Authors: Unknown
DevilishlyHot (15 page)
He dismissed mentioning that particular idea to Captain Brooks. That was the kind of thinking that would get him pulled from the case and on yet another leave of absence.
But Nick did have to give his superior some sort of update. With the lack of physical evidence, and the fact that aside for one person who was technically found alive, there were no bodies, this was going to be a hard case to keep going.
The only reason Chief Brooks was taking an interest in it to begin with was because of the number of people who were missing.
Nick wasn’t looking forward to telling him that he didn’t have any solid information yet, and he was afraid Brooks was going to pull him anyway when he shared what he did know.
Still, he gathered up the report he’d written and headed for his superior’s office.
He rapped on the doorframe even though the captain’s door was open and he was seated at his desk.
Captain Brooks looked up from another report he was reading and called for Nick to come in. Nick wandered into his office, reluctant to sit down. Reluctant to hand over the report.
“Well? Any leads?”
Nick hesitated again, then shrugged vaguely. “I’m getting closer, I think, to some real news. There’s definitely a lot of strange things going on at that magazine.”
Brooks nodded. “But do you have anything definite?”
Nick looked down at the report clutched in his hand, then finally shook his head. “Not yet, but—”
His boss raised his hand to stop him. “I’m right with you that there is something very wrong over there. But I can only give you so much time to check it out. We just don’t have the money or manpower for a lengthy investigation. Especially when there is still no proof that these people didn’t just walk away of their own volition.”
“Twenty-one people?”
Brooks nodded in sympathy. “I hear you, but these are grown individuals, and aside for the one, who was actually found alive—”
“But mentally gone,” Nick added.
“I understand that, but as of right now, we have no proof that these people didn’t just walk away and start a new life elsewhere.”
“Twenty-one people, all working for the same company, who just to decide to walk away and start a new life. Without contacting their families, or friends, or anyone.”
“I know.” Brooks nodded again. “But without evidence or bodies, we just can’t prove any foul play.”
“But I did witness foul play,” Nick said.
Captain Brooks leaned forward, listening.
“Yesterday, I encountered one of the employees, a receptionist, who was suffering from that same almost catatonic state as the one woman who was found. When I returned later, she was gone. I checked several times today and she is still gone.”
Brooks studied him for a moment. “Maybe she was simply sick. She could have called in today.”
Nick had thought of all those things, but he also knew what he’d seen, what he’d felt. She was gone. He knew it.
And the thing that drove him really mad was that he’d been in the building when it happened. Another missing person, right under his very own nose.
“Just a little longer,” Nick asked, but he tried not to sound too worked up. He knew Brooks would pull him if he thought the case was too much for him.
Too much for his fragile peace of mind. His sanity.
Of course, Nick was a little worried about his sanity too. He’d been feeling things, seeing thing since he’d taken this case that he hadn’t since he’d had to leave the precinct. He didn’t want to leave now. Or to have to drop the case.
Not when other people could, and likely would, get hurt. His thoughts went to Annie. He had to keep her safe.
Finally Brooks nodded. “A little longer.”
“Thanks,” Nick said, smiling for the first time this morning. “Thank you.”
He placed his report on Brooks’s desk and headed for the door, deciding it was better to exit before the captain could change his mind.
“Nick??” Brooks’s cigarette-roughened voice stopped him before he could make a clean escape.
Nick came back to the doorway.
“I can see this case is important to you. I understand that, but don’t let it overtake you.”
Nick nodded, then walked away. Was Brooks seeing something in him? Something he’d seen last time?
Were all his strange feelings and the fact that he thought he’d seen weird things the beginning of ending up where he was a year ago?
Was he slipping again?
Chapter Thirteen
“S
o I’ve been thinking,” Finola said from behind the dressing screen in the corner of her office.
o I’ve been thinking,” Finola said from behind the dressing screen in the corner of her office.
Tristan made a noise indicating he was listening, although barely. He concentrated on the schedule of events for Fashion Week, deciding when and where to have
HOT!
make its presence known.
HOT!
make its presence known.
“I think the reason my date with Nick was such a failure was the fact that going to a—what was that place called again?”
“A bowling alley?” Tristan said, not quite sure what she was referring to. But he was sure the second day of Fashion Week was going to be a long, busy one. Several of their rival magazines would be in attendance those days and they were the people
HOT!
needed to target.
HOT!
needed to target.
“Yes, that bowling alley. That was just too common for me.”
“Well, darling, it was good to see what kind of life he leads,” Tristan pointed out, as he made more notes. They needed to target the editor-in-chief of
Señorita
. As well as
Urban
. Soon
HOT!
would have a foothold in all the major fashion magazines in the States. Then the world.
Señorita
. As well as
Urban
. Soon
HOT!
would have a foothold in all the major fashion magazines in the States. Then the world.
“He is a working stiff,” Tristan added. “That’s always been an obvious flaw in his personality.”
“That is true,” Finola said with a loud sigh.
“Be careful with those pins,” she muttered to the woman who stood behind the screen with her, fitting the dress she would wear to her Fashion Week launch party. “I’m fairly certain blood does not come out of cotton, by which I mean your clothing, not mine.”
Tristan smiled slightly at that. He was glad to see the old Finola was back, focusing on things that were important. Clothing. Parties. Veiled threats. No more love with the common man nonsense for her.
And soon, after not finding one single lead, the good detective would be totally out of their lives. Things were back on track.
After a few moments, Finola appeared from behind the screen in a gorgeous white silk charmeuse with a plunging V-neck and a cascade of flounces down her back that spilled into a short train.
Tristan smiled approvingly. “Beautiful. Fiord has outdone himself this time.”
“Hasn’t he?” Finola walked across the office as if she were on the catwalk. The dress flowed and moved with her body, accenting all the right places.
Tristan actually felt his libido surge to life for the first time in a long time. Apparently, stress even affected a demon of lust’s sex drive.
“Fortunately I have a few more days to get Nick groomed enough to be seen with me in this gown.”
Tristan’s libido shriveled along with his smile.
“Nick?”
Finola paused and glanced at him over her white, bare shoulder.
“It’s true, I did not care for our date, but that was because of the awful place we went. Eating with your fingers. Fat people ruining the view. Not to mention the abundance of body hair on so many of the men in attendance.”
She shuddered.
“It’s little wonder the date was a disaster.”
Then she turned and smiled. Tristan did not like the determination glittering in her eyes.
“I’m certain there must be somewhere in between. Something not quite so common. Then from there, I can groom him into what I want. Just cultured enough to be presentable and just edgy enough to be delicious in private.”
Tristan fought the desire to growl. Finola’s dog had no such control. The little white beast growled from its place in its jeweled bed. For once Tristan felt that he was connecting with the animal.
Finola slipped back behind the screen.
“I’m going to discuss this with Anna. She should be able to think of something that is more middle of the road for us to do.”
“Finola,” he said, keeping his voice calm, or as calm as he could, “you really don’t have time to pursue a man who is far too much work, and ultimately not right for you. Why not ask Will Campbell to escort you to your party? He would look wonderful on your arm.”
Tristan searched his mind for other models and actors who had garnered her attention. There had to be someone she would consent to date. Someone who wasn’t a detective more interested in the missing people from
HOT!
than the owner of it.
HOT!
than the owner of it.
After a few moments, the lady who’d been helping her to dress, a small Latina who did some of the fitting and tailoring for the
HOT!
models during photoshoots, stepped out from the screen with the dress over her arm. She nodded at Tristan as she bustled out of the office.
HOT!
models during photoshoots, stepped out from the screen with the dress over her arm. She nodded at Tristan as she bustled out of the office.
Several seconds later, Finola stepped out, now dressed in a simple, yet expensive sheath dress. “I’m tired of those types of men. I want someone more manly, more down to earth. Someone more interested in my looks than his own.”
Tristan blinked at her, wondering if she had lost her mind. Or she’d somehow gotten possessed herself.
“Besides, I always get what I want. And I want Nick Rossi.”
Well, that at least sounded like Finola, but in this case her response was little comfort. He still had to think of a way to keep her from really dating this man.
But before he could formulate a single thought, much less a plan, Finola was heading toward the office door.
“Where are you going?”
Finola paused midstep. “To talk to Anna. She must know of something we would both enjoy doing.”
Tristan stood to follow, as did her dog.
Finola’s little lapdogs chasing after her, Tristan thought bitterly.
“Surely there must be some way to locate white lilacs at this time of year,” Annie said, realizing that she sounded almost as demanding as her boss. But she was desperate. No one had or knew how to get lilacs in winter. And Finola likely wouldn’t settle for anything else.
But when the man on the other end assured her that he didn’t know of anyplace to find them, Annie forced herself to thank him politely and hang up the phone.
“More difficult demands, huh?”
Annie looked up to see Nick standing a few feet away.
Her heart sped up at the sight of him, her eyes moving over him, looking so handsome in a leather jacket and low-slung jeans.
She’d missed him.
Immediately she reprimanded herself. She couldn’t possibly miss him. She’d seen him just the day before yesterday, and he wasn’t a person she should be missing anyway.
“Hi,” she managed. “What brings you here?”
“Just questioning a few more people,” Nick said. “How are you?”
Glad to see you.
Stop it, she warned herself. She couldn’t think like that.
“I’ve been fine. Busy.”
Nick smiled, his eyes twinkled and the curve of his lips looked so naughty. So kissable.
She suppressed a groan. She really had to get herself under control.
“Well, you are just the man I wanted to see,” that familiar, gratingly melodic voice called, forcing her to pull herself together and act as if Nick wasn’t sending all her senses into overdrive.
Nick turned that smile toward Finola, but Annie liked to think the glimmer in his brown eyes diminished a little.
“You’re looking for me?” he said. “What for? And how was the cocktail party at ... who was it again?”
Finola smiled sweetly, her tone apologetic, “Donatella Versace. And it was very much a letdown.”
Tristan appeared in the doorway of her office, and Annie got the feeling he wanted to say something, but he just paused there, quietly regarding the group in front of him. Finola’s dog, Dippy, peeked out from between Tristan’s legs.
“Well,” Nick said, “the gang’s all here.”
Finola laughed, then moved forward to touch his arm. “I was actually coming out here for two reasons. To discuss with Anna another venue for a second date, and then to get your number so I could ask you out myself this time.”
Nick looked impressed. “Wow, you want another date? I got the impression our first didn’t go so well.”
Finola touched his arm again, this time her long, pale fingers curling around his forearm.
Annie was instantly reminded of a skeleton hand reaching out from the grave, clawing and rasping.
“Well, I thought our part of the date went perfectly,” she assured him, her pale eyes glittering with desire.
Nick smiled back, and Annie had to look away, the image of the two of them too much for her to handle.
Because he’s at risk, she told herself, then silently scoffed at her usual rationalization. She was worried about that, but the truth was she really did hate seeing that creature flirt with and touch the man she wanted. It was as simple as that.
“Did you think Anni—Anna—could come up with a better place for us to go out a second time?” Nick asked, and Annie did look up at him, narrowing her eyes slightly, but otherwise not reacting.
Why was he dragging her back into this warped dating game? He and Finola could think of their own dating spot. She wanted no part of it. Unfortunately that wasn’t what Nick had in mind.
“Anni—Anna—was just telling me about her boyfriend’s play,” Nick said. “That seems like something you would be more interested in.”
Finola’s eyes lit up and her fingers ran up and down his arm from wrist to elbow and back. “The theater. Now, that I adore.”
Nick smiled at her, then looked almost slyly toward Annie.
“Well, let’s go tonight,” he said. “Annie, I mean Anna, already said she was going. We could join her. Meet her boyfriend.”
Annie pursed her lips, not keeping her irritation out of her eyes—that is, until Finola turned to her.
“Why Anna, you little minx, I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
Because you don’t know anything about me, Annie thought. Because we are not friends who suddenly hang out and double-date. No thanks to Nick.
But instead of showing any of her irritation, she smiled and nodded. And because, as she’d mentally pointed out to no one but herself, they were not really friends, Finola asked her nothing further about the man and her relationship with him.
“Well count me in too,” Tristan said, stepping away from the doorway, offering the group a smile that looked decidedly more like a grimace.
Someone else seemed as thrilled at the prospect of this outing as she did. But why was Tristan even going? It wasn’t like Nick had wrangled him into his little plan.
But Nick didn’t seem put off by the idea.
“Great,” he grinned, then he turned to Annie, his eyes practically dancing with wicked merriment.
Annie decided that maybe his naughty twinkle might not be as cute as he thought.
“What time did you say you were going again?” Nick asked, pretending to be oblivious to her less-than-pleased look.
Annie didn’t answer for a moment, but then looked at Finola and Tristan, who also waited for her answer.
“The play starts at eight.”
“Then let’s all meet at seven-thirty,” Nick said, still grinning from ear to ear.
Nick’s cell phone rang almost as soon as he left the Finola White Enterprises building, and he didn’t have to guess who the caller was.
“Detective Nick Rossi,” he said in his usual greeting.
“Why would you do that?” the voice he was expecting demanded—well, demanded in a hushed tone.
“Do what?” he said innocently, rather enjoying the way Annie’s irritation made her voice breathy.
He wondered if she talked as breathily when she was aroused for other reasons. His cock perked up, clearly curious too.
“I don’t want to go to Bobby’s play with you and Finola.”
“And Tristan,” Nick added.
“This isn’t funny,” Annie said, her voice no longer just irritated but dismayed too. That Nick didn’t find amusing.
“You know why I did it. I still need to figure out some way to get information from Finola.”
There was silence on the other end of the line and for a moment he thought she’d hung up.
“But why include me? And why Bobby’s play?”
“That does seem a little masochistic, doesn’t it?”
Annie sighed. “Yes. I just don’t see the point.”
Nick considered his actions, not totally sure himself, but he did want her to know he hadn’t done it to be mean or make her life any more difficult. God knew, she didn’t need that.
“I just—” he shrugged, “I just wanted you there. And I guess I do want to see Bobby too. I want to see the man who’s getting the woman I want.”
“Nick—”
“I know, I know. I shouldn’t say things like that. Hell, I shouldn’t even think things like that. But that’s how I feel. And who knows, maybe if I meet Bobby and he’s finally real to me I can stop thinking about you nonstop. I can actually realize these feelings I have for you have no hope of going anywhere.”
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