Family Ties Mystery Series Box Set

by James Kipling

  The next day, Asa filled her car tank with fuel and headed towards the nearest ranch in the area which Gibson had pointed to on a map. Asa really wanted to enjoy the trip in the country, but the different theories in her mind were too disturbing for her to really have a good time driving around.

  At the first farm, Asa was greeted by a nice looking woman, who invited her inside and offered a cup of tea.

  “I saw those two men, dear,” Mrs. Keller said, while cutting her a piece of pie. “They spoke to my husband and he told me they had asked about anything unusual in the area.”

  “Can you tell me the exact time that happened?” Asa asked, and took another bite of the delicious pie.

  “Yes, if I remember correctly, it happened around three weeks ago,” Mrs. Keller said. “It was nearly lunch time and I ask them to stay for the meal, but they said they had too much work to do and were going to eat in the car. I had a nice roasted chicken that day and sweet potatoes, too. So, they climbed back in their car and went on to the next farm. They asked about it and my husband gave them directions on how to get there. I can do the same for you if you like?”

  “That would be so great, Mrs. Keller, thank you,” Asa said, with a big smile for the kind woman. “That pie was magnificent… the best. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted pie that good before.”

  “Thank you, it's my mother’s recipe. She left it to me,” Mrs. Keller said proudly, and continued to chat happily.

  Afterwards, she pointed the way to the next ranch and promised to call if anything else came to mind.

  Agent Clark visited a few more farms and ranches, and was received differently by each owner. Most were nice, like Mrs. Keller. She noticed that a few of the ranchers refused to talk directly to her, although none of them told her to get off their property.

  She made a point to ask each of them about the dead FBI officers and watched their reaction to her questions. Some of them said they hadn’t seen them, while others affirmed that the agents did visit them and had asked them questions about the area. Asa questioned them about their answers to the agents and took notes of what they had said.

  Clark noticed that she was getting closer to the Kimble’s farm and that worried her. She hadn’t been completely honest with them and the fact was making her uneasy. She didn’t really care about the family’s reaction, but Gabriel and his feelings were important to her. Unsure of what to do next, Asa decided to stay away from the Kimble farm for the time being, or at least until there was no other choice for her. And anyway, there were plenty more other places for her to visit without that complication.

  One of the last ones she visited belonged to the man named Ezekiel Warren whom Asa remembered seeing at the Kimble’s ranch. From the very beginning the man was tight-lipped, but she didn’t give up.

  “Can you tell me if two FBI agents came to your farm in the last two weeks?” she asked politely.

  “Who is asking?” the man asked in a cold voice.

  “My name is Asa Clark, I am an FBI agent.” She showed him her badge and waited for an answer.

  “No, Agent Asa Clark.” The man made sure to use her whole name. “I haven’t seen those agents before.” Ezekiel Warren pointed at the photographs of the two agents.

  “Okay, Mr. Warren, thank you for your time,” Clark said to him and walked back to her car. The man stood in the middle of the road leading to his house until the car disappeared from view.

  Asa returned to the FBI field office later in the afternoon and sat behind her desk to go through her notes. She needed to compare everything she had found and try to find something that connected the ranches to the killing of the agents. She started slowly by tracing a diagram of the area in which the deceased agents conducted their study, and comparing them to her own field notes. The young FBI agent noticed there was a pattern in their notes. They seemed to have been on to something, but Asa just couldn’t figure out just what it was yet.

  Chapter 20

  After another few days of hard investigating, Asa was exhausted and exasperated. No new leads had come to her attention and her own field trips weren’t leading anywhere, a fact that made her wonder if she was the right person for the job. Asa had never felt that way about her work before and it made her think she should find something quickly if she wanted to keep her sanity.

  Friday evening, she found herself walking towards the nearest local bar and ordering a drink. She sat at the bar alone and her somber expression warned the lonely men around her to keep away. Asa drank in silence for about twenty minutes, concerned that she wasn’t making progress with the case.

  As she finished her drink and spent another twenty minutes focused on reviewing her actions again trying to see what she was missing about this case. Asa was about to leave and go back to the hotel when she saw Gabriel, his brother and his sister-in-law entering the bar. She was horrified. She had been ignoring Gabriel’s calls for nearly a week now, fearing she would have to explain her job and the reason she came here in the first place.

  Asa considered leaving the bar unnoticed by the three of them, but Jane spotted her almost immediately and pointed her out to the others. The small group came towards her and Asa stood up to greet them.

  “Asa, hello. We hadn’t heard from you,” Jane said, after they all shook hands and ordered something to drink. “Gabriel said you were too busy.”

  “Yes,” Asa answered, embarrassed and irritated by Jane’s negative choice of words. “Actually, I was about to call you…” Asa let her voice die down and made a point of looking right at Gabriel.

  “I was wondering why I hadn’t heard from you,” Gabriel said, repeating almost the same words Jane had used.

  “I think this would be a good time for us to go now,” David commented, tugging Jane towards one of the tables at the back of the restaurant. Asa and Gabriel watched them go and only then did he sit in the empty bar stool beside her.

  “Is everything okay?” Gabriel asked softly. “I thought there was something happening between us?”

  “Yes and yes,” Asa said quickly. “I’m sorry for not calling you; I think I was a bit afraid that things were happening too quickly between us.”

  “I can understand that,” Gabriel smiled, and Asa realized how much she had missed that smile. “But now that fate has brought us back together, what would you say about starting anew?”

  “Starting what anew?” Asa asked playfully.

  “That thing that we might have had, but are still not sure about the speed of,” Gabriel said, and both of them laughed at his rather confused expression.

  Gabriel ordered them a round of drinks and they spoke about their previous meetings and the visit to the Kimble Ranch. Asa felt herself relax and wasn’t surprised at all when she was laughing with him and leaning against his muscular body, all thoughts about her job, and the warnings from Gibson and Shepherd long forgotten.

  “There was too much work at the farm these last days,” Gabriel was saying. “But I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

  “Is that so?” The young woman smiled seductively and opened her bag to search for a tissue. “I wanted to ask you something.”

  She suddenly changed the tone, as her eyes fell on the photos of the two deceased agents.

  “Have you heard anything about some dead FBI agents who were poking around in the area?”

  “What?” Gabriel asked, surprised. “Dead FBI agents? I don’t know. Why are you asking?”

  “I heard someone talking about their bodies being found near the lake and wondered if you knew something more about it,” Asa explained.

  “Sorry, I don’t know anything about it,” he said, as he shook his head. “But, I know the lake is a wonderful place for a swim in the summer,” he added playfully.

  For another hour, they talked, drank, and kissed each other, until neither of them could take it anymore and Gabriel asked if she wanted to show him her hotel room. Asa didn’t hesitate and agreed to show him, if
he gave her two minutes to visit the ladies room first. Gabriel sent her away with a kiss and went to speak to his family.

  “Don’t wait for me,” Gabriel told them with a secretive smile on his lips. “I may spend the night in town.”

  “So, you and Asa made up?” David asked in a rather cold tone of voice, while Jane excused herself and walked towards the bathroom.

  Asa was washing her hands when Jane entered the bathroom and looked at the stalls, making sure that no one else was inside.

  “Hi again,” Jane said and leaned against the door. “I heard that you’ve been asking questions around town and in the outer areas?”

  “Yeah?” Asa asked calmly, wishing that she wasn’t so drunk right now. “What about it?”

  “I don’t know,” Jane nodded slowly. “I was wondering if you are working for the Feds.”

  “I might be a very curious woman, but that doesn’t make me an FBI agent. But, if I was one, I don’t see how that changes anything,” Asa tried to assure her.

  “If you say so,” Jane said, and walked out of the bathroom, still unsure what to think about it.

  Twenty minutes later, Gabriel followed Asa's movements around the hotel room. Shit! The girl was really beautiful.

  “Have to admit that you work very well under pressure,” the man pointed out. He let his hands fall back and then stood up and moved around behind Asa. He leaned in close and breathed in her ear, “Don’t you think that it will be much more fun, if you let me kiss you?”

  “What makes you think that I want to kiss you?” Asa asked in a low voice.

  “Let’s see,” he mused. “First, you cannot take your eyes off me.” He counted, raising one of his fingers. “Second, you keep looking at my lips. Third, you just want to kiss me.”

  “Two of your points are about looking at you. Couldn’t you find something more original?”

  His breath was skimming across her skin, sending shivers down her back. Asa’s breath hitched, while her lips burned with anticipation for that kiss. Swallowing, she looked up, watching Gabriel from under her lashes.

  “Don’t you have anything to say?”

  “No, not really,” the man said, his voice husky with barely concealed need.

  “You repeat yourself.”

  Gabriel smiled, showing that he didn’t really care who was going to win, and enjoying how much he was able to distract Asa, by just looking at her.

  “Okay,” she finally gave up. “And anyway, I don’t really like playing games that much.”

  She smiled at his surprise, just before she turned around and kissed him on the lips. The kiss was both soft and firm, keeping her arms away from his body with only their mouths touching. Asa was shy and careful, but the Gabriel didn’t have the same problem. He quickly caught up with the situation and ran his tongue across her lips, boldly asking for entrance.

  Asa hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth to let him in.

  She could taste the alcohol he drank earlier. He leaned forward and jumped on her side of the sofa, immediately wrapping his hands around her slim waist, then gently caressing her back. He sighed at the feeling of his hands exploring her body, as their tongues gently caressed each other. A soft groan sounded in the hotel room, when Asa leaned closer to him and placed her arms around his neck.

  The sound drew a quick response from her, making Asa open her mouth even more and letting Gabriel deepen the kiss. It was madness, but from the moment she set eyes on him, she felt as if it was all a dream. And when you dream, you allow yourself to do things you never do in real life, right? She was afraid, expecting at any moment to wake from her dream, so she did the only possible thing. She decided to savor every moment she was given with him. She already knew she would never forget this night, and the man who was kissing her with such abandon.

  Gabriel felt her capitulation and proceeded to kiss her more possessively, hungrily, aggressively. She was someone he hadn’t expected to want, hadn’t wanted to meet, and yet, couldn’t keep his hands off. One thing was for sure, he didn’t want to stop holding her.

  The new sensation drew a deep moan from Asa, her heart pounding so hard she wasn’t able to hear anything else. His hands never seemed to cease skittering across her skin, making her blood rush through her veins and inflaming her body.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to taste my pie?” the man asked with his lips barely leaving hers.

  “Later…” the woman whispered between ragged breaths.

  That single word was enough for Gabriel to spring into action. He hooked his hands under her knees and shoulders and carried her closer to the bed. The light coming from the windows was throwing shadows over them and only the walls, creating beautiful pictures.

  He kissed her again and slowly removed her shirt, and debated taking off her jeans. Asa didn’t stop him which encouraged him even more so he did it, leaving her standing in just her underwear.

  “Your turn,” she said boldly, although her hands shook when she tried to undress him.

  “Let me help,” he replied, sliding his hand down her back and over her bottom.

  It took a lot for him to let go of here and get undressed, never really looking anywhere else but at her. Then he was kissing her again, until they both ran out of breath and he lifted his face and looked at hers. Asa’s cheeks were flushed and her lips swollen, but she was smiling, so everything was okay.

  Gabriel wasn’t used to dealing with women like her. Usually the women in his bed were local girls. Gabriel was tired of all those other women, they only wanted his money and never really cared about him. Nothing like the confident, beautiful Asa.

  “We should wash and get dressed,” Gabriel whispered, unwilling to end the moment.

  Asa silently agreed and followed him to the small hotel bathroom. They washed each other silently, continuing to explore the other’s bodies, but this time without the sexual heat from before. Gabriel acted the perfect gentleman and helped her out of the shower and wrapped her in a clean towel.

  In the bedroom, he watched her dress in clean underwear and a shirt. During that time, the man was only covered with a towel around his hips, hiding nothing of his gorgeous body.

  Asa returned to the bed, leaving Gabriel alone to finish dressing himself. She expected to feel uneasy and maybe even ashamed of what she had just done, but nothing of the kind occurred. On the contrary, Asa felt alive and full of joy, wishing only to relive the moment again and again.

  Gabriel came out of the bathroom and with the coffee maker on the counter, put on the small pot of coffee. In no time, it was ready and he carried two cups over to the bed, offering one to Asa.

  “Thank you.” She smiled at him and sipped from the steaming cup.

  The man sat down beside her and ran his hand over her knee. “It was amazing,” Gabriel said softly. “You are amazing…”

  Asa raised her vulnerable eyes to look at him and said nothing, preferring to lean her head on his shoulder and arrange her legs so they were off the floor.

  “I have never felt this way,” she confessed after a while.

  “Okay,” Gabriel confirmed. “But, it wasn’t just me. You were the one who made all this so amazing. You inspired me.”

  Asa turned her head and placed a slow, wonderful kiss on his lips. The man's satisfied sigh said more than all the words in the world and Asa moved back to her previous place. “I always dreamed of meeting Prince Charming,” she said in an ironic tone. “But, I never thought of actually meeting him.”

  Gabriel laughed softly and kissed her on the top of the head. “So, are you saying that I’m Prince Charming?”

  “Yes, you don’t believe me, but you will if you look at it as I do,” Asa said seriously.

  “You most certainly know how to turn things around so that they work for you.” He worked his hand around her and let it lie on her stomach. “But, I very much doubt that the rest of the women will agree with your description of the prince
.”

  “Oh, but we women are very practical,” Asa disagreed with him. “We all know that the perfect Prince Charming is different for each of us.”

  The rest of the night, Asa and Gabriel talked a lot, laughing at each other's jokes and using every possible opportunity to touch and kiss. They talked a lot, but still managed to avoid everything related to the outside world. Gabriel told her about his dreams to change his life and become a better person, while Asa confided in him that she missed her family and wanted everything to be as before. They continued to sit on the comfortable bed, changing their position from time to time and kissing with renewed candor.

  Gabriel left the hotel room in the early hours of the morning, leaving Asa asleep in the bed.

  Chapter 21

  Asa woke up in the morning and immediately turned over to find the bed empty and cold. She felt disappointed, but quickly let the feeling go, especially when she saw that there was a message waiting for her on her phone. Gabriel had left her a sweet message about seeing her later that same day and Asa smiled the whole time she washed, dressed and ran down the stairs.

  The world looked amazing to her that morning and Asa smiled at the people she met at the diner and on the way to the office. She reported to the FBI field office just in time, but was surprised to find it almost deserted. Agent Gibson’s office was empty and most of the desks were also missing their occupants. The woman on the front desk was busy talking on the phone with someone, who sounded like one of those fanatics who saw something bad in everything, so Asa went to look for someone else to talk to.

  Ann was sitting behind her desk going through some paperwork, but as soon as she saw Asa, she jumped up and gestured for her to follow her into Gibson’s empty office.

  “Where is everyone?” Asa asked, when Ann closed the door behind her. “Is something going on?”

  “You have no idea,” Ann said, excited. “Agent Gibson went to the airport, because some high level agent from Salt Lake City is coming to town,” Ann said in a loud whisper. “One of the analysts told me that it had to do with your case. According to him, the bosses weren’t happy with how the case had been handled and are coming down here to shake things up.”