by Jen Talty
Actually, she could think of two people with that type of car. Lucas’ lawyer and his sister Anna. His lawyer was a sleazeball, and Anna hated her almost as much as Lucas.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said behind a clenched jaw.
“This case is making less and less sense.”
She needed to make a phone call, but she couldn’t do it in front of Mason. Maybe a text would work.
Destiny: Hey, Uncle Richard. I have a situation. I need your advice.
Her phone buzzed. “This is my uncle. I need to take it.”
He nodded and stepped outside, but he didn’t leave. He just parked himself on the steps.
“What’s going on?” Sterling asked.
“This kid is stalking me, but my landlord/cop really believes he has help. Should I be worried that Lucas somehow found me and is using this kid?”
“There is no chatter regarding Lucas or anyone he’s associated with. I’ll do some digging. Is there anything else you can tell me? What does your cop friend think? Does he have any leads?”
Did all cops rapid-fire questions?
“He just asked me if I knew anyone with a Mercedes. I guess the kid made a run for it in a Mercedes last night. There is a man here by the name Roger Rivers. He’s looking to buy property. He has a Mercedes.” Wow, she just spit out all those sentences faster than either Mason or Sterling.
“I’ll look into it. But honestly, if Lucas found you, I think we both know you wouldn’t be vertical.”
“That really doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“There is no reason for me to pull you right now,” Sterling said.
“I know, but I just don’t know what to do.”
“You just live your life and try to stay out of the limelight. I’ll have an agent hang out in town for a few days. Poke around. Make sure you’re safe.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.” She ended the call and opened the door.
“Your uncle okay?”
“He’s fine. But he’s worried about me, and now he’s bugging me to go home since I told him about this last incident.” She sat down next to Mason on the step and stared out at the woods. Lying had always come easy to her, and she almost never felt guilty about doing it.
Until now.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you when all you were doing was protecting me,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have invaded your privacy like that.” He patted her knee, letting his fingers linger on her thigh. “There are too many things that don’t add up. Jake’s uncle being one of them. And the car being another.”
“Any change in Dean’s condition?”
“He’s still in a medical coma, but the doctors think in a day or two they can try to bring him out of it. If he can ID his attacker, then maybe we will know who is helping Jake and why. I’ve been racking my brain all night trying to figure it out. We’ve been talking to every person we know of that has had any contact with Jake, his uncle, or anyone in his family, but it’s not giving us any insight. That’s why I’m pressing you. There has to be a connection. Shit. Wait.” Mason jumped to his feet.
“What?”
“I can’t get into it, but I want you to keep Coop with you all day. I’ll be in touch.”
“Where are you going?” she asked with a rattle in her tone. After everything she’d been through in her life, fear had never been an emotion that controlled her actions. If she allowed any anxiety into her mental process when running poker tables, she wouldn’t have been one of the best in the business.
But there were very few unknown factors in her past life. She did her research on every player and almost never allowed new people in without proper vetting. Lucas had always told her never fear what you know.
Only what you don’t know.
And she had no idea what the hell was going on with this kid Jake.
“Work.”
“You’re not wearing your uniform.” For the first time, she noticed the gun and badge on his hip.
“Blaine doesn’t wear his; why the hell should I wear mine?”
“Because you look sexy as hell in it.” She blinked her eyes closed before rolling them. She really needed to think before she spoke.
“I’ll take that under advisement.” He pulled out a set of keys from his front pocket.
It was impossible not to stare at his hard body. The way his muscles flexed with each fluid movement mesmerized her as if a spell had been cast.
“Do you want to take my truck today? I know you’ve got a lot of stuff to pick up and that way Coop won’t slobber all over your car.”
“I’ve arranged to have everything delivered to the bed and breakfast. Will Kaylee and Blaine mind if I have Coop?”
“Nope. Just keep him on his leash, especially around Hannah. That tail of his has knocked her down on more than one occasion. If he’s on his leash, he’ll be more timid around her.”
“Got it.”
“Do you still want my help tonight?” Mason asked. “Or are you still furious with me?”
A smile spread slowly across her face. She tried to rein it in, but to no avail. “Mad or not, I’ll still take the help.”
“See you around six. Call me if you need to.”
“Mason,” she called, taking a few tentative steps. “Thank you for making sure I got to bed safely and for chasing away the bad guy.”
“I just wish I had caught the bad guy.” Mason looped his large hands around her waist, heaving her toward his chest. “Because I don’t want to keep sleeping on the sofa.”
She laughed. “You don’t have to stay here with me.”
“You’re right. I don’t have to. But I want to. And not on the couch.” He pressed his firm lips against hers, holding them for a long moment before slipping his tongue into her mouth. He tasted like a bowl of cherries. Sweet, but not overpowering. His gentle touch made her putty in his hands.
She pulled back. “I’m not ready for this. I like you, but I can’t—”
“I get it. And honestly, I feel the same way, only you’re irresistible. I think you find me rather charming as well, so it’s important we go on at least one date. Just one.” He held up his index finger. “Let me take you out, and if at the end of the night you don’t want to do this again.” He tipped her chin with his thumb and forefinger. His hot mouth collided with hers. Danger and passion ignited as fireworks went off inside her body. The kiss sucked any coherent thought she had formed in her brain. All she wanted was more of his kisses.
All over her body.
The sound of a car door slamming made her jump. She stared wide-eyed into Mason’s smoldering gaze, his lips plump with her kiss.
“Sorry to interrupt,” a woman’s voice said.
Destiny brushed her hair back, focusing on anything but Mason.
“I’ve got a delivery for Destiny Baker from Joey’s Deli.”
“That was supposed to be sent to a different address,” Destiny said, taking the clipboard the woman handed her. “Well, we can load it up in my car.”
“It’s only a couple of boxes, and nothing is perishable,” the woman said.
“I’ll load them up for you,” Mason said.
“Thanks. So, I’ll see you after work?”
Mason’s eyes sparkled like a beautiful gem in the sunshine. “I’m looking forward to it. But it’s not a date.” He winked. “We’ll need to work our way up to that after maybe five or six pre-dating situations.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I was hoping for impossible to resist, but you’re a work in progress.”
“Come on, Coop.” She snapped her fingers, and the dog came running. Yep. She was screwed. She had made connections to both beast and human. The hardest part was knowing that no matter what, she’d always be looking over her shoulder.
She couldn’t do that to Mason.
She slammed the back door shut. She’d need to end this flirtation tonight. Period.
> “Thanks for coming in.” Mason held the office door open for Sally.
“No uniform? It suits you.”
“I feel like a fish out of water. I’ll probably go back to it tomorrow.”
Sally held a manila envelope in her hand. She tossed it on Mason’s desk. “We’ve been watching Trip Snider since the day he was released. Thus far, we got next to nothing on him, except chatter, and now this, which isn’t much of anything.” She tapped her finger over the envelope.
“What is it?”
“Two pictures. One is of Trip at a casino a hundred miles from here with Dean Lawson.”
“No fucking way?” Mason ripped open the package. “When was it taken?”
“A month ago. Dean wasn’t on our radar, so it got buried, but considering the Jake connection and Trip’s stepdaughter, maybe there is something to it.” Sally lifted her suit coat and rested her ass on the side of the desk. “The other picture is of Trip and we believe Jake, but the image isn’t great. It was taken from a security camera in the parking lot of the same casino.”
“When?”
“Two days before you brought Tim the girl and her mom.”
“What does Trip have to say about all this?”
Sally let out a long breath. “My boss says we can’t question him. Not yet. He’s a small fish that needs to lead us to the really bad guy.”
“And who’s that?”
“Need to know and you don’t need to know,” Sally said. “According to my boss, that is.”
“How big is this operation?”
“Huge. And we’ve been working on it for six months. We’ve got two men undercover, and they are finally making headway. This could be a big bust in organized crime and illegal gambling, but not if we start showing our hand too soon.”
“Basically, let Trip think he’s getting away with it and play on his ego.” Mason knew how the game was played. If the tables were turned, he wouldn’t want all his hard work to go down the drain because some other law enforcement agency had a man on a lesser charge. “So, the Thief Lake Police Department is supposed to just let this go.”
“For now, yes. But I promise I will keep you in the loop as much as I can. I need you to do the same.”
“Can you at least tell me who the bigger fish is?”
“A guy by the name of George Charleston. He owns—”
“A few casinos.” Mason jumped behind his desk and fired up his laptop. “I don’t know if this means anything, but the graffiti on the side of my house reminds me of the logo for one of his establishments.” Mason turned the screen, giving Sally a better look at the side-by-side.
“That’s pretty damn similar,” she said, holding up her phone. “Mind if I take a picture of that?”
“I’ll do you one better and email this one to you.” Mason clicked the send button. He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head. He swiveled back and forth, staring at the ceiling.
“Do you think your girl has a connection to George?”
Mason rolled his tongue over the crevasses on his teeth. “I don’t think so. All the background I’ve done on her doesn’t add up to knowing gangsters.”
“You’ve researched your girlfriend? Damn. That’s harsh.”
He narrowed his glare. “I did a background and credit check on her when she rented my place.” He left out the fact he’d Googled her more than once. “Doesn’t George plan on opening another casino?”
“He’s always looking, and he always manages to get what he wants even when the town he invades wants nothing to do with having a gambling establishment in their backyard. He’s also never up front, buying up property with an LLC under the pretense it’s all for family, when in reality, he’s gathering those homes for other reasons. By the time everyone figures out what he’s doing, it’s too late. He’s brought in jobs and revenue. For the short-term, he’s a hero, but it never lasts.”
“The Babcock place is for sale.” Mason always paid attention to property listings in the area. He knew of only three major listings. One was pretty far out of town. There was a modest house for sale in town just two streets over from the main strip. The Babcock residence was a prime selection. It sat proudly on a rolling hill on the west side. It looked more like a resort than a home with its twenty-foot tall, wide front doors that opened up into a massive foyer with a double staircase. “It’s listed with Lilly, and I guess she has an interested buyer.”
“Who?” Sally asked as she pulled out a small notebook.
“Roger Rivers.”
“I’ve heard of him.”
“Should I be worried about him?”
“He’s a number cruncher not a thug,” Sally said.
“But he works for organized crime?”
“He has a few on his client list.” Sally raised her hand. “That’s all I’m going to say on that. George is a slippery fella. He’s charming and actually does do a lot for the communities he’s involved with.” Sally tucked her notebook into her back pocket and smoothed down the front of her slacks. She was a smart woman who had worked harder than anyone he knew. She almost made him consider joining the FBI. “He’s spent the last twenty years slowly building his businesses. Most of which are legit. It wasn’t until he took a large sum of money from a foreign diplomat during an illegal poker game that we started looking into him.”
“And how did Trip get involved in all this?” Mason’s mind churned over all the information, piecing it together as best he could.
“He was cellmates with someone who used to work for George, and we have it on good authority that he set Trip up with George, but we still don’t know the extent of the relationship, yet.”
Mason rubbed the back of his neck. “Could Trip have learned how to unarm a monitoring device?”
Sally waved her finger in the air. “That does make the most sense. But why help a punk kid escape? What’s the end game? We are missing so many pieces to this puzzle. I know you’re concerned for your girlfriend, but we are still far from a warrant much less an arrest.”
“She’s just a friend,” Mason interjected.
Sally chuckled. “Regardless, I understand you want to protect her, but I’m asking you to back off of your investigation, especially if it leads you back to Trip.”
“You’re asking me? Or is the FBI telling me?”
“Both.” She lowered her chin. “I don’t want you to even follow up with Trip’s wife and stepdaughter. We’re taking care of them.”
“How did Trip take the news that they left?” There was no way Mason was going to keep his nose out of this investigation, and Sally knew it, but she was doing her job, and he respected that. He’d at least pretend to listen.
“Trip went to the shelter and got in Tim’s face, but then oddly, Trip went right from there to his job, as if he didn’t care.”
“Where’s he working?”
“He’s selling used cars.” Sally leaned closer. “And the dealership just got funding from an LLC that is associated with George.”
“For someone who can’t tell me much and wants me to stay out of it, you’ve certainly given me a lot of information.”
She patted his chest. “And you will do nothing with it. You keep an eye on your girl, and if you see anything or something happens, you call me, got it?”
“You know I will.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
Mason sat at his desk and stared out the window. Destiny had left her shop about an hour ago. He’d been glad to see she had Coop. She had a calming effect on the dog, which was good.
Only it seemed Coop was getting too attached to his sexy neighbor.
Or maybe it was Mason who was getting attached.
Either way, once this case was closed, he’d reclaim his dog and make it impossible for her to say no to a date.
Of course, if she ever found out he hired his buddy Toby to follow her, she’d probably have him hog-tied.
8
Destiny slumped down in the sofa and si
ghed. Coop plopped down at her feet and did the same thing.
“What about this box?” Mason called from the kitchen. “Should it have been left at Blaine and Kaylee’s?”
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. It hasn’t been opened.” Mason appeared with a bottle of wine and a box.
She took the package and examined it, remembering it had been delivered to the house. She’d thought it was the party favors for the adults, but when she had arrived at Blaine and Kaylee’s, they had been delivered there.
“This is weird.”
“Why?” He handed her a hefty glass of wine and made himself comfortable on the sofa, a little too close.
Only she didn’t mind.
She touched her lips, remembering their kiss from earlier in the day. He had a gentleness about him, but she could tell by the way his tongue moved inside her mouth that a deep passion burned inside.
“The lady who delivered this said it was from Joey’s, but everything I ordered from there was already delivered, or it’s coming tomorrow.”
“Joey’s always uses their own packaging.” He took the box from her hands. “It has your name and address, but no other markings.” He pulled out a pocketknife and cut through the tape.
She leaned over so she could get a good look inside. “What the fuck?” she whispered.
Mason held up a box of Ho Hos. “Don’t touch anything else in the box. I’m calling Blaine.” He stepped out of the room.
Three more boxes of Ho Hos filled the package. There didn’t seem to be a note stuffed inside. When she was a little girl, her mother would only allow her to eat the treats once a year in celebration of their new life. Destiny never asked what that meant, but she suspected it had something to do with her father leaving.
When her mother had killed herself, there was an empty box of Ho Hos in the trash. At the time, Destiny didn’t think anything of it because her mother always kept them in the house, even though they were only eaten once a year. Of course, she couldn’t tell any of this to Mason. Her real history didn’t exist.
“So, why would someone send you Ho Hos? What do they mean to you?” Mason asked with an accusatory tone. He opted to sit in the rocking chair instead of next to her on the sofa. He folded his arms across his chest and stared.
