In Her Sights (30 page)

She put her fingers to her keyboard and knew what this was
costing her. She’d do it though.
I’ll handle Alaska, regardless. Send me the
details.

What changed your mind?

Keep the money, too. In exchange, I want information.

Name it.

She pulled in a deep breath. This was it, taking this step.
She was about to be linked with Clayton for the rest of her life—in both sides
of her life.
Get me everything you can on Clayton Addison. Specifically,
when he lived in Georgia. I want a full file, but focus your attention on him
after he graduated from the police academy. Be intense on his personal life and
especially his work. Focus on Vice in the police department he used to work for,
too. I’m not sure what all you’ll find, but there’s a possibility some of it
will have been swept under a rug. Dig deep. Not a rush job.

She x’d out of the program and left her office. It would
take Kyle days, weeks, and longer if there was something covered up before he
was back with her on that file. She glanced at the dagger resting to the side
before leaving her office. She hated a damn thief, but how her life had changed
because of one.

She shook her head and left to tend to other things. She was
dressed to kill in a business suit. White pants and strappy high-heeled, white
sandals. A matching white jacket with a slim fitting, sleeveless royal blue
v-neck silk shirt under. The suit was set off by a pearl necklace and simple
pearl and diamond ear bobs. Today wasn’t about being comfortable or sexy. It
was about power.

As she marched through the lobby of the precinct with her
blonde hair neatly swept up in a well-tamed French twist, people turned their
heads to watch her.

She was angry. She was bothered at a man’s house early in
the morning. She was certainly not the woman who had barely slipped out of
Gillette before getting caught.

With her small, matching blue handbag secured under her left
arm, she addressed the receptionist. “Lexie Olympia to see Chief Carter,
please.”

The receptionist looked at Lexie briefly and then away. “Yes,
ma’am.” She pointed down a long hallway. “Just go down that hallway, make a—”

“I know the way.”

“Oh, well, then, go on back.”

Lexie was doing just that before she was ever given
permission. She turned the last corner and found a petite brunette with bad red
highlights sitting at a desk outside of Hal’s office.

“Ms. Olympia, if you’ll have a seat. Chief Carter is almost
finished with a previous appointment.”

Sit down on that dirty chair? In this white suit? Somehow, a
stain would lose the effectiveness of the power outfit. Lexie smiled at the
woman and chose to stand. Not pace, just solid standing with her hands clasped
in front of her.

Carter’s office was the last one in this hallway, making it
fairly quiet. When she heard footsteps coming down the hall, she turned to see
who might try to interrupt her appointment. As Clayton approached, a smile went
through her. Not just on her face, but a happy hug that warmed through her
limbs. He stopped at her side, decked out in a suit. He was cleaned up and
looking nice even with the bandage below his brow and the black eye.

She rubbed her finger over the bruise reaching to his cheek
bone. “You look worse.”

“Thanks.”

“Good. It always looks worse before it looks better. How are
your ribs?”

“Feel like they got the crap kicked out of them.”

She wanted to reach along his sides just to have another
feel, but that was a little too friendly for the police station. “Do I have to
guess why you’re here?”

“To remind the chief that if he wants video surveillance out
of my business, I’ll need a warrant. Two officers showed up this morning,
requesting to see the footage on your house.”

Her mouth fell open. She glanced around, wanting to say
something, but couldn’t. Not there, for God’s sake.

He smiled at her, and something inside un-furrowed and
relaxed. His large, warm hands rubbed a circle on her back and he moved in
closer, whispering in her ear. “When the officers couldn’t provide me with a
warrant, they left. I checked your contract. For most residences, we don’t keep
the footage long term. As many homes as we manage, there’s no point in holding
on to hours and hours of useless footage. Generally, the system saves up to two
weeks’ worth.”

Shit. So she was still in hot water because there were
cameras in her garage and there was no image of her leaving her house last
night but yet she appeared at Clayton’s.

He gave her a comforting pat. “But sometimes exemptions are
made for privacy, such as you requested. I checked your contract with us,
redrafted it, and swung by the house for Julia to sign off on, and backdated it.
Your stuff will delete every twenty-four hours unless we’re otherwise notified
or if an alarm is triggered.”

Now she knew why she’d instantly relaxed. He had her back,
thank goodness.

She met his gaze. “Thank you. If you could manage to provide
me with a few blind spots in your camera system, I would be eternally grateful.”

His brows dipped. “Out of the question, because then I have
to answer why there’s a big, gaping hole in your security if something happens.
And just because I was curious, I checked every last camera and angle, searching for how you got out, and found nothing. How are you doing it?”

“Magic.” She laughed.

A loud thwack came from within Carter’s office and silenced
any lingering humor. His secretary jumped in her seat.

“I don’t give a fuck how conveniently things are lining
up. I already told you to forget about her. I suggest you focus that attention
span of yours to that dagger and find it before somebody else does.”

“But, sir.”
Another man’s voice spoke up. Lexie knew
that voice, but she wasn’t sure because she hadn’t heard him speak with that
tone before.
“If you’ll just look at the evidence I collected. She’s—”

“I said, forget it. I’ve seen your evidence, and what you
have is nothing useful. Find something concrete, and then we can discuss this
further. Until then, I better not hear you utter a word about her or your
evidence or your theories. I’ve got enough ass to kiss now to make up for what
you’ve already done. Do you realize what that woman is capable of? Do you?”

Whatever the reply was, it had been spoken too low for her
to hear. The secretary looked their way. Clayton and Lexie both faced each
other. A silent look that said they’d talk about what was heard passed between
them.

Carter’s door opened. A pissed off man with chocolate brown
hair came out with a tick in his temple. Behind him was an equally hacked Adam
Breeze. The two men walked by. The first just cut his eyes over at them and
kept going without uttering a word.

“Mr. Addison. Ms. Olympia.” Adam walked by and nodded.

Clayton gave a quick nod back. “Detective.”

“Adam,” she said with a smile, but Adam didn’t return one. Not
that she blamed him. Clayton tightened his hold on her lower back and stepped
closer. Adam probably thought she had gone to dinner with him one evening and
spent the next rolling in Clayton’s bed all night. So be it. Her reputation
regarding her sexual relationships was the least of her worries at this point.

“He’s ready to see you now, Ms. Olympia,” Carter’s secretary
called out as Adam walked on.

“Mr. Addison will be joining me in my meeting.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She walked in, Clayton behind her, and Carter stood. She
greeted him with a light hug while Clayton got a handshake. She couldn’t help
but notice Carter’s shaking fingers just before they gripped Clayton’s hand.

“Lexie, what can I do for you?” He straightened a stack of
papers and sat behind his desk.

“I think you know why I’m here.”

Carter nodded. “Seeing Clayton here with you, I have a good
idea.”

“I do not appreciate being tracked down like a common
criminal as your officers did. And in the process they tell me my name was
related to some gangs?”

“I apologize for that. It’s an open investigation, and your
name got thrown in the pot,” he confessed in one breath.

“An investigation.” She touched her hand to her chest and
sat forward in her chair. “With my name?”

“I’m sorry, Lexie, the investigation is still open, making details
classified.”

She stood up and planted her hands on his desk so she could
lean over him. “Classified? I’ll see what Mayor Porter thinks about the way you’re
running your department. I’m sure she would love to hear how you sent your
officers out to hunt me down.”

Carter shifted under her gaze. His small pot belly rubbed against
the drawer handles of his worn, metal desk. It was known by most how Carter kept
a special place in his heart for the green-eyed Mayor. And how the Mayor
favored Lexie. It was one big, happy circle.

He shook his head. “No, not necessary, Lexie. Please have a
seat. The most I can say is we got a tip on a meeting set up in Gillette. A
dagger was mentioned and, according to some witnesses, it’s thought the dagger
ended up in your possession. The detectives thought you were an accomplice to
parts of it.”

“That’s ridiculous.” She jerked her head and lifted her chin
so she had to look down her nose to see him. Her momma had done that a lot.

“Yes, Lexie that’s what I said. You will not be bothered
again. I saw to it the moment I heard.”

“If that’s the case, then why were officers at my offices
today, requesting to see surveillance on Lexie’s home?” Clayton asked.

Carter’s mouth opened and closed several times. Sweat beaded
over his forehead. “I was unaware of that, Clayton. It won’t happen again.”

“Remind your detectives all surveillance at my offices are
confidential. All my clients sign and agree, with me guaranteeing that confidentiality.
A warrant will be needed for anything.”

“Of course. If I had cameras recording my home, I would like
to know it was private, too.”

She stood. They were done here. “Thank you, Carter.”

“One more thing, Lexie. Those men who broke into your home
claim you have a rare-looking dagger in your possession. White handle. Silver
holder. You might not be aware that the dagger is stolen. Are you familiar with
it?”

She smiled this time. “I collect swimsuits, not daggers.”

Clayton’s brow furrowed. “I remember reading about that a
few months ago. Was it stolen in California?”

“That’s right. Do you know anything about it?”

Clayton shook his head. “Nothing. I just remember hearing
about it being missing.”

She said a tense goodbye, and she and Clayton were out in the
thick of the lobby when her phone vibrated. “This is Uncle Gabe. I probably
have some explaining to do. I haven’t called him.”

“Maybe we can grab some lunch?”

She nodded and stepped to the side to talk. “I know I should
have called.”

“Yeah, I think so. A little warning would have been nice for
when that jackass detective walked in my office just now and began asking
questions about you. Some, I thought, were a little personal.”

She plugged her other ear to hear better. “One just showed
up there?”

“Not two minutes ago. I called as soon as he was out my
office.”

Meaning Adam left here and drove directly to Olympia a few
blocks over for answers. “What did he ask?”

“Personal questions about your friends, what buildings or
homes you owned. What kind of things you collected. I’m about to call Carter,
and this should be the last of that.”

She smiled. “Just walked out of his office, but you calling
would probably be a good idea, too.” She glanced to Clayton. All of this meant,
though, that Clayton was definitely right. She had to be careful with Adam.
Clayton looked at her, an eyebrow lifted, and she smiled at him. She owed him a
lot, and she actually had something she could do. “While I have you on the
phone, I want you to prepare that address on Peach Street that is rented by
Addison’s Security for sale as a rent-to-own. Price it low.”

“Lexie.”

“Do it.”

“That’s one of the best properties we acquired.”

“And last I checked, we weren’t about to go belly up. Get
the papers ready. I’ll be by this afternoon with Mr. Addison to sign.” She
disconnected and looked at Clayton. “What are you doing this afternoon? I have
a surprise for you.”

“I like surprises.” He walked her out of the building. “It’s
nothing I can’t rearrange. Give me a few hours and I can pick you up for lunch,
and then I’m all yours.”

“Sounds great.”

Lexie headed home, and her first order of business was to
check for any messages from Kyle. She woke the screen saver and went straight
to mail. The page loaded and gave a brief lesson on seven different women named
Janet Parker. None of them sparked anything useful, none of them looked the
type to hire out a gang, but one did look vaguely familiar.

Mid-thirties, and single. She lived in Texas, where she worked
as a third-grade teacher. Lexie studied the photograph, but just couldn’t place
her. This Janet had thin blonde hair that fell below her shoulders. Bright blue
eyes and full cheeks. If you looked up elementary-school teacher in the
dictionary, this woman would be there.

At the bottom of the email was a note

A source got with me and claimed an Arnold Pritchard
requested the dagger. Paid well for the theft.

That explains that. Arnold hadn’t bought it off someone. He’d
arranged the theft of that specific dagger and then got rid of it as soon he
took possession of it. She shook her head. Someone must have the man scared.

Lexie had nearly an hour to spare, so she went to change. It
was getting warmer every afternoon. Today, she pulled out that low V-neck blue
dress and slipped it on. She traded pearls for silver and blue earrings, then
switched her dress shoes for flats. Today, she fully planned to eat on the
patio, so she left her hair up.