“Here, darlin,’ why don’t you come in and we can discuss the specifics of this case. It’s been a few months since we last met and I’m sure you may need to go over some details,” Jeremy instructed.
Coral strutted into my office, and instead of sitting in the chair directly in front of my desk, she glanced around and went over to the cream, leather love seat that sat against the wall across from my desk.
I raised an eyebrow at her choice but remained quiet.
“So gentlemen, let’s get started, shall we? The sooner we can get this wrapped up, the sooner I can be out of your hair and on my way.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes as she stared right at me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I knew I had hurt her feelings. She’d never say as much, but walking in and hearing me say how much I didn’t want her there had to be difficult. I couldn’t tell her that the truth was I wanted nothing more than for her to be by my side every minute of every day.
****
Coral
My heart sank when I walked up to Liam’s door and heard him yelling at Jeremy that he didn’t want me there. I quickly let that emotion switch to anger because I was done being hurt over Liam. I felt safer with my anger. I was pissed because first of all, I’d never done anything to him to make him want to keep his distance. Even after he declared to be in love with me only to run off with the beauty queen and get married, I never gave him any trouble. I didn’t even bother to ask him why. And second of all, this was someone who was once my best friend. We’d spent a decade being the most important people in one another’s lives. He knew me inside and out, and I thought I knew him. And I was not someone who got close to others. So yeah, hearing him say he wanted nothing to do with me pissed me off. But I wouldn’t let his funky attitude deter me. I was there to save his company and to save my own hide.
In the last few months since Jeremy came to Savannah, I’d been tying up loose ends with our other clients to make sure I could give this case my complete attention. Whoever this Ghost was already killed two of my former colleagues, and he might’ve also been after Liam. And like they say, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” So like it or not, Liam and I had a common enemy, making us friends, at least until we got to whoever this was. Once business with him was over, I could go on about my merry way, and he could continue to live in married bliss.
Even as I thought my plan through, I felt the twinge of pain in my chest at the thought of never seeing Liam again. The knowledge that he was married to someone else still stung as it did five years ago, but I’m good at faking it when necessary. So I did what I do best. I ignored my emotional turmoil and got down to business.
“Okay, since I’m here, let’s say you make this trip worth my while, and start from the beginning.” I was speaking to both men, but never took my eyes off Liam.
Chapter Five
Liam
Her scent was killing me. It had to be some mixture of coconut oil, cocoa butter, and her natural scent. I remembered that smell very well and as we walked along my offices, introducing her to my staff, my fingers itched to reach out and touch. We’d spent the better part of an hour going over the details of the problems we were having. Jeremy did most of the talking, and every once in awhile Coral would glance up at me and glare. I knew she was pissed from what she’d heard when she first entered my office. I felt like a heel and wanted to kick myself.
Once Jeremy left, Coral asked to be introduced to all my department heads and to see Larry’s office. Plans for later included taking her on a tour of the oil and energy facilities that were a part of headquarters. As we walked into Larry’s office, an eerie feeling came over me, seeing his empty chair. Larry and I weren’t close, but he was a good employee. To think his working for me was what got him killed infuriated me.
“And he kept all his files on his work computer or did he ever work from home?” Coral asked.
I looked up to see her staring at me, and for a split second, I saw a look of what I thought was empathy before her eyes shuttered and she was all business again.
“What did you ask me?”
“I asked if all his work files were kept on his office desktop or if he ever worked from home?”
I sighed. “All of our department heads have a company issued laptop they can use from either work or home. Larry worked from home one to two days a week. He said it helped to minimize distractions. Most of the department heads work from home some of the time.”
“I don’t see any laptop here,” she said, gently pulling open the desk drawers and peeking in.
I cocked my head to the side. “We’ve been looking for it. I personally made a trip to the home he shared with his fiancé to ask if he’d left it at home. It wasn’t recovered from his vehicle either. We’re still looking,” I stated.
“Have you looked through his personal accounts to see if he owned a safe deposit box? Maybe he hid it there.”
I nodded agreeing with her. “I have my head of security looking into it and maybe speak with Larry’s fiancé again.” I sighed dreading having to bother Lisa, Larry’s fiancé who was still grieving.
Coral stood in front of me and rested her hand on my forearm comfortingly. “I can do that if it’s too much for you,” she commented.
Even through my suit jacket I felt her warmth and it felt like it was thawing a piece of my heart that had been frozen over. Unconsciously, I moved to put my hand over hers to keep her there. We stood that way, for what seemed like forever, and yet not long enough. Suddenly, Coral pulled away and took a step back, clearing her throat.
Quickly recovering, I told her, “That won’t be necessary. I know Lisa, so the question might be better coming from me.”
Coral simply nodded and stepped around me, exiting the office. “I want to meet your head of security before we head out to your other locations,” she said over her shoulder.
This is not going to go over well, I thought as I pulled out my phone to text my head of security to come to my office.
****
Coral
“How long have you worked with your head of security?” I asked, sitting back on the loveseat in Liam’s office. I was relieved when he opted to sit behind his desk. I aimed to keep my distance as much as possible. I didn’t know what that little stare down in Larry’s office was, but I was not about to let it happen again.
“For a few years now, bu-”
Knock! Knock! “Hey Liam, you wanted to se‒”
I paused and turned as I heard the familiar, yet unwanted voice. I took in Ron’s muscular frame. He was not especially tall, only a few inches taller than me at five-ten, dark brown hair and eyes, golden colored skin. He would be attractive by most conventional standards. As we took each other in, I noticed the right side of his mouth kick up into a sneer. In less than a split second, the look was gone, and he plastered a phony smile on his face.
“Coral Coleman. How nice to see you again. To what do we owe the pleasure?” he greeted me but moved towards Liam’s desk to stand at its side.
“Good to see you too, Ron. I’m here working to find out what happened to Larry in accounting.”
Ron’s eyebrows quirked up in obvious surprise at my little revelation, before he recovered and looked towards Liam. “I thought that was just an accident.”
Now this I found a little intriguing. Liam hadn’t told his head of security that he suspected Larry’s death wasn’t an accident. Interesting. Ron was a part of our unit during the second Iraq tour. He was a few years younger than us, but he took to Liam. Li took him under his wing and showed him the ropes. Personally, I never liked him. He had a way of making me felt as if I was intruding anytime he and Liam were together, and I came around. The truth is, Liam barely tolerated him at first, but after serving together, they developed a friendship. From where I sat, it looked like that friendship had outlasted the one Liam and I had. Who would have thought?
“There are some underlying circumstances that lead us to believe it was m
ore than just an accident,” Liam answered. “Coral’s here to help us get to the bottom of it.”
I noticed Liam’s eyes bulge slightly; eyebrows raised and mouth parted in what looked like a microexpression of fear. Of course, in less than a tenth of a second it was gone. I can read most people like a book, but the one area where my special talent failed me was reading those closest to me. It had always been difficult to read Liam because feelings and emotions got in the way. But I couldn’t ignore what I saw. I believed it was fear, and that was revealing. The Liam I knew wasn’t afraid of shit. We’ve kicked down doors together in Iraq and Afghanistan, dodged bullets, and stood tall as we took on enemy combatants. Rarely did I ever see fear. Except that one time…
“Alright, what is it you need us to do?” Ron asked.
I turned my attention to him, ridding myself of past memories, and began telling him what we were going to do to get to find out who may be out to get Bennett Industries. I instructed Ron to gather files for all department heads and to set up a place where we could conduct one-on-one recorded interviews with the employees.
“You’re going to interview all our employees?” he asked.
“No,” I shook my head. “You are.”
“What?”
I looked to Liam, who I saw was following my strategy. This was old hat for us. We often interrogated suspected Al Qaeda members and insurgents together overseas.
“You’re going to interview the employees while I watch. We’ll film the interviews and analyze them to see if anyone appears suspicious.”
Ron scoffed. “How are we going to do that? If anyone is involved in this, they’re not just going to announce themselves after a few questions.”
I smirked at Ron. “I have my ways.”
“Liam, I don-”
Liam held up his hand, cutting Ron off. “She knows what she’s doing,” he said with total confidence staring at me.
For some reason hearing him defend me sent a chill down my spine, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. I didn’t like the reactions this man could elicit from me with just a few words or a simple glance.
Once Ron left to set up his task, Liam and I headed out to go see his other plants on the outskirts of Dallas. We visited a few of the oil drilling sites and talk with a few of the employees there. After the oil sites, Liam had his driver take us to another of the facilities.
“This is where we do R&D for alternative energies.”
I turned to look at him as the town car pulls up to the huge industrial looking building.
“Tell me about it,” I said as he held the door open for me and we enter the building.
Liam’s smile lit up, and those damned butterflies started fluttering in the pit of my stomach.
“One hundred percent of this facility’s power is via solar power.”
I nodded attentively, remembering the solar panels that were on the roof as we pulled up.
“But solar energy isn’t the only alternative energy method we’re looking into. In this facility, we have researchers working on solar and biomass energies. Right now, our headquarters downtown is twenty percent run by alternative energies. Our goal is to increase that to fifty percent over the next five years,” he stated proudly as he continued to show me around the facility. All around there were employees in lab coats using microscopes, filling beakers and otherwise occupied as they bustled about.
I smiled without realizing it, proud to see one of Liam’s dreams coming true right before me. While in undergrad and in the Army, we stayed up many nights as he told me his dreams of reducing his family’s business’ dependence on oil. While the black gold had brought his family multi-generational wealth, he was heavily concerned about the environmental impact of drilling, oil leaks, and even the threat of oil explosion or spills. “You’re doing it. You’re accomplishing what you set out to do,” I said, admiring the sight before me.
He turned and stared at me with a half-smile. That smile told me he was proud of what he was accomplishing, but there was something in his eyes. “Almost everything I set out to do.”
His gaze lingered on me for another second before he turned to show me something else. I didn’t dwell on the moment. I didn’t want to talk myself into seeing something that may not have actually been there. I tamped down on the longing rising in my gut and followed as he showed me the rest of the plant.
We remained at the plant for a little while longer, before heading back to his headquarters. Though there was still a couple of hours left in his work day, I prepared to head out early to go back to my hotel and organize my thoughts and notes for the next steps. “Thank you for showing me around,” I said as I packed up my things.
“No problem,” he returned as he pulled on his suit jacket.
“I-” I paused as my eye catches Liam’s hand twisting the cufflink on his sleeve. I recognized it immediately. He must have noticed my hesitation because he looked up at me. His hand stilled as he registered my shock at seeing the cufflink. They were made of sterling silver and had his initials “LB” engraved into them. I knew them because they cost me a pretty penny to purchase and have them embroidered for our college graduation. I didn’t know why seeing him in the gift I purchased for him all those years ago struck me so hard, but it did.
“You kept them,” I stated just above a whisper. Being that he was shocked that I was even coming today, I doubted he wore them just for me.
“Yeah,” he smiled lightly.
“I bet your wife isn’t too happy about you wearing a gift from another woman.” I didn’t even know where those words came from as they slipped out of my mouth. But I’d said it, the elephant in the room. Liam’s wife. The woman he left me for. I avoided eye contact as I placed my cell phone in my bag and prepared to leave.
“I don’t have a wife.”
That stopped me in my tracks, and I looked up to find his eyes on me. I noted the sincerity in them. Liam was no longer married. For some reason, this made me even angrier. He promised me forever only to up and leave for a woman he didn’t make it to six years with. Without a word, I stood and headed towards the door.
“I’ll be back nine am sharp tomorrow,” I said, reaching for the doorknob.
He’d gotten up from his desk and was halfway across the room as he said, “I searched for you.”
I paused to turn to him, needing to hear what he had to say.
“Right after I left I came back to look for you. You were gone. For years I searched for you,” he admitted.
I lowered my gaze not wanting to meet his. I felt the sincerity in his words, but I was confused as to why he would search for me. He left me. Not the other way around.
“I searched using some pretty powerful contacts. They came up with nothing.” His voice held a hint of accusation. “There’s only a few organizations I know that can so thoroughly erase a person’s trace like that. And all of them are known by their three letter abbreviations.”
I turned my head to the side, continuing to avoid his gaze and bite my inner cheek.
He was asking me a question. He wanted to know where I’d been for years, but he also knew I couldn’t answer. I turned and stared at a spot over his shoulder neither confirming nor denying his suspicions. My silence was answer enough for him.
“It wouldn’t be the NSA because I had a connect there and they couldn’t find you. The FBI would have been easier to find you in…” he trailed off looking down at me. “The Agency, huh? You went and worked for them?” There was anger in his voice.
“Li…” I made my eyes meet his by using the nickname that only I was allowed to call him.
The Agency, otherwise known as the CIA, was indeed whom I spent working for the first three years after Liam left.
“I thought you didn’t want to be anyone’s spy,” he stated reminding me of a conversation we had about our plans after the Army.
I told him that while my skillset may be appealing to the CIA, I didn’t want to spend my life being anyone�
��s spy and living a double life overseas.
“Plans change,” I retorted, now looking him directly in the eye. By this time, he was so close to me that air could barely pass between our bodies.
“So they do,” he said a second before grabbing my face and pressing his lips to mine before I could react.
My first instinct was to pull away, but his lips on mine felt too good. Before I knew it, a small moan escaped my mouth and caused my lips to part. Liam’s insistent tongue wasted no time snaking its way into my mouth. He let his tongue explore my mouth before pulling back and licking my lips. He bit my lower lip and then used his tongue to soothe the bite before spearing my mouth with his tongue again. This wasn’t a sweet, patient kiss. It was full of heat, need and dare I say possession? The kiss ended much too soon for my liking when Liam pulled back. Still holding my face between his hands, he asked, “Are you still with Nate?”
That question was like cold water to my veins. I blinked shocked, and then angry that he had the balls to ask me about Nathaniel while he had a whole wife--at least he used to.
“What the hell kind of question is that?” I demanded pulling out of his hold.
“A legitimate one. Answer it.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s none of your damn business. For the rest of my time here I expect you to keep your lips to yourself.”
He scoffed. “Don’t count on it, CeCe.”
He turned the tables, now referring to me as the nickname only he ever called me. It sent my already erratic nerves into a frenzy. I needed to get out of here.
“You better if you want to keep them,” I threatened before turning throwing the door open to leave. I moved so fast I nearly knocked Ron over who was coming to enter the office, but I didn’t miss the chuckle from Liam behind my back as I stormed out.
****
Liam
“So Coral’s back?” Ron asked, as I continued to stare at Coral’s backside as she walked away.
That woman’s got a great pair of legs and a plump… and a taught ass to boot.
This Is Where I Sleep Page 4
