***
I walk into the diner hours later, and my legs are still shaking from what Brecken did to me when we got back to his house. That man is very creative when it comes to sex. He isn’t your typical lay down in bed and make love type of guy. He’s the bend you over the kitchen counter and fuck you till you’re begging him to just take you kind of guy.
I walk into the back and place my purse in a corner. “Hey, Skye,” Nate says as he smiles at me. “Heard anything new about Tiffany?” he asks.
I shake my head and lie. “No.” I don’t want to have to explain to them that her body was found. I don’t wanna have to tell them what her body looked like. Having that memory and having to actually speak it are two very different things, and I’m not strong enough to do it.
He frowns. “I figured Cliff would be able to tell you something.”
I snort. “That bastard isn’t answering my phone calls.”
“He’s here,” he says, tilting his head to the side. “He’s over there at table eight taking orders right now.”
“What?”
“He came in last night …”
I shove him out of my way and take off through the kitchen to the floor. I see Cliff smiling and laughing over at table eight. Just where Nate said he would be.
“Cliff?” I say coming up behind him. “I need to talk to you.” I grab the back of his white shirt and yank him backward.
“What the hell …?”
I drag him off the floor and into the back room. He turns around, looking down at me with angry eyes. “Where the hell have you been?” I snap. “And why have you been ignoring my phone calls?”
“What phone calls?” he growls. His green eyes narrowed on me as if he thinks I’m crazy that I just pulled him away from his table.
“Don’t play stupid, Cliff. You can’t pull it off.”
“I haven’t …”
I don’t know what has gotten into me. Maybe it was the fact that I slept with Brecken or maybe it’s the fact that my friend was killed, and I have no freaking leads except a man named James. So I do what feels right. I hit him. “Ow.” I punch him in his chest. “Skye? What the fuck?” I hit him again. “Stop.” He whines like a little bitch.
“Stop lying,” I shout. This time, when I hit him, I do it with both fists.
He takes a step back from me out of range, and my hands fall down to my side as I suck in breath after breath. Tears start to sting my eyes. “She’s dead,” I say.
His eyes widen in surprise. “I saw her body, Cliff. I know you were with her that night.” He shakes his head. “She told me she was going out with you.”
“Skye—” He raises his hands in surrender. “We were supposed to go out, but she never showed.”
“What do you mean she never showed?”
“She was supposed to swing by and pick me up, but she never did. I called her several times. When she never answered, I had someone else come get me, and we went somewhere else. I tried calling her the next day, but it kept going straight to voicemail. I just guessed it had died.”
It had gone straight to voicemail when I called her too. “That still doesn’t answer why you have been ignoring me,” I say wiping the tears from my face angrily. I’m so tired of crying.
He digs into his pocket of his jeans and pulls out his phone. “Look, I swear I haven’t had any calls from you.” He starts going through his call log, and I don’t see my number anywhere.
“You could have deleted them.”
He lets out a long sigh. “What number were you calling?” he asks.
“The only one that I have for you.” I rattle it off because I’ve called it so many times that I know it by heart.
He runs a hand down his face. “That is my old number.”
“What?” I ask.
“May and I broke up. She wouldn’t stop bothering me, so I changed my number three weeks ago.”
I bury my head in my hands, and a sob bubbles up. “I’m so sorry.” He rubs my back softly. “I had no idea what was going on here,” he admits. “Tim and Mallory started asking me questions the moment I walked in the door last night, but when I asked them questions, they had no answers for me. Said you hadn’t been here. I just figured you were taking care of her.”
I shake my head. “She’s dead,” I say again. “And you were my only hope to find out what happened to her. Who you guys were with. Now, I have nothing.”
Cliff stayed with me in the back for a few more minutes until I eventually calmed down. I went through my shift on autopilot. I waited on my tables and brought them what they asked. But I wasn’t really there.
As soon as I closed, I called Brecken as I walked to my car in the parking lot of the diner. I told him everything that Cliff told me.
He sighs heavily. “Okay. That doesn’t help us any, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t find who did it.”
I climb into my driver’s seat. “I know who did it. It was a guy named James.” I place my head on the steering wheel.
“Babe, just because you have a feeling doesn’t mean that it’s right.”
I huff. “The guy I spoke to told me that James was mad at her,” I growl. “Why do you keep forgetting that?” I demand. “You’re a cop. Why don’t you go into Throb and arrest them? Question them, at least?”
“I’m not homicide.” I can hear the frustration in his voice. How helpless he feels. “I’m also undercover. I’m sorry, Skye.” He sighs. “But I can’t blow my cover for …” He pauses for the right word to say.
“A druggie who no one misses,” I finish for him. I’m shaking; I’m so angry as I look out the windshield of my car as I sit still parked.
“Skye …”
I huff. “I get it, Brecken—”
“No, you don’t,” he shouts, interrupting me. Then he takes a deep breath. “I’m going to get him. I believe you when you say it’s a guy named James, but I know how the system works. We need every bit of information to get him. Even if I did go and arrest him, we don’t have enough to keep him. You don’t know who told you that. And that guy obviously didn’t know that Tiffany was already dead. We have to play it safe at the moment.” He softens his voice. “Please, trust me, Skye. Tell me that you trust me.”
“I trust you,” I say without hesitation. And I realize that I do. I trust this man with my life. He hasn’t given me a reason not to.
This time, when he speaks, I can hear the smile in his voice. “Come up to Seven Deadly Sins. You can sit up in the office with me while I make some calls. Okay?”
I smile at that. “Okay. Be there soon.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BRECKEN
“What are you doing, man?” Case asks me as he sits across from me in the office. Now that he is officially married and has taken two days off for them to fuck like bunnies, he is back at the club. I find that I liked it better when he was busy.
I hang up my phone and place it on the desk. “My job.”
He snorts. “Like you said, you’re not a homicide detective. And what the actual fuck? She knows you’re a cop?”
I ignore his question. “And if I remember correctly, you weren’t a babysitter. But you didn’t mind playing that role,” I say referring to how he watched over Taylor like a hawk. It was a low blow. We both know it, but at this point, I don’t care.
He throws his head back laughing. “You’re falling for her,” he says as if he just sees it. “Jet was right.”
“You don’t have to fall for someone in order to want to help them,” I say matter-of-factly. But I can’t get enough of her. We got her a new number. Well, I actually had her cancel her plan and added her to mine, giving her a new number. She was hesitant for a few seconds, but she relented. I was thankful she didn’t fight me on that in front of everyone in the store. As soon as we got back to my house, I had her stripped down in the kitchen, needing her again. And fuck, it was better than earlier.
“You can tell yourself whatever you want,” he says shaking his h
ead with a smile on his face.
I reach over and grab the phone. I call Jet and tell him everything that she just told me about Cliff. Even though we both knew Cliff wasn’t going to be any help. He never was a witness I thought we could count on.
“Who do you plan to call?” Case asks. “You could just call James,” he offers. “He has no clue that you and Skye are connected.”
I shake my head. “That’s too risky.”
“What about Oscar?”
“He’s still in a coma. I checked earlier today.” I should have just killed that bastard.
“Maybe we can go up there? To Throb?” He runs his hands down his facial hair. “See if we can get a part of that drug?”
“Where would we tell him that we heard of it from?” I ask. Then a thought hits me. “I need to find Rusty! That bastard is late on his other half of the payment.” Skye has my memory foggy. All I seem to think is about her. All I seem to want is her. I need to remember that fuckers owe me money, and they need to pay up.
I pick my phone back up and call Rusty. It rings twice and then goes to voicemail. I hang up. “He hit the fuck you button on me,” I growl. “He’s avoiding me.”
“Because he doesn’t have the money.”
I snort as I stand. I walk over to the floor-to-ceiling window and look down over the packed club. “You guys had a deal, and now, he’s trying to run from it.”
“Let him,” he says excitedly. “Just means that you can teach him a lesson.” I sigh. “So I wanna know more about this Skye.”
“There’s nothing to know,” I say as I look down and watch the people dance as if they have no care in the world.
“Come on, Brecken,” he says softly. “You expect me to believe that?” He snorts. “It took us six months to tell Rachel that we were undercover cops, and I was the one who told her. You didn’t want to.”
“Yeah and look how that worked out.” I turn around, sit back down, and cross my arms over my chest. “I never did trust that bitch,” I growl.
“And I should have listened to you. But this girl … We haven’t heard anything about Cricket in almost a year and then here she is. She just runs right into your arms? Don’t you see a pattern?” he asks.
I shake my head. “It’s a coincidence. Not a pattern. Rachel and Skye are not the same.”
“And why do you think that?”
“Because Rachel tried to kill us. All of us. Skye’s friend was killed. She can’t even handle a gun.”
His eyes widen. “Did she pull one on you?”
“Yeah,” I say with a smile, and he frowns. “What? I told her to.”
He shakes his head as he hangs his head. “I don’t understand,” he says confused.
“You don’t have to. You are not a part of this.” I stand back up. “I can handle it.”
He looks up at me and goes to open his mouth, but the door to the office opens. I find myself smiling when I see Skye’s shy smile. “Hey.” She enters and shuts the door behind her.
“Skye, I want you to meet Case,” I say gesturing to him. “Case, this is Skye.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she says, and he just stares at her with curiosity as he reaches his hand to her. They exchange an awkward handshake, and I clear my throat to get her attention.
“So how was work?” I ask, already knowing that it sucked, but what else is there to say? If Case weren't in here, I would have her naked on her knees, but the bastard knows that. So he just plops his happy ass on the couch.
“Shitty,” she admits honestly as she sits down in one the chairs in front of my desk.
“Where do you work?” Case asks her.
I watch as his eyes look over her legs in her tight blue jeans and up her body to her white t-shirt. My jaw tightens as I imagine him finding her attractive. I know he would never cheat on Taylor, but still, I wanna block his view of her while I tell him she’s mine.
“I work at a little diner called Dani’s,” she tells him.
“Interesting,” he says, and my eyes narrow on him. He’s up to something. “How long have you been there?” he asks.
“A little over nine months.”
I look over at Case. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I ask him.
He smiles as he shakes his head. “Do I need to give you something to do?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“No thanks,” he says, and I wanna punch him.
I look up at the open office door, and I sigh heavily when Jet walks in. Don’t these guys have anything else to do besides cockblock me?
“Oh,” he says excitedly. “Are we having a party?” he asks.
“No,” I growl.
Case stands. “I sure could use a drink, though.” He walks over to our little mini bar and opens it up. “Skye, would you like one?” he asks nicely.
She shakes her head. “No, thanks. I have to drive home.”
“Or you could just ride home with Brecken. You’re both going to the same place anyway, right?” he asks casually, and her eyes widen.
“What?” Jet asks just as surprised by what he said as she is.
“Okay,” I snap, stopping before that goes too far. They don’t know that I’m sleeping with her, and the look of horror on her face actually makes it more believable that Case just made that up. “What are you doing here, Jet?” I demand, getting off the subject.
He plops down on the couch. “I came to tell you that I am going to go talk to James.”
“You are?” Skye asks excitedly. “When? Do you have new evidence to arrest him?” she asks quickly
He shakes his head, and her shoulders slump. “No, but I’m gonna see what he has to say.” He shrugs. “I’ll say I came here questioning Brecken. I can tell him that I have reason to believe that she was there as well.”
She seems satisfied by that and a small smile tugs at her lips.
“We’re going to talk to him too,” Case says, raising his full glass of bourbon.
I go to speak, but Jet beats me to it. “When?”
“I was thinking tonight.” He shrugs. “It’s almost one. We could catch him before he closes the club.”
“Wait …” Skye says as she looks at him confused. “Why would you go and talk to him?”
“We do business with him.”
Fuck! The moment it leaves his mouth, I want to fucking throw him through the glass behind me down onto the club floor. “We’ve been dealing with him for a year now.” He pauses. “Give or take a few months.”
The room falls silent, and I stand from my chair. I watch as Skye looks at the floor as she tries to process what he just told her. “Give us a moment,” I say, and without questioning me, Jet and Case walk out.
“Skye, I …”
“You’ve been lying to me?” she asks as if she’s still trying to put two and two together. Her brows pulled together and her lips frowning.
“No.”
She slowly stands to her feet. “Yes, you have. Is that why you won’t go and arrest him? Because he’s one of your dealers?”
“I’m a cop, remember?” I snap.
“Yes!” she shouts. “I do. You won’t accuse him of murder because you need him to do your job. Ya know, the one where you lie to people and pretend to be the bad guy.” She spins around and starts to walk to the door.
“Skye, wait.” I reach out and grab her arm.
She spins around, jerking it out of my hand. “Don’t you dare touch me,” she screams. Tears start to well up in her eyes. She lifts her right hand and points her finger at me. “Don’t you fucking dare,” she cries. “I trusted you,” she whispers, and it breaks my heart. “You said you would help me.” She sucks in a deep breath. “But all you’ve done is distract me. Well, I’m done.”
This time, when she spins around and runs out, I let her. I slowly walk out of the office to find Case and Jet standing at the end of the hall as she runs past them.
I walk up to them. “Why in the fuck did you do that?” I demand to Case.
&nb
sp; “Because she needed to know—” I don’t even let him finish that sentence. My fist hits his face, and he falls backward, his back hitting the wall.
I step up to him, his blue eyes hard and jaw tight. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you. But from now on, just keep your mouth shut.” Then I take off down the stairs and out the back door to the parking lot.
SKYE
I bring my car to a screeching halt as I pull into the driveway of Brecken’s rental house where I’m staying.
I get out of my car as angry tears run down my face. Running into the house, I start to pick up my things around the house. I yank clothes off the hangers and out of drawers. I toss them onto the floor or the bed, anywhere I can think of. I gotta get out of here.
“Son of a bitch,” I scream out to myself as I remember that we were here today, and he packed me a bag to take to his house. I’ll have to head there after I leave here.
He lied to me!
He has been playing me!
How could I be so stupid?
I wipe the tears from my face as I storm into the bathroom. I run my arm across the top of the cabinet and shove all my things into a bag. I turn around and enter the bedroom, and I come to a stop. “Get out!” I demand as I see Brecken standing there by the bed. How the fuck did I not hear him come in?
His large arms crossed over his chest, and his broad shoulders pulled back. He stares down at me with narrowed eyes as if I’m the bad guy here. “Did you hear me?” I ask. “Get the fuck out.”
“No!” He looks down on the floor at my clothes strewn around and then to my bag that I dropped next to my feet. “What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving,” I say crossing my arms over my chest. I can be intimidating as well.
“No, you’re not,” he says flatly.
I laugh. “Oh, yeah? Watch me.” I take a step to pick up my bag, and he takes a step toward me. I step back quickly. “Stop, Brecken,” I snap.
“I said that you are not leaving here, Skye,” he growls.
Obsession (Seven Deadly Sins Book 2) Page 21