Dangerous Bond (Jamie Bond Mysteries Book 4) (20 page)

"I am hungry though," Caleigh said.

I smiled. "How about some Hoagies? They are diet food, after all."

The next day, I arrived at the agency in tip-top shape. In fact, I'd slept so well, it was late morning by the time I got there.

We had all arrived home from Vegas late the previous morning, and after another shower I spent most of the day napping. The shower at the hotel hadn't felt like enough to get the scent of sauce out. When I'd woken up, I'd had a quiet night in front of my television with another Niçoise salad with seared tuna and sparkling water. Followed by wine and ice cream. They really helped me get my Zen back.

Now, the sun shone, the birds sang, and as I pushed open the agency doors, I was greeted by the clicking of Maya's keyboard.

I'd given Sam the day off as promised. I would've offered the same for Maya and Caleigh, but we still had work to do. And I could give each of them a day at another time. On the drive home yesterday, Charley had commented how she hadn't realized how strenuous our jobs were, and then she'd taken a nap with her head on Elaine's shoulder. I didn't know what happened between Elaine and Derek, but she came back with us and remained very quiet on the ride home. That couldn't have meant anything good for her and Dad. Elaine usually loved to talk.

I immediately spotted Mr. and Mrs. Henderson seated in the lobby chairs. I gave the couple a brief wave before stopping at Maya's desk.

"Morning," I said.

"Good morning, Boss." She handed me my caramel macchiato. "It's probably cold. I thought you'd be in earlier, so I bought it at my usual time. I could run out and get another."

I smiled my thanks. I loved that woman. "No, this is fine." I glanced at her desk and saw a Diet Coke in place of her own usually decadent coffee order. I raised an eyebrow. "Diet soda?"

She cleared her throat and looked down. "It's the weirdest thing. When I stepped on the scale this morning, it said I'd gained five pounds since last week. I mean, even with all of the diet subs I've been eating."

I stifled a grin. "Maybe we should all switch to salads for a while, huh?"

She nodded her agreement.

"I see the Hendersons are here," I said, switching gears. "What else is happening today?"

She picked up her tablet and tapped it several times. "You have no other appointments today."

Sweet. Maybe we could all leave early today then.

Maya glanced to the Hendersons. "Their file is on your desk, and Bristol Claremont left a very grateful message along with an IOU for payment of our fee."

I'd never found out about Roger's insurance policy. I hoped he had a substantial one, but with him preparing to file bankruptcy, I wasn't going to hold my breath that Bristol would inherit anything. So much for celebrity clients!

I walked over to the Hendersons. "Good morning. Why don't you come into my office?"

They wore similar outfits again. This time navy pants and a white short-sleeve, button-down shirt for him, and a navy shirt with a white short-sleeve, button-down blouse under a beige vest for her.

They followed me in and sat across from my desk. "We didn't mean to come back so soon, Ms. Bond, but time is very sensitive here," Mrs. Henderson said.

"I understand." I sat in my chair and set my coffee down. Then I flipped open their file, which was center on my desk, and pulled out the sheets Maya had printed for them.

"Were you able to find out much?" Mrs. Henderson asked.

I handed over the printouts. "We've only been able to investigate the first two women on the list so far. Jenny Pepin and Penny Samson. They both seemed to be awesome women. Ms. Samson leads a very active life. I'd say, even to the point of being a bit dangerous."

I didn't want to scare them off of her, but I also wanted to be honest.

"And Ms. Pepin is a lovely woman whose most dangerous activity is water aerobics." I smiled and tried to put Mr. Henderson at ease, but his face didn't relax.

He sat straight, hands in his lap, shoulders tense. He looked slightly more stressed than our first meeting, so I couldn't tell if this was usual or not, but he definitely seemed more uncomfortable.

"If you'd like us to continue investigating and to find out about Ms. Toll…"

Mrs. Henderson shook her head and stared at the pages. "No, thank you. This is fine. We really appreciate it. How much do we owe you?"

"You can settle your bill with Maya up front."

"Okay." She turned to her husband. "I'm going to run to the restroom for a minute."

He nodded and looked at her with sad eyes.

I rose to my feet. "It's up front. I can show you."

They both stood. Mrs. Henderson squeezed the arm of the chair and stayed still for a moment, as if she was trying to steady herself. "No, I can find it."

When she walked out of my office, Mr. Henderson stayed behind. He kept his gaze on where she had just sat. "She likes to be independent."

"Yes, I can see that."

He softly sighed. It was small, and if I hadn't been watching him, I may not have noticed. "She's been more nauseous lately. It's the medication."

"I'm so sorry."

Now his shoulders were slumped, and the wrinkles around his mouth seemed to bring down its corners, although I was sure part of that was Mr. Henderson's grief.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

He looked at me. "No, go ahead."

"Do you want this? Do you want your current, dying wife to pick out your new wife? Are you going through with this?" I hoped the disapproval wasn't evident in my voice.

He shook his head. "Absolutely not. My wife is the love of my life, and once she's gone, I'll be spending the rest of my days alone. I have no intention of being with anyone else."

I felt relief in that. Finding a new wife without the new wife's knowledge was bizarre, to say the least. "But you're here."

His smile was gentle, and I had no doubts it was aimed at his wife and not me. "I want her to go in peace, believing that I'll be taken care of. So I'm going through with this charade for her sake."

My heart swelled, and the feelings of love and sympathy, as well as joy, must've combined on my face, because he said, "She's my best friend, Ms. Bond."

My throat tightened, and I couldn't speak, so I nodded.

Mrs. Henderson returned, and her husband quickly joined her at my door. "Are you okay, Linda?"

She cupped his hand with her own. "I am, Jeffrey. Let's go home."

He kissed her hand. "Yes, dear."

They walked out holding hands.

Their love was honest—well, except for his tiny fib—and real. True and unconditional. I thought of Derek and Elaine and me, Aiden, and Danny. Love wasn't supposed to be complicated.

I caught movement in my doorway and refocused my gaze. Aiden stood there, as if on cue. He looked downright delicious in a navy suit and tie. I walked around to the front of my desk and sat on its edge. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

He strode inside and sat in a chair directly in front of me. "I wanted to let you know how everything turned out, especially since you were the one who brought Ian Jenkins down."

I smirked. I did like the way he gave me credit. "Great, I'm dying to know."

He leaned back in the seat and extended his legs. His black, polished shoe gently touched my zebra pumps. "As soon as they were locked up, Jenkins sang like a canary in order to get a plea bargain."

I frowned. "The father was trying to pin it on his son?"

"And the son on the father. It was a ping-pong match. But it looks like it was Jenkins Senior who pulled the trigger. He went to Claremont's house to threaten him and tell him he was going to get his money out of Roger one way or another. Claremont freaked and pulled out the gun Heavy Cash had given him for protection. There was a struggle."

"And Roger was shot," I finished for him.

Aiden nodded. "Precisely."

"But why didn't we see any of this? Sam, Caleigh, and I were parked outside of the Claremont estate and never saw Jenkins come or go. There wasn't even a car."

"Except there was. Jenkins had parked on the road, like you did. Remember that black SUV you saw?"

I nodded, thinking back, wishing I'd paid more attention to it now.

"That belonged to Jenkins Junior, who was waiting for Dad. He parked there so Claremont wouldn't see him driving in and deny him access. After Jenkins shot Claremont, he started to run out, and he saw the three of you coming in. So he went out the back and escaped without you seeing him."

He really was a weasel. "So now what?"

"Instead of murder one, he's being charged with manslaughter. He'll still be spending a good deal of time in prison."

"And his son?"

Aiden rose, leaned toward me, and rested his palms on each side of me on my desk. "Kidnapping."

I couldn't help a smile. "I hope this isn't how you got your confessions."

Instead of using words to reply, he lightly pressed his lips against mine. It didn't stay light very long though. He placed his hands on my hips, pulling me up and toward him so we were both standing. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his. We simultaneously moaned, and the kiss deepened.

Despite becoming weak in the knees, my thoughts wandered to Mr. and Mrs. Henderson. Yes, not who I wanted to think of in a moment like this, but my brain had a mind of its own. It wasn't just of them, but of their connection. Of them leaving here hand in hand. Of their unconditional love. I wanted that.

I pulled my head back, breaking our kiss.

Aiden opened his eyes and stared at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I, uh, I…" I panted, suddenly breathless as I searched for the right words. "I just need a little time." I must have startled us both with that line, because his eyebrows went north.

I dropped my arms and stepped out of his embrace. The back of my legs knocked into my desk.

"If this is about the other night at your apartment, I apologize. I…well, I came on a little strong," Aiden said.

While I appreciated the apology, something kept me from stepping back into his arms.

He ran his hand through his hair. "Look, I know I've been going through some stuff, and…well, now I have it all worked out."

I gave a half smile. While I would have been jumping for joy over this news last week, something was still holding me back from stepping into his embrace. "I'm so glad."

He stared deep into my eyes. "This is about Danny, isn't it?"

"No." The lie tumbled out of my mouth, and part of me wished it had been the truth, but deep down I knew otherwise. It wasn't that I didn't want to be with Aiden. But it also wasn't that I didn't want to be with Danny. It was that I just didn't know what I wanted.

Aiden stepped back, went around the chair, and walked to the door. He gave me a long, hard look that I'd swear was daring me to follow him. But instead he just said, "Call me." Then he was gone.

My heart sank. I didn't want him to walk away like that. Like how I'd felt when
he'd
said he needed time a while back. But I knew I needed to let him go, at least for now.

"I will," I said even though I knew he couldn't hear me. I stood there for a good five minutes before I grabbed my purse and went up front.

Caleigh stood by Maya's desk. The usually bubbly blonde pouted. "Aiden didn't look happy."

I didn't know how to reply. I didn't want to talk about this just yet. "He'll be fine. I'm heading out, and I probably won't be back for the rest of the day."

If I knew Danny, he'd be doing lunch soon. Maybe I could catch him, turn it into lunch and a beer? A beer and an afternoon of shooting pool? An afternoon of shooting pool and maybe dinner, and then who knew what after…

"You guys should take the rest of the day off. Maya, can you lock up?"

Caleigh's pout turned into a smile. Maya shared her expression. "Absolutely, Boss. Have a great day."

"You too." I went out to my car. I took a moment to calm my nerves, and then I flipped down the visor and checked out my hair and face in the mirror. I retouched my lipstick, adding a light coating of Passion Red, which was really a soft red color, so someone screwed up that name, and then I headed to Danny's.

On the drive over, I prepared what I would say. I didn't memorize it. I wanted it to be natural, but I didn't want to ramble either. I planned to let him know that I wasn't stringing him along anymore. I wouldn't play any more games, and I was woman enough to admit I wanted to explore whatever this was between us and see where it could go.

My stomach flipped a thousand times, but the closer I got to his apartment, the better I began to feel. I kept hearing Mr. Henderson's words replay in my head.
She's my best friend.
This was the right move. Right? To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure, but I needed to find out.

I parked up the street from Danny's building and turned off my Roadster. I grabbed my purse and practically sprinted up the stairs to Danny's apartment. I paused outside the door, feeling butterflies multiply in my stomach. Why, I wasn't sure. I'd knocked on my best friend's door a million times. I told the butterflies to simmer down and gave a hard rap on the wood, then waited. And waited. I shifted from foot to foot, listening for any sound of movement on the other side. None. I knocked again.