Kept in the Dark

by Heather MacAllister

  “We’re going for the middle one.”

  “Those look like dollhouse roofs.” And they didn’t look as though they’d support him, let alone both of them. His heartbeat kicked up a notch.

  Kaia held onto the edge of the roof and let herself down until she stood on the dormer, her head about two feet below where Blake perched.

  “I’ve already removed the sill, so there should be enough room for you to get in. Watch me. When you do it, I’ll be right here and can guide you inside. Tie your end of the rope through your belt loops.”

  Blake did not like this.

  She disappeared inside. What was there to watch? One instant she was standing there and the next, she was gone. Blake studied the drop and the miniature roof. Where, exactly, was he supposed to put his feet?

  He looked down at the concrete pebbled drive below.

  “Don’t look down,” he heard.

  “How do you know I’m looking down?”

  She stuck her head out. “’Cause you’re not in front of the window.”

  If he dropped and his feet slipped, he’d be straddling the thing like a horse. Ouch.

  “Hey. You can do it. Trust me.” Her smile showed all her teeth.

  “Sure I can do it,” he said. “Though maybe not successfully.”

  He studied the drop, below the drop, and Kaia’s head for several moments.

  “Hey,” she said again.

  “What?”

  Her head disappeared and a naked leg replaced it. “We had a deal. It’s wicked way time.”

  Well, when she put it like that…Blake eased over the edge of the roof, grateful for all the pull-ups he’d done in the gym, and lowered himself carefully to the little dormer. Squatting, he peered underneath through the window.

  Barelegged, illuminated by a flashlight propped next to the mirror, Kaia sat on the bathroom counter and crooked her finger.

  All righty then.

  Odd how Blake was no longer concerned with the drop or the hard driveway below. His feet naturally found a hold and he miraculously remembered the way Kaia had shown him how to position his body to get through the window. He didn’t even need her to hop off the counter and help him. He was motivated. Highly motivated.

  “You’re going to hurt yourself,” she cautioned as he forced his shoulders through the opening.

  “Nah. It’s okay.” What was a little pain compared to the pleasure waiting on the counter?

  He paused halfway through, but Kaia spread her legs apart a few inches. Blake was socked with a combination of dizziness and lust and the next thing he knew, he was dropping head first through the window of the Nazarios’ guest bathroom.

  Rolling, he got to his feet. “That,” he said, “is an excellent look for you.”

  She leaned back against the mirror and gave him a half-smile.

  The danger was over but the adrenaline still coursed through Blake’s body. One more crook of Kaia’s finger and he was standing between her legs, his mouth fused to hers.

  “I can’t believe we did that,” he murmured. “You, alone, over the roof was incredible, but to take me with you was miraculous.” He kissed her again. “I can’t believe it.” He was repeating himself.

  “You’re talking too much,” she whispered and reached for his zipper. This time, he let her clever fingers inside to stroke his hard length. His muscles quivered. Everything quivered. His brain shut down.

  “You really liked that,” she said.

  “I really like you.”

  “I can tell.”

  She had no idea. Blake kissed her as though his life depended on it because he suspected that it did. He didn’t care about anything else but Kaia at this moment. He wanted her as he’d never wanted anything in his life.

  He wanted her in his life. He wanted her smiling and making him feel as though the world was perfect. And he was going to do anything it took to put that smile on her face.

  Caressing her hair and holding her cheeks, he used his kisses to tell her how he felt without words.

  When she wrapped her legs around his waist, he thrust into her, clutching her to his chest as he stared at their reflection in the mirror behind her. He barely recognized himself or the rapt expression that would have concerned him had he been with anyone else but Kaia.

  She threw back her head and moaned, clamping her lips together to swallow the sound. The combination of danger, adrenaline, the erotic shadows, and Kaia, herself, brought him to an almost instant climax, one he was helpless to hold back. He thrust deeply and exploded, the force causing him to see bright colors kalaidescoping behind his eyelids. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t think and was barely aware of Kaia rocking hard against him as she gripped his shoulders.

  He gulped air as he heard her low moans, glad she’d been with him because he was completely spent. They clung together, shaking, or maybe Blake was the one who was shaking. It didn’t matter. He opened his eyes to meet his reflection and silently vowed that nothing and no one would ever hurt the woman in his arms again.

  “Danger makes a great aphrodisiac,” she whispered.

  “Yeah,” he agreed eloquently. And then, “I love you.”

  He felt her go quiet before she looked up at him. “That’s the adrenaline talking.”

  “Doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

  She studied him silently.

  Blake understood and didn’t blame her. “You don’t have to say it back,” he told her. “It won’t change how I feel.”

  “Tell me again when this is all over. Tell me when you’re back to your life and I’m back to mine. Tell me when you’ve had a chance to think.”

  He didn’t need to think. He knew. Blake kissed the top of her head. “Deal.”

  13

  “READY?”

  Kaia, her dress back to looking like a dress, nodded. She and Blake had their plan and were going to part ways at the bottom of the stairs. Kaia would find Royce and Blake would track down Luke and see if anyone had noticed Tina’s activities.

  Kaia descended first, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Seconds later, Blake did the same.

  When Blake had told her he loved her, she’d almost, almost told him about the snuffbox. For him to really mean it, and for her to believe he loved her, he needed to know everything.

  But something had held her back. They needed cooler heads—cooler bodies. A cooler time.

  Kaia glided toward Royce, who was sitting in the conversation pit at the end of the room near Casper’s office. The table was covered with candles and Royce held a penlight over some papers as a gray-haired man signed them. The woman next to him—Kaia presumed it was his wife—was admiring a chunky ring on her hand.

  Kaia stayed in the shadows until the couple left, and then approached Royce as he put away the paperwork.

  “Hey,” she said softly. “Got turquoise?”

  His head snapped up and his eyes brightened. “Did you…?”

  Nodding, Kaia bent down and placed the cuffs on the table in front of him.

  Royce stared at them, his lips pressed tightly together. Kaia was a little surprised at the emotion she saw him holding back. She’d known they were important to him, but she hadn’t known. It made her feel as though she’d done something good for once and she liked it. She should be thanking him.

  He cleared his throat. “If there is ever—”

  “Do you know where my parents are?” she asked suddenly.

  Royce looked up, startled, and then leaned back. “No.” He eyed her carefully.

  “But you could find them.”

  He hesitated and then shrugged. “I could possibly get a message to them. Do you have such a message?”

  “Other than go to hell? No.”

  “Kaia.” Royce gave her a long look as though he was disappointed in her.

  Was he serious? “They let me go to prison. I couldn’t even afford a lawyer!”

  “Refresh my memory…how much of your sentence did you serve?”

 
; What did that have to do with it? “Less than a fourth.”

  “And why was that?”

  “Because the government needed me to do them a favor.”

  “Oh, right.” He nodded. “And how is it that out of all the specialized government personnel and all the talent in all the prisons that you were chosen?”

  Was Royce implying that her parents had had something to do with it?

  “And, how convenient that Wendell Yost of Guardian was not only willing to sponsor your parole, but to provide you with a top-notch lawyer?”

  Kaia assumed it was because she was making a lot of money for Wendell.

  Royce tapped a finger against his mouth. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but you continue to have these little jobs come your way, do you not?”

  “Yes,” Kaia said, slowly.

  “You were also quite lucky to find a furnished apartment. Overseas owners wanted to have it occupied…an extremely reasonable rent if you signed a two-year lease… It just seemed to fall into place for you.”

  “Ty-Tyrone found it.”

  “Who found it for Tyrone?”

  “Did you?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

  Royce shook his head.

  Her parents. Kaia blinked. “I thought—”

  “As you were meant to.”

  So her parents hadn’t totally abandoned her. It would take time for Kaia to get past the years of hating them. And it was unlikely they’d ever have a family reunion, complete with picnic and potato salad, but it helped to know they weren’t totally devoid of feelings.

  “So do you have a message for them?” Royce asked.

  “Tell them I’m okay.”

  “They know you’re okay.”

  She gazed across the room to where she saw Blake talking to Luke. “Tell them I’m…happy.” She smiled. “Very happy.” And realized it was the truth.

  Royce cleared his throat. “There is another matter.”

  “Another matter? You sure have a lot of matters.”

  Royce reached into his pocket. “I found this.” He slid a mangled earpiece across the table.

  “Blake’s. The dog ran off with it,” she told him.

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t know whether to give it to the big guy or not,” Royce said.

  “Where is Jo Jo?”

  “Tina put her in a room off the kitchen. But the dog isn’t our problem. Our hostess’s sticky fingers are the problem.”

  Kaia exhaled. “What’s missing?”

  “A Tahitian pearl earring.”

  “Just one?”

  “The other was in someone’s ear.”

  “Oh.”

  “I saw her take it, but I don’t know if she’s still got it. She’s been going in and out of here.” Royce indicated the office.

  “I saw her once, myself,” Kaia said. She watched Blake for a couple of moments. He was involved with Luke and some other men. Now was the time to unload the snuffbox. “I’m going to take a look.”

  “Want me to run interference?” Royce asked.

  “Light interference. Don’t blow your cover.”

  “I’m not undercover!”

  “Blake’s already suspicious because of me.”

  “I’m the injured party here,” she heard Royce grumble as she melted into the shadows and approached the office door. It was unlocked, thanks to Tina, and Kaia slipped inside. She actually felt a few internal butterflies as she clicked on her flashlight and realized how close she was to her goal. Before anything else, Kaia crossed to the vase where she was supposed to leave the snuffbox and felt inside. To her surprise, her fingers closed over a familiar lump and she withdrew the Cat’s Eye pendant.

  For a moment, she held it in the beam of light and admired the glitter.

  It was hers. Twice she’d earned it, but it wasn’t as valuable as what else Casper had promised. Carefully, Kaia put the snuffbox in the vase and then slipped the pendant back, as well.

  If Casper was setting a trap, she wasn’t taking the bait. She was going to make him hand her the pendant, preferably with Tyrone looking on.

  Now that she’d delivered the snuffbox, she could deal with Tina. When Kaia had seen her come in here, Tina hadn’t spent much time, so it was unlikely she’d hidden anything in a safe. Kaia glanced around the room and then, with a shrug, tried the pencil drawer in Casper’s desk. It slid open and Kaia actually gasped. Gleaming in the beam of her flashlight was the leopard—cheetah—bracelet that Tyrone’s wife had admired.

  No way. What was with Tina and bracelets? And earrings, too, apparently.

  Kaia slipped the bracelet into her pocket and checked out the rest of the room. She found a watch in an empty ice bucket on the credenza, a pair of eyeglasses behind a book, and a pen in the plant by the shuttered French doors.

  If the things had been on Casper’s desk, Kaia wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but hidden as they were, she knew Tina had taken them from her guests. Maybe not tonight’s guests, but guests some time.

  Collecting the objects, she left the office and headed straight for Blake. He smiled when he saw her, but she shook her head and gestured for him to join her away from the people.

  “What’s up?” Still smiling, his gaze moved over her face sending a little warming feeling through her.

  “For starters, here.” She gave him the chewed-on earpiece. “Royce found it.”

  Blake examined the plastic. “And he chose to give it to you. Interesting.”

  “Not as interesting as what I found in Casper’s office.” She showed him.

  “Kaia,” he began with fake pleasantness, “why did you take it upon yourself to search Casper’s office?”

  Kaia didn’t have time for a turf war. “I work for Guardian Security.”

  Blake looked utterly taken aback, as though that was the last thing in the world he’d expected her to say.

  “Okay,” he said slowly. “But why are you here tonight?”

  “The cuffs.” Officially. “Casper didn’t want anyone to know about Tina. Speaking of, a Tahitian pearl earring is still missing. Royce saw her take it.”

  “Oh, man.” Blake looked over her shoulder. Kaia figured he was watching Tina.

  “She’s probably lifted other stuff we don’t know about,” he said.

  “Probably.”

  “Luke says that officials estimate power will be back on line in the morning.” He rubbed his jaw and exhaled. “When people gather their things to get ready to leave, it’ll be a mess.”

  “Yes.”

  Blake looked at her.

  “Yes,” Kaia said.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You were going to ask if I’d try to get the earring off Tina.”

  “I was thinking about it,” he admitted.

  “I’m on it. It’s likely that she still has it on her.”

  “I appreciate it. And have Royce pack up, will you? We should start inventorying.”

  Kaia nodded. Blake looked tired. She touched his arm. “Don’t worry. It’ll all work out.”

  BLAKE WATCHED KAIA thread her way across the room. He was going to have a chat with Casper when this was all over. He didn’t even have to bring up Kaia; the behavior of Tina was bad enough. He thought of the reports of theft that spotted the area and suspected it was Tina’s doing. The sad thing was that she’d been great for Blake’s business.

  He figured he’d lose the Nazarios as clients over this, maybe all the clients they’d sent his way, but knowing what the man had done to Kaia, he wasn’t sorry. Together, they could build the business again.

  Kaia approached Tina, stopped, leaned forward and said something to her, lightly touched the woman’s shoulder, and then moved away. Blake figured she was setting up her attempt. He wondered when she’d actually lift the earring when Kaia reached the other side of the room, turned, and held up her hand.

  She already had it? No way. He’d been watching, had known she was going to make the attempt, and had still missed it. Sh
e was scary good. He blew her a kiss, glad she was on his side.

  KAIA SHARED TINA-WATCHING duties with Blake for the rest of the night.

  Around eight o’clock in the morning, there were a series of clicks and the house hummed back to life. Light illuminated a roomful of sleepy guests who sat up and looked around. The players in an all-night poker game kept dealing.

  Blake’s office sent whatever codes or signals needed to be sent and suddenly, the shades retracted and in the distance, Kaia heard gates sliding back into the walls. Sunlight flooded the room and the real work began. As the rest of the crowd awoke and blinked against the sunlight, the catering staff circulated with cups of coffee.

  Blake and his team, along with Kaia and Royce began a delicate dance of shepherding everyone out the door while making sure they were entitled to any jewelry going out the door with them.

  Tina had finally fallen asleep, off in the back room with Jo Jo, allowing for a thorough search of the party area. Other than a cufflink and a jeweled button, which could have been legitimately lost, they couldn’t find anything else. Royce balanced his sales receipts and signed off on the inventory of remaining jewels. He and Kaia began dismantling the displays.

  Blake and his team monitored the guests and retrieved their RFID tags as the valets quickly brought the cars around.

  Fatigue suddenly hit Kaia and she sank onto the cushy chairs near Casper’s office. She was tempted to stretch out, but was afraid she would fall asleep and miss Casper or his weasel. They had unfinished business that she hoped they could conclude before Blake wanted to leave.

  She sat, head back, eyes closed, but opened them when she heard the office door. She expected to see Casper, but it was Tina sneaking out. She didn’t notice Kaia sitting there.

  I thought you were asleep.

  Something about the way Tina walked gave Kaia a funny feeling.

  She’s got the snuffbox.

  Kaia didn’t know how she knew, but she did. She ran into the office and straight to the vase. The Cat’s Eye was there, but the snuffbox wasn’t.

  “I hope this means good news,” said a male voice and Casper entered by the French doors. “In anticipation of your success, I left your reward in the vase.”