus. Plus, don’t you need a new ride?”
She thought of her poor little Mazda. She had insurance, of course, but she’d also learned that she would only get about three thousand dollars because of its age. That had been a blow.
“What kind of car do you want?” Linc asked as he began chopping vegetables.
“I’ve always wanted a VW bug, but…”
Linc put down the knife. “But what?”
She worried her lower lip. “Well, since it looks like I’ll be making a lot of trips up and down a certain mountain, I’m thinking something with four-wheel drive will be more practical.”
He turned to face her again, and although her stomach was rumbling, she wished they weren’t having this discussion while he was making them dinner.
“And…” she went on before he could jump to any conclusions. She pulled out a flyer from her purse. She unfolded it, staring at the pictures, and slowly passed it over to him.
He raised an eyebrow. “A townhouse?”
She nodded. “They’re brand new. They’re building them right in downtown Asheville, so it’ll be within walking distance to the office. And they’ll have twenty-four-hour security, all the latest amenities, a gym, not that I’ll use that, and—”
“Wow. It’s nice,” he said, turning away from her but not before she saw the look of disappointment on his face.
“I’ve wanted my own place forever,” she explained, “and this money will make a good down payment. I’m not much of a decorator, but I thought with my own walls to paint and my own things, I could actually get into it. Make a little corner of my world that’s just my own.”
He nodded. “Okay. I get it.”
Did he? She wanted him to be happy. She wanted him to give her permission for this. Because his opinion meant everything to her. “You don’t think I should?”
He shrugged, the knife chop-chop-chopping away. “It’s not that. You should buy whatever you want, but I meant what I said before.”
Kylie sucked in a breath. She knew exactly what he meant. He’d mentioned it once, but she thought he’d done that in the heat of the moment, because he was so worried about keeping her safe. She didn’t think he’d actually want her around like that, every day. Besides, wouldn’t they drive each other crazy, being together like that, all the time? “You did?”
“Yeah. I don’t mind sharing, Lee. You know that.” He waved a hand, but still didn’t face her. “You can change anything you want. Decorate.”
Kylie didn’t know how to respond. She looked around the house he’d so willingly offered up to her, and tears sprang into her eyes. This place was so much better than any townhouse. And even better, it came with Linc.
But, in reality, they’d only known each other a short while. Plus, it had been all her fault that his PTSD had kicked into high gear.
If she moved in with him, she wouldn’t just be risking her own heart, but his.
Her heart seized up. “I…I…”
“Hey. It’s all right.” He put down the knife and picked up her glass of wine, taking a long drink. “Just know that the offer is out there.”
She nodded, relieved to be taken off the spot. “Thanks.”
He set the glass down and opened his arms to her. She slipped inside them, and he laced his fingers around her back as she pressed her cheek against his hard chest.
Yes, this felt right.
But Kylie wasn’t sure if it felt like forever. Honestly, she’d come from a broken family, where she’d seen a lot of heartbreak, mostly on her mother’s side. She didn’t know anything about forever.
As Kylie settled in, Vader jumped between them, wanting to get in on the hug. Maybe he was trying to tell her something, but she didn’t want to think about that. She just wanted a nice night of relaxation, without having to worry about the future for once.
After the crazy few weeks they had, they’d earned as much.
But just because they earned it, didn’t mean it was going to happen. When she looked up at Linc, there was something in his eyes that told her she’d hurt hi
m.
And that was the last thing she wanted.
Why couldn’t she jump at this chance? Most other women would. He was perfect, gorgeous, sweet, capable…everything. She should’ve been sitting in his lap, picking out curtain colors right now to replace the old, sun-bleached gingham ones that had belonged to his grandparents.
Funny…threats from murderers and stalking serial killers didn’t seem to scare her.
But this? Moving in with the guy she was crazy about?
Her heart pounded at the thought.
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his jaw as a little voice inside her said, You know you love him. And he won’t wait for you forever. Just say yes. Say it, Kylie. Yes. Yes. YES.
But for once in her life, her tongue betrayed her, and she found it difficult to form any words.
She swallowed, licked her lips. Just say it, she told herself. She opened her mouth.
“…William Hatfield witnessed the account, and officials state that he is cooperating fully.”
Kylie pulled back, turning to the little television. A man was walking down the sidewalk, surrounded by other men. His name flashed on the bottom of the screen.
William Hatfield.
“What’s wrong?” Linc asked, but she couldn’t answer as she peered into the man’s face.
She’d only seen one picture of the man. Her mother had put all the others away.
It looked like him.
The man being led into a police department somewhere in New York…could it be?
Could he be her father?
The End
To be continued…
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Acknowledgments
How does one properly thank everyone involved in taking a dream and making it a reality? Here goes.
In addition to our families, whose unending support provided the foundation for us to find the time and energy to put these thoughts on paper, we want to thank the editors who polished our words and made them shine.
Many thanks to our publisher for risking taking on two newbies and giving us the confidence to become bona fide authors.
More than anyone, we want to thank you, our readers, for clicking on a couple of nobodies and sharing your most important asset, your time, with this book. We hope with all our hearts we made it worthwhile.
Much love,
Mary & Bella
About the Author
Mary Stone lives among the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of East Tennessee with her two dogs, four cats, a couple of energetic boys, and a very patient husband.
As a young girl, she would go to bed every night, wondering what type of creature might be lurking underneath. It wasn’t until she was older that she learned that the creatures she needed to most fear were human.
Today, she creates vivid stories with courageous, strong heroines and dastardly villains. She invites you to enter her world of serial killers, FBI agents but never damsels in distress. Her female characters can handle themselves, going toe-to-toe with any male character, protagonist or antagonist.
Discover more about Mary Stone on her website.
www.authormarystone.com
Bella Cross spent the past fifteen years teaching bored teenagers all about the Dewey Decimal System while inhaling the dust from the library books she loves so much. With each book she read, a little voice in her head would say, "You can do that too." So, she did.
A thousand heart palpitations later, she is thrilled to release her first novel with the support of her husband, twin girls, and the gigantic Newfoundland she rescued warming her feet.