by Eva Luxe
We cleared the entire field before we set a controlled burn to the leaves the trees left behind, and I was glad to not be nominated to stay behind. I was all about overtime, but this past weekend had kicked my ass. All I wanted to do was go home, tinker around on my computer, and pass out.
“Up for going to the bar tonight?” Caden asked.
“You know I don’t drink on work nights,” I said.
“Whoever said you were a bad boy had that shit all wrong,” he said, chuckling. “Catch you tomorrow.”
I shook my head as I climbed into my car, ready for my ass to get home. I was tired, I was hungry, and I was sweaty. I wanted to take a nice hot shower and feel the sweat run off my body. I wanted to order an entire fucking pizza for myself. I wanted to down an entire two-liter of soda without having to share that shit with anyone, and then I wanted to roll over and go the fuck to sleep.
But as I left work, a familiar car pulled out behind me.
It was that beat-up, white car that Caden had seen this morning. The one with the dent and the missing hubcap. The car tailed me off the site and right into town, and I wasn’t about to lead some environmental lunatic to my home. I drove around town and kept my eyes in my rearview mirror, watching as this car made every turn I did. I was two seconds away from pulling over, getting out of my fucking car, and giving them a piece of my damn mind.
But just as I pulled out onto the main road that split Brookings in half, they turned in the other direction. I lost them in my rearview mirror, and they never returned, which brought me a bit of relief.
Though I’d have to keep my eye out for that damn car tomorrow morning.
I went back to my apartment and ordered a pizza. I took a long-ass shower, washing myself down in the piping-hot water. I steamed up the room so badly, I couldn’t see anything in the mirror, and I sighed with relief as I moved past it.
I hated looking up into that thing in the mornings.
My food arrived just as I pulled a pair of jeans on, and this cute little pizza girl was standing at the door. Her eyes connected with my chest and danced all over my tattoos before they descended onto my abs.
I grinned at her shocked expression as I took in her beautiful features. She was skinny, which wasn’t my type. Her black hair was long, and her dark brown eyes were wide. She looked up at me with a breathless expression as I took my food from her. Then I set it on the table by the door so I could sign the receipt she had for me.
“I, uh, hope you enjoy your food,” she said.
“Would you like a slice?”
“What?” she asked.
My eyes connected with hers, and I watched as she squeezed her thighs together.
“Would you like a slice?” I asked.
She looked around, like someone was supposed to be watching her before she looked back up at me. I saw her car downstairs, the headlights still on and the car still running. She bit down onto her cute little lip, dragging it between her white teeth before her eyes looked back up at me.
“You’re crazy,” she said.
But her eyes lit up, and I knew I could have her if I wanted her. Sometimes that’s all I wanted. Just to know I could have any woman I wanted— and I was always right.
I picked up the food and drink I’d ordered and set it on the counter before I turned around to leave. There were so many things I could do to this woman.
But it would have to wait for another time because I needed to get home and get some rest. The last thing I needed was another crazy cling-on like the one who had just left my cabin by force.
Chapter 8
Paige
I walked into Kami’s bakery, and her expression immediately brightened.
“Hey! I didn’t expect to see you here. You usually come in on Fridays.”
“Well, I got me a job to do.”
“Uh oh. I know that look on your face. You found yourself a lead. Can you talk about it?”
“I can,” I said. “Without names, of course.”
“Of course. Step into my humble office while I slather some icing on some cupcakes.”
I loved walking into Kami’s bakery. She had the perfect location in Seattle, and it was filled with the perfect treats this organic, hipster community seemed to enjoy.
Matcha-iced cupcakes with a vegan-based cake recipe. Organic peanut-butter brittle. “Sin-namon Rolls” without any of the sinful calories. Kami’s bakery was the only place where I could buy healthy food without it tasting like chalk.
The woman was a goddess.
I inhaled deeply and smiled. “The place smells wonderful. What’s on the menu today?”
“More ‘sin-namon’ rolls and another batch of my newest creation. Vegan-friendly German chocolate cake.”
“You’re kidding,” I said.
“Wanna try a piece?”
“Do I fucking ever.”
She set the piece of cake down in front of me, and it looked like ass. I was sure there was some tofu bullshit or whatever binding all this together, but it smelled good enough to try. I took a big forkful and shoved it into my face.
The taste hit my tongue, luscious sweetness and a crunch from the toasted coconut in the cake topping. The cake itself was spongy, but not too soggy.
It was heaven on a fork, and my eyes rolled into the back of my head.
“You like?”
“Ugh. It’s better than sex, Kami.”
“Then you’re not having good enough sex,” she said, giggling.
“Okay, so. This case I’m working. I went to meet the client Monday morning, and he handed me a file of shit he’d already researched.”
“So, he did your job for you,” she said.
“I mean, I double and triple-checked everything, but it looks like this guy’s assumptions were right. There’s this young man he thinks is stealing from his company.”
Kami wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Oh, shit. Stealing? I’m sorry, but that’s the worst kind of low.”
“Wait a second,” I said. “I’ve come to you with cheaters, abusers, and manipulators, but theft is what gets you?”
“Look, it took a lot for me to start this business. I went into a considerable amount of debt, not knowing if I’d ever make it out alive. I work sixteen-hour days some days just to make sure I turn a profit, and there have been months where those sixteen-hour days have been my saving grace with rent.”
She paused, shaking her head, before continuing.
“If I even thought someone was stealing from me, it would be game over. This is my life. My livelihood. I can bounce back from a jackass who thinks he can have his cake and eat it, too. I can’t bounce back from someone trying to take the shit that he tried to make his cake with.”
“I think I get it… sort of,” I said. “Anyway. I checked I.P. addresses and run down bank accounts. I pulled up personal information on this guy and tried to figure out a motive. I’m still trying to get some documents unsealed, but for the most part, the guy my client pinned down seems to be it.”
“So, what do you do now?” Kami asked.
“Well, I contacted my client this morning and told him the news. He seemed pleased with himself, which isn’t shocking if I could tell you who the client was. Anyway, now I have to go do surveillance on the guy.”
She nodded. “Ah, to see if you can catch him in the act.”
“More to put some pieces together. I have a lot of questions I need answered before I try to catch him doing anything. For one, this guy’s only stealing, like, a few hundred dollars at a time. It’s not like he’s siphoning off tens of thousands of dollars in one go. Another thing I don’t understand: if the client knows this is happening, why in the world is he keeping the bank account open?”
Kami shook her head, not getting it, either.
“He’s a powerful person in business,” I continued. “He’s got the tech guys to lock this guy out or to get his money back in a shady way. Or even switch the funds altogether so when the guy tries again, he’s drawing o
ff an empty account. And what the hell is their connection? If someone’s trying to steal from you like this over and over again, it’s personal. There’s a great deal that doesn’t add up.”
“What does your gut say?” Kami asked.
“It’s telling me something’s not right with the information I’m finding. I mean, come on. A few hundred dollars at a time? This client of mine had the paperwork right there in the file folder. I get that my client runs a massive business, but when I was interviewing people that oversaw and monitored these financial accounts, they didn’t seem worried.”
“At all?” she asked.
“Not one damn bit. And the people who work for this guy act really weird. I don’t know. There’s just something off about this entire thing. That’s part of the reason why I want to do surveillance. That was the part my client was really keen on.”
“So, you’re going to play into his hand?”
“Exactly. I’ve got just enough circumstantial evidence to warrant staking out this guy, so why not? It’s obvious the client wanted that outcome, so why not give it to him and flush out the reason why later on?”
“Girl, you’re good. If you actually had a passion for this, I’d tell you to open your own damn agency. Okay, so where’s this guy located?”
“That’s the thing,” I said. “He’s in Oregon.”
“Oregon? Some random dude in Oregon is stealing from a business here?”
“Brookings, Oregon to be exact,” I said.
“Where the hell’s that?”
“About nine hours south of here. It’s a town that borders the Oregon-Washington state line.”
“Well, while you’re there, maybe you could enjoy some of your time there and paint or something.”
“Seriously, Kami. We’re doing this now?”
“Or at least, spend some time in the outdoors! Come on. You never get out. You’re either at your apartment, poking around, or in your office, poking around.”
“That’s not true,” I said, grinning. “I poke around here, too.”
“Just use the time wisely. Do your work, but enjoy yourself, too. Your work never takes you anywhere. Enjoy wherever the fuck Brocklings is.”
“Brookings.”
“Whatever,” she said. “So, when do you leave, and how long will you be gone?”
“I’m actually leaving this afternoon. It’s why I came in today. I’ll be gone however long it takes to figure out what the hell’s going on because I feel like I’m being duped. And you know how I feel about that.”
She nodded. “I mean, you said you had proof. Addresses or something?”
“Yeah. The I.P. addresses take me through a pretty plain trail, but it’s easy to duplicate those. With the tech guys this man has on staff, they could easily tailor-make the trail I found.”
“Doesn’t sound like you’re working for the client anymore,” she said, grinning. “This guy’s cute, isn’t he?”
“No, but even just looking at his picture tells me something isn’t right. There’s something so familiar about him, and I can’t place it. There’s something I’m missing, and I’m pissed that I can’t see it.”
“Well, take care of yourself. Let me know when you get to Brookbeds, okay? And fill me in on any juicy gossip as you get it.”
“It’s Brookings, and I will,” I said as I turned to leave.
“Oh, and paint me something!”
“How about the crack of my ass?!”
“Love you, too, Paige.”
I got out to my car and revved up the engine. I reached for the manila envelope and pulled out the contents. This whole thing just felt too easy. Mr. Kent had connected all the dots for me and handed the case over to me, all wrapped up in a pretty bow. And the end of our conversation didn’t have anything to do with getting his money back. It had to do with surveillance. I’d been working as a private investigator long enough to know that people close our discussions with what was most meaningful to them.
For Mr. Kent, the money was somewhere in the middle of the conversation, but this surveillance was what he ended with. Watching this suspect was Mr. Kent’s ultimate reason for hiring me.
I was missing something, and I had a feeling I wasn’t going to find it digging into whoever the fuck Zachary Harte was.
A hard knock on my window startled me from my thoughts, and I jumped so violently that papers went flying all over the dashboard of my car.
I rolled down the window. “Holy fuck! Kami! You scared the piss out of me.”
She shoved a bakery box in my hands. “Some of my freshly baked cinnamon rolls for the road. Call me when you get there.”
“Thank you so much. I love these things.”
“I know you do. Are you always such a slob? Your car’s a fucking mess.”
“I hate you.”
“Love you, too,” she said, winking.
I gathered up the papers and stuffed them back into the envelope before I buckled my seatbelt. I drove myself out to the highway and set my cruise control so I could think. If this man was stealing from Mr. Kent, then I needed to make sure he couldn’t steal from that man anymore. Kami was right. People who felt that someone else’s hard-earned money was theirs for the taking were some of the worst kinds of people. Maybe not the worst, but they were up there on the worst scale.
But was that happening in this case? If my gut was right, then I needed to do some background research into Mr. Kent as well.
And that meant I’d have to research him without throwing up any red flags. Mr. Kent struck me as the kind of man who kept tabs on that kind of thing, and the last thing I needed was for him to come down onto my boss’s head for my actions.
After all, I still needed this job to pay my bills, no matter how good I’d become at it.
Chapter 9
Zach
Caden clapped me on the back. “All right, man. You owe me a beer.”
“I don’t owe you shit, Caden.”
“Come on,” he said. “You’ve blown me off for days.”
“Because I don’t feel like drinking.”
“Who the hell doesn’t feel like drinking? That’s shit talk, dude. Come on. Just one beer at the bar. Maybe that redheaded teacher’s looking for you.”
I frowned. “I hope not. Besides, it would be the pizza delivery girl chasing after me now.”
His mouth fell open. “What? The pizza girl? You got laid and didn’t tell me?”
“Yeah, I do it all the time. What the hell are you, a high school girl?”
“They had the best fun in high school. Gossiping and poking fun at their own friends. Guys never do that stuff. Anyway, what was she like? Tall? Thin? Massive tits and red lipstick?”
“I don’t fuck the kind of girls you like,” I said.
“You should. They rock in bed.”
“I’d rather be the one doing that,” I said.
“I’m more the type to allow her to explore.”
“You’re a fucking pillow princess.”
“And I work hard!” he said. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
Chuckling, I made my way to my car. Today was batshit crazy at work, and I was ready to get home. I had a marinating steak calling my name, but I had to pick up a few things to go with it. Some more beer to keep in the fridge, a vegetable I could steam up, and maybe some mashed potatoes to go along with it.
I was fucking starving, and I knew I’d come out of the grocery store with more than I needed, but I wasn’t just going to down an entire steak without other shit to eat with it.
“Just come out for one beer,” Caden said. “It’ll be fun.”
“I know you think that,” I said, grinning.
“Fine. I’ll let you off the hook this time. But now, you won’t get to hear my new business proposal. It’s a serious doozy, with lots of cash to be made.”
“I’ll regret it in the morning, I’m sure.”
I slipped into my car, which Caden had taken me to get during a work break, and watched as Cade
n’s body receded in my rearview mirror. Not long after, I pulled into the grocery store with my stomach growling. I got out and went to grab a small cart, then I made my way around the store. I walked up and down the aisles, trying to think about shit I could cook easily in bulk, then reheat for the next few days.
That was when I saw her.
This beautiful woman came around the corner and caught my stare. She had dark green eyes that reminded me of a stormy night and long blonde hair that draped over her prominent tits. Her waist dipped in sensually before it flared out to a pair of hips, and my hands were already pulsing to trace over her curves. She was short, with toned legs I could see underneath the skinny jeans she was wearing.
And the best part was that she was looking right at me.
She was gorgeous. More beautiful than any woman I’d ever seen in my life. Her curves could knock any man to the ground, and her plump little lips just begged for my cock.
All of a sudden, it was like I forgot the girl from the restaurant, or any other chick that was on my “to fuck” list. My mind was completely stolen by this stranger.
We stood there in the aisle, facing one another as she pushed her cart. Neither of us made a move toward the other, and I could see her eyes roaming over my body. They raked down my form before her eyes danced along the tattoos on my arm. I smirked as I watched her cheeks flush.
Oh, she was going to be mine tonight.
But before I could approach her, she turned away and quickly disappeared around the corner of the aisle. I strode after her to see if I could get her name. I turned the corner and looked down the aisles, trying to find that flutter of beautiful blonde hair I wanted to wrap around my knuckles and tug.
However, she was nowhere to be found.
Disappointed, I finished up my grocery shopping. I picked up a few snacks I’d regret later, then took my haul up to the register. I looked around, my head on a swivel as I tried to find her. The harder I looked, the more it seemed she had just disappeared.
The disappointment sat hard in my stomach.
The woman at the register was ringing up my things as a conversation took place behind me.
“That’ll be fifty-two dollars even, please,” a cashier said.
