Stolen Seduction

by Elisabeth Naughton

  Hailey had to look away.

  “Did you go by the house yesterday, Ms. Roarke?” Chen asked.

  Her stomach clenched. Now, how was she going to answer that one?

  Before Hailey could open her mouth, the phone on Chen’s hip went off. He looked down at the number, scowled and flipped it open. “I need to take this. Detective Maxwell can finish things up here.”

  He didn’t wait for an answer from her, simply lifted the phone to his ear and said, “Chen” as he strode for the exit.

  Okay. Finish up. At least that meant they weren’t going to arrest her. And it meant she wasn’t going to have to say a word about Billy. A shot of relief raced through Hailey, as strong as any triple espresso. Until the moment the door snapped shut and she was suddenly all alone with Shane.

  He stared at her with narrowed eyes. Didn’t say a thing. And in the silence between them, every one of her self-doubts came rushing back.

  She’d never been good enough for any man. Not for her father, not for her ex-husband, and definitely not for this burly detective she’d been thinking about for three long months. In the end, they’d all walked away from her for one reason or another.

  She took in the way he was studying her. This was not a man who was interested in her anymore. Not as a woman, at least. And definitely not as a possible lover. He was here right now only because she was a suspect.

  A suspect. Forget all that lovey-dovey crap. The only thing she needed to focus on now was figuring a way to keep her ass out of jail.

  Damn, Bryan. And damn my father, too.

  She squared her shoulders, refusing to be intimidated. And was just about to open her mouth and cut the silence when the bathroom door flew open and Billy walked out in a rush of steam and heat that poured into the room.

  “Babe, I thought you said there was coffee.” Her former brother-in-law was naked but for a pair of low-slung Levi’s and a towel he was rubbing through his light brown hair. “You know I’m no good before nine without some caffeine.”

  Shane’s gaze snapped from Billy’s bare chest to her white terry bathrobe. And in his eyes she saw a whole lot of What the fuck? He knew who Billy was. And he knew Billy’s reputation.

  Hailey closed her eyes and blew out a long breath. Yeah. Things weren’t looking up at all. And this was doing shit to keep her out of jail.

  Shane’s back tightened as Hailey quickly stood and turned away from him. “Billy. You remember Shane Maxwell, don’t you?”

  Billy halted and his head came up. Surprised, hazel eyes darted to Hailey’s face, then over her shoulder to Shane.

  Yeah. You keep lookin’ buddy. Shane’s jaw clenched. Billy was his sister Lisa’s new brother-in-law. Technically Shane supposed that made Billy some twisted form of family. Not that he was claiming the kid, though. What little he knew of Billy Sullivan could be summed up in one word: fuckup.

  In his mind’s eye, Shane saw the bruises all over Hailey’s face that had nearly stopped him cold when he’d stepped into the suite—the ones he hadn’t noticed last night in the dim light of the bar or his apartment—her in nothing but that cotton bathrobe and this punk in front of him. And it all totaled up to one big-ass question he had no right to ask.

  “Yeah. Sure.” Billy looped the towel over his bare shoulder. “What brings you up here, cop?”

  Hailey stepped between them, and Shane knew without even seeing her bruised face she was flashing Billy a warning. Smart girl. He was in no mood to play nice. ”Detective Maxwell came up to ask me a few questions about the new hotel.”

  Billy’s gaze snapped to her face. And no, Shane didn’t imagine it. The kid may be a fuckup, but he was quick on the uptake. “You don’t say.”

  “Why don’t you head down to the kitchen and check on that coffee,” Hailey said with way more enthusiasm than it needed. “I’ll finish up here while you’re gone.”

  Billy nodded once, flicked a look at Shane, then took two steps back toward the bedroom door. “Yeah. Lemme just grab my shirt.”

  He was back in a flash, pulling a plain white tee over his head, flip-flops clacking against the soles of his feet. “You guys want anything?”

  “No, we’re good,” Hailey said quickly.

  “Okay then. I’ll see ya.”

  The door snapped shut, and silence settled over the room. Slowly, Hailey turned Shane’s way again. Only this time she didn’t look shocked, like she had when Tony’d told her the news about her cousin; she looked guilty.

  No frickin’ way.

  She bit the inside of her lip. Eyed him warily. Waited.

  And though he knew it was the absolute wrong thing to say, he couldn’t seem to stop himself. “Moving from one brother to the next?”

  Surprise hit first, then fire flashed in her sapphire eyes before they narrowed. “Fuck you, Maxwell.”

  Pow. Like he didn’t deserve that one? Yeah, he’d been the one to call things quits last night, but seriously…Billy Sullivan? Billy Sullivan?

  He raked a hand through his hair and pushed that damn thought right out of his head. Who the hell she screwed wasn’t his concern. But if the guy was using her as a punching bag, Christ Jake, that was his business, big-time. “What happened to your face?”

  She tipped her head and shot him a bored look. “I fell.”

  “Bullshit. Either spill it or I’ll find someone who will.”

  Her expression never wavered, but finally realizing he wasn’t backing down, she lifted a shoulder, dropped it. “Which ones?”

  Which ones? She was letting Sullivan beat on her? On a regular basis? Oh, man, the kid was dead meat. And where was the spunky, I-don’t-take-crap-from-any-guy woman he’d met in the Keys?

  She dropped her crossed arms. “Oh, please. I know what you’re thinking and that’s not it. Have you talked to Lisa recently?”

  He thought back to the last time his twin sister had called. “Last week.”

  “Did she tell you what happened with Pete?”

  Pete was Peter Kauffman. A friend to Lisa and Rafe, and Rafe’s business partner at the Odyssey Gallery. Shane had met Kauffman in Florida as well. Smart. Quick. Everybody’s friend. The kind of guy—in Shane’s mind—you seriously had to watch out for because you didn’t know what he’d do next.

  “About the trouble with his girlfriend?” Shane asked, remembering what Lisa had told him. A few weeks ago Kauffman’s ex had been stalked by two guys linked to a terrorist faction in Egypt because of a scandal she’d witnessed. He didn’t know the details, only that there’d been a run-in in New York, Kauffman and the girlfriend had gotten away, and the terrorist had been killed.

  “Yeah.” Hailey pointed at her face. “Yellow bruises. I was helping Pete with some research. Kat’s ‘friends’ mistook me for Pete’s sister. I guess they thought I might be good bargaining material.”

  His eyes widened. Holy shit. She’d been taken hostage. By a jihad terrorist. “What happened—”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly. “I got away. Bad guy got what was coming to him. End of story.”

  A rush of relief forced his breath out. But that relief was short-lived when he remembered what she’d said earlier. Which ones?

  He focused back at the fresh bruise near her eye. “What about the new bruises?”

  She bit her lip again.

  “Don’t even think about holding out on this, or your boyfriend out there’s gonna be in serious trouble.”

  Her lips flattened. “Are you asking because you’re concerned for my well-being or because you need a statement from your top suspect?”

  Her beauty and killer curves almost made him forget she’d been a cop herself. “You’re not a suspect.” Not yet, anyway.

  “But I’m a person of interest. Semantics, don’t you think?”

  “We’re talking to everyone related to this case, not just you.”

  She studied him a long second. “How did he die?”

  He hesitated. “We’re not sure. Autopsy hasn’t come in.”
<
br />   She knew he was lying. She could read it in those crystal blue eyes. “I’m not answering any other questions without my attorney.”

  His back went up. And whatever affable mood he thought they’d been working toward imploded. “That’s entirely your choice. But there’s no reason—”

  “Yeah. There is. Now if there’s nothing else, Detective, I’d appreciate it if you’d go. I have several calls I need to make. Family to notify and responsibilities to see to. If you have any other questions, have Detective Chen call my secretary and I’ll cooperate in any way I can. With my lawyer. Otherwise, this conversation is over.”

  His eyes raked her battered face. Ran down to the V of her robe and back up again before he could stop it. She saw, and pulled the lapels together.

  This was better. Keeping things professional. Not falling back into lust with her like he’d been in Florida. Or Puerto Rico. Or damn…in his apartment last night. She was right. She was a person of interest in their case, and he was a detective investigating a crime he knew instinctively she was somehow linked to.

  Better. Easier. Definitely safer. Especially for her.

  He pulled a card from his back pocket and handed it to her. “If you think of anything else, give us a call.”

  He stopped with one hand on the doorknob. But didn’t dare look back at her. “Why didn’t you just tell him you were with me last night?”

  Silence.

  Then quietly she said, “Why didn’t you?” When he didn’t answer, she added, “That’s what I thought. As far as either of us is concerned, it never happened.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Hailey’s hands were shaking as she reached out to grip the edge of the couch. She wasn’t going to hyperventilate, dammit.

  Bryan was dead. Just like her father. Your participation is a matter of life and death. You’re the only one I can trust. A chill slid down her spine. What if her father had been trying to tell her something in that note? Was it possible his death hadn’t been an accident?

  Heart racing, she reached for the phone and dialed the one real friend she had in the Key West PD. Alice Hargrove answered on the second ring.

  “Funny farm. What’s your emergency?”

  Hailey’s mind spun. And because she’d been conditioned, she rattled off the first thing that came to her. “You talking to me?”

  “Better, H. But you need to come up with something more original than Taxi Driver. And a little humor in your voice would help. A takeoff on Paris Hilton would work better. Try, ‘I’ve lost my pink-tutu’d Taco Bell dog.’”

  Hailey closed her eyes. Normally Allie’s jovial personality eased whatever was bothering her. Allie’s humor had made her laugh when she’d been rejected for the detectives program, when she’d been going through her divorce, even after the death of her father two weeks ago. But today it didn’t do a thing to ease the sickness in her gut. “Allie, I need a favor. A big one.”

  Allie’s tone grew serious. “What is it? And where are you? I left a message on your home phone last night but you never called back.”

  “Wisconsin. I came up to check on the new resort. Allie, Bryan’s dead.”

  “No shit?” There was a long silence, and then Allie said, “Well, not to be morbid or anything, but that isn’t exactly a bad thing for you, is it?”

  Hailey cringed. A little digging and Shane would figure that out as well, if he didn’t already know. “I’m pretty sure he was murdered. The police were just here questioning me.”

  “What? Why you?”

  Hailey ran her hand over her brow. The shakes were gone, thankfully. But she still felt like she might throw up. “Because I went by the house yesterday before coming up here.”

  “Well, technically it’s your house, right? How do you know he was murdered?”

  “Because they wouldn’t have been here questioning my whereabouts if he hadn’t been. Allie, it’s not going to take them long to figure out exactly what you just said. I have motive. I had means. I have a crappy alibi.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up the train, circus-girl. What do you mean you have a crappy alibi? Where were you yesterday?”

  Hailey bit her lip. She wasn’t going to drag Allie into this. They were friends, but Allie was up for a promotion. And unlike Hailey, she was a damn good officer.

  “That doesn’t matter. Listen, I need you to do me a favor. My father was autopsied. I saw the final report, but nothing stood out to me. Can you get hold of the report and have your dad take a look at it? See if something jumps at him?”

  Allie’s father was the Monroe County medical examiner. If ever there was a death expert, it was James Hargrove. “You think your father didn’t die of heart failure like the ME concluded? And for the record, I saw the way you changed subjects there.”

  Hailey ignored the last sentence and focused on the important one. “I’m not sure. A few things he said to me at the end don’t make a whole lot of sense. I’ve got this strange feeling he was trying to tell me something. I was dealing with a lot right after his death. I didn’t read the report as carefully as I could have.”

  “Yeah, H, I can do that, but what does this have to do with Bryan?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s a gut feeling. Something’s not right.”

  “I’ll say. Stinky and Denmark come to mind.”

  “I’ve never understood that saying.”

  “Me, either,” Allie said. “I’m sure it offends someone somewhere, but I’m always offending people, so that’s nothing new.”

  This time when Hailey smiled, she did feel marginally better. If only for a second. But her smile quickly faded. “You’ll never guess who the detective was that questioned me”.

  “Howie D!”

  Hailey couldn’t help it. She chuckled. Allie’s obsession with the Puerto Rican Backstreet Boy was legendary. Through Hailey’s short marriage to Rafe, Allie had routinely pointed out that Rafe looked like an older, taller version of the singer. A fact that used to piss Rafe off to no end.

  “No. Unfortunately. Think tall, dark and brooding Chicago detective.”

  “No!”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  Allie whistled on her end of the phone. “What happened?”

  Since Hailey had already told Allie all about Shane and their combustible chemistry, no explanation was needed. She did, however, think it wise to omit the whole make-out session in his apartment last night. “Not much. He insulted me. I insulted him. He tried to get me to confess to killing my cousin. Match made in heaven, don’t you think?”

  “Honey, we need to work on your man skills.”

  “Among other things. Look, Allie, I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”

  “You better. I’ll get in touch with my dad and get what you need.” Her tone grew serious. “And, H, seriously, if you need anything else, call me. I mean it. I’m worried about you.”

  “Don’t be. I’ll be fine. But thanks.”

  Hailey hung up, then dialed the car service she frequently used. The door to the suite opened just as she was hanging up. Billy stepped in the room carrying two paper cups.

  She rose and took the coffee he held out for her. “What did the cops want?”

  She took a long swallow and felt the bitter liquid slide down her throat and warm her iced-over belly. “Nothing. Maxwell was just in the area and stopped by to say hello.”

  Billy’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit. I remember the way you two were all buddy-buddy at Rafe and Lisa’s wedding. This wasn’t a casual meet and greet.”

  She sipped again but didn’t look away. No matter what Billy thought he knew or what he said now, she wasn’t pulling him into this. One more run-in with the law and he was going to be in serious trouble. And while Hailey could handle the fallout that would cause with her ex-husband, she wouldn’t let it happen because she owed their mother. Teresa Sullivan was the mother Hailey had always wished she’d had, and she was in the last stages of pancreatic cancer. If her youngest son went to jail now, before
it was truly over, it would kill her. Literally.

  “You don’t think he’d stop by just to see me?”

  “That’s not why he was here.”

  With a frown she moved to sit in a side chair. “Some men do find me attractive.”

  Billy chuckled as he dropped onto the couch, slipped off his flip-flops and propped his bare feet up on the glass coffee table. “I know they do. That cop definitely does. But that’s not why he was here.” He glanced down into his paper cup as a wicked smile spread across his face. “He thinks the two of us are doing the nasty. And he was not thrilled with that idea.”

  Considering the way Shane had put the kibosh on their little lip-lock last night, Hailey seriously doubted he cared whom she did what with. “You say that like it grosses you out.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, H, you’re hot and all that. But even if there wasn’t the whole ick factor because you’re family, Rafe’d kick my ass. Now, your sister”—his brow lifted—"that’s another story.”

  Hailey pinned him with a look. Her sister, Nicole, was close in age to Billy’s twenty-seven, and everything Hailey wasn’t. Petite, naturally tan, stunning in a you-can’t-miss-me kind of way, and a total party girl. It made perfect sense Billy would find her attractive.

  It was also the reason she needed him to get back to Miami and take care of that other thing she needed done before Nicole got home from her trip to Europe.

  “I called you a car. It’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  He eyed her over the plastic lid. And though she tried not to let her anxiety over everything she’d just learned show, he saw it. The guy was too smart for his own good. “You sure you don’t need me up here?”

  She shook her head. “We got what I wanted last night. The only thing I need from you is to handle that other matter we discussed.”

  His hazel eyes held hers longer than she liked. And her stomach tightened at the anxiety she hoped he didn’t see. He was nothing like his brother, her ex. Light instead of dark, strongly resembling their father’s Irish genes, while Rafe looked more like the Puerto Rican side of the family. Spontaneous where Rafe was careful. Cocky where Rafe was sure. Someone who did things his way and because of it, was usually misunderstood.