by Tara Thomas
“Keaton,” Kipling said, putting down the mail he’d been holding. “Is something wrong?”
“Just wanted to talk with you.”
Kipling stepped inside and sat down at the massive wooden desk that had been their father’s. “Sure, what’s up?”
“I ran into someone last night,” Keaton said. “Tilly Brock.”
Kipling cleared his throat and steepled his fingers. “How did you and Tilly happen to hook up last night?”
Keaton flinched at his choice of words. Hook up. Like she was a bimbo or something. “We didn’t hook up. The guys and I went to the club and I saw her serving drinks.” He leaned forward. His brother might run the family business, but Keaton was still a Benedict and knew a thing or two about getting what he wanted. “The real question is, why didn’t you tell me you kept in contact with the Brocks?”
Kipling weighed his response before answering. “I really only dealt with Ann. After Mom and Dad died and I took over the company, one of the things I did was perform an audit. I went back twenty years. In the middle of doing this, I received a call from Ann. She’d recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and was needing information on a life insurance policy her husband had taken out years before.”
Keaton could only imagine the courage it must have taken for Mama Ann to call Kipling. There was only one reason he could think of. “She wanted it for Tilly.”
Kipling nodded. “That would be my guess. We didn’t speak long, I had a meeting and she had an appointment, but later that day when I was looking for the life insurance, I found some of the records from that time period were missing. Not only business records, financials and invoices. Which is troubling enough. But large sections of the data-based backup files are also gone, including calendars and emails.”
Keaton had always suspected Mr. Brock had been set up. The fact that records from that period of time were missing only seemed to confirm that suspicion.
“When I called her back to give her the insurance info, we talked some more and while I can’t prove it, I’m almost positive Dad was wrong about Mr. Brock.” Kipling shook his head. “It just never made sense, you know? I mean, I was away at college when it all went down, but I remember then thinking how strange it all seemed.”
Keaton nodded in agreement. “What would have been his motive? Aside from the fact that he was a Benedict employee, he and Dad were friends. Remember how they played golf every Saturday?”
“And Ann and Mom were always doing something for that garden club they loved so much.” Kipling tapped his fingers on his desk. “And where did the money go if he did take it? From all appearances, the Brocks were basically destitute after.”
“I know Tilly doesn’t have it. She’s working to put herself through college.”
Kipling sighed. “With those records missing, though, it’s all just speculation and I can’t prove anything.”
“But you found the insurance information?” Keaton asked.
“Yes, and it was a hefty policy, too.”
Then why the hell was Tilly working in a gentlemen’s club? Unless she had already spent all the money. But he dismissed that thought as quickly as it came to his mind. There was no way the woman he’d talked with into the early hours of the morning could have done that.
Kipling knew exactly what he was thinking and answered his question before he could ask it. “Tilly never cashed in the policy.” He reached into his desk and pulled out an envelope. “She signed it over to me.”
Keaton opened it, at once recognizing Tilly’s neat script.
Mr. Benedict,
Thank you very much for finding this and passing it along. You’ve already done so much, and with the history between our families, I can’t do anything with this. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to repay you for what you’ve done in providing for Mama over the last year. Please accept this note as a humble “thank you.”
Yours,
Tilly
“I didn’t cash it, obviously.” Kipling took the note back. “I called her a few times, offering it again.” He grinned. “That is until she told me if I called her again, she’d file harassment charges.”
Keaton couldn’t help but laugh. That sounded like the Tilly he talked with last night.
Kipling ran the fingers of one hand through his hair. “I had no idea she was working at that dive, though. If I had, I’d have risked the harassment charges. That is legally her money. Her father paid for the policy, no questions asked.”
Keaton decided to let the comment about the club being a dive slide. He didn’t like her working there, either, but it wasn’t his place to tell her what she could and couldn’t do. He couldn’t do the same for Kipling, however, for keeping Tilly from him. “One of these days I’ll kick your ass for not telling me you were in contact with her.”
Kipling raised his eyebrow and studied him. “The two of you were close back then, weren’t you?”
“Yes,” Keaton replied. “And it pisses me off you didn’t tell me about your business with her.”
“It wasn’t done on purpose. I guess I didn’t realize how much she meant to you.”
“She was also best friends with Elise,” he said.
“Was she now? That’s interesting.” Kipling appeared to be thinking that through. It didn’t surprise Keaton that Kipling was unaware of Tilly and Elise’s past. After all, when the whole fiasco happened, Kipling was already in college.
“Yes, and just so you know, I have no intention of marrying Elise, so if that’s the only reason she’s staying here this summer, she can room somewhere else for her internship. I find it hard to believe she wants to be a lawyer anyway.”
Kipling’s look softened for a minute. “And just so you know, I would never want you to marry somebody you didn’t love.”
Keaton threw his hand over his heart in mock outrage. “Do my ears deceive me? Does Kipling Benedict actually have a heart?”
Kipling laughed. “It’s small and dark but yes, I have one.”
“Don’t worry,” said Keaton. “I won’t tell anybody. It’ll be our little secret.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” Kipling sighed heavily. “As much as I know you don’t want talk about it, and as much as I don’t want talk about it, we need to discuss your future with Benedict Industries.”
Keaton cringed inwardly. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to work for the family business, he just didn’t want to do it in the manner expected of him. What Keaton wanted to do was create a division of Benedict Industries solely focused on charitable endeavors. He had traveled out of the country several times in college as part of humanitarian relief and whenever he thought about all the people in the world that desperately needed help, it almost overwhelmed him.
He knew, though, that you had to step lightly around Kipling. He worked a certain way and one had to play their cards right in order to have a chance of succeeding with him. And because Keaton was aware of that, he also knew that now was not the right time to have the necessary conversation with him.
“I actually have a few ideas I want to look into,” Keaton said. “I’m not ready to share any details, but I think you’ll like what I’ve come up with. How about I write up a proposal and give it to you?”
“That sounds great. I look forward to reading it.” Kipling looked down at his watch. “Lena probably has my dinner reheated. She gets mad when I’m not home by six and I don’t want to piss her off further, so I’m going to make it to the dining room before she comes looking for me.”
Keaton smiled at the mention of the housekeeper who’d worked for the family since before he was born. “Sounds like her.”
“It gets better.” He rolled his eyes. “This morning she sighed and said it sure would be nice to have guests for a change. A not-so-subtle implication that it’s time for me to settle down or at least bring someone over for dinner. I told her she could cook all the fancy dishes she wanted while Elise was here.”
Keaton groaned at the reminder that hi
s unwanted houseguest would be arriving in less than forty-eight hours.
“That’s about the same response Lena had. Said that girl wasn’t worth the effort.” Kipling had a faint smile. “She never did like Elise.”
“I knew she was a smart woman.”
Kipling looked as if he was getting ready to lecture him, so to stop him before he started, Keaton held his hand up. “No need to say it. I’ll behave while she’s here.”
He looked at his watch, wondering what time Tilly got off and counted the hours until he could see her again.
* * *
Tilly hopped out of bed the next morning, excited and eager to have breakfast with Keaton. They had texted a few times the night before. Tilly had shared with him the conversation she had with Mindy. He’d been surprised, too, but said he knew she’d be an awesome teacher.
To hear him say that made her realize just how infrequently she received compliments since her mom died. To have them come from Keaton meant even more. She puttered around her apartment while waiting for him to show up. She really needed to spend a day cleaning up her apartment. She shoved some old papers into a pile and her glance fell on a book she’d read for school on adult education.
She picked it up and flipped through it, remembering the class. Mindy might find the book useful. The club was on the way to the biscuit shop; she’d have Keaton stop by there on the way and she’d leave it for Mindy. It was her night off and, if all went according to plan, she would be spending the majority of it with Keaton.
He arrived at her apartment five minutes early. “Good morning, gorgeous.”
“Hey yourself, handsome.” She moved aside to let him by. “Let me grab one thing and I’ll be ready to leave.”
He waited in her small entryway, casually looking around. She grabbed the book and found him studying her pictures. “Ready?”
“Yes.” He eyed the book in her hand. “You planning to study while we eat?”
“No, it’s for Mindy. Mind if we stop by the club on the way to breakfast?”
“Sure, no problem.”
They hopped in his car. She loved how he insisted on opening her car door before she got in and out. It was so nice to be with a gentleman. Keaton was completely different from anyone she’d dated before. It was so easy to be with him. At times, it felt as if they’d only been apart for days as opposed to years.
They didn’t speak much on the way to the club, but Keaton held her hand, letting go only when he parked. He reached for it again as they made their way to the front door.
“Someone’s here,” he said.
“Cleaning crew,” she said, taking note of the van currently parked in front. “I forgot they came by in the mornings. Let’s go around the back. The dressing room’s back there and I can leave the book for her.”
Keaton seemed to be up for anything. “Lead the way.”
She sensed something wasn’t right the moment they rounded the corner. The feeling was so strong, she halted for a second. It started as a slight queasy feeling, but soon escalated to where she had to force herself to move forward.
“Tilly?” Keaton asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” she said, but then stopped again, as the queasy sensation grew three hundred times worse. “Is that door open?”
She tried telling herself that it was simply the cleaning crew. That they had opened it. But for some reason, she kept hearing Raven telling her about the friendly man in the suit.
“I think so,” Keaton said. “Must be the people inside working. Looks like they left some laundry outside.”
“We don’t have laundry,” Tilly said.
“I’m not sure what else it could be.”
Tilly made it to the laundry bundle in question before he did. She had been correct, it wasn’t laundry. It was Raven. And her throat had been cut.
Tilly screamed.
CHAPTER 5
Keaton sat with his arms around Tilly, trying to shield her from the sight of her coworker, and letting her sob in disbelief.
“I just saw her last night. She was fine. She told me she was expecting to hear about a potential job today.”
He didn’t have any comforting words to offer, so he simply held her. The police should be arriving soon; he’d called them as soon as Tilly had been able to tell him who the dead woman was. The cleaning crew stood away from them, but close enough to see what was going on. They’d come running as soon as they heard Tilly scream and now just watched in shock.
An unmarked car with flashing lights pulled up.
“Police are here,” he whispered to Tilly. She sniffled once more and took a step back and out of his arms.
A woman got out of the car first. She was petite and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. But what primarily caught his attention was the confidence in her step and the way her eyes took in her surroundings. Her male partner glanced around the area quickly, but his steps were hesitant. The woman walked toward them and flashed her badge.
“I’m Officer Alyssa Adams. This is my partner, Officer Drake. We had a call about a body.”
Tilly pointed to Raven. “It’s Raven. Raven Todd. We work together.”
“And you are?” Alyssa asked.
“Tilly Brock.”
A flash of something flickered in Alyssa’s eyes, but she didn’t address it. Turning to him, she asked, “And you?”
“Keaton Benedict.”
Alyssa nodded to her partner, who started making calls, and turned back to the couple. “Tell me what happened.”
Keaton let Tilly give a rundown of the day’s events. By the time she’d finished, more law enforcement agents had arrived to process the scene.
“Did Raven mention anything about someone threatening her?” Alyssa asked.
“No.” Tilly’s forehead wrinkled. “But she did mention that two nights ago. No, three. She told me about it two nights ago. She said she was locking up after closing and she ran into a man who was just standing there. Said he was friendly and wore a suit.”
Alyssa frowned. “Has anyone mentioned this man other than Raven?”
“Not to me.”
“I’ll ask around.” Alyssa looked toward where someone was taking pictures. “Okay. Thank you. Those are all the questions I have for the moment.”
“Can I go?” Tilly asked with a look of longing toward Keaton.
“Yes, of course. Be sure to let me know if you remember anything.”
Tilly thanked her after they all exchanged information and walked to Keaton. He opened his arms and she went into them silently. He held her close, feeling that she was only just holding it together. “Let’s go,” he whispered, and she nodded.
He didn’t want to let her go long enough to drive back to her place. She looked so vulnerable as she huddled in his front seat. So many questions ran through his head. He never saw her with a car, so did that mean she rode the bus to work and back? He didn’t like that one bit. Obviously, there wasn’t much he could do, short of buying her a car and she wouldn’t allow him to do that. But he would think of something. He had to. The voice in the back of his head kept whispering that she was in danger. As much as he’d like to ignore it, he couldn’t, because it was usually right.
* * *
Jade stood at the side of the massive stone mansion, thankful for the multitude of trees that hid her from the road. She had wanted to do this at night, but no, he had said it had to be done during the day and it had to be done today. Once, just once, she’d like to tell him no. But since people who did that typically wound up dead, she wasn’t going to chance it.
“Look for an old ivy-covered arbor,” she muttered to herself, repeating his words. “Once you move it out of the way, you’ll see a wooden door.” She eyed the only ivy-covered arbor in the garden. It looked like it hadn’t been moved since the Revolutionary War. “Yeah, right.”
But since the only people who didn’t do what The Gentleman told them to do were those with a death wish, she looked over her shoulder
and moved the arbor. It was surprisingly light and easily moved, and, just like he said, revealed a wooden door.
Knowing she didn’t have a choice, she checked to make sure her knife was easily accessible and picked up the rose she’d been told to plant on the desk in the home office of the house she was unworthy to enter by the front door.
* * *
Keaton stayed with Tilly all day, rarely leaving her side. Since she hadn’t been to the grocery store in over a week, he ordered delivery from her favorite Italian place for lunch and sushi for dinner. Tilly didn’t have much of an appetite, but she ate anyway, knowing she had to.
Throughout the day, Raven’s death would hit her suddenly and she’d find herself crying. It didn’t seem possible her friend was gone forever and she didn’t know how she’d face going back to work knowing Raven would never be there again.
By late afternoon, she’d finally stopped crying so often and sat cuddled in Keaton’s arms on the couch. He’d found an old romantic comedy playing on the TV, but neither one of them was paying very much attention to what was happening on screen.
“I don’t know what I’d have done today without you.” She turned in his arms to get a better look at him. “Thank you for staying.”
He tightened his arm around her. “I would never leave you alone after what you’ve been through. And besides,” he added with a grin, “I like your company.”
“Now I know you’re lying. I’ve been the worst company today. I haven’t done anything other than cry.”
“I’ve missed you for eight years, you think a few tears are going to chase me away?”
She dropped her head and placed her hand on his thigh. “I missed you, too. In fact, I used to have this daydream of you walking into the club.”
“You did?”
“Mmm.” She still didn’t look up. “And then you did.”
He covered her hand with his. “Hey, look at me.” He waited until she did. “If I’d known you were in town, I’d have been there a lot sooner.”
Her heart ached thinking of all that lost time. “I wish I knew you’d felt that way. I’d have called you.”