Retrograde (Galaxy)

by Desiree Holt

  So much had changed since she’d first climbed into this car earlier today. Had that been just a few hours ago? It was hard to believe. Their entire relationship had changed, making her acutely aware of his presence, the scent of the after shave he used, the flex of muscles in his arms as he drove. Her own body was giving its automatic responses. Only the urgency of the situation gave her the strength to pull in the frayed edges of her control.

  And if one kiss did that to her, what would a full-body contact be like?

  “Peyton?” His deep, rough voice pierced the fog around her brain.

  “Yes?”

  “You okay? I asked for your sister’s address so I can plug it into the GPS.”

  “Oh, sorry. Here it is.” Focus, she told herself. She was on a mission and couldn’t lose sight of it.

  Once she’d given him the information, she pulled Peyton’s cell phone from her purse, turned it on and began looking for different passwords that would get her past the locked screen. She tried birthdays, wedding dates, even college graduations, but nothing seemed to work.

  “Try numerical versions of names,” Blaze told her. “Or places that were special to them. People who were special. Others…”

  “I know what it is.” She grinned as an idea hit her. “You know that stuffed animal you saw that I put in bed next to her? Petal?”

  “Yeah. You think that’s it? I mean, people have used things stranger than that.”

  “I won’t know until I try it.”

  She converted the letters to corresponding numbers and there it was. She laughed as the home screen came into view, a photo of Petal. Of course.

  “Check her calendar first,” Blaze told her. “See if there are any other events surrounding that dinner that might raise a flag.”

  Peyton scrolled through everything for the three weeks leading up to the dinner. Her sister certainly had a busy life. She found many photography appointments for portrait sittings plus some notes that she was sure referred to her newer venture. She frowned at a note attached to one item that just said, Tell Dane.

  “There’s one tiny little weird thing here. I’m checking her notes now to see if she expanded on it.”

  Brianne certainly kept her life recorded in her notes, Peyton thought, as she scrolled through them. She stopped when she came to one that said, Gandy Bridge. Beach. Tell Dane. It had been taken just before dark, and most of the image was filled with boats on the water.

  What was so special about that spot that she needed to remind herself to tell Dane? As little as she knew about the area, she did know the Gandy Bridge ran from Hillsborough County to Pinellas County. Brianne had driven across it a couple of times when Peyton was in town, taking her to some place on the other side of the bay. It was bordered on one side by a public beach and a scattering of businesses, mostly restaurants or maritime places. Maybe Brianne had found one she wanted Dane to take her to for dinner or Sunday brunch.

  She didn’t even remember what was on the other side. Was Brianne looking at sites for waterscapes?

  Peyton opened the Photos app and scrolled through to see if her sister had taken any pictures. Sure enough, there were several taken from various spots where she’d pulled over, including those across from the beach side. They showed a combination of commercial properties and a large apartment complex. There were people in some of them, but so small she could hardly make them out, and the pictures would only enlarge a certain percentage.

  “Find anything?” Blaze’s voice broke into her thoughts.

  “I’m not sure. After we go through the house, could we go someplace and look at all this together? There are pictures here of people that I’m not sure why she took.”

  “Casual ones she might have been hired to take?” Blaze suggested.

  “No. That’s not what these look like. It feels like something not good caught her attention and she wanted to ask Dane about it. That’s why the note, I think.”

  “That’s what I had in mind. My instincts tell me there’s something in there that will at least give us a hint, and they haven’t been wrong yet. Let’s go through their house, then we’ll go back to my place. Viper is still there, doing a deep dive on the Internet. We’ll pick up some dinner on the way. That work for you?”

  “Yes. Of course. Whatever you think we should do.”

  She opened the mail app next and immediately dozens of emails popped up.

  “Holy shit! Everyone in the world must have been trying to reach her. I need to go through these.”

  “Later,” Blaze told her. “You should check her messages, too. There just might be something in there that’s a clue to what this is all about.”

  “God. I hope so.”

  “But first, the house.”

  Brianne and Dane lived in South Tampa, in a large two-story house surrounded by mature landscaping. The stucco was painted an off-white and the trim a dark red. Peyton had always thought how rich it looked. She and her sister never discussed finances, but when they pulled into the driveway and Blaze let out a slow whistle, she knew her impression had been right.

  “Your brother-in-law must be pulling in some hefty fees,” he told her as they climbed out of the car. “Houses like this in this neighborhood go for the high six figures.”

  “I have no idea what he made. I know the house is gorgeous, the neighborhood is high-end and they live a good life. Brianne said he’s a top junior litigator, but when the three of us were together he never threw his weight around or pulled the ego act. He’s always been just the really nice guy who loved my sister and treated her like royalty.”

  “We may be barking up the wrong tree, but something made someone run them down and we’re going to find it. Got the key?”

  She pulled it out of her pocket and unlocked the front door.

  “Wait. Let me get the alarm.”

  He touched her arm. “Uh, Peyton?”

  “Hold on just a sec.” She moved away from him.

  “Peyton, the alarm didn’t go off.”

  She stopped still two feet from the alarm panel on the wall, stunned to realize he was right. And suddenly afraid.

  “Why? When I left here with the Hollisters, I definitely remember resetting it. I knew the place would be empty.”

  “Let me check it. What’s the code?” He punched it in as she recited it to him. Nothing happened, so he tried it again. When he turned to her, his face was set in a dead serious expression.

  “What? What is it?”

  “I’d have to take the panel off the wall to make sure, but I think someone used an EMP to kill it.”

  She wrinkled her forehead. “A what?”

  “Electromagnetic pulse unit. One press of a button and it kills all power to the unit.” He flipped a switch on the wall and a ceiling light in the foyer came on. “Okay, so they didn’t fry the electricity for the whole house, just the alarm. They knew the place was empty and that the few seconds it took to reach the alarm wouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Holy mother.” A cold shiver raced down her spine. “What kind of people are these?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out,” he told her. “Do you know who their security service is? They should be notified.”

  “And a new system put in to replace this one.”

  Blaze shook his head. “Uh. We’ll do that. No offense, but whatever they install will be nothing compared to what we use. We need to keep everyone out.”

  That same chill began working its way through her system.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Trust me. And this is part of why you hired us.” He took out his phone and dialed. “Viper? Yeah. Call Frank and tell him we need his Super X system installed and they need to get on it tonight.” He gave him the address. “We’ll be here a while, so have him get his ass in gear.”

  Peyton stared at him. “They’re doing it now?”

  “Yes. They’ll give me a call when they get here so I can open the door for them.” He grinned. “Otherwise I might
shoot them by mistake.”

  She swallowed a little gasp.

  “Just kidding.” He shook his head. “Sorry. Bad humor. Listen, do you have the number of the security company the house is hooked up to? You really should call them and let them know what’s happened. They may even have been trying to call.”

  “No. I’m sure it’s here somewhere. I didn’t even think about it, to tell you the truth. I bet it’s on Brianne’s phone. I’ll look. I wonder why, if the system is shut off, they didn’t call to check? Isn’t that what they do?”

  “Yes. My guess is that whoever set off the alarm called the security company pretending to be Dane, as soon as it sounded, and cancelled the service.”

  The sick feeling in the pit of her stomach began working its way through her system.

  “God, Blaze.”

  “Don’t think about it now. We’re getting it taken care of.”

  “I wanted to ask you.” She wet her lips. “If no one’s in the house, do we really even need a system?”

  He cupped her chin in a warm palm and stroked it with his thumb. And just like that heat streaked through her, waking up her hormones and stoking her pulse that suddenly thundered in her very hot sex. What was the matter with her? This was serious business here, and all those disobedient hormones kept doing was whispering fuck him in her ear. She didn’t know whether to be angry with herself or embarrassed. She had to stop herself from squeezing her thighs together against the demanding hunger.

  She was so involved in her traitorous sex drive that she didn’t realize at first that Blaze was speaking to her.

  “Excuse me? I think my mind wandered for a minute.”

  And how embarrassing is that? she asked herself.

  He smiled, humor flashing in his eyes.

  “It’s okay. I was getting kind of distracted myself.” He brushed his fingers against her cheek, a brief, light caress. Then the serious look was back. “Okay, back to business. I was saying, I don’t want to add to your stress, but if whoever broke in before didn’t find what they were looking for, they may come back. I want to know if they do. And maybe catch them in the act.”

  The sick feeling seeped through her again.

  “How will you do that?”

  “Silent alarm. It will hit Frank’s control center and be sent to all of our cell phones.”

  “God. I can hardly believe this is happening.” She rubbed her forehead as if she could straighten out the jumbled thoughts in her brain. “Who is doing this, Blaze? And why? For god’s sake, why?”

  He moved close to her, his presence wrapping around her like a cloud of warm air. When he cradled her face in his palms, those traitorous hormones leaped up and began to tango through her veins.

  “Tonight,” he told her in a slow voice. “God knows this is hardly the time for it, and you can fire my ass if you want. I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but if I don’t get inside you pretty soon, my cock might explode. Tonight, when we’ve done all this, we’re going to see if this is a fire or just a flare of heat. Count on it.”

  Peyton was stunned, except after the incendiary kiss they’d shared earlier, she didn’t know why. What could she say? She was riding the same wave of intense sexual desire he was. So what did that make her? Her sister was lying in a coma and she was suddenly in the grip of strong sexual heat, thinking about Blaze Hamilton standing before her nude.

  “I don’t know… Is this… Are we…What is this?”

  “We’re going to find out.” He brushed the lightest kiss over her lips. “You can count on that. Tonight. Now, come on. Let’s get moving. I’m surprised his parents didn’t go through here while they were in town. Surely there had to be things of his they wanted.”

  Peyton shrugged. “I was with them and they just seemed to want his clothes for the funeral. They could hardly even talk about it, much less go through his things here. Trust me, I know how they felt. Besides, they said it wasn’t right. They’d wait until Brianne…woke up…and go through it all together.”

  “Peyton.” Blaze turned her to face him and took both her hands in his. “You’ll be able to do this? Search everything with me?”

  Could she? Did she even have a choice? There were too many questions without any answers. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “I’ll be fine. I have to be.”

  “Okay, where do you want to start?”

  She looked around. “The den is just down this little hallway here. Dane used it more than Brianne, but maybe we’ll find things from both of them.”

  She’d always loved the rich oak paneling in the room, the built-in bookshelves, the heavy oak desk where Dane worked on cases when he had to bring them home. She and Peyton had sipped on the rich Kentucky bourbon in the liquor cabinet and curled up in the big leather armchairs when they’d been alone in the house. Emotion clogged her throat and she had to work hard to keep back the tears.

  “You okay?” Blaze was right in front of her, one big hand cupping her chin and tilting her face up to him.

  “I hope so.” She let out a shuddering breath. “I have to be. I can’t stop until we get to the bottom of this.”

  “You all right with going through the desk?”

  “Let’s do it.” But as soon as they approached the desk, she stopped and frowned. “It’s not here.”

  “What’s not here?”

  “His computer. He carried a laptop with him, but he had the computer from electronics heaven here on his desk. Said he preferred to do a lot of research at home where no one who didn’t belong could walk in and see what he was doing.”

  “Where’s his laptop?”

  She shrugged. “Beats me. It could have been in the car. A couple of times when we all went out, he had it with him and locked it in the trunk while we were inside whatever restaurant we were at.”

  “We need to find that car.” He pulled out his cell and hit a number. “Yeah, Eagle? Whatever you’re doing, put it aside and find out what happened to Dane Hollister’s car. Call the lot where he’d parked it that night. They wouldn’t have let it stay there indefinitely, so start there. Use every contact you’ve got. And when you find it, search every inch of it. We’re looking for his cell and his laptop. Yeah, yeah, I know. Yeah. Okay, whatever it takes. And keep me in the loop.”

  “How will he even know where to look?” Peyton couldn’t imagine that it was just sitting in the open somewhere. And it wasn’t still at the restaurant parking lot. Either they’d gotten rid of it or whoever ran them over had.

  “Eagle knows all the tricks. He’ll find it, whatever happened to it. Did the police mention it at all?”

  She shook her head. “And I’m sorry, I didn’t think to ask.”

  “It’s okay. Your focus was completely on your sister. We’ll find it, sitting in some impound lot somewhere.”

  During the next hour, they went through everything in the room, even taking the drawers from the desk to see if there was anything hidden behind or beneath them. They had turned on the lights against the growing dark when Blaze’s cell rang. When he hung up, he looked at Peyton.

  “The security guys are here. Come outside with me. I want you to meet them.”

  To Peyton’s eyes, Frank Weller could have been cut from the same mold as Blaze. Tall, lean, muscular, all business. He did smile when he shook her hand.

  “Viper explained the situation. We’ll get you fixed up.” He looked at Blaze. “The usual?”

  Blaze nodded. “Exactly.”

  “We’ve got quite a few hours here, then. You gonna hang around all that time?”

  Blaze shook his head. “How about meeting us here about nine tomorrow morning and walking us through it.”

  “No problem. Nice to meet you, Miss West. We’ll make sure you don’t have any more problems, at least with your house security.”

  “Is he a former SEAL, too?” she whispered to Blaze as they walked back into the house.

  “They’re the best.”

  “Do
n’t we have to tell him what we want?”

  Blaze chuckled. “We’ve done this enough times that Frank knows exactly what I want. And Viper gave him the rundown, like he said. Let’s get back to work.”

  They headed back into the den and resumed their search. Finally, Peyton straightened up from going through the cupboards beneath the bookshelves and rubbed her forehead.

  “This is going to sound very stupid,” she began, “but it’s too neat.”

  Blaze lifted an eyebrow. “Neat? I just thought maybe the guy was a freak about it. You know, with all the folders and paper aligned, the books symmetrical. That kind of stuff.”

  She shook her head.

  “Dane wasn’t a slob, by any means, but he wasn’t obsessed about stuff like that. Any papers he was working on were always stacked just a little off kilter on his desk. And the books never looked like that. He and Brianne were both readers and were always pulling books out then putting them back. This looks like someone used a level and a measuring tape to put everything in its place.”

  “But to someone who didn’t know him, would it appear that he was? Just from a casual look?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess. Yeah, maybe. Why?”

  “Because someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to put everything back the way they think it was. I’d say they took the desk apart and searched every draw and cubbyhole, putting the papers back with concentrated precision. Same with everything else. They wanted to make sure no one would think anyone had been in here.”

  “Then what were we supposed to think about the missing PC?” She glanced around the room.

  “Maybe that he’d taken it in to be repaired or something.”

  She snapped her fingers. “Let’s check Brianne’s work area. This house has a sunroom, believe it or not, and she just loved it in there. Said it was so light and airy.”

  The sunroom was tucked in next to the living room. Since it was now dark, the first thing she did was flip on the lights. She immediately noticed all the dead and dying plants

  “Oh, no.” She wanted to cry. Brianne had loved those plants. Why hadn’t she thought of them and figured out a schedule to water them?