by Tara Thomas
“I’m serious, Alyssa.” That he didn’t come back with a snappy comment told her more than if he’d elaborated.
“What?” she asked.
“I agree that someone needs to look into this. I question if you’re the right person to do it.” He spoke the words softly as if by doing so he would be able to lessen the blow. He failed miserably, but she wasn’t going to tell him.
“Why would I not be the right person?”
He didn’t answer for several long seconds, but stared at her with those intense eyes of his. When he finally did speak, his voice was low. “Don’t be obtuse, you’re smarter than that. You’re too emotionally involved in your sister’s case and you know it. You should hand everything over to someone else.”
She knew that, of course, or at least her mind did. Convincing her heart, however, was a different thing altogether. How could anyone else want her sister’s case solved more than she did? And how would anyone else possibly work harder than she would to finally get to the bottom of Finition Noire?
“It’s not happening,” she told him.
“Does your supervisor know about the connection?” he asked.
Hell no. She wasn’t stupid. If he knew, Martin would take her off the case, no questions asked. But she’d be damned if she’d tell Kipling that. “I don’t see how you have any right to know the particulars of an ongoing investigation.”
Kipling gave a curt nod as if that was the response he expected. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“I really don’t care what you take it as. It’s the truth.” She wouldn’t put it past him to call Martin up and tell him, but she wasn’t going to beg him not to, either. “I know how it looks.”
He leaned forward and she found herself doing the same. He looked altogether like the no-nonsense businessman that he was and she felt for those who found themselves opposite him in the boardroom. Even more so, she hated herself for being attracted to him. Seriously, here she was sitting across from a man who had the potential to ruin her career and all she could think about was how good his arms had felt around her when they danced.
“I don’t think you do know how it looks,” he said. “You’re the one sitting here talking about how tired you are, how the cases are getting to you like never before, and how you feel guilty. I’m worried about you, emotionally. It’s not good to live in the past.”
He could have said little else that would have shocked her more. “I’m fine.”
“No you’re not and before you decide to argue with me, I’m just calling it like I see it.”
She resisted the temptation to flip him off and say See this, but it was hard. “No,” she said instead. “You’re calling it like you think you see it. You forget that you’re emotionally involved in the case, too.”
A look of satisfaction covered his face. “So you admit you’re emotionally involved.”
“My sister was murdered, I think that automatically qualifies for emotional involvement.”
“My point exactly,” he said with a smug grin.
She didn’t know how to respond. He had her mind going in so many different directions, she wasn’t sure how to continue. She finally settled by saying, “You would do the same thing for your sister. Can you honestly tell me that you’d step aside?”
“That’s a moot point because, one, we’re not talking about me and, two, I’m not a police officer.”
She knew he was right. She’d been thinking of telling Martin everything and to step down from the case for weeks. But every time she had a chance, she didn’t do it. She was Allison’s sister, for crying out loud; there was no way anyone else could put as much into the case as she did. She’d even convinced herself that it was fate that she wound up on the Benedict case, because if she hadn’t, the connection of both cases due to Finition Noire would have never been made.
And she’d be damned if Kipling Benedict was going to step in and mess everything up.
“We’re finished here.” She pushed back from the table, catching Kipling off guard. “Thank you very much for your offer to sit down. I’m so glad I accepted because I feel much better now,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Kipling lifted his coffee cup in a mock salute. “Anytime you need someone to ride your ass, I’m your man.”
A sudden image of her on her back with Kipling between her legs popped into her head, freezing her in place. Oh, dear sweet Lord, she thought as her face heated.
“You have a horrible poker face.” Kipling grinned. “But I’m your man for that, too,”
“You are…” she started, but her mind blanked.
“Your every dirty fantasy come to life? The man you dream about when you’re in bed alone? An amazing sex god?” He leaned back in his chair and her eyes couldn’t move from how broad his shoulders and chest looked.
She couldn’t help but picture what he’d look like without the suit. “You wish,” she replied, hoping her voice and expression didn’t betray her thoughts.
“I never denied it.”
That he calmly acknowledged he’d fantasized about her made her heart race. Far too late, she realized she had no snappy comeback. In fact, she had no comeback at all. Without saying a word, she spun on her heel and walked away.
But at the last minute, she looked back over her shoulder. “You’ll never know what it’s like to lose a sister.”
* * *
Kipling watched Alyssa’s retreat, but not with the mirth he’d portrayed to her. What the ever loving fuck had gotten into him that he’d flirt with a woman he’d been mad as hell with mere seconds before? What was it about Officer Adams that had him want to beat his head against a wall and rip every stitch of clothing off her body in equal measure?
He’d hoped that by dancing with her he’d get her out of his system. Though now that he had time to think about it, it made no sense that in holding her for a dance, he’d no longer yearn to hold her. No, his plan hadn’t worked. It’d failed miserably. Instead of being satisfied with the fact that her embrace held nothing, he’d found out the opposite was true. Holding her for one dance had only increased his desire to hold her again and again. Preferably naked.
He’d joked with her about him being her every dirty fantasy when in fact, she had quickly become his. Even his subconscious agreed. At night he dreamed of a sultry police officer who loved to give in bed just as hard as she gave out of bed and whose sexual drive matched his own.
“Excuse me, sir,” a waitress interrupted. “Can I get some of this out of your way?”
He jerked back to reality, thankful of the napkin in his lap. He nodded and then checked his phone for messages. Nothing that couldn’t wait for his return to the office. He remained at the table for a few more minutes, taking the final sips of his coffee before leaving the shop.
From there, it was a short walk to the harbor side offices of Benedict Industries. Keaton and Tilly were working off-site today and Knox and Bea were still out on their second honeymoon, so Kipling was looking forward to a relatively quiet and uneventful day.
He needed a slow and uneventful day so he could think about what to do with Alyssa. How to move forward with her. To not only get to know her better, but to continue to connect with her on an emotional level like he had earlier this morning. He chuckled as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with Alyssa. Unfortunately, he had a feeling after their coffee chat, the odds of that ever happening were somewhere between slim and none, leaning heavily toward the none.
He’d been surprised she’d opened up about her sister. She didn’t appear to him as one who shared that type of information lightly. More than likely, it only happened because she was emotional due to today being the anniversary of her sister’s death.
He tried to imagine losing one of his brothers in such a violent way and he couldn’t. The very thought made his chest hurt. Alyssa had been so much younger when she lost her sister. He had a new respect and appreciation for her. Though neither o
ne voided the fact that she really shouldn’t be on the case in his opinion.
Sitting at his desk, he sighed, unsure of what, if anything, he should say or do about that. He wanted to trust her when she said it wouldn’t impact her adversely, but how could he be sure? From everything he saw, Alyssa was whip smart and not the type to let emotions get in her way. But having a family member murdered and to have that case go unsolved for years and years, to have it dictate what you did for a living?
He drummed his fingers on the top of his desk. He just didn’t know.
His desk phone rang and he welcomed the opportunity to think and talk about something else.
“Kipling Benedict,” he answered.
“Mr. Benedict,” the person on the other end of the phone said in a voice so low, Kipling had to strain his ears to hear. “I know you’re a very busy man, so I’ll keep this short and to the point. I have your sister. She’s alive for now. If you want to keep her that way, you’ll follow the instructions that I’ll be sending your way soon.”
Before Kipling could reply, the line went dead. He stared at the handset for several long minutes, his heart pounding madly. He forced himself to think rationally. No one could have possibly kidnapped Jade. Hadn’t Keaton sworn up and down that she was half ninja? She was such a fierce, adept fighter. Sure she had been thin and rundown looking the last time he saw her, but she was smart.
He tapped his pen on his desk, trying to think of what else could explain the call. In his head, he heard Alyssa snap at him that he’d never know what it was like to lose a sister. Alyssa. He snorted and dialed the phone number he’d memorized, but never used.
“Officer Adams,” Alyssa answered just as quick and efficient as he’d suspected she would.
“Well played, Adams.” He relaxed, leaning back in his chair. “You almost had me for a minute.”
“I would say thank you, Benedict, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I find lying to be a most unattractive quality in a woman.”
“I know you find this hard to believe, but I’m not trying to attract you. Even if I was, I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Right. Like he believed either of those to be true. Of course, he really hadn’t expected her to admit to setting up the phone call. At least, not right away. He could wait. “If that’s the way you want to play it for now, I’ll go along with you. But be sure to tell whoever you got to make the phone call that he has the sinister villain voice nailed. I actually thought he had my sister for a minute.”
“Kipling,” she said, sounding a bit worried. “What are you talking about? You don’t have a sister.”
He realized his oversight as soon as the words left his mouth. He felt clammy, sick, and couldn’t speak as the truth hit him. Alyssa didn’t know.
Except he did. A half-sister that he and his brothers had only recently found out about. Kaja, or Jade, as she preferred to be called. Kipling had only met her once and he hadn’t been overly kind to her. But to be fair, at the time he hadn’t known they were related and he’d thought she’d been breaking into his house.
“Kipling?” Alyssa asked again.
He cleared his throat and managed to find his voice. “Officer Adams, would it be possible for you to come by the office near the harbor? I believe I need to report a kidnapping.”
CHAPTER 3
Alyssa hurried to her unmarked car, her mind working overtime trying to make sense of Kipling’s phone call. Nothing within the last five minutes had made any sense. The only thing she was certain of was the fear Kipling couldn’t hide in his voice.
It had been that fear that made her hang up the phone and get to her car so quickly. She wasn’t even sure he realized what his voice sounded like, but it shocked her to her core.
As she drove to his office, she ran over what she knew, while trying to ignore her trembling hands. Kipling had received a phone call from someone with a sinsiter voice. That person had mentioned a sister, and a kidnapping. For some reason the combination of the two hit a nerve inside him and he’d asked her to stop by. She had worked numerous kidnapping cases in her career and never before had she experienced this feeling of foreboding. It actually reminded her of when she found out her sister was dead.
And that scared the hell out of her.
She pulled into a public parking lot near the building that housed the harbor offices of Benedict Industries, still not able to grasp what was happening. Hopefully Kipling would make more sense in person than he had on the phone.
She stepped into the office to find him pacing in the front room. He turned toward her and his harrowing expression froze her in her tracks.
“Kipling?” she asked.
“Thanks for coming so quickly.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
He hesitated for a moment and that surprised her. But given his reaction, she suspected whatever he had to tell her would cost him something. He waved her toward his office.
“Let’s go sit down,” he said. “I’m not expecting anyone, but given recent circumstances, I’d prefer we be as private as possible.”
She followed him to the large office in the back and sat down on the small love seat he had in a sitting area off to the side. He followed, sitting down across from her, and dropping his head into his hands. He took a deep breath and looked up.
“God,” he said. “Where to start?”
She couldn’t help him, so she remained silent and waited for him to continue.
“We’ve recently discovered that our father wasn’t … damn…”—he grimaced—“he cheated on our mom.”
Alyssa would have liked to have said she was surprised, but the truth was, she’d seen too much to be shocked that a wealthy man—hell, any man—cheated on his wife.
“But beyond that,” Kipling said. “He fathered a child. A daughter. We don’t know who the woman is he had an affair with and there’s a suspicion that she’s dead.” He closed his eyes. “The daughter is Jade.”
Her mouth fell open in shock. “Jade? You mean Jade, Jade?” Her head told her it had to be another Jade. Surely it couldn’t be the Jade she’d assumed was a criminal trying to break into Benedict House only to discover that not only was she Bea’s client, but she’d helped Keaton rescue Tilly by showing him a secret passage he hadn’t know existed. The youngest Benedict brother had also been impressed by the numerous knives she had strapped to her body.
He gave a smile that wasn’t really a smile. “Yes, the little ninja. And to answer your next question, no, we didn’t know the night she spent at the house that she was our sister. Though we have a feeling she’s known who we were this entire time.”
Jade was their sister? Her mind kept repeating the question. The little street urchin? It didn’t seem possible. Tilly also claimed to have seen Jade before, but in a homeless shelter and according to Tilly, Jade might have had a hand in the disappearance of one of the residents. She shook her head. Nothing Kipling said made sense.
“We were just as shocked as you look,” he said.
“You have a sister,” she said.
“A half-sister, but yes.”
Suddenly, she remembered why she was sitting across from him in the first place. “Someone’s kidnapped her.”
“It appears that way.”
But there was more and her mind worked frantically trying to sort it out. “Whoever has her knows who she is. And unless I’m missing something huge, I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking,” Kipling said. “And that’s important, because only a handful of people know the truth. That I’m aware of, anyway.”
“But you yourself just said that Jade’s known all along who she is. She could have told anyone and those people could have told people. You can’t assume there are only a few people who know.”
“I think it unlikely to be the case. If she was in the habit of telling people, don’t you think she would have told us before now? A
fter all, we’re her family.”
She leaned forward so she could ensure herself that she had his undivided attention. “You might be able to disregard the unlikely in your business, Mr. Benedict, but when it comes to what I do, ignoring the unlikely is liable to lead you into trouble. Also, don’t forget the last time any of us saw her, she was living on the streets and a good number of those present, yourself included, made no secret about the fact that they thought she was a criminal. Can you blame her for not telling you?”
He didn’t say anything. He just looked at her in that studious way that made her feel like an anomaly.
“What?” she finally asked.
He grinned and it appeared that he’d almost returned to normal. At least on the outside anyway. His color wasn’t nearly as pale and he no longer looked scared to death. “Sitting here, talking to you, listening to the way you reason and argue with me, on top of knowing what a good police officer you are?” He shook his head. “I actually have hope that we’ll find her.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “I’m obviously missing something here because I don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about.”
He stood up and she didn’t like the feeling of him looming over her like that, so she stood up herself. He reached out a hand and it occurred to her that he’d anticipated she’d stand as well. She took his offered hand.
“I’d like to offer you a proposition,” he said.
Her hand slipped out of his. “What?” She had no idea what sort of proposition he was offering, but she feared if they touched, she wouldn’t be as professional as she needed to be.
“Look at your mind going straight to the gutter.” He made a tsking noise. “It’s not that type of proposition. Though if you’d like to discuss that kind later…?”
“Shut up.” She crossed her arms across her chest, because no matter how infuriating he could be, his close proximity paired with the images of that kind, had her body craving things it had no business craving. “Tell me.”
He assessed her once more, perhaps to see if she was serious. She leveled her gaze at him to prove she was.
