Lie to Me (14 page)

“Sir, I need—”

James cut her off by slamming the door closed. He slid a chair beneath the knob to trap her inside.

“Chicks are nothing but drama.” His buddy rolled his eyes. “I’ll secure the asset. Lock the door behind me. Don’t allow anyone inside except me.”

“I know the drill, James.” Stone resisted rolling his own eyes at James’s instructions.

“Like you knew the drill at the dig today?” He strode across the room to the door. “Pull a stunt like that again, and I’ll personally kick your ass. Lock the door behind me.”

And his friend disappeared through the door, the hinges practically rattling when James slammed the wood.

A soft knock surfaced from the bathroom door. “Regent Emmerson, please, I mean you no harm. I-I want to...tell you s-something b-before he gets h-here.”

Why the stuttering dramatics as if she cried or feared whatever she sought to confess? “Sweetheart, you and your associate know better than to approach a Regent the way you did.” Even though he’d been in town trying to remain mostly below the radar, she’d known his identity, so she would’ve known the protection and protocol that went into approaching someone of his rank. “Now kindly shut your cake hole.”

A moment later a short rap on the door was followed by, “It’s me.”

“Safe word?”

“I’m gonna kick your ass,” James replied without a stitch of humor.

Needling his buddy never grew dull. Stone chuckled as he unlocked the door and opened it, allowing James to shove another fellow into the room. Light-brown hair, a little pudgy around the middle, and blotchy skin, he figured this was none other than Mark Evans.

Stone’s six soldiers joined them, barricading the door with their bodies.

“Meet the elusive Mark Evans. Sit.” Using his gun, James pointed at the chair positioned next to the breakfast table. Mark reclined in the chair, his air haughty as if a Regent wasn’t detaining him. James held his hand toward Stone and said, “Found this on him.”

Stepping closer to his bodyguard, Stone secured his .38 in the waistband of his pants and took the device from James. An R-scanner.

Mark Evans took a casual stance, resting one ankle on the other knee. The Director flicked his fingers toward the retro scanner. “Use it wisely.”

The bastard’s self-righteous attitude prickled Stone’s gut. “Mark Evans, huh?”

“In the flesh.”

Stone pocketed the R-scanner. “James, get his fingerprint. I want verification of his identity.”

Mark sat up straight as James pulled his pocket phone out of his pants. “As Regency Director, I know my rights, and this is an invasion.”

“Then you know you’re entitled to give me proof of your identity. But...” Stone held up his hand, and James halted his progress. “What do you want, Evans?”

“I gave you the R-scanner. Did I not tell you I had something of yours that’d gone missing? You’re a smart fella, I’m sure you’ve already guessed who to use the R-scanner on.”

“I repeat, what do you want?”

“All rights and claims to Mack Ellason’s dig.”

Ah...now he was beginning to understand the rest of the story. Since his elusive conversation with Mark Evans about his wife, he’d wondered what the Director thought to get out of the process. The frams Mack’s claim would generate explained everything.

“And I called you an asshole. He’s the bigger one.” James notched his thumb in Evan’s direction.

Stone ignored his buddy. “What do you know of my bride?”

“Not a lot really, except her name’s Mackella Starke, and I made papers for her when she first arrived eight years ago using the alias Mack Ellason.”

“Fuck,” James muttered. “How do you wish to proceed, Stone?”

Once again Stone overlooked James. No way Kella could afford the necessary papers that stood up to Regency inspection. That Mark Evans, the Regency Director produced them explained a lot, but not who’d paid for his services. “Who hired you to make the documents?”

“I’ve no idea.” The cocky fucker executed a one-shoulder shrug. “I wasn’t supposed to know her real name, but the girl hired to care for her allowed Mackella’s real identity to slip. She paid for my silence with the rest of the frams that were supposed to be passed along to Mackella to keep her alive until she found work.”

Fury hit Stone so fast he went for the motherfucker before he realized his intentions. James getting in his face, and shoving against Stone’s shoulders brought him out of his rage. “Calm down, Stone.”

Goddamn, what had Kella endured thanks to this pretentious fuck who took everything from her? A man who had it all by Kella’s standards had wanted what he wasn’t owed, wanted more than he deserved, and hadn’t cared about the hardships of a fourteen-year-old. A baby in so many ways, and she’d required protection, not a life lesson on the adversities of the world.

“He’s a dead man,” James whispered. “But we’ll have answers first.”

Stone could see the logic in that so he backed off.

“You were right,” James said, but his admission was hollow to Stone.

“Yeah.” The excitement he’d thought to feel at discovering her identity gave way to anger. Kella had
chosen
to leave him. Had
chosen
to put herself in danger. “Scout,” he said to one of his soldiers. “Release the girl from the bathroom. I want to hear what she has to say.” Mostly to discover how much she knew. The solider removed the chair, and opened the door, releasing Kris from her short captivity. “You’ve got one minute to convince me you deserve to live.”

“Now wait a—”

James’s fist smashing into Evans’s jaw shut the director up. “We’re done listening to you.”

“Gag him,” Stone instructed, while leveling his glare on Kris Stoddard. When she continued to gawk in Evans’s direction, he said, “Your time’s running, Ms. Stoddard, and in the face of what I’ve just discovered, my patience is extremely thin.”

“Regent, sir, please, your mother commanded me to—”

“My
mother
is involved too?” First his wife rejected his aid, and now his mother plotted against his future with his woman. Would the perfidy ever end?

Kris went to her knees at his yell, tears running down her cheeks. “I was her maid, sir. She’d been trying for years to talk your father into stopping the Xeno auctions.”

Stone knew how his mother felt. She’d been honest about the difficulties of her beginning with his father. His father had bought his mother, and while his mom resented his dad’s ownership, she’d become his second wife, and the best Stone could tell his dad had treated her fairly. His mother never spoke ill of his dad, so it was all he could assume. But she’d never forgotten the humiliation of being sold off like an object or an animal.

“Keep talking,” even to his own ears his voice sounded detached. He was anything but unemotional, however.

“She was angry because your dad knew how you felt about Kella, but he wouldn’t do anything to stop the auction. Her hopes were for you to have a life with Kella, but she said your purchase of her would ruin any hopes of that happening. That your dad wouldn’t allow it. She gave me money, a V-chip for Kella, and the means to escape. I was to remain here, watch Kella, and keep her safe as best as I could, but I’m not a soldier or a spy, and I made a terrible mistake with Mr. Evans. He used that to his advantage.”

“Why doesn’t Kella recognize you if you’re the girl who helped her escape?” Stone was pleased to hear the even tenor of his voice.

“I was only seventeen. Like Kella, not much more than a kid.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Mr. Evans used a V-chip on me.”

“What’s your real name?”

Her eyelids closed, and she dragged in a choppy breath. “Christine Mancoa. Mark forced me to serve him because he wanted to use me to keep tabs on Kella, with the intention of using the truth to his advantage one day.”

That day has come
. Stone remained silent, allowing the woman the freedom to confess all.

“He said blackmail of a Regent would yield him a big payoff.”

No doubt the blackmail would never have ended, that’s the way it typically worked. “Are you still in touch with my mother?”

“No, sir. Once I realized everyone thought your wife dead, I figured it was better for her if she remained dead. Conversing with Mrs. Emmerson would’ve been a mistake and put Mack in further danger.”

Goddamn my mother
! It was good to know there was no paper trail of their treachery, though. He wouldn’t have a need to search Evans’s office and home to locate documents to destroy them to keep his family safe from censure. Thankfully his response wasn’t required, and she kept confessing.

“Mr. Evans raped me often, and had sworn he’d sodomize me if I tried to warn Mack he knew her identity. I couldn’t endure that, sir. I just couldn’t. I already wanted to die.” She choked on her tears, but after a moment drew herself together enough to continue. “I would’ve killed myself if I hadn’t been tasked with a chore by your mother.”

“I understand. No one is blaming you.”
I blame my mother
. And Kella for her lack of faith in him.

James sat hard on the edge of the bed near Christine, gaping at the woman positioned on her knees confessing to the fucked-up betrayal of Stone’s mother. “This entire affair continues to deteriorate. I’m sorry, brother.”

Stone nodded at his best friend’s commiseration. “Did you watch my wife, Christine?”

“As best as I could.”

Translation: not good enough
. Add one more notch to his mother’s guilty-belt. His mother had a lot to answer for.

“Did you keep her safe?”

“That first month...” she shook her head, tears leaking from her eyes and running down her cheeks, only to hit her pink shirt and create a wet stain. “I don’t know what happened to her. Mr. Evans wouldn’t allow me the freedom I needed to watch after Kella. I spied her digging through garbage to find food, so I—”

Stone put his fist into Mark’s eye, toppling the director out of the chair. While Stone shook the sting out of his hand, Evans groaned, clasped at his eye and flopped around on the floor like a fish out of water. The fucker probably would’ve cried foul if James hadn’t taped his mouth shut.

“Tie him to the seat.”

After his soldiers reseated Evans, they bound the director with rope James tossed to them after retrieving the abrasive cord from a box concealed beneath the bed.

Stone turned his focus back on Christine. Thankfully she didn’t make him request she resume. “The next time I saw Kella after that, she was clean, and her friend Reaper had taught her to pickpocket from the spooners.” She gave a small, high-pitched laugh.

Fuck
. He jammed his fingers through his hair. Christine obviously saw irony in Kella’s pickpocketing, while all he could process was the potential trouble. If news of his wife’s thievery got out—wouldn’t matter she’d committed the theft to stay alive—it’d cause a stink so bad he’d likely have trouble from other Regents.

His mother had created one big, fucked-up mess.

“Sir, if I may, I respect Kella. She’s the most resourceful woman I know. Loyal and strong, and she’s a fighter. The week it took us to travel here, she cried herself to sleep every night. She told me you betrayed her, but I never understood how.”

“Find me Reaper. I want to have a heart-to-heart with him.” Wanted to know how involved Reaper was with Kella’s identity. Stone considered Christine’s words, feeling nothing for Kella’s struggle. He’d believed her dead, while she’d been running from him putting herself in unnecessary danger. She warranted none of his compassion for her emotional turmoil.

“I believe Kella and Reaper remain friends.”

He knew they did. “James, I want to know everything about the fella, including who he fucks”—
better not be my wife
—“when he fucks, and how he fucks.”

“On it.”

His friend was already pulling out Stone’s laptop, turning it on, and swinging it around to face Stone. One press of Stone’s fingertip to the pad at the back of his ear and the computer booted up. By the time he completed this conversation, he’d know everything the Regency knew about Reaper. It was the intimate details his friend and soldiers would have to assemble that would put together a full picture of the man.

“I’m sorry I failed your mother.” Christine kept her head bowed, which was best because Stone was more furious that Christine had failed Kella, not his mother.

Stone jabbed the R-scanner against her neck. One click to the device’s button, and she shivered, but a moment later the girl’s blonde hair turned to a shade of auburn. Using a fingertip, he placed it beneath her chin and tilted her head back. He recognized the woman on her knees before him as the member of the household staff that’d gone missing the same day as Kella.

“There’s not much on Reaper.” James’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “I sent the information to your cell.”

A buzz in his pocket verified he’d received the message. “Give me the highlights.”

“He’s twenty-six, works as a blacksmith making household goods like dishware and cups. Never been in trouble and pays his taxes on time.”

Stone inclined his head. “What else?”

“Never married. No bank account.” Not surprising since most dregs distrusted the elitist banking system. “He lives a block over from Kella’s residence.”

“Find him.” Stone made eye contact with two of his soldiers, Scout and Vykker. “I want the dirt.”

“Doubt you’re going to find any dirt, Stone.” James’s finger tapped on the keyboard. “Says here he’s a mentor to at risk youth and—”

“There’s
always
dirt, James.” Seriously, did he have to do all the thinking between them? “Look at us. We’re textbook examples.”

Amusement caused James to give him a twisted grin. “Our scandal sheet headline should read...a noble and his first in command, both so dirty they should have muck beneath their fingernails.”

Stone chuckled. “Yeah...”
And now I can get dirty with Kella
.

He groaned, the sound catching a sharp questioning glance from James. He shook aside the silent question, but the image of Mack’s arousal in the train car earlier flashed through his head. Then the reminder of his prod into her acquaintance with Kella, along with his command to join him tonight... “She won’t show tonight. We’ll have to track her.”