A Shadow of Doubt

by Dakota Black

  “I have a source back in Baltimore that I trust implicitly, but my guess is it’ll take a couple of days.” At least he was taking this seriously.

  “Do it. Do whatever you need and pay this source anything necessary to find the truth.” He turned to face her. “I don’t like being played and I refuse to be a patsy for anyone or anything.”

  “Agreed.” She hesitated, unsure if she should open up about the final piece of her conversation with Garcia. Time to play her hand.

  “What is it?”

  Dani rubbed her finger back and forth across her lower lip. “Were you aware that several men died at the Steele site prior to purchase?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I heard from a source the rigging practices were rushed, safety measures ignored and several men died, Indian men. If that’s the truth, imagine what the press will do with that information. Garcia shut the conversation down the moment Nash walked into the room. I honestly believe he was fearful of retaliation.” She could see his wheels turning.

  “Goddamn it. I knew the sale was too good to be true. The man was always at odds with my father. When I came on board, old man Steele actually made a statement that he’d run Rush into the ground in front of dozens of people. A few years later, we’re on the bid list. If anyone died on that site, I’m going to ruin that man.”

  “I doubt anyone has solid proof, but this could be a motive.”

  “Sadly, very true. Maybe that’s the very reason Steele sold the company. He got out before the shit hit the fan.” Mitchell tilted his head back. “What in the hell did I get myself into?”

  “Mitchell, I know very little about the culture, but my guess is that Texas is still infused with stories of ancient Gods. Men of various cultures are extremely superstitious. That can be used as a tool to keep people in line if nothing else.” She noticed a flash in his eyes, more haunted than angry. What was he hiding?

  “Ancient Gods. You’re dead on about superstitions. They rule certain cultures, especially in the Western half of the US.” He walked toward the window, palming the glass and sighed. “You know, I would never have purchased the fields without having every safety measure checked. I know they were done. My bet is the employees fear for their lives.”

  She nodded and folded her arms. “No one would have talked about this if they were in fear. Mr. Steele might have swept everything under the rug, which is why they didn’t surface during your due diligence meetings. Then again, this may be a rumor. Do you have anyone you can check with to determine if this is correct information?”

  “Maybe. My corporate attorney is half American Indian as well as my friend. If the rumors are true, he’ll be able to dig through the bullshit.”

  “Then I suggest you give him a call.”

  Mitchell turned back to face her, his face pensive. “I think we should discuss this away from the office. Perhaps we could have dinner?”

  Dani sucked in her breath. The last thing she wanted to do was be alone with the man, business or otherwise. She needed time to regroup, think about what she was getting herself in the middle of. “I need to talk to my contact tonight. Then I can know timing and we can talk strategy maybe tomorrow and yes, off site is best. Deal?”

  Exhaling, he studied her intently, his eyes dancing down the length of her body. “I understand.” With the two terse words, he walked out of her office, closing the door with a soft click.

  She eased against the edge of her desk, realizing she’d been holding her breath. Mitchell was sophisticated, sexy, intelligent and a womanizer. Damn. He was also someone she could fall in love with.

  Over her dead body.

  “What do you really think?” Camden asked as he sipped on a beer.

  “You mean about the Steele site?” Mitchell asked as he looked over his shoulder. They were sitting at the end of the bar in their favorite joint, one both he and Camden frequented often. He’d thought about nothing but Dani’s suppositions over the last few hours, mind fucking himself regarding anyone who hated him enough to not only lie but try and shove Rush Enterprises into the toilet. Dead Indians. Even the concept left a disgusting taste in his mouth. This shit he didn’t need.

  “Is there something else?” He leaned forward, his eyes darting back and forth across Mitchell’s. “Whoa. Something happened with that sexy new employee on the trip. Right? Oh yeah. I can tell.”

  “Stop. We were working.” He took a long pull on his beer then motioned for the bartender. He needed a stiff drink to combat his ugly demons – his company as well as the lovely Ms. Montgomery. He leaned forward, ready to spill what he’d heard regarding the deaths then decided to keep the information to himself. There were already too many stories on the table, enough lies and secrets to burn them all to the ground. The facts he was determined to find.

  “Shit. Something did happen. Did you ravage her luscious body?” Camden laughed as he shook his head.

  “I said stop. Last thing I need is a harassment charge.” When the bartender approached, he half lunged over the bar. “Give me a bourbon. Neat.”

  “You got it,” the bartender said then moved away.

  “A bourbon means you’re reflective,” Camden said under his breath.

  “How the hell would you know that?”

  He laughed. “You have to be kidding me? I know you inside and out. I’m glad you found joy in sharing time with Dani. She’s delightful, even though I wonder if she’s cut out for this industry.”

  “She is,” Mitchell stated with confidence.

  “You sound certain.”

  “I am.”

  “O-kay then. Let’s get back to the original subject. Do you think the fields are tainted?”

  Mitchell sighed and swirled his bottle. “I don’t know yet, but Dani doesn’t seem to think so.”

  “And you trust her?’

  “I do.”

  Camden sat back in his seat. “But the reports, the eye witnesses.”

  “We didn’t hear anything of the sort when we were there. Everything was functioning normally. Yes, there was an issue with three of the rigs, but no one is certain why.” Mitchell had gone through the list of employees in his mind, at least the ones who would have had access to faking reports, creating the crisis instead of reporting. The list was long, including Nash Waters. Dani had been correct in assuming the man might have an ax to bear. He’d had enough time that afternoon to find out Nash had taken a significant cut in salary to come to Rush. He’d been Steele’s right-hand man for years and Steele had other projects. Why come on board? He also had feelers out on the Steele boys. At this point, there were too many players.

  “Interesting.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Well, hopefully the new results will be in tomorrow, Thursday at the latest.”

  Mitchell nodded before tilting his head, looking into his friend’s eyes. “They’re coming directly to me.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to be the first person to know. That’s all.” Exhaustion as well as frustration was clouding Mitchell’s judgment. He didn’t want to alienate his buddy, but business was business.

  “Makes sense. When they do, we’ll talk and plan.” Camden looked away.

  “What is it?”

  He exhaled and stole a look over his shoulder. “You know the company will be on the chopping block if this thing goes bad, let alone your job.”

  “Yeah. Tell me something I don’t know.” Mitchell was fully aware there were companies poised to take him down. At least two had enough clout and money, and with enough bad publicity, would swoop in for the kill. The Board would be forced to sell or try and find a savior to lead the company out of a death spiral. He’d have little to offer in the way of keeping employees, which he needed to run the rigs. What few knew is that his other plots were drying up. He needed the Steele site to continue searching for additional land.

  “Well, let’s not jump to conclusions just yet.” When Mitchell’s drink arrived, Camden snorted
. “I think I’ll have one of those.”

  “Which means you’re tanking on the love front,” Mitchell said as he grinned.

  “What love front? I haven’t even had a one-night stand in months. Unlike you, I see.”

  Mitchell groaned. “Months? I haven’t seen you with anyone in years.” When Camden looked away, he shifted closer. “What? Is there something you haven’t told me? A fair maiden hiding in your closet?”

  Camden half laughed. “Nope. Hasn’t been anyone in years. There won’t be either and we weren’t talking about me.”

  “Hell, I like Dani. She’s good at her job, intelligent and a blast to be around. We had a great time. Then she clammed up, shutting me down.”

  “You do like her. Good to hear you’ve moved on.”

  The comment was the usual one from Camden, who’d tried to fix him up on numerous blind dates after his break up with Marisha. He’d gone on three. Three too many. “I haven’t moved on. We had dinner together.”

  “Right. Come on. It’s me you’re talking to. You had dinner and you made a move. What happened?”

  Mitchell swirled his drink before taking a gulp, savoring the smooth, velvety taste. “I think she believes I’m a playboy, using her.”

  “And you’re not?”

  “Oh, come on. I haven’t been with anyone in months and no, the three women you convinced me to go out with do not count.” A series of visions flashed in front of Mitchell’s eyes. He refused to go down that road. Not now. Not ever again.

  Camden turned toward him, leaning over so only Mitchell could hear. “Mitch, it’s time you moved on. If you found a woman who you enjoy time with, can trust in business and even potentially want more, you need to go for it.”

  “Yay team,” Mitchell said then chuckled. “I don’t want her to get the wrong idea about me.”

  “You mean given all your dark secrets?”

  Mitchell rolled his eyes. “Yeah. All those.” They’d gone through so much together over the last ten years. Business had been tough, but their love lives worse. Neither man had come through the past few unscarred.

  “One step at a time, my friend.”

  “That is tough for me to do.” He peered off in the distance, staring at a blank wall.

  Camden swirled his drink, gazing up at the television and popping peanuts into his mouth. “Have you told Zach any of the details?”

  “Not yet. He’ll learn soon enough if he hasn’t already given the impromptu press conference today.

  “Yeah. There’s that. Dani did a good job. She has your back.”

  Mitchell couldn’t help but notice his friend seemed jealous. “As I said, she’s very good at what she does.” Thorough. Polite. Intelligent. Poised. And she believed someone was out to get him. He was beginning to buy into her beliefs.

  “Uh-oh. I can tell what’s going on.” Camden grabbed the drink out of the bartender’s hand.

  “What’s that?” he asked absently.

  He took a drink before winking at Mitchell. “You, my friend, have fallen in love.”

  Chapter 7

  “Thank fucking God it’s Friday,” Dani muttered as she turned down her street. While she’d known the first week would be difficult, this was teetering on disaster—at least by her perception. When she’d left, slinking out a full hour early, Mitchell was on the phone for the fourth time with the testing lab. During the last few days, there had been no additional reports of issues at the Steele site, but she’d been unable to get the reports of horrible deaths out of her mind. She’d researched Steele, even as they existed today, and found nothing to corroborate the roughneck’s accusations. She’d also found little on the man’s sons, other than a marriage announcement for the eldest. Mr. Steele was a political monster and enjoyed being the center of attention, but from everything she could tell, on the up and up.

  However, hair continued to stand up on the back of her neck. Someone was lying, hiding the truth. She wasn’t entirely certain Mitchell bought her story. Why should he? The company who’d provided the results were reputable, the best in the industry. Who was she to doubt what was in black and white? She kept going back to her conversation with Garcia Sanchez. The man was genuinely terrified, but of some Indian curse? Christ. This was driving her insane. Her gut insisted Mitchell was the good guy, but given her indiscretions, she wasn’t certain of anything. She was also a piss-poor sleuth or she would have figured out about David and his second life before standing in an expensive white dress.

  She rolled toward her house, frowning as she noticed a car in her driveway. When she was able to identify the vehicle, she grinned, swinging in beside the hot red sports car.

  Sasha shook her head as she approached, the look on her face one of admonishment.

  Dani parked and climbed out of the car, checking her watch. She anticipated receiving a call from her contact in Boston in less than three hours.

  “Hot date?” Sasha chided as she closed the distance.

  “No, just business.”

  “It’s Friday night, well late afternoon anyway. I’ve called you like five times. What gives, girlfriend?”

  Grabbing the two bags of groceries out of the passenger side, she gave her friend the evil eye. “I was working. You know, new job and all.” She’d purposely avoided Sasha’s calls, uncertain of how to tell or if she was going to provide any details regarding the trip to El Paso.

  Sasha grabbed a bag out of her hand. “How do you like the place? The boss treating you well?” When Dani hesitated, she shook her head. “I heard the press conference. You jumped in with both feet.”

  “I guess everybody in Dallas has heard by now.” Dani groaned.

  “Honey, everyone in Texas knows everybody’s business, at least of this nature. Mr. Rush looked good on camera.”

  Rolling her eyes, she yanked out her keys and headed for the front door. “Too many stories without a glass of wine.”

  “Oh, goodie. I love sizzling office stories,” she squealed as she followed closely behind. “Besides, my guess is they are juicier than the dance floor the other night.”

  Dani jammed the key into the lock, her thoughts drifting to the heated few hours in the hotel room. She hadn’t required a condom. The ugly rubber piece hadn’t even been considered. She was such a dumb ass. “If I offer you a glass of wine, will you promise not to judge?”

  “Judge you? Honey, do I need to drag out some of my naughty girl stories?”

  “I’m afraid to ask.”

  “Let’s just say I’ve done the rodeo, all the men involved.” Sasha’s laughter floated into the air as she trailed behind Dani.

  Gulping, Dani shook her head as she proceeded to unpack the bags. “You are a vixen in heat.”

  “You have no idea. Where’s your wine opener? I’m salivating for the Mitchell Rush story.”

  “Right hand drawer next to the fridge. I’m serious. If I tell you something, you damn well better keep the secret. Am I clear?” She used her best ‘fuck-with-me-and-die’ voice, even though she was half kidding. Half.

  Sasha gulped, the sound exaggerated. “I’m shaking in my big girl boots.”

  The expression forced her to gaze at her buddy’s attire. “What do you do again to be able to dress like a call girl on steroids?”

  “Ouch.” She grabbed the two bottles of wine from the bag, leaving the other items nestled inside.

  Dani shook her head. At least her BFF had her priorities straight. “Glasses are just above the sink.”

  “So, tell me about Mr. Rush. I heard he was a bear to work with.” Sasha giggled as she yanked two glasses from the shelf. Giving a sideways glance, she purred. “You did very well in front of the cameras. I could tell the reporters believed in your sincerity.”

  “Well, thank God for small favors.”

  “I also noticed something else.”

  Dani didn’t respond as she slapped the various items into the refrigerator and cabinet. She could tell Sasha had figured out Mitchell’s identity.
>
  “Mr. Rush is that sexy cowboy from the other night. Am I right? I’d know that insanely gorgeous body anywhere.”

  “You’re observant and yes. Trust me, the surprise was horrifying. Confession time. Did you know he was from Rush when you forced us together the other night?”

  Pop!

  Sasha leaned in after opening the wine. “Honey, I didn’t force anything. The way you two were going at it, I thought for certain you’d be sending out wedding invitations by now.” She poured two glasses, her eyes never leaving Dani. “No, I had no idea. The guy was cute and a great dancer. I just wanted you to have a good time. Remember, Mr. Maxum Rush shies away from the camera.”

  “The entire situation was uncomfortable.” Dani heard the glitch in her voice. She clenched her pussy muscles as the thought of the amazing night was enough to make her wet.

  “Hold on here, you like the guy. Don’t you?”

  Dani tossed the bags into the pantry, contemplating her answer.

  “Oh, no. You more than like the guy. You slept with him.” Sasha pushed a glass across the counter.

  “Ugh.”

  “Holy shit. Proud of you, girl,” Sasha said as she swirled the glass. “Only here a week and you have a boyfriend who is worth millions.”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend. I have a boss who just happens to be the guy I danced with.”

  “And slept with.”

  Dani grabbed the wine, taking several sips, then a gulp.

  “What has your panties in a bind?”

  “I promised myself a long time ago I wouldn’t get involved with a married man or someone I worked with.”

  “Is he married?” Sasha asked as she took a sip of wine.

  “Not that I know of, but I think he’s involved with the office manager, the girl you know evidently.”

  Sasha frowned. “Marisha? Are you certain? I don’t think so. I heard they were definitely no longer an item.”

  “I’m not certain of anything. Mitchell said it’s been over, but I get a sense there’s more to this story.”

  “Girlfriend, there always is. Marisha is a tough cookie and not looking for a husband. She has her own reasons why. Mitchell is fresh game. You’re here now and trust me, he was all into you the other night. Whew, baby.”