Chapter 22 #2
Ah, right. The question that haunted the back of my mind. “I asked my father a couple of days ago, and he said it was political. I took that to mean there was a reason to keep it quiet. But I’ve no idea what that could be.”
Arran tapped his desk. “Can you find out?”
“I can try, but he’s already shot me down once. Tell you what, I’ll see if a detective has been assigned. When I last checked, there was no lead name attached to the case.”
Taking the visitor’s seat, I extracted my laptop from my bag and set it up on my knees then logged in to the case management system. I navigated to the case then stared.
“What?” Convict asked.
“It’s a multi-agency approach, as expected with the deaths happening in Scotland but the company ownership in England. For Deadwater’s response, there is a detective allocated. Lyle Francis.”
The two men swapped a look.
Arran gave nothing away. “What can you tell us about him?”
“Lyle is thirty-two and on the up. He transferred to Deadwater last summer but was immediately sent to work on a coordinated case with another force. A huge drugs bust he crowed about. That’s probably why you haven’t heard of him.”
“What kind of man is he? In your father’s image or not?”
He meant was Lyle corrupt. “He’s out to make a name so playing the game carefully. He admires my father, though. Assuming he isn’t blind, that tells me he might be persuadable. If you find the need to influence him in some way, be cautious.”
Arran thanked me, and Convict released me from the room.
There was much to think about with the Marchant family drama, but all my focus went to Kane and the glower now on his face.
He left Tyler and came to me. “I’ll see Lovelyn upstairs then I’ll be back.”
In the waiting lift, Kane hit the button for the seventh floor.
“Is something wrong?” I asked.
He didn’t speak, his expression suggesting I shouldn’t bother trying either. Dark energy poured off him, souring the mood. Strangely, I was even more attracted to him like that. It made me want to push his buttons.
I checked my reflection in the glass, my purple rose so pretty. “Thank you again for the bouquet.”
His brow furrowed deeper. “Fucking flowers.”
“Which I really liked.”
“Why? All they are is a dishonest front for wanting sex and not just coming out and saying it.”
My mouth popped open. “Is sex the only reason you gave them to me? You don’t respect me?”
“I respect you as a person. You’re a fuck tonne smarter than me, and I’d pick ye to be on my team before anyone else. That isn’t what this is about. I’m thinking about you as a woman. I can’t stop thinking about your cunt squeezing my cock.”
He gave me no pause to process the shock of lust at his words.
“I beat myself off in the shower twice since last night because of memories of ye. The boyfriend flowers are a sham when my words tell the truth.”
I hovered between being turned on and hurt. He was lashing out for some reason. That didn’t give him licence to be a dick. The emotions settled into irritation.
Without answering him, I waited for the lift doors to open then stalked to Cassie’s flat.
She let us in with a hug for me and a chirpy hello for Kane. Still glowering, he took a position against the kitchen wall, Mila jumping up from a sprawl of paperwork on the floor to greet us.
I took in the scene. All the members of the Skeleton Girls Detective Agency were in attendance, Everly on the sofa with her hand to her belly and Genevieve on a cushion on the polished floorboards, her sparkling choker around her throat.
My heart thumped. They were all wearing matching black t-shirts of a woman with a cute updo and a magnifying glass with the name of our agency beneath. It had pink and purple highlights.
Cassie fetched another from the counter. “With your news on Esther, it felt only right that we wear these for our meeting tonight. A whimsical addition to serious business. Murder, but make it cute.”
I accepted mine and held it to my chest. “I love it.”
Mila gave me a hug and tucked her shoulder-length blonde hair behind her ear. “Sorry that your search for Dixie didn’t work out.”
Regret filled me, but it wasn’t just for Dixie’s sake. I’d slept with Mila’s brother. All of a sudden, that felt more important to get out of the way.
I peeked over at him. Under the warm glow from the pendant lights in Cassie’s kitchen, he watched me. There was no hiding the want in his eyes, even in his terrible mood. I felt it all the way down to my shoes.
“Whoa,” Mila said quietly.
Shit. I grabbed her hand. “I need to talk to you.” Holding up a pausing finger to Kane, I drew Mila over to the floor-to-ceiling arched window with the view of the city and turned my back on the other women, though Kane was close enough to hear my words.
“I had a thing with your brother,” I whispered. “Past tense, but it happened.”
To my right, Kane swore.
Mila’s eyebrows hiked up. “I mean, I was about to guess that.”
I clutched my hands together. “I don’t want this to affect our friendship.”
“Are you kidding? I was about to apologise on his behalf. I can’t imagine how you put up with him.” Her lips lifted in a grin.
“Lovelyn. Outside,” Kane said.
I made wide eyes at Mila then scooted over to her brother.
“Girl code,” I explained to him. “But basically the look you gave me screamed the quiet part out loud.”
Across the room, Cassie waved. “Facts. We all saw it.”
He caught my hand and towed me out of the room. My heart sank. He didn’t like sharing information, I didn’t like concealing it. If this was the point in which we stopped whatever we were doing, it was going to hurt.
Outside of the flat, the hallway had access to the stairs, lift, and what appeared to be an empty apartment across the way.
“Past fucking tense.” Kane stopped in front of it and whirled around on me. “Tonight. One hour. Go downstairs and meet me at the back door of the warehouse nearest the river.”
I took a shocked breath. My core tightened. He was going to take me somewhere to play.
“Will ye be there?”
Despite everything, my mind whirring and giving me images of a busy night in the city and our unique game of chase, I managed to stick to my guns. “Convince me. You ruined the flowers. Try harder.”
Kane examined my expression then did exactly what I wanted him to do.
With a hand to my lower spine, he brought me against him in a kiss that started soft but turned all-consuming.
There was heat in it and something more as well.
Annoyance. Passion. A decadence in the repeated takes from my lips while he held me closer than he ever had before, my wrists in his grip but pressed between our bodies so I could feel every thump of his big heart.
The taste of him eclipsed all else.
My pet kidnapper had become my accepted hunter, and I would’ve run naked through the warehouse if he’d asked.
At last, he broke away.
“You’re good at that for a man who doesn’t kiss,” I breathed.
“You’re exceptional in every way I know.” Kane dropped his hold. “One hour,” he repeated.
Then he was gone.
Back inside the apartment, the women whooped and hollered. I flushed hot and wiped my lips, earning laughs.
Everly put her chin on her hands. “You are so cute together.”
“Weren’t you just telling us how you didn’t like being single?” Genevieve added.
Cassie quipped, “Sure it’s in the past? You have beard rash on your cheeks.”
I giggled and touched my face then pulled a guilty expression at Mila. “Sorry if this is weird.”
“Honestly, it’s not. I was just joking with what I said. We might be brother and sister, but I have no idea how to talk to him sometimes, or how to tease.” She smiled. “I’m glad you two are together. I’d say welcome to the family, but I really don’t think you want that association.”
Stripping my long-sleeved top, I donned my new detective agency one, straightening it with pride and tucking the rose into my bag. “On that sobering note, I’ll tell you about Dixie.”
I’d already shared the results over our message group but recapped the details.
“It’s probable she’s moved on,” I said once I’d reached the end.
“So close yet so far,” Cassie said. “We were just going over the details of Esther’s death, and it’s made me even more scared for Dixie.”
We’d already discussed a potential connection, and I dropped my gaze to the papers. “We have so much going on. So many threads to pull.”
Everly sat forward. “Is it okay to ask for a summary of where everyone’s head is at? My morning sickness meant I missed several discussions. There was one day I couldn’t even look at my phone. I could use a refresher.”
Mila nodded. “Good idea.”
I agreed. “I think we could all use that. Are you feeling better?”
“Hugely. Which means Connor has calmed down as well. He was losing his mind over not being able to help me, and from being the cause.”
She grinned, and we all laughed.
On the floor, Mila picked up a piece of paper and wrote, ‘Victim – Dixie’ across the top, matching the existing one for Esther.
“Okay. We know Dixie was hurt a while back then went missing a month or two after. We’ve discovered her hidden identity of Darcy Marchant, my and Kane’s sibling.
Though Darcy’s existence is now out there, few if any know she’s Dixie.
Her role is important because she holds the casting vote on the future of the family business which has been on hold since my grandfather died. ”
Everly pointed to the next victim sheet. “And before she vanished, another woman was hurt.”
Mila picked up the piece with Esther’s name at the top.
“This time killed. Esther Eavis was a sex worker I knew from school. She helped me access an auction so I could get to the businessman I thought was influencing my grandmother. She hadn’t spoken to me since the funeral.
The businessman is Rhys Jacobs, and he’s been missing for just as long.
His business partner is a nasty piece of work named Salter who employed Esther. Both of them sold women for a living.”