Everything She Wanted

by Jennifer Ryan

  Grace pulled him out of his dark thoughts, leaning up and holding his neck and kissing the side of his face. “Want some?” She held up a bite of cake at the ends of her fingers, poised to fall in his lap at any second. Chocolate frosting covered her tiny fingers.

  He smiled, knowing this was going to make a mess and not caring one bit. He couldn’t resist the girl. “Gimme.” He opened his mouth and she crammed the piece of cake in and against his lips.

  She smiled and licked her fingers. “You have chocolate on your face.”

  He tickled her ribs and made her giggle. “You have chocolate everywhere.”

  Sam grabbed Grace under the arms, avoiding letting her put her hands on him, and handed her to Elizabeth. “You take care of her. I’ve got the boy.” Sam plucked J.T. from Ben’s lap and set him on the empty chair beside him.

  “Thanks,” Ben said, wiping his face with a napkin.

  “You’ve got more chocolate on you than in you,” Sam teased. “Thanks for distracting them. They love playing with you.”

  “I like them. They’re good kids.”

  “Despite the chocolate on your dress shirt?”

  Ben looked down at his chest and the perfect imprint of Grace’s hand in smudged chocolate against the white with navy blue pinstripe fabric.

  “Yes, despite that.”

  “I’ll buy you a new shirt,” Sam offered.

  “Don’t worry about it. No big deal.”

  “You’re going to make a really great father someday,” Marti said from across Cameron on his other side.

  “Well, if I keep hanging out with you guys, I’ll get a lot of practice.”

  “That’s for sure,” Cameron said, scanning the table and all the small faces staring back at them.

  Four ­couples had produced eight kids, counting Noah, who would be a welcome addition to this bunch of fun-­loving kids. They really did seem happy and carefree. So unlike how he felt growing up. Maybe that was why he liked playing with kids so much.

  Ben wiped the worst of Grace’s sticky handprint from his chest, knowing he’d never get the stain out and not caring one bit. He tossed the napkin on the dessert the kids ate the majority of without him and stood.

  “Thanks, everyone, for a great night, but I’ve got work to do on a pending case.”

  It took him five minutes to say goodbye, shake hands with the guys, and hug the ladies. The kids gave him hugs too. Grace gave him another kiss on the cheek. He loved that little angel. J.T. gave him a high five.

  “Good luck and be well,” he said to Morgan, hugging her goodbye.

  Morgan held him close and whispered, “I know what it feels like to want to be a part of a family like this. All you have to do is accept this is your family too. When you need help, come to us. We’ll always be here.”

  He didn’t know what to say, so held her away and stared into her eyes, knowing she spoke the truth, but unable to accept it and take it in.

  He walked away, but Jenna caught up to him by the door. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “Fine. I really do have work to do.”

  “I’m glad you came.”

  “So am I.” He meant it. “I’ll see you soon, Rabbit.” He hugged her close and held on longer than normal because they shared a special bond. He needed her warmth and friendship.

  He let her go and ducked out the door quicker than needed, but he had to get away from the things she made him want and the feelings he didn’t want to feel. He loved Jenna, but not in that way for all the joking and razzing he gave Jack about stealing her away. He and Jenna would always be friends. But he saw all too clearly what she’d overcome to find the love and happiness she had with Jack and their kids. It was possible to be happy. He didn’t know how she did it. Maybe all it took was finding the right person. So much harder than it sounded.

  He drove home with one nagging thought that refused to leave his mind. Is Morgan right? Is the woman meant for me about to crash into my life? Does she even exist? He hoped so, but was he ready? Did he have it in him to be a friend, lover, partner to a woman like he’d never been to anyone else?

  Would his worst fear come to pass and he’d end up being his father’s son?

  He swore it would never happen, which is why he’d never allowed himself to forge a deep and lasting relationship with anyone. All it got him was lonely and alone in his quiet apartment, staring at a stack of endless work. Work he used to fill his time and the hole inside of him he never filled.

  His phone rang. He checked caller ID and hit the button on his steering wheel to accept the call. Detective Raynott’s voice replaced Bruno Mars singing “Uptown Funk” coming through the speakers.

  “Guess who’s in trouble again?”

  “Evan Faraday.” Easy guess. His hands tightened on the steering wheel.

  “Get here as fast as you can.” The detective rattled off the address and hung up.

  Ben punched it into his GPS at a red light, gripped the steering wheel tighter, and looked forward to finally getting another chance to take Evan down.

  BEN PULLED IN behind several police cars nearly thirty minutes later, their red and blue lights flashing. He turned off the car’s engine and sat staring up at the massive house. Morgan’s prediction played in his mind. This late at night, the woman meant for him had to be in that house. He hoped she wasn’t the dead woman Detective Raynott called him about.

  Evan Faraday hit Ben’s radar when Detective Raynott caught the case of a man found beaten to death in an alley after gambling with some guys in the bar, including Evan. That man was the son of one of his Haven House clients. Ben stepped in as a legal advocate for the family. The guy was only trying to scrape together extra money for his mother and sister. Evan played cards with the guy, but Raynott couldn’t link him to the murder. Not with any actual evidence, but the circumstantial kind added up to Evan drunk and pissed off about losing to the guy. Evan killed him; they just couldn’t prove it.

  More recently, Evan got into another bar fight. Donald Faraday paid off the guy with a heavy heart. He knew what and who his son was, but that didn’t stop him from getting Evan out of trouble. Again.

  Detective Raynott caught that case too. Ben asked the detective to call him if Evan got in trouble again. Ben wanted to take the selfish, smart-­mouthed prick down. Then came the DUI arrest. Now he’d killed again.

  Ben got out of the car, tucked in his shirt, and straightened his tie.

  “What am I doing?” He was at a murder scene, not meeting a date for drinks and dinner.

  But she was in there. He knew it. Anticipated it. And hoped he wasn’t a fool for believing in Morgan.

  The anticipation and hope swamping his system surprised him more than a little. He hadn’t realized how much he wanted a woman in his life. Not just any woman, but the right woman.

  “I’m sorry, sir, this is an active crime scene. Law enforcement only,” the officer guarding the police line said. Ben noted the neighbors’ interest. They lined the street, whispering to each other and staring at him. Some in their bathrobes, others in lounge clothes. This late at night the sirens got most of them up out of their beds. In this neighborhood, a murder was the last thing they expected.

  “My name is Ben Knight. Detective Raynott called and asked me to come.”

  The officer held the tape up for him to pass. “He’s in the living room. Give your name to the officer at the door.”

  Ben did and stepped into the elegant home and surveyed the officers and crime scene techs working the scene at the back of the house and what looked like the entrance to the kitchen. He spotted Detective Raynott standing over a woman with long brown wavy hair, a baby sleeping in a car seat at her feet. With her back to him, he couldn’t see her face, but something about her seemed familiar. A strange tug pulled him toward her.

  “Ben, you made it. Thanks for coming,” Dete
ctive Raynott said, waving him forward.

  “Anything to nail Evan Faraday and see him behind bars.”

  The woman turned and raised her face to look up at him. He stopped midstride and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. Like a deep lake the soft outer color darkened toward the center. “Kate?”

  He never expected her. Morgan had been right though—­they’d shared a moment at a wedding reception for a mutual friend and colleague. That had been more than a year ago now. They sat at the same table and talked, mostly about work and how out of place they felt at the event, made even more uncomfortable when they realized they were seated at a table full of singles and the bride had arranged them as ­couples, playing matchmaker. They shared some laughs and danced, deciding to make the awkward situation fun. They fell under the spell—­the music, champagne, the celebration of love—­and Ben enjoyed himself more that night than any other date. He kissed her right there on the dance floor during a particularly slow, sweet song. He remembered it perfectly. The way she stared up at him with those blue eyes. The way her mouth parted slightly as she exhaled and he leaned in. The softness of her lips against his. The way she gave in to the kiss with a soft sigh. The tremble that rocked his body and hers when the sparks flew and sizzled through his system.

  The startled look on her face when he pulled back just enough to see the desire flaming in her eyes. A split second later she bolted for the door.

  He went after her, but didn’t find her. She didn’t answer his calls over the next two days. He still didn’t know if he’d overstepped, done something wrong, or simply scared her.

  “Ben.” Her soft voice, filled with surprise, startled him out of his thoughts. “What are you doing here?” Her sad eyes narrowed on him.

  “I called him,” Detective Raynott said. “If this is Evan’s doing, there’s no one besides yourself who wants to take that man down more than Ben.”

  “Why?”

  “I hate assholes who think they can get away with hurting ­people for no other reason than they can.”

  “Put him in front of me and I’ll see to it he doesn’t get away with anything ever again,” Kate swore.

  Ben admired her conviction. He believed her. She wanted Evan dead. He wanted Evan to pay for his many sins, but he didn’t want Kate to get hurt or end up in a cell herself.

  “Tell me what’s going on here.”

  Kate jumped up from the couch, her face contorting with rage. “That fucker killed my sister and her fiancé.”

  “This is your sister’s place?”

  “Yes. Donald bought it for her last year.”

  Ben held up his hand, palm up. “Wait, your sister’s fiancé is Donald Faraday?”

  “Yes.”

  Ben grimaced. “He’s married.”

  “He wasn’t going to be for long. He asked his wife for a divorce today and now he’s dead. They’re both dead.”

  “And you believe Evan Faraday killed them?”

  She waved one hand in front of her palm up. “Now you’re all caught up.”

  “Why would he do that? It’s too obvious if Donald asked Christina for a divorce.”

  Detective Raynott stepped forward to fill him in. “The scene’s been staged to look like a murder-­suicide. Kate schooled the responding officers and the crime scene guys to look deeper at the bloody knife and blood drops unrelated to the shootings. We can’t confirm a third person, but the lab tests will tell us if the blood is from our victims or someone else. We don’t have Evan Faraday’s DNA in the system, so getting a sample may be tricky.”

  “Have the police notified Christina and Evan that Donald is dead?”

  “Not yet.”

  “So Evan could have left the country by now.” Ben hated to think Evan might get away with this after all.

  “That would only make him look guiltier,” Kate pointed out. “They want the money. Donald had a prenup. Christina got next to nothing for cheating on him. Donald and Evan fought on the phone today.”

  “Did you overhear this conversation?” the detective asked.

  “No. When I left with Alex . . .”

  “The baby?” Ben asked.

  She sighed heavily. “Yes. Donald was upset. He said he spoke with Evan on the phone. They argued. Evan wasn’t happy his father essentially cut him off. I sensed there was something more, but I’m not sure what. Donald was uneasy when I left. He handed me a key without my sister knowing.”

  “A key to what?” Ben asked.

  “I think the safe. He tried to convince me and Margo that everything was okay, but deep down, I think he worried something like this might happen. That’s why they asked me to take Alex for a few days.”

  “Wait. Alex is Donald and Margo’s child, not yours?”

  “He was, but now he’s mine.”

  She didn’t wear a ring, which made his assumption that she hadn’t gotten married in the last year plausible. But the baby made him think she was in a committed relationship and he didn’t have a chance with her despite Morgan’s prediction. Now he breathed easier.

  Ben thought through all the facts. “So Donald asked for a divorce from his wife to be with your sister, who has been his mistress for at least two years if they have a child. There’s a prenup that leaves Christina Faraday with a settlement, but the bulk of the estate would go to Evan and Alex.”

  “Essentially, if Donald and Christina divorced. He served her the papers, but it’s not final or anything, so I don’t know if a judge would say they’re technically still married. So now, the Faradays will fight to keep everything and exclude Alex.” Kate raked her hand through her hair and held it away from her pretty face. Grief dragged her shoulders down and made the depths of her eyes flat.

  “That’s why I called Ben,” Detective Raynott said. “If you’re going up against the Faradays, you’ll need an attorney who’s dealt with them before and has a personal interest in taking them down.”

  “Why do you hate them?” She narrowed her eyes, the ever present suspicion still there despite the fact they had a common foe.

  “Just Evan. Pricks with money who think they can get away with anything and everything because their victims don’t have the same resources to fight back.”

  “The reason you founded Haven House,” she guessed.

  “Is that how you two met?” Detective Raynott eyed Ben, then Kate, silently asking Ben if they had a past.

  “Kate is a social worker down in San Jose. She works with teens, but sometimes gets cases of abused women. She’s sent a few to Haven House when they needed help and a safe place to hide outside of San Jose.”

  Ben didn’t offer up any other information. Like every time he saw her in the past, no matter how short the visit to her offices to pick up someone in need, he’d been drawn to her and her quiet intensity. Smart and kind with an underlying strength that told you she didn’t take shit from anyone. She’d always kept things on a professional level, sending out don’t-­touch, don’t-­even-­ask vibes. Still, he’d always sensed interest in her that she didn’t give in to—­except that one time. The few times he saw her after the wedding reception, he could have pushed, tried harder, showed more interest, but he pulled back to save himself from a polite rejection. The attraction was there, thrumming through his system even now. The lost and devastated look in her eyes drew him in and made him want to wrap his arms around her and hug her close. He wanted to comfort her. The need to keep her close surprised him.

  He wanted to fight it, dismiss it, and move on before she ran out on him again, but Morgan’s prediction played in his head. What if Kate was the woman meant for him? What if he walked away from her without really trying and he never got another shot? What if he missed his chance for the kind of happiness Jenna and his other friends had found because he let it slip right through his fingers because he was too stubborn, afraid, lazy to hold on tight to it?
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  She’d brushed him off before, held back when he sensed she wanted to leap. He’d let her. Not this time.

  “Ben, I thank you for coming tonight, but there’s nothing you can do. I’ll go through my sister’s and Donald’s papers, see what’s what, and go from there. The police will nail Evan. He staged the scene, but he made mistakes. Those mistakes will land him in jail.”

  He placed his hand on her shoulder and slid it down to her arm. She didn’t back away. He held it there, offering comfort.

  “You’re not dismissing me that easily. I can help with the papers and make sure Alex gets what’s his. As far as Evan is concerned, don’t think this is a slam dunk. Evan will hire a top attorney to defend him. He’ll try to squirm his way out of this mess. If he can’t, he’ll use his money and status and the fact he’s never been convicted of a crime to get out of serving any real time. He’ll find any hole he can escape through to get out of this mess. Let me help you, and I’ll keep the pressure on the DA to make sure he pays.”

  Her sad gaze met his. “Why? Why do you want to help me?”

  “No matter what, you’re going to need a lawyer to go up against them. You and I have worked together in the past. Better the lawyer you know, the one who is going to put everything I have into this case, than the one who will run up a huge bill. You don’t want the DA handing out a plea that gets Evan out in a few years. You want him locked up for good. I will advocate for you and Alex to make sure that happens. I know Evan and what makes him tick. I’ve gone after him in the past.”

  “But you didn’t win.”

  Ben felt the jab right in the gut. He tried not to take it personally. Still, the loss pissed him off. Having her point it out embarrassed him, but he’d done everything he could to advocate for the family of the man Evan beat to death and get them justice. The DA couldn’t prove the case and there wasn’t a shred of credible evidence to file a civil suit. Not the case for the man Evan beat in a bar brawl. That civil suit ended in a settlement, the criminal charges plead down to a measly misdemeanor. He couldn’t fault his client for taking the money. Still, Ben didn’t want to see Evan get away with yet another murder. He wanted to see Alex get his due.