Before Ben

by Cynthia Eden

  ***

  “You good?” Detective Layla Lopez asked.

  “No, not at all.” Courtney sucked in a breath, swore she tasted bleach, and squared her shoulders. “I just want to get this over with.”

  The detective waved one perfectly manicured hand. Her dark hair trailed down her back in a long braid.

  The ME—at least, that’s who Courtney assumed the other woman was—lifted a sheet off the body that was on the table.

  Immediately, Courtney’s gaze flew to the man’s face.

  Man. Boy. He looks so young. She had to swallow three times before she could talk. Her gaze stayed on his face. The round jaw. The long, somewhat hawkish nose. The little bump in the middle of his nose, as if it had been broken before. His forehead was high. His dark hair fell back against the table.

  “That him?”

  Ben’s hand pressed to the small of her back. Warm. Steady.

  “That’s the guy I saw running away, yes.” The sheet covered him from the shoulders down. Had he really mouthed that he was sorry right before he’d vanished from the scene of the wreck? She could’ve sworn that he had. “What happened to him?”

  “Shot twice. Bled out slowly.” Another wave of the detective’s hand, and the sheet was lifted to cover the boy’s face. “Donnie Dwight. He’s got a rap sheet. Mostly small-time stuff. Usually does B&Es, petty thefts. This is the first time…” Now her gaze moved to Ben. “The first time he graduated to attempted murder.” She shook her head. “What is it with you Wilde boys? Does trouble always stalk you?”

  “Only some days,” Ben allowed.

  On the ride over, Ben had told Courtney a bit about the detective. He’d said that she and his brother went way back, that she was smart and tough, and one of the best cops he’d ever met.

  Layla’s gaze darted back to the body on the table. Sadness drifted across her face as her lips pulled down. “No one should bleed out like that. No one should die alone.” A sigh. “I will find his killer.”

  That was something else Ben had told her. Layla always got her killers.

  Layla led the way to the door, and Courtney was only too eager to follow her. The morgue was icy cold, a cold that seemed to have settled into her very bones, and she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  In the hallway, Layla spun toward them. “The SUV he plowed into your Benz was the same vehicle used in the hit and run near Courtney’s building.” Her breath heaved out. “I had the techs and our lab do a rush job—we found blood and DNA on the SUV that matched up to Cole Vincent.”

  Cole Vincent. Because that was his real name. He’d been lying to Courtney, and she’d bought every line he’d fed her.

  Dammit.

  “Donnie wasn’t a big-time player.” Layla’s lips tightened. “Getting involved in a hit and run? Trying to murder someone? That’s next level stuff. It’s—” She broke off, her gaze darting over Courtney’s shoulder at the same moment that Courtney heard the quiet tread of footsteps.

  She glanced back. A tall, handsome, African American man strode slowly toward them. His suit was impeccable, fitting his wide shoulders like a glove, and the crisp white shirt he wore had an easy elegance about it that told her his clothes were probably more expensive than a month of groceries for some families. Power clung to him, but…

  So did sadness.

  She knew the man by sight. They’d never met personally, but the guy’s reputation proceeded him. Kendrick Shaw. The best defense attorney in the city—no, the state. Hands down. Maybe the best one in the whole US. As far as she knew, he’d never lost a case. And typically, he defended the people who made the big headlines. The rich, the powerful, and often, the very, very dangerous.

  And he always got his client a not guilty verdict.

  But why would Kendrick be there then? Why—

  “He’s in the morgue?” Kendrick’s voice came out low and a little rough.

  “Aw, hell.” Ben moved forward and immediately locked a hand around the other man’s shoulder. “Was he one of yours?”

  Wait. That didn’t make sense. Layla had just said that Donnie was more of a petty criminal. Or at least, he had been before he’d driven an SUV over Cole. Twice. Not so petty any longer…

  And also, not so alive.

  An eighteen-year-old kid…

  Kendrick gave a slow nod. “I was representing Donnie.” His gaze flickered to Ben, then to Layla. His stare lingered on the detective a moment. “Despite what people say about me, it’s not all about the attention and headlines. Sometimes, I want to help the little guy.” His jaw tightened. “I grew up in Donnie’s neighborhood. I know how hard survival is there, and when I see a good kid making some very poor choices, I try to help him out.”

  Ben’s hold tightened on him. “I’m sorry, man.”

  Kendrick cut him a glance. “I heard…Donnie came after you?” There was confusion in his words.

  “He did,” Layla responded, her voice crisp. “The criminal investigation is still on-going, but Courtney McKenna just ID’d Donnie as being the driver of the SUV who plowed into Ben’s vehicle. The same SUV was used in a recent hit and run. Luckily, that victim survived, but the obvious intention of that attack was for Cole Vincent to die.”

  Kendrick took a step back. Ben’s hand dropped from his shoulder.

  Kendrick seemed to gather his thoughts, and after a moment, he said, “Donnie wasn’t a killer.”

  Layla shrugged one shoulder. “The evidence would say he was trying to become a killer.”

  Courtney’s gaze darted to the morgue’s closed doors. A shiver slid over her.

  “Courtney McKenna.”

  Her stare snapped to Kendrick. She found him staring at her with an intense focus.

  “We haven’t officially met, have we?” Kendrick squared his shoulders and offered his hand to her. “Kendrick Shaw.”

  She took his hand. Felt his easy strength. “I’ve heard of you.”

  He inclined his head to Ben. “And I’ve certainly heard of you. When Ben drinks, he talks a lot.”

  What?

  “Not now,” Ben muttered.

  Kendrick nodded. He released Courtney’s hand and eased out a long breath as he turned his attention back to Layla. “I want to see the body. Donnie doesn’t have any family that’s going to come looking for him. I’ll be taking care of the kid. Everything—it’s all going through me.”

  He’d cared about Donnie. It was obvious in his gruff words. Courtney’s head cocked as she studied him. The court gossip mill said that Kendrick Shaw didn’t have a heart. That he would defend a man who was guilty as all hell if it meant Kendrick got his name in the paper and a big check in his bank account.

  But she’d never been one to believe gossip. After all, she’d been gossiped about plenty in her life. The stories had hurt, and they’d been bullshit. She decided not to play games, and to ask Kendrick for the truth. “Why were you helping him?”

  “Because I got out.” His lips thinned. “Donnie didn’t. He was a smart kid, he just made some real dumbass choices. I’d warned him to keep his nose clean. Told him that he could turn everything around. He could have a chance, if he just…” Kendrick stopped and shook his head.

  “This is beyond his normal work.” Layla edged closer to Kendrick. “Why would Donnie have taken these jobs?”

  “Money,” an immediate response from Kendrick. “Kid wanted a new life more than anything else. I promised him that he’d get that life. I swore he would, but he had to follow the rules I’d set up.”

  Donnie didn’t have a new life. He didn’t have any life at all. “I’m sorry,” Courtney told Kendrick.

  Kendrick’s stare jerked to her. Narrowed. “You’re wanting to know why Donnie took the jobs…a better question would be…why did someone want Donnie to target you?”

  “We’re working to figure that out.” Ben’s response was flat. “If you want to shed some light on the situation, we’d appreciate it. If you want to tell us who Donnie used to work for or
maybe the names of his acquaintances…?”

  Layla nodded. “People who might have hooked Donnie up with a much more dangerous line of employment. Somebody who wanted Donnie to graduate from B&Es to murder.”

  Kendrick shoved his hand into his pocket. “Always got to be so careful with what you say. You make the wrong enemy, and you could find yourself dead in this town. I mean, what good is a criminal defense attorney, if he spills the secrets on his clients? His very dangerous clients.”

  He knows. He knows who hired Donnie, but he isn’t saying.

  Kendrick headed for the morgue’s doors. Stopped. Looked back at her. “There’s always a paper trail, though. One that the right people can follow. It’s all about following procedures. The rule of law and order.”

  Courtney’s lips parted.

  Kendrick entered the morgue a moment later.

  “I will never quite figure him out,” Layla murmured. “Defends total scum, but Kendrick—”

  “Kendrick is one of the good guys,” Ben responded instantly. “And he told us exactly what we needed to know.”

  Yes, he had. He’d put the clues right in front of them. Law and order. Excitement surged through her. “We need to find out who posted bail the last time that Donnie was arrested.”

  Kendrick had told them exactly what they needed to know. Follow the trail. The paper trail left from court. The documents that always had to be maintained. If they got access to that information, then they could get the name they needed to know.

  ***

  “I don’t see Courtney McKenna.”

  Kadi flinched. The hood had been yanked off her head again, and that stupid bare light bulb was blinding her. She didn’t even know why they’d bothered with the hood. Especially since the jerk leader had shoved his face in front of her earlier. She could identify him. The hood was just pointless now.

  “Thought you said one phone call was all it would take,” he leaned in close, his rather rancid breath blowing over her face. “You made the call, but we don’t have her.”

  “You will okay? I don’t have Courtney’s direct number.” Not like she and Courtney were besties, dammit. “But I left my husband a message saying that we had to meet. I told him when and I told him where. Said if he got his attorney at the meeting, I would agree to all of his divorce stipulations without any other arguments.” She’d thought the plan was rather brilliant. Kadi felt like preening. She didn’t, though, because she was tied to a freaking chair. “Now, you just need to let me go so I can make that meeting. You can follow me there. You’ll see Courtney. You grab her. A done deal.”

  The plan had been perfect because setting up a meeting meant that these jerks would have to let her out of their stupid place. They would have to keep her alive long enough for her to show up so they could get Courtney.

  The leader leaned ever closer to her, and her gaze dropped to that scar on his neck. Her neck had been bleeding because of him and his knife. Total jackass. He had no idea who he was dealing with. She was going to make him pay for hurting her.

  “You try to screw us over…” Again, his breath blew against her. “And I will gut you.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Follow me to the meeting,” Kadi blasted right back at him. “And you’ll get exactly what you want.” Her soon-to-be ex-husband would jump at the chance to get her agreement for a no-contest divorce. He’d be there with his attorney. No doubt about it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You have to be patient.” Layla pointed at Ben. “I know you want this shit yesterday, but I have to work in the system here. We got the name of the guy who posted bail for Donnie at his last court appearance, but Jude Varga is just another petty crook, too. I have to keep making my way up the chain if I’m going to find out the truth. That means I go in the interrogation room with Jude, and I see what shakes loose.”

  “Let me come in, too,” he urged her. Tension coursed through his body.

  “No.” Flat. Instant. “And you’re not watching, either. We tried all of that before, didn’t we? Been there and done that with you and your brother. It never ends well with you Wilde boys.” She motioned toward her office door. “You and Courtney…you need to both leave now.”

  Courtney’s shoulder brushed against Ben’s. Her scent teased him, working to calm the savagery rising within Ben.

  “When I have more evidence to give you, I’ll call,” Layla assured them. “Until then, lay low. It’s time for the police to take over this case.”

  She was benching him? Not happening.

  It was a good thing Ben already had a backup plan in place. A plan that might not be the most above-board, but, hey, desperate times called for desperate measures. And I am desperate. I’m not going to sit around and wait for something to happen to Courtney.

  Layla could work within the confines of the law. And he could use every dirty trick he knew. Ben’s fingers curled around Courtney’s. “Let’s go.”

  Layla’s gaze turned suspicious. Obviously, she’d expected more of a fight because she knew him well. She was right to be suspicious, but she didn’t stop him as Ben and Courtney fled her small office.

  Courtney didn’t talk until they were outside of the police station. His rental waited nearby. He led her to it, held open the passenger door, and his stare swept around as he looked for any threats that might be there. He’d be damned if he was caught off-guard again.

  Behind him, he saw the dark sedan that waited just a few feet away. And in that sedan…

  Julia and Rick.

  Because he’d called and made sure that Courtney would now have twenty-four, seven protection. Julia and Rick would be shadowing her movements until the bastard out there was caught.

  Ben hurried around the vehicle and slid into the driver’s seat. The door slammed and—

  “I have bodyguards now, huh?” Courtney’s careful voice.

  He pulled away from the curb. “I’m not going to have you put at risk.”

  She turned her head and gazed out the window. “And I’m not going to put you at risk, either.”

  Okay, he did not like the tone of her voice.

  “I realized when I was staring at that poor boy in the morgue…you can die, too, Ben.”

  Everyone could fucking die.

  “You were targeted because of me,” she continued in a low voice.

  “We’re going to find out who is after you,” Ben assured her. Count on it. “We’re going to use Cole. Simon said that Cole sent his email to his mystery ‘boss’ already, and Wilde will watch to make sure—”

  “You’ve done enough,” she cut in quietly. “Thank you.”

  Oh, no. Oh, hell, no. Ben whipped the car into the nearest parking lot.

  Julia and Rick whipped in behind them. He swore when he saw Rick jump from the sedan and run toward them.

  Ben rolled down his window. “We’re fine! Stand down.” Just clearing some shit up.

  Not looking happy about it, Rick backed away.

  Ben turned his body toward Courtney. “You need me.” He had to cling to that. “I can go to Wilde right now, I can get the hackers there to follow the money trail from Jude Varga back to his boss. I can find the truth much faster than the PD can. I’ll get the boss’s name. I’ll go into his office. I’ll make him tell me—”

  “Stop.” She reached for his hand. Squeezed. “This isn’t you. Don’t you see that?”

  It was him. Who the hell else would it be?

  “You don’t live a dangerous life, Ben. You don’t get into fights. You don’t risk yourself—”

  For her, he would.

  “It’s not safe.” Her hair slid over her shoulders. “Don’t you see that? It’s not safe to be around me right now.”

  The only place he wanted to be was near her.

  “The security system at my apartment has been upgraded.” Her lips twisted in a smile that never reached her eyes. “I also now seem to have two bodyguards following me around. I’m good, Ben. I’m safe. It’s time for you to go bac
k to your life while I deal with this.”

  “Hell, no.”

  She blinked. “But I don’t need—”

  “You don’t need me?” His voice was too rough. “Did you ever stop to think that I need you?”

  Her eyes widened.

  “I need you in my life, Courtney, because you’ve been a fucking bright spot for me for a very, very long time. I need you because you make the days better. Because you push me to be a better man. I need you because you are the best lover I’ve ever had, and truth be told, now that I’ve had a taste of you, you’re the only lover that I can ever imagine having. I want you. Only you. I need you. You’re the one, Courtney.”

  Her lower lip trembled. “But it’s dangerous around me…”

  “Screw it. You think I’m worried?” He was. He was freaking terrified, actually, but not of something happening to him. He was terrified something would happen to her. He had to stay close to her. Had to keep his eyes on Courtney because he was afraid that if he let her go, even for an instant…

  I will lose her. Something bad will happen. I just got her—really got her—and I can’t let some bastard rip her away from me now.

  “I’m worried.” Her voice was low. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I-I care about you, Ben.” She stumbled over that last bit.

  Care, huh? That was something he could work with. “For the record, I fucking care about you, too.”

  Her eyes widened.

  Screw this. Not the best time or the right place but…his hand cupped her cheek. The bandage was gone, and a thin scratch slid over her silken skin. “You’re not going to shove me aside because you’re worried about putting me in danger. I don’t care about danger. I don’t care about any threat. You’re what matters to me.”

  “You could be hurt.”

  He nodded. “If I’m not there for you when you need me, hell, yes, I’ll be hurt. I’ll be gutted. Because you matter. You aren’t facing this alone.”

  “I have the bodyguards out there—”

  “You have me. I’ve always been there, but you didn’t know it. I didn’t let you know how important you are, and that is on me.” He pulled in her scent. The strawberries that made him crave her. “I won’t make the same mistake again.” All or nothing. He planned to be all in with her. “I love you, Courtney, and I’m not leaving you. You can count on me to be there, no matter what happens. I will always be there.”