‘I know,’ he said. ‘But there’s something sexy as hell about just watching you. I discovered that when you were dancing with Sorcha. Just watching you is...’ He paused without finishing the thought. ‘Pretend I’m not here.’
‘That might be difficult,’ she said.
But carried on searching through the bags regardless of him. Most of the items were low cut, or short, but there were a couple of pairs of jeans, and a bag of underwear... mostly rather lacy, or see-through.
She pulled on a matching set then stuck her legs in the jeans. ‘How did you get all my sizes right?’
‘Gabe cut the labels out the things that were left in your place.’
Lacie chose a top then used the band from her wrist to tie back her hair. When she looked down at her vest, her breasts seemed to be trying to liberate themselves.
‘Do you have an internet hook-up?’
‘Several,’ he said coming to her and cupping her breasts – they grew a cup size with his pampering attention.
Her nipples pebbled against his palms and he dipped his head to kiss each swell, then he kissed each nipple through the fabric.
‘You could’ve done that when I was naked,’ she said looking down to the top of his head when he nibbled at her again.
‘Could I talk you into cancelling this meeting?’
‘No,’ she said nudging his head away and stepping out of reach. ‘When we get back here I’m going online to order something a little more... me.’
‘Spoil sport,’ Ryder said draping his arm around her to lead her from the room.
‘You like enjoying me in clothes another man bought for me? Do you think he imagined what I’d look like in his choices?’
‘When you put it like that...’ Ryder frowned.
‘Get your business head on, and stop thinking about my breasts. You’ll have unlimited access tonight. But can we get through this meeting first?’
‘Unlimited access,’ Ryder said. ‘I’ll hold you to that.’
And from the snarl in his voice she knew he would do just that. When he touched her she wanted to block out the world too, pretend it was only them, and there was no danger lurking around. Unfortunately, they had a meeting, which brought everything slamming back into focus. Still, every step forward was one in the right direction, and if they worked hard together all of this would be over soon... she hoped.
Chapter Eight
When he led her into an underground garage in the HQ building she was surprised by the number of vehicles but she still hadn’t established how many people were actually here. Only the centre section of the space lit up when they opened the stairwell door, and she found herself wondering what were in the shadows flanking this section.
Ryder pressed a button and his truck flashed. Oddly warmed by the familiar sight she realised just how much she liked entrenching herself in his life. Being in his presence had felt natural since the beginning but her seat in his truck was feeling like it really might actually be her seat, her place... like she belonged here.
‘Will I get to meet Jamie?’ she asked putting on the aviators while Ryder drove.
‘Hmm?’
‘Jamie, you said he was your business partner. Was he one of the men I saw this morning?’
‘Jamie’s in Sweden,’ Ryder said.
‘Not somewhere I would consider security a necessity.’
‘We work where our clients need us,’ he said squeezing her thigh.
‘You have a beautiful home,’ she said.
‘We work odd hours; it made sense to have something close to work.’
‘Do you think Shep will have found out anything useful?’
‘We’re about to find out,’ he said.
‘Yesterday when we were getting in the car after the search you looked at him... there was something in the way you looked at each other.’
‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘It was nothing.’
‘It was something,’ she said. ‘I thought we weren’t having secrets.’
‘It was nothing to do with the case.’
His evasiveness had bought him time. They parked and she hooked his sunglasses into her cleavage while Ryder rounded the truck to open her door. Shep’s office was unchanged, they completely bypassed Tiffany, and Ryder kept her hand and led her straight into Shep’s office where Shep and Sorcha were already sitting at opposite sides of the desk.
‘You’re late,’ Sorcha said.
‘It’s been a busy morning,’ Ryder said.
‘So busy that you forgot about my life?’ Sorcha said.
She took a minute to look at Lacie, and then she looked at Ryder. Lacie didn’t have to look at him to know that he was scowling; of course the iron grip he formed on her hand gave her an idea that he wasn’t so happy with Sorcha’s show of petulance.
‘What’s wrong?’ Sorcha asked Lacie.
As soon as Sorcha realised something wasn’t right her whole aura changed. Her sulk was forgotten in a flash, and just as quickly, she was at Lacie’s side.
‘I don’t want you to worry,’ Lacie said. ‘I’m fine. Ryder will tell you what happened.’
‘Ryder?’ Sorcha said with a tinge of disgust that Lacie knew would have existed in her tone whether he were in the room or not.
‘Do you mind?’ Lacie said looking from Sorcha to Ryder. ‘I really don’t want to go through it again myself.’
‘And you shouldn’t have to,’ Ryder said then kissed the top of her head.
He carried on like a consummate professional, objective, reasoned, and utterly calm. The only nod to any sort of personal relationship was that she was perched on his knee – there were only two seats on the guest side, and Sorcha was in one of them.
‘I’m not holding my breath that you’ve found anything useful,’ Ryder said when he’d finished recounting the night’s events.
‘Actually I have a few interesting leads,’ Shep said.
‘The nature of this has changed,’ Ryder said.
‘How so?’ Sorcha asked.
‘I appreciate that this started as an operation to locate Bruce Booth, and certainly that’s still an objective but Lacie’s safety has to be paramount to us all.’
‘That goes without saying,’ Sorcha said.
‘What are you getting at?’ Shep asked.
‘You’re in, or you’re not,’ Ryder said. ‘The games stop now. This isn’t a competition, and it’s not about the money. You help, or you don’t.’
‘Are you going to share what you’ve learned?’ Shep asked. Ryder said nothing; Lacie slid her hand to the back of his neck. ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought. Why should I share with you?’
‘You’ll have to give all of your findings to the police.’
‘Like you did? I know what I’m doing,’ Shep said.
‘What are you doing?’ Lacie asked. ‘So far you’ve done nothing.’
‘What has he done for you Sweetheart except clear out the cobwebs in your panties,’ Shep said.
‘Hey, you just—‘Ryder started but Sorcha popped to her feet and grabbed Lacie’s hand.
‘We have to talk,’ Sorcha said pulling her from Ryder to drag her across the room.
‘Not out there,’ Ryder said. ‘We’ll leave you two in here.’
‘We will?’ Shep asked.
‘Move,’ Ryder growled.
The men left the room and Lacie waited for Sorcha to say something but she took her time about it.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Sorcha said taking Lacie into her arms. ‘This is all because of me. You’ve been hurt twice now.’
‘None of this is your fault.’
‘Maybe, maybe not,’ Sorcha said. ‘But, you’re involved because of me. Are you staying with Elise? You should maybe think about going to your parents.’
‘I thought about that,’ Lacie said. ‘But what about you?’
‘Me? I wasn’t there. They’re not coming after me. Ryder’s right, we have to keep you safe.’
‘I’ll be safe. We have to find
Bruce. We have to find out what he’s up to.’
‘No,’ Sorcha shook her head. ‘I had no idea... what is he mixed up in? What have I got myself mixed up in?’
‘It might not be as bad as you think.’
Sorcha led Lacie back to the desk so they could sit. ‘Shep spoke to Alan.’
‘From Lewis Investment?’
‘Yeah,’ Sorcha said. ‘Shep cornered him in the coffee place down from Alan’s house. He’s really put the legwork in.’
‘What did Alan say?’
Sorcha looked one way then the other although they were entirely alone she lowered her voice. ‘Bruce and Alan were close.’
‘I knew that. I met Alan a few times.’
‘According to Alan, Bruce didn’t get headhunted. He was fired.’
‘What for?’
‘There were complaints by some of his clients about his behaviour. He was acting weird, stressed out, missing meetings, being all erratic,’ Sorcha explained.
‘So they fired him?’
Sorcha shrugged. ‘That’s what Alan said. Except after that he skipped town. Alan said Lewis are in the middle of an internal audit and things are showing up... inconsistencies.’
‘Such as?’ Lacie asked.
‘He didn’t elaborate, but...’
‘So Bruce was skimming money, or laundering it, or—‘
‘I don’t know,’ Sorcha said. ‘But it started at Lewis whatever it was.’
‘Do you think they’ve told the police,’ Lacie asked. ‘If something has happened at Lewis...?’
‘I don’t think they’d want to advertise that one of their employees has been stealing from their clients.’
‘Good point,’ Lacie said. ‘But where did the money go? I didn’t think of Bruce as the greedy type.’
‘Neither did I.’
‘I think it’s fair to say he’s in over his head with something. The people he’s associating with aren’t his usual type of friends.’
‘Lacie,’ Sorcha started, and from how she began to fidget, Lacie was ready for a bombshell. ‘I could make this go away... do you think I should?’
‘This isn’t about the baby,’ Lacie said covering Sorcha’s hand with hers. ‘The ball is rolling. The horse has bolted. We’re in this now, don’t do anything rash.’
‘How will I tell my parents?’
‘They’re not going to cast you out. They might be shocked but they’ll get over it.’
‘Do you think I should tell them? Now?’ Sorcha asked.
‘Your parents have the resources to keep you safe,’ Lacie said. ‘Their house is like Fort Knox.’
‘My safety isn’t an issue, yours is. Will you at least consider going home to your parents?’
‘I don’t have to do that.’
‘You do,’ Sorcha said. ‘You have to be safe.’
‘I will be,’ Lacie said. ‘I’m not leaving while all of this is going on. I won’t let them scare me away.’
‘So you’ll let yourself get killed?’
‘I’m not going to get killed,’ Lacie said.
‘How do you know?’
‘Ryder won’t let that happen.’
Sorcha said nothing for a few seconds. ‘Do you really trust this guy? You’ve known him for five minutes. I know he’s good looking, and he’s tough but... this is serious stuff Lacie, you can’t be ruled by your... you know.’
‘My libido?’ Lacie smiled because so often this was what she had told Sorcha. ‘It’s not like that.’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘I know,’ she said.
‘You can’t know,’ Sorcha said. ‘Has he said something?’
‘Not exactly.’
‘Does he love you?’
‘We’ve known each other a week,’ Lacie said. ‘Not even a week.’
‘So how can you trust him?’
‘What choice do I have?’ Lacie asked. ‘He’s capable, and he cares about me.’
‘I know that but—‘Sorcha’s purse began to vibrate, and she bent to retrieve her phone.
‘Who is it?’ Lacie asked but Sorcha only shrugged and answered the phone.
‘Hello?’ Immediately Sorcha squeezed Lacie’s hand, her wide eyes betraying her shock. ‘Where are you? What’s going on with...? Well, yes of course but—ok... Ok... Yeah.’ She hung up the phone, the call over as quickly as it had begun.
‘What was that about?’ Lacie asked.
‘We have to go,’ Sorcha said hanging her purse over her shoulder and pulling Lacie to her feet.
‘Go where?’ Lacie asked as Sorcha hurried her to a door in the corner behind the desk.
When she pulled it open it looked like any other closet, except Sorcha threw the hanging items aside and Lacie saw a door at the other end of it. She wanted to express her disbelief and she wanted to know what Shep needed with a secret door to the outside. But Ryder had explained the necessity of multiple exits – maybe Shep was smarter than she’d given him credit for.
Sorcha took Lacie onto the street at the back of Shep’s office, they crossed an alley, and then the road, and still Lacie was the length of her arm, and Sorcha’s, from the information about where they were going, or what was going on. Sorcha held her hand tightly and didn’t relent. They crossed another road and went into the park where Sorcha began to pull Lacie up the slope that led to a residential area here in the centre of town.
‘Where are we going?’ Lacie asked. Sorcha struggled to breathe as she soldiered on. ‘What’s going on? Who was on the phone?’ Still Sorcha didn’t answer so Lacie yanked her hand free and stayed put, which had Sorcha rushing back to her.
‘Come on, I don’t want to be late,’ Sorcha said.
‘For what?’ Lacie asked. ‘Who was on the phone?’
‘Bruce,’ Sorcha said stretching her smile, relief, and joy plastered all over her face. ‘It was Bruce. He’s back in town and he wants to see me. Lacie, he wants to see me.’
Sorcha squealed with delight as she hugged Lacie but Lacie couldn’t claim to be quite as exuberant. This was wrong; there was something fishy about him calling unexpectedly like this, and for no apparent reason. If he was in town, if he was truly back to his life then any normal man would phone and make a date, not demand to see someone there and then. Lacie hugged Sorcha back but couldn’t put any effort into it. It suddenly dawned on her that Ryder would be looking for her, he wouldn’t be happy that they’d just upped and left like this, and right now without a purse, or a phone, or anything she had no way to contact him. She could only hope that when he realised they weren’t in Shep’s office anymore that somehow he’d find her before... just before.
‘They’ve been in there a while, haven’t they?’
‘Who knows what women talk about,’ Shep responded to Ryder who could only pace the outer office while he tried to play this forward.
Shep was happy lounging around drinking coffee and making eyes at his receptionist. Ryder wasn’t. More than happy to be bawled at for interrupting them Ryder went toward the office door. When he lowered the handle, a draft circled his ankles and the dread in his spine spread as ice through him.
Throwing open the door his worst fear was confirmed. The women were gone and an open door in the corner revealed the light of day. He got over there and shoved the obstacles aside to find himself on another street. Scanning the area he didn’t see either of the girls, or any disruption of where they might have been.
Shep sauntered up to his side, casually glancing around. ‘Looks like they made a break for it.’
‘Or were taken,’ Ryder said but there hadn’t been a sound, or signs of a struggle.
‘The door only opens from the inside,’ Shep said.
‘How did they know the door was there?’
‘Sorcha used to come and visit,’ Shep said with a shrug.
‘So they left by choice,’ Ryder said mentally sorting through the possibilities. He couldn’t believe that Lacie would consciously abandon him to his distress. B
ut he also knew that Lacie wouldn’t leave Sorcha alone. The question was what would motivate Sorcha to leave so suddenly, and through a back door.
Ryder hadn’t intended to bring Lacie to the meeting; he hadn’t given her a phone, he had no way to contact her. A desire to put his fist through something, or someone, pumped through his blood. Regrouping he retrieved his own phone and got in touch with the team, he had to get the investigation up to speed.
Shep did a whole lot of nothing while he spoke to his team but when Ryder went back inside, he noticed Shep and Tiffany exchanging whispers. The clandestine activity could mean nothing, the pair made no secret of their intimacy. Tiffany nodded in his direction drawing Shep’s attention to Ryder’s entrance.
The men met in the doorway. ‘Are you calling the cops?’ Shep asked him.
‘I’ll call Deacon when Rocco gets here. Gabe’s liaising with the cops now.’
‘It’s crazy of them to just run off. Your girl could get herself in trouble.’
‘The thought had crossed my mind,’ Ryder said.
‘She’ll have run after Sorcha,’ Shep said. ‘That woman can’t keep good sense.’
‘I witnessed that myself when I walked into her motel room yesterday.’
‘Alright, draw your claws in,’ Shep said instead of returning his usual quip. ‘They could be around the corner having coffee, or the mall is just up the street.’
‘Lacie knew how worried I would be,’ Ryder said. ‘I thought they would be safe in your office.’
‘They got out of there for a reason,’ Shep said. ‘Something got Sorcha riled enough to do a runner, and she didn’t want anyone to know what it was.’
‘Booth,’ Ryder said.
‘Could be,’ Shep said. ‘We won’t know until they get back to us. There’s a good chance they wanted to ditch us. Maybe Sorcha thinks daddy could do better.’
‘Except she doesn’t want her father to know what’s going on. Why don’t you check that out,’ he said watching the black sedan pull up outside.
‘What are you going to do?’ Shep asked.
‘We’re tapping Sorcha’s phone, and keeping an eye out for credit transactions.’
Mistake Me Not Page 17