Sleight Mistake (Stone Investigations Book 2)

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘I don’t know,’ Lacie said, letting her face sink toward the steam coming out of her mug. ‘I don’t know what to think about any of it.’

  Will turned the page of his paper and then picked up his drink. ‘Don’t worry about it. The boss will keep you right. He’s not going to let you go easily.’

  Lacie took another mouthful of coffee then sighed. ‘I don’t have to be at the hospital until seven. Do you want to watch movies with me in the den?’

  Raising his eyes to hers, she shrugged and he closed his paper. ‘Oh well, I suppose if I have to,’ he said with mock irritation. ‘Just keep your hands to yourself.’

  Focusing on work was going to be impossible and she needed a day where she could just numb out. ‘You heat the popcorn and I’ll get changed. I really need the distraction today, thanks Will.

  With another slurp of coffee, she put her mug aside and went to get changed. She hadn’t reacted well to having someone tailing her at home, but she hadn’t seen the advantage. In need of company, she had a friend on hand to keep her mind off all of her stresses today.

  She and Will had munched their way through several bowls of popcorn and watched several movies. Night had descended, cloaking them in a dark blanket. The present movie was almost over when a shard of light intruded from behind the couch, followed by the rumble of male voices.

  ‘Working hard?’ Rocco asked coming around the high back couch to seek them out.

  Will sat in the back corner of the slouch couch with his elbows resting on his drawn up knees. Lacie lay on her side across the width of the couch with her hand holding up her head. Their peace was further interrupted when Ty and Toby climbed over her to sit at the back with Will.

  ‘Start it again,’ Ty said, clambering for the remote. Wearing Ryder’s tee shirt and her hot pink boy shorts, she sat up to make way for the amplified audience.

  ‘This doesn’t look much like working,’ Gabe said to Will from his place standing at the side of the couch.

  ‘She’s alive, isn’t she?’ Will said. With his eyes trained to the screen, Will handed over the popcorn bowl to Ty.

  Rocco sat at the front of the couch earning some groans from the back, so he slid down to sit on the floor. Gabe remained standing, and scanning those present, Lacie noticed two absent members.

  ‘Where’s—‘ The question didn’t need to be finished because Ryder and Sonny entered.

  ‘What are you all doing in here?’ Ryder asked, looking from his men to the movie screen.

  ‘The primary’s in here,’ Ty said, gesturing toward her with a hand full of popcorn. ‘We’re keeping her safe.’

  ‘She’s alive at least,’ Ryder said. Sonny propped himself on the side of the couch to watch the film.

  All of the men were transfixed by the movie, all except one of them. Letting her eyes slink upwards to fasten on the intensity of his, she smiled when she found his smouldering attention fixated on her. The corner of his mouth slid upward and she was naked in his mind’s eye. The exposure of his violation made her tingle.

  They might be in a room full of people, but they were the only two people in the world. His wide stance and his folded arms were professional, but his eyes were hot, heavy, and personal.

  Requesting silent acquiescence, she kept a grip on the couch beneath her thighs and inched forward. With an almost imperceptible move on Ryder’s part, Lacie got her agreement and sprang to her feet.

  ‘I’m off-duty,’ Will said around the popcorn filling his mouth. ‘Ty, she’s yours.’

  Lacie climbed over Rocco, keeping balance on his head, and all the men called out when she passed in front of the screen.

  ‘Odds,’ Ty said to Toby holding out a fist.

  ‘I’ve got her,’ Ryder said, hooking his arm around her neck.

  ‘Bet you do, Boss,’ Ty said and they departed the den on the good-natured jeers of the colleagues.

  A good hour later, she was coiled in the sheets on their bed and reluctant to leave the arms of her lover. ‘I have to go to the hospital,’ Lacie said, kissing her way down Ryder’s torso.

  ‘You don’t look sick to me,’ he said.

  She kissed his groin and cupped her breasts around the steel length of him. Pushing them together, she squeezed him in her cleavage. He stroked her hair down to her shoulders as he sat up to take her into his arms and draw her up against his chest.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked. ‘Did I hurt you?’

  ‘No, Baby,’ he said, kissing her, then settling her in his arms.

  ‘No more sex?’ she asked.

  While kissing her hair, Ryder’s hands wandered over her bare skin. ‘I’d have sex with you constantly but you’re going out and this problem isn’t going away.’

  Sagging in defeat, she realised their intimacy had to secede to reality and stated what she believed him to be thinking. ‘You want to talk about Elijah.’

  Still pressing gentle kisses to her, he nuzzled his mouth through her hair to her ear. ‘I don’t want you to say his name in our bed.’

  ‘What is your plan?’ Lacie asked. ‘I have to talk to him, don’t I?’

  ‘Does that sound like my policy? No,’ he said, grasping her derriere to haul her up to straddle his hips. He didn’t let her sit up, he stole her in his arms and crushed her chest to his. Seeking her mouth, he sang her a sonnet with a sweep of his tongue and the gentle caress of his hands. The rasp of his chest hair on her taut nipples made her squirm closer. Getting the hard length of him between her folds, Lacie let him glide against her sizzling centre and writhed against the heat of him.

  ‘Easy,’ he murmured, stalling her hips from their motion.

  ‘I thought we were finished talking.’

  ‘I’m going to sort this out for you, Baby,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to worry about it. And you stay far away from it. I’ll take care of Graden.’

  Losing her desire in the face of what would happen if the two men came face to face. ‘You’re going to talk to him,’ Lacie said, not thrilled at the notion. ‘What if he is involved? You could be hurt.’

  ‘I think I can take him.’

  ‘Don’t be complacent,’ she said, pushing up a little to prop her elbows on his chest. ‘If someone puts a bullet—‘

  ‘I can handle myself. I have no concerns about that. Do you know if he has violence in his past?’

  ‘He’s been known to be adamant but I’ve never heard of him being violent. Why are you talking to me about this?’

  ‘We’ve done a lot of digging, we’ve been tracking his movements. I’m talking to you about this because we’re honest with each other. I don’t want to bog you down with details but if you want me to give you every—‘

  ‘I trust you,’ she said without needing every piece of information. They were in bed and this wasn’t the place to talk about evidence and probabilities.

  ‘I’m going to talk to him.’

  ‘Don’t go alone,’ she said. ‘He’ll want to talk about me, about us.’

  ‘My favourite topic,’ he said.

  She didn’t appreciate his glib attitude to what could be a fractious conversation. ‘I’m serious,’ she said. ‘He might want to rile you up or be disrespectful.’

  ‘I’ll be cool,’ Ryder said, trying to kiss her again. ‘I’ve dealt with my share of lowlifes.’

  To ensure he remained rational, she played devil’s advocate. ‘There’s every chance he’s innocent,’ Lacie said. ‘Don’t go judging him based on your preconceptions. He could be a good guy, misguided, but not a dangerous man.’

  His stroking hands were distracting, but his attention betrayed how seriously he took this. ‘Do you believe that?’

  ‘I don’t know what to believe,’ Lacie said. ‘You’re paid to be the brains in this operation. Just go easy on him… for me, you did get the girl after all.’

  His agreement came in a nod. ‘Don’t kick a man when he’s down.’

  ‘I’m not saying he’s down—‘

  Taking her
hair in his fists, he let them drag down and out, then repeated the move. ‘He’s lovesick. I’d be down if I lost you too.’

  ‘He never had me,’ she said. ‘Plus, you’re crazy in love with me and I still can’t get the sex thing right.’

  That he recognised her coy tease for what it was made her desire him all the more. ‘You get it more than right and you know it. Stop fishing for compliments.’

  ‘I’m not fishing,’ she said and began to rock her hips. ‘Just hinting for the chance to keep practising.’

  ‘You’ve got six kids to cook up,’ he grinned. ‘When do you want to get started on those?’

  Talk of Elijah was over, but the concern for her safety would still be plaguing Ryder’s mind. ‘Rocco had a point about protection.’

  As if he was confused, he leaned back a couple of inches. ‘To reproduce the protection has to go out the window. Do we have to have a talk about the birds and bees?’

  Digging her elbows in, she slid them down to bring their bodies closer again. ‘That’s not what I meant. We have to keep ourselves safe before we think about bringing more lives into the world who we’ll be responsible for.’

  ‘I know,’ he said. His hands glided down her shoulders, her arms, then over her ass, up her hips and to her waist. ‘You’re a tiny little thing.’

  ‘Uh, to you, because you’re huge.’

  His brow slunk up in time with the corner of his mouth. ‘Thanks.’

  Digging her nails into his sides, she scowled at his swagger. ‘I don’t know how I’ll carry your babies. Your sons could be massive. I might break.’ After witnessing childbirth, Lacie wasn’t sure she would be capable of the feat no matter what the size of the child.

  His laugh rumbled through her like an electric blanket, warm and comfortable with a little buzz thrown in. ‘I’ll look after you, Dusty, always will.’

  ‘Ok,’ she said, kissing his neck then his chest and then his mouth. She hummed at the delight. ‘Enough flirting, it’s taken up all of our sex time. I have to get ready to see the baby.’

  She climbed off the bed and headed for the en-suite while he settled back down in the bed with his hands linked behind his head. ‘Does she have a name yet?’ Ryder shouted to let his voice carry to her.

  ‘Not that I know,’ Lacie called back. She turned on the shower. ‘She’s so beautiful, so small and helpless, and to think of all the trouble she’s caused already.’

  ‘I’m very thankful,’ Ryder said, keeping his voice raised.

  Wiping the gathering fog from the mirror, Lacie stared at her reflection. ‘She brought us together,’ Lacie said. ‘I thought the same thing myself.’

  Ryder’s voice sounded over the shower spray. ‘We should get her a gift.’

  With this being the only child in their lives, Lacie had a feeling this kid was going to be seriously spoiled by everyone. ‘I’ll deal with that. Something tells me this little girl isn’t going to be short of anything.’

  Ryder’s reflection appeared in the mirror, making her turn to face him. ‘You’re sure we don’t have any sex time.’

  Laughing, she shook her head, and slid open the shower while extending her hand. ‘Yes. But you can soap my back.’

  ‘I’ll take it,’ he said and came over to hold her hips and guide her under the spray.

  Chapter Sixteen

  In all the time Lacie sat by her bed, Sorcha kept her eyes on the baby in the plastic hospital crib next to them.

  Lacie might have expected Sorcha’s terror, but the awesome wonder was a surprise. Most people must have a sense of incredulity that they had created a life. Sorcha experienced that and more, admitting that she had a fear of holding the baby because she was worried she might hurt her.

  Lacie had hoped that Sorcha would embrace motherhood when it happened but she had worried that Sorcha might not take it seriously. Those worries proved to be unfounded because when a nurse had come in to take the babe back to the nursery, Sorcha had bombarded the staff member with questions. She’d gone to the length of retrieving a notebook to write down the nurse’s answers so she wouldn’t forget anything.

  Conspicuously, Bruce was missing but Sorcha said nothing about it so Lacie didn’t bring up the issue. Sorcha had enough on her plate at the moment.

  Much as it was obvious that Sorcha wanted Lacie to remain, she couldn’t stay all night. So after a drawn out farewell, Lacie peeked at the baby once more then she and Rocco rode the elevator down to the main hospital entrance.

  Walking outside Lacie thought of getting back to Ryder, to their home, to the cocoon of their safe nest.

  ‘Hey, Hart!’

  Lacie paused at the sound of the holler from behind her and spun around. There against the railing of the wheelchair ramp was Shep, lounging like he had all the time in the world. After a few seconds of nothing, Lacie nodded to Rocco to back off and he gave them space, but didn’t go far. Shep sloped away from his perch and crossed to her.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked.

  Looking the same as always, Shep wore a scowl and Lacie guessed it broke his heart to know that Sorcha was here in apparent bliss, while he had nothing. ‘We have to talk.’

  ‘About what?’

  ‘The case,’ Shep said. ‘It’s important. Meet me at my office?’

  Glancing back at Rocco, Lacie waited for him to give the nod before she returned her focus to Shep. ‘We’ll follow you.’

  Rocco was driving. They got back to the car and drove away from the hospital. Lacie used the time to bring Rocco up to speed on the sequence of events that had taken her to Shep again. While talking she realised she had no idea where Shep lived, because the only time she’d seen him on his own property was in his office.

  Rocco parked and escorted her to the office. The door was open, so they went into the outer receptionist room where Rocco paused. ‘I’ll wait out here,’ Rocco said to Lacie when Shep held the inner office door open. ‘No sneaking out the back this time.’

  ‘It’s locked,’ Shep said. ‘I’ll leave the door open.’

  Rocco sat in one of the plastic waiting room chairs and let Lacie and Shep recede into the office.

  ‘What is it?’ Lacie asked. ‘Either you found something definitive about his infidelity or…’

  ‘You think I brought you here to hit on you?’ Shep asked, taking his place behind the desk.

  ‘Do you live here?’

  ‘You interested in finding my bedroom? If you send Stone’s lackey back to base then we can have all the fun you want.’

  She levelled her gaze on him. ‘You didn’t bring me here for sex. You knew I would have at least one of Ryder’s men with me, and you told me this was about the case.’

  Shep opened a desk drawer and retrieved a file. ‘He’s cheating.’ Dropping the file in front of Lacie, he then sat back in his seat.

  She didn’t want to open the file. Shep had done the job that he’d been asked to do. He hadn’t been happy at watching Booth when Sorcha was happy with him. Now Shep still didn’t look happy, but the frustration was something different.

  Knowing she’d have to face it eventually, even if only for Sorcha’s benefit, Lacie opened the file. The first picture was of Bruce at a bar with a blonde. The next was with the same blonde at a restaurant, then at a second restaurant, different clothes, different day.

  ‘Maybe she’s a cousin, or—‘ Lacie flicked to the next picture to see Bruce and the blonde in a passionate clinch under a streetlight. The next picture was of them kissing in Bruce’s car, the next was at a motel.

  The pictures got worse but it was always the same woman. Though Lacie wasn’t sure if that was better than indiscriminate cheating.

  ‘Who is she?’

  ‘Floozy from his father’s staff.’

  ‘The household staff? Do his parents know?’

  ‘I didn’t interview them. Thought it might have given them a hint that Sorch didn’t trust her fiancé.’

  ‘Fiancé,’ Lacie said, the picture
s slipped from her hands back down into the file.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Seth…’

  His brow furrowed. ‘I didn’t know you knew my first name.’ That could be forgiven because Lacie wasn’t sure she’d ever used it except when addressing Ryder in the early days.

  ‘They’re married.’ Lacie didn’t think pussyfooting around it would help anyone but she witnessed the ice travel through his body.

  ‘They’re married?’

  ‘They eloped. Bruce had an argument with his parents and…’

  Shep moved up and away from the desk then took a long breath. Sorcha was impulsive, Lacie knew that. Shep knew it too but he could never have expected this and she wasn’t surprised by his reaction.

  ‘I figured she’d gone back to him when she dumped me again… I left it a couple of days, figuring she’d be back… she always comes back.’ He must have missed witnessing the wedding in those couple of days he’d left Sorcha alone. ‘When she didn’t, that’s when I found out about the blonde. He’s been with her more in the last few days.’

  ‘Bruce was staying with Sorcha,’ Lacie said.

  ‘Yeah, I saw that. The blonde lives at his parents’ house. Both she and Bruce went back there last night separately after saying goodnight on the sidewalk outside… that’s the picture under the light. I guess he was telling his parents about the kid… making up with them I guess.’

  After the argument with his parents, Bruce couldn’t stay at his parents’ house, so he had to be seeing the blonde on the side. Maybe he thought that relationship was over or it was a casual distraction while he was under his parents’ roof. Either way, he’d stayed with Sorcha, and married her, not out of love, but because he had nowhere else to go.

  It was no shock that Bruce had used Sorcha, and as much as Lacie wanted to believe that he cared for her best friend, how Bruce felt was nothing to how Shep felt, as was proven by how he clenched his jaw and glared into nothingness.

  ‘You should’ve told her,’ Lacie said. Her spike of sympathy became a rush of anger. ‘You should’ve told her how you felt. If you’d—‘