Читать книгу Interrogating the Bride - Carla Cassidy - Страница 7

Micah watched as Caylee jumped up from the sofa and began to pace back and forth in front of him. He couldn’t help but notice how attractive she looked this morning with her freshly scrubbed face and her shiny dark hair.

He found it more than a little irritating that despite the fact that she wore a T-shirt that was far too big and jogging pants that engulfed her, the thrust of her full breasts was evident as was the sexy sway of her hips.

“Who would want to kill me?” she said, her voice almost a full octave higher than normal. “I don’t have any enemies, I try to be nice to everyone I meet. I’m a thoughtful employer, I don’t owe anybody money and I don’t have any crazy ex-boyfriends.” She stopped pacing and stared at Micah. “Why would anyone want me dead?”

“Maybe because you talk so much?” he said dryly.

Her cheeks colored with a blush and she shot him a cool frown. “I always talk too much when I’m nervous,” she said. “And excuse me, but the possibility that somebody tried to kill me definitely makes me more than a little bit nervous.”

“Why don’t you sit down. You’re starting to make me nervous,” Micah said gruffly. He was irritable this morning. He’d gotten little sleep the night before and the news of the day certainly hadn’t made him feel better about the mess he’d stepped into when he’d gotten on that plane in Fortuna.

He frowned as Caylee flopped down next to him. “So, what are we going to do?” she asked, her glittering green eyes looking at him questioningly. “Maybe we should just turn ourselves in, explain to the police what happened and that we didn’t have anything to do with Jason’s death. Surely we can make them see that we’re innocent.”

“You’re free to do that if you want. Unfortunately it’s not the path I intend to follow. There’s a bit of bad blood between me and Chief Kincaid. If I turn myself in, he’ll make sure I don’t see the light of day for a long time to come,” Micah said.

He could see the questions in her eyes, questions he didn’t intend to answer, so he continued. “However if you do choose to turn yourself in, let me remind you of what I said last night—I hope you have somebody good to run your shop and plenty of money to hire a high-powered criminal defense lawyer. A murder trial steals time and money from everyone involved except the lawyers.”

She should never play poker, he thought as he watched the myriad expressions that played on her features. Shock, disbelief and fear, they were all there in her eyes, on her face.

“I can’t leave my store indefinitely with my manager in charge of things,” she said. “I mean, she’s a nice young woman, but I need to be there making the decisions and keeping things running smoothly. I haven’t spent the last five years of my life working my butt off to make it a success for it all to go to ruin because of this…. this mistake.”

She leaned toward him and placed a hand on his forearm, the icy cold of her fingers telling him she wasn’t as composed as she was trying to appear. “So, what are we going to do?” she asked again.

Micah shifted positions, dislodging her hand from him. He didn’t want her looking to him for answers. He’d spent his entire life consciously choosing not to be responsible for anyone but himself. He definitely didn’t want to be responsible for a woman he didn’t know, a woman at the center of a murder case. He had enough problems of his own.

And yet, what was he supposed to do? Throw her out of the house? Leave her to flounder on her own because her eyes were too green, her face was too pretty and her very presence made him slightly uncomfortable?

“Micah?” She held his gaze intently, looking as if she were waiting for him to fix her world.

Before he could formulate an answer, the front door opened and Troy and Luke came in. They carried in their arms several bags of groceries and wore the same grim expressions they’d had the night before.

Both Caylee and Micah followed them into the kitchen where they began to unload the food and put it away. “It doesn’t look like this is all going to resolve itself easily. There’s talk that the officials on Fortuna are going to give the investigation into Jason’s death to the Kansas City cops,” Troy said as he shoved a couple packages of steaks into the freezer.

“Why would they do that? The murder took place in their jurisdiction.” Micah sat at the table across from Caylee.

“Officially the reasoning is Jason wasn’t a resident at the time of his death and they’re certain that the people who committed the crime, you and Caylee, have returned to Kansas City,” Troy replied.

“Unofficially, it’s probably because the Fortuna police force is a handful of glorified security guards,” Luke added. “Murder wasn’t supposed to happen on the glittering island on the sea.”

“Besides, by handing it over to the Kansas City cops they manage to distance the island from the murder. The last thing the officials on Fortuna want is for the island to be in the news as a place where the rich and infamous might not be safe.” Troy put the last of the meat they’d brought into the refrigerator, then joined them at the table.

“So, what does that mean for us?” Caylee asked.

“It means every cop on the Kansas City police force will be looking for you two.” Luke flung himself into the last chair at the table, his dark eyes glittering.

“We discovered something interesting when watching the news,” Micah said. He told them about Jason being murdered in the bed where Caylee had been sleeping. “We think it’s possible Jason wasn’t the intended victim.”

Both Luke and Troy focused their attention on Caylee, whose cheeks blossomed pink beneath their intense scrutiny. “I can’t imagine who’d want to hurt me,” she said.

Micah leaned back in his chair. “But we have to consider the possibility that she was the target, not Jason.” He looked at Caylee once again. “And that means I’m going to get very well acquainted with you and your lifestyle.” His tone of voice was harsh, making it sound more like a threat than he’d intended. So much for staying uninvolved, he thought to himself. “The only way to clear my name is to clear yours.”

His interest in her was purely self-serving. At the moment he needed her because she was the answer to getting himself out of this mess.

“I’ll do whatever you tell me to,” she said as she sat up straighter in the chair. “I just don’t know where to begin. This is all new to me, being accused of murder and staying with three repo men.”

“Recovery experts,” Micah corrected her.

“Whatever,” she exclaimed.

“It looks like the only way to get you out of trouble is to solve the crime ourselves.” Troy raked a hand over his short blond hair, a gesture Micah knew indicated a certain level of stress.

Troy and Luke had become the family Micah had never had, brothers of the heart bonded by the experience of war, mutual respect and that indefinable element that forges lifelong friendships.

He knew he was putting them at risk as accessories to murder. They could face charges of aiding and abetting. But he also knew not to protest their involvement, knew that they would have his back whether he wanted them to or not.

“We’ll spend the day digging up what we can on Jason Worthington,” Luke said. His dark eyes glittered with the thrill of the chase. “By the end of the day we’ll not only know who his friends and enemies were, we’ll also know what he had for breakfast the day he died and what his favorite color was.”

“I can tell you what he had for breakfast,” Caylee said. “Marie served us fruit cups and croissants. We didn’t want to eat anything too heavy because he’d planned on us spending the day on the beach. I’m not a huge beach person, but I was eager to get out of the house and spend the day among other people because Jason was giving me the willies.”

Troy and Luke looked at her as if she were a creature from another planet. “She talks too much when she gets nervous,” Micah explained dryly.

“I’d plan on the two of you being here for at least a week or longer,” Troy said, once again looking at Micah. “You know investigating anything like this takes time.”

“Is there any way I can go to my apartment and get some clothes and things?” Caylee asked. She grabbed the bottom of the T-shirt she wore.

“You can’t,” Troy replied. “I’m sure the cops are probably watching the place.”

“I can get in and get you what you need,” Luke said.

“Really?” The smile that curved her lips tightened a ball of tension inside Micah’s stomach. Her smile immediately disappeared. “I don’t have my keys,” she said with obvious dismay. “Surely it would be easier just to pick up a few things from the store.”

“I’d rather break in someplace than shop for a woman,” Luke replied.

“Luke doesn’t need keys,” Micah replied. One of Luke’s strengths was that he’d never met a lock he couldn’t pick or an alarm system he couldn’t disarm. “He’ll be fine.”

“I’ll get in tonight after dark. Just make a list of things you want from there,” Luke said.

Micah got up and moved to a cabinet drawer where he pulled out a legal pad and a pen. He gave them both to Caylee, but remained standing, knowing instinctively that within minutes Luke and Troy would be leaving.

Troy scooted his chair back. “So, we’re all on the same page?”

Micah nodded as Caylee hurriedly wrote out her list for Luke. When she was finished she handed the sheet of paper to him and together Luke and Troy stood.

Micah walked with them to the front door, surprised to realize he was dreading the moment they’d walk out and leave him alone with Caylee.

“Anything you need us to take care of for you?” Troy asked as they paused just inside the door. He grinned. “I mean other than the obvious.”

Micah had no family to contact, nobody who would care if he disappeared off the face of the earth forever. Even Heidi, the tall blonde he was supposed to meet tonight, would quickly find another man to fulfill her basic needs. The only people who might notice his absence were his neighbors, and then only to bitch and moan about the fact that he wasn’t keeping up with his lawn.

“Let’s just get to the bottom of this as fast as we can so I can get back to my life,” Micah finally said.

“We’ll also see what we can dig up on the maid, Marie Carvel. She’s doing a lot of mouth flapping to reporters,” Troy added.

“I’ll be by late tonight with Caylee’s things,” Luke said and with that, Micah’s two partners left the house. “You have spare clothes, right?” he said to Micah, who nodded.

Micah watched them as they got into a car he’d never seen before. They were being careful, aware that Chief Kincaid would be watching them. Micah tightened his grip on the door as he closed it. Kincaid would probably love to have an opportunity to put a bullet through Micah’s heart.

He also noticed dark storm clouds gathering in the southwest, portending rain in the near future. Micah hated rain. Everything bad that had ever happened in his life had happened during a storm.

He returned to the kitchen where Caylee had poured herself a fresh cup of coffee and had indulged in one of the doughnuts. Her upper lip was dusted with a fine coat of sugar and for just one moment of temporary insanity, Micah wanted to lean across the table and lick it off.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

He grabbed a napkin from the holder in the center of the table and thrust it at her with more force than necessary. Her eyes widened as she quickly ran it across her full lips.

“What happens next is that I learn everything there is to know about you and your life, and we try to figure out who might want you dead.”

It had been a long time since he’d been so acutely conscious of a woman. Even now he was aware of the scent of her, the clean, fresh fragrance of the soap they kept in the bathroom. The smattering of freckles across her nose was now evident without the cover of her makeup, but rather than making her look young and vulnerable, the freckles looked oddly sexy.

At that moment a boom of thunder shook the windows, and the ball of dread that had been inside Micah’s belly since the moment they’d heard about Jason’s murder tightened into a hot pool of fire as he fully realized the danger of the storm around them.

“I HATE STORMS,” Caylee said as she looked out the window where the sunny sky had been usurped by dark, angry clouds. “Especially summer storms.” She looked back at Micah, her eyes darker green than they’d been a moment ago. “When I was eight years old, my mother died of cancer. The night she finally passed there was a terrible storm. My dad came out of the hospital room and told me she was gone. For a long time afterward I thought the storm had taken her away.”

Micah reached in front of her and pulled the legal pad and pen in front of him. “So, your father raised you?”

She smiled. “My father loved me, but for all intents and purposes, he didn’t really raise me, my Aunt Patsy took care of me.”

“What’s Patsy’s legal name?” He picked up the pen and she noticed that his hands were big and looked strong. There wasn’t a single part of the man that seemed soft or vulnerable.

“Surely you don’t think my Aunt Patsy has anything to do with this,” she protested. She couldn’t imagine the plump, loving woman who’d taken her and her cousin to play in the park, the woman who had gone shopping for Caylee’s first bra and had taught her the facts of life, being in any way responsible for the murder.

Another rumble of thunder sounded, and Caylee jumped in her chair. Rain began to pelt the windows and she wasn’t sure if it was the storm that stirred the darkness inside her or the very idea that somebody close to her might want to kill her.

“This has got to be about Jason,” she said fervently. “His killer must have followed him from his suite to mine. I just can’t imagine this has anything to do with me. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.” She desperately wanted him to agree with her, to tell her that everything was going to be all right.

Unfortunately platitudes didn’t appear to be a part of Micah Stone. “What’s Patsy’s last name,” he repeated.

“Jackson, Patricia Jackson,” she said and wished her Aunt Patsy was with her right now, and could wrap Caylee up in her plump, loving arms.

“Any other family?”

“Just my cousin, Rick. He’s twenty-eight, two years younger than me. We were raised more like brother and sister than cousins.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s a computer and electronics geek and runs a repair shop out of his house.” She sighed with frustration. “Look, there’s no way these people would hurt me. They’re my family. We love each other. We’ve never exchanged a cross word between us.”

“I’m just getting background information,” he said, his voice emotionless and his pale eyes making her want to scream.

“Why don’t you tell me a little of your background,” she said. “For the moment it looks like we’re stuck here together, it would be nice if I knew something about you.”

For just a moment a touch of humor shone from his eyes. “All you need to know about me is that I’ll never take you to an island, buy you a wedding dress and force you to run and hide in the back of a plane.”

“Very funny,” she exclaimed. She knew from his answer that he had no intention of telling her anything meaningful about himself.

“This isn’t about me,” he continued. “I was just there to recover a plane. This is about you and Jason Worthington. Troy and Luke are picking apart his life, and it’s my job to pick apart yours.”

She twisted the napkin between her fingers. She wanted to be angry with Micah for not being reassuring or sympathetic, for not taking her into his arms and holding her until the chill inside her warmed.

But she supposed if he was going to find the killer it was better that he was single-minded, objective and on her side. Of course she couldn’t forget that he was on her side for one reason only. Until he cleared her name, his wouldn’t be cleared either.

“What else do you want to know?” she finally asked, resigned that she had to get through this line of questioning.

“You mentioned that you hadn’t been dating, that Jason was your first boyfriend in a long time.” This time his facial expression was one of disbelief. “A pretty woman like you surely had men interested in a relationship with you.”

A feminine flutter of pleasure swept through her. He thought she was pretty. The flutter lasted only a moment, then halted as she reminded herself she didn’t care what Micah Stone thought of her. He was merely the means to an end.

“Like I told you before, I’ve focused solely on work the last five years. There hasn’t been time for romance or men.” She twisted the napkin around her ring finger. “I’m not one of those women who needs a man in my life to feel complete. A relationship would be a wonderful addition to my life, but it’s not a necessity.” She winced, recognizing she’d given him more information than he’d asked for. “Anyway, the answer is no, there are no crazy boyfriends lurking in my past.”

She got up from the table and grabbed another one of the doughnuts in the box. Sugar. Maybe a taste of sugar would ease the edge of despair that threatened to consume her.

“What about coworkers?” Micah asked, watching her with slightly narrowed eyes as she returned to the table, the doughnut in hand. “Have you fired anyone recently?”