Play to Win

by Tiffany Snow

  “Why do you say that?” I asked.

  “Because she told me so. All the time. ‘You should be grateful for the opportunities you’re given. Paul never got those.’ Or ‘Paul would never have thought I was overbearing or had too high expectations.’”

  Parker had lost a brother and then paid the price for his own existence by constantly being reminded he wasn’t wanted. I couldn’t imagine. No wonder he’d latched on to Ryker.

  “I’m really sorry,” I said. What else was there to say?

  He shrugged, flipping through pages rather than looking at me. “It’s fine. It is what it is. Everyone has something, right?”

  I reached over and set my hand on his arm. He paused and our eyes met.

  “You didn’t deserve that. Don’t deserve that,” I said. “It’s not fine and I’m really, really sorry. Thank you for telling me.”

  He didn’t move, just let me look into his eyes, and I saw the pain and hurt there. Parker had lost his brother and to an extent, his parents, too.

  “I trust you,” he said simply.

  My heart squeezed and I had to glance away at the sudden tears in my eyes. His hand covered mine on his arm, and for a moment, our fingers touched and held together for a long breath. Then I cleared my throat and sat back and the moment was over. But it had shifted something between us.

  Parker had always kept a careful distance when I worked for him, never letting the professional become personal. Then we’d tried to build something in the hurried morass of people trying to kill us and that had fallen into ruin. It made more sense to have this new beginning, spinning strands of trust and intimacy to bind us together with a stronger foundation. I couldn’t help the tentative hope I felt.

  Carrie sent down a pizza for lunch, along with a couple of pops. We munched on the food, occasionally pointing something out from a file. There was a small stack of Maybes—people who might have a grudge against my dad. Shots in the dark, but all we could do at the moment.

  I was up on a stepladder, trying to haul down a box from the top shelf when I felt his hands on my waist.

  “Here, let me get that,” he said. “I don’t want you to fall.”

  His hands felt as though they burned through the thin cotton T-shirt I wore, and I sucked in a breath.

  “I’m fine,” I managed, my voice sounding strangled. My thoughts wandered to things like Could we hear someone coming in time to pull our clothes back on? And Exactly how hard is the floor? Like walk-away-with-a-couple-bruises hard or break-my-back hard?

  “Come get down from there,” he persisted. “I’ll get it.” Not leaving me a choice, he circled my waist with his good arm and picked me up. I squealed in surprise, grabbing on to his arm, then my feet touched the ground. He held on to me for a moment, my back touching his chest, and I was glad he couldn’t see my face. A shaft of pain went through me.

  It’d be so easy to give in, tell Parker I loved him and we could be together. But what if he changed his mind again? What if Natalie decided she wanted him? It was all well and good for him to give lip service to not loving her anymore, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that Parker was the kind of guy who loved the chase and the unobtainable. His entire career was built on fighting impossible odds. Once he’d won…the challenge was gone. As was his interest.

  “Thanks,” I said, stepping forward out of his hold. His arms dropped to his sides. I didn’t look at him—I was afraid my emotions would be too easily read in my eyes.

  It was late afternoon and I had too many paper cuts to count when I found something.

  “This is weird,” I said, flipping through yet another box. “It looks like this is all one file.” Most of the boxes had been collections of customers and transactions, but only one name was listed on the file here: SLS Enterprises. “Who’s SLS Enterprises?”

  “That’s Leo Shea’s company,” Parker replied, setting down the file he was reading and scooting the stool he sat on over next to mine. He read over my shoulder. “The date is twelve years ago.”

  I could smell him again, but it wasn’t like I could tell him to move over. That would just be rude…and telling. I flipped through the pages.

  “Handwritten notes,” I said, eyeing the scrawl. “I think that’s my dad’s handwriting.” There were a lot of pages and I handed a few to Parker to decrypt. My dad had always had crappy writing. He should’ve been a doctor.

  “Leo’s business was a high-profile startup that began eating other businesses like candy,” I mused as I read. “Dad listed a bunch of them here, along with the families who ran each.” It was a long list.

  “Your dad’s notes list times and locations,” Parker said. “And if I’m not mistaken—victims.”

  “Victims?”

  “And a catalogue of their injuries and deaths.”

  I swallowed. “So Dad wasn’t kidding when he said Shea was bad news.”

  “No,” Parker said, continuing to flip through pages. “And it looks like he targeted your dad, too.”

  Now it was my turn to lean over to see. My breast brushed his arm and I gritted my teeth, though Parker showed no sign of having noticed. Figured.

  “They arranged a meeting,” he continued, reading. “But Shea wouldn’t agree to any terms. Looks like he wanted a monopoly and your dad was the lone one left standing in his way.”

  “That’s probably why this is all handwritten,” I said. “Dad never learned to type and I doubt he would have dictated it to someone.”

  Parker shuffled through more pages, then dug in the box. I did as well, but didn’t see more handwritten notes. “What happened?” I asked.

  “Does your dad keep anything locked up?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. I just work here, remember?”

  Parker gave me a half-smile at the joke. “Let’s go see.”

  Parker carried the box with him as we rode the elevator up. I stopped by Carrie’s desk first.

  “Carrie, are there any locked files that you know about?” If there was something no one was supposed to know, chances were Carrie knew it.

  She glanced around, then leaned over her desk closer to us. “Your dad keeps a locked cabinet in his closet, but I don’t know what’s in it.”

  “Do you have a key?”

  Carrie just gave me a look.

  “It was worth asking,” I muttered. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that easy.

  “Charlie might have a key,” she said. “He just came in a short while ago.”

  Good. I wanted to ask him how Dad was doing anyway. I headed for his office, Parker in tow. We dropped the file box off in my office, then rapped on Charlie’s door.

  “Come in.”

  Charlie looked tired, but smiled when he saw me, giving a nod to Parker as well. “Your dad is the same,” he said, reading my question before I’d asked it. “Stable and doing well. Your mom was there when I left.”

  “She okay?” I’d need to go relieve her once I got off work.

  He nodded. “She’s holding up really well.”

  “Charlie, Parker and I found some files in the basement about Leo Shea’s business about a decade ago, how he was encroaching on Dad, but the files stop after their meeting. Do you know what happened?”

  If possible, Charlie looked even older at the question. “It was a rough time,” he said. “Your dad ended up handling it. I know he kept notes on all his business dealings so I’m sure he documented the events.”

  “There’s nothing more in the box, but Carrie said he keeps a locked cabinet in his office. Do you have a key?”

  Charlie nodded, digging in his desk drawer. “Your dad gave me a set in case something happened to him.”

  We all grew silent for a moment, since something had happened to my dad. It hurt inside my chest to think about it, so I shoved the thought away and cleared my throat, taking the set of keys Charlie handed to me.

  I unlocked my dad’s office and stepped inside. It smelled so much like him and the cigars he sometimes favo
red that I stumbled to a halt three feet in.

  “You okay?” Parker asked, his hand settling low on my back.

  I forced a thin smile. “Yeah. I’m fine. Now let’s find out who’s behind this.” My gut said somehow Shea was involved, even though technically that was impossible since he was dead. I assumed his body had been dropped in Lake Michigan with a set of concrete shoes, but I could be wrong.

  The file cabinet wasn’t a large one and it didn’t take long after I’d unlocked it for Parker and me to find the right files. We began reading.

  “He had an informant,” I said slowly, my eyes wide. “Somehow, he paid off someone in Leo’s organization.”

  “Your dad isn’t a fool,” Parker said. “And apparently not someone to be fucked with.”

  He said it with respect, not disgust, and I agreed.

  I flipped through the papers but couldn’t find a name. “Can you find a name anywhere?”

  Parker shook his head. “No. He just calls him The Informant. No details.”

  “Well, he helped my dad, that’s for sure,” I said, reading all the notes on what basically boiled down to corporate espionage.

  “And was handsomely compensated,” Parker added, pointing out the payments made. I gave a low whistle.

  “Wow.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But it paid off,” I said. “Looks like my dad bit back at Shea, nearly sending his business into bankruptcy.” Which had been mighty good of him. He didn’t have to do that. It looked like he could’ve crushed Shea and been rid of him for good. Considering what Shea had done to me years later, I would’ve been okay with that.

  “Yeah, but the way he did it—” Parker began, flipping through more pages.

  Carrie popped her head in. “You have a visitor,” she interrupted.

  “Who?” Had Ryker come by with information?

  “Not you,” she said. “Him.” She jerked her chin toward Parker, who looked as surprised as I felt.

  “Who knows you’re here?” I asked him.

  “No one.” His expression was hard. He’d brought his weapon with him and I saw him reach from where he’d set it on the desk, sliding it into the small of his back.

  Okay then.

  He followed Carrie and I followed him to the front. When I saw who was waiting, I didn’t know who was more surprised—him or me—though I certainly knew who was more pissed.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked Natalie, marching toward her, my hands in fists at my sides. “I don’t recall issuing you an invitation.”

  She had the gall to look hurt. “I didn’t realize you’d mind so much,” she said. “Honestly. I needed to speak to Parker and I thought you’d know where he was. I’m really sorry to bother you.” She gave a little shrug, managing to look adorably helpless in that feminine kind of way that men gobbled up like candy.

  I ground my teeth together, realizing she’d effectively outmaneuvered me. If I kept at it, I’d just look like a total bitch in front of Parker. But I gave her a hard stare that said she’d entered my territory and that I didn’t like it.

  “What’s going on?” Parker asked.

  “I received this today and I don’t know what to do.” She handed him a note.

  “Ten thousand dollars. Gavin’s Pub. 10 p.m. tomorrow,” he read. He glanced up. “Where did you get this?”

  “It was left on the windshield of my car.”

  “Did you take it to Ryker?”

  Natalie hesitated, and I knew why.

  “Of course she didn’t,” I said. “Ryker doesn’t have ten thousand dollars.” But Parker did.

  Parker shot me a look. “I’ll handle this.”

  Oh really?

  “Is there somewhere a little more private where we can talk?” Natalie asked, glancing around the lobby.

  I gritted my teeth. “My office.” I spun on my heel and didn’t bother to make sure they followed me.

  Sitting in my chair with a heavy desk between Natalie and me seemed like a good idea. I sat in the cool leather chair and watched Parker face off with Natalie.

  “We need to call Ryker about this,” he said. “A ransom note is irrefutable, and kidnap cases are automatically under the FBI’s purview.”

  “No, don’t!” Natalie said. “We can’t get the FBI involved. They’ll know and they’ll kill Jessie.”

  “We don’t even know who has her or why,” I interjected. “If it’s just money they’re after, why’d they pick your sister?”

  Natalie’s blue eyes focused on me like a laser. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t need to be here,” she retorted.

  “I don’t think we should try to handle this on our own,” Parker said.

  We?

  “I can’t take a chance that they’ll hurt her,” Natalie pleaded. “If they’ll give her back for ten thousand dollars, then why can’t we just do that?”

  “Because it’s unlikely they’ll stop at just ten thousand,” I said, ignoring her body language that said hearing my voice was akin to setting fire to her hair.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “She’s right, Natalie,” Parker said.

  There was a rap on the open door and I glanced over to see Ryker had decided to stop by, too. Fabulous.

  “Now it’s a party,” I muttered under my breath. This day was getting worse by the moment.

  “I knew I’d find Sage here,” Ryker said. “Didn’t realize Scooby and the gang were all getting together without me.” He fixed Parker and Natalie with a look that would’ve frozen a criminal at thirty paces.

  “Come in,” I said, which was completely unnecessary, as he was already plopping down in one of the leather chairs in front of my desk. My fingernails threatened to make permanent crescent-shaped dents in the arms of my chair. “What can I do for you?”

  “We went over the security footage for the attack on your security guard last night,” he said. “They were in black, but wore a mask. We couldn’t get a clear shot and the prints we lifted all belong to employees.”

  I wasn’t surprised. Had I thought it would be so easy as the murderer standing in front of the camera with a sign proclaiming his name, phone number, and current address?

  “I just don’t understand why,” I said. “What were they after?”

  “They came up here and tried to break in to your dad’s office,” he replied, “but tripped the security alarm.”

  “That doesn’t sound like they’ve had a lot of experience,” I said. Yes, we had decent security, but it wasn’t state of the art. “And what would they have wanted in here?”

  “The files we just unlocked, I’d guess,” Parker interjected.

  “Why now?”

  But no one answered. After a moment, Natalie said, “I hate to interrupt, but I need help with this. Jessie needs me.”

  “What’s going on?” Ryker asked.

  Parker showed him the note. “Natalie wants to pay the money.”

  Ryker’s gaze landed on her. “You can’t do that. It never ends well.”

  Tears started leaking from Natalie’s eyes. “What am I supposed to do? She’s my sister, Dean…”

  “Let’s get the paper to the lab, see if they can pull any prints. Then we’ll decide what to do. We have until tomorrow.” He looked at Parker. “Are you fronting this?”

  Parker looked grim, but he nodded, and my stomach sank. He was just going to hand over ten thousand dollars, and I still had my doubts as to anything Natalie said. Ryker acted as though he believed everything she said and Parker…well, I couldn’t really tell with Parker. Though if he was going to sign over ten grand, he must be feeling there was some truth to this.

  Ryker stood. “I’ll let you know if we find anything else,” he said to me. “Ballistics haven’t come back yet on the casings from here or from you and your dad.”

  Nice to know I was such a priority. But I kept my mouth shut and nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

  “Natalie,” Ryker said, “we have some photos for yo
u to look at. You said Jessie had a nasty ex, right, but you didn’t have a picture of him?”

  Natalie nodded. “She broke up with him a while ago,” she said.

  “If you can recognize him from the photos, maybe we can track him down.” He switched his gaze to Parker. “You coming?”

  Parker shook his head. “I’m watching out for Sage. I’m not leaving her alone.” The emphasis was on I’m and the tone of his voice held disapproval. Ryker’s gaze swiveled to mine.

  “Hey, don’t look at me,” I said. “I didn’t ask Parker to play bodyguard.” If he wanted to go support Natalie, I wasn’t about to stand in the way, despite the green monster digging its claws into my gut.

  A muscle ticked in Parker’s jaw.

  “We have uniforms watching the place,” Ryker said to Parker. “And you’re acting like I don’t want to keep Sage safe, too. I’m the one trying to chase down every lead we have on the shooting.”

  “I didn’t say you didn’t want her safe.”

  “You implied it.”

  Their eyes were shooting daggers at each other, but my gaze was drawn to Natalie. Rather than watching the men argue, she was looking at me.

  Well, this was interesting.

  “Please,” Natalie added, her blue eyes turned plaintively up to Parker.

  Aaaand my fingernails just broke through the leather padding on the arms of my chair.

  I was the one with a mutilated cat on my bed, a father in a coma, and a dead security guard. But hey, no worries!

  I gritted my teeth. “Go on and go. There are three security guys downstairs. I’ll be fine.” I wasn’t about to try and compete with Natalie and beg Parker to stay. No way.

  “Don’t leave without me,” Parker said, and his tone made me want to stick my tongue out at him like a teenager. At least he hadn’t pointed his finger at me.

  I settled for, “I’ll do my best,” which was just this side of snotty bitch, but not by much. If I wasn’t trying so hard to hide my disappointment, I’d have been embarrassed.

  They left, with Parker taking one last long glance at me. I didn’t so much as twitch an eye. They both wanted to go running to Natalie’s beck and call? They could be my guest.

  Bitterness was a sour taste in my mouth as I headed back to my dad’s office. It was after six now and people had cleared out for the most part, but I met Charlie on the way.