Spirited Away

by Angela Campbell

  “He left last night. Oh, but he got rid of the Carpenters. The house should feel different now. I thought so.” Her gaze scanned him head to toe. “How about you? Are you feeling better?”

  “Yeah, I am.” Or, he had been. Now he didn’t know what the hell to think.

  “Good.” Her cold smile did nothing to relieve the tension that had been creeping back into his body. Maybe she was fine, just too into her project to pay him much attention. She waved him off without another word.

  “See you later,” he agreed and hurried out the front door.

  No. She must know, or at least know something. Either Connor had told her or she’d gone snooping. His heart jumped into his throat, fearing either scenario.

  Walking into his house, he went straight to his office. The door was still shut; nothing looked out of order. He checked the bedroom, living room and kitchen. Everything was as he’d left it.

  “Why was she so upset?” He took slow steps down the stairs, mentally retracing all of his actions since yesterday. Emma Fisher had been nothing but kind to him since the day he’d met her. She’d even played nursemaid for the past however many hours he’d been down.

  It was time he repaid her for that.

  Heading back to his office, he sank into the computer chair and tapped the space bar on the keyboard. Hopefully, he still had that last email saved in his drafts folder. He’d send it and end his investigation here. Hell, he suspected her friends were exactly what they claimed. He didn’t care for the guy all that much, but Connor had opened his mind to the possibility that he was too damn skeptical for his own good. It was time to own up.

  He clicked on the email icon and froze.

  The sound of liquid bubbling blasted through the speakers. The image on the screen began to melt down the background as maniacal laughter caused the desk to vibrate. Cursing, he reached to turn the speakers down using their manual knobs.

  “What? What’s happening?” He tapped the ESC button. “No. No. No!”

  The screen went black. A small golden puppy ran across, stopped in the center, and hiked its leg, shooting virtual pee toward him. A message appeared in a cloud of smoke on the screen.

  “F U A-HOLE.”

  Grabbing a fistful of hair, he sank back in his seat. “What the hell?”

  He had documents, very important documents, pictures, videos, everything saved on there. Not all of it was backed up. All of his work—

  “Eh hem!”

  Spinning, he looked behind him. Emma stood in the doorway, arms crossed, tapping one foot to a silent, angry rhythm. “Piece of advice, creepface. Never mess with a computer nerd.”

  * * *

  Spider held her ground, even as Noah sprang to his feet and took a step toward her. “What the hell did you do?”

  “Oh, nothing much. Just destroyed all of the information you’ve been collecting on me, my friends, and my employer.” Her voice grew louder as she spoke each word. Swallowing a breath, she reined in her temper … and failed. She couldn’t resist shoving him in the chest. “You creepy stalker psycho!”

  He clasped her wrist and held it still. “I can explain.”

  “Too bad you didn’t do that when, oh, I don’t know, you met me.” She took a step back, forced herself to calm down. “I’m not stupid. I know what you’ve been doing here.” She gestured toward the camera set up in the corner.

  His eyes narrowed. “It was Connor. He told you.”

  Holding up her hands, she exploded again. “Connor knew about this?”

  He flinched. “He figured it out pretty quickly. Emma, please—”

  “Don’t call me that!” She seriously wanted to punch him in the face. Her fist clenched and almost did its own bidding, so she growled and turned away. She didn’t need an assault charge on her record. With her luck, Paul would be the responding officer. “What do you want? What insurance fraud case could involve us?”

  “I don’t know. I was hired freelance by an attorney. Emma—”

  “I said not to call me that!” Crossing her arms, she demanded, “What did he or she hire you to do?”

  “To prove Collins and King are frauds. Emma, look at me.”

  “To prove them frauds – why?” She continued pacing away from him into the living room. “They’re very careful about the cases they take. Nothing they uncover using their abilities is admissible in a court of law. We state that in our contracts.”

  “It has to do with a worker’s comp case. That’s all I know.”

  That made no sense. Neither Zach nor Alexandra had worked a worker’s compensation case that she was aware. “Are you incapable of telling the truth?”

  He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. “Emma, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mislead you. I didn’t expect…”

  She glared at him when he didn’t elaborate. “Expect what?”

  “For us to become friends.”

  Tears welled in her eyes, which made no sense. What reasonable person wouldn’t feel a stab of hurt that his words didn’t reveal deeper feelings than friendship? She turned and dashed them away so he wouldn’t see them. “That’s stupid, Noah. We barely know each other.”

  “I know that you’re funny and loyal.” His voice was loud in her left ear; she realized he’d followed her. “I know you’re a good person – better than I deserve.”

  She snorted. He knew the right things to say. She’d give him that, but she refused to let him know how much he’d wounded her.

  Sure, she liked to look at and maybe even flirt with her hot co-workers, but that was because they were safe. They were all married or had girlfriends for the most part, and they had become her friends. Noah had been the first man since Paul that she’d truly let herself wish for more with. That she’d actually wanted more with.

  She was such an idiot. He’d probably laughed at how easy it had been to charm her into trusting him.

  Turning, she met his gaze. His deceitful, beautiful, yummy green gaze. “Nice words, but I’m still waiting for you to tell me what you want from me. Why are you really here?”

  “You really want to know what I want from you?”

  “Yes!” She knew it wasn’t attractive, but she stomped her foot anyway.

  One second she was glowering at him from her spot near the chair. The next, her front was pressed against his, her head was yanked backwards, and his mouth was feasting on hers. He had one hand at her back and the other weaved in her hair, not that she noticed much. She was a little distracted by the swarm of bees that rumbled to life in her belly, zipping through her limbs and leaving tiny stings at each of her nerve endings, especially wherever he touched her. Moaning, she gasped in surprise, and he took advantage, forcing her lips further apart, dipping inside, teasing her tongue with his.

  Heat spread like honey over all of those tingles, and she reached up to hold him closer. To better taste him.

  She’d never been kissed like this. Not ever.

  Wait.

  Why was he kissing her?

  Oh, fudge! She’d turned into one of those stupid, idiotic women who let her brain be ruled by sexual urges. He had to know the effect he had on her. He had to be manipulating her yet again. Pushing at his shoulders, she tore her mouth away and tried to calm her pounding heart.

  “Noah, stop.”

  His mouth tasted hers again, and she moaned, liking it too much, struggling not to give in. Breathing roughly, she jerked her lips away, drove her knee into his groin and shoved him backwards.

  Slapping her hand to her mouth, she stared wide-eyed as he fell into the chair and groaned in agony. “Why the hell did you do that?” His voice was rough, strained. “I would have stopped.”

  She reached toward him but yanked her hand back when he rolled away. “I’m sorry! I just … reacted.” Combine all of that self-defence training she’d done with Alexandra with a bad temper, and bam! Man down. Whoa. She was dangerous. “Um, are you okay?”

  His face was twisted in pain. “I think you should go no
w.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Leave!”

  “Ice-pack?”

  He pointed toward the door. “Go!”

  Halfway toward the exit, she turned and pointed at him. “By the way, you deserved that!”

  She slammed the door behind her, too, the smack of wood so loud it echoed around the neighbourhood.

  Her anger was still simmering her blood to a boil as she sank onto Zach’s lush, comfy sofa. The nerve of the man! To kiss her and try to use her obvious feelings for him. Jerk.

  “You okay?”

  She jumped at Kellan’s question.

  She’d almost forgotten her sexy co-worker was here waiting for her to return. She had also forgotten that he’d been virtually hiding in Zach’s office and could see everything, thanks to the hidden cameras he’d installed in Noah’s house this morning.

  “I’m peachy.”

  He sat on the cushion beside her. “I was fixing to come over and kick his ass after he grabbed you, but you did it before I had the chance.” One side of his mouth curled up. He was staring at her as if he’d never really seen her before. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

  “From your mouth to God’s ears.”

  A niggle of guilt wormed its way into her conscience. Calling Kellan for help before she gave Noah a chance to defend himself might have been a bit impulsive, but she’d figured Zach’s business was at stake. Her job. She could’ve tried to thwart Noah’s devious, deceptive, creep-tastic movements on her own, but she was smart enough to know when she needed backup.

  “Maybe I should have waited to call you.” She glanced toward the window. Was Noah still writhing in pain? Was he really hurt? Heat warmed her face and she buried it between her hands. She might have kneed him harder than was decent. “Oh, gosh. I’m such a horrible person.”

  “Hey.” Kellan’s hand squeezed her shoulder. “You did the right thing.”

  He was right. She knew that. Being a badass wasn’t supposed to feel this way.

  She searched his face for confirmation. “You didn’t tell anyone else? Promise?”

  “Promise. I’ve got your back, Spider, just like we’ve both got Zach’s back. We’re family. It’s okay to call me when you need help.”

  Family.

  He was right. These men and women were her family, the one she’d made on her own, the one that accepted her and her quirks, just as she accepted them and theirs.

  A car door slammed and an engine roared to life outside. Pushing to her feet, Spider hurried to the window. Noah’s jeep backed out of the driveway and tore off as if the devil himself was after him.

  “He’ll be back.” Kellan stood beside her. “In the meantime, we’ve got the video feed from his house wired to Zach’s computer here and my computer. You’ve got the backup of his hard drive?”

  Nodding, she reached into her pocket for the small flash drive she’d stored everything on before wiping Noah’s laptop. “Want a copy?”

  “You go through it. If anything seems suspicious, call me. I’ll see if I can’t figure out what case he’s been working and why.” He grabbed the duffle bag he’d sat at the doorway. He reached for the doorknob and hesitated, looking back at her. “You did good, Spider.”

  She managed to summon a smile. “Thanks.”

  “Call me if you need me. Day or night.”

  Crossing her arms, she nodded and watched him leave. She almost forgot to punch in the alarm code too.

  “Mrreow.”

  She turned. Abbott, Charlie, and Costello all sat in triangle formation staring at her. She glanced at the clock. Feeding time.

  “Sorry, guys.” She took a deep breath to quell the tears that threatened to escape and moved toward the kitchen. “I think we deserve a treat. Ice cream for me. Tuna for you, cat. Whatever those bone things are for you, dogs. Whaddaya say?”

  Charlie began spinning in a circle. Costello hopped up on his back legs and danced backward. Abbott brushed between her legs, tail sticking straight up and twitching.

  She took that to mean, heck, yes! This. This was why animals were awesome to be around.

  They’d pig out together, watch some Battlestar Galactica, and not one of them would mention Noah West’s name again. That lying, scheming, full-of-himself a-hole.

  If he thought a few kisses would stop her, he didn’t know a darn thing about her.

  The spider always ate her prey.

  Chapter 10

  “What’s eatin’ you, bro?”

  Noah spared a look at his older brother, who was doing the same thing he was – leaning back in his recliner, nursing a cold one and watching the boring-ass Braves game on TV. Fifteen hits, one walk, four runs scored. Couldn’t someone at least try to steal a base?

  “Nothing. Bored, that’s all.”

  John lowered the volume on his big-screen. Oh, hell. Here it came. John brushed his shaggy brown hair back on his forehead. “You’ve been here two days. Not that I mind the company, but you’ve been about as pleasant as a sewer breeze since you got here. You gonna tell me why or what?”

  “No.” He nodded at the beer in his brother’s hand. “You’re not turning into dad, are you? Is that your fourth or fifth one?”

  “See that right there? That’s what I’m talkin’ about.” Scowling, John snapped his footrest down and shoved to his feet. He thrust a finger at Noah. “I’m fixin’ to beat you if you keep it up.” Instead, he headed for the kitchen, probably to grab another beer.

  Noah grimaced, knowing he’d crossed a line. All it took to get on his or John’s bad side was any comparison to their deadbeat father. Derek West had been quite the role model, if you considered womanizing alcoholic abusers good enough to emulate.

  As much as possible, Noah had always been determined to prove himself to be different, but he’d only succeeded on a few counts. He only allowed himself one beer a day, although he usually didn’t even indulge in that many. He’d gone to college, dropped his heavy Southern accent, focused on his goals, and made a decent career for himself. So decent, he’d been regarded as one of the best insurance investigators in the state, highly sought after even after he’d turned in his resignation six months ago.

  It had felt wrong. Spying on people all the time. Digging up dirt to give someone else an advantage.

  Emma’s hurt face forced itself to the forefront of his thoughts again, but he pushed the image back into that corner of his mind labelled don’t go there.

  Worst part was, both he and John did take after their father in various ways, not the least of which were their dark features that attracted women like shoe sale signs. Noah had given up a long time ago trying to deny his philandering nature. Only ten years older than Noah, John was three times divorced and always seeing someone new. At least Noah knew better than to trade vows he couldn’t keep.

  “Sorry. Forget I said that. You’re nothing like him.” The brand-new house that his brother had built with his own hands through his successful construction company, with his own money, was proof of that.

  His brother propped himself against the wall, watched the game, a fresh water bottle in his hand now. “Is that what this is all about?”

  “What?”

  John shifted his weight. “The old man.” He scratched at his neck. “Did he, uh, say anything to you?”

  A laugh void of humour escaped him before he could stop it. “Haven’t talked to him since before he went in this last time.” Their father was currently serving a five-year sentence for his fourth DUI after killing someone’s grandfather.

  “Good.” John blew the answer out on a rush of breath.

  Something about his careful tone piqued Noah’s interest. “Why? What are you afraid he told me?”

  “Nothing, man. Just askin’.”

  Noah’s bullshit detector was blasting a loud alarm inside his brain, but he knew pursuing the subject would only lead to more talk about their father and he wasn’t in the mood.

  “If this ain’t about the old man t
hat leaves only one thing.” John pushed away from the wall and began pacing. “Women.”

  Not women. One woman.

  Emma was still on his mind despite the fact he’d put nearly one hundred miles and a couple of days between them. At first, he’d been pissed that she’d destroyed his computer and tried her best to neuter him. He preferred that slow boil of anger stirring his blood to the dreaded hopeless feeling that now left his chest feeling hollow.

  Whatever Connor had done hadn’t cured Noah completely of his infatuation with the prickly woman. He thought about her day and night. The dreams were the worst. Shifting in his seat, he tried to ignore memories of those night-time visions, always lust-filled fantasies of Emma that segued into the dream about the dark-haired woman getting into the car. He always woke up when the driver locked her inside the vehicle.

  “See there? I’m right.” John took a long gulp of water. “I knew you’d find a woman who’d tangle you up one day.”

  Maybe he should talk to John about her. His brother was the only person likely to understand the hell he was going through.

  Putting his drink aside, he wiped a hand over his face and tried to think of the best approach to what he had to say. One that wouldn’t have John encouraging his strange behaviour.

  “Let me ask you a question. Do you believe in ghosts?”

  John’s head jerked back. “You mean, like, ghost ghosts? Dead people?”

  Noah nodded.

  “I reckon I’d better sit down for this one.”

  Once John was back in his chair and the TV volume was muted, Noah told his brother everything. About the job he’d taken because the attorney he’d once worked with had been so insistent no one else could do it. About the house. Emma. Everything.

  “Damn,” was John’s only comment.

  “That’s real helpful.”

  Something about his brother’s expression had changed during the telling of the story, had become pensive, almost shocked. Rubbing a hand against the front of his shirt, he couldn’t seem to meet Noah in the eyes.

  “This guy, this psychic character, he wanted to know if a woman in your family had died?”