Mistake Me Not

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘I can send one of the boys with her.’

  ‘You don’t have to... I’m sure this will all blow over.’

  ‘It’s our top priority now. You’re our top priority. We’ll get you a phone, and a panic button, and—’

  ‘Stop punishing yourself,’ she said.

  ‘I let you down again,’ he said softly, the anger becoming agony.

  ‘You haven’t let me down once,’ she said. ‘No one touched me last night. Yes, I was scared but it’s over now. We were broken into when I was kid, and it was horrible. I can’t go back to that place, I can’t sleep there again. But, I’ll sleep in your bed for a week if you’re sure—‘

  ‘A week,’ he said. ‘You’ll be lucky if I let you go at all. Who’s the detective?’

  ‘Deacon,’ she answered.

  ‘I’ll get a copy of your statement, I’ll brief the guys, and we’ll coordinate.’ Ryder got off the couch but she stayed put. He walked to a panel on the wall and pressed a button. ‘I’ll take you back to the house now.’

  ‘What happened to the sex?’ she said. The door opened, and in it was the person from behind the front desk – the young one.

  ‘Lacie this is Sonny,’ Ryder said. ‘He’s our resident skivvy for the moment.’

  ‘Thanks boss,’ Sonny muttered.

  ‘You’re welcome. Get Gabe on the phone to Deacon for the particulars,’ Ryder said then turned to her. ‘Did you tell Deacon about who they were?’ She nodded. ‘Did you use my name?’ Lacie didn’t have a chance to respond. ‘Of course you didn’t, or he would have phoned me.’

  ‘I didn’t want to—‘

  ‘That’s ok,’ Ryder said. ‘Privacy and loyalty, you told me already. Your morals are our morals too.’ Then he addressed Sonny again. ‘Find out when the scene will be cleared, and tell Rocco he’s going to be going down there.’ Ryder was back to her. ‘We’ll get all your cards cancelled, and scramble your phone. Is there anything sensitive in your purse?’

  ‘Your phone number was written on a receipt,’ she said.

  ‘That’s ok. We’ll kill my line too. Anything else?’

  ‘Not really. I only use my computer to shop, so—‘

  ‘We can scramble that too,’ Ryder said. ‘If you think of anything, you can let us know. We’ll put in a few ghosts for them.’

  She didn’t even know what that meant. ‘They took my underwear,’ she said.

  ‘They stole your underwear?’ Sonny repeated. But it was written on Ryder’s face too in much less discreet language.

  ‘It beggars belief doesn’t it,’ she said liking the kid already, he didn’t have the hardened, cynical edge of the others.

  ‘Wardrobe’s not a problem,’ Ryder said. ‘We’ll get you everything you need Baby.’

  ‘I know,’ she said driving her fists into the lush leather to push up to her feet. ‘I’d kill for a bath.’

  ‘You got it,’ he said.

  ‘Ok, start talking,’ Ryder said taking his seat at the head of the oval boardroom table in the back room of HQ.

  He’d left Lacie in the bath in his en-suite, and told her to try and sleep when she was finished but he didn’t know if she’d take that advice.

  Sonny sat at the far end of the table next to Rocco with Gabe opposite them. But it was Toby who did the talking.

  ‘There is certainly something fishy at Lewis Investment,’ Toby said. ‘I told you about the accounts we pulled? It’s obvious someone was skimming a hearty amount.’

  ‘We knew that days ago,’ Ryder said. ‘What else have you got?’

  ‘The trouble we’ve faced is trying to establish who that money is going to. We’ve linked it to several off-shore accounts, which are all under various aliases.’

  ‘But we assume it’s the same person,’ Ryder said.

  ‘Or a consortium,’ Rocco said. ‘But yes the signature of the activity was the same. It’s being orchestrated by one group.’

  ‘And Bruce Booth was their inside man,’ Ryder said.

  ‘Appears so.’

  Gabe had given them the police information though it was still in its infancy. But reading Lacie’s statement had been enough to tell all of them how serious this could’ve gotten, and after his reaction to the report they were in no doubt about his depth of connection to this case, and this woman.

  ‘If it’s one group with this one case then it’s small time,’ Gabe said. ‘They’re skimming a serious amount of money but nothing like the big boys play with.’

  ‘The question is why did they pull Bruce Booth?’ Ryder asked. ‘If they had him on the inside then he was useful. Lacie says that he left town a good three months ago. He left his girlfriend telling her he’d been poached by a bigger fish out of town.’

  ‘Anyone else notice we’re preoccupied with size today?’ Rocco asked easing some of the tension in the room.

  ‘How is your girl involved?’ Gabe asked. ‘I read her statement. But where do you fit in?’

  Ryder recounted the story minus the intimate parts; his men would read between the lines for those. ‘So Seth Sheppard’s involved,’ Rocco said. ‘He’ll blunder in with his big feet and track mud over us all.’

  ‘I’m meeting him at twelve,’ Ryder said with a glance at his watch. ‘I’ll get him to back off.’

  ‘He’s not going to find anything that we wouldn’t,’ Rocco said. ‘He has no value in this. It’s—‘

  ‘You don’t have to convince me,’ Ryder said. ‘He has history with Bruce’s ex otherwise he’d have been nowhere near this at all.’

  The truth was that Ryder had no way to know that. Shep had been suggested because Sorcha knew him. If she hadn’t the women might have looked through the phone book, or they might have gone looking for him their selves.

  ‘You know that the most valuable advice you can give these women is to back off,’ Toby said. ‘There’s no reason to pursue this guy... and he’ll be no remedy to a broken heart.’

  ‘It’s more than that,’ Ryder said. ‘I don’t care as much about the original case as I do about Lacie right now. They’ve focused on her because of my initial blunder.’

  ‘You had no reason to believe that there would be any danger surrounding this case, especially since you found her in Shep’s office,’ Rocco said. ‘This isn’t his bag. She’s lucky that you were in there and not him or...’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ryder said. ‘They don’t know me. They knew her. I didn’t see the boss but Lacie did. Keeping her safe is our primary mission.’

  ‘Keeping her safe is easy,’ Rocco said. ‘But the danger won’t go away until we find out who is behind this.’

  ‘I know,’ Ryder said. ‘She won’t like being cooped up either.’

  ‘This place is a palace, she’ll be fine. We all entertain ourselves here, so she can too.’

  Their area of land was extensive, the HQ building that served as their centre of operations was the one closest to the street so that visitors didn’t get to look too far. The house was only two levels but it was sizeable and sat about a hundred meters behind the HQ in a dip that hid it from the main street. But, the dip plateaued at the back giving them a terrific view from their elevated position. Lacie had loved the view from his room; he knew she would. His bedroom sat at the top of the building in the west tower, the large circular room was three quarters glazed. Originally, the plan had been to glaze all of it but the house was symmetrical right down the middle. The west wing was his, and the east was Jamie’s. By leaving the quarter obscured, they couldn’t see into each other’s towers... always for the best.

  Gabe was right that they had a lot of services covered. They had a gym, and a pool, and a library among other interests but those weren’t Lacie’s loves.

  ‘Clear out the tactical storage in the house,’ he said to Sonny.

  ‘Me? Why?’

  ‘Just do it,’ Ryder said.

  ‘Have you spoken to Jamie?’ Toby asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Ryder said. ‘I spoke to him last night. I’ll
let him know what’s going on.’

  ‘What are you going to do about Shep?’

  ‘I’ll see if he’s got anything worth looking at,’ Ryder said.

  ‘Doubtful.’

  ‘I’ll give him the chance. Meanwhile, we stay in touch with Deacon. We’ll hand over what we’ve got about the Lewis Investments when we know where Booth is.’

  ‘Won’t that information help them track him?’ Sonny asked.

  Gabe offered the answer. ‘If the police start poking around one of two things happen, either they’ll go so far underground we’ll never find them and we have to just sit around waiting for the other shoe to drop.’

  ‘Or?’ Sonny asked.

  Ryder knew the answer but a wave of reluctance swept the room, and no one wanted to answer or make eye contact with him.

  ‘Or they go to any lengths to clear the board,’ Ryder said. ‘No witnesses, no testimony.’

  ‘They could have killed him,’ Gabe said.

  ‘Booth? I thought of that.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Ryder said. ‘It’ll matter to Sorcha, and I’d never wish the guy dead despite what’s happened. But these guys think we’re on to them. We’ve got them panicked we just have to hope that leads to mistakes.’

  ‘Lacie can get into her place whenever she wants,’ Gabe said.

  ‘Ok,’ Ryder said. ‘You and Rocco get over there and find anything the cops have missed. Then I want you to clear everything out.’

  ‘Everything?’

  ‘Get our storage guys onto it. I want the place empty. I’ll find out from Lacie if there’s anything particularly important but trash what’s not salvageable.’

  When he left the table, the men did too. ‘I want everyone on amber until this is over,’ Ryder said. ‘We don’t know if they’ll come at us but if they do I want everyone ready. I’m going to phone Deacon now myself.’

  ‘We’ve got the Waverley Ball this weekend,’ Gabe said.

  ‘I haven’t forgotten,’ Ryder said. ‘We carry on with business as usual. But everyone stay on your toes.’

  ‘Boss,’ Rocco said when Ryder was about to leave the table.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘She’s hot.’

  These were serious men, highly trained, precision workers but it could always be left to Rocco to keep priorities right, and right now that meant admiring the woman who’d stolen his heart.

  ‘You keep your eyes front soldier,’ Ryder said.

  ‘You’ve not had a woman up at the house since I’ve been here,’ Sonny said.

  ‘It’s rare,’ Toby said.

  ‘She’s special,’ Ryder said.

  ‘We got that,’ Gabe said.

  ‘We’ll work hard for you, boss.’

  ‘You always do,’ Ryder said.

  The room paused then went to work, this was their priority, and Ryder just hoped that he could bring this to a resolution quickly for all their sakes.

  Lacie hadn’t meant to fall asleep but when she came out of the bathroom she’d sat on the bed to admire the view and suddenly her body became heavy. When she lay down it was like bathing in his scent, which only made her face bury itself deeper. The slightest noise startled her awake and she sat up looking around desperately for the source of the sound. She might not have remembered where she was except he was the first thing she saw.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she asked him. He whirled around to see her examining him. ‘What are those?’

  ‘Sonny went to the stores for you,’ Ryder said abandoning the boxes and bags he’d been placing down. ‘You slept?’

  ‘A little,’ she stretched and found herself yawning again.

  ‘Lie down,’ he said. ‘Go back to sleep.’

  She shook her head. ‘If I sleep today I’ll never be able to settle tonight.’

  ‘You’re in my bedroom,’ he said sitting on the bed to face her. ‘You might not be entitled to any sleep tonight.’

  ‘Do you still have my pills?’ she asked. He nodded. ‘I’ll need to phone my doctor for a refill if I’m going to be staying here.’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘For the foreseeable future.’

  Closing her eyes, she rolled her neck on her shoulders working out the kinks of a tense night. When he pinched her nipple in reflex, she slapped his hand away. The direct contact had taken her by surprise until she remembered she’d lay down wearing only her towel. Now said towel had fallen off her body and was in a crumpled mess beneath her.

  ‘You’re naked,’ he said. ‘That’s an invitation.’

  ‘I did everything but send you an embossed invitation this morning and you didn’t take advantage of it. What time is it?’

  ‘I don’t have time right now,’ he said. ‘But when I’m back we’ll spend the rest of the day in bed. How is that?’

  ‘Why don’t you have time now?’

  ‘I have to go out,’ he said.

  Glancing behind herself, she read the time. ‘It’s eleven thirty. We’ll be late.’

  ‘No, we won’t,’ he said.

  She scrambled off the bed towards the bags he’d dumped and began scrambling through them. ‘You should’ve woken me.’

  ‘You’re not coming,’ he said.

  She dropped the top she’d been holding. ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘You’re staying here until this is over,’ he said. ‘Right here.’

  ‘You’re going to leave me here alone with a dozen men who have the ability to kill me?’

  ‘Don’t be scared of the guys,’ Ryder said leaving the bed to join her. ‘None of them will hurt you. Every single one of them would give their life for yours.’

  ‘What?’ she asked. She’d never heard such... Ryder was so matter of fact as if it was no big deal. Their worlds were poles apart. ‘Why would you say that?’

  ‘It’s what we do Baby,’ he said. ‘We do investigations but we work private security too. We have a lot of high profile customers who pay us very well to make sure they remain safe. We do this all the time. You have nothing to worry about.’

  ‘Nothing to worry about,’ she said clambering to her feet. ‘The last room of strange men I was alone with tried to force me into sexual favours. Do you really think—‘

  ‘None of my men are like that,’ Ryder said. ‘You will be safe, trust me.’

  ‘I should go home,’ she said. He hooked her hair and guided it back over her shoulder.

  ‘I’m having the place cleared for you. Tell me if there’s anything of importance we should look out for.’

  ‘My apartment?’ she asked. ‘Everything important to me they took, or it’s in the cellar.’

  ‘I’m happy to replace anything that they—‘

  ‘But, I didn’t mean there,’ she said.

  ‘What did you—?‘

  ‘Home,’ she said. ‘I can take Sorcha and we’ll—‘

  ‘Home? You mean over the pond?’

  ‘I doubt they’ll chase me that far.’

  ‘We don’t know how far they’ll chase you. Do you want to go back to your parents?’

  ‘This whole situation is a mess,’ Lacie said. ‘They want to hurt me and none of this is anything to do with me. I can’t walk away because Sorcha wants Bruce. But, we don’t know if Bruce can or wants to walk away from whatever he’s mixed up in.’

  ‘I know you’re scared and that’s good because it should prevent you from taking unnecessary risks. We’re onto them. I will keep you safe.’

  ‘I don’t want you to be hurt,’ she said. ‘There’s every chance that their boss doesn’t know you were there. He flipped his lid when he saw me I doubt anyone thought to tell him about you as well. Just by being here I could be putting you in danger.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that.’

  ‘I do worry about that.’

  ‘You shouldn’t,’ he said. ‘They won’t get in here. You were alone out there, and that won’t be a mistake I’ll make again. Here we have reinforcements, you’ll never be
alone.’

  ‘I have to go to Shep’s with you,’ she said. ‘Sorcha will be there, and if I’m not she’ll panic, or take her own risks.’

  ‘I can’t put you in that kind of danger.’

  ‘I won’t be in danger,’ Lacie said. ‘I’ll stay with you, I promise. We’ll go straight in, and come straight out again. I’ll come back here with you, and I’ll be a model housemate I promise.’

  ‘You’ll come back here with me?’

  ‘Yes,’ she nodded. ‘I was serious when I said I didn’t want to go back to my place. I would only have done what you have. I’d have the place cleared, throw everything out, and replace what had to be replaced. My work is the most important thing, and that’s in the basement. I suppose I can put my things into storage until I find something more permanent. I won’t be able to do the commission they’ve been jostling for. So, I suppose I should cancel my meeting with Darwin at the weekend.’

  ‘Leave it for now,’ he said. ‘Don’t cancel anything. If this is still going on then yes, I agree with you. But, we have the next few days to figure this out. I’m hoping it will all be over by then.’

  ‘Ryder,’ she said taking his hand. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘What for?’ he asked.

  ‘This week,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I would be so... calm, if I didn’t have you to help me through this.’

  ‘Don’t thank me Baby,’ he said. ‘I’ve done nothing but make this worse.’

  ‘I’m sorry I mistook you for Shep,’ she said easing the intensity of the moment.

  ‘Yeah,’ he nodded. ‘You should be sorry for that.’

  Securing her neck in his arm he dragged her to his chest and she wrapped her arms all the way around him. ‘I’m still naked,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah... I like that about you.’

  Nipping his jaw with her teeth, he relented and let her get back to the bags. ‘I just need five minutes,’ she said.

  ‘Ok,’ he sauntered to the bed and sat down leaning back on his hands.

  ‘Are you going to sit there and watch?’ she asked reaching for the bags again.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘That’s exactly what I’m going to do.’

  ‘Ok,’ she said. Her lips stretched to a smile when she read the hunger in his eyes. ‘I’m putting my clothes on.’