by Tara Thomas
“I think she’d have a hard time pulling that off. Even if it were to come out that she made up everything she had on Dad, that’s a far cry from setting up three additional people. Especially when there’s nothing there.”
Tilly was well aware he was taking a calculated risk. The only problem was the stakes were so high. If he miscalculated and underestimated Elise, he and his brothers could wind up being charged as accessories to murder.
“I think this is about as good of a plan that we can come up with,” she said. “I hate how risky it is, but I’ll do anything I can to support you.”
“Thank you. You don’t know much that means.”
Tilly had always thought of herself as a kind person. She was easy to get along with, and maybe it was prideful, but she thought most people liked her. Her mother had taught her to try to find the good in everyone.
All and all, when it came down to it, up until that moment, there had never been a person she hated. Oh sure, she disliked her fair share. And then there were those people you would never get along with, no matter how hard you tried. But to out and out hate someone? Never.
Except for today. Today she could honestly say she hated Elise.
His eyes lost some of the pain they’d held since he’d walked into the room. He took her hand. “Stay here with me. I can’t do this alone.”
Joy flooded her soul and she squeezed his hand. “Yes. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“I’m not telling Elise anything immediately,” Keaton said. “I’m going to buy some time. See how long I can put her off. But one thing is certain, they’ll build a ski resort in hell before I even pretend to be engaged to that woman.”
CHAPTER 12
With Kipling back at Benedict House, things started to feel a bit more normal. Or maybe, Keaton decided, it was a new type of normal. He rarely made it through a few hours without thinking of the sister he never knew.
Bea was released in the hospital a few days after Kipling made bail. So far, she still refused to talk to Knox. Interestingly enough, he seemed to be staying at home more. But he was quiet and definitely not his normal self.
Elise had left to spend a long weekend with her grandmother. Keaton wasn’t sure exactly what she was doing with her internship because she never actually seemed to be working. But he wasn’t about to act like he was interested in anything pertaining to her.
After dropping the bombshell on him about his father, and giving him all the information to back it up, she had been relatively quiet. He and Tilly tried to take that as a good sign, yet the truth was troublesome. It likely just meant Elise was up to something.
He was still undecided about telling his brothers about their lost sister. For the time being he kept quiet. After all, the only thing it served to do was destroy their image about their father. He figured his siblings had had enough heartache lately, they could do without having the additional burden of knowing their father’s actions and the half sister they never knew.
And a part of him couldn’t help but justify keeping it all secret. After all, if Knox and Kipling didn’t know their sister existed, how could Elise possibly pin her murder on them?
“Hey, handsome,” Tilly said, coming into his bedroom. “It’s Friday night, let’s get out of here.”
God, he loved this woman. Already, he didn’t know what he’d done without her. Nor did he ever want to go back to what he was before her. She grounded him. She understood him. She loved him. She hadn’t said the words yet, but he knew.
It was evident in the way she looked at him. He could feel it in her touch. He tasted it in her kiss. And she wrote it on his skin with her fingers, every time she touched him.
Instead of replying to her suggestion, he asked, “Do you get the feeling it’s been far too quiet lately?”
She crossed the room to where he sat and plopped down in his lap. “You mean like it’s the quiet before the storm and there’s a hurricane brewing?”
If there was anything better in the world than a lap full of Tilly, he didn’t know what it was. “Yes, exactly like that.”
“I’ve had that feeling since the day I moved in. I’ve just approached it like I have every other storm I’ve been through.”
“And what is that?”
“I put up storm shutters, gather those that I care for, lock us all in a safe place, and wait it out.”
Her eyes sparkled. She was so vibrant and lively. He pushed a lock of hair over her shoulder. “Would you gather me with you?”
“No,” she said, shocking him until she added, “because you’re my safe place.”
That surprised him even more and he pulled her closer. “I hope I’m always able to keep you safe. I feel as if I’ve failed you in the past and it’s only a matter of time before I really screw up.”
“That’s why you’re afraid it’s been too quiet lately? You think something’s going to happen to me?”
He nodded.
“Don’t worry about it. I promise I’m a big girl and there’s no one and nothing that’s going to come between me and you. I’m not going to let it.”
“I know you’re strong. I just worry.”
“Let’s not worry until we have something specific to worry about.”
“I have a brother accused of murder. And I’m being blackmailed by a psychopath to marry her. I think we have plenty of specifics to worry about.”
“Damn. When you put it that way, it makes me want to lock ourselves in your room and never leave.” She took hold of his shoulder and pulled him toward her.
“Mmm.” He shifted so she could feel his erection. “Much as I like the way that sounds, I did promise the guy who oversees the downtown shelter that I’d be by today. Come with me?”
“Of course.” She hopped out of his lap and he resisted the urge to grab her and pull her back. “Let me go change.”
They took his car to the shelter. Tilly recognized the location immediately. “I’m guessing it’s not a coincidence that this shelter is so near the port terminal Kipling was at.”
“Nope.” Keaton parked the car and came around to her side to help her out. “I thought we could look around. I know the police already did their investigation, but you and I both know how I feel about the local police, aside from Alyssa.”
“Are we snooping before or after we visit the shelter?”
“After, I think.”
They were met inside the shelter by a frazzled-looking man with unkempt hair and disheveled clothing. He shook their hands and led down dark hallways cluttered with boxes. Most were taped shut, but a few had been opened.
“What is all this?” Keaton asked as the man moved several boxes off a threadbare couch in the office.
The man scratched his head and shrugged. “Donations? I don’t have time to look through it all.”
The phone on the desk rang and he picked it up. “Hello?”
Keaton caught Tilly’s gaze and lifted his eyebrows. Can you believe this mess?
“I’ m so sorry,” the man said, interrupting their silent conversation. “We’ve had somewhat of an issue today and I need to take care of a few things. I’ll be right back.”
Keaton assured him it was fine. Tilly leaned over to him when he left and closed the door behind him.
“This place needs some help,” she said. “I’ve never seen so much disorganization in one place before.”
“Agreed,” he said. “They need someone with some top-notch managerial skills to come in and take over.”
He wrote that down on the pad he brought with him. To suggest that any organization that was benefited by Benedict Industries also had some sort of board member oversight.
“You know,” Tilly said, standing up. “I think I’ll go see what they have in the way as far as women and children’s services. I believe I saw a reception area to the side when we first came in.”
It was on his tongue to tell her to be careful, but he refrained. Besides, what trouble could she get into at a homeless
shelter?
* * *
“You know this place used to be a funeral home?”
Tilly turned at the question and found a teenager standing by a door marked STAFF ONLY. The girl was dressed all in black, with black lipstick, and blue-streaked black hair. But what struck Tilly the most were her empty looking eyes.
“Really?” Tilly glanced down the hall. The reception desk wasn’t too far, but someone was being helped at the moment. “That’s kinda creepy.”
“They say there isn’t any equipment still here, but there’s a room downstairs they used to do the embalming in.”
“Jade!” A sharp voice stopped the teen from saying anything else. If she were to guess, she would think the woman approaching was a resident, but Tilly hated to make that assumption based on how the previous employee dressed. Although she doubted an employee would wear such a huge hat. Tilly couldn’t even see her face.
“Don’t you have homework you could be doing?”
Jade huffed, but pushed back on the wall. “Yeah, I guess.”
The lady waited until the teen was out of sight. “Sorry about that … teenagers, you know?”
“Yes, I most certainly do,” Tilly said, and then waited for the woman to disclose the real reason she’d sent the teenager away.
“I saw you come in with that man.” She looked around and then motioned for Tilly to follow her to a nearby room.
“Um.” Tilly glanced over her shoulder to the office where Keaton was. She didn’t think the woman beckoning her into another room was dangerous, but the truth was, you never really knew. “I better stay here. I’d hate for him to finish his meeting and not know where I went.”
The woman walked closer and out of instinct, Tilly looked down to make sure her hands were empty.
“Gee,” the woman said, holding her hands palms up. “Paranoid much?”
Tilly gave her a small smile and told her the truth. “I’m afraid so. It’s been an interesting few weeks. I don’t mean any offense.”
“I understand. I have something I need to tell you, but can we step out of the line of sight from the front desk?”
“Back this way?” Tilly asked, heading back the way she came.
“Sure.”
They walked down the hall, until the front desk was blocked by a storage cabinet. It wasn’t completely out of the way, but they were alone for the moment. Plus there were enough people nearby that Tilly felt confident that the woman, whom she was almost certain was a resident, wouldn’t try anything.
“What can I help you with?” Tilly asked.
“It’s not what you can do for me. It’s what I can do for you.”
Tilly raised an eyebrow.
“That man you’re with. He’s one of those Benedict boys, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” Tilly couldn’t think of a reason not to be truthful. Their visit wasn’t a secret and the Benedicts were known locally. Probably most of the shelter’s residents knew who Keaton was.
“I thought so. Handsome lot, all three of them.”
Go on, Tilly wanted to say, but didn’t.
“Damn shame the way they’re trying to pin that girl’s murder on the oldest boy. Especially since he didn’t do it.” The woman spoke with a knowing grin, fully aware that she now had Tilly’s complete attention.
“Do you know something about what happened?” Tilly was doing her best to remain calm, but wasn’t sure she was doing a good job of it.
“I know that girl was alive when Mr. Benedict left her.”
Tilly felt like grabbing the woman and either shaking her or hugging her. “How do you know and why haven’t you told the police?”
“I know because I saw him leave and she was unharmed. I didn’t tell the police because things happen around here, if you know what I mean.”
“No,” Tilly said. “What do you mean things happen if you talk to the police?”
The woman looked at her as if she couldn’t believe she’d been asked to explain, but even still, she leaned close and whispered, “When people here talk to the police, they disappear.”
Everything inside Tilly wanted to jump up and down and then call the police, but she knew enough to understand she had to proceed with caution. As much as she wanted the world to hear what she’d just been told, she was also acutely aware that every word of it could be a fabrication.
“Why is it no one saw you?” Tilly asked.
“How often do you take note of the homeless?”
She had a point, but unfortunately, Tilly still didn’t think it was enough to get the charges against Kipling dropped.
“I tell you what,” Tilly said by way of a compromise. “Why don’t you write down everything you saw and did that night, and when Mr. Benedict and I come back, you can give it to us?”
The woman bit her bottom lip, thinking. “No, I can’t.”
Which just seemed to make Tilly think the story was a fabrication. “Why?”
“How much press coverage do you think there is when a homeless person is murdered?”
She looked pointedly at Tilly, as if she was trying to get her to understand some hidden meaning in her words. Tilly remembered how careful she’d been about not being seen. She narrowed her eyes. “Are you saying that you’re afraid someone’s going to come after you? Because we can keep you safe. We can involve the police…”
Tilly stopped when the woman started laughing and held up her hands.
The woman glanced over her shoulder again. “I’m not saying anything other than there’s no press coverage for dead homeless people. Besides, even if I was saying something, I wouldn’t trust you people. They said on TV, a woman close to ‘Saint’ Benedict was attacked.”
There would be no arguing with her. Tilly recognized a will of steel when she saw one.
“One more question,” Tilly said and, at the woman’s nod, continued. “What were you doing by the docks that night?”
The woman moved, as if to walk past her, but Tilly grabbed her arm. “Tell me, or I get Mr. Benedict and we have this conversation at the police station.”
She bit her lip. “It was nothing, really. I saw the Benedict guy there with the blonde and I thought maybe I could sell some pictures. I mean, they ended up not doing anything, but she got on her knees for a while and it looked like she was going to blow him or something.”
“You have pictures?” she asked in disbelief.
“Shhh.” The woman looked over her shoulder as if she expected someone to come running. “I have this old cell phone. I don’t have cell service or anything, but the camera works and no one seems to notice or care.”
“But you have pictures? Of that night?” Tilly bit her lip so she wouldn’t shout for joy. “I need that cell phone.”
Tilly’s mind spun, trying to think of how they could get the phone. Did they beg her? Go to the police? Heck, if it’d prove Kipling’s innocence, she’d break into the shelter at night and steal the damn thing.
Tilly tugged her toward the office. “At least come with me to get Keaton and tell him—”
A loud piercing siren interrupted her.
“Fire!” someone down the hall yelled.
A fucking fire alarm? If that wasn’t just great. People started pouring out into the hall. She couldn’t smell smoke, but she knew that didn’t necessarily mean there wasn’t a fire.
Where was Keaton?
“Tilly!”
She looked behind her and saw Keaton jogging toward her. “Come on, we need to go.”
Someone bumped into her hard, but she ignored it, wanting to keep her eyes on Keaton. There were so many people, she didn’t want to lose him. Finally, he made it to her. She pulled him to the side. “Keaton, you have to meet someone.” But when she turned, the woman she’d been talking to was gone.
Across the hall, watching her and not appearing to be in any hurry to make it outside, stood Jade, the teen with the empty eyes.
* * *
The Gentleman stood at the far side of the room. Unli
ke times before, today he wanted to see the faces of the men present. However, he still didn’t want them to be able to recognize him. He glanced at the monitor providing video streaming from the hidden camera he’d placed in the room before everyone arrived.
They all stood, looking at his back. Several had no idea why they had been called to the meeting today. Including the man standing closest to the door. The man who was the main reason he’d gathered everyone together.
“Gentlemen,” he finally decided to speak. “Do you remember my words from the last time we all gathered here?”
It was a rhetorical question, of course. No one was to speak in his presence unless he gave him leave to.
“The first part of the plan was handled competently.” The Gentleman looked at the man who had killed the first blond dancer and the bartender. Hearing him say that, the guy took a deep breath of relief. “Not only was a liability taken care of, and a plan put into place, but a Benedict was implicated.”
The man near the door had no idea what had happened following the death of the second dancer. He actually straightened his back, as if expecting to likewise be praised.
“Even better, the eldest Benedict has actually been charged with the death of the second dancer, which was beyond what we had planned.”
Oh yes, the man was almost bursting with pride. Time for the truth to come out.
“However,” The Gentleman continued, and a faint hint of worry showed on the man’s face. “The scene was not as secure as one would have hoped. Indeed, it has since been discovered that there was a liability nearby snapping pictures the entire time.”
The man’s face turned nearly completely white in fear and shock. He shook his head. “No. That’s not possible.”
The Gentleman nodded and two security guards made their way to the door, ensuring no one tried to leave.
“I’m afraid not only is it possible, it is fact. I have moles everywhere.” The Gentleman hadn’t been sure installing Jade at the homeless shelter had been a good idea. He’d thought she was too noticeable, too recognizable. But as it turned out, most people gave who they thought to be an odd-looking teen wide berth.
