Decoding a Criminal

by Barb Han

  Mrs. Tudor gasped. Her hand came up to her mouth.

  “Not the time, Layla,” Dash warned.

  She exhaled in the kind of dramatic fashion reserved for teenagers.

  “Fine,” Layla said.

  “Fine,” Mrs. Tudor echoed. “We have an understanding.”

  That had been the last time he saw his sister’s math teacher. But Dash was still sticking up for his baby sister.

  The memory had played out in his head fast, but by the time he refocused on Alec, the man looked bored.

  “Can I have access to Layla’s work computer?” Dash figured it was worth a try.

  “You can expect our full cooperation, Mr. West. We here at Baker Financial pride ourselves on discretion. Our clients demand it and we wouldn’t be in business without it. I’m happy to answer any questions but...”

  “I’ll do everything in my power to get to the bottom of the investigation.” Dash wanted to remind Alec that his sister’s very public firing wasn’t what he would consider flying under the radar.

  “We’ve already provided access to investigators. Perhaps you could work with the other agency,” Alec said.

  Dash’s hands fisted at his sides. Since he didn’t have a warrant, he nodded. So much for full cooperation.

  “Unfortunately, confidentiality agreements between the firm and our clients prevent me from being of much help. My assistant can escort you to the lobby now.” He leaned back and pressed an intercom button. “Mr. West is ready to leave.”

  Knowing when to push forward and when to retreat was the art of an investigation. Dash’s skills at reading a situation were top notch. This was the time to back off and regroup. They were in the early stages of the investigation and would get further with cooperation from Layla’s boss. Former boss, he corrected.

  “I appreciate your cooperation. Someone from my office will be in touch.” Dash extended his right hand. The clammy feeling struck again with their contact. Jenny, the perky assistant, greeted him at the door.

  “Right this way, sir.” Jenny was blond and beautiful. Her clothes fit her curves—curves she knew how to work as she walked in front of Dash. A person like Jenny was a distraction to the millions of dollars being won and lost on this floor. The amounts were staggering, when Dash really thought about it.

  Other than his penthouse apartment and expensive car, the fanciest he ever got in his day-to-day life was taking his cold beer in a bottle instead of a can. Nothing imported either. Cold glass. Good beer.

  “Thank you for stopping by today.” Jenny turned around and he could’ve sworn he caught her eyeing him up and down, her gaze lingering on his chest. An invitation? Or was Jenny this friendly to everyone they were trying to distract?

  Dash let himself be walked to the elevator. Jenny pressed the down button for him. For a brief moment, he thought about all the times a young Layla had raced to an elevator to be the one to push the button. There were ten years between them, and the decade caused them to have two very different upbringings after the loss of their father. Had Dash done the right things for Layla?

  “Have a wonderful day.” Jenny leaned toward him enough to give him a peek at her generous breasts. She discreetly slipped something in his hand.

  “Same to you.” The slip of paper went inside his pocket right before he pushed the L.

  As soon as the doors closed, he changed his mind and hit the fifth floor button. Since Alec didn’t send Dash out with a security guard, he figured he could play around in the building to see what he could come up with. Besides, there was a conversation he still needed to have and he highly doubted Raina had gone to her office after making eye contact in the lobby.

  He glanced at the paper Jenny handed him...found her number.

  The elevator doors opened on five. It was his lucky day. Raina Andress sat on the other side of a glass wall in the cafeteria. And his luck had doubled down—she was facing sideways so that he could see her profile perfectly. His traitorous heart clenched at seeing her again. But this wasn’t a social call.

  Chapter Three

  Click. Clack. Clack.

  Raina’s fingers were zinging across the mechanical keys on her keyboard. It was strangely musical when this happened and incredibly satisfying. She could get lost in the sound; she was having one of those moments that some people described as being in the zone.

  She was close to a breakthrough. She could feel it. Right up until the moment the hairs on the back of her neck prickled with the sensation that someone was watching her.

  Glancing up and around, she massaged her stiff neck with her right hand. The moment her eyes landed on him, her hand dropped and her heart squeezed. Panic made her shirt suddenly feel three sizes too small.

  She closed her laptop and fumbled for the plug. She’d forgotten to charge it last night, making a smooth exit impossible.

  Her fingers closed around the plug as she felt the physical presence that was Dashiell West standing next to her.

  “Not today, Dash.” She crammed the cord into her backpack, then the laptop itself in the quilted section.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Oh yeah? We aren’t very good at it. So no thanks.” She stood up, thinking he’d back away a step or two. Boy, was she wrong. All she ended up doing was breathing in his spicy masculine scent. Her body betrayed her with an attraction that could pull a magnet out of orbit.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She issued a sharp sigh. “That’s below the belt.”

  “What if I mean it?”

  “I didn’t think you could go any lower than the initial apology.” She tried to step around him but found herself penned in. “Move.”

  He took a step back and held one of those muscled arms in the air like he was showing her the way. Well, that really made her mad. He didn’t get to tell her when to make an exit. Keep cool, Raina.

  She had no idea where that voice came from. Now she was talking to herself?

  Taking in a slow, measured breath, she moved a couple of steps away from Dash, mostly to put enough space between them to let go of some of her anger and, frankly, for her brain to function clearly again.

  “Why are you here?” The minute the question left her mouth, she wished she could reel it back in. Because standing out of the vortex that was all things Dash, she realized exactly why he was here in her temporary workspace. The question she should be asking was how he found her in the cafeteria.

  “Layla.” They said his sister and her best friend’s name at the exact same moment. Not the time to prove they were in sync on anything, she thought.

  “Do you have time to grab a cup of coffee?” Worry lines scored Dash’s forehead.

  “Now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you asking me out on a date?” She should have held her tongue. Turned out, she wasn’t so good at it.

  “Raina, can we set...” Even his eyes seemed to be searching for a diplomatic response. “...that aside and come back to it once my sister is released?”

  Oh, the moment of truth had finally arrived. Did she love her best friend more than her own pride? Well, that was a yes. She would do anything to clear Layla. Scratch that. Almost anything. Could she work with a man she despised?

  “Yes.” She was most likely going to live to regret her decision. But, yes, she would do whatever needed to happen for Layla. “To be clear, this is for Layla and has nothing to do with our...history.”

  “Crystal.” Dash had the most intense eyes—dark, like in a strangely earthy but also untouchable sense. “The offer of coffee is strictly because I need to get out of the building before security realizes I never made it to the lobby.”

  She must’ve shot him a strange look.

  “I just met with Layla’s boss.”

  “Alec Kingsley?”

  “He seemed pretty ready to send me o
n my way.” Dash’s gaze focused on someone or something behind her.

  She turned in time to see a uniformed guard wearing his cranky face, making a beeline toward them. She might hate herself for doing this later, but...

  “Oh, Dash.” She took hold of his arm, regretting the second she made contact with his body. There was enough electricity pinging between them to power a small island. “Thanks for letting me grab you for a few minutes to show you around. We’re late, so we better go.”

  The tension lines bracketing Dash’s lips eased. His tongue darted across those full lips, leaving a silky trail that Raina had no business staring at.

  “Excuse me, ma’am.” Luis Meter looked ready to throw Dash down face-first onto the marbled floor. As much as she’d pay good money to see that happen, she also realized Luis would lose. Dash may have come from the tech world, but he grew up playing multiple sports and had a black belt in kung fu. The man was in tip-top condition, whereas Luis’s shape could best be described as round. Round with a ruddy face. He would be strong, though.

  “Hi.” Raina did her best to play the confused girlfriend part. “Can I help you, Luis?”

  “Do you know this man?”

  “Oh. Yes. If you’re talking about Special Agent Dashiell West, then I do.” She squeezed his arm, ignoring the way her heart pounded against her rib cage.

  Luis’s eyes widened enough to give away the fact that he was impressed by Dash’s title—exactly what she was going for. Throwing him off-balance was the play.

  “We were just about to leave. He was on his way down and I stopped him. There was no way I was letting my old friend walk out of my workplace without catching up first. We’re heading around the corner to that new place for a decent breakfast, so if you don’t mind.” She blinked at him. “Or did you need him for something else?”

  “No, ma’am. In fact, I came to escort Mr., uh, Special Agent West out of the building per Mr. Kingsley’s request.” Luis took a step back to allow them to pass. “I’d be happy to walk you both out.”

  “Great. Thank you.” She tugged on Dash’s arm, forcing him to follow Luis.

  In the elevator, she cozied up to Dash. Luis’s face flushed like he was intruding on an intimate moment when she leaned in to whisper in Dash’s ear.

  “I can’t believe it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other,” she said softly, using as sexy a voice as she could muster. Sexy voice had never been her thing, so it was awkward, but she pushed through the embarrassment. “I’m glad you’re here now, though.”

  Dash didn’t respond. In fact, his face broke into a wide smile, and he wasn’t helping matters.

  Finally, the elevator made it to the lobby and the doors opened. Luis put his hand in the door to stop it from closing.

  “Ma’am.” He didn’t look at her when he said it.

  They filed out and he followed closely behind. Her heels clicked against the marble flooring and, once again, she noticed the hollow sound to the echo.

  As soon as they got outside, she let go of his arm.

  “What was that supposed to be back there?” The tone of his voice sounded a lot like disapproval.

  “Excuse me? I was helping you.” She tried to stop walking, but his hand on her lower back urged her to continue.

  “Remind me not to ask for help from you in the future. Next time, leave it to me,” he ground out.

  “So you can stand there and do nothing? No thanks.”

  “I didn’t want to embarrass you by cutting into the routine you had going there.”

  “Hold on a minute.” Raina had a temper, and it was flaring. She was going to say something she regretted. What was she supposed to do instead of speak her mind? Because at thirty-one years old, she was still trying to learn that lesson.

  Stop, look and listen? No. That was crossing the street.

  Stop, drop and roll? Nope. Learned that move from the fire department.

  How about this one: count to ten, with slow breaths in between. Bingo.

  The last one helped, and she humored herself in the process, breaking up a bit of the tension that caused sharp pains in her shoulder blades.

  “How did you think you were going to embarrass me when I was the only one doing anything?” she asked in as calm a voice as she could muster.

  * * *

  “FIRST OF ALL, you were overexplaining.” Dash liked his hand on the small of Raina’s back a helluva lot more than he should.

  “What does that mean, exactly?” She blinked at him, clearly confused.

  “Going into too many details is the first sign of someone lying.”

  “No, it isn’t,” she countered.

  So, now she was going to tell him about his job? Didn’t she realize he studied body language as part of his profession? His training involved spotting liars. He didn’t respond right away because she was too mad. It was causing her to speak before she had a chance to think, be defensive when he needed to gain her cooperation. And, apparently, the fact that he was trying to help her was just making her more frustrated with him.

  She blew out a sharp breath. She’d been doing that a lot today, he noticed.

  “Okay. Fine. I overexplained. I don’t think Luis was smart enough to catch on, though. He’s not highly trained like you are. His training probably consisted of watching a few videos, and he might watch movies like Die Hard. In case you didn’t notice, he wasn’t in the best of shape, physically.”

  “I notice everything.” His statement wasn’t meant to make her blush, but the rosy hue only made her more beautiful.

  “What else did I do wrong?”

  “The whole acting-surprised bit. We usually see that as a sign someone is covering up for something.”

  “I was covering for you.”

  “Believe it or not, I can handle myself. I’ve gotten into some sticky situations with my job and managed to get out of them just fine on my own.”

  “I thought you asked me to breakfast in order to get my help.”

  He diverted them into a hotel lobby.

  “Hold on a minute.” Raina stopped abruptly, realizing exactly where they’d just entered.

  “Don’t get the wrong idea. I picked this place because no one knows about the coffee shop in this little corner. Also, I happen to know it’s not bugged.” An unwanted stab of disappointment came out of nowhere. Dash didn’t want to feel regret when he thought about Raina, but that’s exactly what happened.

  Chapter Four

  The coffee shop was empty, save for a couple of employees. And not for nothing, but that was one of the many reasons he loved the place. He and his sister had met up there a handful of times. The café itself occupied a dark corner.

  Dash remembered the slip of paper he’d tucked into his pocket with Jenny’s number on it. He reached inside, palmed it and brought it out on the down-low. Risking a glance while Raina ordered, he saw Jenny’s name and number scribbled down. Nothing more. With the way she’d been flirting with him, his first guess was that she was fishing for a date. The investigator in him also had to consider the flirting was an act. She wouldn’t be able to speak freely in front of her boss, and she might have information or suspicions she wanted to discuss.

  He’d take a hard pass if she was hitting on him, but not if she had information that could aid his investigation and help Layla.

  “What can I get working for you today, sir?” the perky barista practically chirped. He recognized her as someone he’d seen there several times before. It had been a while since he’d been back. Dash thought about the comment Alec had made about Layla working from home recently.

  He tucked the piece of paper back inside his pocket and stepped forward. As he opened his mouth to speak, the barista blushed and held up her hand to stop him.

  “Black coffee. Haven’t seen you in a while.” Her gaze immediately dropped to the
register as she bit down on her bottom lip so hard it might bleed.

  Dash paid for both orders and then moved to the left.

  “See you again soon.” The hope in the barista’s voice seemed to irritate Raina. She clucked her tongue, as if to say the nerve.

  This was probably not the time to regret the night the two of them had spent together. Actually, regret wasn’t the right word for a night of the best sex he’d ever had. Regret came the next day, when both seemed to realize their fling couldn’t go anywhere. It had been doomed from the start, and now they were in a precarious position. Layla was going to flip when she found out He’d had sex with her best friend on Layla’s birthday.

  Dash had been the one to voice it to Raina. Heated words were exchanged. Had he been a jerk? Looking back, he could’ve handled the situation better.

  Neither spoke while waiting for their orders to be called out. The barista worked at a leisurely pace. Normally, he’d appreciate someone taking the time to get an order right and do a good job. Today, he just wanted to get his coffee, sit down and get to business. Alec’s comment about his sister letting her appearance go kept eating away at the back of Dash’s mind.

  Layla was on a good path. She had a nice apartment with nice things. Clothes. He had to wonder what incentive she would have to risk it all and take the money. Going down that path was inevitable because blindly following the road where there was no way she would do it was the surest way to miss something that might be critical. He had to put all his brotherly instincts on hold and force objectivity.

  “Drip for Dash.” The barista chuckled at the alliteration.

  Dash wasn’t as amused. He grabbed his coffee from the granite counter where it had been placed.

  “I’ll save you the trouble. The next one’s mine,” Raina quipped. She didn’t seem impressed by the guy either. Her no-nonsense approach to life had been one of her many draws. But this wasn’t the time or the place to ruminate over her long list of attractive qualities. When she gave a half smile to the barista as he set her drink down, the guy winked.