by Lexie Davis
Ryder laughed and bit into his sandwich.. Blake all but begged her mother to leave and finally she took the hint. Ryder shook his head when Blake did a happy dance after shutting the front door.
“Is your mother that bad?” Blake asked once her mother left.
He shook his head and laughed. “No. I’m pretty sure my mom would be offended if I played ‘Hound Dog’ at my wedding.”
She plopped down with a groan. “Don’t mention that damn wedding. What are you going to do next? Has anyone been back to talk to Robert Stevens?”
“Going there next.” Ryder pushed away from the table. “Stay out of trouble.”
“You know I will.”
****
He needed a course of action to interrogate Robert Stevens. From what he figured, Robert had already called in his lawyers and he couldn’t do anything. He stopped by Stevens Enterprises to speak with Robert and his staff and informed him the boss was in a meeting.
“That’s okay. I’ll wait.”
His cell rang and Ryder excused himself to answer it. “James.”
“Amanda Cummings skipped town,” Detective McKenna said. “We put an APB out for her arrest.”
“Something’s not right,” Ryder said, moving farther away from the secretary. “Guess who is in a meeting.”
“I’m surprised he hasn’t left town, too.”
Ryder glanced around the room. “Get the waiter down at the station, and you might as well bring in the valet, too. All we’ve got is the one testimony. I’m going to work my charm on the stepfather.”
“You can’t arrest him. So far we have nothing to hold against him.”
“I know that. Do your job and find the girl. Leave Stevens to me.”
Ryder hung up his phone and put it in place. He moved back to the secretary and held up his badge. “I need to speak with Mr. Stevens now.”
“One moment, sir.” She dialed a number and hung up a few seconds later. “I’m sorry. Mr. Stevens has stepped out.”
“He was in a meeting a minute ago in that boardroom.” Ryder pointed to the room she’d indicated moments prior.
The secretary glanced at the clock. “I’m sorry, sir. He’s not here.”
“Obstruction of justice is a serious offence. I’m pretty sure you don’t want that on your record. Tell me where he is.”
“He has a condo in north of Minneapolis. He and his wife have been staying there since the death of their daughter.”
“Address,” he barked. He grabbed his cell and punched in the department’s number while she scribbled the address down. “I have word from his secretary that Stevens is in his condo.”
“Go find him.” Lou hung up the phone without another word.
Ryder ran out of the building and climbed behind the wheel of his car. His cell phone rang, and he answered it with a clipped, “James.”
“I found something,” Blake said.
“Honey, I can’t talk right now, and you shouldn’t be looking over the files.”
“It’s on the stepfather.”
Ryder switched the phone to his other ear. “Are you at my house?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Ryder hung up and pressed the gas harder. He could only imagine what Blake found out. Telling her to stay out of trouble was like telling the sun not to shine. Traffic wasn’t too horrendous, and he made it home within a short time.
He pulled in the driveway and jumped out of the car. Blake met him at the door with her laptop. “I know this sounds crazy, but there is a piece of video that is clipped. Two scenes are pieced together but the video editor left a second of the original behind. And, of all people, my mom is the one that noticed it.”
He stopped and stared at the screen. She pushed play and to the naked eye it looked like a normal piece of tape. Except for a small clip at the end that showed, for one second max, Robert Stevens paying another man with a wad of money. Ryder’s jaw dropped. If he blinked, he would have missed it.
“Shit. Who is that guy?”
“I can’t say for sure, but it looks like he’s wearing a valet uniform.”
Ryder moved past her to the bedroom. “We’re bringing in the valet and the waiter. Amanda Cumming’s skipped town, and Robert Stevens is missing at the moment. I’m going to his condo to try to find him.”
“By yourself?”
“Yeah, Bratford is working the area up here for Lou, getting warrants to search his company and house. And McKenna is looking for Amanda. With you gone, your partner gone, and the others in the department trying to hold the fort down, there is nobody else.”
“Give me back my badge. I’ll go with you. You need backup, Ryder, and I’m your partner.”
“No, Blake. Lou’s sending people to back me up. You will stay here where you’re supposed to.” He clicked on the computer screen and sent the video images to McKenna’s email.
“What? I’m supposed to step back and hope for the best?”
“Yeah.” He pulled his cell out and dialed his new partner’s number. After telling him the latest information, he hung up.
“You can’t leave me out of this. All I need is a gun. I’ve got my backup on me but it’s a little hand pistol that will leave flesh wound injures. I need a real gun.”
He sighed. She wasn’t going to give it up. He knew they could both lose their jobs if they got caught.
“If you go, it’s as a civilian. You have no power and do as I say.”
“Fine with me.” She propped her hands on her hip. “My gun’s at home.”
He moved to the nightstand and tossed his .32 on the bed. “Spare bullets are on the other side.”
She walked around the bed and opened the nightstand drawer. “Damn. How can anyone find the bullets for all the condoms?”
“I’ve never used my spare.” He shrugged. “Condoms are another story.”
She arched an eyebrow.
He pocketed another magazine for his gun. “You know I’m not a virgin.”
“You have five different boxes in here! All opened I might add.”
He sighed and walked to where she stood. After digging through the condoms, he pulled out a magazine that fit the .32. He handed it to her and shut the drawer.
“Why are you making a big deal about condoms?”
She grabbed the gun and followed him out. “I guess it just surprised me.”
Ryder stopped by the refrigerator to grab two bottles of iced tea and stuffed them in the side of her computer bag. “Surprised you how? That I had sex or that I have protection for sex?”
He flipped off the lights while she gathered up the laptop and files. “I guess I don’t understand why you never initiate it.”
“You said you weren’t ready.”
She zipped the bag. “Yeah, but you’re a guy.”
Ryder huffed a breath as he pulled his keys from his pocket. “And that automatically makes me what? Some kind of sex fiend?”
“No. But guys are different than girls. You can’t seriously say you don’t want to. If…” she licked her lips, “if things were different, we would have already…”
Ryder’s heart broke at the look on her face. “You don’t know that. Hell, with this case, when would we have time even if we wanted to?”
Blake waited beside him as he locked the door. “So I’m not…”
Ryder stopped her by pressing his lips to hers. He pulled away and stared into her eyes. “Listen to me. When you want to, we will. Until then, stop worrying that I’m not satisfied. Of course I want you. From day one, you’re all I think about, and I can't help fantasizing. But I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again, you mean more to me that a short romp in bed.” He cupped her face in his hands with a smile. “Now stop thinking about sex and help me catch this guy.”
He walked her to his SUV. He couldn’t stop thinking about what she said. She’d been through so much. Blake remained quiet on the passenger’s side of the car, fiddling with her
computer.
“What do you fantasize about?” she asked once they headed out on the road. “You know, with me?”
Ryder glanced over at her. “Different things. You being my partner makes my job difficult. I catch myself staring at you more than I should. Daydreaming mostly about what I’d rather be doing with you.”
She squirmed in her seat. “And what would that be?”
“Kissing you for one thing.” He stared ahead as he drove. “Touching you. I wish I could show you how I see you. I want to erase your memories of pain and replace them with pleasure.”
She didn’t say anything for the longest time, typing away on her computer. Ryder wondered if he offended her by answering her question so bluntly.
“I told my mom about Levi.” She closed the laptop and returned it to the bag. “Not about the rape and beatings, but about him coming to the station and following me. She really didn’t have that much to say about it. His mother is her best friend and I guess with my statement, she didn’t want to believe someone close to her would do that.”
He changed lanes. “Are you close with your mom?”
She shrugged. “My dad and I were inseparable. He took me to baseball games and taught me how to shoot a gun. He gave me my first pocketknife, and to this day, it still remains in my nightstand drawer next to my spare. He and my mom wanted me to be a boy so I guess that’s why I’m sort of a tomboy—name and all.” She shrugged. “But I was a daddy’s girl all the same.”
Ryder reached for her hand and brought it to his thigh. “Your father sounds pretty amazing.”
She smiled. “Lilly hated it that he let me get away with more stuff than he did her. I can’t even tell you some of the trouble we’ve gotten into and dad always sided with me.” She turned her attention to him. “So what about your family?”
Ryder linked his fingers with hers. “What about my family?”
“Tell me about them.”
He groaned. “I have a sister and a brother, both older than me. My sister is a nuclear physicist. And my brother is a research physician. My mom stayed at home with us while my dad worked as an engineer.”
“Wow. They sound pretty remarkable.”
Ryder kept his eyes on the road. “I don’t know about that.”
“Why?” She squeezed his hand. “What skeletons are you hiding?”
“Nothing. Except for the fact I hail from a list of know-it-alls and I’m a lowly detective that gets paid in a year what they make in a month. It’s a common issue when I go back home, so I choose not to go back very often.”
“Where are you from?”
“St. Paul.” He smiled. “Don’t you dare ask to make a pit stop either.”
“They can’t be any worse than mine.”
He laughed. “It definitely is a toss-up.”
* * * *
Blake glanced over at Ryder, shutting the laptop for the final time. Lou got a warrant, and they went to pick Robert up. As it turned out, the valet confessed to Robert paying him to cut the brakes.
“I can’t believe the valet and Seth Cameron lived together as roommates. Why didn’t we pick up on this before?” Blake asked.
“Because they were supposed to live in Grand Rapids, when they really lived in a small house Robert Stevens owned. He shook his head in frustration. “That damn man has made us look like fools with all the hoops we’ve been jumping through. He’s probably sitting back and laughing with his buddies.”
Blake sighed. “Well, we’ve got two of his buddies, so I’m not sure how much celebrating is going on.”
He shifted slightly as they waited in the condo’s parking lot. She didn’t see him pull on the sexy black sunglasses he wore. She grinned. “You’re such a bad ass.”
He grinned back. “Don’t forget it.”
Blake’s phone rang disturbing the silence. She lifted it and read the caller-ID. Her mother. “Hi, Mom.”
“Where are you?”
“In town. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Someone set your house on fire. The fire department said no one was home.” Her mother’s worry showed in her tone. “But you’re okay, Blake? Right?”
“Yeah, mom. I’m okay.” Blake leaned forward, trying to digest what her mom said. “Someone set my house on fire? When?”
“I don’t know. The fire department just got here. I didn’t know about it until after I returned from the supermarket. Lilly asked me to pick up a few things.
Blake switched the phone to her other ear. “Mom, go to Lilly’s apartment and stay put. You two do not need to be alone, and whatever you do, do not confide in Willow or Levi. Trust me, Mom.”
“You think he did this?”
“I don’t know. It could be him, or it could be this case I’m working on.” Blake rubbed her forehead. “Promise me you’ll stay at home with Lilly.”
“I promise. Do you want me to leave now?”
“Yes. Give the fire department my cell number and go home. Stay away from the scene and do not speak to anyone about anything unless I tell you to.”
“Okay. I will.”
“Mom,” Blake took a deep breath. “I love you. If you need anything, call me before you call the police.”
“Why?”
“I can’t answer that. Promise me, Mom.”
“I promise.”
After Blake hung up the phone, she unbuckled her seat and reached for her laptop again.
“The fire department is at your house?”
“Yes. It’s okay though. My mom is there with the fire department.” The battery held enough power to do what she needed, though not by much. “You said someone was after me. Well, I think you’re right. I hate to say it, but I think it’s on the inside. They’re making this personal.”
“Could it be Levi?”
“Sure. But Levi prefers a direct approach. He likes showing me he’s stronger.” She clicked away at the keyboard, pulling up all the emails she’d sent and those that filled her inbox as well. “Someone doesn’t want me to have my badge.” She glanced over at him and narrowed her eyes. “Other than you, who would that be?”
Ryder shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s the same person that leaked the info about the case to the media. Do you know anyone at the TV station?”
“Maybe.” Blake pulled out her phone and called her sister. Lilly picked up on the third ring. “I need your help, Lilly.”
“What?”
“First, keep Mom in your sight until I get back home.” Blake typed in the television station and clicked on their website. “Second, I need you to see if Mike can find out who leaked the story about me to the media. Can he get me a name?”
“Maybe. Why? What’s going on Blake?”
“I don’t have time to explain. If Mom isn’t at your house within the next few minutes, you need to go find her.”
“What’s wrong with Mom?”
“Lilly, someone is targeting me. Just see if you can find out the information for me and keep Mom safe.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Lilly sounded hopeful. “Blake, please tell me you’re okay. Where are you?”
“I’m in town.” She closed her eyes. “Stay safe and trust no one, okay? Call me if you find something.”
Blake hung up the phone. “What am I going to do?”
Ryder sighed. “Well, I’m glad I got you out of the house before you got attacked again, but you shouldn’t be here. Your family needs you.”
“No. You need me. We’re catching this guy and putting him behind bars. Then we’ll go find Levi and put him behind bars. I can only deal with one asshole at a time, and I just happened to be closer to the millionaire one.” Blake stared at her computer. “We’re doing this, Ryder, and we’re doing it together.”
Ryder’s lips quirked. “You make is sound so dirty.”
As if her life didn’t have enough complications, she most certainly didn’t need to think about sex. But she had thought about it a lot. Ever since she spotted the condoms in the drawer, she co
uldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to have Ryder inside her. She couldn’t deny the thought scared her at first. She couldn’t even remember the last time she thought about any guy in a sexual way. Period.
“You just have a dirty mind.” Blake reached for the gun he gave her and pulled it out. He kept it loaded, and she only had one other clip for it. “And I would have never guessed you’d pick a girly gun to have for your backup.”
“My ex bought it for me. I tell her I want a Remington double barrel shotgun, and she gets me a .32 that can fit in the palm of my hand.”
Her cell phone rang, pausing their conversation. She answered as Lilly spoke.
“Mike checked with the guy that produced the show. He said the tip came from you. That you wanted your story, what you had done blasted all over the television.” Lilly paused. “Is that true?”
Blake sighed. “No, Lilly. I told you someone is after me, and I think it is Levi. Please just watch your backs. Keep Mom safe.”
She hung up the phone and relayed the information to Ryder. “It has to be Levi. He is the only one I can think of that has the knowledge and ability. He’s good at computer hacking. If calls came through the department, which I know they did, then he could have complete access to them. He could have access now.”
“He’s the ultimate threat.”
She nodded, perturbed. She couldn’t think about Levi at the moment. She had a case to solve and needed all of her energy to do so.
“Why on earth do you want a double barrel shot gun?” she asked..
He grinned. “I like to hunt. You can’t hunt with a little gun. Out in the wild, it’s the bigger, the better philosophy.”
A comment sprang to mind but she kept it to herself. “Shotguns kick. Rifles are better.”
“Rifles are for girls.” He glanced over briefly. “Do you like to hunt?”
“I haven’t been since my father died, but yeah. I enjoyed it when we went. He combined hunting and fishing. Taught me how to do both.”
“You want to go sometime? My family owns a cabin close to Bear Island. I’m practically the only one that uses it.”
