Taste Me Deadly (Sensory Ops)

by Duncan, Nikki

  “You cooking too? I haven’t eaten yet.”

  “We’ll see.”

  His voice sounded closer. A few quick moments later he stepped onto the top landing and looked at her with that humored smile of his that made him so sexy. “Grey.”

  “Who’s here?”

  “A friend.” He lifted a suitcase. “She brought you some clothes.”

  It wasn’t any suitcase. It was a Louis Vuitton. Grey backed away. Hand-me-downs were bad, but when they came from a case like that… They wouldn’t be her kind of clothes.

  He cocked his head and lifted the case a little. “You can’t want to wear those clothes again today.”

  “It’s better than whatever is in there.”

  He set the case at her feet. “When you’re finished making snap judgments like a clichéd snob you might find something in here that’s to your liking.”

  Saying nothing else, he turned and walked downstairs. His departing chastisement shamed her into carrying the bag into the bedroom to see what had been brought over.

  The suitcase held a few options. Conservative class, like what she’d worn to the hospital, and edgy with a gothic flair, like what she’d have worn as Opal. Beneath those was a third option. Dramatic comfort.

  She’d missed Opal’s clothes so much that while it was smarter to choose the style of Grey, she struggled with the desire to revisit her old self.

  Ten minutes later, dressed in the third option of jeans made of the softest denim she’d ever felt and a tie-dye T-shirt with rips strategically placed over a shoulder and the left ribcage, and a blingy skull, she headed back toward the stairs. An apology, something she seemed to be giving more than she liked, formed in her mind. Whoever was downstairs, she’d gone to some trouble for Grey’s benefit.

  The doorbell rang, loud and majestic, as she descended the last step. She looked from the door to the hall that led to the kitchen, uncomfortable answering the door.

  “That will be Lana.” The woman’s voice reached her. “I’ll get it.”

  Footsteps, lightly muffled, preceded the woman. She moved fast. Grey looked for a place to hide, but didn’t find one in time. A blonde, exquisite from head to toe in casual glamour, came into view.

  Grey gasped.

  The blonde looked up and smiled. “Hi.”

  Grey could only nod.

  Recognition would have been instant even without the vibrant red streak in the front of her wavy hair. Kami Evans. After a guest spot on an award-winning television show, the public had responded so favorably Kami Evans had become a regular. The show had never been better than it was with her. Grey waited all week for Friday night to watch the show, and now, Kami Evans was in front of her. And she’d brought a bag of clothes for Grey.

  A sweet smile lifted her lips as she turned and opened the door. “Lana. Come in.”

  The woman Kami called Lana set two bags inside the door. They embraced and then Kami pulled back, pointed to the bags. “Thank you for bringing those.”

  “Anything for Aidan and Liam.”

  Grey tried to connect the pieces of information she’d been given since returning. She didn’t know how Kami Evans fit into Liam’s world; she wouldn’t have missed that. Lana was marrying Aidan and was the FBI director’s daughter, but she seemed familiar beyond that.

  “No big stories to chase down?”

  Lana glanced up to Grey and smiled as she answered Kami. “None that can’t wait a day. Or more.”

  Lana Quinn. Top award-winning reporter in Miami. Grey always read Lana’s articles first. Sometimes she even kept them. Before her, in what could only be described as a mansion, a home Liam wanted her to think of as her own, stood two of Miami’s most important women.

  Lana grabbed the two bags she’d brought in and looked at Grey again. “You must be Grey. I’m Aidan’s fiancée, Lana Quinn.”

  “Hi.” Grey’s voice cracked, forcing her to clear her throat.

  “And I’m Kami Evans.”

  Grey lifted a hand in a slight wave. “I know who you are.” God. It was like being slammed back to high school where she wasn’t sure why the popular kids were talking to her.

  Kami smiled and took one of the bags from Lana. “Then join us. We’ll kick Liam out of the house and do what women do best.”

  “Talk about men.” Lana laughed and shook her bag. “And play with chocolate.”

  Grey found herself sinking deeper and deeper into a world she needed to escape. Then it hit her. She was Alice and this was Liam’s wonderland.

  At least it came with chocolate.

  A little later, a Disney movie played on the big screen in the living room and the kitchen smelled of chocolate confections, some prettier than others depending on who’d done them.

  Lori Mullins, owner of a local wedding planning business, had joined them. Lana and Kami had given a tour of the home, especially showing off the changes Liam had made to the lab that was now called a safe room. Liam had said Grey was safe. She actually felt it.

  With the tour over and the gossip in swing, Lori sat on an island barstool with a sketchpad, working on a wedding dress. Swearing she couldn’t boil water without burning it, she designated herself as the taste tester.

  Lana was pretty adept, but Kami, well, Kami wasn’t very good in the kitchen.

  “Grey, we may need to add you to our database of caterers,” Lori said after tasting a white chocolate truffle with a blueberry drizzle. “These would work perfectly for so many of the weddings we plan.”

  “It’s just a hobby.” Grey shrugged away the idea of owning a business, of being a chef. Thinking about past dreams could pass the time, but nothing so settled as a real career existed in her future.

  “It’s a gift, and it’s something to think about when your sister’s recovered.”

  Grey had wondered if everyone who walked into her life knew about her not being whom she said she was, but Liam had assured her Lana was the only one in the house who knew about the WitSec ID. He couldn’t guarantee that Kami didn’t know about them being married, but he’d shrugged it off saying the only thing that mattered was her safety. Then he’d assured her she would be safe while he was gone. Especially with Lori in the house. She’d tried to ask about that, but he’d refused to answer.

  “It’s a gift I don’t seem to have.” Kami laughed as the chocolate she was trying to drizzle over some dipped strawberries came out in clumps.

  She’d managed to get chocolate in her hair and on her neck and there was a huge smear across the bust of her apron. Seeing her look less than high-def perfect was fun.

  “If I did social media, I would so ask for a picture of you right now.” Grey smiled as she moved to help Kami. She could almost stop thinking of her as Kami Evans, actress, but not quite.

  Lana grabbed her arm to stop her with one hand while grabbing her phone with the other. “Well I do social media and I won’t ask for the picture.”

  Before she finished her declaration Lana had snapped a picture and was uploading it to Twitter. Teehee-ing, she turned the phone to show Grey.

  @ActressKamiEvans is experimenting with chocolate. Where r the men when u need them? #girltime

  Grey laughed. She’d done a lot of that since the women had kicked Liam out and started unloading bags. At moments it felt like they’d been friends for years, like there were no differences in their social classes or backgrounds. Those brief moments would become treasured memories when she walked away.

  “I’m glad Breck isn’t on Twitter,” Kami said. “He’d see that and start making demands.” She chuckled as she set her bag down and typed a response to Lana’s tweet.

  Lana smirked. “You’ll indulge them either way. Who knows, maybe with a little more help from Grey you’ll be less messy.”

  “Life’s messy. That’s where the fun is.” Lori winked.

  Kami wiped at the chocolate on her neck, smearing it more. “Says the woman who never looks less than flawless.”

  “Image is everything,” Lor
i said with her head high. “It pains me to say it, but that was one thing Madame X had right. Even when you’re pretending, if you project the right image, people will believe you’re who you say you are.”

  Guilt stabbed Grey. Her entire existence was a pretense. An image. A façade. And she was pulling more people into it. Worse, they were people she liked and didn’t want to hurt.

  “I disagree,” Lana said as her phone rang. She continued talking as she answered. “Eventually we all have to take off our masks and let people see the real us. Only then do we learn who we really are. Isn’t that right, babe?” she asked the caller who had to be Aidan.

  Grey left Lana to her call and tried not to think about being unmasked. These high-class women would never accept her if they knew the things she’d done. Instead, she stepped behind Kami and wrapped a hand over hers to help with the chocolate bag.

  “Who’s Madame X?” she asked between giving pointers to Kami.

  “A bitch,” Kami and Lori muttered in unison with a matching tone of hatred.

  Lana ended the call, having listened more than talked to Aidan, and saved Grey with an explanation. “Madame X ran an escort agency. This house was her base of operations until Breck and the team took her down.”

  “This house.” Grey waved a hand. “Liam said he got a killer’s deal.” She shivered. “Did she kill people here?”

  “No, but she did orchestrate a few hits from here.”

  “How can you talk about it so casually like it’s not creepy to be in a killer’s kitchen?”

  “We’ve learned to let it go. Counseling can also help.” Lori set her pencil down and looked directly at Grey. “I was a spy sent here to work a case. I didn’t realize the agency I was with was corrupt until I fell in love with one of Madame X’s clients. The real trigger was when an innocent man died because of me.”

  Lori had been a spy? Like Sydney Bristow in Alias? That explained why Liam had said she could protect Grey. Focusing on the story instead of Lori’s history, Grey asked, “Who was he?”

  “My stepbrother,” Kami said quietly as if she still mourned him. “They made it look like a suicide, which I didn’t believe. So I went undercover as a call girl to prove he was murdered.”

  “That’s how she met Breck,” Lana said. “And through Kami being here we met Ava. And through Breck investigating his best friend’s connection to the case we met Lori.”

  “How are Lori and Breck’s best friend connected?”

  “He’s the client I fell in love with and the second man who was supposed to die because of me,” Lori stated matter-of-factly. “Almost did. He’s also my fiancé.”

  “How are you two friends?” Grey asked Lori and Kami. “And with all that happened how can you stand to be here? In this place?”

  “Because as screwed up as our journey together began, and trust me when I say we’ve been through some heavy shit, Kami and I found love as a result.”

  “And met Ava, who is seriously awesome.” Kami spoke slowly, concentrating on the drizzle. She was almost getting it. “And through her we met H and Simon.”

  “And they took down a corrupt agency and granted a man and his sister the greatest gift they could have hoped for.” Lana’s wrap-up sounded like a much bigger story, so Grey didn’t ask about the gift. Though she was curious.

  “So how can you be in this house?”

  “The house wasn’t evil. Its owner was. We wouldn’t have the lives we do if not for what started here with Lori.” Kami grinned as she finished a successful drizzle. “She was bringing us all together even before we knew she existed.”

  And Liam made sure they had the chance to form happier memories in the house. He’d taken their unconventional beginning and turned it into something positive and reaffirming. He was trying to do the same with Grey, with their marriage. She just wasn’t so sure he’d be as successful with her.

  “Hey!” Lana smacked her hand on the counter, making them all jump, and then pointed at Lori. “You said fiancé. Did you finally accept Trevor’s proposals?”

  “Proposals?” Grey asked.

  “It’s a game they play,” Kami said out of the corner of her mouth while watching Lori. “He asks her daily and she never answers.”

  “I’m just trying it on.” Lori shrugged. “I love him but I can’t stop wondering if he’s too good for me.”

  Grey’s eyes widened. The woman had pulled up in a luxurious convertible and was the picture of elegance. She fit in with Kami and Lana as if they’d been friends forever, yet she had the same doubts about belonging. “How can that be?”

  “I have no family,” Lori said. “I’ve done horrible things, including murder and prostitution.”

  “Both under the guise of helping our country,” Kami stated.

  “I nearly got Trevor killed. Then I vanished. Now I reject him over and over. Why would he want to be with me? Why should I shackle him to me?”

  It was the same kind of dilemma Grey faced with Liam. Shitty background. Unusual beginning. Long absence. Rejection after reunion. Images weren’t everything, because if they were she wouldn’t have found anything in common with the women sharing the kitchen with her.

  “None of that was under your control and Trevor knows it. Even if it was, it’s in the past. Do you really want to miss out on whatever greatness is in store for you by continuing to reject him?”

  Kami’s challenge was aimed at Lori, but it hit a sour note in Grey. Did she want to miss out? What exactly might she be missing out on?

  Speculation sucked, but she was pulled from further conversation by her ringing phone. The number on the display shot through her, awakening dread.

  “Grey?”

  “It’s the hospital,” she answered Lana automatically. Her thumb trembled as it neared the Talk button. She was shaking fully as she lifted the cell. “This is Grey.”

  Everything changed with three words and a flurry of movement.

  “Ruby’s waking up,” the caller said. They said more, but she only heard the three words she’d waited to hear. Ruby’s waking up.

  Grey’s knees went weak. Lana hurried forward and grabbed her. Kami pulled a barstool close. Lori got a washcloth and ran it under the water.

  Whatever else was said about Ruby went unheard beneath the buzz of emotions until Lana took the phone from her. Lori rubbed the rag over Grey’s face and neck, but it only made her skin wet.

  Someone, maybe Lana, told someone, maybe Kami, to call Liam.

  That rabbit hole was looking more like a tornado and what she needed most was a wizard with a miracle.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Liam had been on Grey duty for four days, counting his time watching Ruby, but as much as he adored her, as badly as he wanted her to fall in love with him and understand that his life wasn’t as fancy as she thought, he ached with the need for answers. When he arrived at the office, he only knew what his calls from the car had netted him. Simon was on Ruby watch and Tyler was running the data they had.

  It wasn’t enough and Liam was ready for battle.

  The office that was reserved exclusively for the Specialized Crimes Unit was abuzz with activity. Ava and Kieralyn weren’t in, but men sat at their desks on the phones. Breck was in his office with another man in a suit who gestured wildly.

  Aidan stood from his desk and approached Liam. “How’s Grey?”

  “Safe at home with Kami, Lana and Lori.”

  “Good.”

  “What’s going on here? You get anything out of Grey’s shooter?”

  Aidan shook his head. “Nothing yet. He’s under guard at the hospital. Kieralyn and Ava are heading over to talk to him now.”

  “What about the lab? Anything on prints or ballistics?” Liam asked.

  “Nothing useful yet. The gun was unregistered and the shooter has no prints.” Aidan pointed at the men using the girls’ desks. “They’re working to verify him as McKay, though it’s doubtful that’s his name.”

  “Who are they?”
>
  “U.S. Marshals. The one currently arguing with Breck for jurisdiction is Micah. He wants Grey back with him.”

  “Then they know something they’re not sharing.”

  “Don’t they always?”

  The double glass doors to their space opened behind Liam. He turned and watched Director Quinn enter. Graying at the temples, power preceded his every step, and it was only partly due to his size and the way he dressed. More than anything, Director Quinn carried himself as a man not to be crossed, and as a result few people did.

  “Liam, where’s Ms. Craig?”

  “My house. Safe.”

  He turned his gaze on Aidan. “And Lana?”

  “At Liam’s with Kami, Grey and Lori Mullins.”

  Director Quinn nodded once and then lowered his voice. “Get an agent over there.”

  “Are they in danger?” Liam’s blood sped up. He reached for his phone.

  “Possibly.”

  “I have one of Ian’s bugs on Grey.” When his brother and the director looked at him with suspicious gazes, Liam just shrugged. “Like you two wouldn’t tag Lana twenty-four seven if you could get away with it.”

  “Do any of the women know about Ms. Craig’s situation?”

  “Lana.”

  The director nodded. “Aidan, call her. Tell her an agent is heading over and if she has an argument she can take it up with me. Liam, I want that device active and monitored.”

  “Yes, sir.” Liam had already pushed the app icon to activate it. “What’s going on?”

  “Karl Jessup has escaped.”

  “I’ll be the agent Lana should expect.” Liam headed for the door not caring how close he was to the case. He only cared about getting back to Grey before anything bad could happen. Or before she heard about Jessup from someone else.

  He had just settled behind the wheel of the car and gotten the tablet docked with Grey’s bug activated when Aidan called. It was all Liam could do not to call Grey himself, but he didn’t want to alarm her until he was close enough to stop her if she tried to run. He turned down the volume on the tablet, satisfied that they were gossiping happily, and answered. “Yeah?”