“And her heart.”
“And her heart. But he didn’t lie or cheat that we know of.”
“Yet. But that’s not the point. The point is he’s been leading her on, using her for sex because she’s still so in love with him she’d do anything to hold on to him.”
“That’s not the nicest portrait of your sister.”
I shrugged. “Love makes people stupid.”
I didn’t know why I was saying all this. I wasn’t sure I even believed it. Josh could be the sweetest guy on the planet. Before he ended the engagement, I thought he was. But now? How does a guy do that to the woman he loves? I couldn’t help but feel that whatever Josh had gotten into, it was his fault and the fallout was going to splash onto Taylor and hurt her too. It already had.
“You don’t believe in love?”
“Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“Do you?”
He looked at me and then back down at the screen. “I believe it happens for some people.”
“But not you.”
He shook his head. “I’m too selfish. I can’t give that much of myself. I won’t.”
I considered. “I suppose I’m the same way. My parents were crazy about each other. So were my dad and my stepmother. They’d have done anything for each other. It’s a nice thought, but not very practical when you get down to it.” I barely paused before the question that was bugging me most of the night popped out.
“Why’d you hire me?”
He didn’t even blink at the change of subject. “I thought we covered that. I needed a tracer and you fit the bill.”
“But not a cop or Tyet tracer.”
“Sometimes I like to keep my business private,” he said.
“Fair enough. What about those men who were chasing us? The ones you blew up. Who were they and what did they want?”
“I didn’t blow them up. They walked out alive. As for what they wanted, some people don’t like me much,” was Price’s unhelpful answer. “Sometimes they try to get in my way; sometimes they want revenge.”
“I don’t like you; doesn’t mean I’m going to try to kill you,” I muttered.
“Good to know.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t, either,” I said, sipping my wine.
He smiled. “You aren’t a killer. You don’t have it in you.”
“You don’t have to make that sound so much like an insult. Besides, I don’t have to kill you; just hurt you.”
“Except you know I’d be after you when I healed up. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, you don’t want to leave trouble behind you to hunt you down.”
I didn’t have an argument against that. It was the main reason I hadn’t broken the tab and tried to vanish. Even if I gave his money back, I knew he’d keep after me just to figure out how I’d gotten away.
After a while, the smell of cooking food filled the air and my stomach cramped. I wanted to nap, but I couldn’t. Every time I closed my eyes I saw blood, and I kept wondering what was happening to Josh. I opened myself to the trace. His lines were all over the house. I breathed a sigh of relief. They still glowed with a vitality that said he was still alive.
I stood, suddenly feeling like I needed to move. Price glanced up, sharp gaze pinning me in place.
“Where are you going?”
“I thought I’d go wander out into the blizzard.” I rolled my eyes at him.
“I wouldn’t put it past you.”
“It’s not like you know a damned thing about me,” I said. “Except possibly that I’m smelling a little ripe and I need a shower. So I’m going to go take one. Upstairs. I promise I won’t crawl out the window. Consider Taylor your hostage against my good behavior.”
With that I trotted up the stairs.
The nice thing about having money is being able to buy luxury. Taylor had done just that. Her bathroom wasn’t much smaller than her bedroom, which took up the entire third floor. She had a closet the size of a garage. I swear I sank up to my knees when I walked across the carpet.
The bathroom was a spa. The jetted tub was big enough to hold me and Price without touching. The unexpected image of bubbles sliding over his warm bare skin made my breath catch.
“Don’t even think about it,” I told myself out loud. “That is one act of stupidity you will never survive.”
Oh, great. I was talking to myself. I really needed more wine. Too bad I left the bottle downstairs.
Confronted by the enormous tub and the array of bubble bath and scented soaps on the shelf, I decided that I had plenty of time to soak. It wasn’t like anyone was going to miss me.
I lit a bunch of candles for ambience. The tub faced a wall of windows with sliding glass doors that led out onto a broad deck. The glass was treated with magic to see out without anyone seeing in. Not that anyone could. The snow whirled in a thick curtain outside.
I let the tub fill with steaming water, dribbling in some bubble bath that smelled of cloves and oranges. When it was about half full, I got out of my clothes and sank down into the water. Heaven.
I’m not sure how long I was in the tub before Taylor came to get me, but I was way past the pruny stage. She walked in and sat down on the vanity chair. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her voice sounded stuffed up.
“If you’re hungry, there’s food,” she said. Her voice sounded listless and empty. “Price is still on the computer. He’s had a couple of phone calls, too. He won’t tell me anything.”
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Do you really think he’s going to help whoever took Josh?”
I didn’t want to think so. “I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.” I couldn’t lie. Not over this.
“You’re wrong,” came Price’s voice from the doorway. He leaned on the jamb, his sapphire eyes glittering.
I sank down as low as I could into the tub, hoping the few remaining bubbles and the dim candlelight would hide me. Unlikely. I didn’t have enough bubbles left to hide a flea. My stomach clenched at the idea of being naked in the same room with him and my entire body flushed red.
“Well, crap on a cracker. Why don’t you just bring the whole neighborhood to my bath? Maybe a marching band while you’re at it? Can’t I get any privacy at all?”
“Just checking to make sure you haven’t escaped.”
He grinned and holy crap, but he was handsome. My thighs about melted. Don’t be stupid, don’t be stupid, don’t be stupid . . .
“Like you wouldn’t have known. You tabbed me, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right. How could I have forgotten?” He didn’t move. “I have some news for both of you about Josh.”
“Can it wait til I get out?” I said, and at the same time Taylor practically shouted, “What?”
“Feel free to get out anytime,” Price said to me as he went to lean against the counter near Taylor. “I won’t mind. Nice tattoo, by the way.”
“What did you find out?” Taylor demanded before I could call him an asshole.
At least he couldn’t see me blush. The only tattoo I had was around my belly button in the shape of calla lily drawn in shades of violet and purple. At least—it was my only visible one. I had another done in white ink up on my scalp. Both were nulls. It wasn’t all that smart to make part of your body a null—someone might cut it out. But I liked the idea of having one around when I was stark naked. The scalp one was a backup in case the stomach one didn’t work, for whatever reason.
If he saw my tattoo, then—
Well, now he knew the carpet matched the drapes and I had been known to wax a little. Oh hell. Twenty-four hours ago Tyet-enforcer and Detective Clay Price had barely known who I was. Now he’d tabbed me and seen me naked. Could the day get any worse?
Famous l
ast words. Of course it could.
“I talked to one of my friends in the FBI,” Price said. “Seems Josh is wanted for several counts of embezzling, fraud, and money laundering. Plus there seems to be some connection to the Sparkle Dust trade.”
Sparkle Dust? That didn’t make sense at all. Josh despised the stuff. I rubbed my forehead. This didn’t feel right at all. Then the implications hit me. Oh fuck. He was a dead man.
“What? That’s not possible! He’d never do anything like that!” Taylor said. She must have realized that I’d gone deathly quiet. She looked at me. “What does it mean?” she demanded.
“It means that he’s as good as dead. The Tyet won’t put up with anyone bringing the FBI down on their territory, and if he’s involved in Sparkle Dust, he’s in way over his head.” I looked at Price. “And it means that you can’t help us get him back. The Tyet will have your balls in a jelly jar.”
Taylor looked at me and then him. “Is that true?”
He nodded. “Except they’d not take my balls; they’d put all of me in a jar.”
“But—you said Riley was wrong. You said you were going to help us get him back.”
That’s my sister. She’s doesn’t give up easy on what she wants. Tenacious as a pit bull when she wants to be. Probably why she was still with Josh when I’d have kicked him to Timbuktu and been done with him.
“I am going to help you get him back.”
I sat upright, furious. “Why would you lie straight to our faces? That’s just downright cruel. My sister doesn’t need that kind of crap. Can’t you see how bad she’s hurting?”
I’d hit the point where I was too mad too care who got a look at my pubic hair or any other part of me. I stood up and sloshed out of the tub, grabbing a terry cloth robe off the back of the door and wrapping it around myself. I tied the belt like I was tying a knot in a safety line. I’d probably have to cut myself out of it later.
I put my hands on my hips, already thinking of ways to take him out. I could hit him over the head with one of the many vases Taylor kept around the house. Maybe she had drugs that would put him to sleep. I could put those in his mashed potatoes or pudding or whatever was for dinner. If he could stomach eating after that pack of lies he just spewed out.
“I’m not lying,” he said, beginning to look annoyed.
“Really? You’re going to help us get back Josh, thereby getting yourself killed, if not tortured and killed? Why do I find that just a tiny bit hard to believe?”
Taylor had begun to cry. The sound sent my blood pressure rocketing. I did not like it when my family was hurt.
“I’ve got my reasons, and I don’t intend to get killed or tortured. There’s a way out of this for everyone.”
“Like hell there is.”
He smiled, and there was menace in every line of his face. This man was more than dangerous; he was walking death. “Trust me. I’m good at this sort of thing. It’s what I do. I will help you get Josh back, then all you have to do is help me with my little problem and then we can forget we ever met.”
I shook my head. “No way we can trust you.”
“Do you have a choice?”
“Riley—please?” Taylor looked at me, blue eyes pleading.
The truth was, I could find Josh, but not rescue him, not without help. Someone like Price was the best kind of help, if he didn’t throw me to the wolves first. But there was a better than decent chance he was going to find out what I was, what I could do. If he did—
There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he was ever going to forget me. I’d never be free of him or the Tyet.
“Fine,” I said. Look at that. I thought signing my own death warrant would be harder.
“Thank you!” Taylor threw herself into my arms and hugged me tight. She drew back and wiped her face with the back of her hands. “I’ll be downstairs. My closet is yours. Wear anything you want.”
She ran off, leaving me with Price.
“There’s something else wrong. Something you aren’t telling me,” he said, all too accurately.
“Yep.”
I pushed past him and headed for the closet. I hoped my sister would have something decent to wear, but she didn’t really believe in anything that wasn’t designer.
My mistake was in hoping that Price wouldn’t follow me. His filled the doorway, trapping me inside. I swear he could be a football player with those shoulders. I ignored him, or tried to. He wasn’t making it easy. He drifted inside to the dresser that was also an island (what kind of closet needs a freaking island, anyhow?) and pulled open a drawer. He fished out a pair of lacy thong underwear, holding them up between two fingers.
“Perhaps I can help?”
I stomped around in front of him and grabbed the pair of panties. “Really? You’re flirting? You don’t even like me. Stop it. It’s confusing and weird and I hate it when men lie to me.”
I threw the panties back into the drawer and shoved it closed with a bang, then instantly thought better of it. I was going to have to wear something under my clothes. I wasn’t going commando. Please, God, let Taylor have at least one pair of underwear that wouldn’t end up flossing my ass. I yanked the drawer back open and began searching. Price was standing so close I could feel the heat of him through my robe. I glared at him, but he was staring down at me with a curious look.
“How am I lying if I flirt with you?”
“Don’t act stupid. You don’t like me. You aren’t attracted to me. Therefore, flirting with me is a lie of action.”
He folded his arms and propped his hip against the island, watching me intently. “And what if I am attracted you?”
I scowled at him. “What is the point of even going there? You aren’t. End of story.” I couldn’t imagine he was. I was pretty sure I was the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to him.
I found a pair of underwear and went around to the other side of the closet to flip through the jeans dangling from hangers. I found a pair that could fit and probably cost a good five hundred dollars on sale. There wasn’t a tee shirt of any variety to be found, but Taylor had some long-sleeved Patagonia shirts that weren’t too bad. I picked out a dark green one that would set off my hair—
Oh, hell, was I losing it or what? Josh had been tortured and kidnapped, and I was thinking about looking good? For Price?
Sometime in the day, I must have gotten a concussion. Brain damage. There was no other explanation.
Having collected my wardrobe, I faced Price again. He hadn’t moved. He was watching me like I was dinner.
“What?”
He stepped forward until there wasn’t much between us but my robe and his clothes. I shivered all the way down to my heels.
He bent so that his lips were a millimeter from mine. He held himself there, unmoving, until I thought I’d have to kick him in the shins. Given I was barefoot, I’m pretty sure which one of us would regret it most. Then quietly, he said, “I like your hair.”
He straightened and flashed a wicked grin at me before disappearing out of the bedroom. I stared after him, my stomach melting into ribbons of hot taffy.
He liked my hair.
He wasn’t talking about the stuff on my head.
Oh fuckity fuck fuck fuck. I would not, could not, be stupid enough to even contemplate getting into bed with Detective-Asshole Clay Price.
If only my idiot body agreed, but it definitely had other ideas, and they all involved getting sweaty with Price.
I was so screwed.
Chapter 7
BY MORNING I’D managed to get my libido under control. Or so I told myself firmly as I rolled out of bed.
I looked out the window. The world was white. A few flakes of snow still floated down over what looked like a German fairytale setting. Buildings were frosted thick, the
ir edges soft and rounded. The streets hadn’t been cleared. Everything looked still and silent.
We had to get out there, through this snow somehow, and find Josh. Who knew how long they’d keep him alive? He might already be dead. The thought spurred me.
I yanked off my borrowed nightgown and pulled on my borrowed clothes. I ran downstairs to find Price drinking a mug of coffee while flipping through pages on the computer.
“That smells good,” I said. “Where’s Taylor?”
“Still asleep, which is good. You and I need to talk.”
“Are we breaking up so soon?” I asked, putting a hand over my heart. “Oh no! Whatever shall I do? My heart is shattered.”
“You’re an idiot,” he said, leading the way into the kitchen and filling a mug with coffee. “Sugar? Cream?”
“Both,” I said. “Plenty of them.”
He made a face at the mixture. I sipped it with a grateful groan. “Oh, my sweet, sweet delicious coffee. How I’ve missed you.”
He watched me lick my lips. Oh, there you are little libido, I thought as heat zinged through my belly. I thought I told you to stop this.
“We need to go back to the apartment and see if you can trace Josh,” Price said, jumping right to business.
I could live with that. Much better than imagining me and him wrestling around in bed.
Heat spiraled up from my toes to the crown of my head. Hell. Focus.
“We aren’t going to find him that way,” I said, pointing out what he already should have known. “Whoever took him knocked out Josh’s house wards and hid their trace on the way out.”
“Then we’ll follow him backward and try to figure out who might have taken him. We know he’s involved with something.”
“Do we? Just because the FBI thinks so, doesn’t make it true.”
“We do because he’s been tortured and kidnapped, and because he broke his engagement with your sister even though he was still in love with her.”
“He might just be using her. A convenient sex buddy.” I didn’t believe it, but I had to see what Price would say. After all, he was a detective; reading suspects, reading people, was what he did.
Trace of Magic: 1 (The Diamond City Magic Novels) Page 8
