by Taylor Lee
Jude flicked a button on the dash and guided his sleek automobile inside, choosing one of the six bays in the sparkling clean garage. He turned off the engine, opened his door, and started to unwind his tall body from the low-slung seat.
Before Jude could get out of the car, realizing that she couldn’t partner with him until she knew the answer, Skylar surprised herself as much as she did him with her question. “Why do you let them put out doughnuts if it offends you when people eat them? Or does it only…only offend you when I eat them?”
Sky wished her voice hadn’t quavered dangerously when she spoke, but at least she asked the question that had been tormenting her since yesterday morning.
Jude hesitated for a long moment with his back to her and one leg out of the Porsche. Finally, with an audible sigh, he got back in the car, closed the door, and hit the seat release, sending the driver’s seat back twelve inches. He turned to her and shook his head.
For a moment, Sky was sure that he was going to throw her off the investigation, his expression was so serious. She was surprised when Jude leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes.
He finally lifted one lid, then gave a hard sigh and met her gaze. “Listen kid, I don’t know what got into me yesterday or today, why I went after you the way that I did. Just know that you can eat any goddamn thing you want any time you want, no matter if it’s good for you or not. What the fuck do I know about what your body needs or wants?”
He huffed another hard sigh then continued. His voice was firmer, more abrasive, the way it usually was. “Don’t listen to me, Skylar. Listen to my brothers. They’ll tell you who and what I am. Hell, so will any of the officers on my team. I’m an asshole, pure and simple. I’m arrogant, a true hardass, and I revel in the fact that, except for my brothers, hardened cops quake in their boots when I give an order.”
He threw her a narrow gaze then shrugged. “I’m also an avowed chauvinist. I believe to the length of my prodigious dick that at their core, women are good for one thing and one thing only. Just know, Specs, you may be the most damnably disquieting, least appealing woman I’ve ever met. But in this case, the fact that you look and act the way that you do is a good thing.”
Skylar assumed his chuckle was meant to lighten his disparaging and shockingly blunt assessment of her. When he continued, it was clear he meant exactly what he’d implied. “That said, given that the possibility of sex between us isn’t an option, I can start treating you with the respect you deserve, as a colleague, not a potential fuck. If you’re half as smart as everyone says you are, it’ll be the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Skylar let his words sink in, surprised that they hurt. With an effort, she dragged out her analytical skills and agreed that everything he had said made it possible for them to work together, to be genuine colleagues. Which, she reminded herself, was what she wanted, correct?
As she prepared to get out of the car, she was surprised that she couldn’t let her original query go unanswered. She sighed audibly, then forced herself to look over at him. “You didn’t answer my question. I still don’t understand why you put out doughnuts if we aren’t supposed to eat them. Or is it just me who isn’t supposed to eat them?”
If she didn’t know better, Sky might have thought that the flash of emotion that darkened his eyes was pain, or even embarrassment. He was quiet for a moment. When he finally answered her, his voice was serious, without a hint of deprecatory humor. “I think because I know that they’re not good for you, and being the overbearing asshole that I am, I make it my business to tell people I care about what they should and should not do.”
Skylar thought about what he’d said for a long moment then nodded in agreement.
“Humph, well. That’s what my father says when he tells me what I should and shouldn’t eat.”
She let a small smile cross her lips then added, “I will say to you what I said to him. It’s a good thing you understand that it isn’t any of your business…and I’ll eat anything I damn well please.”
With that, she unsnapped her seat belt and got out of the car. She closed her door firmly and was at the entrance to the house before Jude managed to get out of the car and come up behind her.
Later that night, Jude relived their conversation for the ninth or tenth time. He still couldn’t decide which had surprised him more, that she’d essentially told him to go to hell—with a smile, no less—or his staggering assertion that he cared about her.
***
“Why, if isn’t Ms. Hughes. Please, Skylar, come in. I understood from Jared that you’re helping Jude with this incredible tragedy that we’re dealing with.”
Judge Justice reached for Sky’s hand and then put his arm around her slim shoulders, pulling her into an embrace. Glancing at Jude, he said over Skylar’s head, “That is a smart thing to do, Jude. I presume you know how lucky you are to have Ms. Hughes’s help.”
Jude wasn’t aware that his grandfather knew Skylar, but apparently like the rest of the Justice men, she impressed him.
Still smarting from their challenging discussion in the garage, Jude managed a non-committal response. “So I understand, Judge. However, I didn’t know that you were also a champion of Ms. Hughes.”
Jude saw the slight flush on the squirt’s cheeks at his emphasis on her proper name. But even he understood that his chivalrous grandfather would object to one of the derisive appellations he’d been tossing her way. Which made his grandfather’s next words a bombshell.
Still holding Sky’s arm, the Judge frowned at him. “Hmm, I thought you knew that Morton Hughes and I were classmates at Yale.”
Seeing Sky’s flush deepen, Jude decided to press his advantage. Clearly, there was a lot he had to learn about the spiky-haired pixie that Jared had neglected to mention.
“No, Judge, I wasn’t aware that you knew Skylar’s father.”
The Judge raised his hands in protest. “Please, I would never presume to know Morton Hughes, who is one of this country’s, and the world’s, foremost mathematicians. However, we did both attend Yale.” He turned to Skylar with a smile. “I didn’t know your father in college, Skylar. He inhabited a much more rarified realm than I did, frankly more than any of our classmates did. But when he learned that you were thinking about abandoning his dominion to disappear into the outback, as he referred to our humble domain, he looked me up and apparently decided that I was worthy of a call.”
The Judge laughed. “When he learned that the most I could do was assure him that I would watch out for you, he conceded that you were intractable. Apparently, my dear, you are as oblivious to the perils that might come your way as my grandsons are. His final admonition to me was that the least I could do for a fellow Yale alumnus was to see that you eat properly.”
Jude shoved at the chuckle rising in his throat and said carefully, “Given that I’m only coming to know this interesting young woman, I can attest to the fact that her illustrious father’s concerns about her eating habits are well-founded.” He added, “Thanks for that information, Judge. I wasn’t fully aware of Ms. Hughes’s pedigree. I can see now why my brothers are so protective of this young woman.”
The Judge frowned and looked as if he would say more, then released Skylar’s arm, acknowledging the knock on the door. “Excuse me, please. I was expecting a call. I asked Gregory to let me know.” He walked to the door and said over his shoulder, “I’ll be right back. This will just take a moment.”
After his grandfather left, Jude sidled up next to Skylar. He didn’t try to hide his grin. Winking at her, he said, “Have to say, Squirt, hearing what the Judge had to say about your father puts our latest conversation in context. Maybe I’m not as overbearing an asshole as I thought I was.”
Skylar shrugged dismissively. “Or perhaps you and my father have both earned that designation.”
Jude gave her a thumbs-up and said with a wink, “Touché, Specs.”
His grandfather’s harrumphing cough from the doorway conf
irmed that the Judge had heard Jude’s offensive nickname for the young woman, who was staring at a spot on the floor, the rigid set of her slim shoulders confirming her discomfort. Jude had the decency to be embarrassed, but knew there was too much going on between himself and the squirt to explain his rudeness to the Judge. He sighed. Fuck it all, he couldn’t explain it to himself. Instead he took control of the conversation and turned to the significant challenges ahead.
Speaking directly to the Judge, he said, “I wish this visit was for any reason other than why Skylar and I are here. I appreciate how hard this has been for you, Judge. I also appreciate your astute suggestion that Blake and his sisters come here. Not only does it ensure that they are receiving the medical and personal attention they need, but it makes it easier for Skylar and me to interview them. I hated to drag them to the precinct or impose on them at their homes.”
The Judge’s expression darkened perceptibly. He turned away from Jude, but not before Jude saw the tears welling up in his grandfather’s eyes.
He stepped forward and put his arm around the older man’s shoulder and pulled his grandfather next to him. “Damn, Judge, I hate like hell that you have to face this hideous situation. I hope having the Parker siblings here hasn’t made it harder. Goddamn, I wish I’d thought—”
The Judge shook his head fiercely. “No, no, Jude. Don’t do that. Don’t misunderstand. Yes, this is harder than I could imagine any situation to be. The fact that the Parkers were my friends, and that they were murdered, murdered in such a hideous way is beyond my ability to comprehend. And yes, the fact that they were your parent’s friends only makes my pain sharper, more difficult to bear.”
The Judge swiped at his eyes and then grasped Jude’s hands. “Please know, son, that the only way that I am able to live with this dreadful situation is knowing that you and your brothers, particularly you, with the help of this young woman, are going to find the monsters who committed this horrendous crime. And when you do, Jude, I pity them.”
Jude clasped his grandfather close to him and spoke softly. “I promise you, Judge. The evil men who did this will pay with their lives. They truly are dead men walking.”
Chapter 7
Skylar had known her father had approached Jared, insisting that he convince Skylar not to go to Duluth. Sky could almost hear his compelling arguments. He’d made them many times over the years to Sky and anyone who had tried to take her away from him. Her father would start with how bright she was, how important it was that her powerful brain not be wasted on frivolous tasks. If that didn’t work, he would mention how sheltered she’d been, how vulnerable she was. Finally, if he got desperate enough, he would allude to her oddness, hinting that she was prone to doing unexpected things. Like not listening to her father who knew what was best for his remarkable but somewhat “unstable” daughter.
Sky hadn’t known until she arrived in Duluth that her father had also approached the Judge. It was hugely embarrassing to her and so like her controlling father not to give her the courtesy of telling her what he had done. It also spoke to both Jared’s and the Judge’s strength of personality that they stood up to Professor Morton Hughes, something few people did. Jared and the Judge must have intuitively understood how hard it would be for Sky to break away from her powerful father. But they’d stood back and hadn’t pressured her. When she made the decision to leave the Northeast against her father’s strong objections, they stepped up and supported her, wholeheartedly welcoming her to Minnesota.
Skylar was horrified when the Judge casually mentioned her father to Jude. Worse, he had revealed with an amused chuckle that her father had insisted that she needed to be reminded to eat properly. While the Judge no doubt meant the offhand remark as an example of Professor Hughes’s need to control his daughter, the comment clearly reinforced Jude’s dismissive view of her. Sky admitted that it was one thing for Jared and the Judge to know about her father. That, she could handle. But now that the arrogant detective knew who her father was, Sky felt she’d been exposed, revealed as the oddity that she’d always known herself to be. To a man who had already relegated her to the lowly ranks of damnable, and worse, unappealing.
That assessment of her shared by her critically sarcastic father was one of the reasons she’d left his academic domain and fled to her anonymous harbor at the DEA. Even her choice of profession had been her way of breaking free from her father’s imposing shadow. Studying the darkest, most vicious layers of human behavior had been a violent refuge, as far from the emotionless study of mathematics as she could get. It hurt more than she cared to admit that thousands of miles away from Professor Hughes was a daunting man who shared her father’s dismissive views of her. Only Detective Justice’s views were even more hurtful than her father’s. Unlike her father, the detective seemed impressed by her criminology credentials. No, his problem with her was that she was a doughnut-eating, unappealing freak. So unappealing, that even the most profligate, least selective womanizer in town had disqualified her as a potential fuck.
“Are you all right, Squirt?”
Jude’s frowning question broke through her troubled musing. She brushed Jude’s hand off her arm. The conversation with his grandfather had been challenging, unnerving enough. She already felt vulnerable with Jude. But she could handle his dismissiveness better than she could his solicitousness. And the last thing she wanted to share with him was her father.
Reaching for the doorknob to the library where the Parker siblings were waiting, she glared up at him and responded curtly, “What makes you think I’m not?”
To her surprise, Jude put his hand over hers, not letting her turn the knob. “Because you don’t look all right.” His firm grip and narrowed gaze confirmed his concern.
Skylar looked down, refusing to hold his gaze.
When she didn’t respond, he said softly, “This is going to be a challenging discussion, Skylar. I need to know that you are up to it.”
Infuriated that he would question her professional ability, she tipped up her chin and snapped, “The one thing you can be sure about me, Detective, is that I’m more than up to this. And that you can always count on me to be professional.”
He studied her narrowly for a moment then nodded, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “That’s good to know.” His eyes darkened, and when he spoke a silky layer of danger coated his words. “And the one thing that you can count on from me, Ms. Hughes, is that when I ask a question, I expect an answer.” Jude let go of her hand and once again grasped her elbow as he opened the door to the library.
Skylar struggled to get her breath, stunned by the rush of sensations that flooded her. She didn’t have to see his lips quirk to know that Jude had felt her untoward reaction to his provocative threat. Startled, Sky realized that if Jude hadn’t been holding her she might have fallen. Her legs were that shaky.
Instead, Jude held her next to him for a moment, then still holding her arm, he ushered her into the room. The four people who were seated on the opposing couches in the library glanced up when they entered. Skylar had seen Blake and his sisters Charlotte and Marion when they’d come to the crime scene. She hadn’t seen the blond-haired woman seated next to Blake, but assumed she was Alicia, the person who had been the one to discover her parents’ bodies.
Jude moved toward Blake, who rose unsteadily to his feet. “Good morning, Blake, all.”
Blake started to answer but his words were lost in a soft groan. Jude reached for Blake’s hand then pulled the shaken man to him and held him for a moment in a one-armed bear hug. “Hang in there, buddy. I’m here now.”
He helped Blake back to the sofa, then leaned down and buzzed Alicia’s cheek. “Good morning, Alicia.” At her nod, he moved to the sofa where Marion and Charlotte were sitting. He held each of their hands and then turned to Skylar. Reaching for her hand, he pulled her up next to him.
“Alicia, Marion, Charlotte, Blake, I’d like you to meet my colleague, Skylar Hughes. Ms. Hughes worked w
ith Jared in the Washington DEA. She is what we call an Intelligence Officer.” He added with a slight smile, “The first one that we’ve had at the Duluth PD. Ms. Hughes is helping me establish the facts in this hideous crime that we’re facing.”
Motioning for Skylar to the chair across from him, Jude waited until Sky was seated, then sat in the armchair between the sofas.
Blake looked at him beseechingly. His face was pale and his eyes were red-rimmed, swimming with tears. “Goddammit, Jude. Please…please tell us…what you know. Who…who did this?” His voice broke. “Jesus God, man. You must have some idea. Were they robbers? Kids? Horrible, horrible sick people? Who could have thought about the things that they did to our mother and father, much…much less have done them?”
He sunk back on the sofa and leaned forward, pressing his hands against the sides of his head as if he could squeeze the hideous images out of his brain. At his broken sob, Alicia put her arm around him and stroked his back. Her comforting murmurs were soft, unintelligible.
Marion, who Skylar knew was the oldest of the sisters, turned to Jude. Unlike her brother, her voice was firm, hard. Glaring at Jude, her rigid posture was consistent with her harsh words.
“Blake is right, Jude. It’s been at least thirty-six hours or more since our parents were brutally murdered. And this is the first time anyone has come to give us any information. Who is in charge of the investigation? Who will answer our questions, tell us what the police are doing? Most importantly, who the perpetrators are and when they will be caught?”
Jude focused a narrowed gaze on the angry woman. When he spoke his voice was calm, straightforward. “I’m in charge of the investigation, Marion. Either Ms. Hughes or I will be your contact. Before we leave today we will give you our direct numbers so that you can contact us at any time.”