A Nash Mystery Box Set

by Vella Day

  Sky pushed back her chair and paced. Maybe the Save Harriet team could help her come up with a plan. While it was early, she dressed and rushed outside, thinking it would be better if she were at work. Crap. She didn’t have her car—but Kane’s Jeep was there. Back inside, she located his wallet, keys, and phone.

  Since she hadn’t driven a stick in a long time, she drove with great care. At first, the car jerked and sputtered as she accelerated, but the feeling of the stick came back to her after a few minutes. With no traffic on the road, she made it into work in record time. As soon as she stepped inside, Harriet’s empty desk tore at her insides, and Sky ran a hand over her seat, her heart breaking.

  Elmer was the only one there. He looked up. “What are you doing here? The Chief called in and said the operation already took place.”

  “The military arrested Kane.”

  Elmer came over and took her hand. “Tell me everything.”

  There wasn’t much she could tell, other than how they’d barged in.

  “I’m sorry. What are you going to do?” he asked.

  Like she had any idea? “The Chief’s not in?”

  “No, but he called less than fifteen minutes ago.”

  “I need to speak with him.” she dialed her boss’s home phone.

  “Lapahe.” He sounded on edge and very wide-awake.

  She told him about the abrupt arrest.

  “I’m sorry, but I had to do it.”

  Sky’s stomach nearly revolted. “What do you mean you had to do it? Why?” She dropped onto her seat.

  “I had to call in the FBI. I couldn’t lose Harriet.”

  He wasn’t making any sense. Sky had no idea he cared that much for their receptionist. And then it hit her. They were involved. “Wait a minute. The FBI didn’t come to my door, the military did.”

  “Once I explained to the FBI what happened, they were obligated to call the military.”

  The Chief was an officer of the law and had to uphold his oath, but it should count that Kane risked his life, and hers, to find Harriet. “Thanks for not having them haul me off as well.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Tell me how having Kane arrested helps get Harriet back,” she demanded.

  “I’m not sure, but I was grasping at straws.”

  “Sure.” She disconnected then dropped her forehead on her desk, closed her eyes, and watched her world turn black.

  “Sky?”

  She jerked her head up. Elmer was standing next to a stocky, erect older gentleman in uniform who had more medals on his chest than she could count. He wasn’t smiling.

  She slowly rose, fearing he’d tell her Kane was being shipped to Washington to stand trial. At least that would be preferable to being hidden in the bowels of the Base. She swallowed hard and went over to learn more. She stuck out her hand. “I’m Sky Nash. How can I help you?”

  “I’m General Stentfield, Kane’s former CO.”

  Okay, that wasn’t who she’d expected to show up here—especially at five in the morning—but the fact he was there had the joy in her heart nearly colliding with the spasm in her stomach. “Did Kane call you?”

  “Yes, he was allowed one call.”

  “You made it here fast.”

  “Kane asked me to come yesterday, so I was staying nearby when he called.”

  “Please, have a seat.” She pulled back Harriet’s chair.

  “I’d rather go for a drive.” His warm blue eyes lessened her fears.

  “I’ll grab my coat.” Kane probably told her he didn’t trust someone at the station, and he’d been right. Chief Lapahe was a traitor as far as she was concerned. Arresting Kane wouldn’t help anyone.

  Once inside the General’s rented car, he pulled out of town and then stopped by the side of the road. “Tell me everything, and leave nothing out.”

  By the time she finished, her mouth was dry. “You think letting us escape was a set-up?”

  “I’m not sure what to think, but it looks like it. Military operations are well-run, especially secret ones.”

  “You have to get Kane out of jail. He was only trying to help a friend.”

  “I know, but you two did break the law, and I’m afraid it doesn’t matter if it was for the better good.”

  It always seemed to come down to that. “I know, but does that mean you can’t help in anyway?”

  “Tell you what. I’ll see what strings I can pull, but in the meantime, since you said you were on suspension, why don’t you stay put in your house.”

  He sounded like Kane, but this time she’d listen. “I’m okay with that.” He took her back to the station to pick up Kane’s Jeep. She pulled a card from her purse, scribbled her cell number on the back, and then handed it to him. “Here’s my number. Please let me know what you find out.”

  As soon as she slipped out, he took off. Not wanting to be around when the Chief arrived, she took the General’s advice and drove home. No sooner had she walked in the door than her phone rang. The General couldn’t have pulled strings that fast.

  She lifted her home phone receiver. “Hello?”

  “It’s Earl. I have someone I think you want to see.”

  She had no idea what he was talking about. “Who? The whistleblower?” She didn’t see how he could help.

  “Just get your fanny out here and find out.” He laughed.

  She was so not in the mood for humor this early in the morning. Hell, the crows weren’t even up. She had told the General she’d stay put, but she assumed he meant for her not to go snooping at the Base.

  “Sure.”

  When she arrived, there wasn’t a car in Earl’s driveway, which implied Mr. Morris hadn’t made an appearance. She knocked on the door and entered. Earl wasn’t big on locking doors.

  When she stepped inside, she nearly fainted.

  Chapter 27

  The moment Sky recovered, she raced across the room and hugged Harriet. “How did you get free? What happened?”

  Harriet hung her head. “I’m sorry about Kane’s arrest and everything.”

  “How did you hear that? You’ve been gone.”

  “I called Bill, and he told me. In fact, he’s on his way here now.”

  Bill? “The Chief is coming here?” She definitely didn’t need to be here when he arrived. He might accuse her of kidnapping Harriet herself.

  Harriet nodded.

  “I can’t stay.” Sky studied the dreamy look on Harriet’s face. “So it’s true. You and the Chief are having an affair?”

  She nodded. “For the last year.”

  Now wasn’t the time to ask Harriet why she’d kept that nasty secret from her. No wait. It made sense; it was because Sky would try to talk her out of it. “So where have you been?”

  Earl piped up. “Mr. Morris thought the only way to get you to go inside the DUMB was if you thought Harriet was in there.”

  “Why did he want me inside?” She couldn’t connect the dots.

  “He thought you’d find evidence of aliens, and then you’d bring in the FBI or something to shut them down. He’s never forgiven them for what they did to his family or to the other people when he was working there.”

  “That was a rotten trick.” It didn’t matter that it worked. She had planned on sharing the alien-human pact document with him, but after that stunt, she just might keep it to herself. “I gotta go.”

  Neither attempted to stop her, which was a good thing since she made it to her turn off without passing the Chief. She wasn’t even sure if she could be in the same room as those two again. She’d believed she and Harriet had no secrets.

  Tears leaked out of her eyes, and she decided she couldn’t trust anyone.

  By the time she arrived home, all she could think of was a hot shower and a nap, though she doubted she’d sleep. It might be days or weeks before the General could spring Kane—if he could at all. She passed his bedroom and stopped. His gear was gone, and her heart hammered against her chest. Either the military b
roke in and nabbed it, or by some miracle, Kane had been released and he’d come for his stuff.

  No. He couldn’t have left since she had his Jeep.

  She raced into his room and when she pulled open the drawers, they were all empty.

  Numb, she headed back to the kitchen in search of a note and found it on the table in neat, block letters.

  “Dear Sky. The General was able to pull strings and have me released. If I ever go back to the DUMB, it will be permanently. Listen, what we had was real. I’m sorry you didn’t see it that way. Take care.”

  His signature came out stiff, as if he was controlling his emotions. For a split second she thought perhaps someone had made him write the note to make sure she didn’t come looking for him, but then decided he wouldn’t have penned something so personal.

  Sky had to read the note five times before she was ready to believe that something had changed since his conversation. Her hands shook and she sat at the table and cried.

  She thought about calling Harriet for advice, but Sky was peeved at her for the stunt she pulled. Besides, her former friend was probably in bed with the worst jerk she’d ever known.

  Her cell rang and when she checked the caller ID, she debated not answering. It was the gossip queen, Rosalie, who owned the B&B where Kane had stayed. She was probably calling to see how Sky was doing after being dumped. News traveled really fast in this town.

  “Hi Rose.”

  “You’ll never guess who just stopped by with a rather handsome older man.”

  “Kane?” Her heart sputtered saying his name. Perhaps the General was staying there too.

  “Yes.”

  “Are they there now?”

  “They headed over to the café. Kind of had a feeling you just might want to know that tidbit.”

  Suddenly, things were looking up. “You’re a wonder. Thanks.” Sky disconnected. If she hurried, she might be able to find Kane before he headed back to Phoenix. After all, she did have his Jeep.

  Before she left, she printed off the evidence that aliens existed—assuming the document she’d photographed at the Base was real.

  She pushed the Jeep to its limits and practically skidded to a stop in front of the café. Few cars were parked there, and she slid right into her lucky spot. Hands sweaty and slightly out of breath, she straightened her shoulders and walked in. Her heart nearly stopped when she spotted Kane—handsome, strong, and looking oh so confident in deep conversation with the General. This probably wasn’t the right time to tell him how she felt, but it was now or never. She wasn’t going to lose Kane.

  She strode up to his table. “General.” Both men looked up, but she returned her focus to Kane, who looked a bit guilty.

  “Can we speak in private?” she asked.

  “The General and I are in the middle of a negotiation.”

  She pleaded with him with her eyes, having too much pride to beg. She glanced at the General, half expecting Stentfield to excuse himself out of politeness, but instead he leaned back in his chair. Okay, she hadn’t planned to do this in front of the entire restaurant, which had suddenly quieted, but she wasn’t ashamed of what she had to say. Thankfully, it was early and the place wasn’t very crowded.

  “I came here to tell you something.” Her breath caught in her throat. She’d tell him about locating Harriet in a moment.

  “I’m listening,” he said.

  “I shouldn’t have left and only written a note. I imagine that hurt your feelings, and for that I am sorry.”

  “Apology accepted, but I don’t think—.”

  She didn’t want him to interrupt or she might lose her courage. “I need to finish. When I overheard you on the phone the other morning, I was devastated. You said, and I quote, She would never quit being a cop, and I just didn’t have that strong of an attachment to go through with it. I realized then that you never intended to be with me.” Her voice quivered, and she glanced over at Cathy, who was smiling, trying to give her some moral support. Bless you. “Because you didn’t think we had a future, I went in search of mine.”

  Kane pushed back his chair and stood. He hesitated as if he wasn’t sure what she wanted, but the look on his face caused more pain in her gut.

  “Are you done?” He reached out and slid an errant strand of ear behind her ear. That one touch caused her insides to rejoice.

  “No.” She had more to say. “It’s because of you that I found passion in my life. You’ve shown me how to be free and how to love.” She took off her sunglasses and placed them on the table. “What I’m trying to say is that I love you and I want to be in—”

  “Shh. You don’t need to say anything else.” He cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “When I saw the love in your eyes, I saw everything I needed to know.” He leaned in close and when he kissed her, all of EBE’s exploded with applause.

  Now, she was totally embarrassed, but she didn’t care. She had Kane in her arms.

  He tapped her nose. “That conversation wasn’t about you by the way.”

  She stilled. “It wasn’t?”

  “No, my little eavesdropping friend. One of my buddies wanted me to hire his sister. We’ve worked together before, and there was no way I wanted a repeat of that fiasco.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Why didn’t you ask?”

  Because my heart was breaking. “Good question.”

  “You know, Nash, you look like crap. How about something to eat?”

  She sniffled and nodded.

  The General smiled as she sat down. “That was quite a speech.”

  “Thanks. I’ve been rehearsing it for a while.” She faced Kane. “In fact, I was about to tell you when the Chief rushed in and told us Harriet went missing.” She snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot. Harriet is safe.” She told him how the Whistleblower had taken her and why.

  “That little shit.”

  She wasn’t sure if he was referring to the Whistleblower or to Harriet, but she didn’t want to ask. “Maybe it’s for the best. You’re out of jail, and I’m betting the Chief will drop the charges now that the Base knows who you are.”

  “That would be nice.” His tone didn’t sound happy, but she was too excited to read anything into what he said.

  Sky slapped a hand on her chest. “I can’t seem to remember anything.” She pulled out the two pieces of paper she’d printed that showed the alien-human pact. “General, Kane and I found something at the Base.”

  He pulled out his glasses. “What is it?”

  She detailed how the item was secured under glass. “The flash reflected off a few words, but you can make out most of it.”

  While the General took about ten minutes to read the document, Sky’s heart nearly burst. Perhaps now she’d finally get confirmation that aliens existed.

  The waitress came over. “I’m so happy for you.” From the way Cathy’s antennae were bobbing, she was telling the truth. “You want to order something?”

  “Oh, yeah. I’m going all the way today, baby. I’ll have the Nebula crab cakes with Anti-matter hot sauce and a double Black Hole espresso.”

  “You got it.”

  The General put down the paper. “This is incredible, but I don’t think we can let this get out.” Too bad Sky couldn’t tell if he was stringing her along or not.

  Like a popped balloon, she sank into her chair. “Why not?”

  “People would be scared shitless, excuse my expression, if they thought someone was manipulating their DNA from up above. The stock market would go crazy and people might try to kill themselves before letting aliens touch them.”

  Kane leaned back, legs stretched out, and arms across his chest. He kept his expression shuttered, so she couldn’t tell if he thought the General was pulling her leg or not.

  “I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” the General continued. “I’ll take this to Washington and see what the government wants to do.”

  She smiled. “Thank you for taking me seriously.”<
br />
  The General nodded and Kane looked, well disgusted, as if she was being played by his former CO. Hell, maybe she was.

  Her food arrived. While she ate, they polished off a few cups of coffee as the General regaled her with stories of Kane’s heroics in his FAST team. She loved hearing about how selfless Kane was and how much his men respected him.

  Kane cupped her hand. “The General is very fond of telling tales. Don’t believe half of what he says.”

  Stentfield acted affronted, but it was clear the two were very fond of each other.

  Once she finished eating and paid, the General pushed his chair back and turned to Kane. “I need to head back to the airport. You might want to grab your stuff out of my rental.”

  Sky dug into her pocket and handed Kane the keys to his Jeep. “You’ll need these.”

  Once he transferred his gear from the rental to his Jeep, he slipped a hand around her waist. “You look like you could use a nap. I know I sure could use one.” Then he winked.

  “Need a place to stay for a bit?” He’d packed up his things from her place as if he planned to head to Phoenix right away, but perhaps she could convince him to stay now that they no longer had the misunderstanding. She cocked a brow trying to look as sexy and appealing as possible.

  “I wouldn’t mind hanging out a bit.”

  She did a mental fist pump. “Great.”

  Actually, it was more than great, but she didn’t want to act desperate to get him into bed.

  Chapter 28

  Kane held open the Jeep door for her. “Thanks for not wrecking my car.”

  She jabbed him on the shoulder. “I don’t wreck cars. People run into me.”

  “Whatever you say.” He smiled and nodded. She climbed in.

  Once home, Sky unlocked the front door, her mind abuzz with all the things she wanted to do to Kane Cornell—like strip him naked, run her hands down his rippled chest, and kiss him silly, just to name a few things. She dropped her purse on the floor near the entrance, and the next thing she knew, Kane’s lips were on hers, and her back was flat against the wall. Whoa. She swore the man had a hundred hands as he touched and caressed her body, sending her into sensory overload. This ferocious beast was not what she’d expected. Her seducing him had been the plan.