HIS Desire: An H.I.S. Novel (H.I.S. series Book 1)
HIS Desire
An H.I.S. Novel
Sheila Kell
Kindle Edition
HIS Desire
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Cover design by Book Cover by Design
Editing by Cool Beans Publishing and Editing
Formatting by Rik Hall
Copyright © 2014 by Sheila Kell
All rights reserved.
ISBN-10: 0990916510
To my mother, Jannice Kay Hollis
You always believed in me
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
While writing this novel, I was humbled by the number of people who came to the rescue when I had questions or needed to bounce ideas around. I can’t go without thanking them.
Thank you to Kellie Dennis of Book Cover by Design for the great cover. Cool Beans Publishing and Editing, I appreciate the time you spent painstakingly editing my novel. Thank you, Rik Hall for putting up with me. You are a formatting genius.
I extend a thank you to Kim Engstrom and Mary Salinas for naming the dogs and Lee Harper for helping me remember Baltimore and finding the right location for the story.
In addition, I offer a sincere thank you to my sister, Dawn Stanton Tohill for all of her great ideas and encouragement.
A special thank you to two special ladies that helped me shape the novel into what it is. To my good friend Kelly-Jo Resseguie, who didn’t hesitate to be honest about my writing, drop everything to read what I sent and provide me with incredible feedback and ideas, you are a true friend.
I’m happy to have met my new friend, critique partner and mentor Christine Ardigo, whose guidance and support helped me through this novel. I can’t thank you enough, Christine, you kept me going when I doubted myself. Your assistance was invaluable in helping me grow as a writer. I look forward to working with you on the remaining novels in the series.
And, finally, to those friends and family who stuck with me from the beginning, interacting on my Facebook page, Twitter account, street team and blog, without your love, encouragement and support, this book would not be possible. You have my upmost thanks.
CHAPTER ONE
FBI Special Agent Kate Ross heard the wolf whistle as she approached the bench in the small park outside the federal building. She shook her head and rolled her eyes at her partner FBI Special Agent AJ Hamilton. He couldn’t go a moment without flirting with someone. He’d flirted with Kate when they’d first been assigned together. In response, she’d pinned him to the floor. He got the message. Now they were good friends, and she couldn’t imagine a better partner.
The leggy redhead AJ had whistled at smiled and waved at him. His wink put a little pep in the woman’s step as she continued on her way. She expected AJ to jump up and follow the woman, but his butt remained glued to the bench, sandwich in hand.
She smiled and plopped down beside him, finally having a chance to eat lunch. Although at the late hour, it could’ve been called an early dinner. They’d wrapped up a murder case of a married couple who got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
She removed the lid on her Cobb salad and chuckled at his peanut butter sandwich. For a twenty five year old man, he still hung on to his childhood favorites.
“Date of the month?” Kate poured ranch dressing on her salad.
“Month?” AJ laughed. “Try week. I may love women, but I need to be able to hold an intelligent conversation with them.” He took a large bite of his sandwich.
“When are you going to start eating adult food? Maybe that’s why she kept walk-”
“You’re charging the wrong kid with murder,” a deep, masculine voice interrupted. Jesse, AJ’s older brother, appeared before them. How did he manage to always sneak up on them? “Samuel’s innocent.”
Samuel happened to be the teenage boy they’d just arrested for the double homicide. His father, a sitting judge, had hired H.I.S. to clear him as soon as he became a suspect.
Jesse, a former FBI agent himself, co-owned H.I.S., Hamilton Investigation and Security, Inc., with most of his brothers. Because of his relationship with the FBI Deputy Director, he’d been granted access to the investigation from the beginning. For the last month, he’d questioned everything AJ and Kate did and any evidence they’d collected, going out of his way to annoy the hell out of her in the process.
“We’ve been over this before.” She chucked her fork in the plastic container. The thought of food no longer appealed to her. “Our evidence points to him as the killer.”
They only had circumstantial evidence against Samuel. She’d suggested they continue their search for other suspects, but the Powers-to-be decided to charge the kid, halting any further investigation.
AJ stood, a troubled frown set into his features. “Jesse, you need to let it go.”
He nodded. “AJ.”
She watched the dynamic between the two devastatingly handsome men who were so different but couldn’t be mistaken for anything other than brothers. She preferred AJ’s fun-loving, flirtatious nature over Jesse’s serious, aggravating personality any day of the week.
“Hello, Agent Ross. It’s good to see you again.” His mouth spread into a thin-lipped smile. His voice courteous but patronizing.
“Mr. Hamilton.” Kate tried to ignore the tingling feeling as his large hand swallowed hers in a strong handshake. She told herself the goose bumps that formed were from the chilly breeze blowing her hair in her face and not from his touch.
Holding her hand longer than necessary, he raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t I told you to call me Jesse?”
She took a deep breath and fought not to sigh heavily. She’d also told him to call her Kate. Neither seemed inclined to display that much familiarity.
He released her hand and cleared his throat. “You’re charging the kid with a murder he didn’t commit.”
“Jesse, Kate’s right. Samuel is our killer.” AJ dropped onto the bench, wiped a hand down his face, drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “Besides, we’ve been told to close the case.”
Jesse closed in on them and crossed his arms over his broad chest, his expression a mask of stone, his hard eyes narrowed. “And you’re happy with that?”
“Of course I’m not. Neither is Kate. But, we have our orders.”
“You know you’re wrong, AJ. Hell,” he pointed at Kate, “I bet even Agent Ross knows you’re wrong on this one.”
She stiffened. Her back went ramrod straight, and her hands fisted so tightly that her nails bit into her palms. She didn’t fail to catch the note of sarcasm in his voice. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” She’d heard the bitterness in her voice.
AJ jumped up and closed in on his brother. “Watch it, Jesse.”
Jesse cocked his head and raised his eyebrows.
She didn’t need AJ standing up for her. She’d already shown she would not let herself be put down by this brute. She could handle
Mr. Hamilton
. She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her short when he held up a hand to silence her.
“I have a witness.”
That got her attention. She narrowed her eyes at him. “A witness to what exactly?”
His annoyed gaze bore into hers. A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Had they arrested the wrong person?
“A witness to the murder. Someone
you
overlooked.” His voice dripped with disdain.
The jab of the accusation hit its mark. She spoke with as reasonable a voice as she could manage. “A witness
you
just so happened to find.”
He let out a long, audible breath. “Yes, Agent Ross. Why is that so hard to believe? I was an FBI agent for far longer than you’ve been. I know how to investigate. Hell, that’s what
I
stands for in H.I.S.”
The man sorely tested her patience.
“Let’s go inside and talk about this. Calmly.” AJ had tried to play peacemaker between the two of them many times but had ended up acting more like a referee.
“Oh, I’m calm.” There was a thin smile on his lips as he looked at Kate. “And, I took the initiative for you, Agent Ross, and brought in both the witness and the correct suspect.”
She wondered if she could get away with shooting him. Nothing major, just a toe. Enough to let him know how much he irritated her.
AJ asked him about his daughter while they walked through the park back to the government building that housed all the alphabet agencies. AJ was proud of Reagan, his five-year-old niece. Like any loving uncle, he bragged about how smart and beautiful she was.
She could see him on the floor playing Candyland with her. She’d yet to meet Reagan. Actually, she’d yet to meet any of his brothers, except Jesse. She wondered which brother the rest of them took after. If there were more like Jesse, she didn’t need to ever meet them.
Always the gentleman, AJ held open the door for her. They walked past their desks and entered an interrogation room with a beat up metal table and four uncomfortable chairs. AJ humbled her when he sidled his chair next to her in a show of loyalty. She wanted to tell him not to bother that Jesse would find a way to anger her no matter how close he sat, but she let him feel needed.
Jesse walked them through his evidence without rubbing in the fact he’d found the killer and not the FBI. His treating her as an equal to AJ surprised her. How long would it take for him to turn into an ass again? She caught Jesse’s gaze and found herself momentarily mesmerized by his golden-brown eyes. What the hell?
Jesse finished, and Kate wanted to blast her superiors. They never should have told them to stop investigating. Had they spent a little more time on this case, they could’ve found this witness and arrested the correct murder suspect.
“The kid says he was hired by the Facilitator.” Jesse picked up his paperwork.
Kate and AJ looked at each other, thinking the same thing.
The infamous hit-man.
The Facilitator murder cases were one of their dead-end investigations. He mocked the FBI by leaving his business card at each crime scene - “Facilitator for Hire.”
AJ shook his head. “You mean a hit-man asked a kid to do his job? I don’t believe that for a minute.”
“Maybe he’s branching out.” Jesse shrugged his shoulders. “Most likely the kid is lying. I’ll leave that to you.”
“We’ll take care of it. Thanks for this, Jess.”
He tapped the paper on the table, straightening the stack. “I remember the constraints you have. I believe if you had more time, you would’ve found the real killer.”
Her eyebrows rose as she listened to the compliment. At least she took it as a compliment even though he’d spoken directly to his brother.
“As you can imagine, Samuel’s attorney is on his way to the DA with this information in order to get the charges dropped.”
Her body tensed. “What? We haven’t talked to this witness or suspect yet.”
He closed his briefcase then frowned in exasperation. “But
I
did.”
And there was the Jesse she’d come to know. “And the DA’s just going to take your word for it?”
He stood to his full six-three height. “Yes, Agent Ross. He’ll take my word for it.”
A single shot would make her point.
* * * * *
Kate walked into the bar and stopped to let her eyes adjust from the soft glow of the street lamps to the surprisingly bright lights. She scanned the room and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her friends Josh and Mary at a corner table.
She made her way to the table through the leftover happy hour drunks attempting to block her path. She barely avoided someone spilling a drink on her. “Rylee’s not here yet?”
Josh shook his head and stood. “You need a beer, Kate?”