“Holy shit.” Owen glanced up from his notes. “So, this was where you were instead of trivia night?”
“Yup.”
“You and trivia.” Kade groaned.
“Hey, Blake used to do these facts of the day on our first run of the day. I can’t help it if that stuff stuck in my head.” Owen shrugged. “Did you recognize the suspect?”
“No, I didn’t get a good look at him.”
“What about the woman?”
“Maybe.”
Owen stared at Ian a moment longer. That was the problem by being questioned by one of your closest friends. They saw deeper than others.
“Hey, I need to go check on everyone. You might want to have a look in the basement. I thought I saw someone go down there.” Ian smacked Owen on the shoulder. He wasn’t going to pass up the perfect opportunity to ease his conscience. Whatever George didn’t want Ian to see in the basement was likely to be of interest to the cops.
“Stay close, in case I have more questions,” Owen said.
“I need to hang out with you guys. All the interesting shit happens around you.” Kade shook his head and laughed.
Raised voices from the backyard carried over the general hum of noise. Ian had wondered when shit would hit the fan.
“That’s your cue, I’m guessing?” Kade slapped Ian on the shoulder. “Don’t punch anyone out.”
Ian jogged around the perimeter, down the driveway and into the backyard, Owen at his side.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Owen asked as his partner lagged behind.
“Later.” Ian’s gaze zeroed in on the women squaring off.
Cat was pointing at Taylor, shouting something, while the rest of the house staff and George watched.
“Wow, wow, wow.” Ian held up his hands and waded into the fray. Owen faced off with Cat. “What’s goin’ on here?”
“This is all her fault.” Cat glared.
Taylor had her arms wrapped around herself. She didn’t have near enough clothes on to be out at this hour. A tank top and pajama pants weren’t cutting it. Stacey clung to her waist, face buried against her side. The tears streaming down Taylor’s cheeks were damning, but the woman had just fought off a man set on killing her and was still alive.
“We don’t know that,” Ian said. He shrugged out of his coat and slung it around Taylor’s shoulders.
“She’s attacked in the garage.” Cat held up one finger. “Now, someone tries to burn the house down—starting with her room. If that’s not obvious, I don’t know what is. For all we know, she did this on purpose. Who’s to say those threats weren’t from her? Or for her?”
“Ma’am? Ma’am, I need you to take a deep breath and back off. Now.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Cat glared at Owen.
“I’m Detective King.”
Cat recoiled, eyes gone wide. With her record, Ian could imagine a cop was the last thing she wanted to see.
“No, no, I didn’t do this,” Taylor stammered.
“Cat, take Stacey over there and shut your mouth,” George ordered.
Cat gave Owen a wide berth as she stalked around to grab Stacey by the shoulders. The little girl wailed and clung tighter to Taylor. It wasn’t until Taylor cupped her face and whispered a few words to her that she gave in and followed Cat quietly off toward her play house on the other side of the yard.
Owen glanced at him. Ian shook his head.
“I’m going to talk to her, I guess,” Owen said, pitching his voice low. He beckoned his partner to follow him, the poor rookie.
“Thanks, man.” Ian couldn’t stop whatever was about to go down between George and Taylor, but he wanted to mitigate the fallout as much as he could.
George prowled forward and Ian closed in from the other side. He wasn’t about to leave Taylor to face this jackass alone. She glanced up at him, her face lined with worry.
“Please, George, let me explain?” she said.
Explain? Explain what?
Ian glanced from her to George.
What bombshell hadn’t Taylor told him yet?
“What did you do?” George demanded.
“Nothing. I haven’t done anything.” Taylor held up her hands.
“Then what do you have to explain?” George’s gaze narrowed.
“George...”
“Spit it out already. Tell me why I shouldn’t fire you.”
15.
Taylor hated the way she shook, the look on George’s face, that Ian had a front row seat, all of it. She’d never wanted to tell George the truth. There was no point in it. Nothing to gain. He barely cared for Stacey. Her? He’d see as a threat.
She’d never had a father to idolize, to treat her like his little princess. Growing up, she’d often envied other girl’s relationships with their fathers. How they could trust them, love them, rely on them. Taylor had never had that.
The only person she’d been able to lean on, without fail, was herself.
Dad put Cosa Nosta first.
Mom had an agenda that came before everything.
George was from the same stock. There was nothing in his behavior up to this moment that told her he would do anything but throw her out.
Poor Stacey.
This was the life she’d grow up in, if not into.
Taylor wished she could take her sister with her, that there was something she could do for the little girl, but Taylor could barely take care of herself.
But...maybe she was wrong? She had to try.
George took a step toward her. He was looking at her with death in his eyes. He didn’t know what she’d done, but he was smart enough to see what Cat saw.
It’d only been a matter of time.
Taylor should have left after the first threats, but she’d wanted to be with Stacey. The one bit of family she had left.
“That’s enough,” Ian said. “It’s been a long day.”
“You back out of this,” George growled. “I hired you.”
“Yeah, and now my contract is over. Taylor? Come on.” Ian held out his hand.
If he had any sense at all, he’d push her away. He’d run from her. But he just kept nosing deeper. Soon enough he’d leave her too.
They all did.
Anyone she let close eventually left.
And here she was...leaving Stacey.
Taylor blinked back bitter tears.
“You’re fired, Taylor. Don’t come back here, either of you. Worthless piece of shit.”
Yeah, she’d seen that one coming a mile away.
Taylor swiped at her cheeks and tried to hold it together. She’d weathered worse, but damn, wasn’t it time she caught a break?
“Come on.” Ian wrapped his arm around her waist, ushering her away from George. “Turns out a couple guys I know are here. I didn’t drive my truck here, seein’ as there wasn’t a place to keep it, but Kade’ll give us a ride out.”
Taylor nodded.
George wouldn’t pay her.
She was short the cash she needed to run.
Everything she still owned was likely gone in that blaze.
So, what did she do now?
“Hey. Hey? Look at me?” Ian cupped her face, his gaze searching hers. “Don’t lose hope now. It’s always darkest before the morn’.”
“You don’t understand.”
“’Cuz you haven’t told me everythin’. You’re the daughter of some sort of mafia don, you’re in trouble, but everythin’ I’ve found on you, tells me you’re a good person. So, what does a good person have to fear from bad people? Hm?”
She swallowed.
If she could go back, would she do things differently?
“You kicked the hornets’ nest, didn’t you? That’s the sort of thing you’d do. Here’s the thing about bugs, they are short lived, don’t weather the elements well, and you can kill ‘em with the right tools.” One side of Ian’s mouth hitched up. He swiped his thumbs over her cheeks. “I’ll help you, but you have to trust me. Let�
��s get you out of here first though, hm?”
Ian turned to glance around the yard.
Cat rushed toward them.
Great, just what Taylor needed.
Another faceoff with people who hated her.
And to think, Taylor had considered Cat a friend.
When had that changed?
“Have you seen Stacey?” Cat wrung her hands. “I was talking to the cop and the next moment, she wasn’t there.”
“What?” Taylor’s heart leapt up into her throat.
If Julia got her hands on Stacey...
“Calm down. Breathe.” Ian rubbed her back. He turned to look at Cat. “Where were you when you last saw her?”
“Over by the playhouse.” Cat gestured across the lawn to the adorable structure scaled to a child’s size.
Taylor eyed the distance from the house to where she’d been standing, the distance from the playhouse to the street.
The street was still clogged with fire trucks, an ambulance, and more cop cars. More? That was odd. Stacey couldn’t have gone that way, which meant she was either still in the backyard somewhere hiding, or she’d gone back inside the house.
If Taylor were Stacey, and she were scared, where would she go?
“She probably ducked back inside the house.” That’s what Taylor would have done.
“You, stay here. I’ll go inside and have a look around.” Ian glanced over her shoulder. “Owen? This is Taylor.”
She turned, catching sight of the same dark-haired, blue-eyed man from earlier.
“He’s one of my very best friends,” Ian whispered, his stubble brushing her cheek.
Years of conditioning still made her flinch away from a cop. But if he was on Ian’s side, then she could only hope he’d overlook her minor infractions.
“Hi, there.” Owen smiled and offered her his hand.
“I need to go retrieve the little girl. Clear inside?” Ian thumbed over his shoulder.
“I wouldn’t go in there.” Owen lost the frown.
“Just give me a second to nab her.”
“If you don’t see her just inside, leave her.”
“Why? What’s goin’ on?”
“Nothing.”
Taylor glanced between the two. She was missing something. These two really were friends. But the cop looked familiar.
Ian sighed and stalked toward the garage.
Owen stared after Ian, the muscles at his jaw twitching.
“Have I seen you before?” she asked.
“Oh, uh...” Owen glanced down. Was it her imagination or did he just blush? “I suppose you’ve seen the dancing princes video?”
“Yeah... Oh. You’re one of them?”
“Afraid so.” Owen glanced around the yard. “Can I ask you a couple questions? Get this over with?”
“I guess so. It has to happen at some point, right?”
“You are correct.” He tapped at his phone. “Ian said you were attacked yesterday morning, but didn’t report it?”
“Yeah. But...that guy? It was the same one who was there tonight.”
“The arsonist?”
“Yes. I just...didn’t want to say that too loudly.” She glanced toward George before she could squash the involuntary reaction.
“Don’t worry about him. He’s not going to hurt you.”
Taylor wanted to laugh. George was the least of her worries.
Owen asked her a series of questions, prompting her through what’d happened that night and a few questions that were seemingly random. Observations about the house, deliveries, people. Were the cops on to George? Taylor had been around organized crime for most of her life, so some things were just...normal.
What she wouldn’t give to have some other version of normal in her life.
Ian skirted the crime scene. Enough of the cops knew him on sight, both from other jobs and hanging around Owen’s sorry ass, that they only raised an eyebrow at his presence. Judging by the grim silence and heavy police presence, Owen had taken his suggestion to peep in the basement seriously. Good, because when the warrant came through and Owen got wise enough to what was going on, Ian could turn over everything he’d researched to assist the prosecution in their case. After that, he could be done of George Wachtel with a clear conscience.
But first he had to find the pint-sized princess.
Where the hell had Stacey gotten to?
She wasn’t in the garage or the kitchen.
He’d checked her room and her hidey hole.
Still nothing.
He ducked into the front room where her piano sat alone and empty.
Where else would she go?
He pulled out his phone and texted Kade. Thankfully the EMT was still on sight, cooling his heels doing nothing but wait for the coroner or for someone to fall and bump their head.
Kade met him in the front room.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked.
“I’m lookin’ for the little girl. She slipped away from the woman watchin’ her an’ I think she’s in the house somewhere.”
“If she’s scared, she’s not going to come out for me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Ian grinned. “Princess Stacey is a fan.”
Kade groaned and rubbed his face, muttering curses under his breath.
“Yeah. See why I asked you to come help? If Owen didn’t have his hands full, I’d ask him, too, but you’re all I’ve got.”
“Fine,” Kade grumbled. “Where are we starting?”
“I checked her rooms an’ Taylor’s, down here a bit.”
“What about those security cameras?” Kade gestured to the one mounted in the top corner of the living room.
“They went offline last night. I just assumed they’re offline now.” Ian peered up at the camera. “Let’s check the security closet first. Maybe we’ll get lucky?”
Ian and Kade traversed the house to what had likely once been some sort of utility closet. The room was only five feet across and ten deep, which made it an odd place for just about anything...except a solid wall of screens.
“Who needs this kind of security?” Kade whistled.
Across all the monitors first responders went about their jobs, there was Taylor and Owen, the cops. Shit, there were a lot of cops.
“Guess it’s back online. Stacey, where are you?” Ian muttered.
He hadn’t yet entertained the idea that the little girl was gone. He found it unlikely that she’d been spirited away, but it could still happen. If someone wanted to make Taylor do something, Stacey was it. She sure as hell cared for the little girl.
“There. She’s in the basement.” Kade pointed at one of the bottom left screens.
“I’ll be damned...” Ian stared at the screen, watching Stacey pull stuff from the big, industrial dryer and cram it into a bag.
What the hell was she doing down there?
“Come on.” Kade slapped Ian’s shoulder. “Let me do the rest of your job. What is it you’re doing here, anyway?”
“Nothin’ now.” Ian was willing to bet he never saw the second half of his payment from George. Zain was going to pitch a fit.
Ian and Kade skirted the first floor, taking the side staircase down to the basement. Ian had only been able to duck down here twice, but he’d seen enough to know the crates stacked up weren’t Christmas decorations.
At the other end, under the rear staircase, the laundry light was turned on. Stacey had clothes strewn across the floor and was wrestling with a tiny, pink suitcase.
“Princess Stacey, what are you doin’?” Ian kept his voice soft as they approached.
Stacey whirled to face them. Her skin was pale and grass stains streaked the bottom half of her night gown.
“I needed to pack,” Stacey said.
“Why would you need to pack?” He eyed the suitcase.
It was moving.
Suitcases weren’t supposed to move.
“Because Taylor’s going away.”
; “And why would you need to pack if Taylor’s goin’ away?”
“I want to go with her.” Stacey’s shoulders slumped.
“Oh, dear, come here.” Ian opened his arms and the little girl walked into his embrace. He squeezed her. “Taylor does have to go away. I’m sorry.”
“I know. The bad men came after her, didn’t they? They came after my mom, too. I’m glad Taylor got away, but she needs a bag. All her stuff burned up, so I thought I’d give her some clothes.”
Ian peered over Taylor’s shoulder at the jeans and shirts littering the floor from the dryer to the suitcase.
A little squished face popped out of the bag, ears at the ready.
“Oh, my God, you’re a cute little thing.” Kade went to a knee, holding out his hand.
“Princess Stacey, this is my friend. He is a prince, too.”
“Really?” She blinked at Kade, who merely grinned at them.
“This is Kade, he’s a firefighter who puts people back together again. Kade, this is Princess Stacey.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” Kade ducked his head in a poor imitation of a bow.
It had the desired response, teasing a smile out of Stacey.
Ian hugged her a bit tighter while the puppy—was that Sneezy?—wiggled it’s chubby little body out of the suitcase. Kade snagged the pup before it got lost and cradled it in his arms. Ian could only hope that was the only one she’d brought down here.
“Ian?” Stacey turned to face him, her little face so serious and grave.
“Yes, Princess Stacey?”
“Taylor needs you.” She picked a bit of lint off his sleeve.
What was he supposed to say to that? He hated that she’d even realized Taylor was in danger.
Alpha Prince (Twisted Royals, #1) Page 14