Falling Under Read online

  York looks over at the DA’s table, and gives Evelyn a wink sure to be reported in the news. I watch Evelyn’s perfectly manicured fingers tightening around her pencil, indicating her well-communicated dislike for the bastard, as well. She leans over and speaks to her co-counsel, her long blonde silky hair draped down her navy suit dress and I imagine her saying just that: bastard.

  The judge is announced and the packed courtroom is instantly on its feet. The insanity of shoulder-to-shoulder bodies here for a bail-related event, proof that a good-looking billionaire always steals the show. In this case, the lives of his wife and unborn child, as well.

  York stands. “Judge, my client is the CEO of a company that not only provides jobs for this state, but contributes substantially in taxes. By leaving him out of the driver’s seat, and behind bars, the performance of that high-performing employer is in jeopardy, thus so are jobs and tax dollars.” He lifts a folder. “I have fifty character references for your review.”

  Prepared for just this action, Evelyn stands up to present the counter that she and I prepared. “Aside from the fact that the defendant is filthy rich, and has the means to flee the country, he stands to inherit even more money from his wealthy, deceased wife.”

  “Objection,” York says. “We don’t have the bodies. She may well have used her money and ran away.”

  “We’ll show evidence that clearly shows the defendant killed his young, beautiful, rich wife, and her unborn child. As for a flight risks,” she holds up a folder of her own, “I have the only character reference that will matter. The female detective on the case who the defendant attempted to seduce.”

  “Objection, judge,” York calls out yet again. “Do you know how many women proposition my client daily? When he turns them down, they get vicious. And that’s what this entire case is about. A jealous female detective who lashed out when she didn’t get a sugar daddy.”

  I don’t react but Evelyn laughs, offering a quick, well prepared rebuttal. “Should I object to the ridiculousness of that statement,” she asks, “or the sexist narrative, or how about I just let the court know that the detective in question recorded the conversation?” She flaps the folder in the air. “I have the transcript right here.”

  The judge, a fifty-something distinguished-looking man with dark salt-and-pepper hair, motions to the court clerk. “Bring it to me.”

  “Objection,” York shouts. “I have not had the opportunity to review the transcript.”

  “I have a copy for you,” Evelyn says sweetly, walking one to him, while the clerk hands one off to the judge.

  York studies the statement, but I can’t make out his face. He sets the file down and the courtroom watches the judge read his file, before looking up sharply, focused on Evelyn. “Is Detective Carpenter present?”

  “She is,” Evelyn replies.

  “I’d like her to validate this statement.”

  “Objection, judge,” York calls out. “This is highly irregular and—”

  “Overruled,” the judge bites out.

  I stand up and walk toward the gate, while Evelyn directs the appropriate people to allow my passage. Both pretty boys turn to look at me, and in turn, I give them both direct, cold stares. I join Evelyn, who has a hard look on her face, and together we face the judge.

  “Detective Carpenter,” the judge addresses.

  “Yes, your Honor?” I say.

  “Please tell me in your own words what took place.”

  “Evidence directed my focus to the defendant. When my questions became uncomfortable for him, he tried to kiss me, and then asked me to leave the country, and the investigation behind to travel to Europe with him.”

  “To which you said?” the judge asks.

  “I asked him who would find his dead wife and unborn child’s bodies while we were gone? And of course, judge, at this point, I wonder who would run his company. Obviously, that wasn’t the same concern just one month ago, when this took place, that it is now.”

  York pops to his feet. “Objection. Snark is not evidential testimony.”

  “Fortunately,” the judge states, “this is an informal proceeding.” He looks at me again. “Detective, do you believe he meant to flee the country?”

  “I believe he meant to ensure he didn’t have to flee the country by winning my favor, which unfortunately for him, belongs to his dead wife and child.”

  The judge studies me for several beats and then says, “You’re dismissed, detective.”

  I nod and exchange a look with Evelyn, a nervous but confident energy between us, before I return to my seat, but before I even sit back down, I hear, “No bail.” There are murmurs in the court and the judge hammers his desktop. Chaos erupts, and Evelyn gives me a celebratory thumbs-up, but as pleased as I am with the ruling, it’s not over. For the next fifteen minutes, I am trapped in the center of chatter, objections, and finally, finality in the judge’s decision. When it’s all said and done, I push my way through the crowd, but not before pretty boy attorney catches my gaze, and surprisingly, there’s amusement in his eyes. Almost like he’s playing some cat and mouse game and we just took the bait he wanted us to take. But we won. His client is stuck behind bars. Unease rolls through me. What does he know that we don’t?

  He turns away and I make my way through the crowd, but I don’t see or feel Jacob anymore. I don’t see or feel the slayer either, which leads me to the conclusion, that maybe, just maybe, Jacob found him, and he’s now following him. I’d find comfort in that, but I have this sense of disorder that started with pretty boy attorney and his smile. I head toward the stairwell, and I’m one flight down when my cellphone rings. I glance at the caller ID, unfazed by the unknown number, considering I hand out my card freely.

  “Detective Carpenter,” I say, exiting the courthouse.

  “Detective,” a mildly familiar male voice states. “Interesting. Are you fucking with me? Is this a game?”

  “Who is this and what do you want?”

  “Davis York,” he confirms, “but you know that, right?”

  I stop walking and freeze. Pretty boy attorney? “How did you get my number?”

  “I had a message that it was urgent that I call this number, no name given.”

  “Who gave you the message?” I ask. “Your billionaire baby-killing client?”

  “He’s innocent, detective. And a security guard gave me your number. You weren’t behind it?”

  “If I wanted to talk to you, I’d walk right up to you.”

  “Uh,” he says. “Someone must think they’re entertaining.”

  I fight the urge to glance around me and look for that someone, if there is a someone other than his client. “Perhaps they saw the smirk you gave me in the courtroom,” I say, heading down the stairs.

  “Smirk. Interesting. I never have considered myself a smirking kind of guy. But why don’t we have coffee and talk about it?”

  I hang up before he can try to get information from me, only to find Detective Rodriquez, waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, and he does not have a donut to offer me this time. “What a coincidence, Rodriquez,” I say, joining him. “I think you’re the only grown man I know that can pull off a black suede jacket and dress pants and not look like he’s going to junior high prom.”

  “Coincidence?” he scowls, ignoring my commentary on his attire. “What the fuck? I got a message you needed back-up.”

  “What are you talking about? Who gave you that message and when?”

  “You wanted me to meet you here.” He pulls his phone from the blazer he’s wearing and shows me the message from the front desk at the precinct: Carpenter needs backup. Meet her on the courthouse steps when the bail hearing adjourns.

  A foreboding feeling slides through me but I downplay it to Rodriquez. “The switchboard owes you a donut. That message wasn’t for you.” I turn and start walking toward the subway, hoping to get rid of him and call Jacob, but it doesn’t work. Rodriquez falls into step beside me.


  “Who the fuck was it for then?”

  “Someone taller, bigger, and a better kisser than you,” I say, trying to distract him from a problem I don’t want him in the middle of now or ever.

  “You’ve never kissed me,” he points out. “You don’t know that.”

  “I’ve heard.”

  “Says the virgin detective.”

  “Why are you still with me right now?” I ask, not about to be lured into a conversation about my sex life, or lack thereof, with Rodriquez.

  “Any lead on finding the rich dude’s dead wife?”

  “No,” I say, glancing over at him. “Why?”

  “I know a guy.” He reaches in his pocket and hands me a name and number. “You need to know him, too.”

  I glace at the white piece of paper with a name and number written on it. “Why do I need to know this guy?”

  “He makes problems disappear,” he says, as we approach the entrance to the subway. “If your billionaire CEO made his dead wife go away, he’d be the one to make it happen.”

  “And you know this how?” I ask, stopping at one of a dozen gates that require a card to be swiped before they open.

  “I’m supposed to know shit,” he says.

  “But why do you know this guy?” I ask.

  “It’s my damn job, Little C.”

  I swipe my card through the gate and walk through, expecting him to do the same, but on the other side, he’s not there. I turn and find him walking backward, away from the terminal, but still facing me. “I forgot a meeting I need to be at,” he says, giving me a two-finger wave. “Call my guy. He can help.” He turns and leaves.

  Meeting, my ass, I think. He just doesn’t want to tell me how he knows this guy, and now I have no service, which means I’ve missed the chance to call Jacob about whatever the hell these weird games are that someone is playing with me. And where is Jacob, who stalked me until I actually wanted to find him? I head into the terminal and once I’m on my crowded train, I set my Spidey senses into action, and I just don’t think he’s here. Someone from Walker Security must be, but I don’t know who or where.

  The ride is short and I’m street-side quickly, a short walk from the station, with service returned to my phone. As soon as I hit the sidewalk, I expect my cellphone to ring or Jacob to step to my side. He doesn’t. A bad feeling rushes over me. What if Jacob was a trigger and the slayer went after him? I take my phone from my pocket and dial his number. It goes to voicemail and I have a sudden realization. He is Mr. Professional, but he kissed me. Shortly after Adam showed up and made himself known to me. Either Jacob asked to be removed from my protective order or he was pulled by Royce Walker. Or he was killed by the slayer.

  Arriving at the precinct door, I stop walking and lean on the wall, quickly locating the Walker Security phone number. I punch it into my cell, only to be greeted by an answering service. “I need to have Royce Walker and Jacob King call me. It’s Detective Jewel Carpenter and it’s urgent.”

  Concerned for Jacob, I consider calling my father, but I don’t want to worry him, and surely the answering service will get the message to Royce for me and quickly. I decide I’ll give them fifteen minutes and no more. If necessary, I’ll go find a Walker Brother to help me. And Jacob is a Green Beret. He’s not a boy scout, as proven by his handling of his weapon, not to mention the kiss.

  I head inside the building, and remember that stack of cards on my old desk. I head to that level and today everyone is gone or has their head down, with only one stray “Little C” shout before I arrive at my desk. Rodriquez is nowhere in sight, but then neither is the card I’d left on my desk. Which is odd. Really damn odd. The others are here. Maybe I took it to my new office and just don’t remember, but I don’t think that is the case. “Detective Carpenter!”

  At the sound of Lieutenant Ross, or rather, my boss, shouting my name, I rotate to find him standing in his doorway. “Get in here.”

  I assume he wants to talk about the bodies I have yet to produce for the trial, rather than the good news that the billionaire killer is still behind bars. That’s his job. Push me. And push some more. Unfortunately, I think, crossing toward him where he waits for me in the doorway, I have an obligation to tell him about the slayer. Upon my arrival, he steps back and allows my entry. I clear the doorway and cut left to the seats, only to find Jacob standing in front of the desk, facing me. Adrenaline races through me, driven by anger and betrayal, and with my boss at my back, I walk up to him, and say, “Asshole” in a semi-low voice before Lieutenant Ross’s door shuts.

  Jacob gives me a cool gray stare, but he doesn’t react, because of course Mr. Robot is back, though not to stay. I’m going to take care of Jacob King like he’s never been taken care of before. And soon.

  He’s going to find out that I’m also more than the kiss he used to manipulate me. I’m the kiss he’s never going to forget.

  Jesse Marks.

  That is the name that comes to my mind as I stare at Jacob, trapped in silence by our location in my boss’s office, my gut telling me now that every move Jacob has made since I showed him that file is about that file. My boss, Lieutenant Ross, joins us, claiming his rightful spot behind his desk where he sits down. Jacob gives me a small nod and then turns away, claiming his seat. It’s all I can do to force myself to face forward and sit my butt in a chair. I do it though, but I’m aware of Jacob beside me, his leg so very close to mine. I am so damn aware of the man who almost made it to my bed before he sideswiped me that I want to hurt him, especially when I think of his promise that we were “doing this together.”

  My boss looks between us, a curious look on his face, and no doubt he feels my combustible energy with Jacob, but he leaves it alone. “I understand your father contracted Jacob and his team to beef up security, thus you have met,” he says.

  “That is correct,” I state.

  “What else?” he asks.

  I look at Jacob. “Why don’t you answer that question,” I say, since I have no idea what kind of ditch he’s driven me into. Just that I’m in one.

  “Royce notified him about the notes you’ve been receiving,” Jacob states, clearly trying to tell me that he didn’t do this, but he didn’t warn me either. “Both he and Lieutenant Ross felt my involvement in a more intimate way would be useful.”

  Intimate, my ass, I think, but I say, “The notes that my father has been receiving.”

  “That target you,” Jacob counters. “We both know you’re the real target.”

  “We don’t know,” I say, looking at my boss. “But yes,” I add, as if he’s asked, because he will, “I do suspect I’m the target, which is why I was going to tell you on my own this morning. I would have preferred to tell you myself. It’s not like this is my first threat. I know the procedures.”

  “Royce Walker would not call me and get involved if there wasn’t a real threat,” he says.

  “I didn’t suggest it wasn’t real,” I quip back at the inferred suggestion. “I assume all threats are real.”

  “I understand this one seems to have intimate details about your life,” Lieutenant Ross challenges.

  “That’s not verified,” I say, thinking I might just cuff Jacob and stick a sock in his mouth.

  “It’s personal or it’s not,” my boss presses, trying to back me into a confessional corner.

  He fails. “I can’t validate that it is or is not,” I reply. “A random incident might be nothing more than my paranoid creation. I have no facts to back that up.”

  “You don’t get paranoid,” he points out.

  “My father’s close to this,” I tell him. “And considering my history, this is an exception.”

  “What does your gut tell you?” he presses. “How serious is this?”

  I want to lie, but I hate lies, and I respect Lieutenant Ross, which means the trust is my only option. “My gut says that this is the real deal. This is a problem.”

  “Your gut feelings have solved forty cases,” he remin
ds me. “I choose to bet on you, and that means keeping you alive.” I open my mouth to argue, when he adds, “And everyone around you,” which shuts me up. I can’t, and won’t, risk other people’s lives and he knows it.

  “Jacob here will be your shadow,” he adds. “The story to the department is that Walker is helping with cold cases. Jacob will provide those man hours by helping you with those cases and any open investigations while his team offers our team support. In a perfect world, you two are golden together, and you find the bodies of a woman and her child and convict a billionaire CEO.” He glances at his watch. “And on that note. I have an IA asshole to deal with on an unrelated matter. That means you two need to get out of here.”

  I ignore the order to get out. “I work best alone,” I state, feeling as if Jacob is taking over my life and my good senses, based on my early trust. “I’ll work off-site. I’ll—”

  “Don’t finish that sentence,” he says, leaning forward to rest his arms on his desk. “You’re close to this. You feel paranoid. You are not yourself. In other words, you don’t work alone this time and if I let you, your uncle would crawl out of his grave and beat my face in. But yes. You work off-site, at the Walker offices, where they can protect you, which protects the rest of the team.”

  “With all due respect, Lieutenant Ross,” I begin. “This is not—”

  “—up for discussion,” he supplies. “We aren’t turning down free services that offer you protection, and us man hours to solve cases.” He points to the door. “Go.”

  Letting out a heavy breath, I accept my obvious defeat, and really truly, just hours ago, I felt I needed Walker Security, but now—now I question Jacob’s motivation, and that becomes a problem on top of a problem. But that is between me and him, and outside of this room, thus why I stand up. Jacob does the same beside me, and when I head for the door, my boss calls out, “Great job in court today, detective. Now use this asshole to find those bodies.”

  In other words, he heard me call Jacob an asshole, but I don’t care. Jacob is an asshole. The one I trusted. The one I kissed. The one I would have fucked, but he fucked me instead. He won’t fuck me again, or ever, if we’re being literal. I open the door and exit, walking through the workspaces and past my old desk, without stopping. I keep going, turning right into the hallway and by the time I’m on the steps, headed down to the basement, Jacob is by my side, big as usual, which I decide works for me. Further for him to tumble and harder for him to fall, which is exactly what will happen when were alone. I don’t plot how that will happen, though. I’m confident the right moves will just come to me.