Deception (Carrington Hill Investigations Book 1) (6 page)

His unspoken words elicited a chuckle from his brother. “When you said you’d handle it, I wasn’t expecting you to go this far, Trip.” He shook his head as he walked out. “You’ve surprised me. Wait until
Mother finds out.”

Trip
led Lexi up the staircase and into their suite. He knew she had a million questions and was biting her tongue until she could get him behind closed doors. He had no sooner pushed the doors closed than she turned with a scowl on her face and let the questions fly. “What didn’t you tell me, Trip? How does Ethan know Catherine? And what the hell did he mean when he said that you’d handle it?”

He took her by the hand and guided her to one of the brown couches in their sitting room. She hadn’t even glanced at her surroundings, letting him know that she wasn’t about to be distracted. He turned to her and took her hands
in his. “Lexi, Ethan was helping Catherine in her investigation and somewhere along the line… he fell in love with her.”

Lexi
pulled her hand from his and clenched her eyes shut. Clearly not screaming, no, she was calm and reserved, and that worried him much worse.

“Well
, that explains the who.”

“Excuse me?”

“She mentioned to Sara that she’d met someone. We just didn’t know who.”

She stood and started pacing the room, worrying her lip yet again. He held back from pointing it out
. “And what did he mean by that you’d ‘take care of it’?”

Trip stood
, pulled off his coat and threw it over the back of another chair, then loosened his tie. “My brother loves her, and when she came up missing, he was a mess.” He sat in a chair across from the couch when she plopped down again, absorbing the information he’d kept hidden from her. “He knew why she was here. And being the protective big brother, I told him I’d help find her and whoever did this to her, not to mention discover who is stealing the money.”

She nodded. “And you saw that I wanted to find her just as much as your brother
, so you knew I was the obvious choice.”

He placed his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together before he found her gaze. “Yes.”

She leaned back on the sofa. “Why not just come clean and tell me the truth? Why hide it?”

He let his head drop again. “I didn’t hide it.” He glanced back up. “I was afraid you’d say no.” He knew his eyes were pleading with her. “You have to understand, Ethan isn’t a playboy. He’s never been the type to date a lot of women. If he’d told me that he loved her, I would have had her pulled from the investigation, which is probably why they kept it a secret. It was too dangerous
, and I wouldn’t have risked her safety or his happiness for anything in the world.”

He rose. “Lexi, I don’t trust easily, but I trust my brother and his decisions without question.
He’s not impulsive, and when he confessed he loved her, I knew I had to do everything in my power to see that she comes out of this unscathed, if for nothing other than Ethan’s sanity.” He held out his hand to her. “When we Hathaways fall, we’re all in…for a lifetime. You know…soul mates and all.” She slid her fingers into his, and he pulled her up against his chest. “He’d do anything to find Catherine, and I’d do anything to help him.”

****

It was then that Lexi realized she’d been play
ed right into Trip’s hand. When he said he’d do anything, he’d meant it. She was starting to understand the length of the distance he was willing to go. He’d used her own emotions against her, for his own gain. Although she too had gotten what she wanted, she realized there was more to the man holding her in his arms than she’d previously thought. He was not only devoted to his family but was a ruthless businessman on top of everything. She’d need to keep her guard up around him and remember the reason she was here.

He used his thumb to smooth the lines on her forehead. “You can’t say I didn’t warn you
, Lexi. I meant every word I said about helping you find Catherine. That’s first; the money can wait.”

She slid out of his hold
, putting more distance between them. Distance she meant to keep. “That’s where you’re wrong, Trip. The investigation is what’s going to lead me right to her. Your first mistake was not telling me everything. Your second was underestimating me.” She walked to the door and paused with her hand on the knob. “Everyone is considered a suspect until I say they’re not. You aren’t running this investigation; I am. And right now, I have some questions for your little brother.”

He followed in step behind her
, guiding her with his hand on the small of her back. Before they reached the staircase, he leaned over and whispered, “I’m sorry, wife.” He laced their fingers. “I won’t ever keep anything from you again.”

His words meant nothing to her. She understood what was at stake and that their game of charades had to be convincing whether she liked his tactics or not.
Catherine would have done the same for her had the roles been switched. She paused at the top of the stairs. “If you care anything about Ethan and Catherine, then see that you don’t. The little things are going to help me break this case, and if I can’t trust you, then we’re going to have an even harder time finding the truth.”

He nodded and leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I am nothing but honorable when I give you my word. I’ll prove it to you, Lexi.”

Trip pushed open the door to an office. Ethan was sitting behind the desk and a row of monitors. He motioned for her to come in and glanced up. “I take it Trip has told you everything.”

She shrugged. “That’s debatable.”

Ethan’s gaze met Trip’s, and she knew something unspoken had just passed from one brother to the other. She rounded the desk as he pointed to the monitors. “This is what we’ve got so far.”

The pictures on the screen were the same ones she’d reviewed at the field office
, along with some additional ones of Catherine and Ethan that she’d never seen before. “Where did you get these?”

Trip rounded the desk and placed his palm on her back. “Director Johnson thought you might need these and hoped that Ethan might notice something out of place.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You mean besides the blood stain in the middle of her living room.”

She tapped Ethan’s arm
, motioning him to vacate the chair so she could get a better look. She flipped through each picture, taking in everything. There were pictures of broken furniture and blood stains, among other rooms that seemed untouched. She continued flipping until she got to the photos of Catherine’s room. She had a bag sitting on her dresser with a towel poking out of it. Catherine had indeed planned on meeting them at the beach house. Ethan pointed to the bag. “She was already packed for your yearly vacation. She was beyond excited to see you and Sara.”

Lexi
lifted her gaze to study Ethan’s face. “She told you?”

He
rounded the desk and sat in one of the empty seats, running his fingers through his hair. “Lexi, I love her. She’d planned on introducing us in Verona. I rented the beach house two doors down, and she was going to introduce me to the two people that meant the world to her. I was just as excited as she was.”

Lexi leaned back in the chair. “Did you cancel the reservation?”

His brows dipped. “Pardon me?”

Lexi let out a sigh
, not caring if he understood why she was asking. She repeated herself. “Did you cancel the reservation?”

He shook his head. “No.”

A smile tilted on her lips as she glanced at Trip. “We can use that as how we met, running on the beach Friday night. As long as you can’t be placed here in your house.”

He shook his head. “That should work. I stayed the night in my
studio apartment closer to town so I could meet Director Johnson first thing in the morning. No one else knew where I went because they didn’t know about the investigation.”

Yep
, she had her fake meeting place where she and Trip would have met, thankfully provided by her new brother-in-law.

Ethan gave her an approving smile
. “Trip, your wife is pretty smart.” He tilted his head. “Now do you two care to tell me what’s going on and why you got married? If you really did get married.”

Trip kept his hand on her shoulder
, gently caressing the knots starting to form. He thought he was being helpful. Little did he know that just the slightest contact from him was wreaking havoc on her body. “We officially got married so that Lexi would have unrestricted access to all of the suspects and everything in the company.”

“
Ahh, I see.” He nodded.

Lexi pulled her cell phone from her pocket and
quickly dialed the number she knew from heart. “You’re up.” She glanced at her new brother-in-law as she spoke into the phone. “My new brother-in-law and I are leaving the premises.” Ethan would be the one who knew if anything else was unusual at Catherine’s house. Lexi needed his help as much as he needed hers. She moved the phone away from her lips. “What kind of car do you drive, Ethan?”

“A black Mercedes.
Why?”

“You’re driving.” She replaced the phone to her mouth. “You copy that? We’re leaving in five and exiting through the back entrance
at the corner of the property.”

Trip tilted his head. “How did you know about that?”

She smiled as she rose. “One day you’ll learn to quit underestimating me, Trip.”

Ethan chuckled as he stood and walked to the door.
“Seems you’ve met your match, big brother.”

Trip placed a hand on
Lexi’s arm to stop her from following Ethan. He waited until Ethan was out of the room. “Were you on the phone with Sara and Garrett?”

She patted his chest as she walked by. “Yes
, hubby, I’m taking my bodyguards with me to go check out Catherine’s place.”

“Lexi…be careful.”

She turned at the doorway. “Don’t worry, Trip. I’ll make sure nothing happens to Ethan.”

His brows dipped. “I meant you.
”

His worry gave her pause
, but she shook it off. “Hold down the fort while I’m gone.” She smiled sweetly. “We’ll be back in time for the party. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the in-laws.”

She tapped the doorframe and found Ethan waiting in the hall for her. He led her to the garage and into the car. “How did you know about the back entrance?”

She grinned, keeping her talk with Marco to herself. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

He pulled out of the garage and turned in the direction she knew he would. “You’re just as smart as Catherine told me you were. I’m not sure my brother has realized that yet.”

She chuckled as she glanced out the window. “Let’s keep that between us. The more people who think I’m just a dumb bimbo, the less they’ll suspect what I’m up to.”

He pulled down the long drive
at back of the property and punched in numbers at the gates before they swung open. Sara and Garrett were waiting in a black SUV. “Friends of yours?”

She nodded. “Yep, they’re my newly assigned bodyguards that my husband insisted I have.”

He gave her a sad smile that didn’t reach his eyes as he turned out on the road. “Good to know that at least you’ll be safe. I wish I would have thought about doing that for Catherine.”

She turned in her seat. “Ethan, you have to know
this wasn’t your fault. I’m going to do whatever it takes to find her and bring her back to you.” She mumbled as she turned back to glance out the window, “I already have.”

She didn’t want to burden him any more than he was. He was about to
see firsthand what she was giving up to work this case. “After Catherine’s, I need to make two stops.”

He nodded.

The rest of the ride was in silence, both of them lost in their thoughts, as he drove to where Catherine had been living for the last couple of months. She ducked under the crime scene tape, and Ethan followed her, along with Sara and Garrett. She took her time going through the rooms, only stopping once when she realized just how personal this case was to her. She dug through the dresser and pulled out a photo. It wasn’t common practice to bring personal items while undercover, but Catherine had told them, she would never leave home without it. She described the need of taking it as it giving her an inner peace knowing that she had something to look forward to. The picture was one of Catherine, Sara, and herself at the beach house from last year. She smiled remembering when the picture had been taken. Sara squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll find her.”

Lexi nodded and s
et the picture back down. There wasn’t anything here that they didn’t already have. Her computer had already been taken by forensics, along with anything and everything else they thought they might need. The white powder from their efforts to collect prints hadn’t been cleaned up. Lexi and Sara moved to the closet as Garrett and Ethan checked out the rest of the house. If Catherine had left them any clues, they both knew where she would have hidden them. They’d joked about it on more than one occasion.

Sara started pulling the shoe boxe
s from the top shelves as Lexi grabbed the ones at the bottom of the closet.

Garrett
and Ethan were already standing in the room when they emerged with the boxes. Garrett asked, “I don’t think this is the appropriate time to be admiring her shoes.”

Sara
rolled her eyes. “Help us get the boxes.”

Ethan and
Garrett pulled out the rest of the boxes as Lexi and Sara started opening the boxes and pulling out the shoes. Catherine would kill them if she knew what they were going to do to her beloved shoes. They dumped them all in the middle of her bed until they were surrounded by empty boxes on the floor. Sara and Lexi went through them one by one.

“What are we looking for?”
Garrett asked.

Lexi glanced up
with a stiletto in her hand. “If Catherine wanted to hide something…” She held up the shoe. “She would have hidden it in the things she loved most. We all would have.” She grinned. “And these babies were her most prized possessions.”

Garrett
picked up one of the shoes. “What’s yours?” he asked Lexi.

She shook her head. “Only the people that know me best know where to look
, and I plan on keeping it that way.”

Sara giggled as she checked the soles of the shoes in her hand. A dozen were now discarded on the floor around the bed. Ethan picked up a pair and ran his hand over the top of a beautiful
silver pair. “I bought her these.”

“How long ago?”

He looked at them as if remembering exactly when and where he’d given them to her. “Last month.”

Lexi took the shoe out of his hand
, and Sara picked up the mate. Lexi raised her brow at Sara. “You think?”

She nodded. “She would have had time to have them altered.”

They each felt inside the shoes and turned them over. Lexi grinned when she felt a depression around the heel. She swiped the rest of the shoes out of the way. “I think I found it.”

Everyone in the room watched as she knelt and laid the shoe on the bed. She glanced up at Ethan. “Give me your keys.”

He handed them to her, and they all watched in fascination as Lexi positioned the key at the end of the heel and popped the rubber away. She glanced down inside and smiled. “Jackpot.”

She turned the shoe over
and shook it, dislodging the memory stick stuck inside. As she picked up the only clue that Catherine had left them, she heard Garrett say, “Unbelievable.”

Lexi walked out of the room and shoved the memory stick in her bra. Ethan
followed, his voice full of pride. “I always knew she was a smart cookie. Now we just need a computer.”

Lexi
jiggled the keys in her hand. “Two more stops first.” She turned to Sara. “We’re heading to my apartment then my house.”

She nodded.
Garrett and Ethan exchanged a look. Ethan asked, “You have two homes?”

She held their gaze. “You two have a lot to learn about me
, so feel privileged. There are only a handful of people who ever get a glimpse of my double life.”

“I’m driving
, Hathaway.” She slid behind the wheel. “I hope you don’t mind.”

He slid into the passenger seat. “Anyone ever tell you that you
’re bossy?”

She chuckled.
“All the time.”

She drove across town and parked in front of her apartment
building. She pulled out her cell and dialed Sara. “We’ll be five minutes. Stay with the car and make sure no one tries to steal it.”

Ethan gasped. “Why the hell do you live here?”

She shrugged as she got out of the car and started up the five flights to her apartment. “It’s close to work.”

“And the elevator doesn’t work?”

Lexi harrumphed. “The elevator works fine. It’s a good cardiovascular workout. So suck it up, rich boy.”

She walked down the hall to her door and paused. The frame of her door was scuffed
, and she knew that meant trouble. “Crap.”

“What?”

She hurried over to the breaker box, punched in a code, and pulled it open. She reached inside and pulled out one of her guns. “That’s handy.”

“A necessity and prior arrangement.”

She started pulling him back down the hall. “I need you to go tell Sara and Garrett that someone broke in.”

He grabbed her arm. “You aren’t going in there alone.”

She looked down at his hand. “I’m trained for this, and the best thing you can do for me is go inform my backup.”

“Don’t go in there until they get here.”

She gave him a little shove toward the stairs. “Just go.”

She watched as he debated on leaving her alone. He glanced down at her gun and then nodded as he jumped down the first flight of stairs and hurried out of sight. She moved back to her door
, turned the knob, and pushed it open. She held her gun up in the air as she stepped into the foyer, moving swiftly and silently through her entire apartment. She noted the broken furniture and glass on the floor and stepped over anything that would create noise and give away that she was there. When the apartment was secure, she moved back into the living room. Sara and Garrett ran into the foyer with their weapons drawn with Ethan on their heels.