Beneath the Layers

by Caitlyn Willows

  “Is it you?” He kissed her.

  Before she could reply, Hades jumped in front of them and announced his presence.

  Kurt smiled, set the wood aside and indulged his new BFF. “I missed you, too, buddy.” The cat arched into Kurt’s petting. “Come help me get a fire going before the electricity decides to go out.”

  He grabbed the wood and headed for the fireplace, faithful companion by his side. A deputy sheriff’s vehicle pulled to a stop behind Kurt’s car as she was shutting the door. She kept the door closed, monitoring two deputies’ progress toward her house.

  “Sheriff’s deputies are here.”

  Kurt glanced up. “I love the contacts, by the way. I’m not sure how I feel about them seeing how beautiful you are, though. They’re both single and not afraid to move in on another man’s—”

  “Don’t even say ‘territory’ or ‘turf’ or ‘property’.”

  His eyes widened in feigned shock. “I wouldn’t dare.”

  “Good. You’re pretty safe…for now.” She grinned and swung open the door. “Come in, deputies. I’ve got hot coffee.”

  “That’d be great, ma’am,” the older one replied. “Black for both of us.”

  “Creamer,” Kurt called out.

  “Sit and be comfortable, gentlemen.”

  By the time she returned with a tray of mugs, Kurt had a nice blaze going and a contented cat in his lap. Midge envied Hades.

  “We’ll try not to be long,” the older deputy told her.

  “Take your time.” She sank to the couch next to Kurt. “Get warm and enjoy the coffee.”

  “Thanks, ma’am,” the younger one replied, taking a cautious sip from his mug. “It’s going to be a long day for us. Snow makes people crazy. Tell us your name and what happened.”

  Midge tried to be precise, hesitating only when it came to the packet she’d pulled from Jeremy’s pocket. She wished she’d had time to tell Kurt first. In the end, what did it matter? They were all law enforcement. They could sort out jurisdiction later. She sure as hell didn’t want to be found with a controlled substance in her possession.

  “I found something in his pocket when I was looking for change. It was the only thing he had on him. His wallet and cell phone were gone.”

  She felt their gazes on her as she retrieved the ketamine. When she turned around, packet extended, the men tracked the movement the way Hades would a toy. The older deputy pulled a nitrile glove from his pocket to accept it. Midge cursed herself for not thinking about that. Her fingerprints would be all over it. A criminal investigator, she was not.

  “Ketamine,” the men replied in unison.

  “I’ll get an evidence bag from the car.” The younger deputy strode toward the door.

  “We’re going to need your fingerprints at some point for exclusion, Miss Ellis.” He older one kept staring at the substance, shaking his head.

  Kurt looked pissed.

  “I can’t pass this on to you,” the deputy told him. “It’s our case for the moment.”

  “I know,” Kurt replied. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it. Jurisdictional matters aren’t for me to determine.”

  “Me either. I’m only following procedure.”

  Hades offered his belly to Kurt and batted his paw against Kurt’s chin. Eyes still locked on the drug, Kurt gently rubbed the cat’s chest. Purrs of contentment filled the room. Hades was the only one happy at the moment. With each minute that passed, the tension and awkwardness increased. The men exchanged no handshakes upon departure. Kurt made certain of that by not relinquishing his hold on the cat.

  Midge accepted the deputies’ business cards and saw them to the door. When she closed it, she turned around to find Kurt on his feet and reaching for his coat.

  “I have to go to work.”

  She suspected as much. “Take my SUV. It has four-wheel drive and a higher profile than your car.”

  She pulled the keys from her purse and handed them to him. He didn’t argue.

  “I’ll try not to be long. Keep your door locked. Don’t open it to anyone.” He leaned in to kiss her.

  Midge drew back. “Is it bad?”

  “It’s not good.” He kissed her and left.

  Chapter Seven

  Kurt was beyond mad and edging into fury by the time he made it to the NCIS office. He hadn’t bothered to see if Jess was in. He knew he would be. With his wife away, Jess was in full workaholic mode. Kurt ordered himself to calm down until he got the full story. It didn’t help. Jamison Anders had been spying on Midge, and he wanted to know why. Yes, he’d been given the blackmailing case, but she wasn’t a part of that. He and Jess had already established that—Jess well before him—and the report would reflect it.

  He parked next to Anders’ silver Stratus. A check of the license plate confirmed it had been the vehicle at Midge’s house—not that he had any doubt. He’d seen Anders with that leather jacket slung over his shoulder too many times.

  Turning his collar up, Kurt stomped through the building snow toward the entrance, blessing Midge’s consideration in allowing him to use her SUV. His car might have made it here, but with the storm getting worse by the second, he couldn’t guarantee it would have made it back to her place. He’d then have been forced to walk, because there was no way he wasn’t going to be with her tonight. Even with the higher profile vehicle, it had still taken him twice as long to reach the Marine Corps base because of the treacherous roads.

  Kurt paused for a deep, calming breath. Charging in full bore would only make a bad situation worse. He had to present this as the wronged party, guilt Anders into admitting he’d crossed a line. The door to Anders’ office was open—so was Jess’. He swung in to Anders’, knowing Jess wouldn’t be far behind once he heard the conversation.

  “You want to tell me why the fuck you were at my girlfriend’s house?” So much for calm. He stabbed his finger in Anders’ direction. “You tried to push your way into her house.”

  Anders leaned backed, wiggling a pen between his fingers. His nose twitched. Kurt recognized an attempt to hide a sneer when he saw it.

  “What’s going on?” Jess stepped in beside him. “Why were you at Midge Ellis’s house?”

  Anders tossed his pen to the desk and stood. “You gave me a job to do. I was doing it.”

  “Midge isn’t part of the blackmailing case,” Kurt told him.

  Anders snorted. “How the hell do you know? She’s got you by the balls.” He jerked his chin toward Kurt, then toward Jess. “And you’re fooled with her cutie pie looks and sunshine smile.”

  The jerk wasn’t winning points by admitting he’d noticed Midge’s good looks. Anders motioned to his computer monitor. “This isn’t the first time she’s been the focus of an investigation.”

  “She’s not the focus of an investigation now,” Kurt shouted.

  “She should be.” Anders snickered. “First, you cross paths with her in the club where’s she’s dressed in full regalia—a perfect match to this woman blackmailing servicemembers. Second, she’s keeping company with a Marine who’s gathered himself quite the record. I’m shocked he hasn’t been given a bad conduct discharge. Third, she’s found with his beaten body this morning and the first thing she does is search his pockets.”

  “Wrong.” Kurt snapped his finger at him. “She rolled him face up, checked his pulse then checked his pockets for change for the pay phone because she didn’t have her cell.”

  Anders splayed his palms up. “What idiot goes running without a cell phone?”

  “She doesn’t like cell phones,” he and Jess replied.

  “In this day and age?” Anders tossed back a laugh. “Open your eyes. What person—what woman doesn’t live by her phone constantly texting and messaging?”

  My woman. Kurt left that unsaid.

  Anders crossed his arms, looking smug. “I’m telling you, she didn’t want to risk being tracked. Care to know what she pulled out of Forton’s pocket?”

  “Ketamine,�
�� he and Jess again replied in unison.

  “She turned it over to the deputies this morning,” Kurt told him.

  “We’re trying to determine jurisdiction right now.” Jess narrowed his eyes. “You weren’t at her place because of the blackmailing case. You were there because of the drugs, weren’t you?”

  Anders’ chin came up. “They’re connected.”

  “Answer the question.” Jess pushed the words out through clenched teeth.

  “All right.” Anders jerked his arms down. “I’d gone to town trying to find obvious places of distribution. I spent a year undercover. This is my area of expertise. I saw the man on the bench and was trying to make a determination about whether he was passed out drunk, hurt or dead. Then she came jogging up and went to him. She’d just tucked the packet into her waistband when Davidson showed up. Odd that she didn’t give it to you right away, isn’t it? She does know you’re an NCIS special agent, doesn’t she? Logic dictates that she’d be upset at finding a controlled substance and want to turn it over immediately to some form of law enforcement. Even if that law enforcement is you.”

  “You son of a bitch.” Kurt got as close as the desk allowed and leaned into Anders’ face. “She found someone she knew beaten within an inch of his life. Logic dictates she was upset and trying to find him help. She’s a court reporter and knows the letter of the law.”

  “And how to get around it.”

  Kurt reared his fist back. Jess caught it before he could follow through. Kurt took a step back.

  “She turned it over to the appropriate law enforcement personnel at the earliest opportunity,” he told them.

  “Yet she didn’t bother to stay on scene to do so,” Anders shot back.

  “Because I told her to go home and get out of the cold,” Kurt shouted.

  Anders had the nerve to roll his eyes. “God only knows how much she really pulled out of his pocket.”

  Hands fisted, Kurt took another step back before he gave in to the urge to launch himself over Anders’ desk.

  “Enough.” Jess took Kurt’s place at the desk. “I don’t give a fuck how much experience you have investigating drug cases or how many golden contacts you might have as a result. You are not to be involved in this ketamine case in any capacity. You have one responsibility only. Keep your ass from getting killed so you can testify in court and take down that drug cartel. I threw you a bone by giving you the blackmailing woman case because I knew you were bored. I give you an inch and you take five miles!”

  “I have to hit the bars to do that,” Anders snapped back. “Do you expect me to turn a blind eye to drug activity while I’m doing it?”

  “I expect you to report it to us and not get involved.” Jess held up his index finger. “One job that you couldn’t even do.”

  “I can’t very well do that in the daytime.” He crossed his arms. “I made preliminary contact with the suspect yesterday. I bought a book at the bookstore.”

  “Midge isn’t a suspect,” Kurt said.

  “My case. I needed to assess that on my own. Don’t worry. I was in disguise yesterday and today.”

  Kurt laughed. “As someone from the city working on a Saturday. She saw right through that.”

  Anders smirked. “Yet she didn’t recognize me from yesterday.” He turned his attention to Jess. “Is this my case or not? Do I not get to rule out persons of interest on my own? I’m more objective than either of you where Staff Sergeant Ellis is concerned. Come on.” He held out his arms, pleading his case. “You know there’s something beneath that dumpy façade of hers. Although, I will admit that if I’d hooked up with her initially, I might be a bit territorial as well.”

  Jess put his arm in front of Kurt, barring any advance he might make. Kurt was smart enough to remain in place, but it wasn’t easy.

  Jess shook his head. “Don’t you think I would have thoroughly investigated any person my wife wanted to hire? Midge has reasons for putting up barriers. Had you read the investigation, had you noted the individuals who supported her, you’d understand that.”

  “I pulled up the report. She’s got a good reason to get back at men and the military system that essentially screwed her over by retiring the guy instead of making him pay for his crimes. You know she wasn’t his first victim—or his last.” Anders braced his fingers on the edge of his desk. “Trade places with me and ask yourselves if you wouldn’t have done the same thing. I will concede I might have overstepped by trying to gather information on the drug trafficking. Old habits and training.”

  “Don’t let it happen again. And stay away from Staff Sergeant Ellis. That’s an order, not a request.” Jess pivoted toward the door, motioning Kurt to go before him.

  Kurt didn’t hesitate and didn’t stop either. It was time he read the investigative report and found out exactly what Midge had endured. As much as he wanted to believe in her one hundred percent, Anders had sown seeds of doubt.

  “In my office,” Jess told him. “It’ll save you some time researching it.”

  He followed Jess, closing the door behind them. Jess called up the information on his computer then turned his chair over to Kurt.

  There, in excruciating detail, was all she had endured at Colonel Dean Stanford’s hands—not only the attack Zach and Phillip had seen, but also all she’d been putting up with since the day she’d crossed paths with the bastard. There was also a statement from Brian Maynard, her boyfriend at the time, backing her up. What was missing were statements from other victims, and Kurt was certain this hadn’t been an isolated incident. The fact that Midge, Zach, Phillip and Brian had received orders elsewhere shortly thereafter supported his theory. He wanted to call it shoddy investigative work. His gut told him those efforts had been highly discouraged. Midge had a lot to be angry over.

  Kurt looked up at Jess, sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Have you talked with Phillip and Zach about any of this?”

  “I asked them about Midge when I learned they’d been stationed at Camp Lejeune together. Both said she was a good, dependable worker. As for this”—he pointed to his computer—“they said nothing.”

  Which was what Midge had told him. The men had her back.

  “What’s your opinion of Anders’ suspicions? Do you think she’s capable of doing what he suggests?”

  Jess slowly shook his head. “I guess anyone is capable of anything. I’ve known her to be shy, caring, sweet, honest and is great with animals and kids. She’s great at her job and a tremendous asset at the bookstore. Customers like her and trust her book recommendations. Emma says she’s very knowledgeable, well read and has no problem pairing a reader with the perfect book. She’d love to have her full-time. But who can really say what’s behind the façade a person presents to the world? It took me years to find the person behind your many masks. Do I want to believe what Anders says? No. A better question would be… Do you now have suspicions?”

  Kurt didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t want to suspect her. She’d been under his skin for months. Now that he finally had a chance with her, the last thing he wanted to do was screw that up. He cared for her.

  The chair creaked as Jess leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. The fact you defended her so fiercely when you stormed into the building screams of a level of intimacy and caring I’ve never seen in you before. She means a lot to you. You don’t want to ruin whatever is growing between you. But now you’re asking yourself if her attention toward you is all smoke and mirrors—a ploy to throw you off.”

  He pressed his fingers against his temple and nodded, hating that Jess could analyze him. Speaking now was out of the question. He feared revealing too much. Where is a disguise to hide behind when you needed one? Raw emotion controlled him, all spawned by his growing feelings for Midge. She was more to him than sex and it pissed him off that he might have been played—that she’d somehow burrowed under his defenses and used him to hide the real person be
neath her mask.

  No. Zach and Phillip trust her.

  But that had been three years ago. People change. He’d changed.

  “You keep your cards close to your chest on this one,” Jess told him. “I can check her work schedule at the bookstore against the dates the blackmailer was active. I can also run her financial records.”

  Kurt nodded. “Check her other duty stations to see if there were similar incidents of extortion and drug activity, too.” He felt like a backstabbing bastard.

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I can. Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered.”

  “Thanks.”

  They stood and Jess walked him to the exit. The snow was coming down even harder.

  “Drive safe.”

  “Same to you,” Kurt replied.

  They shook hands and parted ways. Kurt flipped up his jacket collar and hurried to Midge’s SUV. Anders’ car was nowhere to be found. He hoped the cocky bastard got stuck in a snow drift.

  He’s only doing his job.

  He cursed his conscience. “He can do it elsewhere.”

  Kurt knew that if the situations had been reversed, he would have done the same thing. Admitting that didn’t help the ache gnawing at his gut. This was Midge they were talking about. But Jess had hit it on the head. After two months of her ignoring him, they were hot and heavy, all because disguises had put them in each other’s path and in her bed.

  Zach and Phillip believed in her. That had to be enough for him. Though neither knew about these recent developments, Kurt wasn’t about to share. One wrong move and he’d either lose a woman he wanted more than anything else or blow his case out of the water.

  He kept his closest friends’ faith in her uppermost in his thoughts during the slow drive back to town. The roads were obscured, dusk was approaching and the wind didn’t help matters. Kurt stopped at his house long enough to pack a bag—a tricky maneuver without power and under the beam of his small flashlight. By the time he was on his way to Midge’s, any hint of sun was gone. A drive that would normally take five minutes took twenty.

  When he arrived at her condo, he saw a foot of snow had piled against the garage door, making it impossible to open. He parked behind his car on the street, grabbed his duffel and trudged to her front door in the dark. The sound of an engine revving jerked his attention around. He squinted against the snowflakes sticking to his eyelashes. Two headlights blinked on seconds before a truck pulled out of its spot across the street. He followed its progress to the corner then looked away after it had turned out of sight. That was the only activity on the darkened street.