Like Arrows (Cedar Tree #6) (19 page)

"I guess he doesn't know, then? You haven't told him?"

I turn to Katie, a little confused. She sounds almost angry. I haven't told him anything, really. So I shake my head.

"It's just easier."

"For who? You? Because I can guarantee it won't be easier for him."

"Why?" I want to know but this time Katie shakes her head.

"It's not my story to share, but please trust me on this, if there's even a remote chance you might be seriously ill, you have to tell him." With that Katie gets up out of the tub and grabs a towel.

Emma finally lets go of my hand, but not before giving it a reassuring squeeze. "She's right, you know. He should have the right to be there for you."

Not sure how to respond to that, I get out of the tub as well. "I think I'm going to bed. It's been a long day." I take the cowardly way out and with the big towel wrapped around me, I grab my room key and flee the hint of disapproval in the air.

M
al

"Drew just called," Neil says as I walk into the conference room at the GFI offices.

"Yeah?"

"Rental came from Durango Airport. Avis car rentals. They actually had a credit card on file. They won't rent without one."

"Whose is it?"

"Company name, Hart Holdings." He smirks at me, obviously pleased with himself over something.

"Yeah? Should that mean something to me?" I impatiently bite off.

"It might, if you'd have gone over those damn files on that flash drive ten thousand times like I have. Hart Holdings was on two separate documents in the small print. And..." He lifts one eyebrow to dramatic heights. "The only thing I was able to find out about Hart Holdings is a post office box."

"And that is why you’re excited?" I ask him pointedly.

"The post office box is located in Austin, Texas," he says smugly, as the puzzle starts to slowly take shape. "And Hart is spelled without an 'e.' "

"You're saying—"

"I'm saying it seems more than just a coincidence that the one name that's jumped out at us from the start is one Jacob Hartnett—without an 'e'—and his main residence is 60 miles outside of Austin, Texas."

Adrenaline spikes my blood and I point my finger in Neil's grinning face. "Dig, pretty boy. Dig fucking deep. There's gotta be something tangible to tie him in. Payments, previous cases of forceful land transfers; follow the money. I'd bet my left nut that he's behind this."

"Feel free to hang on to your nuts. I've got a fully functioning pair myself, thank you very much." He's still smiling when he turns his back on me and starts furiously tapping the keyboard of his laptop. Leaving him to do what he's good at, I head over to Gus's office to make a call.

I haven't talked to Kim since Sunday morning when I kissed her knees weak of her in the small bathroom down this same hall, but she's never been far from my mind. I purposely have gotten updates from Katie, instead of directly calling. From the sounds of it Kim has opened up a little with the women and although I'm glad she's opening up, something Katie said gave me pause. A remark made in a flippant way, but I know Katie well enough to hear the underlying concern. Something about hurrying up the case because Kim had to be back for Thursday next week. An important appointment on April twenty-eighth. It was slipped into the conversation in such a way it shouldn't have stuck, but it did. I'm an investigator. I'm trained to notice hairs out of place, and April twenty-eighth stuck up like a damn hair out of place. Did she have a job interview? Meeting someone important to her? I don't know and don't much like being out of the loop of anything to do with Kim's life. I was already uneasy about her going to Vegas when from what I gather, something pretty significant went wrong there for her. I was surprised she wanted to go back there after all these years, but her wanting to leave town for even a few days had seemed like a good way to get her out of harm's way. I needed to focus and work to get her safe on a more permanent basis, and her mere presence proved to be very distracting for me. The unease was back in full force, however. I've survived forty-two years relying on my instincts and right now they were sending up red flags everywhere.

Gus is not in his office and I slip behind his desk and pull out my cell.

"Hello?"

"Kimeo," I say simply.

"Hey Mal," she replies softly, a hint of a smile in her voice. Enough to make the ball of tension sitting on my chest release a bit.

"Having a good time, baby?"

"I am, but I miss Boo."

"Just Boo? He's fine. He's taken to sleeping on the bed with me. You never told me he's a cuddler."

The sound of her laughter does something to me and I feel a responding smile cracking my face.

"He is, but he's got a bad case of morning breath," she jokes.

"No shit. I opened my eyes this morning to his head on your pillow and almost passed out when I caught a whiff."

"My pillow?" she asks softly.

"Master bed is bigger, babe. I like to stretch out. Besides, until the dog decided to join me last night, it smelled of you."

"Oh." Her voice sounds breathless and a little surprised.

Wanting nothing more than to keep the conversation going in this direction, the faster I get my answers, the faster I can get her safe and in that big master bed beside me. Fuck the dog.

"Have you heard the name Jacob Hartnett before? Texan?" I jump right in.

"Yes I have,”Kim says, surprise evident in her voice. “He left a few messages for Martin when we couldn't find him. Was quite persistent too, seemed very eager to find out where he might be. Why? Has he shown up at the office? I'd looked for any kind of agreement with him after we picked up the office files, thinking I should probably let him know what happened, but there was nothing. No contract, no notes and I couldn't find the message slip I'd left for Martin to call him back."

I let her ramble on while the puzzle pieces slide home in my head. Along with the excitement over our having confirmation now, comes the realization that Kim holds a real threat for Hartnett. It's not just the files on the flash drive he's wanting to get rid of, it's Kim herself.

She's been witness to too much and it would appear she's the only one who can confirm his personal connection to Vedica. She's in even more danger than I thought.

K
im

I'm giddy.

I don't know if it was the conversation with Mal this afternoon or the two glasses of wine we had earlier, sitting at the bar by the pool, but I find myself putting a lot of effort into getting dolled up tonight. At Emma's insistence I pull out the black dress. She was thrilled to find I brought it with me and I have a suspicion she planned a fancy night out, simply so she could get me to wear it.

I feel fantastic, despite the fact the fabric is skimmed tight over my chest, the light flare of the skirt underneath seems to hide most of my flaws. I leave my hair down and spritz some of my favorite Light Blue by D&G in the air in front of me before walking through the mist. I almost convince myself it isn't because Mal mentioned 'my smell' on the pillow that I pull out the Light Blue.

"You look amazing!" Katie blurts out behind me and my eyes find hers in the mirror. "Holy shitballs, Mal would have a coronary if he could see you. Wait, let me take a picture." She runs out of the bathroom, leaving me in a state of panic. I don't do pictures, I hate them. Hate looking at myself in them. But before I can make up a decent excuse, Katie's back with her cellphone, snapping shot after shot from behind me.

"Uhhh, I'm sure you don't need pictures of my ass, do you?" I point out, to which she has a ready response.

"Ass, hair, and in the reflection in the mirror, your gorgeous face and tits. Man would I kill for a rack like that."

"A rack like what?" Emma's voice sounds from behind Katie, as she tries to peek over her shoulder.

"Check Kim out here. She's rockin' her LBD," Katie says, stepping aside to let Emma in.

"Amazing."

Emma's soft words and little smile fill me with warmth. Both her and Katie have dressed up too. Katie is wearing a wrap around dress with short sleeves and a full skirt, while Emma is looking positively Bohemian with her floral tunic over black leggings and the cutest little orange flats on her feet.

"Dresses and heels do not play well with my walker," she explains. "I gave those up a while ago. These days I aim for
interesting
rather than pretty.

"Well you're more than interesting—you look stunning. Both of you do." I smile at these women who have made me forget everything these last few days. Well, almost everything. After my escape from the hot tub that first night, any tension disappeared with the morning sun the next day. We've had a blast and I can't wait for Kerry to get here. She's set to arrive tomorrow, but tonight Emma has made reservations at Tao, an Asian restaurant and club at the Venetian. She wants the full experience there including taking a gondola ride. Yesterday was a quick look through Caesar's Palace, then we hit the Bellagio with the gorgeous Murano glass ceilings in the lobby, and we ended up outside on the pathway along the manmade lake where we stood for an hour and a half and watched the fountain show three times. Emma is like a kid at Disney and it's fun to experience Vegas through her eyes. Much has changed over the past twelve years, but the anything-and-everything-is-possible atmosphere is as strong as ever. Some time ago I had thought that would be true of Vegas for me.

Looking at my lonely Kindle staying behind on the kitchen counter, I pull the door shut behind us and follow the girls for a night on the town. With a line up of taxis already waiting by the front lobby, it takes us all of five minutes to get dropped off at the Venetian. The sound of slot machines is almost deafening, even just in passing on our way to the elevators that will take us to the second floor where Tao is located. Emma is in front and after she tells the hostess we have a reservation, we are immediately led to a reasonably quiet booth.

"Your server will be right with you," the friendly tattooed girl with a pink and auburn pixie haircut says as she hands out menus.

I'm engrossed in the food on offer, mentally calculating calories as I skim the ingredients, when someone approaches the table and starts speaking. A voice I recognize, even after all these years.

"Hi, my name is Mia and I'll be your server tonight. Can I get you ladies started with a drink?"

I freeze instantly, my mind trying to grasp the fact that fate is cruel enough to place her in my path. What are the odds? Last thing I knew she was working at the Bellagio. If anything we could've bumped into her there. I certainly would've been less surprised. Even kept half an eye out. Finally I look up and as I watch her, Mia smiles around the table before her eyes snap back to me and get big. For a second, all I think is how fast I can get out of here, but then I watch her face change from surprise to guilt before shutting down completely.

"I'll have a white wine, please," I manage, pretending to be cool as a cucumber, but shaking inside—not wanting to spoil the night with a scene.

"I...uhh...sweet or dry?" she stammers and I find myself getting a small amount of satisfaction from the fact my presence is rankling her.

I smile and ask for dry before diving right back into my menu as the others place their drink orders. This may be one of those unique times where I have an opportunity to kill with kindness. It's not usually my way to face a possible uncomfortable situation head on, but the last few days with these women have been so much fun, I don't want a blast from the past spoiling our fun nights. I convince myself it has nothing to do with the fact that I happily partook in a little pre-drinking at the condo before we left.

"Who was that? Do you know her?" Katie hisses at me across the table as Mia walks away with our drink orders.

My response is to snort. "You can say I know her well. Well enough to tell you her boobs are fake and she wears the same size shoe I do." The confusion on their faces is priceless and I burst out laughing. "Mia once professed herself my best friend. Of course I believed her until I found my boyfriend banging her on his couch on my birthday. The birthday she had earlier insisted on wanting to celebrate with me. I didn't stick around long enough to find out whether she'd always intended on Peter to be a part of the celebration, but I didn't really care to find out at the time."

"Ohhh, this is gonna be interesting, seeing karma in action," Katie says with a pleased little smile, but Emma still seems to be in shock.

"She did what? Oh hell no. When she comes back I'll tell her exactly—" She's virtually steaming from the ears before Katie cuts her off.

"I'm thinking Kim's got this one, Emma. No violence needed."

By the time Mia comes back with our drinks, her mask is back in place and she continues to pretend she doesn't know me. I let her, smiling big when she sets my wineglass in front of me. "Thanks, Mia. I think we need a few more minutes with the menu, if you don't mind?"

Her lips draw in a straight line. "Of course," she forces through her tight smile and walks away.