Sleight Mistake (Stone Investigations Book 2)

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘Do you have him?’ she asked, needing to hear Gabe say the words that they had located him and were on their way to pick him up. Desperation closed her throat. Ryder could have strolled in downstairs, he could be here in the building, and she needed confirmation of that because the alternative was unthinkable.

  ‘Actually, yes.’ The male voice on the other end of the line was not Gabe’s. Dread recognised that voice. Her pain identified each syllable and her devastation clocked his nuance. This was the man from the gallery. No doubt the same man who attacked her in the cabin.

  Emptying her emotion, she whipped around, determined to act quickly. Seeking out her panic button, she didn’t get two steps toward it when he spoke again.

  ‘I wouldn’t do anything rash, Miss Hart,’ the voice said. ‘I have your love and I have every intention of injuring him. But there is still a chance you could get him back in one piece. If you summon anyone else, alert anyone that we have had this conversation, I’ll send him back, an inch of flesh at a time.’

  Clutching the phone with both hands, she kept focus on the panic button, which was on her bedside, but she didn’t move any closer to it.

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘He’s alive,’ the voice said. ‘You don’t sound very grateful. I didn’t have to keep him alive.’

  ‘I’m grateful,’ she said, squeezing her eyes closed she tried to focus, tried to memorise details which might help them find out where Ryder was.

  ‘Good,’ the voice drawled. Recognising that the voice didn’t sound entirely natural, she wondered if the man was using some sort of tech to distort it. ‘You and I are going to work together and you’re going to keep our association a secret. If you tell a single person, I will know.’

  ‘How will you know?’

  ‘To say I am watching you would be an understatement,’ he said. ‘You’re not as safe in your ivory tower as you might believe. I would think that your encounter with Mr. Wallace would have educated you on the pitfalls of trust. Apparently it didn’t. I’m here to make sure you get that message now, loud and clear. If you think there’s someone you can trust, I can tell you that you’d be mistaken. Someone you know, someone close to you, is close to me. I hear everything. I see everything. You and your life belong to me now, Miss Hart, and I took your boyfriend to ensure you didn’t forget that.’

  ‘He’s leverage? For what? What is it that you want me to do?’

  ‘First I need your assurance that you will keep our relationship a secret.’

  A tickle in the back of her throat signalled her revulsion at the idea of having any kind of “relationship” with such a mad man. But this threat had Ryder and no matter what it took, no matter what this lunatic wanted her to do, she would do it, because she would do anything to keep Ryder safe. If their roles were reversed then Ryder would already have signalled his compliance.

  ‘I’ll keep it a secret. I won’t tell a soul. Just please, give me Ryder back.’

  ‘You will get him back,’ the voice said with a curl of pleasure. ‘Provided you comply with my instructions.’

  ‘What do you want me to do?’

  ‘The first task I have for you is simple and one you should’ve taken care of already yourself.’

  A few beats of silence increased her heart rate. If she lost this connection then she lost the only link she had to Ryder, the only chance she had of saving his life. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Get yourself a good night’s rest and then without provoking suspicion…’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Tell Sorcha about Booth’s infidelity.’

  Lacie hadn’t expected that. Her body prickled as her eyes gradually opened into the frown that adorned her face. ‘How do you know about that?’ she whispered.

  The callous laugh on the end of the line curled Lacie’s lip with anger and disgust that this sicko could be getting pleasure out of the torment he visited on their lives. ‘I know everything about you and your life, Miss Hart—absolutely everything.’

  Again, the line went quiet and a clicking on the other end piqued her ears. But too soon the drone of the dial tone confirmed what she feared. He’d hung up.

  A good night’s rest was unlikely, but for his instruction not to provoke suspicion, Lacie had to give the impression that she had. The captor had given her no idea of how many commands he had or when he would be back in touch with her.

  With hope that she would hear from him sooner if she got the first task done, she called Sorcha at seven AM. As it was Sorcha had been up for most of the night with Lulu and so the early morning call didn’t wake her.

  ‘Can we have coffee?’ Lacie asked.

  ‘Oh, honey, I would, but it’s just been crazy here. I’m not at all presentable.’

  ‘That’s ok, it’s only me,’ Lacie said, regretting every time she had begrudged Sorcha her girlie events. ‘I really need to see you.’

  ‘Is it Ryder? Did you hear something?’

  To her credit, Sorcha did sound concerned and hopeful. Hearing her friend being so genuine fired a pang of guilt into Lacie for not being honest. She prided herself on privacy and loyalty and now that she was keeping secrets from her best friend. It felt so disloyal that her chest became tight.

  ‘No. We haven’t, but… I don’t want to neglect you at this time. Gabe and the guys have got it under control. I really want to see you.’

  ‘You do?’ Sorcha asked.

  The silence that followed made Lacie slide from the corner of the bed she was perched on to sit on the floor. Drawing her knees up, she clamped a hand over her mouth to damn the gasp that threatened in time with the wobble of her lower lip. She couldn’t tell if Sorcha was suspicious or touched. All Lacie could focus on was not revealing her deception. How people dealt with being duplicitous every day of their lives, Lacie didn’t know. Her heart wouldn’t be able to handle the stress of it.

  ‘Maybe I could come over…’

  ‘My apartment is a mess,’ Sorcha said.

  Lacie didn’t want to ask why Sorcha was hesitant. Either Bruce was standing over her or Sorcha didn’t want to clean up. With a crying baby, she wouldn’t have had the time to preen herself to her usual level of perfection. Sorcha prided herself on being stylish without a hair out of place. If Lulu was going to be demanding, Sorcha might have to get over that hang up.

  ‘I don’t mind mess,’ Lacie said, but she didn’t want Bruce present when they had their conversation. Going out meant taking S.I.S. security away from their jobs.

  She wasn’t going to depress herself because she had the chance to save Ryder and falling apart would do him no good. ‘Can you come over here today?’ Lacie asked. It was the only other choice.

  ‘Lulu just went to sleep. I’m going to take a nap. How about I come over after?’

  ‘Ok,’ Lacie said, through her fingers which curled over her mouth because she wanted to yell or object or question how long it would take Sorcha to get here. She should be considerate of her exhausted friend and how news of her husband’s infidelity would affect her and her daughter’s life.

  Making a decision to rip off the Band-Aid, Lacie decided that waiting wasn’t an option. ‘It’s just… Shep told me… he gave me news, about Bruce… I didn’t know if I should tell you but…’

  ‘We’re always honest with each other,’ Sorcha said. ‘What did he tell you?’

  The tinge of wariness in Sorcha’s voice could be attributed to her nerves, but Lacie couldn’t tell if Sorcha wanted the news or not. ‘You were right,’ Lacie said with no other option but to come out with it. ‘You were right about Bruce, right to send me to Shep.’ Sorcha didn’t say anything. Lacie listened to the slight change in Sorcha’s breathing and then she seemed to hold her breath for almost a minute before she swallowed. ‘Sorch?’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Sorcha said, sounding altogether too chirpy. ‘I mean we knew it, didn’t we?’

  ‘Yes,’ Lacie said. ‘That doesn’t make it easier to hear… I wish I was there to give you a
hug.’

  ‘I don’t need a hug I… I’m going to take a nap.’

  ‘Sorch—‘

  ‘Thanks for telling me, Lacie. You’re a real friend.’

  ‘Was it right to tell you?’ Lacie asked, but she had no choice if she wanted to help Ryder.

  ‘Yes. I wouldn’t want to be that woman. You know, everybody whispering behind her back… Do you know who it is?’

  ‘A blonde woman from the household staff,’ Lacie said.

  Sorcha yelped and actually laughed. ‘How cliché! Wouldn’t his father be proud? Bruce made up with them, he’s been sleeping there since Lulu was born… or sleeping… somewhere else maybe.’

  Lacie didn’t know Booth’s parents. Sorcha had loved spending time with her mother-in-law, but it was possible that relationship was now doomed. ‘What are you going to do?’ Lacie asked.

  ‘Take a nap,’ Sorcha said, taking a deep cleansing breath. ‘Then I’m going to phone Shep and get all the details. Are there pictures?’

  ‘At his office.’

  ‘Good. Bruce won’t know what hit him,’ Sorcha said, regaining some of her confidence. ‘I’m glad I found this out now. Yes. This is all for the best.’

  ‘Do you want me to come over now?’ Lacie asked.

  ‘No. No. No. With everything that’s going on with Ryder… you stay there. You’re needed there. I’m a big girl. I can handle this myself.’

  Motherhood had done more to Sorcha than ruin her grooming routine. She was standing up and taking responsibility for a mess that she found herself in. Lacie couldn’t be more surprised.

  They rung off and Lacie stared at her phone for a while, long after her friend had hung up. Now that the first task was complete, she wanted the kidnapper to phone again and give her the next one. Racing through the gauntlet this maniac was laying down without flinching or retreating was the only way that she could deal with this. Getting Ryder back was all that she cared about.

  Sorcha paced around the perimeter of her living room, checking that nothing was out of place. Lulu was sleeping and instead of taking her nap earlier, Sorcha had done all of her chores. So it was all Shep’s fault that she was exhausted. The doorbell rang, and she stormed out of the living room and down the hall ready to give her visitor hell.

  ‘Do you know how rude you are?’ she hissed, grabbing Shep’s jacket to pull him inside.

  ‘Rude?’ he asked, producing a bottle of wine from behind his back. ‘I don’t look rude from where I’m standing. I brought you a gift. You’re the one bitching about—‘

  ‘I can’t drink wine. I’m nursing.’ He hadn’t been here for ten seconds and already she wanted to scream at him for being an idiot.

  Using his sleeve as a leash, she dragged him down the hall and into the living room where she thrust him down onto the couch. ‘You don’t ring a doorbell at ten PM when there’s a new baby in the house,’ she whispered.

  Having a baby around changed her way of thinking about everything. After the exhaustion of her day, she did not want Lulu to wake up because she wasn’t sure that she had the energy to settle her daughter down in bed again.

  ‘You could’ve left the door unlocked,’ he said, bending forward to put the wine on the floor, he traced his fingertips up the side of her calf as he sat back. ‘Like you used to.’

  Sorcha hadn’t shaved her legs and going for a wax was out of the question with a baby in tow, so she shoved his shoulder to get his hands off her as soon as possible, in hope that he wouldn’t notice her stubbly legs. ‘I’m married now.’

  ‘I heard,’ he said, lifting his eyes and his brows when he folded his arms.

  ‘Is that why you didn’t come over when I called this afternoon? You thought you weren’t getting any, so what was the point of answering an ex-girlfriend’s call?’

  ‘I don’t remember you being my girlfriend,’ he said, tilting his head and squinting. ‘And I did answer your call, sugar-hips, I just didn’t jump at your command. I told you I’d come over later and here I am.’

  He opened his arms as if she should be grateful for his presence. Sorcha could only scowl because the truth was, she was pleased that he was here and she hated him for it. Spending another night alone might just bring her to tears. But she couldn’t show weakness, not in front of Shep. She couldn’t bear to have him laugh at her.

  ‘I asked you to come over because I paid for a service, not because of the other thing.’

  ‘What other thing?’ he asked. The curl of his lips betrayed that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

  Squeezing her lips together, she silently fumed, and reminded herself not to raise her voice in deference to her sleeping child. ‘Lacie told me,’ she snapped while remaining hushed. ‘She told me Bruce was… that he was…’

  ‘Screwing around on you,’ he said, resting his hands on the couch on either side of him.

  Maybe she appreciated the superior position, or maybe she was just afraid of what might happen if she sat down, but Sorcha stayed on her feet in front of him, looking down her nose. ‘So show me,’ she demanded and held out a hand.

  She expected a joke or a tease, but received neither. Shep opened his jacket, reached into an inside pocket and pulled out a stack of photographs that were folded once down the middle lengthways. Snatching the pictures from him, she was full of gusto and expressed that with the arch of a brow. Shep might have taken his sweet time about coming here, but he had come, and he’d done it because she’d ordered it.

  The first picture didn’t register, she flicked to the next and saw Bruce with a blonde, saw him kissing the blonde, and the truth of what she was looking at made her sink down into the seat beside him. She had known that her husband was cheating, at least she had suspected it. But part of her wanted to be wrong because all she wanted was the fairy tale. She wanted a man who would go to the ends of the earth for her and never look at another woman.

  Her home life had never been secure. Her parents had busy lives and their own priorities, which didn’t always include her or her sister. Sadie was flighty and popular. They had never been particularly close, choosing instead to compete with each other for the attention of their parents and then for friends and men as they grew up.

  ‘He’s an asshole,’ Shep said, curling a hand over her knee.

  Sorcha had been staring at the pictures, though she didn’t know for how long, and when she looked up and met his eye, she realised he was there with her, sitting beside her at the front edge of the couch, knee to knee. One of his hands came up and cupped her face. He angled her head then leaned in to kiss her.

  It felt good to be kissing him, because it always felt good to kiss Shep. But when his tongue edged into her mouth and the weight of him grew more insistent, she had to part their mouths.

  ‘Is that why you came here late?’ she asked, throwing the pictures at him and spurting back up to her feet. ‘You thought if you showed me this I’d be vulnerable enough to let you into my bed? God, you’re so predictable.’

  ‘I came here late because I was on a job today,’ he said, standing at her side and matching her fury. ‘I didn’t want to come here at all. I told the Little Lady not to tell you about Booth’s bullshit because I didn’t want to see your heart get broken.’

  ‘You didn’t care about my heart when we broke up!’ she bit out.

  Encroaching on her personal space, he threatened her resolve to dismiss him because he smelled so good… he always smelled good. ‘Every time we split it was you who did the heart-breaking, sugar-hips. Did I ever end it with you? Huh? No! I came running back like a dumb stupid pup because you cross those lush legs and lick those lips and I forget to notice that you’re glaring down your little button nose at me.’

  ‘Uh, I have a baby! I have just been told my husband is a snake! Are you allowed to talk to clients this way?’

  ‘Clients? You’re not my damn client, Sorch.’

  ‘Then what the hell am I?’ Her breath caught in her throat with a gasp when he gra
bbed her arm and hauled her against him.

  ‘You’re a superior, melodramatic bitch with a blind spot for good sense.’

  ‘It’s a wonder you would come back to me at all then, isn’t it?’ she said, maintaining her patronising tone, but deliberately licking her upper lip in a slow swipe meant to torment him and it worked, because his eyes dropped to her mouth.

  ‘Little Lady is right,’ he murmured and swept his other arm around her to restrict her breathing with a tight embrace that brought her to the tips of her toes. ‘I come back because I love you, just like I have since the start.’

  She couldn’t believe he meant it. If he did, it would change everything she’d ever believed about their relationship and the type of man he was. But if it was a ruse and she fell for it, Shep would use it against her in jest at least, and she just wasn’t strong enough to face being betrayed by another man.

  ‘You don’t love me,’ Sorcha said and tried to use her bent arms on his chest to lever her freedom, but he hauled her back. ‘What we have is sex, hot, dirty, demeaning sex. We use each other because we tease each other… that’s all it is.’

  ‘Is it? Then why do you keep coming back to me?’

  ‘You’re convenient.’

  ‘I’m anything but convenient,’ he said and tried to kiss her, but she leaned away and hit his chest.

  ‘Get off me, you animal, I’ve just had a baby! I’m not having sex with you. I’m a mess.’

  ‘I don’t want sex. I want to take you to bed and rub your back until you fall asleep—‘

  ‘Then you’ll slip it in while I’m sleeping? That’s rape, genius.’

  ‘You come back to me because you love me too,’ he said, rubbing his nose on hers though she tried to get away by wriggling in his arms.

  ‘You’re unreliable and lazy and—‘

  He let her go. She shook her arms then straightened her top, expressing her indignation with a tsk. ‘Then why is it you come to me whenever something goes wrong in your life?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t.’