by anna snow
Kelly gave me an almost imperceptive nod.
“Um, sure. Kelly, it’s fine. You can go.”
She winked at me and left the room.
The minute the door closed behind her I knew I was in trouble.
“I’ve missed you.”
“Is that why you’re here? Because if it is, you’re wasting your time.”
“Time with you is never wasted.”
Boy, was he full of crap or what?
“That’s obviously not what you thought when we were together or you wouldn’t have spent your every waking moment screwing your assistant.”
He frowned. “I apologized for that. I was immature, stupid even. I’m different now.”
Yeah, and the sky was red, wine was nasty-stinky-poo-poo, and turkey bacon tasted better than the real thing.
Different my ass.
“Jason, if this is why you’re here, to rehash our past, then I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I have work to do.”
As I started to stand he held out his hand to stop me. “No, that’s not why I’m here. I really do need you’re help, Barb.”
I took in his expression and against my better judgment asked, “With what? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
He released a frustrated sigh and ran his hand through his normally immaculately combed hair. I took a closer look at him and realized he looked exhausted. Faint bags sat dark beneath his tired green eyes. His hair was disheveled, his body strung tight with tension, and his dress shirt and black slacks were slightly rumpled.
Were I a vain, conceited woman, I would’ve thought his tension was due to the fact that he was sitting across from me, a woman he was lucky to have had but screwed over and lost… but I’m not that kind of girl.
“Jason?” I prodded.
“Yeah. Kind of.”
“Care to elaborate?”
He leaned his elbows onto his knees and began, “You know I started my own accounting firm four years ago?”
I nodded.
“I do a lot of business for individuals as well as some larger companies including Hatchet Enterprises.”
“Hatchet?” I interrupted. “As in modeling mogul, Robert Hatchet?”
Robert Hatchet owned the biggest modeling agency on the East coast. His models were everywhere, television, movies, magazines, and billboards. Hatchet was THE name in modeling. If you wanted to be the next Naomi Campbell, Hatchet Enterprises was the company you tried to land.
“Mr. Hatchet himself came into my office six months ago, chatted me up, said he heard great things about me and hired me on the spot to work as his personal accountant. The money he offered was just too good to pass up.”
“Personal accounts? As in illegal?”
“No, nothing like that. The modeling company has its own accounting company due to the fact that it’s a multi-million dollar business. All agency accounts are dealt with by another firm, but Hatchet has more going on than the modeling company, charities and such, and that’s what he hired me to keep track of.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“It is at times. The other firm and I meet once a month just to make sure we’re on the same page and there’s no loose ends. The last thing we need it getting Hatchet or ourselves into some kind of financial trouble because of oversights.”
Over the last five years as a P.I. I’ve learned that most cases always leads back to one of two things, money or sex. Sometimes both.
“Wait.” I stopped him and held up a hand. “Hatchet’s wife was murdered about two weeks ago, wasn’t she?”
At least that’s what I though I’d heard on the bits of the evening news I was able to catch. With my line of work, I wasn’t home much, so television was sparse.
“That’s why I’m here.”
Why did I have the feeling that the shit was about to hit the fan? Oh, that’s right, because wherever Jason went crap always seemed to start flying. It was like he had his own troop of poo-flinging monkeys following him everywhere he went.
“You weren’t screwing his wife were you?”
Yeah, it was crass of me, but I had to ask.
He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. “No. I wasn’t banging Lydia. Jesus, I cheated once, it was a mistake. Let it go already. It’s not like I sleep with every woman that walks by.”
I bit my tongue to keep from telling him to go to straight to hell on the first bus out, and motioned for him to continue.
“The day her body was found the police called me in for questioning and released me after a few hours. Three days later a detective paid me a visit. He asked some more questions and informed me that from that point on, I was being considered a suspect.”
I leaned my elbows on the desk, unable to control my rising curiosity and asked, “What kind of questions did he ask you?”
He shrugged. “How well I knew Lydia? Were we having an affair? Had I ever done any kind of personal work for her? Shit like that, which was basically the same questions I’d been asked days before at the station.”
“Do they have any evidence against you?”
He looked away.
“Jason?”
“Yes.” He blew out a breath.
“What do they have?”
He cleared his throat. “They said they found my jacket and money clip in her bedroom.”
“I thought you said you weren’t sleeping with her?” I raised one eyebrow.
In my line of work one didn’t lose such personal items in a bedroom unless they were up to no good.
“I wasn’t.” He replied quickly. “I think I’m being framed. That’s why I need your help.”
“Do you have an alibi for the time of the murder?”
“I was home alone.” He shook his head. “I know it’s weak but surely one of the neighbors saw my car I the drive, or something.”
I leaned back in my chair and tapped the end of my pen on the desk as I thought. This was a tricky situation. One that could land me in a huge heap of trouble.
I’d been known to push the boundaries of legality in a few cases before so I wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with the local police department. The last time I stepped off the straight and narrow to help a client, Kelly and I narrowly missed landing in jail, so there was no way in hell I was going to interfere with an ongoing murder investigation.
Prison orange is not my color. That had been my mantra ever since.
“Jason, this is an ongoing murder investigation.” I tapped the desk with my index finger. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to risk everything I’ve worked for, my very life, the life of my employees, my friends, by interfering.”
“I’m not asking you to interfere,” he corrected me quickly. “I’m asking you to conduct your own investigation.”
“Which is the same damn thing, Jason.” I slapped the palm of my hand on the desk and flopped back in my cushy chair. “This is an ongoing murder investigation.” I enunciated each and every word. I knew it was childish but really, he was acting as though he didn’t understand a single word I was saying. The last time I checked I was speaking perfect English. “You’re asking me to investigate a murder. The same murder the cops are currently investigating. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
“No, it’s not. They don’t even need to know you’re investigating.”
“The cops are going to notice someone snooping around, asking questions about their case.”
“Please, Barb,” he begged. “I need help and you’re the only one I can trust right now. I didn’t kill Lydia Hatchet. You have to help me. I’m desperate.”
Good gravy, if there was one thing I couldn’t stand it was the sight of a man begging. Despite his cheating, Jason was a good man (well, he had been at one time), he was honest (Somewhat. That’s still kind of a sketchy area with the cheating and all), but despite my personal feelings about him, I had a gut feeling that he might actually be innocent and if there was one thing I’d learned in my life, it was to trust my gut.
I knew it was a bad idea. I knew that this was the case that would either make or break me. Would either get me killed, jailed, or free an innocent (maybe) man. If I turned this case down and he really was innocent, then an innocent man would be sitting in prison for the rest of his life because I was too afraid to get involved. But if I interfered, I could end up sitting in the cell next to him.
It was a no win situation on my part, and the only way I could see out of it was to bite the bullet so to speak. Kelly was so going to kick my ass for getting us into such a situation, but a girl’s gotta do what a girls gotta do and I knew she’d have my back no matter what direction I chose.
I reached into my top desk drawer, pulled out a piece of my favorite watermelon Bubblicious, and popped it into my mouth.
Some people smoked, some drank, I chewed bubblegum.
“I’ll do it,” I said and nearly choked on the words as they passed my lips. “On one condition.”
“You name it,” he said as he scooted to the edge of his seat.
“You never lie to me. If I ask you a question, for information, anything at all, you tell me the truth. No exceptions. I don’t care how bad it might make you look, how scandalous it may be, or who besides you it involves, you tell me exactly what I need to know. It isn’t your ass on the line anymore, and I’ll be damned if I let you drag me down with you.”
“I swear.” He answered quickly. “Thank you, Barb. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“I think I might,” I muttered as I stood. I already felt the weight of the world resting on my shoulders.
I circled the desk and held out my hand for a handshake before I could come to my senses and change my mind. I was more that a little surprised when he jumped to his feet, reached out, and pulled me into his arms in a tight embrace.
I stood still, in total shock until his scent hit me. The fragrance of his musky aftershave and the natural scent of his skin enveloped me. My inner whore took over and I let myself melt into him.
I know, I know, it was a seriously bad move but give me a break, my love life had been practically nonexistent for the past year and sad to say, I’d been head over heels in love with Jason at one time… until he betrayed me.
I felt him press his lips against the top of my head and forced myself to pull away before things got really out of hand. There was no way I hell I was going back down that road again. That son of a bitch was full of potholes.
“I’ll get started today and call you if I find anything.”
He smiled and some of the tension visibly lifted from his body. “I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
“I do.” I smiled as I turned back to my desk and pressed the intercom button.
“Yes?” Kelly’s voice echoed in the room between us.
“Mr. King will be paying you for our services on his way out. Charge him the cheating-arrogant-bastard rate.”
“You got it, boss.” She answered and I could hear the grin in her words.
Jason chuckled and shook his head as he opened the door. “Same ol’ Barb.”
He grinned once more at me over his shoulder as he exited my office, and I shrugged because really, what could I say? He was right, I was the same ol’ Barb and I was happy with that.
I just hoped he wasn’t the same old Jason because if he was, he’d be sitting in big-boy jail by the end of the week, and I’d be right beside him.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
About the Author
Sneak Peek
