If It Walks Like A Killer (The Carolina Killer Files #1) (3 page)

Chapter Six

Caide

“Come in.” It was Caide’s first day back at the office since the accident and he was staring at a mound of paperwork. His door opened and he immediately smelled the familiar vanilla perfume.

“Good morning, Blaire, how are you?”

She shut the door, sitting down on the corner of his desk.

“I’m okay. How are you feeling? I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’m okay, just a bit of a sore shoulder. I didn’t get it too bad. It was Davis who got hurt the worst.”

Blaire smiled and inched closer to him. “Aren’t you going to say you missed me too?”

“Blaire,” he said testily.

“Caide.” She smiled, touching the hem of her skirt.

“I’ve told you I can’t.”

“Yes, but I’ve told you what Rachael doesn’t know—”

“Would hurt her. You should go. I’ve got a lot to catch up on.” He stood up, walking to his door.

“You’re just going to keep lying to yourself then? What about all the dinners and drinks? You were married then. I see the way you look at me, Caide. If you truly didn’t want me, if you truly didn’t want us, I’d back off. I’m not stupid, and I’m not desperate, but if you’re in a marriage because of loyalty rather than love, you deserve better. You deserve to be happy.” She was dangerously close to him now.

He opened his door. “You should go.”

She smiled at him painfully before leaving his office. He shut the door quickly before heaving a sigh of relief. He hadn’t made it back to his desk yet when there was another rap at his door.

“Yes?” he called.

“Caide?” Mr. Mason nodded politely to him. “I hadn’t had a chance to say hello this morning. How is everyone? Back in working order?”

Caide laughed. “I don’t know if you could ever call us in working order, but we’re all much better, thank you. We appreciate you giving me the time off for us all to recover.”

“Of course. Though, I’m afraid we’ve let the place crumble while you were away. I tell you, Caide, I don’t know what we’d do without you. Your dad sure didn’t know what he was doing letting us snatch you up.” He chuckled.

“Yes, sir.”

“Have you talked to Malcolm lately?”

Hearing his father’s name rubbed Caide like a sunburn. “I make it a habit not to.”

“Right. Well, I came to tell you that since you’ve been gone we rescheduled our meeting with Mr. Mock.”

“I’m sure he was delighted about that.”

“Well, he understands that we need you at our meetings. However, we had to reschedule for tonight. Please tell me you can make it?”

Caide didn’t have to think about it. “Yes, sir. What time?”

“Bart and I will leave early to get the table. I’ll need you and Blaire to come right after work. Just ride together so there won’t be a delay.”

“Blaire?”

Mason looked confused. “Well I’m sure you know we’ll need her there. We’ll need someone who knows what our schedules look like and you’ve got enough on your plate without having to worry about scheduling future appointments.”

“I don’t mind. It’s no trouble.”

“Nonsense, Caide. Blaire has already agreed.” He paused spying the look on Caide’s face. “Unless that’s a problem?”

“No, of course not. I just prefer bringing Brian.”

“Brian is busy tonight, or we would. His wife has a doctor’s appointment that he can’t miss. Just make sure the two of you are on time tonight, you know how Mock is, I want to make sure he gets the right impression…especially after we had to reschedule.”

“Of course, sir. We will be there.”

“Great. Okay, well I’ll let you get back to work then.”

Caide nodded. “I’ll see you this evening then.”

Mason shut the door as he left the office. Caide walked to his window and peeked out the blinds into the lobby. Once Mason was well out of earshot he rushed to Brian’s desk.

“Thanks for calling Mason and Meachum Law Office, this is Brian speaking. How may I help you? Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. Right, I understand. I apologize for that. Of course. I can have him call you back before the end of the day today. Yes, sir. I’ll make sure of it. I apologize again. Yes, sir. Thank you.” He hung up the phone, looking embarrassed.

“Everything okay?” Caide asked.

“That was Mr. Woolard again. I told him you’d call him today. He said you never returned his call.”

“Oh. Brian, I’m sorry. It completely slipped my mind. I’ll call him back before I do anything else.”

Brian nodded. “That’s all right, sir. No problem. You’ve got a lot on your mind right now. I understand.”

“Thanks. Listen, I need you to do me a favor.”

Brian stood up from his desk. “Anything. What can I do for you?”

“I need you to go with me to this dinner tonight with Mason and Meachum.”

Brian’s expression sank. “Sir, I can’t. I’ve missed the last two doctors’ appointments. Gwen will kill me. We find out what we’re having this afternoon. She’d never forgive me if I missed this.”

Caide nodded, mentally cursing the bad timing of it all.

Brain sighed. “Well if it’s important maybe I can see if she’ll reschedule. Or maybe I could ask her Mom to go with her. Or maybe I can just be late. What time do you think the dinner would be over?”

Caide held up his hand in protest. “No, don’t be ridiculous. Of course not, go be with your wife. Congratulations. I didn’t even know she was expecting.”

Brian looked confused. “Sir, you sent us a gift congratulating us when we found out. Four months ago?”

Caide nodded again, reminding himself to thank Rachael for always being one step ahead of him. She never missed a beat.

“Of course I did. I’m sorry. The accident has me all messed up. Congratulations again.”

Brian nodded, visibly relaxing. “Thank you, sir.”

Caide forced a smile and walked back to his office, defeated.

Well, damn.

***

“Have a good night, Randy,” Caide called to the janitor who was busy cleaning the windows. He walked out the door to find Blaire already waiting by his car.

“You’re driving,” she said simply.

He opened his door, climbing in before unlocking her side. She stared straight ahead, obviously not letting go of the day’s previous events.

“Blaire look, I don’t know what to say to you. You’re great, you know that. Some guy will be lucky to have you—some very, very single guy. We have to work together and I don’t want some big awkward cloud hanging over our heads, Mason and Meachum are bound to notice.”

“Oh, come on, Caide. We both know they don’t notice anything. We’ve worked together for seven years. You’ve led me on for seven years. Do you even know how that feels? All the dinners and the drinks and the late night phone calls? All the times I’ve stayed late just to talk to you when you and Rachael were having problems? It wasn’t just business, it’s never been just business between us. You can’t keep pretending. I see how you act when you’re wife is around, how you look at her. I just feel sorry for you, Caide. I can’t imagine how exhausting it must be to pretend to be so in love all the time. It could be better than that, it should be better. You just, you make me feel like a child, like this is all one sided, but it’s not. You can’t believe that it is.”

“Blaire, yes, okay? I’ve led you on. Of course I have. God, you’re beautiful and ambitious and fun, but Rachael and I have gone through rough patches. We’ve been through several, actually, and I’ve used you to get through them. I know it’s wrong. I know you deserve better. I can’t give you what you want, Blaire, I know I’ve made you feel like maybe someday I could, but I’m not a good guy. I’m not good for you. I have two kids to think about and a wife who, despite our problems, has never been anything but good to me. Everything I do affects them. I just can’t do this. I’m sorry. I am. I wish I could make this easier.”

Blaire was silent for a second, looking out the window. “You hide behind your family because you’re scared of what will happen if you admit the truth. You’re scared of what will happen if your perfect little world shatters. The world isn’t perfect and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how people see you or what anyone thinks, it matters how you feel about yourself. Whether or not you are happy. Just tell me you’re happy, and I’ll back off.”

Caide was still, watching Blaire’s hands shake in anger.

“You aren’t a bad guy, Caide.” She looked toward the window attempting to hide her tears. “You’re trying to do the right thing and I know that. I just wish the right thing didn’t have to hurt so badly.”

Caide felt a lump in his throat as they pulled up to the parking meter. “Can we just do this dinner tonight? Just get through it civilly and then we’ll talk some more on the way home?”

Blaire nodded, pulling down her mirror to adjust her makeup. Caide, unsure of what to do, politely opened his door and waited outside for her to collect herself. Once she was finished they walked into the restaurant together, smiles filling their faces like nothing was wrong.

Chapter Seven

Blaire

Blaire and Caide walked quietly to the car, waving politely to Mr. Mock. Mason gave them a discreet thumbs up. They climbed into Caide’s car in silence, the smiles disappearing from their faces. Blaire was unsure of what to say or how to approach the subject again. Caide Abbott was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. She’d never been the smartest or the richest, but Blaire had always known she was the prettiest. She wasn’t necessarily conceited, it was just a truth she’d grown to live with. Being pretty had made her independent. She’d known from a young age that if she ever wanted to make it out of her small town she’d have to work her butt off to get a scholarship and that’s exactly what she’d done. She’d put herself through college and gotten a degree that would land her a job with power, one that would make the world listen to her. Finally, she’d be in a position to make people see her as more than just a pretty face. When the time had come, she’d found herself on the doorstep of Mason and Meachum Law Office. It was the biggest karmic joke ever that she’d worked so hard only to settle for being a secretary. Seven years later and still she stayed. She’d stayed for Caide. Despite what everyone said, despite the pitiful looks she received from the all-knowing eyes at the office, Caide had been falling for her. Maybe he wasn’t now, she couldn’t be sure, but at one point he was. Because of that, he’d made her love him. He was the first man whose eyes didn’t go directly to her chest when he spoke to her. He treated her with respect, and that was something Blaire had never been given before.

Suddenly the car stopped, interrupting Blaire’s thoughts. She stared at her front door.

“My car is at work.”

He stared straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel with both hands.

Blaire grabbed his hand. “Dude, my car is at work.”

He turned and looked at her, her heart fluttered. They stared at each other, unmoving and silent for what seemed like a lifetime to Blaire. Then despite everything he’d been saying all night, despite every feeling he’d denied, he was kissing her. He kissed her like it was the last time he’d ever kiss anyone, like she was oxygen and he couldn’t catch his breath. He kissed her like she was his lifeline, like he was dying. He kissed her deeper than she’d ever been kissed. He kissed her like he loved her. Then, just like that, it was over.

“You should go.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Caide, please. You can’t keep doing this to me.”

And they were kissing again. His hands filled her hair, his thumbs rubbing her cheeks. The kiss was sweeter this time, her tears rubbing onto his face. They kissed for what could’ve been hours, maybe even years. Blaire’s heart raced and her skin blazed. They gripped each other tightly, grasping for air, not wanting to stop.

“I love you,” came his breathless whisper.

She’d heard it, but she couldn’t believe her ears. He was still kissing her, his hands running over her head and shoulders. She pulled back, though it broke her heart to do so. “What?”

The realization of what he’d said resonated on his face. He was silent, his mouth hanging open.

“Caide? What did you say?”

Blaire recognized the lack of emotion in his eyes then; it resurfaced, like it had never left.

“You should go.”

“Caide?” She begged him to repeat himself, grabbing his arm tightly.

He shrugged her off. “Damn it, Blaire. Go.”

She jumped back, unable to comprehend what was happening.

“We crossed a line tonight.” It was barely a whisper. He wiped every trace of her off of his lips. “We crossed a line tonight, Blaire. It can never happen again. I need you to understand me. Never. Now go.”

She blinked, trying to clear her head which was still fuzzy from their kiss. She reached for the door handle, unable to speak. She exited the car with her head held high, never looking back. She resisted the urge to wipe away his kiss, though her lips were still burning and red. When she reached her door she opened and shut it quickly, barricading herself behind it. She watched through the blinds as he drove away, praying he’d stop, praying he’d run up her doorstep and demand to see her, to apologize, to explain everything, maybe even to kiss her again. As his taillights faded down the dark street she heaved a sigh of relief, feeling the all-too-familiar tears flood her eyes. She walked to her bedroom, sank into her bed, still fully dressed, and then like so many nights before she allowed herself to drift to sleep crying over Caide Abbott.