WHO KILLED EMMALINE? (12 page)

“Like it always does. Normal. Then I realized you were avoiding me, and it shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did. Pissed me off for a while there because I don’t want this complication in my life right now. I’ve finally got my life sorted, and I know where I’m heading and what I’m working towards. I don’t need to be sidetracked by another girl.”

I sit back, thinking. So we’re both reluctant to explore this thing between us. We’re obviously very much attracted to each other, but besides that, we don’t really have anything in common except for our interest in the store. And of course Riley and the fact that we both hate living in Ambler Ridge. Then again, it’s not like either of us have worked to get to know the other. What if there can be more to our relationship if we just allow each other in?

I gaze out at the lake, deliberating. There are so many reasons to stay away from Cord. He’s a murder suspect, for one. Second, he’s into creepy things that would scare any girl off. Well, most girls, I amend as I think of Emmaline. Third, he’s temperamental. Wait, he wears masks during sex. Yeah, that is probably on the very top of my ‘not to do’ list.

We are polar opposites.

I should really just leave, but I can’t seem to move. My attention shifts to Cord, and he’s not even looking at me anymore. His eyes are focused on the water, and he looks like he’s clenching his jaw. I can tell that he’s waiting for me to agree that I can’t handle him or his lifestyle. He’s waiting for me to reject him.

It’s that realization that has me hesitating. It dawns on me that it doesn’t matter how good-looking he is, Cord is rejected on a daily basis at school, in town, by girls... I mean, it doesn’t help that his older brother drives around in a hearse, or that they live in a weird house by the lake. No one wants to get to know him since they are either frightened of him, or they are worried about the backlash of dating someone like him. Look at Emmaline. She’d snuck around behind everyone’s back because she didn’t want to be seen with him.

“Just go,” Cord says lightly, his voice interrupting my thoughts.

I can’t do it to him. It’s not because I feel sorry for him, it’s because I do feel something for him. Something that has me curious, somewhat mystified, and definitely interested in exploring. I just don’t want to dive in head first, and then come to find out later that I should have dipped a toe in to test the waters so that I could avoid being sucked down into a drowning vortex.

Go slow
, I warn myself.

“I like Halloween just fine. I’m not put off by it or the things you and your brother make and sell. Yes, some of it scares me, but you’re going to find that reaction in a lot of girls. I also understand why Cordane’s is so important to you, and you already ignore me when you sketch, so you’re not telling me anything I don’t already know,” I say cautiously.

The second I’d started speaking, Cord had turned his attention back on me. He blinks as my words set in as his lip quirks up in the corner.

“As for the masks… I’ve heard how things were between you and Emmaline,” I say tactfully.

Cord’s expression shuts down immediately, his eyes cooling. “That shit should have stayed private.”

“I agree,” I say levelly. I can’t imagine how he feels knowing the whole town—and probably all of Manchester—knows about his kinky sex life. “You need to know that I am beyond turned off at the idea of masks during sex. I don’t want that. At all,” I clarify.

Cord stares at me, looking briefly bewildered. “You think…” He scowls darkly. “That was for Emmaline, not me,” he says flatly.

“You mean you aren’t into that kind of thing?” I ask cautiously.

He sighs, rubbing his eyebrow. “It was fine in the beginning,” he admits. “I didn’t mind it the first few times. It was just something to try, something she liked. It’s not anything I ever want to repeat, Krista. I’d rather the person I am with want to be with
me
, not some twisted fucked-up fantasy. I can admit my fascination for masks and gore can come off as bizarre and weird, but masks during sex just isn’t my thing. I don’t have that many screws loose in my head,” he says dryly.

I breathe a sigh of relief over his aversion to repeating the masked sexual encounters that he’d had with Emmaline. “She…really liked that stuff?” I ask, knowing I probably shouldn’t be asking, but there’s a very nosy part of me that wants to know everything before I get involved with him.

“She was really messed up, Krista. The things she wanted…” He shakes his head. “That’s why I recorded everything to show that it was consensual. Emmaline was notorious for blackmailing people and making their lives miserable. I wanted to make sure that nothing we did could turn around and bite me on my ass.” He makes a disgusted sound. “That plan sure as hell backfired.”

I nod in agreement, because if he hadn’t recorded everything, the investigation into his relationship with Emmaline wouldn’t have gotten quite so messy. “You once told me that you didn’t even like her. Why would you be with her then if she was such a terrible person?” I ask quietly.

Cord turns wary as he regards me. “You don’t have to like someone to have sex with them.”

“I know that. But it sounds like she was terrible to you before she started sneaking around with you. Why even give her the time of day?”

He shrugs. “I wasn’t a nice guy when I was with her. I knew what she was after, and I gave it to her, but that didn’t mean I didn’t take in return.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you sure you want to hear this, Krista?”

“I need to know if we’re ever going to build anything between us.”

He nods in agreement. “She was a bitch, but when she was with me, I could control her, bend her to my will. So I did. I enjoyed making her beg, making her scream. Scream in a good way that is,” he quickly adds, then his lips tighten. “The only kind of torture I’m into is the kind that involves good sex.”

His admission tells me that he’s got a darker side to him that I have yet to witness. He might not be into masks, but there’s other things that turn him on that I may not be willing to do if we manage to build a relationship. I guess at this point, it’s not worth worrying over until we have no choice but to revisit the topic.

Cord leans forward, his eyes glinting devilishly, and I know he’s going to tease me with whatever he’s going to say next. “By the way, I’m all for experimenting, but I’d prefer to leave my masks out of it. I’m game for anything else, though.”

“I bet,” I say dryly.

We both fall silent for a moment.

“There’s a lot we don’t know about each other,” he finally says, breaking the silence.

I nod. “We’re both uneasy with whatever we’re starting. Where do we go from here?”

He looks at me cautiously. “Get to know each other without any expectations?” he suggests.

“I can handle that.”

“Really?” He studies me intently.

“We can be strictly just friends, or we can be a little more than that, but not as serious as an actual boyfriend/girlfriend type of relationship. I think we’d have to go slow if we’re going to navigate anything that’s more than friendship,” I tell him.

Cord looks relieved. “That sounds good. The more than friends part without it being so serious,” he clarifies.

It’s Saturday evening, and I am working at the store with Owen tonight. So far, Dane hasn’t pulled me aside to fire me, so I’m hoping that means I’m in the clear. Maybe Dane will never bring it up, and we’ll just forget it ever happened.

I hide a smile as I ring up a costume for a young girl. I don’t think I’ll ever forget having sex with Cord in the fitting room, and now that we’re kind of seeing each other, I don’t feel so bad about my momentary lapse in judgement.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Owen comments a few minutes later when the line at the register has dwindled.

I glance at him. “Am I ever not in a good mood?” I ask with a laugh. I don’t think I’ve ever come into Cordane’s acting grumpy. Today, I might have come in a little apprehensive, but when Dane didn’t make it a point to corner me, I’d begun to relax.

Owen shrugs as he bends down behind the counter and retrieves more of the store’s bags from a box. “You seemed preoccupied earlier.”

“Oh, I just have a lot on my mind. School work and stuff.”

He sets the bags down and gives me his full attention. “Yeah, I remember those days of balancing school with a part-time job. Dane giving you enough time off to keep up on homework?”

“I’m keeping up just fine,” I assure.

We look up as Dane walks over, and his dark lined eyes focus on me. “Krista, stop in my office before you leave tonight.”

Oh shit. I smile the best that I can. “Yeah, sure.”

He nods and glances at Owen. “I’m headed to the warehouse later to grab some stuff. Want to help?”

“Count me in,” Owen agrees.

Dane leaves us to continue managing the store, and I fall silent as I pick up a couple items that a few customers had changed their minds on once they’d gotten in line. I hold onto the severed arm and bottle of fake blood as I make my way to the back, smiling warmly at customers as I pass by them.

The animatronic reaper no longer scares me as it jumps out at me as I walk past. I replace the bottle of blood, and as I’m headed over to the severed body parts, I see a kid wearing a mask chasing around a squealing girl. I quickly put a halt to it before either one of them can break anything.

I’m in the men’s section re-organizing the hoodies when Owen ambles up to me, his gray eyes curious. “So what was that about earlier?”

I glance at him with confusion. “What was what about?”

“Dane said he wanted to see you in his office, and your face went tomato red.”

I groan and pull out another hanger that has a hoodie hanging halfway off it. “Try asking me something I actually want to answer.”

Owen’s head turns, and his eyes follow a group of guys headed for the fitting rooms. “That bad, eh?”

“No, not bad,” I murmur. “Just awkward.”

Owen turns his attention back on me and frowns. “Awkward? Did Dane do something to make you feel that way?”

It dawns on me that Owen is getting the wrong idea about why Dane wants to talk to me. I step closer to him so I can lower my voice. “He caught me and Cord fooling around the other night.”

Owen immediately grins. “He caught you here?”

I nod.

“You guys used one of the fitting rooms, I’m guessing,” he laughs. “I’ll have to go back over the security footage from earlier in the week.”

Horror flickers over my face. “There are security cameras back there?” I ask with alarm.

Owen laughs even harder as he tries to control himself. “I’m just shittin’ you. No cameras, promise.”

“Damn it, Owen!” I smack him across the shoulder. “That wasn’t funny.”

“Yeah, it was. Go put yourself out of your misery and go talk with Dane. I can handle the store on my own until you come back,” he offers.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“You’re just going to be distracted until you get it over with.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

I make my way to the back of the store and then slip through the employee door. Cord had assured me that Dane wouldn’t fire me over the fitting room incident, but I’m not so sure. Dane owns more than half of the store. If he wants to fire me, he can do so without Cord really having a say in the matter.

I find Dane in the prep room cursing as he tries to fix a talking head that someone had accidentally broken earlier in the day. When he spies me in the doorway, he looks up.

“Owen said to see you now if you don’t mind,” I explain lightly.

Dane straightens. “Works for me. I need a break from working on that thing. Let’s go to my office.”

We walk down the hall to Dane’s small office. It’s cluttered with anything and everything that is Halloween related. Dane looks around, frowning when he realizes there isn’t anywhere for me to sit. He shakes his head and walks over to his office chair, pulling it out. “Sorry, everything is always a chaotic mess during the month of October. You sit, I’ll stand.”

“Thank you.” I sit down in the chair and ignore the full-sized zombie lying across the desk beside me.

Dane leans his hip against the desk and folds his arms over his chest as he studies me. “I apologize for the awkwardness of this discussion, but I feel that the situation needs to be addressed.”

I nod, flushing.

“I went through the security footage from the warehouse.”

I look at him blankly. This has to do with the warehouse and not me and Cord?

Dane smiles slightly as he takes in my expression. “We have surveillance cameras inside the warehouse. They turn on as soon as the doors are opened,” he says tactfully.

It sinks in that he must have seen the incident between me and Cord, the one where he’d restrained me and kissed me. My heart drops when I realize this conversation does indeed have to do with me and Cord after all.

“You and Cord seem to be developing something between the two of you. I would prefer it if you kept things strictly professional when you are working.”

“Yes, sir. I am so sorry, it won’t happen again,” I say in a respectful, hurried rush. I really don’t want to get fired.

Dane grimaces. “Dane, Krista. Not sir.”

“Okay. Uh, sorry.”

He just gazes down at me, his eyes searching mine before he reaches up and rubs his face. “May I be upfront with you?”

Uh oh. “Sure.”

“I would slow things down with Cord if I were you,” he advises.

I’m at a loss as to how to navigate this conversation. It would be different if he wasn’t my boss, but since he is, I have to be careful what I say. “It may seem like we’re rushing things, but we’re not. It’s…we’re not even officially dating or anything.”

Dane winces. “We both know that the last relationship he had based on sex didn’t…turn out so well. I would advise you to slow things down.
Way
down.”

I’m stunned by his suggestion. Is he really warning me off of Cord, his own brother?

“I know that sounds bad, but Cord can attach himself quite easily to…others. Especially pretty, young girls like yourself.”

I’m so confused. He’s implying that Cord’s been dating numerous girls, but Cord made it sound like the only girl he’s dated was Emmaline. He’s also alluding that Cord is obsessive, but yet I get the feeling that he’s the complete opposite. If I go by the conversation we’d had by the lake, up until this point, he’s been trying to keep his distance from me. Dane’s warning just doesn’t add up, not when it pertains to the Cord that I’ve been spending time with.

“I’ll be careful and keep your suggestion in mind,” I say lightly.

Dane regards me with an unyielding gaze. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this conversation is to stay between us and only us.”

“Of course.”