Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 3) (8 page)

“You’re not old.”

His smile fell and he pushed a stray strand of hair back from her face. “I am old. Older than you anyway. Does it bother you?”

“No, and it shouldn’t bother you. I haven’t had much luck dating men my own age, actually. I think I’m what they call an old soul. I’d rather hang around the house with you having a quiet night than going to some loud nightclub to drink and dance.”

“There is a middle ground. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.”

“Does it bother you that I’m young? I’m probably immature compared to most of the women you’ve dated.”

Plain and unsophisticated too.

“You’re much more mature in truth. But then in the past I dated for fun, not thinking about the future.”

“Are you thinking about the future now?”

Shit, she couldn’t stop herself from asking. She’d lost her mind inviting heartache like this.

“I am. Does that scare you? We haven’t dated very long.” He tapped her chin lightly as he resettled her in his arms, tugging the blanket up around her shoulders. “Funny how we’ve never really talked about all this.”

That was part of a sentence. The rest of it was
until all this happened
. He had a point however, that they hadn’t really opened up as to what they wanted this relationship to be.

“Not scared so much as surprised. Why me? There’s nothing really special about me and, well, now you know that I have something of a checkered past. I’m not sure that makes me serious girlfriend material.”

He lifted her chin so she had to look into his eyes. “Because you really see me and like me anyway.”

“They didn’t see…you?”

She could barely get the words out of her strangled throat. So much emotion had welled up as she’d gazed at him, his expression warm and loving.

“They saw what they wanted to see, never bothering to look any deeper or making me feel safe enough to show them all of who I am. I felt safe with you from that very first day.”

“I’m glad,” she said simply, not knowing what else to say. She was exhausted and her emotions were riding a roller coaster, which only succeeded in making her feel dizzy and nauseous. Her eyelids were beginning to feel heavy and she snuggled deeper into his arms, enjoying the heat of his body and the gentleness of his embrace.

“Sleep, angel. We can talk more in the morning. I think we’re both tuckered out.”

“I’m not that–” A yawn interrupted her protest and she gave in to the ever growing feeling of lethargy, the pills doing their job. She fell asleep with the steady thump of Travis’s heart under her ear and the tender stroke of his fingers through her hair.

If only she could hold onto this paradise always.

‡

S
ome asshole was
pounding on his hotel room door, completely disregarding the fact that Travis and Aubrey had managed only a few hours of sleep. After the events of the night before it was a miracle they’d slept as much as they had, honestly.

She had fallen asleep in his arms as they’d cuddled together on the chaise lounge on the patio and he’d carried her into her room and laid her on the bed. Not wanting to leave her alone, he’d joined her but slept on top of the covers so as not to alarm her if she woke unexpectedly. Right now she was frowning at the hammering on the door so he slid off the bed and strode through the living room, determined to punch whoever was making that infernal racket.

“This better fucking be important,” he growled, yanking the door open and finding his cousin Shane on the other side, grinning like a lunatic. “You’re here.”

“Good morning to you too, Mister Obvious. Of course I’m here. You told me to come. So I grabbed the corporate jet and here I am. Does this joint have room service? Because I’m starved.”

Shane strolled past Travis and tossed his duffle on the couch. His cousin was six years younger than Travis’s forty-two but no one would ever miss the family resemblance. Shane had the same green eyes and dark hair although he wore his slightly longer.

“It’s a five star resort so I would assume they have room service. Let me go see if Aubrey is awake and we can order some breakfast.”

Travis didn’t get far; the woman in question shuffling out of the bedroom wrapped in a hotel robe and yawning widely. Her hair was mussed and her eyes were sleepy. She was gorgeous. He’d never seen a woman look that good fresh out of bed, and his chest tightened with lust and some other emotion he didn’t bother to name.

“Hungry, baby?”

He held out his arms and was gratified when she came into them willingly and without hesitation. He’d been actively working on that since they’d started dating, letting her know that his embrace was a safe place to be.

“A little. Mostly I have a nasty headache.” Aubrey rubbed her temples but gave Shane a big hug and a smile. “Did you have a good flight? Did you get any sleep on the plane? We should order breakfast—you must be hungry.”

Travis chuckled as Aubrey went into caretaker mode. She always did this with him or any of his family, and of course Shane was eating up all the attention with a spoon.

“The flight was fine and I did get some sleep. As for breakfast, I was just telling this ugly asshole that room service sounded pretty damn good. Omelets and hash browns for everybody.”

“And bacon,” Aubrey added perusing the menu. “Should I just order a little of everything and we can share?”

“Order a lot of everything,” Shane corrected, “and we’ll share. I could eat a buffalo and still have room for dessert. Plus coffee. Lots of it. We have some work to do this morning.”

That snagged Travis’s attention. “Did Jason find anything?”

“He sent a text a few minutes ago that he’s emailing you some information. He sounded tired. I think he and Jared have been up since you called him last night.”

Travis wasn’t going to feel guilty about that. Anything they could dig up that would take suspicion away from Aubrey was well worth the loss of sleep. He fired up his laptop and opened the email from Jason, perusing the attachments. His brother and colleagues had done a fine job for such short notice.

“Are you going to keep us in suspense?” Shane asked, trying to peer over Travis’s shoulder. “Tell us what they found.”

“I knew Bruce was an asshole but I had no idea about this. It’s a powerful motivator for murder.”

Aubrey was over his shoulder now as well. “What’s the motive?”

Travis leaned back and gave her a smile. “Money, baby. Money.”

They had a lead that didn’t point in Aubrey’s direction.

Things were looking up this morning.

*     *     *

Shane shoved another
forkful of hash browns into his mouth as the three of them sat around the dining table and ate breakfast. Aubrey had quickly showered and changed into a casual sundress and sandals before the food arrived. “So Bruce had a gambling problem? Who all did he owe money to?”

“Bookies, friends, and probably his wife and Martin. That wasn’t his only vice. He liked fast women and booze as well. Your basic trifecta of sin,” Travis answered with a shake of his head.

It appeared to Aubrey that Bruce Livingston hadn’t changed much since high school.

Shane refilled his coffee and then Aubrey’s as well. “Think he stole from Martin’s firm? A guy like that wouldn’t think twice about crossing a few lines of legality.”

“He might have,” Travis admitted. “Although Martin didn’t say anything about money being missing. He only talked about insider trading. But now we know why Bruce might have been motivated to do that. If he owed that much money and was getting heat from his bookie then he might be pretty desperate.”

“I don’t feel sorry for him,” Aubrey muttered, pushing her plate away. “I know that sounds terrible but he caused all his own problems. He was like this in school too. Everything was always someone else’s fault. Another reason I stayed far away from him. I am sorry he’s dead, though. No one deserves to be murdered.”

“He sure as shit isn’t the most sympathetic murder victim I’ve ever seen.” Shane waved his fork in the air. “Honestly he sounds like a real douchebag. According to Jason this guy would have stolen candy from orphans. It’s actually kind of surprising it took someone this long to kill him.”

“Unfortunately they chose the weekend I was here. That cop thinks I did it.”

Shane patted her hand. “I spent a few years in the public defender’s office cutting my legal teeth in the beginning of my career, and I can tell you that cops are going to put you on the defensive when they question you. It’s just a tactic and it doesn’t mean that they think you’re guilty. Hopefully this Prather guy is keeping an open mind. He’ll need to with all the suspects he’s going to have. Even if he arrests someone the prosecutor is going to have a bitch of a time with reasonable doubt. If they don’t have some decent forensics this case will be a defense attorney’s dream.”

“A killer running loose,” Aubrey groaned. “That doesn’t make me feel any better, Shane.”

“That would be scary if this were a random murder.” Travis tapped the plate with his fingers. “But for now I think we need to go on the assumption that the killer chose Bruce for a compelling reason. Love. Money. Maybe revenge.”

Shane hopped up from the table, coffee cup in hand, and began to pace back and forth. Whenever he was around he was like this, full of energy and life. The woman he ended up with was going to need a great deal of stamina to keep up with him. “So let’s review. Who do we know that has a motive?”

“Me,” she answered quietly. “He threatened to tell Travis a secret.”

Shane nodded, but like the gentleman he was he didn’t ask what she’d been keeping from his cousin. He was polite like that, as were all the Anderson men. If they didn’t need to know something they didn’t believe it was any of their business.

“But other than you,” Shane pressed. “We should make a list.”

Travis already had his laptop open since he had been conversing back and forth with Jason.

“I know Martin had a motive, as much as I hate to say it. Bruce’s actions could bring down everything Martin has worked for and make him a pariah in the financial world.”

“Plus his wife,” Aubrey suggested. “If he was propositioning me I’m guessing I’m not the first. Plus Jason said he liked the ladies.”

Travis tapped on the keyboard. “If you’d ever met Caroline you wouldn’t think she was capable of hurting a fly, but you’re right. To be thorough we have to include everyone on the list.”

Shane paused and took a deep swig of his coffee. “The ones that don’t seem like killers are the ones you have to be careful of. They’re the most dangerous in my experience.”

Does that include me? Or do I look like I could kill?

“His bookie. Basically anyone he owed money to,” Travis offered. “I asked Jason to try and find out exactly who Bruce owed money to and how much. I also asked him to find out about Bruce’s women. There might be a connection there.”

Aubrey gestured to the laptop. “So we have a list. What now? Do we give it to Prather?”

Both Shane and Travis laughed and she had to slap the table hard to get their attention. She ought to be used to the almost spooky psychic connection these Anderson men had, but it never ceased to amaze her how their minds worked the same. She also wasn’t all that fond of feeling like she didn’t have a clue of what was going on.

“Baby, we’re only going to help Prather if his investigation is going the wrong way. Even then it will just be a nudge here and there. I don’t want anyone to think we’re interfering in an official investigation. No, we’ll start our own investigation and if we find something that Prather needs to know we’ll give it to him. But right now I’m going on the assumption that he’s not our friend.”

Aubrey was sure that Prather wasn’t any sort of friend. The only people she had on her side were Shane and Travis, but the two men were an awesome sight to behold. Without any doubt in her mind she knew they would do everything in their power to protect her from being falsely accused of Bruce’s murder. But it couldn’t all be up to them. She had to help herself and it was no time to be timid. They had a killer to hunt down.

“So where do we start?”