CHAPTER TWO

 

A shiver touched Michaela’s spine as she stretched lazily. The sensational kisses showering her back made her want to snuggle in bed forever.

“Quest,” she felt his fingers becoming a more pertinent part of the scene. She pressed her face into one of the pillows littering the headboard and began to grind her hips in sync with his thrusting fingers.

A second later, he was turning her to her back and they were kissing madly. Soft moans filled the darkened space of the spacious bi-level bedroom. Mick arched into her husband’s sleek, chiseled frame, her nails grazing his neck where his soft hair tapered.

The tiny, yet noticeable ring from the phone on the nightstand chilled the moment. They groaned simultaneously, but the passionate kissing continued.

“Leave it,” Quest growled into her mouth when she made a reach for the phone.

Mick was happy to comply and snuggled back into the erotic embrace. Quest broke the kiss to trail his lips down the line of her neck and lower still to the swell of ample cleavage.

“Good morning Michaela, this is Johnelle Black returning your call…”

The sound of the voice rising from the answering machine had Mick’s undivided attention. Wrenching away from Quest, she snatched the phone off its hook, before Johnelle could finish her message.

“Good morning!” Mick greeted breathlessly, slapping at her husband’s groping hands.

“Michaela? I know it’s early. Is this a bad time?”

“No Johnelle,” Mick paused to slap at Quest’s hands again before flashing him a warning look, “no this is a great time. Thanks for getting back to me so fast.”

“Well it sounded urgent,” Johnelle noted, a slight twinge of uneasiness colored her words. “Have you had a break in the case?”

Mick winced, pushing herself up in bed. She should have been clearer in her message. The last thing she wanted was for Johnelle to get her hopes up unnecessarily.

“Not exactly, Johnelle. I mean, there could be something. What I really need is the other diary. The one you said Sera may’ve written. The one you said might be missing,” Mick explained.

Johnelle sighed. “I could be mistaken about that. I really never had solid proof that another existed, but from reading the one I did have-”

“You have a strong suspicion there may be another one,” Mick finished. “Johnelle it’s important that we try and find it.”

Johnelle uttered a shuddery sigh on the other end of the line. “I have to tell you that’s not something I’m looking forward to going through. Sera’s things…it just makes me miss her even more.”

“I understand,” Mick whispered, pressing her lips together and fearing to say more lest she be responsible for making the woman break down in tears. “I can’t even begin to imagine what it really feels like to go through something like this. Take your time on deciding and think about what it could mean if we do find the other diary.”

“You’re right,” Johnelle replied, drawing a deep breath and releasing it in a refreshing sigh. “I can’t stop searching now. We’ve uncovered too much.”

Mick’s amber eyes sparkled with emotion for the woman’s strength. “I still want you to take your time with this,” she cautioned.

“I know, I know,” Johnelle promised, her voice sounding firmer. “But if there is another diary, I’ll find it. I mean that.”

“I’ll let you go then,” Mick leaned close to the nightstand.

“Alright and thank you Michaela.”

Setting the phone back to its cradle, Mick stared at it for a while. A weary smile touched her mouth though when she heard Quest clearing his throat. “I’ve already heard your upcoming lecture from County,” she said, flashing him a knowing glance across her shoulder.

“And it obviously did no good.”

“Quest-”

“I’m not going to ask you to stop trying to solve this thing,” he promised, folding his arms across his bare chest as he leaned back against the pillows, “I just don’t want you so obsessed with it that you forget about everything else.”

Mick’s smile softened then. She took in the stubborn set to his gorgeous profile before snuggling closer to tease his earlobe with a brush from her lips. “Baby are you trying to say that you think I’ll forget about you?”

Quest rolled his eyes. “You could never forget about me.”

“Oooo, confidence,” she laughingly replied. “I like it,” she murmured against his cheek.

“Hmph.”

Leaning away, Mick decided to try a different approach. “Honey I know how you feel about this, but it’s so important that I find more answers for Johnelle, yes. But, especially for Quay. He needs this and I’m really concerned for him.”

Quest shook his head. “Yeah, I’m concerned too. I thought if he at least knew who might be responsible for this it’d be something of a comfort.”

Mick grimaced. “Not when that person is running loose and preventing you from going after the woman you love.”

“Tykira.” Quest guessed.

“Tykira,” Mick confirmed.

“You know, everybody except Quay wants her on this project for the rail. I’m calling her as soon as I get to the office.”

Mick propped her chin on her husband’s shoulder. “You think this’ll work?”

Quest’s heavy brows rose momentarily in a gesture of uncertainty. “My brother won’t be too happy, that’s for damn sure.”

“But you’re hoping he’ll be too mesmerized by Tykira to argue?”

“It’s happened before,” Quest shared, his gray eyes narrowing murderously.

“Mmm,” Mick rested back into the crisp, sandalwood linens, “but that was before he felt her life was in danger.”

“I have to try,” Quest whispered, his hand flexing into a fist. “I want him happy. He’s been like a zombie since he saw her at our wedding reception,” he turned when he felt his wife’s nails grazing his spine. “Besides, it’s because of him that I have you,” he murmured against her lips when he’d settled next to her again.

The conversation silenced and the moment segued into a sweetly erotic interlude…

***

A group of five men sat stonefaced and silent while they stared at the woman at the head of the table. Their handsome faces were rarely void of grins or full blown smiles. As usual, however, their boss had succeeded in catching them off guard.

Tykira kept a calm smile on her face as she sought to judge the reactions from her crew chiefs. Their expressions gave away nothing. Well- that wasn’t exactly true. Ty could clearly see that they weren’t a happy bunch. Folding her arms across the front of her V-neck tanned sweater, she waited. Not known for her patience, she cracked a second later.

“Will you guys please say something?!” She demanded.

“You’re kidding, right?” Frank Royers finally spoke up.

“She better be,” Morton Garner added, his blue eyes snapping with frustration.

“You’re just a little tired,” Samuel Bloch added.

“Tired or going crazy,” Kenny Sutton teased.

Gary Charles ran a hand through his curly blonde hair. “We haven’t taken a break in five years,” he argued.

“That’s why this is the perfect time,” Ty pointed out, her brown eyes sparkling with encouragement. “We’ve been working non-stop and that’s not healthy.”

“Making money is always healthy, Ty,” Kenny challenged.

“What’s really going on here, Ty?” Morton asked, his green eyes narrowing as he studied her closely.

Finally, Ty let her façade drop. She stared down at her hands and began to fiddle with the thumb ring she always wore, “I guess I’m bored,” she admitted at last, peeking beneath the heavy fringe of her lashes to see her crew frowning out of sheer confusion. “Yes, we’ve made a great name for ourselves, but now I’m ready for a real challenge. Frankly, I think I’ll scream if another choo-choo to go ‘round somebody’s house comes our way,” she complained, her low voice still resounding in the room.

The guys exchanged closed looks. “I think you’re oversimplifying what we do, love,” Samuel chastised quietly.

“I’ll say,” Gary agreed, “our projects range Ty, you know that.”

Closing her eyes, Ty relaxed against the black leather chair she occupied. “I know,” she conceded, rubbing her arms through the over-long sleeves of her mohair sweater. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she added in a weary voice.

“Maybe Sam’s right,” Frank was saying, “maybe you are tired. All this on the go work, travelling, up all night, maybe it’s starting to wear you down.”

“Yeah Ty, maybe you should take a week or three off. Go home, visit your mom, get some rest,” Kenny suggested.

Tykira leaned back in her chair and considered the suggestion. It would be nice to get away and her mother would be quite surprised to see her prodigal daughter arriving home out of the blue. But then, those unwanted warnings of seeing Quaysar Ramsey and anything associated with him resurfaced and she began to silently talk herself out of it.

“Ty?” Morton called. “What do you say?” he prompted.

After another few seconds of silence, Ty graced the men with her most dazzling smile.

“Yeah Jason?” Sam called when the phone buzzed amidst their laughter.

“Hey guys,” the intern greeted, “Ty, I got a Quest Ramsey on the phone for you.”

Her laughter vanishing, Ty’s heart jumped to her throat. Calls from Seattle from anyone besides her mother were about as common as a warm winter in Denver. Immediately, she feared there might be a problem with Bobbie. She was berating herself for not visiting more when she picked up the phone.

“Quest?”

“Hey girl, what’s goin’ on out there?”

“Is my mother alright?”

Quest hesitated on his end of the line. “Yeah…why wouldn’t she be?”

“Dammit, don’t scare me like that,” she hissed, glancing back to see her crew involved in another conversation. “I already feel guilty enough for not seeing her more.”

“Honey I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Quest said, though laughter still colored his voice. “Maybe we can do something about your not visiting. I have a proposition for you.”

Curious then, Ty perched on the edge of the small desk in the conference room. “Continue,” she urged.

Quest chuckled. “Afraid I can’t. To find out what it is, I’ll need you in Seattle before the end of the week.”

Shaking her head, Tykira fiddled with a bouncing curl from her ponytail and turned to fix her crew chiefs with a wide grin. “I think that could be arranged,” she told Quest.

***

“Are you getting anywhere with this stuff?” Quay eyed the monitor of Michaela’s laptop with decided skepticism.

“Wake Robinson is a very educated man,” Mick reminded her brother-in-law, her eyes focused as she scrolled the screen. “I never know when an idle search might pay off. It’s been close to three years, maybe he’s snagged a high level position somewhere. It never hurts to check,” she advised.

“I guess it’s a good idea when you put it like that,” Quay leaned back in the chair he’d pulled behind the desk where Mick was working. “I never realized Wake was so resourceful- making his way through college with no help from family.”

“Hmph, it can be done. Trust me,” Mick confirmed, a rueful smile curving her mouth. “If you are resourceful, you can slip under the grid by using cash and disposable cell phones.”

“I know,” Quay said, understanding that his sister-in-law may have done the same and probably had a rougher time of it. Leaning forward, he squeezed her knee. “I’m surprised you never thought to check the net for business ties before,” he said after a while.

“Actually I have,” Mick confided, with a quick toss of her unruly curls.

Quay slanted a narrow dark glance her way. “What’s that tone about?”

“I’ve been at this for weeks. It’s almost become a daily ritual for me. A ritual that produces no results,” she groaned.

Quay’s handsome features were a picture of concern. “Mick I want you to let go of this.”

“What?” she whirled around to face him.

“I don’t want you to keep wasting your time on a dead end case,” he pointed his index finger towards the laptop.

“Quay-”

“I mean it. Hell, you’ve already discovered more in less than a year than it’s taken a league of detectives.”

Mick inched closer to him. “That’s because I really want the truth.”

Quay’s dark eyes narrowed with suspicion. “You think they didn’t?” he asked.

“I think it could’ve been a show to make people think the Ramseys were after the truth. A pretense,” Mick suggested.

Quay leaned back in his chair not bothering to hide his grim expression. A pretense. Yeah, he knew all about pretenses.

“I’m dedicated to you and Johnelle,” Mick told him, inching closer still to rest her hand on his forearm. “The truth is out there and I’m like a dog with a bone.”

Quay grinned, his right dimple flashing adorably. “Wake better watch it.”

“Damn right,” Mick confirmed, “especially once Johnelle finds that diary.”

Quay blinked. “What diary?”

“That’s right,” she sighed realizing she’d never told him. “In reading Sera’s other diary which was quite short because of her murder, there was no mention of the man she was interested in by name, Johnelle is under the impression that the diary was just a continuation and that there’s an earlier one out there somewhere.”

Quay scanned the spacious second corner office his twin had constructed onto his home. “You think it could shed more light.”

Mick shrugged, her amber gaze as pensive as Quay’s. “Did Wake ever say he liked Sera or wanted to get to know her?”

Quay knocked his fist against his knee and reminisced. “If he did, he didn’t tell me ad he told me everything or so I thought.”

Mick massaged his shoulder, a knowing smile tugging at her mouth. She understood his unease. “Honey do you think he could’ve been responsible for the situations with the other girls?” she asked in the tiniest voice.

Quay shook his head, but he was one hundred percent sure of it. “It’d make perfect sense. You know, after this all came out I started recalling things I never paid any attention to before. Ways he behaved, he’d disappear for days and no one heard from him. I knew he and his mom had it rough but he never wanted any help. Then he up and disappears when he realizes you’re onto him.” Quay looked at Mick and shrugged again. “What other explanation could there be?”

“Well I’m determined to find out,” Mick declared leaning in to tap her finger to the end of Quay’s nose. “We gotta do something to bring the dazzle back to this handsome face,” she teased, hoping to make him smile. It didn’t work. “Hey, why don’t you come out and have dinner with me and Quest tonight. How does Marone’s sound?”

Quay rolled his eyes and grimaced. “I don’t know Mick,” he tried to decline.

“Aw come on, it’ll be fun. The three of us haven’t been out in a long time. Please?” She cooed, pouring the begging on extra thick. “Please?” she blinked her long lashes in rapid succession that time.

“Enough,” Quay ordered with a wave of his hand. “I may be late for dinner, but I’ll definitely be there for dessert.”

“Yaay!” Mick sounded every bit the little girl given the green light to play in her mother’s make-up. She threw her arms around Quay’s neck and kissed his cheek. “Eight o’clock, Marone’s,” she told him.

“Mmm hmm,” Quay tousled Mick’s curls before he stood and left the room.

***

 

Tykira laughed when she stepped off the elevator and into Quest Ramsey’s waiting embrace. When he pulled away, he uttered a light whistle.

“You know if I weren’t a married man, I’d-”

“Still treat me like I’m your little sister,” Ty finished for him, joining Quest in laughter as they hugged again.

Another whistle sounded in the gorgeous penthouse office, this time from Ty. “Wow,” she blurted, her doe-shaped eyes growing impossibly wide as she studied the exquisite décor and overtly masculine aura of the dwelling. “Mommie always told me this place was somethin’ to see,” she shared while easing her hands into the side pockets of her wine-colored pleated hem skirt. “I see business is treating you very well,” she complimented with a saucy glance across her shoulder.

Quest threw his hands in the air. “We do alright,” he intentionally tried to downplay his pride.

Ty caught on. “I’ll say. Mister Fortune Five-Hundred.”

“And you’re right there beside me. Miss- Only Been In Business Five Years,” he challenged.

“Thanks. We do alright,” Ty repeated his earlier words with a graceful tip of her head.

Quest waved his hands in the direction of the inner office. “That’s why I called you out here,” he told her.

Ty folded her arms across the chic, short-waist blazer she sported. “Ah yes, the proposal,” she sighed, taking a seat in one of the deep arm chairs before the desk. The easy expression that lightened her lovely features, faded slowly as she cast several nervous glances around the soft-lit room. “Are we alone?” she asked.

“Quay isn’t here,” Quest assured.

“But he is still with the company?”

“He is.”

“And I assume your proposal is business related.”

“It is.”

“And how does he feel about that?”

Quest lowered his gray stare to the pine desk. “I believe you can guess.”

Ty fiddled with the lone curl that dangled outside the high chignon she wore. “Unfortunately I can,” she replied.

“Honey even my foolish brother can’t deny you’d be perfect for this.”

“And what exactly is this?” Ty crossed her long legs as she became wholly focused on her reason for being there.

“Ramsey was commissioned by a group out of Canada for a ski resort in Banff. A state of the art castle sitting on a mountain was what they wanted,” Quest explained.

Ty’s dark face brightened with humor. “And I thought I had some outrageous requests.”

“It gets more outrageous,” Quest promised, tugging on the cuff of his gray checked shirt, “they want a private rail service to shuttle guests from Calgary to the resort.”

Tykira uttered the third whistle of the morning.

“Yeah,” Quest acknowledged.

“People work for decades and never get a chance to work on something like this,” she testified. “It is impressive Quest.”

“But?” he sensed her hesitation.

“But, the last thing I want to do is bring tension here,” she fiddled with the sleeves of her blazer as she stood. “Quay is a very important part of this business and if he isn’t on board-”

“Hold it,” Quest commanded, raising his hand as though he were about to ask a question. “Follow me,” he stood behind his desk and lead the way into the display room on the other side of the office.

Inside the room of maps and boxed models of Ramsey projects, the Banff creation sat in the midst. It was indeed a breathtaking creation and was complete with a replica of the desired rail chugging its way around the mountainside.

“Damn you,” Ty muttered to Quest. She was thoroughly mesmerized by the sight. Without a doubt, the real thing would be an even more magnificent accomplishment. The opportunity to take on this assignment was one in a million. Seeing the project this way had truly sealed her fate.

“Is that a yes?” Quest asked when he heard her groan.

“When do we start?” she turned to shake hands before they shared another hug.

~~~

 

Tykira trailed her fingers along the upturned collar of her blazer as the elevator from the penthouse office made its descent. She was already at work envisioning possible designs in her mind. True, Tyke Designs had undertaken some major projects. Still, she knew they were all preparations for this one. Of course, this particular undertaking would catapult her business to a level of which she hadn’t even dreamed of. Life was good, she thought. Business was great. Now, her only question was what to do about the dark cloud that looked above it all?

As if on cue, the elevator doors slid open and said ‘dark cloud’ stood before her eyes.

“Quay,” she breathed, silently cursing herself for the sultry needy overtone clinging to her voice.

Uttering not a word, Quay stepped forward; smoothly urging her back into the car. “Did you accept Q’s proposal?” he asked, once the doors had closed behind him.

“I did,” she winced when she noticed a smirk tilt the corner of his mouth. A sensuous pleasure providing mouth- Ty… she warned herself and cleared her throat as though that would help her to gather her wits. “It’s a great opportunity,” she managed to say but found it impossible to maintain eye contact when he stood so close.

“Are you sure you can handle it?” he pretended to be concerned with something on the lapel of his hand-tailored black corduroy sport coat.

Ty’s lashes fluttered, she was so peeved. “Would you be asking me that if I were a man?”

Suddenly, Quay brought his sinful onyx stare to her face. “If you were a man who’d never done anything like this before-yes.”

“Bull.”

Quay’s smirk deepened.

Tykira took a step closer, dismissing the way his deep set eyes appraised the scooped neckline of her blazer. “I’ll admit my team has never designed a train to go up a Canadian mountainside before, but we’ve taken on some pretty major assignments. I’m sure you know that.”

Quay was solely focused on Ty, but he didn’t hear a word she said. He was, however, focused on how good she smelled, how beautiful her face and body were… he could scarcely take his mind off what it’d feel like to have her long legs locked around his back as he pressed her against the elevator car and-

“Quay?” Ty called, her heart doing fanatical somersaults inside her chest. The intensity of his look was too intoxicating and she would’ve given anything to know what he was thinking.

Breaking his stare, Quay ground his teeth and fixed on the short carpeting covering the floor of the car. “Good luck,” he whispered and then moved to press a button which re-opened the doors.

Ty tried to utter a response, but the potency of the moment had robbed her of her voice. Taking great care not to brush against any, hard, powerful part of his body, she gingerly eased out of the elevator.

She was in her car before she realized she’d been holding her breath.