Lisa was high maintenance, high class, with money and a need for the best. He and his brothers fell for her acting job about them being meant for one another. It hadn’t been until they were in bed with her and her insistence that they do things with other people that it hit home. She wanted an orgy, not a committed ménage relationship. She thought it was sexy and fun, and it took catching her in bed with two other men for them to realize she’d scammed them. But they cared about her. They had trusted her and gave her their hearts and she stomped on them and destroyed the whole meaning behind a ménage relationship.
Then they tried working things out and they got back together.
Then she hit them with the best and worst news ever as they battled in yet another argument over her wants and desires. He cringed from the memory of her words as they struck through his heart and his brothers’.
“Would you like some ice tea?” Michaela interrupted his thoughts.
He shook the bad memories from his head as he followed her into the kitchen.
“Sure. Thank you.”
He looked around the kitchen and saw the same thing as the other rooms. It needed work but had actually been in better shape than he thought it would be.
“What’re your plans for in here?” he asked as she poured them each a glass of ice tea and then joined him by the kitchen table.
She looked around the room. “Well, I really haven’t decided yet. I was thinking of taking that wall behind you down, opening up the kitchen and living room, figuring that would be good for entertaining.”
“You have a large family?” he asked, and saw the color drain from her face. It was obvious his question shocked her.
“No. I think it would be great for resale value.”
“Resale value? You’re not sticking around here?” he asked, feeling disappointed, and he made that pretty obvious as he nearly choked on the sip of tea. No woman ever made him react like this. It was unnerving.
“Eventually, maybe. I don’t know. I think it’s a nice town, Sheriff. The people seem friendly and your father’s bar, The Station, is pretty cool.”
“Jake, please call me Jake.”
“Jake.” She eyed him over the glass before she turned away.
“I heard that you were working at The Station. How do you like it so far?”
“I like it. It’s busy and the tips are great. Firefighters can get pretty rowdy.”
“Can’t we all.”
She chuckled. “Well, again, I appreciate you helping me out.” She stood up and he knew she wanted him to leave, but why? They were getting along fine.
“Kicking me out?” he asked as he stared at her while running his fingertip around the rim of the ice tea glass.
“It’s your day off, I’m sure you have much better things to do than hang out here with me where you could get electrocuted, sprayed with chemicals, or put to work.”
“I don’t mind at all. I have actually enjoyed our time together. It’s the best way to get to know someone.”
She placed her glass into the sink, and turned to stare at him.
The sunlight cast a nice gentle glow over her body, and especially her hair that sparkled with red and golden highlights.
“Listen, Sheriff, Jake, I appreciate the gesture. You handling my car situation, and you coming over here helping me, but I’m kind of used to being alone. In fact I prefer to be alone.”
He stared at her as he stood up. He walked his glass to the sink and now she stood right by him. Her lower back was leaning against the counter.
He stood in front of her, looking down into her big blue eyes, and he reached up to move a strand of hair from her cheek.
“Being alone can be peaceful, but it’s also lonely. You’re new in town, could use a friend, if something comes up that you need. I’d like to be there for you.”
She squinted her eyes at him. “I’m not interested in making any friends, Jake. I appreciate you coming by and dropping off the paperwork. I’ll be sure to call the tow service you recommended on Monday.” She stepped away and he had no choice but to follow her from the kitchen. He sensed her anxiety as he invaded her space. She didn’t move right away, but she felt the attraction as he had. Why was she so resistant, and what was with the “I don’t need to make friends” remark?
She opened her front door and held it open for him.
“Well, good luck with the house. I can give you the names of a few trustworthy electricians if you need help?”
“I’m good.”
He looked her over and she cleared her throat as she stepped back across the threshold and into the safety of her home.
He winked before he headed down the walkway and to his truck. He wondered if she were still watching him. If she was, then maybe she was just shy and he had come off too aggressive. He glanced over his shoulder and waved as she pretended to look inside of her mailbox attached to the house.
Yeah, she was interested, but for some reason she was resistant. He wondered why as he got into his truck and headed home.
Chapter 2
“Well, where the hell could she have gone, Clyde?” Solomon asked. “It’s not like she has any family left. Annette told me their parents were dead.” He spoke into the phone, listening to Clyde Duvall. The man was supposed to be a great tracker. Solomon was paying him well to find Michaela and locate the key to the safety deposit box.
“I don’t know. I need more time. It’s like she disappeared after she recovered from the hospital in New York. I had my people look into her residence in Chicago, and one day it was vacated, items were sold off or donated. The landlord didn’t have any information.”
Solomon was shacked up in a shit apartment downtown, and he could just imagine Clyde, standing in his executive office uptown.
Solomon was impressed with Clyde’s office. It overlooked the city of Manhattan. Solomon was hoping for a position in a firm that Clyde chaired and owned the majority of stocks in, but after the incident with Carlucci, and the fact that Solomon knew Carlucci hired the hit man who killed Annette, his hopes of staying alive in America were slim to none.
He needed the key that Annette had hidden for him. There were fake passports so he could get out of the country, a shitload of money so he could survive on his own, and the thumb drive that Carlucci wanted so badly. There was enough evidence on that thumb drive to put Carlucci and his organization away for life, and prove that he hired the hit man to kill Solomon but instead wound up killing Annette and nearly killing her sister, Michaela. Plus, certain political opponents would pay for that information so Carlucci wouldn’t have a chance of winning his reelection. That was what the other thumb drives were for. A reserve to ensure he remained alive. People would kill for the information on those thumb drives.
He kind of felt bad for Michaela. She survived, but had no idea what she had gotten caught up in. Carlucci could be looking for her right now to finish the job, or at minimum, track down Solomon.
“If I find her, what do you want me to do?”
“Call me first. If I can get to you easy, then I’ll take care of the rest. If I can’t, then you may have to hold her up somewhere until I retrieve what I need.”
“What does she have that you need so badly? You’re taking a chance sticking around here when the cops are looking for you and the guy who killed your girlfriend.”
“I just need something she has before I ditch this place. Plus, I’d like nothing more than to see Carlucci dead.”
“Which is why I’m helping you out. I’m not going to lie to you, Solomon. It would serve some of my own interests to get rid of that slimy bastard.”
Solomon smiled to himself. This was what he had hoped for. If he needed to get out of the country, then he could give Clyde a copy of the thumb drive and let him deliver the dirty work.
“I understand. The man has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. I don’t know why the majority of people can’t see through his bullshit. If they only knew what he was into.”
“Sounds like you have some shit on him. If you need a partner in this, I’m in. What do you have? Photographs, confiscated files from his personal computer? What?” Clyde asked.
“No specifics, Clyde. But I have a bunch of shit on thumb drives hidden in a safe location.”
“So this chick I’m tracking knows where these thumb drives are? No wonder you’re worried that Carlucci’s man might find her first. Is it in a security box somewhere? I sure hope so for your sake. Carlucci has a lot of pull and connections everywhere.”
“Money and power can bring a person a long way. Listen, call me next week or I’ll find a way to contact you if I get any updates on the woman. Be safe.”
Clyde disconnected the call and Solomon turned off the disposable phone so it couldn’t be tracked. He knew that Clyde had his own interests in helping him. It paid to have friends in some shitty positions, and Solomon knew that Clyde wanted Carlucci out of the race.
It was why he called him for help with tracking down Michaela. In fact, his only other problem would be Michaela and what to do with her after he got what he wanted from her.
Well, he had time to make that plan, but for both their sakes, he hoped he was the one to find her and not Carlucci’s hit man.
* * * *