Deadly act, p.4
Deadly Act, page 4
part #1 of Kylie Hatfield Series
“You went to lunch with a mutual friend already?” His jaw tightened. “Why does this not surprise me?”
Kylie gave him a big smile. “Well, this could be a matter of life or death. Time is of the essence!” She scanned the list of instructions he’d given her again and looked him straight in the eye. “I will get on this right away!”
“Hold on, Bronco,” he said, standing up and coming around the edge of the desk. “One: don’t let this get in the way of your real job, which is keeping this office in check. If I see so much as a paper out of place, I’ll snap your ass off the case before you can say Assistant to the PI.”
She gave him a dismissive nod. A toddler could do her “regular” tasks with her hands tied behind her back. “Fine, fine.”
“And two…this isn’t your case. You understand me, Hatfield? You’re doing a little fact-gathering legwork for me because I’m busy with another client. Fact-gathering, that’s all. Laying the groundwork. I’ll expect you to check up with me daily for guidance and bring me up to speed when I’m ready to take over the case.”
She still couldn’t help smiling. It was a start. If she kept chipping away at him and showing him how good she could be, there was no way he’d say no to letting her have her own cases. She saluted him. “Yessir!”
“Good. Now get the hell out of here. First things first, you’re going to call the missing woman’s sister and ask those questions. Once you get all the answers, come to me, and I’ll get on the horn with her and go over our retainer. You getting this?”
Kylie nodded and scurried back to her desk. She wanted to call her mom. Her friends. No, screw calling. She wanted to climb to the top of the tallest building in Asheville and scream at the top of her lungs, “I AM A REAL PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR!”
Then she realized that Greg was staring at her, rolling his eyes at her goofy, giant-sized grin.
“And Kylie…”
She frowned at how very serious he looked. “Yes.”
“You have to know that not all endings are happy. You learned that after the snakebite case.”
Kylie swallowed hard. It was true. There had been no happy ending for the mistress or the family that loved her. The woman had made a mistake, screwing a married man, but she hadn’t deserved to die for it. “I understand, Mr. Starr.”
His serious look turned even more serious. “I’m not sure that you do. You didn’t know that snakebite victim. You didn’t have lunch with her mutual friend or flip through her pictures and Insta-Face-Tweet posts. You didn’t even know her, but do you remember how you felt when she couldn’t be saved?”
Tears pricked the backs of Kylie’s eyes as she began to understand her boss’s meaning. “I—”
“Prepare yourself for the worst, Kylie. If Jessica Hilyard was indeed taken and not just off galivanting across the country, the odds are not good for a happy ending.”
“But—”
He held up a hand. “But nothing, Kylie. Shit happens, and you need to prepare for some of it to be smeared on you. You have a big heart and that big heart hasn’t yet been tarnished with the cold hard facts of…certain realities.”
Goose bumps raised on Kylie’s arms. “Do you think Jessica’s dead?”
Greg Starr shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that she is found, that her family is given some closure. If you focus on dead or alive, you’ll lose your focus. Focus on finding her, however she ends up found. If you’re really, really lucky, the girl will still be breathing, but you need to prepare yourself for the reality that she might not be.”
Kylie just stared at him, unsure of what to say. Heck, she was unsure of what to think.
The death of that stranger had hit her hard, and Mr. Starr was right, the woman had been a total stranger. How would she feel if she stumbled on Jessica’s body somewhere? The Jessica who loved crockpot recipes and took her job seriously.
Could she do this? Was Kylie cut out for this job?
She looked at Jessica’s picture on top of the folder on her desk.
Yes.
Yes, she was. Because she wasn’t jaded yet.
She met Starr’s gaze. “The day that I don’t care if someone is alive or dead will be the day I quit investigating,” she said, her voice calm.
Starr just nodded and plucked an orange from a bag and began to peel it.
With the fresh scent of the orange in the air, Kylie called Miranda in Oregon to get the information they needed. Miranda answered on the first ring, which told Kylie just how anxiously she’d been waiting for any news.
“Hello, Miranda Hilyard?”
“Ye-es?” Her voice was nasal, which also told her either she had a really bad head cold or had been crying.
“It’s Kylie Hatfield, from Starr Investigations.” She looked over at Greg, who was now pulling a pudding cup from his lunch bag, his wary eyes glued on her, and cleared her throat. “I’m the Assistant PI here.”
She whirled away from the disapproving look he was giving her as she heard him slam his hands on his desk. Really, what did he expect her to do? No client would be as forthcoming to an Assistant to the PI, and Kylie needed to come across as professional as possible.
“Oh, hello,” the woman said, her voice brightening a bit. “Thank you for calling me back.”
Kylie could still feel Greg’s eyes on her, so she turned around and gave him an innocent, toothy smile. Then she blew him a kiss. He rolled his eyes and waved her off. “Yes. We’re interested in your case, but we have a few questions. First, I know the police have been involved, but did you make an official report to the Asheville police?”
“Yes,” Miranda said, her voice cracking again. “They took down the information and did a little digging, but nothing turned up, or so they say. It’s hard because I’m not in the area, but I know they’re not taking it seriously. They think she just went off on her own and will show up in a few days. But I know something’s wrong. I can feel it.”
Kylie felt a swell of emotion for the poor woman. She sounded weary. Kylie didn’t have siblings, but she could just imagine how horrible it must’ve been, being across the country while her sister went missing. “I understand. So, she wouldn’t just go off like that, without letting you know?”
“No. Jessica and I are very close, even with the distance. She calls me all the time. And she’s very careful and not reckless at all.”
Kylie tapped her pen on the still blank notepad. “When was the last time you spoke to her?”
“Last Monday.”
Kylie looked on the calendar and jotted down the date. “And you talked to her often?”
“Almost every day. Since Monday, though…nothing.”
That was odd, and outrageous that the police would do nothing. “Does she have a lot of friends in the area? A boyfriend you might not have known about?”
“I don’t think so. We grew up there, of course, but she was quiet and studious and stayed to herself. As for a boyfriend, no. Jessica never said a thing. She’d have told me if there was anyone serious.”
The rest of the questioning took another half hour, where Kylie got a better profile of Jessica, her habits, her likes and dislikes, her history. After that, Kylie handed the phone to Greg to discuss their fees, all the time listening, absorbing what he said like a sponge. When he hung up, he whirled in his chair to look at her, a pissed off look on his face.
“What did I tell you about the Assistant PI shit?” he muttered.
Kylie shrugged. “Well, it could’ve been worse. I could’ve told her I was Greg Starr, the immortal.”
“I somehow wouldn’t put that past you, either,” he growled.
“You know what would really be helpful and make me look more legit?” she mused, tapping her pen to her chin. “Business cards. They can say Kylie Hatfield, Assistant P—”
“Kylie.”
“Well, I’m just saying. When I go to meet with these people, how are they to know I’m not just some schmo off the stree—”
“Kylie,” his voice boomed. “For the last time. NO.”
She shrugged again, more exaggerated this time. “Fine,” she muttered under her breath, forcing the pout from her lips. She’d wear him down eventually.
He reached for his desk calendar. “All right. Ms. Hilyard will be wiring the retainer this afternoon to my account. So, she’s officially a client.”
“She is?” Kylie felt an unbelievable sense of relief and accomplishment.
She had a client. Her first client.
It was like Starr could read her mind. “Easy, girl. Let me show you how to file a missing person’s report that’ll be entered into the national database.” He opened his drawers, searching for who-knows-what.
“What about NamUs?” she asked.
He looked up. “What?”
“Online. The government database you’re talking about. I learned about it during my criminal justice classes in college.” Kylie opened up her phone and typed in the address, then showed him the screen.
He squinted at it under his bifocals. “Yeah. I guess. You can do it that way.”
She grinned and started to register an account. When she looked up again, he was holding a giant Yellow Pages. They still made those? He shoved it over to her. “Call all the hospitals and jails in Asheville and the surrounding areas. Make sure Jessica hasn’t ended up there.”
That made sense. She took the book, even though she’d probably just look the places up on her cell phone. “You mean, like, with amnesia?”
He shrugged. “Or she might be in a coma. Who knows? Weirder things have happened. There’s got to be a reason that she’s not communicating with her family, and that’s a good place to start. In any investigation, it’s important to cross off as many possibilities as you can at the beginning.”
Kylie nodded and got down to work, finishing the report and making the phone calls. She called every hospital and jail within a hundred-mile radius of the city of Asheville and couldn’t find anyone fitting Jessica’s description.
Greg left early as he had to go deal with some “family matter.” He was kind of tight-lipped about anything personal, so she was surprised to find out he even had a family since he’d said once before that he wasn’t married. Alone in the office with Vader, she broadened the search to one-hundred-and-fifty miles.
She slammed the phone down and crossed another name off the list. “Darn it, Vader. Nothing. As usual.” She slumped back in her chair and blew a renegade lock of hair out of her face. She stared at Jessica’s picture. “Where the hell are you, Jessica? Show your face! Come forth!”
When her wish wasn’t automatically granted, Kylie rubbed a crick out of her neck and looked up at the giant clock on the wall.
It said five-thirty.
Dang. That clock had to be fast or broken like the rest of the crap in this office. That wasn’t the real time, was it? She grabbed her phone and stared at the screen.
“Shit shit shit!” she shouted, jumping out of her chair and grabbing Vader’s leash. “Why didn’t you tell me, boy? We’re late for your obedience class. Not even late. We blew it big time! It started at five-thirty, and in rush hour it’s going to take forty-five minutes to get there.”
As she was rushing out the door, she realized she needed to pee, but she couldn’t take the time. She had to move. After all, Linc Coulter was a ballbuster. She got the feeling he didn’t do late, and she didn’t really need any more reasons for him to hate her with a passion. He already was so passionate in his hate for her, any more of it would probably give him a heart attack.
5
This was going to be perfect.
Running a comb through my hair, I enjoyed how the late afternoon sun glinted off the newly blonde strands. I’d always wanted to be blonde and had decided that the rumor was true…blondes did have more fun.
I, at least, was having a blast.
I swatted at a mosquito and grimaced as my, and who knew who else’s, blood splattered across my palm. I’d be having a lot more fun if it wasn’t for the heat and bloodsucking insects. I’d thought the mountains would be cooler. And bug free.
But what did I know?
I was a city girl by heart and enjoyed the concrete jungle more than the greens and browns surrounding me now. But I’d needed a change, and the mountains were going to be exactly the change I needed.
I could feel it.
My phone pinged, and I smiled as I read the text. Almost there.
My breathing came fast and hard as I replied to the love of my life. Hurry. I can’t wait.
I took in the picnic I’d assembled and checked my makeup in the little mirror I carried in my bag. The blue contacts burned my eyes a little, and it was still a little startling to not see the familiar brown looking back at me, but I liked it. It made me feel sexy.
Minutes passed, and I began to worry as the sun sank lower in the sky. If he didn’t hurry, he’d miss the sunset picnic I’d planned to perfection. That would make me angry. I was so tired of being angry.
Taking a sip of wine, I shivered as the temperature lowered by a few degrees as shadows began to fall all around me.
Then I heard it.
A snap. Then another. Another.
It was him, climbing through the forest to be with me.
It’d been so very easy. Well, not easy exactly. It had taken some technical know-how to hack into social media sites and spoof phone numbers and take on a new identity, but every second of my preparation had been worth it, I knew.
Because I’d found him. The love of my life.
When he emerged from the stand of trees, I smiled and waved. Even in the waning light, I saw his face brighten into a returning smile. Saw his hand lift, his legs move faster as he continued to climb.
To me.
His love.
Yes. I was right.
This was going to be so perfect.
6
Linc paced the porch of the farmhouse as Storm watched him, clearly wondering what had gotten into her master.
He would’ve had a cup of coffee, but he was wired enough as it was. He needed something stronger. Like whiskey. Make that a double.
Six-fifteen.
Kylie was forty-five minutes late.
She hadn’t struck him as the type to be on time for anything. Probably too busy with her hair. The type who thought her time was so important, but nobody else’s mattered. Conceited, self-absorbed, high-maintenance, chatty…everything he hated.
And yet he kept watching for her.
The online training seminar had gone well. As well as could be expected, considering he’d been thinking of the damn woman who was driving him to the point of madness.
He fastened his fingers around the railing and leaned forward to see as far as he could down the winding drive. Listened. Didn’t hear a fucking thing except the birds in the trees. The sun was sinking down behind them, casting long shadows, and the crickets were already starting their nighttime songs.
And there he was, waiting for her with clammy hands, like her little whipping boy.
“Fuck this!” he suddenly exploded, causing Storm to lift her head from the spot she’d been lounging. Her eyes watched him as he pushed off the railing with force and went inside, slamming the screen door behind him.
A second later, Storm scratched at it, so he let her in, then closed the door with a resounding bang. He twisted all the locks, something he never did since he didn’t have to worry too much about security up here. Turned off the front light.
Not waiting for you, princess. No one’s home.
But the second he heard gravel crunching up the drive, he couldn’t get those locks untwisted fast enough. He exploded outside, then realized he looked like an ass, her whipping boy in all his pathetic glory. He coolly smoothed his hair back and leaned on the railing as she pulled up to the front of the house.
The driver’s side door opened, so he started with a tight, “What happened? You get lo—”
“Move aside!” Kylie Hatfield rushed around the car and up the stairs toward him, like a wild animal freed from its cage. “Bathroom? Bathroom! I’m gonna blow!”
He tried to open the door for her, but she got to it too fast. He pointed the way, and she ran ahead, nearly mowing down Storm in the process.
Vader hopped out of the open window of the car and bounded up to Linc. “Sit, boy,” he said to him as an inner door slammed with a resounding bang. Vader gave him a women, what can you do look as he heard the toilet flush and the water running.
Kylie came out a moment later, her cheeks pink, a sheepish expression on her face. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I got busy in the office and lost track of time.”
He frowned at her, whistled for Storm, and stalked over to the yard.
“You’re mad?” she asked, her voice cracking. “Oh, geez. Of course you’re mad. I’d be livid, too, if you’d blown an appointment in the way I just did.”
He honestly couldn’t see Ms. Suzy Sunshine over here getting anything close to mad. He wished he was as mad at her as he wanted to be. But the second he saw her, something inside him had started to change from anger to mad desire. Even her doing that damn little pee-dance had been sexy.
Kylie followed after him and got in his face the second he went for the gate. “Please forgive me. It won’t happen again.”
Hell, she was forgiven the second she showed up, hopping like a maniac up the stairs. But he wasn’t going to let her know that. He grunted and finished unlatching the gate. The two dogs slipped in.
She lingered there, watching him. “Was that grunt a yes, I’m forgiven?” she asked hopefully. A smile broke out on her face. She probably could see behind the flimsy front he was trying to put up, just the way he could see past the flimsy silk shirt she was wearing, right to her tits. He’d been thinking of that shirt all day. Dammit.
He tilted his chin toward the dogs. “You want to start the lesson?”
She went inside the yard, and he couldn’t stop himself from putting his hand on the small of her back and nudging her to where he wanted her to be.
