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Jason was waiting for them in his black SUV when Nat and April arrived at the agency Tuesday morning. “You’re late,” he barked, a scowl on his handsome features.
“I don’t work for you,” April replied coldly, drawing the keys from her bag and stalking up the office steps to open the building. How dare he diss her for being late when neither she nor Nat answered to him? Despite the fact that she hated him at the moment, she also couldn’t give him any direct proof that she’d stolen the information from the coroner’s office either. That would be incriminating herself. But she would find out the truth, one way or the other. She just wished Nat didn’t trust him like he appeared to.
Once inside the building, she went straight to her office door and opened it. Realizing the men weren’t behind her, she turned back to see them at Bryan McMann’s door. Her eyes narrowed and she walked back down the hallway to join them. “What’s going on?” she asked.
Jason touched the glass in the door with the back of his hand. “This glass is cold to the touch.”
“It’s July and the air conditioning is on,” she retorted sarcastically, ignoring the warning glint in Nat’s eyes.
“This man hasn’t been in for three days. Very unusual behavior for someone who practically lives out of his office and has no family.”
“You seem to know a lot about him,” April mocked suspiciously.
Jason turned his gaze on her. “It’s my business to know a lot about him,” he stated quietly. “I need you to call the police and ask for a check welfare on Mr. McMann. Tell them you are worried because this is the 4th day he hasn’t shown up in his office and that’s very unlike him.”
April’s hair rose on the back of her neck. “Are you saying what I think you are?” she asked, her breath quickening at the implications swirling in her mind.
“We’ll discuss that later. In the meantime, you are the building owner, and you can allow the police inside this office. Please make that call.”
She held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. Taking out her cell phone she dialed the local police department. “They’ll be here in about ten minutes,” she said after making the request. She dropped her phone in her pocket. “I’ll go find the door key.”
A queasy feeling was invading her stomach. As she passed Ray’s office, she noticed his lights were off, so that meant he wasn’t here either. What was going on? Had Ray killed Bryan? No, of course not, she mocked herself. Ray hasn’t killed anyone. There has to be another explanation for why he wrote that note.
Inside the office, she fished around in the filing cabinet behind her old desk for the spare set of building keys that was kept there. It was creepy the way the men just stared at her without saying a word, and it made her feel even more on edge. She dropped the keyring on the flat surface of her desk and then went into her dad’s office to make a pot of coffee. The stronger the better.
“When was the last time you swept this office for bugs?” asked a disembodied voice behind her.
April gasped and turned to see Jason. Some detective she was, she hadn’t heard him coming at all. “Are you in your sock feet or something?” she sniped, glancing down at his black loafers just to check. Her heart rate had sped up considerably.
His grin split his lips to show even white teeth, making him seem younger and more carefree. “It’s a gift,” he drawled.
“One I didn’t appear to inherit,” she muttered. “Dad was like that too. And a few other men I know as well.”
Nat had seated himself on the edge of the desk and was watching them. “It’s probably hard to be sneaky in killer red heels,” he teased. “They definitely make noise.”
His eyes smoldered and April was suddenly glad she’d kept those heels in her bank deposit box. Nat seemed to have a thing for them. “Uh...I swept the office yesterday before I cleaned, and then again afterwards. I didn’t find anything.”
“Do you mind if I do it again?” Jason asked.
She glared at him. “Like...yeah, I mind. Do you think I’m going to give you the opportunity to plant a bug when you’re supposed to be looking for one?” she scoffed. “I’m not that dense.”
She was gratified when a dark red blush appeared at the base of his neck. He didn’t get angry though. He just bowed slightly like some regal king with that white slash on his head. He was no king though, not in the book of April. He was a liar and a fraud.
“Fine, then give your device to Nat if you trust him.” Jason turned and walked to the window to watch the street below. “I’ll just wait for him to finish.”
Feeling suddenly deflated, April took the slim chrome bug detector out of the desk drawer and handed it to Nat. The coffee was beginning to drop into the pot and starting to smell really good. She allowed the aroma to sooth her nerves when all she wanted to do was rant and rave at Jason Ambones with every thing she had in her. She wanted to scratch his eyes out, bash him in the nose with her good right hook, and...and...okay, she stopped short at shooting him, but it wasn’t like he didn’t deserve it. He was hiding something, and she was bound and determined to find out how it connected to her dad. She was deep in thought when Nat’s hand touched the back of her neck.
“That coffee smells good,” Nat murmured in her ear. His long fingers massaged the back of her neck and rubbed her tense shoulder muscles. “Try to relax, we’ll all talk soon.” He pointed at the coffee pot cheerfully dropping its load into the glass pot. “Can I get a cup of that?”
“Sure,” she muttered, taking another cup off the tree hook. “But I’m not pouring one for him.”
Nat chuckled. “Don’t worry, he can pour his own.”
“The police are here.”
They turned to see Jason striding towards the door. April grabbed the keyring and they met the two uniformed officers in the hallway. They looked fairly young to April, like rookies. Probably were, she reflected. Senior officer’s usually gave the grunt work to the younger ones. They were an interesting combination though. One was tall, with bright carrot hair, eager blue eyes and a quick smile. The other was about three inches shorter with a dark buzz cut and soulful brown eyes. He reminded her of a puppy with his slightly crooked smile.
“Are you April Hudson?” asked eager blue eyes.
“Yes, that’s me,” she replied holding up the keyring in front of the door. “This is the tenant I’m worried about,” she explained as she searched for the key on the ring. She waved her hand at Nat and Jason behind her. “These are my...umm...associates.”
Soulful puppy held out his hand. “May I? Perhaps you might want to wait out here until we are finished?” he asked solicitously. “We might find something that a young lady such as yourself wouldn’t want to see.”
April didn’t know whether to be charmed or annoyed. She glanced at the badge on his black uniform. “Uh...Officer Newton...I’m a detective myself so I’m quite aware of what you might find. But I do appreciate your thoughtfulness.” She flashed him a smile, unlocked the door, and threw it back.
The wave of cold, dead air hit them all in the face. It was quite obvious the seal on the door and the freezing temperature in the room had kept the odor of a dead man within its walls. Bryan McMann was slumped over his desk in a pool of congealed blood that had stopped dripping onto the floor a long time ago. Its insidious red streams had permeated files strewn across the floor. In some far corner of her mind, April noted that the office wasn’t as messy as Ray’s, but it still looked like someone had been searching for something.
She glanced at the officers. Officer Newton had gone white, his mouth wide open, the other one seemed in shock.
April couldn’t seem to move either at the sight of her first dead body in such a macabre fashion.
Jason stepped briskly forward, grabbed the door and closed it. He gently pushed April into Nat’s arms and then spoke to eager blue eyes. “You need to call your homicide captain and get a forensics team down here at once. Don’t go into the office until the professionals get here. You don’t want to destroy evidence.”
Both young men backed away from the door like they were escaping a rabid wolf. Eager blue eyes managed to get ahold of himself and radioed into his dispatcher to request backup on what appeared to be a homicide. They would also need a coroner.
“D-Don’t we need to call an ambulance?” asked Officer Newton, who finally found his voice. “Maybe he's still alive?” His puppy dog eyes gazed trustingly up at Jason, automatically looking to him for advice.
“You need to do whatever your commanding officer tells you to do,” Jason responded briskly. “But if you noted the way the blood congealed on the desk and floor, it’s doubtful he’s alive. He’s been missing for three days. Chances are he’s been dead all along, and the killer may have lowered the air conditioner to keep the body cooler. It would increase the chances of him not being found sooner,” he explained as matter of fact as possible.
“Yes, sir,” Officer Newton replied. Then as if his brain had finally started working, he took out a notebook and wrote down all their names and asked April a few questions. “I’m guessing the homicide team will have more questions when they get here. Will all of you be in Miss Hudson’s office?”
Jason nodded and they returned to April’s office where she headed straight for the coffee pot. Her hands were still trembling and her stomach incredibly queasy as the grisly image of Bryan McMann floated through her mind. Why would anyone want to kill him?
“You okay?” Nat asked, taking the coffeepot from her hands. “Why don’t you sit down for a minute.”
“I’m fine,” she snapped. She stalked to the fridge in the kitchenette and returned with some creamer which she added to the cup she had poured for herself. The she sank into the office chair and drank half of the soothing brew straight down. Once that was accomplished, she glared at Jason who was seated on the lumpy sofa with his coffee. He lifted one autocratic eyebrow at her. “You wanted to talk, so talk,” she flashed at him.
“Calm down, April,” Nat warned. He was seated in a hardback chair next to her. He tried to pick up her hand, but she flung him off.
He immediately stood up and lifted her up beneath her elbow and marched her into the kitchen area.
“Stop manhandling me,” she hissed through gritted teeth.
He backed her up to the cabinet and placed his arms on either side of her. His deep blue eyes bore into hers. “I get that you’re upset. I get that you don’t like Jason. I also get that finding a dead body is a shock to you, but you don’t get to be disrespectful. Neither Jason nor I are disrespecting you in spite of your temper and wild accusations. Now, are you going to calm down and listen to the man like the professional you say you are, or do I need to settle you down before we go back in there?”
April opened her mouth to lash out and then closed it again. She considered herself a professional, but instead she was acting like an out of control five-year-old determined to take her toy back from the bully. By settle her down she had to assume he meant toast her butt. That would be even more humiliating because her current arch enemy would hear every slap and cry.
“I hate that you’re right,” she finally admitted with a sigh of defeat, dropping her head to his chest. “This is all so...so crazy that it’s driving me insane.”
“Maybe Jason can provide us with some answers,” he replied, lifting her chin with a smile.
“Us.” Her eyes flashed. It was still her investigation.
“You’re damned right us,” he assured her boldly. “No way I’m letting you out of my sight now. Bryan’s death and that blasted note is way too close to you.”
She shivered in his arms. “I can’t believe Bryan is dead. Who would want to kill him?”
Nat’s arms closed around her protectively. “I don’t know, but we are going to find out.” He rubbed her back and drew her up hard against him.
April appreciated his warmth, not realizing just how cold she’d been. It had been a wicked shock, and she knew she wouldn’t forget that image.
Some things you can’t unsee.
The sight of Bryan McMann in his own blood pool would rate high in her memories of scenes she wished she could unsee.
She snuggled in and enjoyed the closeness of Nat’s strong body. He smelled of shower gel and male. Her hands slid beneath the black T-shirt and tickled across the touch of soft flesh covering hard muscles. She could feel his response growing against her abdomen. His breath and heartrate quickened beneath her cheek where it lay against his heart. In the presence of death, his living, warm body was an escape from the horror. “No,” she whined when he pulled her hands around in front of him and dropped a quick kiss on her lips.
“Let’s go find out what Jason has to say before I rip your clothes off,” he ordered hoarsely.
Taking a deep breath she nodded. “If we must.” Given a choice she’d prefer the latter, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.
They returned to the office where Jason was pouring himself another cup of coffee. He smiled knowingly and returned to the lumpy sofa.
Jason’s knowing smile actually helped to shift April’s nerves back to defensive mode.
Smug male superiority—humph!
She grabbed a piece of bubble gum from the stash inside her dad’s desk drawer. He’d liked bubble gum too—said it helped him think. Chewing furiously, she and Nat sat down and waited for Jason to begin. She crossed one leg over her other knee and began a steady rhythm of chewing gum and flipping her foot up and down to release the tension that was threatening to explode inside her.
***
NAT WAS ITCHING TO hear what Jason had to say. This was no game they were involved in. The rules of espionage were perfectly clear yet never hard and fast depending on who was making, breaking, or bending them. April was like a ticking time bomb and he couldn’t blame her. He would like some answers himself. Two dead detectives from the same office was no coincidence.
Jason cleared his throat. “First of all, Ray Wills is a noncom, and I told him to write that note last night.”
April leapt to her feet. “I knew it! I knew Ray wasn’t a killer.”
Her fingers scrabbled for the desk drawer and Nat sprang into action. Allowing a gun in April’s hand right now would not be the best idea. He slapped his hand over hers, his voice deadly. “Don’t even think it.”
“Will you just let me finish instead of constantly interrupting me,” Jason snapped.
“Get your hands off me,” April hissed to Nat.
“This is your last warning, April,” Nat ordered in her ear. “The next time you blow up, you will hear the rest of what he has to say draped over my lap in the most humiliating position possible.”
She stared up at him, the fury banked in her gorgeous eyes. He could tell the moment she finally believed he would make it happen and surrendered.
“Just get on with it,” she huffed, returning to her chair.
Nat sat on the edge of the desk just behind her so she couldn’t reach for her dad’s pistol again. He’d meant every word he said. He would put her over his lap and hold her down if he had to. Even smack her ass if she didn’t lay still. The girl had incredible skills but was untrained in taking knowledge in and giving nothing away. Her emotions were all over the place and she needed to be reigned in a few notches.
Jason stood up, his face dark. Nat could tell it was taking a lot for the man to reign in his own temper. “I’m just going to lay it out for you, young lady,” he snapped. “As you well know, your father didn’t drowned. When he retired all those years ago, he still worked with me on special cases that required his skills. Like a silent partner, if you will. The details are classified and you have no need to know in the grand scheme of things.” He paused and rubbed along the line of white hair.
Nat wondered if it pained him at times, or if was just a habit.
“Of course not,” April mocked.
Jason’s gaze swept back to April. “The truth is, there was no evidence to support that your father was murdered. Since he was retired from the FBI, I was able to take precedence over the local police force in the investigation. They wanted to label it a suicide. Plus, the agency would not have paid out the insurance claim on a suicide. Their rules are unbendable when it comes to that because of the high amount of the claim. I wanted you and Rebecca to have it. It’s nothing more nefarious than that.”
April gripped the arms of her chair. “He didn’t commit suicide,” she denied vehemently.
“No, I don’t believe he did either,” he replied tersely. “And I am looking into that. He was working on a case with me and if someone found out who he was and killed him, then I also want them to think they have gotten away with it and get careless.” He pointed his finger at April. “But you, young lady, are getting in my way with your attempts to hack into his files. It is bringing unwanted attention back to focus on Shatemuc. If there happened to be a mole in the FBI, then they would be curious as to why it was happening. I don’t want you to suddenly become a target if they find out you are investigating your father’s death as a murder.”
April was silent for the moment and Nat knew her mind was working it over.
“Is that why you had Ray put that note on my car?” she suddenly jeered. “To scare me off?”
“The thought did cross my mind,” Jason admitted, his eyes narrowing. “But I can see you’re just like your father, you can never let it go when you’re focused on something. Obviously, that was an error on my part.”
April stiffened. “Obviously,” she mocked. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I stop searching for the truth.”
Nat could feel the hitch in her breath when he touched her shoulder. He was learning to read his little mess and knew beneath her badass exterior, she was tender, soft and in need of comfort for this unacceptable loss in her life. He noticed her fingering the small key on the chain that rested between her breasts. She’d done it before when she was agitated and feeling vulnerable.
Jason nodded. “Yes, Ray told me you wouldn’t go for it, but you are very important to your mother and I don’t want you getting hurt, so it was worth a try. You haven’t told her what you’ve been up to, have you?” His lips thinned and his keen gaze dared her to refute him.
April flushed. “Of course I haven’t told her. I want to protect her as much as possible.”
Jason’s eyes softened. “In that we are in agreement.”
Nat was startled. Did Jason have a thing for Rebecca Hudson? He wondered if April had noticed?
Jason cleared his throat. “Have you actually found any leads?”
“Have you?” April countered.
He glared at her for a few minutes, then grunted. “No, I have to admit we’ve come up empty. Every lead I think might have meaning turns into a dead end. Something is off and I just can’t figure out what it is.” He stood up and paced the floor. “Shatemuc never gave me any indication that he was in danger with our current case. Usually he has an instinct for these things and knows in advance when something is coming down,” he muttered quietly. “It’s just all off.”
“I know what you mean,” April admitted, her brow creased in a delicate frown. “I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure out if Dad left me a clue. His mantra was never hide anything where you live, and when you can, hide it in plain sight. Or use a safety deposit box or locker.”
“Have you been through all his old files?”
“All the important ones,” she fired back.
Jason stopped pacing. “All files are important, no matter how insignificant they might seem. You’ll need to do that.”
April huffed and turned around to glower at Nat. He held his hands up in self-defense. “He’s right, you should have already done that.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t have Ray come in and do it while I was gone,” April retorted sarcastically. “After all, he’s his informant, he could have easily done it.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed. “Contrary to what you may believe, we do follow the law, young lady. Without a warrant, we didn’t have probable cause to search this office.”
“Yeah, right.”
“April,” Nat warned.
“Was he on a local case at the time of his death?” Jason barked, driving the question at her.
“No, we were between cases,” she admitted with another huff. “I checked his laptop but the only thing on it were headline cases he’d bookmarked. That was normal though. Dad was always interested in weird cases and sometimes practiced his “art” as he called it,” she stressed delicately, “by looking into them.”
“Were there any that he was particularly interested in?” Nat perked up. He returned to his chair so he could see her face. Hopefully, she wasn’t going to go after her dad’s gun again since she’d calmed down—somewhat.
“Actually there were a couple of cases he thought might be related. One was in Florida and one was in New Orleans. Two women who had died in similar circumstances. They’d been attending a party on a yacht and ended up drowning. Each time there was no evidence to suspect the husband had anything to do with it.” April picked up her cup of coffee. “What would that have to do with my dad though?”
“Just like the woman in your red zone case, April. What was that couple’s name?” Nat snapped his fingers. “Denton. James Denton and his wife.”
April’s face brightened. “Yes, of course, you’re right. Maybe that’s why he was interested, because of the similarities. But James Denton died a year after his wife, so that’s a total dead end.”
“You sure about that?” Nat asked, his eyes gleaming.