Deadly Lies (Deadly #3)(9)
I did break. I broke, and I begged.
“But if there are signs you’re starting to falter, if I don’t think you’re strong enough to handle the work…”
He didn’t have to finish. She knew. “You’ll pull me off the case.” Then it would be two failures for her, and she could kiss her career at the SSD good-bye.
Luke’s head inclined in a grim nod.
Well, at least she knew where she stood with him. And she knew that she owed Monica a hell of a lot.
“Now go and take over the scanning of all the computer equipment the techs confiscated,” he ordered. “As of now, you are officially on the case. Hell, no one can hack into a system like you can. The guys Hyde had running the systems can’t even hope to compete with you.”
No, they couldn’t, but when the big boss gave an order, people listened. He’d wanted her to back off and only provide support to the new tech guys, so she had. But now…
“I want to find out every detail there is to know about Jeremy Briar’s life and his family,” Luke said, “Every damn detail.”
Once she got back to the office, she’d dig deep into their financials and make sure that there wasn’t anyone in the family who would benefit from that ransom money. Maybe there was a relative desperate for cash. Maybe a cousin had hit rock bottom. When money was involved, family members often turned on each other—and they could be vicious.
Sometimes, these crimes could hit too close to home.
Getting access to the bank records was easy. Impersonal. Going into the family’s private e-mails and wading through their Internet sites would be much more intimate.
“The media will go crazy with this one,” Luke warned. “The Briars are always big news in this part of the country, but with both the son and the husband dead, it’s going to be a circus.”
So far, the media hadn’t made the full connection between the kidnappings. The two men who’d been returned alive had been ushered out of the country by their parents. And then any suspicions from the press—well, they had been hushed up by the power of old money.
As for the other man, Peter Hollings, the one who’d been sent back to his parents in pieces after they used marked bills to pay his ransom…
His family had all but erased their son’s life. The rest of the world believed Peter had died in a car accident. Money had a way of re-writing history.
“What will the kidnappers do when they make the news?” Sam asked. Some killers craved attention. The pyro that the SSD had tracked in Virginia had been desperate for his fifteen minutes of fame.
Luke’s gaze met hers. “At first, it sure looked like they wanted their kidnappings kept quiet.” They—Hyde was convinced they were looking for a team of abductors. “But the way Jeremy Briar’s body was spread out, I think these perps want some attention now.”
So the press would soon be fueling the flames for them.
“They were sending a message,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck.
“To the next family.” Luke agreed grimly. “Telling them that this is what happens when you don’t pay.”
? ? ?
Max wasn’t asleep when the knock sounded at his door. It was close to three a.m., but he wasn’t asleep.
He was thinking about her. Still feeling Samantha against his skin, and when the knock reached his ears, he immediately headed for the door.
I’ll find you.
Max pulled open the door without bothering to look out the peephole.
Samantha.
She stood in the well-lit hallway, but she wasn’t the femme fatale of hours before. No sexy dress. No flash of cleavage.
Instead she wore simple black pants and a black shirt. The color just made her skin look paler. And she looked lost.
“You should really have better security in a place like this,” she said, in that smooth voice he loved. No accent, just softness and sex. “It was too easy to get inside.”
“I left orders that the doorman was to let you up.” He’d spent ten minutes giving Charlie a description of her.
When her eyes widened a bit, Max knew that he’d caught her by surprise. Good. She’d sure surprised him that first night.
I don’t want love. I don’t want promises of forever. I just want you. Now.
How was he supposed to turn that down?
Samantha rocked back on her heels. “There should be an electronic security system in place. You should see everyone before they—” She stopped and shook her head.
There were shadows under her eyes. Dark circles that hadn’t been there earlier on the balcony. “Samantha?” They were little better than strangers, but something was there between them. Connecting them.
She hesitated then said, “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
Didn’t get more stark or brutally honest than that. His cock swelled as arousal spiked through him. He could still taste her.
Her lashes lifted. “Do you want to be alone?” Her eyes widened. “Wait—you might not be—are you alone?”
Max took her hand and hauled her inside. “Not anymore.” He slammed the door shut, and his mouth crashed down on hers.
Samantha’s lush lips parted immediately for him. Her tongue swept against his, rubbing, teasing, and the light strokes seemed to go straight to his cock.