Just Evil (22 page)

He didn’t miss the searing glares Collin sent Kit every now
and then, or the leering stares Cade paid to Quinn. But when he spotted the two
detectives watching their prime suspect walk to a waiting limo, he smiled.

Soon, they’d be even more confused by it all.

As he watched the car slowly make its way through the
cemetery and out the front gates, he planned the demise of yet another. 

Collin was furious. After watching Kit wrapped around Boston
at Alana’s funeral, his rage took on a harder edge.

As he sat around the pool with his brothers, he wasn’t the
least interested in his father’s agenda anymore. He didn’t give a rat’s ass
about the future of the firm, or his father’s warning, or the fact that
everyone seemed worried that Auslo and Taft hadn’t yet found what they were
looking for.

Nothing much mattered to Collin other than making Kit pay
for rejecting him yet again.

“If she hadn’t been such a cold fish, we might have had a
couple of kids by now. Why can’t she see she belongs with me? She never did
appreciate what was right in front of her. It’s been like that since we were
kids, all the times she interfered with our plans, busted in on our games,
always tagging along where she wasn’t wanted.” She’d made him fall in love with
her all those years ago and then shunned him. And now, she’d taken up with Jake
Boston.

She had to pay.

As the brothers threw back Johnnie Walker Blue, Connor and
Cade let him rant. It wasn’t the first time, but it was getting old. And it was
starting to sound a little creepy and incoherent. Or at least that was Connor’s
take.

Cade, on the other hand, wanted to fan some of Collin’s hot
wrath to flame. “Yeah, like the time we killed that old cat, just to get it out
of its misery. Kit ratted us out to Maya, who got us grounded when she told Dad
what we did.” 

“I know she’s behind what happened to Mother. I just can’t prove
it. I want her to hurt like I’m hurting.”

Cade might’ve been on his way to getting drunk, but hearing
that had him pointing out, “Kit was always a timid thing.” Staring out over the
water, he gave it more thought, and remembered a shy, skinny girl with eyes too
big for her face. Kit was the opposite of Quinn. No spunk. No one could say
Quinn was afraid of her own shadow. And wasn’t that too bad, he thought. “I can
understand you thinking she might have killed Alana. God knows that bitch was
the antichrist, but what’s Mother’s murder got to do with Kit? Why would Kit
want to kill Mother?”

“He isn’t making sense. He’s boning for her, that’s all,”
Connor said. “And she won’t give him the time of day. That’s the problem,
little brother; you’ve got the hots for her just like you did when you were
both twelve. And look at your nose, some impression that’s going to make at
your own mother’s funeral tomorrow, you with a bandage across your honker. What
are you going to tell the reporters when they ask what happened there?”

It didn’t help when Cade added, “And if Dad hears you
talking about Kit the way you are, he’s going to personally ship you off to
Siberia. He wants you over this Kit thing.”

The razzing he was used to, but damned if Collin would admit
the truth. After all, hadn’t his mother reminded him every time Kit rebuffed
him what the girl was? “Mother always said Kit came from Hollywood trash.”

Cade wanted to know, “Since when did you ever listen to
Mother? You’re acting weird, bro. What’s this about anyway?”

“She’s fucking that software prick.” Hadn’t he followed her
to Boston’s office, saw it for himself? He’d wanted to confront her about it
right then in the parking garage, but she’d taken off. Why was she always
acting afraid of him?

Cade thought a moment before turning to Conner. “Software
prick?”

Conner replied, “Boston? She and Jake Boston? Well, now
that’s interesting. The police never arrested that son of a bitch for killing
his wife. They let him get away with it.”

“Had her killed more likely,” added Collin. “And she’d screw
anything in pants.”

The memory had Connor smiling into his whiskey. “Now that
was a nice piece of ass.”

Cade and Collin exchanged looks before Cade asked, “And you
would know that how?”

Connor lifted his glass. “Been there. Done that.” Just
thinking about her—he rotated his shoulders. “How about we order a couple of
hookers for tonight?”

Cade wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “Now we’re talking. I
could use a distraction. I’m tense.”

Not even the idea of hookers had Collin feeling any better.
In fact, he desperately wanted to use his fists on her. He’d done it before.
Sitting here humiliated, he knew he would have to make her pay, big time. His
mother would want that. But that’s what Auslo and Taft were for. As he saw it,
the minions now worked for him and his brothers. And it was their job to do
what they were told.

Kit had deceived him by fucking Boston. She’d rejected him
for the last time. He would meet with Auslo and Taft and up the ante. No matter
what his father said, it was time to get results. Kit Griffin had always been
his. He’d loved her since they’d been kids.

She’d shacked up with Boston. And now, he’d make her pay. 

Sailing offered escape. And after Alana’s funeral no one
needed escape more than Kit. Standing on the deck of the
Sea Warrior
with the wind in her face, she watched Jake navigate out of the harbor and head
for the open sea.

He’d hovered over her during the funeral, never leaving her
side for a moment. It was finally over. And now, just getting outside, getting
on the water, she felt like a weight had been lifted.

Jake kept an eye on Kit’s willowy body as it moved fluidly
to the rail in a pair of low-rise Capri jeans and a short white tank top that
showed off her bellybutton.

She was barefoot, with her loose hair billowing in the
breeze, her chin to the wind. He watched her take pleasure in the moment. He’d
been worried about her during the funeral, especially when she’d caught sight
of St. John and Holloway.

She’d turned a pale shade of white and hadn’t lost the
pallor until he’d gotten her onboard the boat. For a while at the sight of the
two detectives she’d turned to jelly, but then she’d pushed back her shoulders
and sucked it up. She’d gotten through it. 

“Hi,” she said as she joined him at the helm, putting her
arm around his waist.

“Having fun?”

“The best. This was a great idea. It’s just what I needed
after this morning.”

“Want to take a crack at the helm?”

“Is there any chance I might run us aground?”

A laugh escaped before he assured her, “I think you’re safe.
Come here.”

Edging up to him, the boat rolled and pitched, but he
steadied her in front of him before putting her hands on the rudder, letting
her guide the boat while he turned to work the sails. He cranked the winch, and
the mainsail unfurled into the wind. She heard the wind snap into the canvas,
could feel it power the boat through the water. After cutting the motor, he
continued to trim the sails, and showed Kit how to work the jib. A slight spray
slapped her face. “This is the best. Is it always like this?”

“It’s different every time, but for me the basic rush is
always the same.”

With his hand over hers at the helm, Kit wasn’t shy about
wanting to know everything she could about the
Sea Warrior
. She asked a
dozen questions in rapid succession. How fast does the boat go with the motor
versus the sails? How much fuel does she carry? Does it take longer to sail
from north to south or east to west?

Jake appreciated her curiosity. He really did. But after a
while answering her questions, watching that mouth move, she was driving him
crazy. It didn’t take much thinking on his part to know what he’d like to
happen between them, was even picturing in his head what he’d like to do to her
beneath him in bed. He wanted Kit in bed, under him, naked, moaning, and
preferably not asking him twenty questions about sailing.

The boat lurched and she leaned into his chest. He took full
advantage of the sway, the unsteady ride, keeping her body pressed up against
his to balance them both.

When Pepper began to bark at a flock of seagulls, they
turned to look and saw the gulls following a large dolphin pod with babies.

Jake took the helm to navigate alongside the mammals while
Kit hung off the rail as close to them as she could get with her camera. She
marveled at the way he maneuvered the boat without scaring them off. At one
point, he got them so close to the pod she could see the schools of fish
swimming after the dolphins and in turn watched as the sea gulls took turns
bomb diving for lunch.

As the pod took a southward turn, Jake maneuvered the boat
farther out to sea. He made a few entries in the captain’s log while Kit
checked the pictures she’d taken with her digital camera. After scanning the
disk, she showed off some of the shots. “Look at this one, look how clear that
water is. You can plainly see it’s a couple of dolphins. And look at this one;
you can see the baby swimming next to the mama.”

Jake got a kick out of her enthusiasm. Like everything she
did, she got the biggest thrill from the little things, like taking pictures of
baby dolphins.

A while later, she spread her arms out on the bow, turned to
Jake, and said, “This is like heaven. How about we lean out over the water, you
know, into the wind like the scene in
Titanic
? Have you ever done that?”
Just as she started to step up on the bow to make the scene a reality, he
grabbed her arm. “You’re crazy. You can’t do that.”

She giggled, moved into him, and whispered, “Gotcha.”

He laughed, but when their eyes met, instinct had him bending
his head to touch her lips. The kiss began soft, playful, but just as his
tongue played tag with hers in earnest, the kiss turned fiery. When a passing
speed boat blew its horn, they broke apart. 

“You aren’t still pouting about not being able to find out
any more about Ben Griffin, are you?”

“Not exactly.” But it did rankle. “He must have moved
recently, that’s all. Just shows how difficult it can be to track someone
down.” Especially, if they didn’t want to be found, he thought briefly. “I’m
not giving up.”

Giving him a stern look, she warned, “Don’t pout about it.
It’s wonderful you found anything at all. I’m impressed with your hacker
skills. We’ll both look…tomorrow. I knew it might not be easy.”

But it should be, he thought, as he began to lower the
staysail. Turning to Kit, he showed her how to work the jib on her own,
stopping the boat’s forward progress. As they hung off the starboard railing
arm-in-arm, Kit turned to Jake and said, “It’s so peaceful here. I feel like
you’ve brought me to another world.” She snuggled into his chest.

And the urge to take her right there hit him all the way to
his toes. He had to remind himself she needed comfort today, nothing more than
relaxation after the tension-filled funeral. Granted, he should have his head examined
for thinking that they could spend the day sailing, just the two of them in
such close proximity to one another, confined on a boat where he’d be forced to
watch her every move, listen to her every word, visualize taking her to bed.
And there was a very comfortable, very convenient bed below deck, just waiting
for them to enjoy each other.

Oh, perfect, he thought, that’s a reminder he didn’t need at
the moment. The reality of it had him gently setting her back from him, getting
her the hell away from his body. He needed a distraction. A cold dip in the
ocean might just do the trick. “How about a swim?”

Even though the sun was shining bright and warm, Kit looked
at him as if he were crazy. “A swim? Without a wetsuit? You’re kidding, right?
That water’s got to be freezing.”

Jake raised an eyebrow in both invitation and challenge. “No
colder than sixty-five degrees, I’d imagine. Probably ten degrees colder
another ten feet down. But if you swim around you shouldn’t notice the cold too
much.” He took a few steps toward her, grinning like the devil.

Noticing the glint in his eye, she backed up. “What are you
doing?”

“How about I toss you in and you test the water? See how
cold it is. If you don’t want those clothes you’re wearing getting wet, I’d
start stripping down to that red bikini you’ve got on underneath.” He wiggled
his eyebrows up and down.

She backed up even farther. “Now who’s crazy?”

But when he started toward her, she ran to stern and in one
smooth motion, shed her T-shirt and jeans, skidded to the railing, and took the
plunge off the aft deck into the cold Pacific Ocean.

Jake was still getting out of his clothes when she surfaced,
shaking off water from her hair, rubbing her hands on her face as she bobbed up
and down. “Could you be any slower? What’s taking you so long anyway? I could
swim to China and back before you even get wet.”

Just as she got out the challenge, he stripped down to his
trunks and dived in, landing with a splash five feet from her head. She lit out
after him at a fast clip, making a weak attempt to dunk his head under the
water. But Jake swam just out of her reach until they were both darting in and
out of the water much like the dolphins had earlier. When Kit broke stride, she
yelled, “You were right about the water. As long as you move around it’s not so
cold.”

Wasn’t cold? It was downright freezing. Feeling a little
sheepish about prompting her to swim in that bikini, Jake confessed, “I’ve got
wetsuits on board.”

“Now’s a fine time to tell me,” she said as she dived again
while he followed after her. Despite the cold water, his blood was pumping and
did nothing to ward off the sexual tension he felt. They surfaced again.

As they bobbed on the water, there was no ignoring Kit in
that bikini. Or the fact that she was cold. Through the fabric he tweaked her
erect perky nipples. Why was he torturing himself like this? But he wanted a
taste, just a taste of her to get him through the long day.