She opened a bottle of water and took a large gulp before answering. “I think Katherine’s trying to frame me for my dad’s murder. I figure we’ve both got reason to prove our innocence. So, let’s find out who the real killer is. If it’s Katherine, great. If not…” She shrugged.
“I think we both know it’s her.” He crossed his arms. “Who else could it be?’
“I don’t know.” She frowned. “But I’m trying to keep an open mind. Katherine’s crafty though. If she did do it, anything could be a clue.”
They settled on the overstuffed sofa in her living room—each on opposite ends—to concoct a plan of action.
Chase took off his denim jacket and draped it over the back of a nearby chair and decided to address the elephant in the room first. Walking on eggshells wasn’t his specialty. Not anymore. “Listen, before we get started, you understand if we work together we’ll need to get along. And you’ll have to trust me.”
“That works both ways.” She watched him over the rim of her bottle. “I’m game if you are.”
He was game as hell—for a lot more than that, if truth be told—but it was a start. “Good. Fine. Okay.” He scooted back into the corner of the sofa. “What have you done so far?”
“Other than checking my dad’s office the other day? Nothing.”
“Hmm.” Chase crossed his arms. “Blake told me the other night your father had secret security cameras installed in his office. Feeds he didn’t share with anyone. Blake said he’d tried to talk him out of it, in case of a break in, but Warren wouldn’t budge.”
“I believe it.” Shelby snorted. “My dad’s line of work had him dealing with less than savory characters sometimes. I didn’t approve and was worried about him, but he always told me he had it under control.”
“Right.” Intrigued, Chase wanted to know more, but her troubled expression told him not to push. Not yet. They’d be spending a lot of time together over the days ahead. There'd be time for asking those questions later. Time for other things too, with any luck. His body tightened once more at the thought. He forced his mind back to the task at hand. “Well, if we can access those feeds, there’s a good chance the real murderer is on them. Any idea where they might be?”
“Nope. We should probably check Katherine’s condo too. And the Rockford Security feeds. Maybe we can find something there.”
“I can handle getting us access to the Rockford feeds, no problem. Katherine’s condo though.” He scrunched his nose. “I’d be thrilled if I never set eyes on that place again.”
“Too bad.” Shelby grinned and nudged him with her foot. “We’re a team, remember? Fifty-fifty or it’s a no-go.”
Resigned, he placed a hand over her foot and kept it close. “Fine. But I won’t like it.”
“Neither will I, trust me.”
“I do.” He smiled at her, realizing for the first time in a long time, it was true. With her soft curls tousled and her pink lips wet and her guard down, he wanted to kiss her again about as bad as he wanted another second of life. But the time wasn’t right. He released her foot. “I’ll ask Blake for access to the footage from the casino floor too. There could be something the cops missed on there. I can probably look at them tomorrow, if he’s okay with it.”
“Great. What time should I meet you in the morning?” She straightened and set her water on a nearby coffee table. “And where are the offices again?”
“If you’re busy at the shelter, you don’t have to be there.”
“Like hell I don’t. You’re not going to do this alone. If we’re in this together, I’m going with you. Besides, two sets of eyes are better than one, right?”
“Right.” He rattled off the address for Rockford Security. “It’ll need to be early, say around seven, since IT will get swamped later with the regular daily feeds.”
“No problem. Seven works great for me, actually. I can go there before I hit the shelter for the day.”
A series of meows issued from beneath the sofa, followed by two cats emerging then jumping up on Chase’s lap. One was smoky gray and his angry face would’ve given Grumpy Cat a run for his money. The other was an orange and white tabby. Both snuggled up to Chase’s sides like he was their favorite cardboard box. Frowning, he held his arms up and stared down at the newly purring creatures. “Uh…”
Shelby laughed. “You do have a way with animals, don’t you?”
“Apparently.”
She reached over and picked up the tabby, putting it on her lap and stroking its head. “So, I guess we have a plan.”
“Yep.” Chase tried to lower his arm and received a warning hiss from Cranky Kitty. “Hey, I’ve been thinking a lot about those animals earlier at the shelter. I still think I’d like to adopt one for my boss, if that’s okay.”
“Like I said, we have procedures to go through, but.” Shelby kissed the tabby’s nose then smiled at Chase. “I guess I could make an exception for you.”
“Good.”
“I can stop by the shelter and bring the kitten with me in the morning, if you want.”
“Oh.” Chase placed his raised hand behind his head. “Um, actually I was thinking of the other one now. The iguana?”
“Henry, you mean?”
“Yeah. Henry.”
“Sure.” Shelby stood and Chase followed suit. “I’ve been trying to place him for months, so this is good. I’ll bring him with me tomorrow. What made you change your mind?”
Chase tugged on his jacket and headed for the door. “He seems sort of broody and opinionated, kind of like my boss. Not to mention that head jumping trick.” Chase snickered. “Blake’ll love that.”
Ten
Shelby stood outside the Rockford Security offices bright and early the next morning. Okay. Maybe more on the early side than bright, but still. She clutched Henry’s leash tighter in her hand as a group of tourists passed by and snapped photos of the crazy lady with the iguana on her shoulder.
Henry didn’t seem at all fazed by the attention, his tiny claws clutched tight to the soft cotton of her pink T-shirt, and his tongue flicking out occasionally to tickle her ear. Shelby sighed and glanced sideways at him. “Where is Chase, huh?”
She checked her watch again and shifted weight from one foot to the other. Technically, she was still a few minutes early. Maybe he’d already gone inside without her. Standing out in the open like this made her feel too vulnerable. Made her feel like Katherine might be watching her with a pair of binoculars, searching for more ways to screw up Shelby’s life.
As if on cue, a bus swerved to the curb near the corner, exhaust belching as the doors screeched open and several passengers exited. One man was particularly drool-worthy. Tall, muscles for days, dark hair, and stormy gray eyes. She swallowed hard as Chase waved and headed in her direction.
No wonder Katherine had tried to seduce him.
Tried, but not succeeded. Shelby was convinced Chase was telling the truth about that. Chase had been with Katherine the night her father died, but he hadn't been in the condo long enough for much to happen. She'd checked with the driver and then compared that to the time on the surveillance tape that showed Chase running out. Barely enough time even for a quickie and Katherine would certainly want to take her time with someone as hot as Chase.
Her stomach lurched at the idea of Chase and Katherine—or any woman for that matter—together and unexpected envy pinched her heart. Shelby inhaled sharply and scowled. What was up with that? It wasn’t like she wanted him for herself.
Do I?
“Hey,” Chase said, coming up beside her. “I see you brought our friend.”
“Yep.” Her tone sounded overly chipper, but she didn’t care. She passed him Henry’s leash and their fingers brushed, causing an involuntary shudder to run through her. He met her gaze and she saw a tiny flicker of heat there before she looked away fast. The iguana jumped to Chase’s shoulder and she hurried inside before she did something stupid, like tackle him to the wall and kiss him silly
. “We should get upstairs.”
“Sure.” He followed behind her, his expression amused as he cooed to the lizard now cuddled up to the side of his neck. They caught the elevator and took the short ride to the fifth floor where Chase said the IT offices were located. “How are you feeling this morning?”
Shelby gave him some side eye before answering. “Are you asking me or Henry?”
Chase chuckled. “Both.”
“I’m good, thanks. And Henry’s his usual charming self.”
“Awesome.” The doors dinged open and he escorted her to the IT front desk, his hand resting warm and comfortable on her lower back. His heat scorched through her T-shirt and sent tingles racing up her spine as a short guy with a messy flop of brown hair approached them.
“Hi, can I help you?” the guy asked. His name tag read Brandon.
“Hey, man.” Chase gave the guy a friendly handshake. “Blake sent us to see some security footage.”
“Oh, right. What time is it?” Brandon rubbed his eyes.
“Seven a.m.,” Shelby answered, smiling.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” Chase pointed at the nearby wall clock. “Says so right there.”
Brandon held out his hand to Shelby. “Brandon Sterling.”
“Shelby Bryant.”
He winced slightly, pink coloring his cheek. “Oh, right. Sorry to hear about your father.”
“Thanks.”
He escorted them back to his cubicle and took a seat behind his computer, typing in a few commands before stretching his arms above his head. “Should take just a second for the feeds to load.” He looked over at Shelby, his dark gaze narrowed. “Shouldn’t you be with one of the VIPs rather than this guy?” He looked at Chase then back to her again. “Not that Chase here isn’t a good guy, and I can see him not wanting one of the Rockfords to steal you away, but—”
Chase stepped closer to the guy’s chair, hands clenched. “Just bring up the footage, please. Blake said we could look at everything—the casino floor, the lobby and hallway, Bryant’s office.”
Confused, Shelby glanced at Chase. Her dad did indeed have special cameras in his office, she doubted he’d store the feeds on the Rockford servers. Then again, Chase might’ve found out something new and hadn’t had a chance to tell her yet.
Brandon, however, cut that dream short. “Nope. None of our cameras in the big guy’s office.”
“Damn. Okay.” Chase caught Shelby’s eye and winked conspiratorially. “Just show us what you do have then.”
“Grab another chair and pull it over, man.” Brandon stood and gestured for Shelby to take his seat then pointed to an empty cubicle across from his. “This could take a while for you guys and I’m heading home.”
Shelby sank into his chair, nervous flutters filling her gut. “You’re not staying?”
Being alone with Chase shouldn’t bother her. They’d been alone together last night and nothing had happened. Then again, they’d had Steph with them at the shelter and look what had occurred. Guess it didn’t matter either way. And Henry would be there. Not that he would stop anything, but at least she felt like she had an ally.
Chase wheeled another chair over and took a seat to the side and slightly behind her, his warmth both comforting and disturbing as hell. “So what do we push?”
“This key is Play. This one is Fast Forward, this one Reverse.” Brandon pointed to the keyboard in front of Shelby. “And this one here is Pause.” He grabbed his jacket from a hook on the cubicle wall then backed away slowly. “All right kids. Try not to have too much fun without me.”
Once he’d gone, Shelby glanced over her shoulder at Chase. They stared at each other for a moment while Henry scampered down from Chase’s shoulder and made himself at home on top of the nearby computer tower, apparently basking in the heat it generated. Given the way the air practically sizzled between her and Chase, that damned computer wasn’t the only thing getting hot.
“We, uh, should probably get started.” Chase leaned in closer and hit Play.
“Yeah.” Shelby swallowed hard and did her best to concentrate on the video on the screen and not the way Chase’s arm brushed against hers every so often. The time stamp in the corner of the feed showed the day of her dad’s murder and soon Chase’s infamous exit from the elevator appeared on screen, followed by several minutes of nothing, until they fast-forwarded through to when the police arrived on the scene.
“Let’s switch to the condo footage instead.” Chase pointed to one of the other keys. Shelby clicked it, then flinched when Katherine’s face popped up. She resisted the urge to squirm in her chair—now she'd see what had really happened with Chase and Katherine.
Shelby concentrated on the computer monitor. Katherine walked into the living room of the condo with Chase trailing behind, loaded down with bags and boxes. Katherine pointed to a chaise lounge across the room then disappeared into the bedroom. A moment later, Chase followed. Within minutes, he bolted from the room again, fiddling with the fly of his pants.
As if sensing her surprise, Chase leaned in close and whispered. “I did not sleep with her.”
“Of course not,” she said, her tone snarky. She knew she was being bitchy, but was too rattled to care. Chase had denied anything happened, but clearly something must have in order for his pants to be undone. “You were just zipping up your pants for some other reason.”
“She cornered me. I was trying to fend her off and still keep my job. By the time I got away, she’d taken off my belt and was working on my pants, but thankfully nothing else happened. Besides, you can see by the timestamp I was only in there a few minutes.”
“And a few minutes isn’t enough time for sex?”
Chase gave her a sly grin. “Not with me, baby.”
Damn. She’d walked right into that one. Cheeks heated, she looked away fast.
After several awkward moments, Chase sighed. “Look, don’t you think it’s kind of weird that your father had a security camera in his living room, though?”
“Not really.” Shelby crossed her arms to hide her rock hard nipples. The thought of long, rough, hot sex with Chase had gotten her all kinds of fired up. Not that she’d had far to go anyway with him around more and more. “He used to have meetings at the condo sometimes. Things he wanted to tape. You can turn it off pretty easily.”
“Did Katherine know that?”
“Of course.”
“Hmm.” Chase frowned and rubbed his hand over his jaw. “And yet she didn’t. Even when she was trying to get me into her bedroom.”
“Yeah,” Shelby said, swiveling toward him and picking up on his train of thought. “It’s almost like she wanted to get caught or something.”
They ran the tape back and watched it again. After his onscreen-self stormed out of the condo, Chase reached past her to stop the feed. Tense, he pointed toward a corner of the screen near the hallway where a shadow appeared, then vanished in the blink of an eye. “Did you see that?”
“Yeah, but it was awfully fast. It could have been anything.”
“Like hell.” He hit Rewind for a few seconds then replayed the end again. The shadow blipped on screen, then gone. Same as before. After that the feed went black, the camera off. “Shit.”
“Let’s keep looking.” Shelby shooed his hands away and clicked on the next feed. “Maybe Katherine met with the killer some time earlier in the week.”
“Fine with me. That gives me a rock solid alibi. Early in the week, I was still a resident of Cell Block C, baby.”
She clicked Play then sat back. This video showed Shelby and her dad. From their wild gestures and angry expressions, she and Dad were obviously fighting again. Most likely over money. She reached out to fast forward through it, sorrow constricting her chest.
Chase stopped her, taking her hand in his. “Wait. What’s this?”
“Nothing. It was a stupid fight. We made up the next day.”
“Well, that nothing was caught on tape, an
d it won’t do you any good when the police get their hands on it.”
Dread bubbled thick in her veins. He was right. This would play right into Katherine’s hand. And speaking of Katherine, the feed looped back to her condo again, showing her stepmother trying to hide what appeared to be an envelope full of money in a drawer in one of the living room tables.
“What the hell?” Shelby glanced from the screen to Chase.
“Maybe we do need to check out Katherine’s condo again.”
“Maybe.” She replayed that section of feed again, paying attention to exactly where her step-monster had stashed the evidence. “We’ll need to wait until nightfall. Katherine only goes out during the day to shop or get her nails or hair done. But she always goes down to the casino at night, then sometimes out on the town. We can sneak in there while she’s away.”
Chase nodded, tilting his head toward the screen. “Anymore tapes? Wouldn’t want to miss anything.”
They watched about twenty more minutes before a gorgeous woman in a designer power suit interrupted them. Her green gaze darted from Chase to Shelby then back again, her smile sly. “Figured I’d find you here. Guess Blake’s little scheme worked, eh?”
Crimson dotted Chase’s high cheekbones.
“What scheme?” Shelby asked, confused. Unsure how to proceed, she introduced herself. “And, um, I’m Shelby. Shelby Bryant.”
“Olivia Rockford.” They shook hands. “And please call me Liv. Everyone does. I bet my brother is playing matchmaker again. He’s trying to hook you guys up.”
“Please,” Chase said, his gray eyes wary. “It’s not like that.”
Shelby shook her head, disturbed at how ridiculously giddy the thought of being 'hooked up' with Chase made her feel. “Really. We’re not ‘hooked up’.”
Liv tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder and narrowed her gaze. “What are you both doing here then?”
“Work.” Chase pointed at the computer screen. “We’re working.”
Liv leaned in and squinted at the security feeds, then Chase. “That’s not work. You’ve been pulled off of the Lucky Ace detail. I signed off on the paperwork myself. You know, as your new boss.”
Treacherous Seduction (The Rockford Security Series Book 3) Page 8