Turn On A Dime - Blane's Turn (The Kathleen Turner Series)

by Snow, Tiffany

  “So who is this girl and why are we treating her with kid gloves?” Kade asked.

  “She got pulled into this by accident,” Blane answered. “She doesn’t deserve to be hurt or die because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Kade sighed. “You and your weakness for women. Some girl bats her baby-blues and suddenly you’ll bend over backward for her. You don’t know anything about this girl. She could be a plant, for all you know.”

  “She’s not a plant, for chrissakes,” Blane retorted, stung.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I know.”

  Kade snorted. “So if she was supposed to be asleep in your bed, awash in post-orgasmic bliss, why was she hiding in the hall spying on you and how’d she have someone outside waiting for her?”

  Blane didn’t have an answer for either of those questions. His lips thinned and they didn’t speak again until they reached Kat’s apartment.

  “That looks like the car in the street,” Blane said, nodding toward a black four-door compact. “I bet it belongs to her neighbor.”

  “I thought you said her neighbor was dead?”

  “New neighbor.”

  “And they’re BFFs already?” Kade asked. “No, that’s not suspicious at all.”

  Blane shot him a look, but Kade was already getting out of the car. Doubt crept in. Had Blane been taken in by Kathleen? Had it all been a setup? A damsel in distress perfectly placed for him to rescue and protect? The very thought produced a sick feeling in his stomach.

  No. It couldn’t be. Blane made his living off reading people and he hadn’t read Kat wrong. She was not a plant. She was the real deal. She had to be.

  “I think we found our getaway car,” Kade said, his palms flat on the hood. “Engine’s still warm.”

  Blane took the stairs two at a time, pulling his gun from its holster before unlocking Kathleen’s door. Kade covered his six, weapon in hand as well. While Blane didn’t believe that Kat was involved in any of this, beyond the fact of being dragged in, he also knew she was scared. And people did crazy things when they were scared.

  But she wasn’t there.

  Standing in the living room, Blane holstered his gun, thinking. Where could she have gone?

  “I can take a crack at the neighbor,” Kade said.

  “No, I’ll go,” Blane replied. The last thing he needed was Kade hurting the girl. “You go wait in the car.” He watched as Kade retreated down the stairs.

  CJ had said she worked nights, so Blane knew she was up before he knocked. Sure enough, it only took her a moment to answer the door. Unfortunately, she also had a gun pointed at him.

  Blane slowly raised his hands, palms out. “I’m not here to hurt you, CJ,” he said, keeping his voice calm and level.

  “Then why are you here?” she asked.

  “I know you took Kathleen,” he said. “Is she here?”

  “Why should I tell you?”

  Kade pressed the barrel of his gun to the back of her head. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to decorate your apartment with skull fragments. Coincidentally, they’ll be yours.”

  CJ froze, glaring at Blane as Kade took the gun from her hand. “I thought you weren’t here to hurt me,” she mocked.

  “I told you to wait in the car,” Blane snapped at Kade, lowering his arms.

  “I vaguely remember you saying that,” Kade replied with a shrug. “I assumed you were talking to somebody else.”

  Blane huffed in irritation. “Is anyone else in the apartment?” he asked Kade.

  “Nope.”

  “Where is she?” Blane directed his question back to CJ.

  “You think I’m going to tell you anything with a gun pointed at my head?” she snapped.

  “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot first and ask questions later,” Kade hissed. “I don’t like it when people point guns at him. It pisses me off.”

  “Who’s this? Your bodyguard?” she asked Blane. “This is breaking and entering, you know.”

  “So call the cops,” Kade said with a shrug. “And I’m sure you have a permit for that gun, right?”

  CJ didn’t answer that, her jaw clenched tightly closed.

  “Listen,” Blane said. “We’re not going to hurt you.” He shot a look at Kade, who reluctantly lowered his weapon. “And we’re not going to hurt Kathleen. But we need to find her. Where is she?”

  CJ hesitated, then said, “I dropped her off at a friend’s house. She said you guys would come for her so she couldn’t come back here.”

  “What friend?” Kade asked.

  She glared at him. “I don’t know. I’ve never met her and I stayed in the car.”

  “What’s the address?” Blane asked.

  “I don’t remember,” CJ said.

  “I can help you remember,” Kade threatened, taking a step forward.

  “Kade,” Blane barked, giving him a minute shake of his head. “Don’t stonewall us, CJ,” he warned. “Kathleen’s in danger. I want to help her.”

  CJ seemed to weigh the truth of his words, then finally muttered an address. Blane quickly memorized it.

  “Thank you,” he said sincerely. He jerked his chin at Kade, who followed him down the stairs.

  The friend’s apartment was in a nicer complex and it looked like everyone was asleep. No lights burned in the windows.

  “I can go check, make sure she’s there,” Kade offered.

  Blane thought about it. He really needed to know she was okay. He didn’t wonder at why he needed to know so much, he just did.

  “Can you do it without getting caught?” Blane asked.

  “Please.” Kade rolled his eyes. “If she’s there, you want me to grab her?”

  Blane shook his head. Kat had been through enough tonight. Now that he knew where she was, he’d come back later.

  “No. Leave her be.”

  Kade got out of the car and disappeared into the darkness. Blane waited, nerves on edge. Finally, after what felt like forever, Kade returned.

  “She’s there and she’s fine,” Kade said, sliding into the passenger seat and shutting the door.

  Relief filled Blane. “You saw her?”

  “Sleeping like a baby.”

  “Who’s the friend? Guy or girl?” Maybe the bartender? Blane knew he hadn’t kept the jealousy out of his voice, but he didn’t care.

  Kade sighed, rolling his eyes at Blane as he answered. “Girl. And I don’t know who she is, but I’ll find out.”

  Blane’s cell phone rang and he answered it blindly, his eyes on the file in his hand.

  “Kirk.”

  “So the friend is Gracelyn Howard, goes by Gracie,” Kade said.

  Blane dropped the file onto the surface of his desk, giving his full attention to Kade.

  “She’s enrolled in her second year at IU’s School of Medicine,” Kade continued. “Moved to Indy three years ago from Fort Wayne. Worked as a waitress for six months, then quit. However, she didn’t take another job, at least not one that’s on the books. She moved out of an apartment she shared with two other girls and into a more expensive place with no obvious source of income. She’s lived there ever since.”

  “Maybe her parents?” Blane speculated.

  “Dad works the assembly line for GM. Mom’s a nurse. Their income level isn’t such they could afford it, nor could they afford her med school tuition. Gracie also has no outstanding student loans. The one she had for her undergrad degree was paid off, in full, nine months ago.”

  Blane rubbed his eyes with a sigh. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.

  “That you should listen to your little brother more?” Kade said dryly. “She works for the escort service, and if your girlfriend is staying with her, chances are she does, too. She was a trap, Blane.”

  Everything inside Blane rebelled at the thought. “I just can’t believe that,” he said.

  “What else is it going to take for you?” Kade retorted. “A tattoo on her ass?�
��

  “You don’t know her,” Blane said.

  “Neither do you,” Kade shot back.

  “No one could be that good an actress.”

  Kade heaved a sigh. “Fine. Have it your way. But I’ll bet she’s going to be at that party tonight.”

  “She won’t be.”

  “Fifty bucks.”

  “Done.”

  “. . . and you have to admit I’m a better shot than you,” Kade continued.

  “That’s bullshit,” Blane said. “I taught you, remember?”

  “And the student has surpassed the teacher . . .”

  “In your dreams,” Blane scoffed.

  “We could put an end to this if you’d let me go get her,” Kade reminded him.

  “Forget it. It’d take too long and at this point, she’d just be collateral damage we don’t need.”

  “Well, since we don’t have the code from the drive, and you’re unwilling to let me rattle the girl, I’m going to have to do it the hard way and break in to TecSol’s network,” Kade said.

  “Should be a piece of cake, right?” Blane taunted him. “Or are you all talk?”

  “Don’t try that reverse psychology shit on me, brother,” Kade said. “I’ll hack their network. Just give me time.”

  “We have precious little of that,” Blane reminded him.

  “Don’t I know it.”

  “Be here tonight by nine.”

  “It’s a date.”

  Blane ended the call and pushed the phone into his pocket. There was no possibility that Kat would be at that party tonight. She didn’t work as an escort. If she had, it would have shown. No one could fake that kind of naive innocence.

  Not unless that someone was very, very good.

  Blane cursed, fighting back the urge to fling something at the wall. It didn’t matter. The seed of doubt had been planted. Kade had a point. Why had she been spying on them last night? How had CJ known to come for her? Kathleen would’ve had to call her, told her to come. It took at least a half an hour to drive from her place to his.

  Questions with answers Blane didn’t want to think about drifted through his mind all day. His sheets still smelled of Kathleen’s perfume and he found long strands of her hair on his pillow. Scrutinizing his reflection as he tied the bowtie for his tux, he tried not to remember the feel of her, the taste of her. After automatically adding his silver and onyx cufflinks, he headed downstairs.

  Kade had arrived and was having his usual drink in the den, studying one of the masks that had been lying on Blane’s desk.

  “At least there aren’t feathers,” he joked as Blane walked in.

  Blane had sent Mona out today to find an additional mask for Kade that was like the one he’d been given. Elaborately made, they were both black with tiny designs woven in silver thread, the ties made of silk ribbon. When worn they would cover more than half their faces.

  Pouring himself a drink, Blane asked, “So did you have any luck?”

  “TecSol’s network is behind three firewalls,” Kade said. “The last one is proving to be a slightly tougher nut to crack.”

  “But you can do it, right?”

  “Have I ever let you down?”

  Blane swallowed the liquor. “No.”

  “Then let’s go and don’t worry about TecSol,” Kade said.

  “Oh, don’t you boys look nice!” Mona stepped into the den, a wide smile on her face. “My, my! So what’s the occasion? A post-Halloween party?”

  “A rather . . . eccentric client,” Blane replied.

  “Well, you both look quite dashing. I daresay you’ll catch quite a few ladies’ eyes,” she teased. “Speaking of which,” she addressed Blane, “what happened to that sweet girl you brought home the other night? Kathleen?” Mona looked expectantly at him.

  “I . . . think she got a new job somewhere else,” Blane said, glancing away from her. He never could lie to Mona and he disliked doing it now.

  After a moment, she said, “Well. That’s too bad. I liked her.” There was a world of meaning in that sentence and it wasn’t lost on Blane.

  “Me, too,” he said quietly.

  “You need to return Tigger at some point,” Mona continued. “Though I have grown attached to him. He’s been staying with us, so just let me know.”

  Blane’s gaze met Mona’s. An excuse to see her again. As if she could read his mind, she smiled a little, her eyes twinkling, before she turned to Kade.

  “Now be good,” she admonished him, straightening his tie.

  “You never tell Blane to be good,” he groused.

  “There’s a reason for that,” she said archly, giving him a knowing look.

  Kade’s lips twisted in something close to a real smile. He lightly kissed Mona’s cheek and her face softened. To say Mona had a soft spot for Kade and he for her was a massive understatement. Not that Blane minded. On the contrary, Kade had been the best thing to ever happen to this family . . . or to Blane.

  “Don’t wait up,” Blane said, grabbing his keys and wallet. His Glock was already in the holster under his jacket.

  “Good night, boys,” Mona called after them as they left. “Have fun!”

  “I’m driving,” Kade said, heading towards his Mercedes. “You drove last time.”

  “Or I could drive your car,” Blane suggested, just to irritate Kade. Kade never let anyone drive his precious Mercedes, not even Blane.

  “Like that’ll happen.”

  Blane hid a smile as he slid into the front passenger seat.

  The address Blane had been given led them to a house that resembled a Victorian mansion. Kade parked, and after they’d donned their masks, they walked to the wrought iron gate. Blane spoke the password he’d been given to the man guarding the entry and they were allowed through.

  “Yeah, this isn’t creepy or anything,” Kade muttered as they headed down the long sidewalk to the front door. “What’s your name again?”

  “Enigma,” Blane said in an undertone. No one was around, but the stillness of the scene made him want to speak as quietly as possible so his voice wouldn’t carry to anyone who might be listening.

  “And what’s mine?”

  “I don’t know,” Blane said, thinking. “How about . . . Omen.”

  Kade seemed to think this over. “Hmm. Omen. Yeah, I like that. Omen it is.”

  “Well, I’m glad that’s settled,” Blane said.

  A woman wearing a long silver gown and matching mask met them at the door.

  “Good evening,” she said to Blane. “You must be Enigma.” She held out her hand, palm down.

  “I am,” Blane replied. He grasped her hand, bending to lightly brush the back of it with his lips.

  Her attention shifted to Kade. “And your friend?”

  “Omen.”

  “Lovely to meet you both,” she said. “Please. This way.”

  They followed her down a long hallway, lit only by a few candelabras. Shadows danced along the walls as they passed. Kade walked a couple of steps behind and to the left of Blane. At the end of the hallway, there was a set of imposing double doors nearly twelve feet tall. Two men guarded these doors as well, one of them moving quickly to open the entry.

  Stepping inside the room, Blane realized they were in a converted ballroom. Tapestries and curtains covered the walls while the room itself most closely resembled a luxury outdoor lounge, complete with expensive furniture, potted trees, private alcoves, and candles scattered everywhere.

  The woman led them to a bar set up in one corner before turning to them. “Let me inform you of the rules,” she said.

  “The rules?” Blane echoed.

  “It’s very simple,” she continued. “Do not press anyone for their identity, neither should you give them yours. If you find a lady who captures your interest and she is agreeable, you are welcome to enjoy her here. Further interactions can be arranged for the usual fee.”

  “Which is?”

  She smiled. “Five hundred an hour
.”

  Well.

  “Enjoy yourself, gentlemen.” With that, she left them, heading back the way they’d come.

  Kade approached Blane. Speaking low so only he could hear, he said, “Five hundred an hour? That’s a lot of money just to get screwed.”

  “And they don’t even have a law degree,” Blane muttered back.

  Kade snorted at the joke, moving away to get a couple of drinks from the bartender and handing one to Blane.

  “At those prices and with the number of people here,” he said, “that’s a lot of money funneled through their fingers.”

  “Agreed,” Blane said. “A little laundering and it could be what’s funding TecSol.”

  “Why would Frank invite you here?” Kade asked.

  “To have dirt on me, I’d imagine,” Blane said. “Blackmail.”

  “Then don’t give him any opportunities.”

  “Wasn’t planning on it.” Not to mention that paying for sex wasn’t really Blane’s thing.

  “Let’s split up,” Kade suggested. “See what we can find out.”

  “Don’t go far and we’ll meet back here,” Blane said. “I want to be able to leave in a hurry if necessary.”

  “Roger that.”

  Blane meandered through the paths laid out in the room. He ran across a few men who were willing to look him in the eye and give him a nod, but most continued past without acknowledgment. The women he saw were dressed impeccably and all beautiful, though they too wore masks.

  Appearing like colorful birds of paradise, the women were artfully arranged on chaises and couches. It seemed a few had already been engaged for their services, judging by the couples in passionate clinches, hidden in the cozy alcoves.

  Pausing behind a group of trees, Blane listened to a couple seated on the couch on the other side. He knew the man’s voice and was just trying to place it.

  “I do believe you’re new,” the man said.

  “Is it that obvious?” the woman replied, her voice nearly too soft for Blane to decipher.

  “A bit,” he answered. “But don’t worry. We’re really all quite harmless. Well, most of us are harmless,” he paused. “I’m called Mercury.”

  And Blane realized who it was. James Gage. Now why wasn’t he surprised that James would be here?