Wicked Ties (Steele Security Series) (6 page)

T
he smell of bacon frying and coffee percolating woke Bull from the best sleep he’d had in memory.  Momentarily alarmed by the unfamiliar sounds and smells, it took him a moment to remember that Chaise was in the house with him.  He silently rose from his chair, noting that she was missing from the couch, and he silently crept into the kitchen.  He watched her from the doorway for several minutes without her ever knowing he was there. 

The thought that she was being too reckless with her safety by being unaware of her surroundings crossed his mind and he had every intention of chastising her for it.  Then he realized that she’d somehow walked past him, made herself at home in his kitchen, and had their breakfast almost fully cooked before he even realized anything.  He decided that the chastising should really be more of a discussion about general safety precautions.

Besides, he really enjoyed watching her cook, in his kitchen, wearing her tight spaghetti strap tank top and cotton pajama shorts.  She was making herself at home, but at the same time, she was also making sure to take care of him.  No one had taken care of him, other than his brothers having his back, since he’d left home.

“Something smells good,” Bull finally stated, making his presence known.  The sudden intrusion made her jump and let out a startled shriek.  Bull’s smile grew wider, reaching his eyes and making them dance with mischief.

“Colton Lanier!” she playfully yelled while laughing, “You will stop scaring me!” 

Chaise tried to sound stern but she just couldn’t do it when Bull was smiling at her like that.  She stood transfixed, rooted to the floor as she watched him move
toward her with his confident gait.  His massive muscles flexing and contracting, his keen eyes assessing but also holding an unusual glint of humor, and one side of his mouth curled up in a sexy half-grin. 
The man just woke up and he still looks sexy as hell,
she thought.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked as he stalked
toward the plate of crispy bacon.

“Oh, no you don’t, Mr. Lanier!” 

Bull’s grim look conveyed that he’d been appropriately chastised so Chaise turned back to the stove to finish cooking.  Bull snatched a piece of bacon when she wasn’t looking and promptly chomped on it.  The crackling noise made Chaise’s head spin back toward him and he immediately stopped chewing.  She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him but he feigned an innocent look.  She turned her head back and then quickly snapped it back to him just as he started chewing again.

She chased him out of the kitchen with a towel wound up, ready to snap him with it.  They both laughed good-naturedly, genuinely enjoying the playful banter and easy-going morning lightheartedness.  Chaise dared to hope
that the new repartee signaled a positive shift in their relationship.

“You’re going to make me overcook the eggs!” she playfully admonished him.  Bull’s smile lit up his face again as he popped the rest of the bacon in his mouth and aggressively chewed it in front of her.

“Here, let me help,” he said, setting the plates and forks on the table.

Chaise looked at the plates and back to Bull, “That’s it?  That’s helping?” she asked with a straight face.  For a few seconds, Bull looked unsure of how to answer that trick question.  Unable to hold back her smile, Chaise quickly turned around to hide her face from Bull’s all-knowing gaze.  Soon, she was unable to hold in her laughter and her shoulders started bouncing up and down as she covered her mouth with one hand.

She was suddenly hoisted in the air by strong arms that surrounded her and heard Bull’s teasing voice, “Are you making fun of me, Chaise
Martin
?”

She squealed with amusement and screamed, “
The eggs!
”

Bull lowered her body back down, skimming his front with her back.  The electricity arcing off of their bodies should have short-circuited everything within a fifty-mile radius.  When Chaise looked over her shoulder at Bull, the sultry, sweltering look he held would have melted steel. 

Bull’s hands rested on her waist, still holding her tightly to him, and he knew if he merely bent his head, their lips would touch and the damn eggs could burn to ashes.  He felt his head incline slowly toward her, his eyes flitting back and forth between her plump lips and her accepting eyes.  The memory of last night’s kiss was on both of their minds, fueling the fire raging between them.

The shrill sound of his cell phone jolted him back to reality and he quickly let go of
her, putting distance between them physically and mentally, before walking off to pick up his phone. Looking quickly at the screen, he noted it was Rebel before he answered, “Yeah, man.”

Chaise listened to Bull’s clipped end of the conversation but was unable to ascertain anything of use from it.  Putting the food on the table, she filled their glasses with juice and filled her plate.  She considered waiting for Bull to join her before she started eating but, petulantly, decided against it.  As Bull finished his phone call, Chaise was finishing her breakfast.  After rinsing the breakfast dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, she wordlessly left the room to shower and dress. 

Knowing what the day held—her interrogation by the Steele Security team—she was not in a hurry to finish her morning ritual.  The endless questions, the uncomfortable probing, the dubious glances, and the new issue of claustrophobia made the day downright dreadful.  Now, with the mixed signals and wishy-washy temperament of Bull added, the day instantly became infinitely worse.

An hour later
, when she left her room, she heard multiple male voices coming from the kitchen.  Slowly and quietly skirting down the hall, she tried to covertly listen to their conversation before they became aware of her presence.  The chatter suddenly stopped and she knew the team had detected her presence.  It was their job, after all, but she’d hoped to at least get an idea of what she would be walking into.

Rounding the corner into the kitchen, she noted Rebel and Shadow sitting at the table with Bull.  Bull was fully facing her and their eyes locked. 
The desire was still there, simmering like lava beneath the earth’s surface, hidden by his cool exterior.  She liked that he reacted that way to her, but sensed any movement in their current status would have to be initiated by her.  Bull’s sense of professionalism and duty was deep and strong—he wouldn’t likely make the first move on a client.

She’d purposely dressed in a short, light green dress that made her mint green eyes sparkle.  It wasn’t overly provocative but it wasn’t boring
, either.  The V-neck halter tied around her neck, leaving it open to her mid-back.  The loose fitting silhouette along with the gracefully flowing hemline made her lean legs go on forever.  She paired it with long, elegant necklaces and light brown Grecian sandals to show off her dainty, painted toes.

Bull had been leaning on his forearms on the table
, but the sight of Chaise in that dress had him sitting up at full attention.  Her beauty was mesmerizing and had his thoughts racing about being alone with her again.  The attraction was undeniable, like a moth to the flame, just as hot and just as likely to be burned. 
If this is being burned
, Bull thought,
I can definitely handle the heat.

He watched the slight blush creep up Chaise’s slender neck to her cheeks, turning them a light shade of pink.  She no doubt knew the look of a man who appreciated her beauty.  Knowing she was just as affected as he was, and not hiding it, made her even more attractive to
Bull.

“We were just talking about you.  Perfect timing, Chaise,” Bull’s smooth voice welcomed her. 

Smiling, she responded, “Good morning, Rebel, Shadow.  And just what were you guys saying about me?”

Shadow started first, “Good morning, Chaise.  I conducted a search for anything on Aura Perez but I found nothing of use.  There’s no missing persons report on file for her.  Do you know why that would be?”

Chaise stopped in mid-step, shocked and unblinking before answering, “N – no.  There’s no report?  You’re sure?  Her mom said she filed it.  She was worried
sick
.” 

Chaise took a seat at the table, confusion and unrest imprinted in her features. She looked at each man and found only his assessing stares in return.  “I don’t understand.  What happened to her missing
person report?  No one’s been looking for her all this time?”

Shadow’s deceptively calm voice set her nerves on edge, “There wasn’t a report filed, Chaise.  I checked for electronic reports and paper reports.  I’ve talked to all my contacts at the sheriff’s department.”

“No, that’s not right!  Someone told you wrong,” Chase adamantly refused to believe her ears. 

Shadow looked at Bull and Bull took over the conversation, “Chaise, I think it’s time you start from the beginning and tell us everything.”

Chaise nodded but Bull noted the apprehension and tension settle in her face.  “Okay, from the beginning.  I’m an HR consultant, working under contract at Viboro Distributing.  Aura was my intern.  She was attending the University of Miami and was assigned to help me with all the cross-referencing data.”

Rebel interjected, “Who assigned her to you?”

Chaise stumbled at his question, “Um, I’m not sure what you mean.  She was waiting for me at Viboro and she said she was my intern.”

“So, you didn’t negotiate to have an intern?  The managers at
Viboro didn’t introduce the two of you?” Rebel pressed.

Chaise gave it some thought before answering, “No, she was waiting outside the office I was assigned to when I got there.”

“Okay, go on,” Bull encouraged.

“Part of my job is to make sure all the paperwork
matches—cross matching dates in the personnel files and payroll files—to make sure they’ve maintained accurate records.  I started finding discrepancies in the hire and termination dates between the personnel files and the payroll files.  Two different areas maintain them but they’re supposed to communicate with each other. 

“At first, I didn’t think anything about the
discrepancies—there were only a couple in the first dataset.  I find that in every large corporation.  The paperwork gets lost, someone keys in a wrong date, and usually it’s no big deal to correct it.  But then I kept finding them and started making a comprehensive list of names, addresses, and birth dates.”

Bull repositioned himself, eager to learn more and dig further into the developing mystery.  “Do you still have the list?”

Chaise regarded him for a moment before answering, “Yes, I have it.”

“That’s great.  We can easily check that list against our databases,” Shadow answered.

“Shouldn’t I finish telling you everything before you just jump in and take over everything?” Chaise probed irritably.

Rebel couldn’t contain his amusement.  “I like her,” he said to Bull and Shadow, “By all means, please continue, Chaise.  We’re all ears.” 

“I noticed every name on the list was a Latino girl, between eighteen and twenty-two years old, and it all was just too suspicious for me to ignore.  At first I thought it was a blatant issue of racial profiling, but when I searched for a couple of them online, I found the fliers saying they were missing persons.  One after the other, Aura and I kept finding missing girls—all from Viboro Distributing, all Latino, and all very young. 

“I told Aura to stop investigating it and leave it to me.  I had the feeling we’d already raised too many suspicions with our questions.  The next day, she didn’t show up or call, so I went to her house.  Her mother was absolutely distraught.  She said Aura hadn’t come home or called,” Chaise finished.

“Did you call the police?” Rebel asked.

“No,” Chaise answered tentatively, “I asked the head of security a few questions, but that didn’t work out so well.  Several strange things happened after that.  That’s why I ended up at Noah’s
wedding—I didn’t know what to do.”

“Do you remember where Aura’s mother lives?” Rebel asked.

“Yes.”

“Good.  Let’s go talk to her mom today,” Bull answered.

“All right,” Chaise answered before asking, “Can you take me to pick up my company car?  I left it at the wedding reception yesterday.”

“Sure,” Bull answered but Chaise didn’t miss the suspicion
in his eyes. 

He still doesn’t truly believe me
, she thought solemnly.

Chaise rode with Bull, giving him directions to Aura’s house, while Rebel and Shadow took a separate vehicle.  When they arrived at the small house in the Hialeah Gardens area of Miami, Bull watched Chaise take a deep breath before exiting the car.  They walked together to the front door while Rebel and Shadow kept watch around the perimeter of the house.

Bull knocked on the door, and when it opened, he was surprised to see an elderly Chinese man answer.  He looked at Chaise, questioning her with his eyes, but she shook her head in confusion and had no answer for him.  Bull turned back to the gentleman and gave him a warm smile.

“Hello, we are looking for Mrs. Perez.  Is she home?”  Bull asked.