“How isn’t as important as when,” Nikki answered. She looked at Kelli when she continued. “After the fire, I kept our contract open and tabs on you until it was ruled Darwin McGregor was behind it. I also kept an eye on those who were closest to the case. Nothing suspicious happened with any of the people I was watching.”
“The people?” Kelli asked.
Nikki paused and for a moment looked apologetic.
“Your friend Lynn, Victor’s friends at the various publications he had worked with, even the last of his family—the two cousins in Denmark, Dennis and the Bowman Foundation themselves.”
That surprised Mark.
“You looked into the Bowman Foundation?”
“Yes, but a cursory look that suggested they were what they said they were. Nothing more, nothing less. Dennis also appeared to act normal, considering everything.” She didn’t have to pause for dramatic effect. Mark was already reeled in. “Until right after the trial, when he made a few uncharacteristic choices.” She held up three fingers. “First, he hired a realtor in Florida.”
“He was going to move?” Kelli’s eyes widened.
“As far as I can tell, he never went out there,” Nikki cut in. She held up two fingers. “Instead, two, he retired from the Scale—in my opinion—a few years too early. And then, three, right before he went quiet, he gave a sizable contribution to a national charity organization, namely not the Bowman Foundation.”
Mark rubbed a hand across his clean-shaven jaw. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Sounds like we’ve got another Darwin McGregor thing going on,” he observed. Nikki gave him a questioning look.
“Darwin McGregor thing?”
“We think he was paid to accept the fall for someone so his grandmother would be taken care of,” Kelli said.
“And it sounds like someone else might have been paid off,” he observed. “Right after the trial, almost moving, retiring early and giving money to charity?”
“Or maybe it’s a sign of something else?” Nikki offered.
“Surely that can’t be a coincidence?” he said, mind already set on his theory. “Having two people making choices that dramatically change their lives, all surrounding the fire? They both seem guilty of being connected.”
Nikki raised her index finger. “Connected, yes, but who’s to say Dennis was behind it all?”
Mark tilted his head toward Kelli to see what she was thinking. A storm of thought was brewing just behind her eyes. He could have looked into them for hours and never lost interest. So beautiful.
He blinked and tore his gaze away. Now wasn’t the time to realize he was much more attracted to the woman he was trying to help than he would have liked to admit. He needed to focus. He needed to keep her safe.
“Listen, I’m not suggesting Dennis Crawford isn’t guilty,” Nikki added before Kelli could voice any thoughts. “But I am trying to put myself into his shoes. Dennis is the kind of man who loves to work—loves his job so much it’s become every facet of his life. He isn’t married, has no kids and probably is low on friends. Why? He’s always had his nose to the grindstone. He didn’t earn his position at the Scale. He fought to get there. Then, all of a sudden, he’s not only quitting but also trying to move away? That—to me—sounds like a man running from something.”
“So, what are you getting at?” Mark asked, knowing her calculations had a bottom line.
“That maybe Dennis Crawford is a victim, not a perpetrator.”
Another silence took over their group.
“While you mull that over, I need to check in on a contract.” Nikki took her bowl to the sink and stepped out into the hallway, phone already to her ear. She shut the door behind her, leaving the two of them together with their thoughts.
“She’s right,” Kelli admitted after a moment. “Dennis could be just another victim of whatever is going on. But what the hell is going on?” Kelli’s eyes cut to Grace, hoping the girl hadn’t heard her word choice. Grace didn’t even realize they were still in the room. “Whether or not Dennis is a victim doesn’t change the fact that he knows something.”
“Then we need to figure out what that something is.” Mark stood and held out his hand to her. He lifted her to her feet. Suddenly they were close. A breath or two away from each other, hand in hand. Every part of Mark seemed to awaken at the contact. It made the job of his past bringing him back to reality—pointing out that he didn’t deserve to be with Kelli, of all people—harder than it ever had been before. Mark dropped their hands and took a small step back. “So why don’t we just ask Dennis tomorrow?”
Kelli’s eyes widened, but she nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me!”
Talk about Dennis, the fire and anything else relating to the two died down. Kelli and Mark did the dishes, and Nikki came back inside and supervised while finishing her beer. Grace became bored with whatever cartoon was on and started to fuss. She rubbed her eyes with two tiny fists.
“That’s my cue to leave,” Kelli said after calming the girl down. “Someone didn’t get a nap, thanks to Aunt Lynn’s love of torturing me.”
“She’s not the only one tired,” Nikki said with a yawn. “Not everyone was able to take a generous nap today.” She cut a look to Mark, and the three of them laughed.
“Hey, does it count if it was an accident?” he asked.
Nikki shook her head. “You sleeping doesn’t make me any less tired.” She turned to Kelli, who was packing up Grace’s bag. “Speaking of sleep, Thomas is refreshed and ready to go. If you’re still okay with it, he can switch out with Jonathan for the night.”
Kelli nodded and smiled at Mark’s confusion.
“When you were out, we talked about how it might be a good idea to give Jonathan and you a bit of a break. Orion Agent Thomas comes highly recommended and has said he’s more than happy to help. So, before you offer to come watch the house, let me stop you and suggest you get more than a nap tonight. Tomorrow’s a big day. We need to be well rested. Or as close to it as we can be.”
Mark wanted to argue—he should be watching over her, not everyone else—but realized that want was partly selfish. He knew Thomas was a capable agent and trusted the man just as Nikki did.
“And to entice you further to get some rest, I’ll follow you home, just in case,” Nikki told Kelli. “It’s on my way.”
Kelli smiled. “Works for me!”
And just like that, the three of them went back to their own little worlds, leaving Mark alone in his apartment.
“You sure had a full house,” Craig, the neighbor, said as Mark watched the three ladies get into the elevator at the end of the hall. He had a bag of trash hung over his shoulder, on the way to the disposal. It was probably the first time since Craig had moved in that he’d seen that many people leave.
“Just helping some friends,” Mark hedged, though he didn’t know why he was skipping around the truth. Nikki was definitely considered a friend—an estranged one of late, but once a great friend. Kelli? They had picked back up on an acquaintanceship and found a mutual trust as they worked toward a goal. Did that count as friendship or just two lost people looking for light at the end of the same tunnel?
As Mark went back into his apartment and looked around at its emptiness, he knew one thing for certain.
He was no longer happy with his isolation.
* * *
KELLI HELD THE two coffees in her hands as if they were anchors keeping her grounded. Not physically, of course. Her legs were moving at a good pace as she walked down a hallway that was becoming rapidly familiar. But emotionally, she imagined the coffees came with strings that attached to the feelings that she might or might not have been having for the ex-bodyguard, and the invisible anchors made to keep them out of sight and mind.
Because having feelings—any kin
d of feelings—for the man helping you bring justice to your murdered husband was just plain complicated.
So when she knocked on Mark’s apartment door the next morning, she was trying to focus on the warmth of each cup of joe against her skin instead of the fluttering feeling of excitement that she got knowing she was about to see the man.
“Good morning,” she almost sang when the door opened after the second knock. It was a little too enthusiastic a greeting. She felt her face heat slightly. Mark, bless him, didn’t even look surprised. Unlike the first time she’d come over unannounced, he was fully clothed. Another fun realization for Kelli: she was a little disappointed at that fact.
“I was wondering when you’d come around,” Mark said in return, humor clear in his voice. He smiled and made a grand sweeping gesture into the apartment. “Though how you got in again, I’m not so sure.”
“Your building is very friendly,” she admitted. “How’d you know I’d come around again?”
He laughed and tapped his temple.
“I’ve picked up on your routine,” he said. “The last few days, you’ve ended up here, so it was only a matter of time. Though I have to say I hadn’t foreseen the coffee.” His eyes seem to brighten as he took in the cups. “It would be a massive understatement to say that you were lucky to find anything in my pantry last night. I haven’t been shopping in a week or two. That means no coffee, and I could really use it right now.”
Kelli handed him a cup and was pleased at the smile that continued to spread across his face because of it. “You mean you didn’t get enough sleep last night? Even with your unexpected yet well-deserved nap?”
“I couldn’t sleep that well after everyone left.” He shrugged. “I guess it was too quiet.”
Instead of walking straight to the couch, Kelli took up residence at one of the kitchen bar stools. She tried not to feel the pull on her heartstrings at Mark’s subtle admission that he might have missed them after they’d gone the night before. It made her believe her theory that maybe he was lonely after all.
She wanted to catch the culprit behind Victor’s death not just for her family’s justice but also, in some way, for Mark. The more time she spent with him, the clearer it became that he, too, had suffered.
“So, I’m guessing Jonathan is back with Grace and Lynn?”
Kelli nodded. “He came to relieve Thomas, who agreed to followed me over here on his way home,” she answered. She had waved goodbye to the Orion agent through the lobby window before he’d even started to drive away. “You Orion guys sure are polite.”
“I definitely can vouch for Jonathan and Thomas. Nikki trusts them, and so do I.”
“And I trust you,” Kelli admitted. It earned her an appreciative look.
Which darkened immediately.
It evoked another feeling she was trying to ignore—deep concern for the man in front of her. She took a sip of coffee and readjusted her focus.
“Okay, so, tonight’s goal is to corner Dennis Crawford and get some answers,” she started.
“When you say it like that, it sounds so simple.”
“It may be a simpler goal to meet than the other one.”
“The other one?” His eyebrow rose in perfect unison with his question. The small gesture pointed out, once again, how handsome the man was. She cleared her throat.
“To get fancy, of course.”
His face blanked, and it actually made her laugh.
“You’d prefer cornering a man to dressing up, wouldn’t you?” She already knew the answer. “And that’s why I’m here. Do you have anything fancy you’d be comfortable wearing tonight? I looked up pictures from last year’s dinner.” She pulled up a photo on her phone and handed it over. “Just like their building, they sure don’t hesitate in being upscale.”
Mark’s face pinched at the group picture of men wearing tuxes and women in dresses that probably each cost more than Kelli’s car.
“I have a tux,” he ground out, clearly unhappy. “But I haven’t worn it in a while. I don’t know if it fits.”
Kelli clapped her hands. “Then let’s see!”
Mark eyed her skeptically. “You came over here hoping for a movie-makeover montage, didn’t you?”
“I came over here because Lynn said she could have Pretty Princess Day with Grace at her house while I saw to some errands. And you don’t question when the babysitter volunteers. Though, yes, I did come over with this in mind,” she admitted with a grin. “I guess Pretty Princess Day includes you, now, too.”
Mark rolled his eyes skyward before shuffling back to his room, defeated. She’d already pegged him as a man who didn’t take pleasure in any high-society conventions. Not that she did, either. Her thoughts slid to Victor and then his late mother. Claire had loved being a socialite. She’d attended many formal parties and events with Victor’s father and then Victor with a smile on her face and happiness in her heart. Victor had told Kelli it was the confidence that she felt only when being dressed up with a purpose that had made Claire love it all.
It was a feeling Claire had tried to pass to her daughter-in-law. Before Kelli and Victor were even engaged, she’d bought Kelli a gorgeous gown so she could feel as beautiful as Claire did. She’d gotten sick and passed away before she’d ever seen Kelli wear it. Now the dress was boxed up and waiting for Kelli at the house, begging to be worn.
She only hoped she could do it the justice she should have done it years ago.
Waiting with her cup of coffee, Kelli let her thoughts do their own thing. Minutes went by before the bedroom door opened again. Kelli nearly dropped her cup. Turning without mentally preparing for what she saw next wasn’t the best plan.
The mental anchors that held the strings attached to her off-limits growing feelings for the ex-bodyguard dissolved.
The tux did indeed fit.
And boy, did it fit well.
Chapter Fourteen
“That bad, huh?” Mark asked when Kelli couldn’t seem to make her words work. She slipped off her stool with no amount of grace and resisted the urge to clear her throat.
Calm down, Kel! He’s just a good-looking man in a good-looking suit!
“Bad? No,” she exclaimed with a lot more enthusiasm than she was trying to convey. Her face burned, and she just hoped the dreary day outside helped hide the color that was surely painting her cheeks. “It’s no Pretty Princess Day dress, but it definitely works.”
The tux was a classic black one, tailored to his body type. It perfectly highlighted his broad shoulders while presenting his muscles in a way that wasn’t showy or vulgar. It made the man beneath the clothes go from handsome to downright sexy.
Kelli hadn’t thought she’d ever find a man who made her feel this way again.
Yet here he was, fumbling with his tie, unaware of just how wonderful he looked.
“Here, let me,” she said, walking over and taking hold of the open tie.
“Try and tell me you aren’t surprised at the fact that I don’t have a clip-on,” he joked as she took both sides of the tie in her hands.
“I plead the Fifth.”
Being so close to him wasn’t helping her current frame of mind. She could smell his aftershave— something sharp yet pleasing—without even trying. Her hands bumped against the solidness of his chest.
“So, do you have an outfit picked out for this shindig already?” he asked, eyes straight forward.
“Yes, but it’s at the house. I also haven’t tried it on since before Grace, so there’s no telling how it will actually look.”
“I’m sure you’ll look great.”
Kelli smiled at the compliment.
“We’ll see. I still need to swing by there to check the job the window guy did on the office. I’m sure the new owners wouldn’t like it if I left the
house in bad condition.” She paused, and a surge of excitement flooded through her. “Hey! Would you like to see my house?”
Mark raised his brow.
“I have?” he said uncertainly.
She laughed. “No, I mean, my house. The new one! Granted, it definitely isn’t as big or nice, but I like to think it’s cute and cozy.” An odd look crossed the man’s face as she finished. One that wasn’t wholly bad but gave her pause. Had she overstepped a boundary? She pinned her gaze on finishing his tie. “You don’t have to,” she added quickly. “It has nothing to do with Dennis or the fire or anything like that. I just—” She managed a quick look up into his eyes. Their even stare pulled the truth right out from between her lips. “I wanted to share my happiness.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “Sounds cheesy now that I say it.”
The corner of Mark’s lips lifted up. He took her hands, paused in midair and gave them a small squeeze.
“I think we both could do with more happiness in our lives.” His voice dipped low as he said it, almost into a whisper. Kelli’s mind jumped around as she wondered about the meaning behind his words coupled with the warmth of his skin against hers. Maybe it was her imagination wanting something she probably shouldn’t have, but Mark seemed to be moving closer. Changing an already established connection to mean more.
Kelli tilted her head, angling her lips to what she wanted to be so much more than a simple kiss.
But reality decided it wasn’t meant to be.
Mark dropped her hands and stepped back. Just like he’d done the night before.
She hoped she hid her hurt.
“Let me get back into some real clothes, and we can head out,” he said, voice back to normal. The smile, however, was gone.
Maybe Kelli was just reading into his words.
* * *
HER NEW HOME was in Lake Dallas, a charming suburb that was a lot more affordable than some of the others she’d seen, and cute as cute could be. In relation to Lynn’s town house, it was about a twenty-minute drive with no traffic—another reason Kelli had loved the location—but it was a good deal farther from Mark’s apartment.
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