Framed (30 page)

She searched his eyes in the pale moonlight and saw the panic written plainly across his face.

“Okay, Kade. I won’t leave the house without you.”

“Thank you,” he answered, rolling her to her back and pulling the shirt from her body. He was rattled, still anxious about his dream, so he took her again to remind himself she was safe, and she was his.

“
Operation “Find Pirate Man” is a no go
.” I texted Bette so Kade wouldn’t overhear me on the phone.

“What? Why?”
she texted back.

“It’s Kade, he made me promise last night I wouldn’t leave the house without him and I can’t break my word. He keeps staring at me as if he thinks I’m going to disappear. There’s no way I could break free even if I didn’t promise.”

“Jesus. Men are so annoying.”

“He’ll surface eventually, then Kade can relax. Until then, I can’t break my word.”

“I’m not giving up. I borrowed one of my mother’s suits. I’ve tamed my hair, covered my tattoos, and bought glasses. You wouldn’t recognize me if you passed me on the street, so I don’t think whoever is watching today will either.”

“You’re in a suit?”

“Yep.”

“Oh man. Stop by when you’re done so I can take a picture.”

“Will do. I’m headed that way now so I’ll see you in an hour or two.”

“Be careful.”

“Always.”

I was smiling at my phone, envisioning a prim and proper Bette when Kade walked into the bedroom. I’d just rolled out of bed and I’d actually made it as soon as my feet hit the floor; before I texted Bette. Kade was definitely rubbing off on me.

“Chapel called, he needs me to come to his office and sign the restitution paperwork. I’d take you with me to get you out of the house, but I’m heading to the police academy after I’m done with Chapel to turn in my application.”

“That’s fine, I need food and a shower before I could leave anyway. But I’m confused; I thought you said you didn’t want the money?” I replied, then stepped into his arms, looking up into his dark, soulful eyes.

“I don’t. It’s not for me. Kyle put his life on hold because of their incompetence and lies. This money will go a long way towards getting him back on track. He deserves it, not me. I may have been locked up, but he had the burden of taking care of Pops by himself because of their incompetence and corruption,” he explained. “Besides, I have all I need right here, that’s compensation enough. I should be thanking them for bringing you back into my life.”

Tears brimmed my eyes and a knot formed in my throat. How did I get this lucky? He was kind, generous, and loyal . . . and he was all mine.
I love you,
I thought, but the words didn’t slip from my lips. I didn’t want to tell him how I felt while talking about his two years in hell. I wanted it to be special, when we were alone in each other’s arms looking towards the future.

“Then I owe them, too,” I answered.

“Yeah,” he whispered, his eyes turning dark with an emotion I read instantly. It mirrored my own.

Leaning down to brush my lips, he mumbled, “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Remember your promise. Stay inside with Kyle until I get back.”

“I remember,” I smiled. “Bette’s coming over in an hour or so. She had a job interview and she dressed up in one of her mom’s suits if you can believe it, so I begged her to stop by so I could see.”

“Job interview? Is she planning on hanging around?” he asked as I walked him to the door.

“You never know with Bette.”

So it wasn’t a real job interview. He didn’t need to know unless she found Pirate Man.

“Lock the door behind me,” he ordered before exiting the house. I raised my hand to lock the door and paused, curious if he was listening. “Lock it,” Kade hollered and I rolled my eyes, throwing the lock in place with a grin. He’s definitely hyper-vigilant today. Wondering what caused his behavior, I turned and headed for more coffee.

***

“What are you doing here?” William’s hissed when he found Jared White sitting behind his desk. “You’re supposed to be laying low.”

“My shoulder healed, thanks for asking,” White drawled as he rose from the desk.

“We can’t be seen together until that Dash woman is out of commission, you know that.”

“Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don’t already know. They’ve got her bunkered down for the duration. I can’t get near her until they let their guard down, so I decided to stop in to remind you not to double-cross me. I know you’re chomping at the bit to put this behind you, but don’t forget, I have enough evidence to bury you if the police get an anonymous phone call with my home address.”

“I’m not stupid,” Williams answered in a biting tone. “You’ve already made it clear you have a contingency plan in place,”

“Just so we’re clear. You might want to remind the mayor of our agreement. If he panics, I’ll bury him as well,” White advised. Williams’ jaw clenched and he took a predatory step towards White. He might have laughed at the man, but his phone started ringing, breaking their showdown before they could finish.

“What?” White asked.

“You’ve got company at Consolidated. I followed the friend like you asked and she just pulled into the parking lot,” Trigger White relayed.

“What’s she doing?”

“Getting out of her car and heading inside.”

“Interesting. I’m inside now having a heart to heart with Williams. I’ll head to the control room and watch her from there.”

“She’s got a disguise on. I wouldn’t have recognized her if I hadn’t followed her from her house.”

“What’s she wearing?”

“Dark blue suit, button down shirt, and granny heels.”

“On it,” White said then ended the call and headed for the door.

“What’s going on?” Williams asked his retreating backside.

“An opportunity, perhaps,” White answered, heading for security.

When he entered, he threw the security guard out without a word and pulled up the front desk on one of the security monitors. He watched as Harley’s friend tried to flirt with the man in reception asking about any available jobs. The man ignored her advances, handing her a clipboard to fill out. She laid her phone and purse on the counter and began filling out the paperwork, looking up from time to time to survey the lobby.

I won’t show my face that easily.

He watched as she filled out the paperwork, trying to figure out how he could use this unexpected visit to his advantage. His eyes settled back on her phone and a plan began to form. If he could get his hands on her phone, he might be able to lure Harley out of hiding and into a trap.

Pulling out his cell, he called his cousin.

“She’s in the lobby filling out employment forms. Her phone is on the counter next to her purse. I want that fucking phone. Go inside and grab it for me, then meet me on the second floor.”

“Got it, see you in five.”

White watched his cousin walk into the lobby and then crowd the woman. He placed his hand over her phone as she scrambled to move, then pocketed it before heading for the elevator. White left the control room and waited. When the door opened, his cousin handed him the phone, then pressed the down button heading back down to keep an eye on the woman.

White opened the call log and saw Harley’s name as the last call placed. Then he opened the text messages. White had a reputation for being callous and calm under fire, and this moment was no different. He had a plan in place within moments of reading Harley’s last texts and headed to Williams’ office.

“She’ll be out of our hair today,” White said as he opened the door.

“How?”

“She’s expecting a visit from her friend within the hour. I plan on keeping that appointment.”

“What are going to do with her?”

“Handle her like I do all toxic waste in my life.”

“You’re gonna drive all the way to the Everglades?”

“Yeah, the Glades tells no secrets,” White said. “It’s the only place I’ve ever felt safe. Those dark waters protected me when I was a kid and my dad felt the need to use his fists to keep me in line. They’ll protect me now and there’s no place better to hide a body than at the bottom of the Everglades.”

“Just like our toxic waste, you’re disposing of a toxic woman. Very à propos,” Williams grinned.

“I’ll contact you once I have her,” White told him, then headed for the door.

“Make sure the water in Everglade City is dark and deep. We don’t need her body surfacing.”

“Gators will take care of it. You don’t need to worry,” White smiled before he closed the door and headed to the loading dock where he parked his borrowed car. The gators would hide the evidence, but not before he’d tasted her a few times. He could almost hear her screams as he took what he wanted from her then wrapped his hands around her throat, choking the life out of her. His cock hardened in response to the visual.
Time to get this show on the road
, he thought, then pulled out his cell, and dialed his cousin.

“She’s still inside,” Trigger said when he answered.

“Disable her car. I don’t want her leaving anytime soon. I’m heading to the beach house. It seems Ms. Dash is expecting her friend and I plan to draw her out of the house. If I’m successful, I’ll take her to Everglade City and the fishing shack.”

“Why so far?”

“I have my reasons. I need time alone with the bitch before I kill her, and the privacy of the shack is perfect.”

“Right,” Trigger replied. “I’ll keep the friend occupied. Happy hunting.”

“One more thing,” White said before hanging up. “Kill Williams as soon as I have the woman.”

“With pleasure,” Trigger answered, then hung up.

***

“Stay,” I ordered Buck as a dog treat sat on his muzzle. His eyes were crossed, staring at the tasty treat and his body all but shook. He wanted that morsel more than anything, but his keen intelligence told him there would be more than one if he followed instructions, so he held.

“Good boy, Buck. Now break,” I ordered and he gobbled up the treat in one bite. “Was that tasty? Do you want another?”

Buttercup’s tiny paws landed on my shin, announcing that she would like a chance, as well.

“You wanna show Buck how it’s done, baby?”

My diva dog danced in a circle as I pulled four tasty treats from the bag. I raised my hand, gave her the nonverbal command to sit and then stay, and waited for her to comply. She sat immediately. I placed one treat on top of the other until four were stacked on her short muzzle, then stood. Buttercup held her stay, keeping her eyes on me instead of the treats. Perfect. I took a step back and sat down on a barstool then raised my coffee to my mouth. She still held, watching me for the command to break.

“That’s how it’s done, Buck. Eyes on me, not on the treat,” I explained. Buck, of course, was more focused on Buttercups nose.

“Impressive,” Kyle said as he walked out of the living room.

“She has her moments. Okay, baby,” I said to Buttercup, then gave the nonverbal command to break. She released, dropped the treats to the floor, and began eating her reward.

“I’m gonna make a sandwich, you want one?” Kyle asked as he headed for the kitchen.

“Sure, what’s on the menu?”

“Ham and Swiss work?” he asked.

“With mustard, please.”

“Coming right up.”

My cell buzzed with a text so I opened my phone.

“No go at Consolidated. I’m outside if you want to see my disguise,”
Bette texted.

“Damn. Come inside so I can take a picture,”
I responded.

“You come to me. I might need to use the disguise again.”

“Good thinking,”
I answered, then jumped off my stool.

“Kyle, Bette’s here, I’m gonna go say hi.”

“Does she want a sandwich?” he hollered back.

“No, she’s in a hurry,” I lied. “She’s out front, I’ll be right back.”

Kyle came around the corner and gave me a look that was reminiscent of Kade’s. His brows were raised and his arms were crossed in the classic ‘you’re not going anywhere without me look.’

“It’s just to the driveway.”

“Mm hmm,” he replied as he followed me.

Before I opened the door, I stopped. If Kyle saw her getup, he’d tell The Brute Squad and they might recognize her if she tried again. I had to keep him from seeing her.

“Uh, Kyle . . . can you wait on the deck. Bette has something private she needs to tell me. I’ll be in view the whole time, I promise.”

He scrutinized my face as if he was gauging the truth of my words and found them lacking. Yeesh, what was it with men in his family? I couldn’t lie to either of them.

“In my sight the whole time,” he ordered, pointing his finger at me.

“You know you’re more like Kade than you think,” I replied and then smiled as I opened my door.

“Thank you,” he grinned.

“That might not have been a compliment,” I mumbled.

He chuckled behind me as we stepped out on the deck. I made my way to the drive, but Bette was parked in the road for some reason and driving a car I didn’t recognize. The shells of the drive crunched under my feet, the salt air sending my hair flying in my face making it hard to see. The windows were tinted so I couldn’t see inside. When I was ten feet from her car, my cell rang.

“Hello.”

“Babe, you want me to pick up some lunch on my way home?” Kade asked, his deep timber sending tingles down my skin.
God. I loved that man.

“Kyle is making sandwiches,” I answered as I put my hand on the passenger door and pulled it open. I ducked my head to see inside, ready to laugh when I saw my rebel friend in a business suit, but looked down the barrel of a gun instead. A crazy eye stared back at me, the other covered with an eye patch and I froze, unable to think or speak.

“Drop the phone and climb inside,” Pirate Man growled.

“Who the fuck was that?” Kade shouted down the line.

“You have ten seconds to get in the car or your bodyguard will get a chest full of lead.”

Still, I froze.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

“Don’t get in that car,” Kade roared down the line. I could hear the sound of tires screeching and a horn blaring, which told me he was driving like a lunatic now.