“Is there anything else they might have sent you?” he asked, pushing away from the console. “Something with a name or address?”
Katie glowered at him. “Don’t you think I would have told you if I…” She shook her head. “I mean, there was the address Ashlee had.”
Tension tightened across Larson’s shoulders. “What address?”
“The one she used to send the letter.” Moving around Larson, she stood in front of Bill. “Can you get into hotel records?”
Bill blinked. His watery eyes shot from her to Larson and back, like he wasn’t sure why she was talking to him. It wasn’t until Larson gave him the nod to go ahead that he also nodded, mutely.
“Can you see who booked the ballroom at the Grand Majestic on December fifteenth?”
Pushing back his glasses with a nervous finger, he scuttled back a step. “I could…”
When he didn’t move, Katie frowned. “Okay…?”
Again, he waited until he got the nod from Larson before addressing his computer.
It took a whole lot longer than the last time.
He pulled a chair over and sat while data streamed across the screen. Finally, after what seemed like eons, he spoke.
“Christian Towle, Incorporated.”
Katie looked from Larson to Kaleb. “Any idea who that is?”
“Christian Towle was the founder and CEO of one of the largest seller and manufacturer of tactical and military weaponry,” Larson supplied, although he didn’t seem very happy about it. “He also had his hands in oil transpo. The male unit’s a fan.” He explained when she stared at him.
“So what does he want with me?” Katie asked.
“Probably nothing,” Larson answered evenly. “Christian Towle’s been dead for about twenty years now—terminal cancer.” He gestured to the image on the screen of a handsome man shaking hands with an elderly man. “There are several charity events like the one you were invited to held in his honor throughout the year.”
“By whom?” Katie asked.
Even Larson didn’t seem to know this as he waited for Bill to scroll through his vast pool of information.
“Mercy Towle,” Bill announced at last.
“Who’s that?” she asked.
“Daughter.” Bill scratched a zit on his nose, making the area even redder. “Christian Towle leaves behind a grieving wife, Prudence, son, Simon, and daughter, Mercy.”
“The Towles are one of the most influential families of this generation,” Kaleb said for the first time. “Their fundraisers have raised billions of dollars in cancer research, not to mention Prudence Towle spends most of the year in war ravaged countries, trying to help the victims. I highly doubt they’re assassins in their spare time.”
“You seem to know quite a lot about these people for someone who claims to know nothing,” Larson muttered moving back to the console. “And that doesn’t mean anything. All this started at their gala, which makes them involved. Is there a picture of Simon?” Larson asked Bill, who had, up until that moment, been scrolling through an advertisement for a ride on lawnmower.
Bill did a search that even Katie realized was useless. There was no picture of Simon, Mercy or Prudence. The whole Towle family had kept completely out of the spotlight despite the fact that Christian Towle had been the second most important man in the world.
“Is there an address?” Larson asked.
“I have several,” Bill said and brought up six locations.
“Why does anyone need that many homes?” Katie grumbled.
“Because they can.” Larson replied shifting closer to the screen. “Is there any way to figure out which of these are used the most by the family? Or better yet, can you find out which they’re staying at right now?”
It took Bill nearly forty five minutes, the entire box of Twinkies and two bathroom breaks to find the answer.
“There are two in Canada,” Bill informed them. “There’s one in Ontario. The other is…” he trailed off, rapped some more. “Here in Alberta.”
“That’s where he is!” Katie hurried to stand behind Bill. “He has to be somewhere close, somewhere he can watch over us and monitor our every move.”
“Not necessarily.” Larson drummed his fingers on the console. “It’s not very hard to hire goons to do a job. He could be on Mars and still have you followed.”
“What are we going to do with him once we find him? We can’t exactly go to the police. There is nothing connecting him to any of this. It would be our word against his, not to mention he said he would hurt people if we did.”
Larson never batted an eyelash. “Who said we were going to the police?”
Maybe it was because she had always pegged Larson as such a laidback sort of person with really bad taste in music, but it took her a moment to really wrap her head around what he was suggesting.
“No!” She took a deliberate step back. “I’m not going to murder someone, no matter how much they deserve it. I won’t.”
Something hard and chilling flickered behind Larson’s usually smiling eyes. “He almost killed Ashlee.”
Katie continued to shake her head. “No. I’m not a killer and neither are you.” She peered heatedly into her friend’s eyes. “I can’t believe you’re even suggesting—”
“I can’t believe you’re not,” he countered. “Look at all he’s done. Look at what he’s doing to you! The authorities will never catch him. He will keep hurting people if we don’t stop him.”
“How does this make us better than him?” she demanded, appalled.
“If you want out,” Larson said carefully. “Then get out. I’m not going to let him get away with this.”
“You’re being insane!” Katie cried when Larson turned away. “You don’t even know for sure Simon’s the one.”
“Who then?” Larson whirled around. “Pretty convenient how all the evidence points to him.”
“What evidence?” Katie threw her hands up and let them drop back down to her sides. “Because the voice on the phone was male?”
“And what exactly are the odds of that, Katie?” he challenged. “You leave a charity hosted by his family’s company and suddenly all this happens?”
She knew he had a point. Hadn’t she herself realized the person responsible was the one who had hosted the gala? Hadn’t she phoned the hotel herself to find the name? But it still didn’t feel right to just start pointing fingers without concrete evidence. This was someone’s life. What if they were wrong and an innocent got hurt?
“It’s him, Katie,” Larson said. “I know it is.” Rather than wait for an answer from her, Larson’s brown eyes shot away from Katie to fix on Kaleb. “What would you do if it was Katie lying in a hospital bed right now? Tell me you wouldn’t be out for blood.”
Kaleb looked away. His jaw muscles worked viciously as he stared hard at something across the room. He stayed that way for several heartbeats before coming to some inner decision.
“I want more than his blood already,” he said at last.
Katie couldn’t believe her ears. She couldn’t believe they were actually standing there even contemplating such a horrendous course of action.
“No.” She pushed past Kaleb and started for the narrow opening. “I want no part of this.”
“Katie…”
Ignoring Kaleb’s attempt at placating her, she wound her way quickly through the tunnels in the general direction of the front door. She felt rather than heard the quiet clip of footsteps behind her. But she didn’t stop. Not that it mattered. He reached her when she was forced to stop and undo all the locks on the door.
“Katie, wait.”
She jerked her arm away from him when he tried to touch her elbow. “For what, Kaleb? So you can become a murderer? Give up all notions of a future because we’re going to end up in prison just for conspiring…” she broke off as a tight band formed around her chest, constricting every breath. “You can’t honestly expect me to just jump at the idea of … of killing
someone. God, do you have any idea how insane that is? What’s the matter with you?”
He drew in a deep breath, seemingly bracing himself for what he was about to say. “I never said I was going to kill him, Katie. What I said was I wanted to.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The difference,” he said softly. “Is that just because I want to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze until his eyes pop out … doesn’t mean I would. I’m not an idiot, Katie, nor am I a murderer and you can’t blame me for wanting this guy’s head, either.”
She couldn’t because she’d had more than one daydream of kicking him where the sun doesn’t shine with steel toed boots. However, hearing that there was no plans to kill anyone, loosened the tight hold around her lungs.
“So what are we going to do?” she asked instead.
“Just leave it to me, okay?” he answered simply. “I need you to trust that I have this under control.”
Katie frowned. “How?”
He looked away from her. “That’s where the trust plays in, Katie. Please? I will get him.”
It annoyed her that she did trust him, even as suspicions began to prickle the back of her mind, she still trusted him. If there was ever anything she knew for a fact, it was that Kaleb would never hurt her and would do anything to keep her safe. But there was something there that kept prodding at her, something sharp and insistent. And even as she told herself she did trust him, she knew there was something he wasn’t telling her.
“Kaleb, what’s going on?” she asked him softly.
“What do you mean?”
She took a deep breath. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Katie—”
She put her hand up, stopping him. “Whatever it is, you can trust me, too. I will never stop loving you.”
Something in his face tightened and for a moment it looked like he was going to speak. Then he shook his head and her insides deflated.
“There’s nothing.”
Larson didn’t join them when they left. But he did tell them to follow the route they’d taken exactly.
“This place is hidden,” he told them. “And Bill wants to keep it that way.”
It was on her mind to ask why Bill was hiding, but she realized she really didn’t want to know. Some things were just better left alone and she had enough on her mind.
“Come back to the apartment with me,” Kaleb said as they exited the final bus and made their way towards the shop. “I don’t like leaving you alone in that place.”
Katie shook her head. “I can’t leave my aunt, not after what that bastard did to Ashlee.”
He stopped walking and turned to her. “Katie.” His hands lifted and rested lightly on her arms. He lightly rubbed, his expression a cross between pissed and frustrated. “That’s what worries me. Look how easily he got away with it. I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.”
She touched his face with the tips of her fingers. “He won’t hurt me. It’s like you said, he needs me. Ashlee was a warning. He wants me to know he can swoop in at any time and hurt those I love. I can’t let that happen.”
With an aggravated growl, Kaleb lowered his brow until it touched hers. His fingers closed in the sleeves of her jacket and she was drawn into him. Their breaths mingled between them. Katie lifted her hands and rested them on either side of his waist. She curled her fingers into the cold material of his coat as she closed the sliver of space between them and kissed him.
It was tender, no more than a brush of lips, but the fire behind it slammed into her, making her shiver and deepen the kiss. His groan and the pull of his arms crushing her into his chest was a reassurance that she wasn’t the only one feeling the temptation, if not an undeniable distraction; this was not the time to think about getting him out of his clothes. Yet, when the tip of his tongue prodded her lips for entrance, even she wasn’t strong enough to resist.
With a desirous moan, Katie succumbed. She melted into him, into his touch and kiss. She let him bow her body into his and fist her hair, commanding nothing but absolute submission. Nothing else in the world mattered in that moment, nothing else existed, except the heat rising beneath her skin. Her coat was suddenly too big, too thick. She wanted to shed it, along with everything else and wrap herself around him right there, in the middle of the sidewalk.
He must have realized it, too, because he broke the kiss. His darkened eyes bore mercilessly down into hers. White puffs expelled from his damp and swollen lips, washing her upturned face with the minty scent of toothpaste.
“My car’s at the hospital,” he said.
Running an anxious tongue over her own lips and tasting him there, Katie nodded. “Okay.”
It was the only thing she could think to say. Her brain hadn’t fully caught up to the rest of her. It was still loitering in the colorful mist of passion enveloping her.
“Think we can make it?” His grin was dirty and very hot.
“My place is closer,” she replied.
The shop was closer. They reached it in within five minutes. But it wasn’t until they were inside that she realized it might not have been the best idea.
Her aunt waved to her from behind the counter while ringing through a customer. There were six more behind that one with about a dozen strolling through the shop. Katie hadn’t seen From Dawn Till Dusk that busy in so long, she’d lost count.
“Katie!” Aunt Hannah waved her over. “I’m so glad you’re back. How’s Ashlee?”
Still surveying the happy browsers, Katie nodded. “The doctor says she’ll be okay. What’s going on?”
“It’s been busy like this all day.” She looked past Katie and smiled at Kaleb. “Hello.”
Kaleb inclined his head and murmured a greeting.
With a last smile at him, she turned back to Katie. “I’m glad you’re here. I have a gentleman in the back who just bought that mattress set. He needs some help taking it to his truck.” Her gaze went back to Kaleb. “You wouldn’t mind…?”
Katie had to give him credit. He didn’t even blink an eye.
“Of course,” he said at once and made his way.
Katie tried not to blush as she followed him to the furniture section and the mattress they’d spent the night on together.
The man, a squat, antsy thing with a balding head and a round gut, glowered when they approached.
“About time!” he declared sharply. “I’ve been here for over twenty minutes.”
Katie and Kaleb exchanged brief glances, both smothering a grin as they each took a corner and hoisted the mattress sideways.
They had to use the cargo doors, the one her aunt had built when she’d decided they’d start accepting furniture donations. It was a rolling, metal slab that screeched and growled like a broken garage door. Then they had to wait as the man grumbled and fussed before going out to get his truck and bring it around back. They propped the mattress against the side as they waited.
Kaleb rested an arm over top and eyed the thing. “Is this the same…?”
Katie met his gaze and grinned. “Yup.”
He snickered, but said nothing else as a black van rolled to a stop and the man hopped out.
It took some jostling and shoving before the mattress and box spring into the back. The man didn’t even thank them as he hopped back behind the wheel and tore off.
They watched him disappear around the corner.
“What a nice guy,” Kaleb mused.
Chuckling, she motioned him back inside and shut the door. She turned to him once it had fully sealed.
“Why don’t you head upstairs? I’ll be up in a second.”
He left her and she made her way to the front desk. It was purely guilt that made her make a halfhearted attempt to ask if her aunt needed any help. It wasn’t in her habit to bring boys over in the middle of the afternoon for sex, or otherwise. Not even Dylan had seen her bedroom. Katie wasn’t sure how to brooch the subject. Maybe it would have been better to hea
d on over to his place.
Her aunt glanced up from a t-shirt she was scanning and grinned mischievously. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Go on. Your friend is waiting.”
The way she said friend made Katie’s cheeks turn pink. The woman at the counter grinned at her when Katie dared a peek to see if she was the only one who heard the implication in her aunt’s tone.
“And quite a handsome friend he is, too,” the woman said. “I certainly wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.”
Oh geez.
Forcing a smile that resembled a grimace of embarrassment, Katie left … quickly. She hurried upstairs to find Kaleb standing at the window overlooking the street. He looked back when she approached him.
“Hey,” he said, reaching for her.
Katie went into his arms. “Hey yourself.”
After a slow, lingering kiss, she took his hand and led him to her room. He shut the door behind them as she tore off her jacket and tossed it aside.
Kaleb grinned. “This is very new for me.”
Katie raised an eyebrow. “Really? Should I be gentle?”
He laughed, pushing away from the door. “I meant sneaking into a girl’s room with her aunt probably knowing what we’re doing.”
“Oh, there’s no probably about it. She knows.” She reached for the zipper on his coat. “So does the other women at the counter, who…” she pushed him down onto the bed. “Insisted I don’t keep you waiting and I…” she swung her leg and straddled his thighs. “Plan on taking her suggestion to heart.”
With a husky growl, he kissed her. His fingers slid up her back and closed in her hair. He tugged her head back, exposing her throat to his greedy mouth. Her pulse hammered under the sharp nip of his teeth. She gasped and moaned and captured the back of his head to keep him there. Her hips bucked against his lap, desperate to ease the pressure building between her legs.
Kaleb hissed. One hand slid down and flattened against her backside, pushing her down against the hard bulge pressing against the front of his pants.
“Undress for me, Katie,” he growled against her throat. “Slowly.”
It was something she’d done countless of times, dressing and undressing. But she’d never done it for an audience. Nevertheless, she slipped off him and took a step back as her hands twisted into the material of her top. She raised it over her head and tore it off. Granted, it wasn’t slow, but he didn’t stop her. Her hands went to the fastening of her jeans next.
My Soul For You Page 31
