“Guess who?” he says, planting himself in front of me and then immediately glancing at Kane. “Kane Mendez.” He offers Kane his hand. “Chief Houston. I’m the new kid on the block who was forced to come tonight.”
Kane stares at him. That’s all. Just stares. He doesn’t reach for his hand. He’s so damn cold; it’s really quite an impressively icy showing. Houston bristles awkwardly, and I barely contain a laugh but I put him out of his misery.
“He works for Murphy,” I tell Kane. “He might be okay. I haven’t decided yet.”
Houston gives me a “what the fuck” look. “Was that supposed to help my case?” He meets Kane’s stare and lowers his voice. “I’m a friend, and you need friends like me.”
“I don’t have friends,” Kane says. “What do you need from me?”
“Ouch.” He drops his hand and tugs at the lapels of his tux. “And I thought this thing was torture. I’ll try another time.” He glances at me. “You see the press conference?”
“Your text was enough. He wrote Detective Williams’ death wish. He’ll regret it. Unfortunately, she won’t. She’ll be dead.”
His expression tightens. “I know. I hate this shit and then they made me come to this.”
“Who made you?” Kane asks.
“Murphy. He said Lilah might need me.”
“I didn’t tell Murphy I’d be here,” I snap.
“Don’t give him too much magical power,” Houston says. “It’s in the promo material for tonight. The future Governor Love with his son and daughter by his side.”
“Why would she need you?” Kane asks, still on the topic of Murphy sending Houston to the party.
“I think it’s more about me earning acceptance,” Houston says. “He doesn’t want me to seem like their enemy.”
I read between the lines considering “he” is Murphy. He means Pocher and his Society.
“High alert, baby, is all I can say to you, boy” he says. “High alert. Hoping we don’t find Williams tonight in all the wrong ways. Anyway, let me go pretend I like these people and get out of here.” He fades into the crowd.
I step in front of Kane. “You don’t like him.”
“Aside from the fact that he called us both baby, I don’t like anyone in this room, but you. And this game Director Murphy is playing is not sitting well.”
“About that and him—”
“There she is.” My brother’s voice is followed by his hands on my shoulders and him turning me to face him. “I knew you’d make it.”
“Andrew. You’re touching me.”
“You’re my sister,” he says, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief, because he knows I hate when anyone touches me, well, except for Kane. “I can touch you.”
“When we were ten, and even then, a hug was generally followed by a punch. I punch harder now.” Andrew’s gaze lifts over my shoulder to Kane, a crackle of tension in the air. He invited Kane, but just two weeks ago, he and Rich worked hard to try to take Kane down, to prove him a criminal.
I twist around to stand with them on either side of me. “You both asked for this tonight.”
Andrew runs a hand through his blond hair and curses. “It’s awkward right? But we’ll get by it.” He offers Kane his hand. “Truce.”
Kane doesn’t even think about lifting his hand. “I got her here,” Kane says. “That’s all the truce you get.”
“Jesus,” I murmur. “Okay. Well. Now what, you two?”
“For me and Kane,” Andrew says , “apparently there will be no hand shaking. For you and me, Dad wants us with him when he speaks in about fifteen minutes,” Andrew says, but he’s still looking at Kane. “I love her, man. We both know you’re into some shit, but I know you protect her, too. I’ve been thinking about that shit. You know that has value. And you’re why she’s here—at this party and here, in New York. That’s all.” He looks at me. “We’ll call for you over the intercom.” He disappears into the crowd.
I step in front of Kane again and just look at him. “What do you want me to say, Lilah?”
“Nothing. I get it. All of it.”
He downs his champagne and sets his glass on a passing waiter’s tray before catching my hip and walking me closer. “You want me to make peace with him.”
“No.”
His hands come down on my arms. “I will. For you. Anything for you.”
My cold, bitter heart warms for this man.
“Lilah Love and Kane Mendez.”
At the sound of Pocher’s voice, my heart goes cold again. I grind my teeth. Kane pulls me around, his arm around me, his hand settling at my hip possessively. Pocher steps directly in front of us, a tall, thin man with salt and pepper hair. His tuxedo is expensive, but then he’s a billionaire political machine, so why wouldn’t it be?
“Pocher,” Kane greets.
Pocher gives me a once over. “As I said, you remind me of your mother.”
It’s not a compliment. It’s a threat. My mother is dead, and I believe that’s because she got in his way. “And you, I hear,” I say, “resemble your bother. How is he after his return from that nasty cartel? Thank God, Kane was able to help you get him back.”
Kane’s fingers flex on my hip, and it’s not a warning, it’s approval. “Yes,” Kane joins in. “How is he? Is he safe now?”
And that, my friends, is a subtle, but lethal threat from Kane Mendez delivered with a whip of confidence that bites.
Pocher responds instantly. His gaze jerks to Kane’s, and he lowers his voice. “I made a deal. I’m keeping the deal. Leave my brother out of this.” There is something akin to desperation in his voice. He’s afraid of Kane, really damn afraid. What the hell did Kane have done to his brother? “You could have let him keep his finger.”
“Oh fuck,” I murmur.
“Yes, Agent Love. Oh, fuck.”
“I saved him,” Kane says. “I had nothing to do with what the men who kidnapped him did to him. And saving him didn’t come without a price. I had to make deals. I had to call in favors. ]I had to spend money and shed blood. This caused me the kind of trouble that will come back to you if you come back at Lilah.”
“Lilah is safe.” He looks at me. “I do things for the greater good. Your father in office is for the greater good. You can help. I suggest you do.” He looks at Kane. “We’re powerful, Kane Mendez. Don’t underestimate us.” His attention flicks to me again. “Five minutes until the announcements. Be at the front of the room.” He leaves, but the threat he just issued stays right here with us.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Kane and I rotate to each other. “They took his finger?” I ask. “I saw him after he returned. I didn’t even notice.”
“They did.” His lips quirk. “And as to that, at least they didn’t kill him.”
It’s a reference to my father telling me at least Pocher didn’t kill me. He just had me raped. “You knew.”
“I told you, Lilah. I know what he did to you now, and he will pay.”
The punch between us with those words is hard and intense. And it’s all there. My rape. Me killing that man. Him burying the body. Our time apart. “Kane—”
“I will never let you down again, Lilah, and he knows that now. My only regret is that it wasn’t his finger, but now he gets to wonder what I might take from him.”
If Kane Mendez said that about me, even I would be scared. There are things I want to say to him, so many things, but not here. “Are you worried about his threat?”
“No. And me being here tonight by your side tells him that. I told you. I build allies. We both agreed tonight that I’m not letting that fall apart.” He takes my hand. “Let’s move to the front and try to get your reunion with your father over with.”
We weave through the crowd, and as we reach the front of the room, I spy my father in conversation with someone I do not expect. He’s in deep conversation with Roger.
“Is that expected?” Kane
asks.
“No. No, I didn’t even know he’d be here.”
“Murphy again?”
“If it’s Murphy,” I glance up at him, “we might have to make it without my badge.”
“Or we do it without Murphy.”
“Or that.”
I glance toward Roger again, and this time, he catches us in his line of sight, motioning us forward.
Kane repositions us and places himself directly in front of Roger. I don’t miss that move. I doubt Roger does either. “There she is,” Roger greets. “Looking like your mother indeed. I was just telling your father what an honor it was to work with you.” His gaze shifts to Kane. “The man and the mystery right here in front of me.”
My father and I look at each other. He looks good, younger than his fifty-seven years, his blond hair more gray now. Ironically, he’s the one Andrew got his blond hair from. My mother was a brunette. “Hug your father,” he orders softly. “People are watching.”
“And I should do what people expect?”
“Yes, Lilah. You should.”
My jaw sets. “I don’t think I will.”
“Why come if you’re not going to show support?” He moves toward me, and I let him hug me, but in my mind, all I hear is “at least they didn’t kill you.”
He releases me and flicks a look at Kane then back to me. “I know you love him. I’ve spoken with Pocher. There is strength in us all coming together. Tonight is good. I need you on stage by my side.”
“I’ll be right there,” I say, still digesting the fact that he just basically told me that he thinks this truce between us and the Society means that Kane is now an ally. I think of Murphy’s agenda. They all want Kane, and they’re all going through me to get to him.
I turn to Kane and Roger. Roger is trying to hold a conversation. That doesn’t really work with Kane, but in this moment, I decide Roger is here to try to get a read on Kane, to try to find a weakness beyond me. Which could mean he’s with Pocher which would explain my change of heart with him that dates back to before I left. It could even be about his intrigue for a man like Kane, or the fact that Kane is suing the department, but whatever the case, I don’t like it. It pisses me off. I close the space between me and the two men, closing my hand down on Kane’s arm, stepping close to him. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight, Roger,” I say. “How did that happen?”
“The entire building is filled with law enforcement. Your father is one of us, former police chief and all. I was going to mention it today, but we lost each other.”
“You didn’t even mention it on the phone.”
“Yes, well, you got me all absorbed in this case of yours. As for old cases that might link to these new ones, I might have a few we can look at.”
“May I have your attention!” It’s my brother at the podium. “We’re about to get started.”
“Can I speak to you?” I ask, turning to Kane.
He nods, and I take his hand, guiding him toward a gap in the crowd and then toward the side of the stage. “You know this is all about you, right? They want you under their thumb.”
“Do they?”
“You knew coming into this?”
“Of course, I knew. I do nothing without intent. You knew, too.”
He’s right. Ultimately, I did, but I keep secretly yearning for everything I think about my father to be all wrong. It’s like my fear of looking into Roger’s eyes. It’s distracting. And I have that fear with my father. I’m not afraid he’ll see me. I’m afraid I’ll see him.
A woman steps to my side. “We need you.”
“Of course you do.” I wave her off. “The minute I step off that stage, we leave.”
Kane arches a brow. “No dinosaurs?”
“I believe I’ve had enough dinosaurs tonight.”
“Good point,” he says. “I’ll be right here waiting on you, beautiful.” He leans in close, and whispers. “And you are beautiful tonight, Lilah.”
I melt a little. This man is the only person on planet earth that can make me melt like a girl. I like it. I like it a lot. Somehow, that little comment makes my walk to the stage shorter, the face to face with Mayor Ellison that follows, almost palpable. “Agent Love. I didn’t know you were your father’s daughter. It explains a lot.”
“I don’t know what that means, and frankly, I don’t care.” I try to step around him.
He blocks me. “I had to do it. You convinced me that the only win was the one that made the city feel safer.”
“They won’t feel safer when Umbrella Man makes you look stupid.”
Andrew steps to our sides, and I twist away from the mayor. Soon, I’m on the stage as my father talks, and if I didn’t know he was a bastard, I’d vote for him. Okay, I wouldn’t. I don’t vote. I’ve seen too much. I know they all suck. My gaze shifts often to Kane and his is always on me until a phone call grabs his attention. It’s not a good call either. He walks away. Kane wouldn’t walk away with me on stage unless privacy was critical. Time begins to pass brutally slow. Finally, the speech winds down, and my father says we have a very special American flag cake tonight made by the Sweet Kings, just for us. A huge draped display is rolled out and drums roll, literally. Talk about overkill.
The drape is pulled, and I’m anticipating at least a piece of cake to remember this night by when gasps fill the room. There is no cake. It’s a very large dead pig dripping blood.
Chaos erupts, and Andrew turns to me. “What the hell?” My father steps to our circle.
“It’s a gift to the mayor from the killer we’re hunting,” I say. “I told him not to speak today. Get everyone out of here. He likes poison.”
Andrew takes control of the stage, and the microphone, speaking to the crowd while I talk to security. We get the guests moving to the doors, and finally, I make my way to the side of the stage to have Kane lift me from the top. He takes my hand and walks me away from the crowd, tension radiating off of him. That call was trouble. There’s more going on than a pig at a party. He pulls me around a corner and into a hallway.
“I need to go to Texas,” he says. “Now. That problem exploded.”
“Now?”
“Now. Come with me. Get away from this.”
“You know I can’t do that. I can’t leave when someone could end up dead.”
“We’ll be back by late tomorrow.”
“No. I can’t. I need to get back in there.”
He cuts his stare, clearly battling with his need to leave before he fixes me in a turbulent stare. “Then I’m having Jay stay the night in the apartment with you.” Jay steps around the corner. “He’s your shadow.”
“I don’t need Jay to stay with me.”
He cups my face. “You will do this for me, woman. I can’t deal with this and worry about you.”
His voice vibrates with those words. Kane’s voice doesn’t vibrate. He’s on edge. This problem is bad, maybe even worse than I know. “Yes. Yes, okay.” I ease back to look at him, that emotion that only he stirs in me welling in my chest. “No one kills you but me. You understand?”
“I’ll be back. You’re here.” He kisses me, deep and passionate, and then he leaves me with Jay, a dead pig, and a bunch of politicians.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“What can I do now?” Jay asks.
“Look for the sick bastard,” I say. “He’s here, watching the show. And look for Detective Williams. She’s next.”
He nods and heads back into the main party as I do the same. I’m greeted by Andrew and Houston. “We got your father, the mayor, and Pocher out of here,” Houston says. Apparently, my father demanded it. “I’m calling in a forensics team now that we have the place clear.”
A man who actually knows his job, thank you, Lord.
“What is this, Lilah?” Andrew asks.
“I told you what this is, and I warned Mayor Ellison not to taunt this guy.” I consider sharing details and decid
e I have no choice. “He picks targets and goes after their loved ones first. He makes them commit suicide to save the real victims, but he kills them anyway. He’s fixated on me. I think that I’m just part of the game, not a victim, but you need to be careful and make sure dad’s people are on high alert.”
“I really hate that this is your job,” Andrew says. “Can you quit already? I mean you and Kane are both rich. Just quit.” He’s serious. He’s frazzled, and my bother isn’t one to get frazzled, but he’s also the human side of this family and thank God for him.
I grab his arm. “I’m good, okay? I promise. I’m not a delicate flower.”
“But you bleed, Lilah.”
“Not anytime soon. I’m too much of a bitch. You told me so more than once. Go make sure dad’s safe. And stay in the Hamptons until this is over.”
“Come with me.”
“I can’t do that. Go, Andrew.”
He scrubs his jaw. “I need to tell you that dad took Roger with him. The mayor wanted his input.”
I don’t even blink. “Good.” I think. “Every pain in my ass but you are now in one place.”
He laughs. “You mean that don’t you?”
“Oh, hell yeah, I mean that. Go be with them and then you’ll all be in one place.”
“Fine. I’m going. Call me when you get home.”
“Don’t count on it.” I motion him away. “Go. Leave. Now.”
“Call me, you pain in my ass.”
“No.” He scowls and kisses my temple before he leaves.
I turn my attention to Houston, and he says, “I got this, Lilah. You go do whatever profilers do.” “We’re going to lock this place down and require special gear.”
“I need to walk the scene.”
“Hell no. We have no dead body this time. We aren’t taking the risk of extra personnel, you included, walking around the place.”
“We’re walking around it now.”
“Which is stupid. That is the word of the day, right?”
“Okay, but the cameras and—”
“I got it all,” he promises. “Cameras, witnesses, prints, you name it. Go do the part that might actually catch this guy.”
Love Me Dead Page 17
