Bennett (Bourbon & Blood #1) (12 page)

Mia felt the tears threatening again. Rather than give into them, she focused on something else altogether.
“
You
’
re not keeping this shirt. It
’
s mine.
”

“
It was mine first,
”
Bennett replied evenly, though she could hear the smile in his voice.

“
I had it for longer,
”
she protested.

“
We can fight about this all night, or
…”

“
Or what?
”
she asked.

“
You could persuade me.
”

Mia sat up and looked at him, taking in the wicked gleam in his eyes and the grin on his face. This, she thought, was the flirting, laughing boy she remembered.
“
And how exactly am I supposed to do that?
”

“
I have a few ideas
…
but you
’
re still wearing too many clothes for most of them,” he paused. “For all of them, really. Honestly, naked is kind of the starting point.
”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Bennett was working on another one of Savannah
’
s crazy ideas in the smaller and much more cluttered work room at the back of Revision. Take this old and utterly worthless piece of barn wood, wire it for electric and add Edison bulbs, she
’
d said. He
’
d thought it would be the ugliest damn thing in creation, but now that it was done in the weird zigzag pattern she
’
d mapped out, it was kind of growing on him. He
’
d swallow his own tongue before he
’
d ever admit that to her.

The heavy, reclaimed barn door slid open with a scrape as it moved along the track. Savannah walked in, Matt Crawford on her heels. Matt wore a frown and stared at the overly exaggerated movement of Savannah
’
s sashaying backside more intently than Bennett was comfortable with. Savannah had her own life, he knew that. But for his own peace of mind, he stayed as blissfully ignorant of it as possible.

“
It
’
s our very own little boy blue,
”
she said, being her usual smartass self.

Matt glowered at her.
“
Your mother should have spanked you more often.
”

She looked back at him, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder in a way that was clearly, and deliberately, provocative and had Matt stepping back like he
’
d been sucker punched. Bennett wanted to choke her.

“
I prefer to get my spankings from other sources these days. You
’
re welcome to apply for the position,
”
she said.

“
I
’
m your brother,
”
Bennett said.
“
And I
’
m right here. In this room. Needing a massive amount of mind bleach. Fucking hell.
”

Savanna just rolled her eyes and left, calling out,
“
Don
’
t faint. You
’
re not wearing enough petticoats to cushion your fall!
”

Matt was still shaking his head like a fighter who
’
d took one too many punches. When he finally looked up, he stared straight at Bennett in horror.
“
When did that happen? When the fuck did that happen?
”

“
What?
”
Bennett asked, moving the now finished piece to the one of the other work tables. Savannah would come in and determine what to price it at and his mind would boggle at the fact that an hour
’
s worth of work and a bunch of junk could fetch four figures.

“
That! That succubus who just walked out of here is not your baby sister.
”

“
She is my younger sister. I don
’
t know that Savannah was ever a baby,
”
Bennett replied.

“
But pigtails, freckles and Hello Kitty backpacks do not turn into
that!
”

Bennett turned back to him with a raised eyebrow.
“
I
’
m starting to be a little concerned about how much you paid attention to her then
…
even more by how much attention you
’
re paying to her now.
”

Matt raised his hands.
“
Look, you know and I know, that I would never violate the code. Sisters and exes are always off limits. But,
damn
, you could have warned me!
”

Folding his arms over his chest, a better option than assaulting a police officer even if said police officer was an old friend, Bennett asked,
“
Is there some reason for this visit or did you just show up to make me uncomfortably aware of the fact that my friends routinely check out my little sister?
”

“
Fine. You
’
re right. I am here for a reason
…
I didn
’
t find anything on Erica McCoy.
”

Bennett nodded, but he knew there was more to it than that.
“
You would have called if that was all you found.
”

Matt pulled his phone from his pocket and rolled his thumb across the screen before handing it to him. Bennett looked at the picture of Erica standing arm in arm with another pretty blonde, similar in age. It was the Derby apparently, or possibly the Oaks, judging by the size of the hats they wore. It was the background that caught his eye though. They were leaning against a large, black SUV and in the corner was what appeared to be the edge of a deer guard.

“
Who is she?
”

“
I don
’
t know. Yet. All I could get from the post was a first name. I
’
m cross referencing it with vehicle registrations that match the one in the picture, but there
’
s more holes in this than a sieve.
”

Bennett rocked back on his heels, considering the options.
“
Lay it on me. What exactly what are we looking at?
”

Matt shrugged.
“
The car may not be hers. The car in the pic may not even be connected. Erica may not be connected
…
and, there may not even really be anything to be connected to. Still, I trust Mia. I trust you. And my gut says there is something up with all this. Too many loose ends that all point in the same general direction.
”

Bennett looked at the picture again.
“
She looks familiar, but damned if I can figure out from where.
”

Matt nodded.
“
I thought the same thing. She is Samuel Darcy
’
s type. Maybe he
’
s cheating on his mistresses now.
”

“
How in the hell any man could think having more than one complicated, demanding woman in his life at a time is a good idea is a goddamn mystery,
”
Bennett said.

Matt pointed at him.
“
She
’
s tied your dick in a knot again.
”

“
Hell, she never untied it the first time,
”
Bennet admitted gruffly.

Matt went back to the picture.
“
Pretty blondes are a weakness for two of the Darcy men in particular
…
but then there
’
s Clayton. The odd one out. In the middle of a divorce in a small town and no one knows why? You and I both know there’s dirt there.”

“
Irreconcilable differences.
”

Matt glanced at him.
“
Reading the gossip columns?
”

“
Having dinner with my mother,
”
Bennett corrected.
“
Every Sunday like clockwork.
”

“
Does she still make that pot roast? And the homemade mashed potatoes?
”
Matt asked.

“
Yes. But if you come to dinner, Savannah will be there.
”

“
Never mind
…
. You know, maybe we
’
re going at this wrong,
”
Matt said.

“
Dinner?
”
Bennet asked, then realized immediately that Matt had switched topics on him.
“
Dude, not all of us have ADD. You need a better lead-in.
”

Matt rolled his eyes.
“
Maybe Mia isn
’
t really the target. Maybe someone sees her as the instrument of revenge.
”

“
That
’
s a little Machiavellian, isn
’
t it?
”
Bennett scoffed.

“
Look at you with the big words! Happens all the time. And Samuel Darcy has pissed a lot of people off
…
He plays the game. Politicians love him, high society eats up his act, but we all know what a bastard he is.
”

“
So what
’
s next then? Assuming that Mia isn
’
t the prime target, just the expedient one.
”

“
You really did get a word of the day calendar, didn
’
t you?
”
Matt said and then laughed at his own joke. Growing serious again, he continued,
“
I
’
ll see if I can
’
t get a last name. And I
’
ll see if I can
’
t scour the social media accounts and gossip columns related the Darcy men and figure out which one is connected to our mystery woman.
”

“
My money
’
s on Samuel,
”
Bennett added.
“
Quentin doesn
’
t like to shit where he eats and Clayton is all business, but I could be wrong.
”

“
You
’
re not exactly objective about this topic,
”
Matt pointed out.

Bennett nodded.
“
I hate that fucker. I
’
d never do anything to make it happen, but I swear to God, I
’
ll laugh all the way to the cemetery just to piss on his grave.
”

“
That
’
s still illegal. Not as illegal as say, terroristic threats
…
unless there are kids present. But that
’
s a whole different kind of crime and involves major address restrictions for the rest of your life.
”

Bennett chuckled in spite of himself.
“
You are an asshole.
”

“
Yep. I hear that a lot. The thing of it is, he
’
s been keeping Mia a prisoner in that house, taking care of her mother for the last ten years. If he
’
d do that to his own daughter, what the hell do you think he
’
d do to someone else
’
s? There are more people with reasons to hate him than not.
”

“
That
’
s the damn truth.
”

Matt headed for the door.
“
I
’
m going to work this angle for a bit. See who Samuel Darcy has pissed off and if there
’
s any connection to this woman, once I get an ID.
”

“
Send that pic to my phone. I
’
ll show it to Mia and see if it rings any bells.
”

“
Be careful with all this. People do fucked up shit when they
’
re desperate.
”

There was something in Matt
’
s tone that alerted Bennett to the fact that he hadn
’
t just come to talk shit or even share info. He
’
d been running away from whatever the hell he
’
d seen that day.
“
I don
’
t ever want your job. How the hell do you think about this shit and sleep at night?
”

“
Bourbon helps,
”
Matt offered.
“
You can buy me a bottle and we
’
ll call it even. One big enough to fucking swim in
…
but make it the good shit, since you
’
ve got an in at Fire Creek and all.
”

“
Keep me posted, will you? I don
’
t like not having a bead on this.
”

Matt offered a salute.
“
I
’
m sneaking out the back. Your sister might demand my virtue as payment if I go through the front.
”

Bennett laughed at that.
“
We build a lot of shit here, but time machines aren
’
t one of
‘
em.
”

After Matt left, Bennett continued cleaning up the workshop. There were other projects that needed his attention, but they were too big to finish in the time he had left for the day. Which meant that Savannah would just have him moving furniture. Heading out into the showroom, he saw Carter leaning over the counter flirting with a pretty young woman who was clearly more interested in him than in the vintage jewelry in the case.

“
Don
’
t let him troll for dates in here,
”
he said to Savannah.

“
Why not? If the men who came in here weren
’
t married or gay, I would,
”
she replied.
“
Speaking of which, Matt Crawford is super-hot. How did I not notice that all those years ago?
”

“
I
’
m not your ride or die. We don
’
t have these conversations,
”
he said shortly.

“
We could,
”
she offered sweetly.
“
I
’
ll paint your nails and you can share all the details with me about how Mia Darcy makes your heart skip a beat. Then I can tell you all about Officer McHottie and what I want him to do with his handcuffs.
”

“
I
’
m leaving
…
and I
’
m telling Mom you need an exorcism.
”

“
Do that
…
and I
’
ll tell you exactly which sections were highlighted in her copy of Fifty Shades. Mom goes to church because she has lots of things to repent
…
lots.
”

“
Leaving. Not listening,
”
he called back and headed for the door, followed by the sound of Savannah
’
s laughter.

Outside, the day was still cool, and the wind was howling. Crossing Main Street and headed for his truck, Bennett couldn
’
t shake the feeling of being watched. Scanning the street, he saw nothing untoward. Fontaine was a small town, a short drive from Lexington and a farming hub. The vehicles lining the street ranged from the high end of luxury to loaded down with manure. There wasn
’
t a black SUV with a deer guard among them.