Pursuing Aries

by Linzi Baxter

  Sasha’s phone rang, and she pulled out of my arms fast, tripping over her feet and knocking the vase to the ground. The glass shattered as it hit the hardwood floor, echoing through the room.

  “Fuck,” she muttered before reaching to pick up the glass. I wasn’t fast enough to stop her. She cut herself on the large shard when she went to pick it up.

  “Breathe, Sasha.” I grabbed her other hand and walked her to her desk chair. “Let me see.”

  Reluctantly, she held out her hand. The cut didn’t look too deep, but blood dripped down the side of her index finger. “It’s nothing. Hand me a Kleenex, and I can pick up the mess.”

  Ignoring her request, I grabbed the box of tissues and kneeled next to the chair, capturing her delicate hand in mine. She wore a thin silver band on her index finger.

  “Does it hurt?” I asked while I held her hand in mine.

  “Not really. I’m more worried about who sent me the flowers than anything.” She took a sharp breath when I pressed the tissue to the cut.

  “At least the bright side is you don’t need any stitches.” The cut stopped bleeding. My eyes wandered from the wound on her hand to the six-inch scar up her forearm. The scar was faint, and I wouldn’t have noticed if I weren’t so close to her perfect skin. I traced the scar down her forearm. “When did this happen?”

  She took the tissue from my hand and dabbed it on the cut a few more times. “It happened one night my father came home drunk. I have a matching one on my side.”

  Sasha slowly raised her blouse, showing her flat stomach and tan skin. On her side, she had another scar the same length as the one on her arm. Unlike the one on her arm, this one looked like it was more profound and had needed stitches.

  I frowned as I traced the scar. “How many stitches?”

  She sighed and pulled her shirt back down. “Fifteen stitches. This happened six days before my dad decided to rob the bank. He and his friends were out in the garage, and I was hungry. I didn’t know what they were doing. When I went out there, my dad got extremely angry about me interrupting him, so he shoved me against the wall. He had a wall with saw blades, and I fell right on them.”

  I grimace. “Who the hell keeps saw blades on a wall?”

  She shrugged and opened the bottom drawer of her desk. “That’s not even the worst part. I passed out, and one of the other men in the room took me to the ER.”

  “How did child protective services not come after your dad?”

  She frowned. “The man who brought me in said I was his niece and he was watching me. He didn’t want anyone coming to the house and wrecking their plans.”

  I shook my head. “Your dad was a real piece of shit.”

  “He wasn’t always like that. It was after my mom died. For a long time, I believed my real dad died the day she did.”

  Instead, her dad had died at the hands of my mom. The FBI had found journals in the family storage unit that linked her to the murders. They still couldn’t find anything outlining if my mom had a partner or if it was my aunt who’d helped her. The only kill pointing to my dad was my mom’s murder. I knew I had to tell Sasha what had really happened to her dad soon. I didn’t want her to look at me differently or think it was my fault.

  I stood and walked around the desk. “Can you see if there is an extra liner at the bottom of your trash?”

  The sound of the bag rustled on the other side of her dark oak desk. Sasha walked over and handed me the plastic liner.

  “Why are we not throwing the flowers in the trash?”

  Using tissue from the box, I placed the flowers in the bag. “I plan to give them to the forensic unit downstairs.

  “Why is there a forensic unit at NSS? Did someone get killed again?”

  I stood up, holding the bag of evidence. “I came to tell you we know who killed your boss.”

  Before I went home, I stopped by to talk to the investigator working on Sasha’s boss’s case. He’d told me he was waiting on some evidence and to come back later because they should have a good idea. I’d never expected the call to come a couple hours later, when they’d made an arrest.

  Using the last of the tissues in the box, I mopped up the water that had come out of the vase. Sasha’s floor was clear of glass and water. Waiting for me to answer, Sasha rested her hip against her desk.

  I set the bag to the side and pulled her into my arms. “It was the receptionist downstairs. The detective said she was having an affair with your boss, and he wasn’t going to leave his wife. When he stopped returning her calls, she worked to become the new receptionist.” That wasn’t the first time I’d heard of a jilted lover killing someone. Most women who killed murdered someone close to them or someone who had done them wrong. “When you said to Lily that you wished your boss would die—”

  “I said it in the lobby area.” Sasha pressed her hand to her forehead. “How stupid can I be?”

  I huffed out a laugh. “We say things in the heat of the moment all the time. It doesn’t mean we are actually going to do it. Dakota used the opportunity to frame you.”

  She threw her hands up. “Then who sent me the flowers?”

  When I lock eyes with her, I see the frustration of not knowing. “If I had to guess, they were Dakota’s, and she needed them gone.”

  Someone knocked on Sasha’s door. She unlocked the bolt and opened it. Lily stood on the other side.

  “Ohh.” Lily looked from me to Sasha. “I didn’t know you had company. I can come back later.”

  I waved her in. “You don’t have to come back. I actually have a couple questions for you.”

  “Me?” She pointed to herself. “I’m done talking to cops.”

  “You wound me.” I smiled back at her. “I was wondering if you happen to know who delivered the flowers.”

  Lily looked to where they used to sit on Sasha’s desk. “Oh gosh, what happened?”

  “I accidentally knocked them over.”

  Lily scrunched her brows together. “When I ran downstairs to get the mail, Dakota asked if I could bring them up to Sasha. You didn’t send them?”

  “No,” I shot back.

  “Well, we can’t ask her because the police escorted her out of the building.” Lily waved her hand toward the door.

  “I already know. Brandon came down to tell me what happened.” Sasha grabbed another tissue and wrapped it around her finger to make a bandage. “He thinks she is also behind sending the flowers.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Lily said. “Because she seemed almost angry someone sent them to you.”

  Over the past weeks, Sasha had wormed her way into my heart. Hopefully, the water from the vase hadn’t washed off any prints.

  Biting the corner of her lip, she looked in my direction. “Maybe they were for someone else in the building?”

  I could tell she really didn’t want to deal with any more issues. “The note was to you, Sasha.”

  Lily rested her hip against the door. “What did it say?”

  Sasha had the card in her hands before I could stop her. “We make the perfect team.”

  Her eyes widened. “As in you make the perfect team to kill someone.” A smirk appeared on Lily’s face. “I swear if you need help hiding bodies, I know someone. Well, she lives in Fort Lauderdale, but has a wealth of knowledge. Your choice to leave the body in the office wasn’t the best.”

  “Do you not see the police badge around my neck?” I said.

  “You would have to find the body.” She let out a laugh. “And my friend Kat knows how to eliminate the threat.”

  I had no doubt in my mind that Kat Ross could hide a body. It had been years since I’d seen her. We’d worked a mission together when I was an active SEAL. She was the deadliest assassin the CIA ever had. When she first showed up to Lily’s crime scene, I was worried we were dealing with an international issue. Later, I’d found out Kat was just a close friend of Lily’s.

  “I swear I didn’t kill my boss.” Sasha sighed. “Did you no
t come here to tell me they took her away?”

  “Yes,” I admit. “But the card does call you a partner in crime.”

  Joking with Sasha and her friends was unexpected, but I felt so comfortable being around them all. Tammy had been my partner. We’d had drinks together, but even she wasn’t this easy to be around.

  “All kidding aside, I came to tell you Dakota was arrested.” Lily pointed in my direction. “I didn’t know your boyfriend would come down and tell you.”

  Sasha glanced at me. “Do you think I should be worried about those?” She pointed to the flowers in the trash bag.

  “I think Dakota was still trying to frame you, but I need to take this downstairs and get back to work. Do you need anything before I go?”

  “Yes…” She paused for a second. Lily took that as her cue to leave. “Lily and Jacob are having people overnight and want us to… Kaylene wanted to know if you had a friend you could bring.”

  It didn't take long to see the tension between Kaylene and Jared. I’d only been around them full time for a month. “Is Jared going to be there?”

  Sasha batted her eyes up at me. “Yes, with a date.”

  I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I will ask SA Carson, but I can’t promise anything. It’s not my style to hook people up, but the man hasn’t left the office much.”

  “I owe you,” Sasha said.

  She didn’t owe me anything. There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for Sasha.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. “I need to go. Text me the details, and I can meet you at the Black’s house.”

  When I glanced down at my phone, it was homicide I needed to report to.

  13

  Sasha

  Brandon texted to say that he and SA Carson were running late and would meet Kaylene and me at Jacob and Lily’s house.

  For the first time in a month, I saw a genuine smile on Kaylene’s face. We had to run by her mom’s house before Lily’s to make sure the night nurse had everything she needed. When we arrived at the party, Jacob and his blond supermodel were already at the party. She came over and introduced herself, but her whiny voice scratched at my eardrums.

  She went on to tell us how much she and Jared were in love. It took everything in me not to deck the woman. With each word she said, I saw the tears forming in Kaylene’s eyes.

  “It’s really nice to meet you, Candy,” I interrupted, “but we are going to go check to see if Lily needs help.”

  The blonde put her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand why Lily is cooking when she could just use Jacob’s money.”

  I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Luckily, Kaylene was still able to be polite and not punch the gold-digging blonde. “I’m sure she wanted to do something nice for her friends. Now, if you will excuse us, we want to go see if she needs help.”

  Jared caught my eyes, and I glared at my boss for bringing the bitch to the party, but he didn’t know two could play his game. I just hoped the guy Brandon brought was good looking. I didn’t even care if he was a nice guy. At this point, I wanted Kaylene to have the upper hand for once.

  Lily was standing in the large chef’s kitchen, stirring something over the stove while Tommy sat on the counter, rolling dough out and laughing at something Lily had said to him.

  “Hi, Sasha and K.” He struggled to say Kaylene, so he called her K.

  Lily turned and smiled at them. She put the spoon down on the counter and made her way across the kitchen, “I’m so glad you made it. I can’t believe Jared had the nerve to bring that bitch to my house.”

  “You said a bad word, Mom.”

  My friend turned to her son. “Yes, Mommy did. Sometimes Mommy swears, but you can’t until you’re old enough, okay?”

  Tommy pondered the statement for a few seconds, “Okay, mom, but you still need to put money in dad’s swear jar.”

  Shortly after Lily and Tommy moved in with Jacob, they’d started a swear jar to make Jacob stopping cussing so much. Now it seemed to have come back and bit Lily in the ass.

  Lily shook her head and walked back to the stove. “You know if I knew she was coming, I would have found someone for you to bring, Kaylene… Like that new engineer down in Research and Development.”

  I grabbed the bottle of wine on the counter and poured myself and Kaylene a glass.

  At that exact moment, Jacob walked into the kitchen. “Are you talking about that twenty-two-year-old again, honey?” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. “You’re going to start making me worry soon.”

  Lily swatted his arm. “Not for me. For Kaylene, because your oldest brother is a jackass.”

  Jacob turned and wrapped Kaylene and me in a hug. “I’m glad you are here. Sorry I didn’t know he was bringing her.”

  Kaylene waved her hand in the air. “I knew she was coming, Jared made me call and invite her. So, I hope you guys don’t mind that I might have a guest showing up.”

  Jacob shook his head. “I don’t even want to know what you planned. I’m going to walk back out into the living room and pretend I don’t know the person my brother loves brought a date to my house.”

  “Ha… ‘love’ my ass. Did you not see who he brought?”

  As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and Lily giggled in excitement before walking toward the door. In the living room, the three Black brothers stood talking to Brandon and the date he’d brought for Kaylene. My boyfriend knew how to pick them. The man next to Brandon stood a couple inches taller and had short hair. He pulled off his aviator glasses to show green eyes. He turned toward us as he smiled.

  “Damn,” Kaylene whispered under her breath.

  “Excuse me,” I heard him say in a deep Southern accent to the brothers before walking our way.

  “I owe Brandon,” Kaylene murmured.

  “Sorry I’m late, dear.” He wrapped his arms around Kaylene and pressed his lips to hers. At first, I watched my friend’s eyes widen in shock before she melted into the man.

  Brandon walked up next to me and slipped an arm around my waist. “I think he is having a little fun. I told him you wanted to make someone jealous, and he said he hadn’t been in a fight in a while.”

  The man pulled back and whispered something in Kaylene’s ear, then she giggled before nodding.

  “Sasha, this is Carson.” He held out his hand, and when I placed mine in his, he raised it to his mouth and kissed the back.

  I blinked, trying to hold in the laugh as Brandon growled next to me, “She’s mine.”

  The FBI agent winked at Brandon before turning back to the crowd. Everyone had stopped talking and was watching their every move.

  “Thank you for inviting me to your home, Lily and Jacob.”

  Jacob ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Jared before looking back at Carson. “What would you like to drink? We have beer, wine, and hard liquor.”

  “Soda or water will be fine. I’m waiting for some information to come in, so there’s a chance I will have to head back to work later.”

  “You could go now,” Jared remarked, and Jax elbowed him in the side, causing his brother to drop his beer.

  Carson turned toward Kaylene, “I don’t think your boss likes me very much.” He lowered his voice, “Are you sure you want me here?”

  Jared’s date walked back into the room as Jared went to grab a cloth. She turned to Lily. “Don’t you have a maid who can clean that up?”

  Jacob sent Jared a dirty look. “Dude.”

  “Stop being rude, Candy,” he growled as he knelt to wipe up the floor.

  Lily cleared her throat. “If you guys are hungry, I’m ready to serve dinner.”

  “I’m starving, and whatever she made smells so good, but not as good as you smell,” Brandon whispered into my ear as I followed him into the dining room.

  “Sit wherever you want,” Lily motioned at the large dining room table.

  Brandon, Carson, Kaylene, and I sat down, and Jared and Candy sat right across from
us.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t catch what you do, Carson,” Jared said then took a sip of beer.

  “I’m a special agent for the FBI.” He let out a sigh. “I work in the Behavioral Analyst Unit.”

  “I thought the BAU was based out of Washington. I didn’t know they have a division in Houston.”

  “They don’t.”

  Jared was itching for a fight. I knew where he was going with the train of thought, and it wasn’t the place. “Well, I’m happy you guys are getting to know each other.”

  “You never know what will happen,” Carson replied.

  “Well, Kaylene can’t leave here because of her mom. Do you plan to leave the FBI?”

  Carson rested his arms on the table. “That is a private conversation between my girlfriend and me. Not something we want to discuss at the dinner table.” Carson turned his attention to Lily. “I have to say this is some of the best gumbo I’ve ever had. It might even be better than my grandmother’s, but she would turn over in her grave knowing I said that out loud.”

  It was good, but I noticed Candy hadn’t touched it. Instead, she pushed her plate forward. Her loss.

  The conversation stayed on the lighter side. Jared didn’t say much other than grunt his answers and watch Kaylene across the table.

  Jax hadn’t spoken much through the night, but his question threw me off guard. “Are you working the HIS case, Brandon.”

  Brandon tensed next to me. “As much as I can.”

  “I suppose having Fredrick Langley as your dad helps give insight into how a killer thinks.”

  My ears rang. Everything around me went away. I hadn’t heard the serial killer's name out loud in many years. Now I was sitting next to the son of the man who’d killed my dad.

  I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, Brandon was watching my every move. “Your dad is the Street Cleaner?” I asked.

  I wanted him to tell me straight. He’d had the opportunity to tell me when I saw the picture of my father in his folder. It was dumb of me not to ask more questions then. Instead, I was so caught up in Brandon I hadn’t asked. I know he mentioned going to the prison to visit his dad for insight. I never imagined his dad was the one who’d killed my father.