“I know someone is trying to frame Wade Maxium. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“I know Wade was trying to be clever when he hired you, but I don’t work under the same rules he does. He wants you to be on a need-to-know basis, and I think there are details you might not need to know but sure as hell could help you. Someone isn’t trying to frame Wade. The crime that is being alluded to in these hidden boxes really happened. Wade, along with me and a few others—we’re all complicit. I don’t feel comfortable naming names, but this was committed a very long time ago, and now somebody is trying to bring that crime to light.”
Lucas took a seat on the bed. His leather jacket crinkled with the motion. “What kind of crime, exactly?”
“Murder.” She debated ending it there. She’d already told him much more than Wade would ever feel comfortable with, but she forced herself to continue. “One of our friends beat Wade’s father to death. It wasn’t an accident and it wasn’t self-defense, but trust me when I tell you, his father deserved it. Wade and I helped to cover up the murder, because Wade’s dad was an asshole. The police didn’t look too far into the death. It was an open-and-shut case that ruined a lot of friendships and tore our lives apart, but at least it was in the past. Now, something’s changed.”
“What’s different now?” asked Lucas.
“Fuck if I know. Someone is damn intent on bringing Wade down for murder, but for some reason they’re not going to the police themselves. If we can figure out why they don’t want to be found, we might figure out who’s doing this.”
“The logic works, but what makes you think it would be any easier to find that out than the person’s identity in the first place?”
“I have no idea.” In all honesty, Harper was at a bit of a loss. Her main goal had been to get any remaining boxes out of those woods as quick as possible. The whole thing was kind of pointless if she couldn’t figure out who was planting them in the first place. The paper wasn’t any type of stationery that could be traced. The boxes themselves were pretty nondescript and didn’t give much to go off of. Unless she could get prints off them, she might be at a dead end.
“Do you have any suspects so far?” asked Lucas.
“You’re the investigator. Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”
“We’re partners now,” he corrected. “We should be asking each other.”
“Okay then, partner. Who's your main suspect?"
“My main suspect is Tara. Isn’t she yours too?”
Harper’s lips tightened at the mention of Wade’s ex-girlfriend. “I admit the thought crossed my mind.”
“Come on. Ex-girlfriend goes crazy, kidnaps her ex’s current girlfriend in order to ransom her off for money. The whole thing sounds crazy. About as crazy as someone planting murder boxes in the woods.”
“That all sounds pretty circumstantial,” she pointed out.
“I’m not a prosecutor. I don’t have to prove things beyond reasonable doubt. I just have to prove doubt. This girl Tara—she gives me doubts.”
“I don’t like Tara either, but Wade insists that he never told her anything. How could she frame him with information she doesn’t know?”
“Hey, I believe him when he says he doesn’t remember telling her anything. But he was with her for over a year. Who knows how many drunk rants he went on in front of her, or how many times those traumatic memories came up in his dreams, in which he may or may not have spoken out loud innocently. Let’s face it, your buddy might be an unreliable narrator in this case.”
“Still, he’s not going to accept that it’s Tara unless we give him some hard facts. Beyond a reasonable doubt type of facts.”
“All right. If you want to play policeman on this, we can. Let’s get all of the boxes together that we have. We can take them to the station to get dusted for prints.”
“We can’t take them to the police here,” she pointed out.
“Why not? You have a history with the Birdsville Police Department you don’t want me knowing about?”
“Oh, trust me, I’m clean as a whistle." At least she had been ever since her hell raising days. As much as the police might not like her, they wouldn't arrest her. However Lucas didn't need to know those details about her past quite yet... " But I don’t want the police recognizing the boxes if we bring them in. We still don’t know if someone’s found one and gone to the cops about it yet. We need to keep this far away from Birdsville.”
“All right. Fair point. Tomorrow morning we’ll scan the woods once more and then I’ll call one of my contacts in the police force and have them run prints.”
“Sounds good. You can take the west side and I’ll take the east side.”
“Come on. What’s the point of being partners if we don’t actually work together? I’ll meet you here at eight a.m. and we’ll check out the woods together.”
“That’s ridiculous. Why spend twice the time we need to?”
“Because I don’t want to miss anything. Do you think Wade just wants me working with you to babysit you? He doesn’t trust either of us to get this done. Now, if we fail at this, you might lose a little face but that’s about it. If I don’t finish this job, I’ll lose a hell of a lot more than that. So if the very, very rich billionaire paying my bills wants me to work closely with you, I’m gonna wrap myself around you even tighter than that towel is right now.”
Instinctively, Harper wrapped her arms around herself, holding the towel tighter before she realized what she was doing. “I hardly think that’s necessary.”
“Well, that’s the thing. Wade hired me because he knows I go above and beyond what’s asked of me. I guess you could call me an overachiever.”
“Of all the things I could think to call you, overachiever isn’t even close to the top of my list.”
“Then obviously you haven’t talked to any of my ex-girlfriends.”
Lucas took a deep drink of his coffee as a rumbling noise broke through the peaceful ambiance of the park surrounding him. He looked over to see an all-too-familiar silhouette on a black sports bike drive up and come to a stop next to him. Even with the dark helmet that concealed her face, the leather jacket, gloves, and jeans, he already recognized that body. He probably should be surprised that she drove a bike, but he really wasn’t. It all just seemed to make sense. Of course she was on a motorcycle. Now he couldn’t imagine her driving any other vehicle.
“I see you like to make an entrance,” he said as she pulled the helmet off her head.
“It gets me where I need to go.” She hung the helmet up on one of the handlebars, then worked her gloves off. “Do you want to get looking for boxes, or do you want to keep judging my bike?”
Lucas raised a brow and took another drink of coffee. He was guessing Harper hadn’t had the luxury of a caffeine fix this morning, judging from her attitude. Not that she was usually known for being so pleasant. “I wasn’t judging your bike. I like it. Reminds me of the one I used to ride.”
All of a sudden, he’d piqued her interest. “You used to ride?”
“Yeah, a few years ago.”
“Why did you stop?”
“I had bills to pay and no money. I would’ve rather gotten rid of my car, but in my job, I have to drive clients around, lug camera equipment, and sometimes unsavory people I’d rather not have riding bitch with me. It just didn’t make sense to keep the bike.”
Harper looked at him, and for the briefest moment he saw her lips tighten and her brows furrow together. Nope. He wasn’t taking a single second of her pity. “But at least I drove a real bike.”
Poof, all pity was gone. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“You know. Black and chrome, V-twin engine, enough rumbling that people can hear me from a mile away. That fancy little thing you’ve got is more for show than riding.”
Harper opened her mouth and abruptly slammed it shut. She pointed an accusing finger at him. “You’re trying to piss me off. I thought you were trying to
play nice.”
“I want to get this job over with. And as of right now, we’re still not looking. So do you want to go first or should I?”
“Fine. If you want to get to work so badly, let’s go.”
Lucas shrugged and started into the woods. There was a clear path to walk through, so he didn’t have to worry too much about this being a strenuous hike. Besides, whoever was planting these boxes obviously wanted them to be found. They wouldn’t go too far off the beaten path, literally.
“So you still have money trouble?” asked Harper as the leaves crunched beneath her feet.
“Do we really want to get personal here?”
“I like to understand a person’s motives. Especially you coming out here and helping a man who very might well be a murderer. If you understand a person’s motives, you understand them and can better predict their behavior.”
“I’m not a suspect for you to analyze.”
“And I’m not a detective who thinks of people in terms of suspects. I locate hard-to-find people for a living. I take apart their lives, analyze every bit of information I can get my hands on, and then I figure out where they are.”
“So like a less gritty private detective. Or should I say, an easier private detective.”
“You just go ahead and think that,” she muttered.
He could tell he’d gotten to her even though she was trying to keep her cool.
But Harper wasn’t the only one trying to drum up some information. He had her alone for at least a little bit, so he might as well make the best of it. “So, have you seen your parents while you’re here?”
She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him. “Excuse me?”
“You know, your parents. You were born here, weren’t you? And from my research you ordered me to do, I know your parents are both alive and local. Did you even take a moment to visit them?”
“I think that clearly falls in the category of shit that’s not your business,” she said.
“All right, I see. That’s a touchy subject for you. Definitely gives me some insight into your motives.”
Harper set a hand on her hip. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“Aren’t you the one who explained it? Understand a person’s motives, and you understand them.”
“Please don’t try to psychoanalyze me.”
“Aw, come on. Do you want us to walk in silence this whole time?”
“Maybe. Besides, there’s a thing called small talk. Why can’t we just shoot the shit like normal people?”
“Normal people don’t shoot the shit. Normal people psychoanalyze each other all the time. You just get lulled in by the false sense of security that small talk gives you and let down your guard. I’m respecting you enough not to trick you like that.”
She let out a little snort. “What a gentleman. I can only imagine how nice you are on your many dates. I bet you always hold the door open for women and pull their chair out even as you’re trying to figure out if they’re going to let you up their skirts that night.”
“Oh no, I do my research ahead of time. Before I even go on a date, I know they’re going to lift up their skirts for me.”
From behind, he could see her shake her head in exasperation. “Are there really that many gullible women around for you to prey on?”
“Hey, hey, hey. You’re acting like they’re not getting anything out of being with me. I know how to show a girl a good time.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“Maybe, but I’ve got the burst eardrums, scratched back, and bite marks to prove it.”
Harper stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. “Does it bring you joy to know that you’re such a man whore?”
“I don’t think joy is the right word. Pleasure is definitely the right word. Besides, you can’t tell me that a girl as cute as you doesn’t date.”
“No, no, no, no, no. Don’t you turn this around on me and start flirting. I am not susceptible to your charms like the women you usually sleep with.”
“One—every woman, at least every straight one, is susceptible to my charm. Two—I wasn’t flirting. I was stating a fact. And if you’re one of those gorgeous women who like to tell men that you think you’re hideous, I will lose my shit.”
“Let’s go back to one. Are you telling me that any woman who isn’t attracted to you must be gay?”
“Statistically, that’s proved to be true.”
“What a self-absorbed, closed-off point of view. Anybody who doesn’t like your dick must not like dicks at all?”
“Hey, I call it like I see it.”
“You know, I bet most of those women who claim they’re gay are lying to you as a way to deal with your advances.”
“Ouch.” Lucas held his hand up over his heart. “You’re landing some harsh blows here.”
“I’m calling it like I see it.” She echoed his words. “Even if you’re everything you say you are, not every straight woman is going to be into the snake oil that you’re peddling.”
“What about you?”
Harper stopped again and turned around, putting her hands on her hips. “I thought you said you weren’t flirting with me.”
“I’m not flirting. I’m asking you directly. If you’re interested in getting to know each other a little bit... better.”
“No. I can safely say I’m not interested at all.”
Lucas knew he should leave it at that, but dammit if he wasn’t intrigued by a challenge. And the fact that he’d been staring at Harper’s perfect little jean-clad ass during this entire nature hike wasn’t helping anything. “What do you want to bet I could change your mind?”
Her brows shot up in amazement. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
He took another step closer. “What do you want to bet that by the time this little investigation thing is over, I’ll get between your legs? Multiple times.”
“You know, if you tell me your nefarious plan, it just makes me clench my thighs together all that much tighter.”
“Then I’ll have even more fun prying them apart.”
Harper could only stare wordlessly at the man in front of her. He couldn’t possibly be this cocky and this conceited to think any of his lines worked on her. She might have been brought up here, but she was no small-town girl. She’d been hit on and turned down some of the best of the best. What the hell made him think that he could just show up out of the blue and start talking to her like this?
She opened her mouth to tell Lucas exactly where he could shove his oh-so-talented tongue when the noise of a cell phone cut through the awkward silence.
She checked her phone but it was blank.
Lucas pulled out his phone and answered it. “Lucas Stone.” He turned away from her as if he needed privacy from her for some reason. “All right. I’ll be there in a second. Thanks.” Lucas put his phone back into his pocket and started to walk back in the direction they came.
Harper shook her head in amazement. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”
“We might finally have some good news for once. I asked the local police department to tell me if anything suspicious came up, and that was the deputy. Apparently something suspicious came up, and they were nice enough to give me a call.”
“You what? I thought I told you not to go to the cops.”
“Well, yeah, you told me that last night. I was investigating this before I actually met you, you know. But they found something, and now they want me to check it out. It might not be anything important, but I’d like to decide that for myself.”
“Something suspicious coming up is a bad thing, remember? A very bad thing.”
“Maybe, but it wasn’t like I was the one who gave them any information. At least now we’ll be the first people to know about it.”
Harper had her doubts about this. Frankly, she usually had doubts when police were involved. For some reason, her intuition, which she usually chose to ignore
, was screaming in the back of her mind that something was wrong. “I don’t think we should go.”
It was Lucas’s turn to stop and look questioningly at her over his shoulder. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I mean what I said. I have a bad feeling. I don’t think we should go.”
“What exactly are you worried about?”
“I don’t know—the police immediately putting handcuffs on me and arresting me for being an accomplice in a murder? I’m not crazy. I have reason to be paranoid.”
“Just because you have reason to be paranoid doesn’t mean not crazy. If it makes you feel better, you stay here. I’ll go talk to the cops and see what they want to talk about. And then, when I find out that it’s not a big deal, I’ll come find you and laugh in your face.”
She still wanted to tell him not to go but couldn’t come up with a good reason to stop him. “Fine. Go. And I honestly hope they tell you something that we can use.”
“Thank you. I honestly don’t believe you, but I appreciate that you lied to me.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Just go,” she muttered.
“All right, I’m going, but when I come back, you and I are going to seriously talk about the bet, okay?”
Oh for the love of— “There is no bet!” she called, but he was already walking away from her.
Harper hung back, keeping Lucas in sight but making sure she’d be able to duck out of the way if anybody popped up. Why was this bothering her so much? Sure, she’d never been a huge fan of the police, but they’d never done anything directly against her. Even when Wade’s father had just died, the police hadn’t seemed all that concerned about a murder investigation. So what now was making her so on edge?
It must be what had just happened with Zoe. The fact that Wade’s new bride had been kidnapped and almost murdered, a crime only prevented by Harper having to shoot her gun at the retreating vehicle, had her on edge.
Her life, as filled with adventure as it was, rarely gave her a reason to fire her gun. She was sure Lucas was right that she’d end up looking like an idiot, but she’d never been one to shy away from sharing her opinion. In her opinion, Lucas should stay the hell away from the police right now.
Lucky Girl (Lucky Alphas Book 2) Page 3