To Touch a Thief (An Everly Gray Novella) (2 page)

“I’m not planning to bail on my family, but you’re hiding something, Sis. Get to it.”

“L-lust.” She smacked her hand over her mouth.
 

“What the…?”
 

“Parker Steele.”
 

The syllables of the name Jayne blurted out faded together, mixing with the fragrance of herbs and spices that filled the air. Pissed off vibes traveled along Mitch’s nerve endings, clawed in, and hung on. “You have the hots for this guy and are offering El up as a ticket to his bed?”

Jayne crossed her arms over her ribs. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that, but fratricide is a distinct possibility. El, whether you like it or not, is the logical choice. She’s the only person either of us knows who can pull off a séance. And whether Parker is hot or not is immaterial. More serious issues are at stake here. I don’t even want to think about the potential consequences to my personal life.”

A server sidled up to
their table and deposited oversized plates of food in front of them. “Freshly grated parmesan?”

Jayne nodded, the tantalizing aromas breaking into her concentration. Probably it would be best to let Mitch eat before she pushed any more of his buttons. He ran his hands through his hair, leaving the messy curls scattered in all directions. He was a cutie, her brother. But why did he have to fall for the likes of Everly Gray? Besides the obvious sex appeal. Resentment nagged at the back of her mind, eating at her common sense. Or maybe it was just the fear of losing her little brother. Neither was acceptable.
 

Mitch broke into her thoughts. “You might want to get your story straight. First, nobody believes in this stuff, and now you’re saying El is the only one who can pull it off.”

Jayne inhaled deeply, savoring the spicy scent of her lasagna. “Yes. As distasteful as it is, Everly has the moves and the vocabulary for this kind of thing. Parker has an interest in the paranormal, and…”

“And what?”

“A soft spot for felines.”

“Cats? We’re talking cats here?” His wire rims slipped down his nose, and he shoved them back into place.
 

Jayne bit into her lip to hide her grin. It’d been a habit since he was in the second grade and was getting used to his first pair of glasses. “Yes. Some childhood thing, I think. It’s beyond me how a solid businessman, in the middle of a sting operation, can be gaga over the paranormal and feline aspects of this fundraiser, but he is.”

Mitch scrubbed his hand across his mouth, nodded to their server, pointed to his beer bottle. “I’ll give you the time it takes me to finish a second beer. That’s it.”

Angry fire crawled up her spine. “Have I ever asked you for something like this before, Mitchell?”

“Nope. That’s why I’m giving you—” he glanced at his watch— “the time it takes me to drink a second beer. Besides, I paid my dues by bailing you out of jail. And I’m not your messenger boy. You’re the one who needs to convince El to do the damn séance.”

Jayne swallowed a bite of lasagna, the flavors turning to dust on her tongue. “Thanks for bailing me out. Parker will reimburse you. And you know that if I ask Everly, she’ll refuse, whereas you can convince her to do anything.”
 

Mitch glared.
 

“I’m so close to finding the real thief. I’ve tracked most of the suspicious activity in the spreadsheets, but I need to eliminate some suspects. And this setup will catch him, I know it will.”

“You’ve had consulting contracts for Steele Management before. What’s different about this one?”
 

Finally, she had his attention. “I know that whoever is stealing from Parker is doing it under cover of the charity gigs Steele Management supports.”

“So is it fraud or lust that has you—”

“Don’t you dare finish that thought, little brother.” Bitterness at having to ask for his help soured her stomach, but he had a point. “Honestly? Both.”

He squeezed the lime in his Corona and rolled the bottle back and forth between his palms. “How much backup do you have on this?”

“The lead attorney at Steele Management, the detective who arrested me—he’s a friend of Parker’s, but he doesn’t know the specifics. Chief Hayes is involved, and he’s ready to move as soon as we have enough information to officially request law enforcement backup. Whoever is guilty has been getting away with it for over three years, and Steele Management charities have been robbed of over ten million. That’s a big hit for some of our smaller non-profit organizations.”

“And you think you’ll get proof during this…what the hell is it anyway?”

“The charity is the North Carolina chapter of Forever Feline.” A shiver rippled through her muscles.
 

Mitch let loose a deep laugh. “You hate cats.”

“No. It’s not possible to hate something you know nothing about. I simply don’t care for them. All that purring and sniffing. And Parker’s fascination with them is odd.” Jayne rubbed her sweaty palm over the fabric of her pencil skirt.
 

How could she have gotten so attached to a man who liked cats?
 

“Uh-huh.” Mitch glanced at his watch.

“This particular charity function is very small, and will be insignificant to anyone committing serious fraud. I’m planning to narrow the possible suspects by a process of elimination. It’ll be faster than searching through all the data generated by the philanthropical division of Steele Management. And maybe Everly could touch someone and see whatever it is she thinks she sees.”

Mitch sighed. “Okay. Recap. You’re in over your head with the forensic accounting gig, have a half-assed sting operation in motion, have the hots for the CEO of Steele Management, Inc., and want to use El and her gifts, which by the way you don’t believe in, to get you out of the mess. Have I got it?”

“No. Well, partly. It’s not like I’m using her. She’s just so…”

“Gullible?” he snapped out.

“No, not gullible. She’s scary.”

He laughed, full and deep. “You know, you might want to spend some time with El. Find out what she’s really like.”

“I’ve spent time with her.”

“Uh-huh. You used her ESP gifts to pick up clues when I was missing. That definitely counts for quality time.”

“Look, forget it,” Jayne said, making sure she unfolded her body with grace and poise as she stood. “I’ll find someone else.”

“Sit.” He pointed a finger at her chair.

Her teeth caught her bottom lip as she dropped back into the chair. Giving up had always worked with Mitchell. It had been her trump card in their sibling wars, one she’d honed to perfection over the years, and one she doled out carefully. It wouldn’t do for him to catch on, so she always waited until the last possible second to slip it into her convince-Mitchell strategies.

“I’m going to approach El about this. Partly because you’re my sister, but mostly because this is something she may want to do.”

Jayne arched an eyebrow. “Does she like cats?”

“Don’t know, but this sounds less dangerous than the homicides she usually…damn it. Now I’ll have to ask her tonight. No time to think it through.”

 
Jayne spun to follow his gaze.
 

Everly Gray stood at the bar.
 

THREE

Everly Gray

I pushed open the door
to my favorite restaurant, visions of cannoli swimming on my taste buds. I shot a quick glance over the tables and…oh, damn it. Way to mess up my dream of nibbling on the delectable dessert.

Jayne Hunt stood and straightened her skirt, then stepped to the side, revealing Mitch. My Mitch. Guilt colored his expression, and her arrogant Jayne persona had seeped into the restaurant from every one of her pristine pores. It was enough to put me off cannoli for a long while.
 

You will not touch her, Everly. You will not shake her hand, pretend to fall and latch onto her arm with your fingers, nor will you drag her kicking and screaming away from Mitch. She’s his sister.

 
“Damn it all to blue bloody hell.”

The bartender’s eyes twinkled. “Something I can help you with Ms. Everly?”

“Um, maybe. How long have Mitch and his sister been here?”
 

“’Bout forty-five minutes. She’s a looker, that one. Cold as ice, though.” He turned to grab a box from the shelf behind the bar. “Here’s your cannoli.”

“Thanks. She’s not really cold, just alone.” I heaved a sigh. I really had to be nicer to Jayne. My fingers had brushed against her enough times in the past few months to pick up the insecurity that raged underneath her prissy attitude. And they’d showed me enough about her relationship with her parents that I understood where it came from. I hadn’t shared the images with Mitch. Too much like trespassing, especially since Jayne didn’t believe I had ESP fingertips. Sometimes she pretended to believe, but I figured it was only to pacify Mitch.
 

Jayne moved away from their table, a few steps closer to me. She probably planned to sneak out the side door and avoid me, but it backfired. The shift in her location coincided perfectly with a brief lull in the restaurant din, making it possible for her words to carry in the fragrant air. “I’ll leave it to you to persuade Everly to do the right thing.”

My heart stumbled, skipped a beat. I’d seen her arrest on the news, but knew it was bogus, because, seriously, Jayne? Was she trying to drag Mitch and me into her web of deceit?

I focused on his mouth. “You owe me big for this one, Jayne.” At least I thought that was what he said. Damn, but this situation tempted me to chase after Jayne and touch her.
 

The bartender nudged the white bakery box in my direction. “Go talk to your man. See what’s up.”

“Yeah. Heading that way. Thanks for holding the cannoli for me.”
 

I plastered a smile on my face and slalomed my way between tables until I reached Mitch.
 

He scraped his chair back and then pulled me into a hug, being careful not to crush the box. “You got cannoli in there, Sunshine. I can smell it. So, that means we’re having dessert tonight, right?”

I brushed my lips across his cheek. “It was supposed to be a surprise.” I sat, not trusting my legs to support me. “I didn’t know you were having dinner with Jayne.”
 

“Neither did I. Last minute deal after I bailed her out of jail.” He didn’t look at me, not even a glance.

My fingers itched to touch him.
 

A server sidled over and handed me a napkin-wrapped roll of silverware and a menu. “Can I bring you something to drink?”
 

I handed back the menu. “A glass of the house pinot noir, please. I’ll share his dinner.”

The server headed for the bar, and Mitch slid his plate of sausage ragout toward me with a grin. “Pretty sure of yourself.”
 

“Yup. What’d Jayne want?” I unwrapped my silverware and forked a bite of his favorite pasta dish into my mouth. Delectable spices held my complete attention, until he sidestepped the question.
 

“Uh.” He stuffed a bite of sausage in his mouth.

My stomach clenched. I put my fork down and reached for him, but he caught my wrist before my fingers made contact. “I want to tell you. Talk to you, but not here. Then you can touch me and check out the images. Okay?”

A shiver rippled around my heart, but his voice was sincere and his gaze didn’t waver. “Yeah. Fine.” I tucked my trepidation aside and dug into the ragout. No point going toe-to-toe
 
on an empty stomach with whatever trouble Jayne created. Especially since she was using Mitch as her spokesman.
 

I curled my bare toes against the cold terra cotta tiles. I really had to buy a throw rug for in front of the kitchen sink or I’d develop a permanent crick in my feet.
And
I needed to stop ignoring Mitch’s plea that I help Jayne and give him a straight answer—even though he wasn’t going to like it.
 

“I don’t do séances, Mitch. I mean, seriously, I don’t do séances.” I arranged the cannoli on a plate and put it on the kitchen table with a stack of napkins. Staring into his eyes, I tried to determine what he was really thinking, and damn if the usual chocolate brown shade hadn’t turned into the solid, dark variety. Not good.

“It’s a fundraiser for cats, Sunshine. And your touch thing would give you an advantage.” He rubbed the back of my hand with gentle, soothing strokes.

“No.” I pulled my hand away. “Yeesh. What could you possibly be thinking? I have enough trouble managing my life with the things my fingertips get into on an ordinary day. Why would I open myself to a séance? And a public one at that?”

“Well…”

I flipped my hair out of my face. “You’ve totally lost your mind if you think I’m going to start communing with the dead.”

He paled. “You can’t really do that, right? Commune with the dead?”