by C. J. Thomas
I felt my blood run cold.
Because of who Nash was, I was certain he would be smart enough to lawyer-up as soon as he was taken into custody. He’d been accused of too much already, but it was his hatred directed toward me, and his suspicion of Sylvia’s intentions, that kept me on edge. He could say whatever he thought was right, and if he thought for one second that we were against him he wouldn’t hesitate to destroy us before he was destroyed himself.
We were left dangling in doubt.
I tried calling Kendra again. “C’mon, pick up, baby,” I muttered into the still-ringing phone.
I needed to hear her voice, know what her plans were for the day. Any excuse to get her talking about Alex, and anything to take my mind off of the stress that polluted this office.
Spinning the chair, I turned to face the window.
Long rays of golden sun streaked across the floor. The bright light had me dreaming about taking a beach holiday to warm turquoise waters on an island where no one could find me. Disappear. Clear my head.
With my hand reaching for my groin, I imagined Kendra tanning next to me, barely clothed in the skimpiest bikini, or nothing at all. We’d be free of stress and worry, not a care in the world other than deciding how best I would pleasure her until our next meal.
The line was still ringing when I nearly killed the call. Suddenly, it clicked over. “Hey.”
Her voice was small, sounding sad.
“Hey,” I breathed.
Now that I had her on the line, I wasn’t prepared for what I would say next. And, apparently, she didn’t know either because an uncomfortable silence settled between us.
“I tried calling earlier,” I said, not wanting to sound worried.
The line ruffled. Kendra didn’t respond.
“Are you at the house?”
“No.” She sighed, smacking her lips like she had something she wanted to tell me.
I wondered what it was that was keeping her quiet, if something had happened, if she was keeping something from me for reasons she didn’t want to share.
“I’m sorry about last night,” I painfully admitted. “My words didn’t come out the way I intended.”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“I do,” I murmured. “You’re all I have.”
A silence grew before she said, “You’re right about that.”
My lips pulled at the corners. “Giselle filed your motion to dismiss the inheritance case.” I pushed myself up in my chair and scrubbed one hand over my face. “It’s not finalized, but I think it’s safe to say it’s over.”
“I saw him, Kelly.” Kendra’s voice caught in her throat.
My brows slanted.
“My father. He’s alive.”
My lips parted. A stern expression tightened my face. I was rendered speechless.
“He’s ill. The rumors were true.” Kendra explained her father’s condition in enough detail to let me know it wasn’t good. When she was finished, I asked how she was taking the news. “It’s not news. A part of me knew that something was seriously wrong when Mom refused to let me see him. You want to know the worst part of it all?”
My tongue darted out of my mouth and wet my lips. “What’s that?”
“I spent so many nights praying he would find his living hell.”
Choosing my words carefully, I said, “Your prayers have been answered.”
Kendra sighed. “I’m on my way to Alex’s.”
“Nash is missing.”
“What?” Her voice was back.
“Wes stopped by the office.”
“Oh my god. How is he doing? Have you talked to Kami?”
“The FBI drilled him all night. Now we believe they have Nash.”
“Shit.” I imagined Kendra running her painted nails through her long hair. “I just need this to stop. It’s killing me, Kelly. Chiseling away at me like a slow burn.”
“Me, too.” My eyes rounded as I openly stared. “We’re not positive so I don’t want you to freak Alex out if she doesn’t know, but it seems likely.”
Kendra exhaled a couple of breaths before saying, “I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Thanks.” I glanced to the clock, knowing I needed to meet with Stone before he thought I had completely given up on him. “See you back at the apartment this afternoon?”
“Promise.”
Kendra ended our call, telling me she loved me. Setting my cell down on top of the desk, I leaned back in my chair, feeling better about where we stood. I didn’t want to tell her how to handle her family, or how she should feel about her father. Those decisions were hers to own and I would support her no matter what she decided.
Lacing my fingers over my stomach, I turned my thoughts to Nash.
He was the most stressed of us all. Always had been. Alex was his way out, perhaps his last redeeming quality. At least, in my eyes she was. And, until I knew where he was and that he was keeping his mouth shut and doing the right thing, I wasn’t going to rest.
Knocking the desk a couple times with my knuckles, I gathered my things and headed out. “I’m off to meet with Stone,” I said as I passed Giselle’s desk.
Giselle stood. “You want back-up?”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll take this one alone.” I smiled, winked, and stiff-armed the exit.
22
Kelly
Blake Stone’s dark, beady eyes stared at my empty hands.
Without missing a beat, I took a seat opposite him at the table. We stared for a minute, sitting quietly beneath the florescent lights flickering above like insects buzzing in the stifling heat of summer.
The entire drive here, I’d debated what to do about him. I was ready to tell him I couldn’t do this anymore, that I was more a liability for him than an asset. Except I didn’t have a solid plan to break ties without potentially causing myself further danger. And, besides, I was certain there was still more he knew about my family that he hadn’t yet shared with me. I wanted to find out.
“You look ill prepared, Counselor.” His hair was slicked back, his black goatee recently trimmed. “Have you not been sensing my urgency to meet?”
I flicked my gaze to the left, nodded, and chuckled. “I’ll see you when my schedule allows.”
Stone stroked his facial hair and stared. Then he laughed.
“You think that’s funny, do you?”
“You’re forgetting who works for whom, Counselor.”
“No.” I slammed my hands flat on the table and leaned across the middle. “You’re forgetting that you’re nothing without me.” Stone leaned back, still grinning up at me. “You don’t even know how fucked you are.”
With sparkling eyes, he said, “Insults won’t make us friends.” Stone’s mouth turned downward as he slid his elbows across the table. Looking me directly in the eye, he cocked his head to the side. “How is your girl doing?”
My muscles instinctively flexed with the need to protect. Our eyes swayed, measuring how much each of us knew, and what we were willing to reveal. “You think you had anything to do with her escaping Madam?”
“Was my intel bad?” He stared. When I didn’t respond, he chuckled. “I didn’t think so.”
Stone was smug, arrogant, and I feared the kinds of shots he was still capable of calling from behind bars. It was my life on the line when having to close out this loose-end I wanted so badly to tie off. But as much as I wanted to see that happen, I had to remember that he was also the one to have informed me of my family’s murder.
I sank down to my seat. “Tell me how you knew Madam killed my family.”
“It’s not hard, as long as you know where to look.”
“Where should I be looking? Because I visited the crash site and nothing was there.”
He flexed his neck and crossed his ankle over his knee. “If I share with you what I know, what do you plan to do with it?”
“The cops never ruled it a homicide and now with Madam and Oscar being taken into cu
stody, I fear that their cases will take precedence.”
“Be happy, Kelly, you have your girl.” Stone’s smile crinkled his eyes. “Madam is behind bars.”
“But if I can get her on murder one, she’ll remain behind bars.”
“I’d love to help, but I’ve done all I can from in here.” He stretched his arms wide and looked around. The room was dank smelling and lacked the ventilation needed to sterilize the walls. He was playing me like a fool.
“My office was raided.” My head dangled lower. “All my notes I had on you were taken.”
His head floated back until his eyes sharpened into tiny slits. They were still open, but they looked closed. He sucked back a deep breath and said, “It is getting bad out there.” Then he paused and began laughing. “Sometimes you never know what news to believe anymore.”
My brows pinched. “The ADA will likely pick up where Oscar left off.”
His lids popped wide open. “You want my help?”
“I thought you said you’ve done all you could?”
He snickered and wagged his pointer finger at me. “Oscar and Madam should have never tried taking what wasn’t theirs. But,” his foot dropped to the floor, “this is good news.”
“It’s great news for the city of Los Angeles.”
“Now everyone is learning what I knew all along; Oscar Buchanan was corrupt and, because of it, you,” he jutted his jaw at me, “will create the narrative to spark doubt in the citizens of this city and use it to set me free.”
“Far-fetched, don’t you think?”
“Everything the DA did, all the decisions he has made, can now be questioned.” Stone looked at me from under his deep brow with a knowing glimmer shining in his eye. “Including my arrest.”
I was already filing the paperwork in my mind to have his case thrown out. I nodded in agreement. Stone clapped his hands, angled his head to the side, and smiled. “Great minds think alike.”
Bringing my hands to the table, I hunched over and stared blankly ahead as I shook my head. “We’ll compile other cases Oscar has prosecuted. It’s important we don’t make this only about us.”
Stone smiled.
“I can’t promise you this will work.”
“If it doesn’t, we’ll try Plan B.”
“Which is?”
“Now is not the time to worry about it.” He leaned back, folding his arms across his puffed-up chest. “If a Plan B is needed, it will come to you when it’s time.”
23
Kendra
I nibbled around the mint flavored ice cream and went straight for the chocolate. It was something I had done since I was a girl. Unlike Alex, who was devouring each spoonful with the same enthusiasm I’d seen in her when around Nash.
“God, this is so good.” Alex moaned.
I paused mid-lick and rolled my eyes in her direction. I watched with extraordinary interest as she stretched her tongue long and wrapped it completely around the silver spoon. She might not like giving head anymore, but I was certain Nash wasn’t thinking the same. That muscle of hers was incredible.
Alex mewed and closed her eyes.
My toes curled up as I felt my face scrunch like a raisin.
She wasn’t eating ice cream, she was making love to it. Deep-throating the frozen green goo as I was stuck deciding what about my life I wanted to share with her without freaking her out.
Alex pursed her lips and popped the clean spoon out of her mouth.
Did I casually mention Wes getting nabbed from his own club in hopes it would subtly bring up the whereabouts of Nash? Or did I first tell her about the note from Dad? I didn’t know. Neither option had me excited for what was sure to follow.
Alex glanced to me out of the corner of her squinty eyes and smiled.
My eyes flitted around the coffee table in front of us before drifting to the kitchen table. Junk food was everywhere. Opened bags of potato chips. Cookies. Cheese puffs. Green tea. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it if it weren’t for the sex noises she was making when she ate. But now I had to ask. “Are you depressed?”
Her eyes popped wide open. “No. Why would you ask that?” Her sudden anger was quickly replaced with curiosity. “Are you?” Her plucked brows squished.
I blinked and looked away, feeling the ice cream slosh around my insides like a cement mixer turning over. I was a mixed bag of emotions. Guilt? I felt it. Hopelessness? That, too. I had lost interest in most things, my moods swung wildly across the pendulum, and if I wasn’t happy, I was drowning in sorrow with dreams of getting away and not caring if I came back. “I’m not sure what I’m feeling anymore,” I said, rolling my eyes up to Alex’s, unable to admit that I was, in fact, depressed.
She swallowed a thick spoonful of ice cream and openly stared at me like I was an alien in her house. I blinked back at her, guessing what she was thinking of me now. No matter how tempting it was to tell her my feelings, I couldn’t. Because feeling depressed and talking about it were two different things. It wasn’t fun. The opposite of it, actually. Antisocial and unpopular. “I’m sorry I asked.”
Alex put her spoon down and scooted up next to me. Draping her arm around my shoulders, she asked, “Did you have another session with Dr. Hall?”
I pulled my chin into my neck and eyed her suspiciously.
My eyes danced inside of hers with thoughts of my father’s note scrolling open in the forefront of my mind. The mystery burned hot as I wanted to share it with Alex, get her thoughts. But I held back. I couldn’t shake the feelings of it being part of a larger conspiracy to get me speaking about the same two people I’d sworn off long ago.
“When I’m with Dr. Hall, I find that I keep talking about Kelly.”
Alex’s eyes glimmered. “You’re in love. Love will do that to a woman.” She gathered my hair inside her hand and let my locks fall between her fingers. “But she didn’t want to discuss your relationship with him?”
“She wants me to open up about my parents.” Alex gave me a knowing look. “She asked about my childhood.”
“Did you tell her?” She paused, both of us knowing what she was referring to—Marvin.
I shook my head.
Alex brought her feet up off the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. “Kendra, you need to talk about it.” She rolled her neck toward me but I wasn’t looking. “It’s the only way you’ll move on.”
Staring at the carton of ice cream, I muttered, “I know.”
“So, what did you talk about?”
I raised a brow and tilted my head to the side. “My running wild. How my parents couldn’t control me and maybe that’s the reason why I’m so attached to Kelly.”
“Because he can control you?”
I met her gaze. “Because I let him control me.”
She broke her embrace as she reached once again for the ice cream. I watched as she scraped the edge of her spoon against the side of the carton, collecting the cream. “Okay,” she said with a glob of ice cream falling out of her mouth. “That’s what I meant.”
“Did you mention my past to Dr. Hall?”
Her jaw unhinged. “Kendra, baby, you know I wouldn’t tell your secrets to anybody.” Her shoulders drooped. “Why would you accuse me of doing that? It hurts.”
Diving across the couch, I pushed my hand inside my handbag and pulled out Dad’s letter. Sitting upright, I flapped it in the air between us.
“What’s that?” Alex asked, twirling her hair over the front of her shoulder.
“A letter from my father.” Alex looked surprised. “I paid my parents a visit after my session with Dr. Hall.” I handed the unopened letter to her.
“You saw him?”
I nodded. “And he’s definitely on his way out.”
“Oh, shit, Kendra. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. He was such an asshole to me.”
Her eyes watered and I knew she was feeling sorry for me. Running her finger across the envelope, she asked, “What do you think it
says?”
I gave her context to my visit. Mentioned my peace offering to Mom, the pathetic sight of Dad. “Then Mom handed me that on my way out the door and said, ‘Then you can decide if you still want to be family or not.’”
“Wow.” Alex was now holding the envelope with both hands. “That’s kind of cold.”
I stood and padded to the opposite side of the room. “Cold defines my family.” Standing in front of a photo of Alex with her family when she was a child, I said, “Kelly and Giselle filed for a motion to dismiss the lawsuit my parents filed against me.”
Alex lifted her eyes, speechless.
I needed a drink. Moving to the kitchen, I found the bottle of vodka and had two glasses in hand when Alex said, “Not for me.”
I touched the base of my neck and looked to the side. “Really?”
“I’ve had a lot to eat.”
Alex was making excuses. She’d never been one to pass up a drink with me. Her lack of interest for indulging in an afternoon drink left me suspicious. “Are you sure you’re not the one who’s depressed?”
“Help yourself.” Her voice was soft, careless. “I don’t mind.”
I shrugged and poured two fingers, straight. I shot it back and poured another as the fire inside my gut lit. Tired of talking about me, I flipped around and said, “So, how is your sex life? Still regretting getting primped?”
Alex’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry you had to listen to that. I wasn’t myself that day.”
I folded my free hand across my belly and let my tailbone rest against the kitchen counter ledge. The smells of vodka that reminded me of nail polish remover drifted up my nose and nested in my brain. I took another gulp. I couldn’t imagine Alex not wanting to suck Nash’s dick or have crazy hot sex with him. That was what they were. Salt and a bag of nuts. “So, you didn’t mean it?”
Alex took the envelope between her fingers once again. “What do you think it says?”
