Safe Haven Page 10

  She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips. He’d follow her to the office again, just as he had yesterday. And while yesterday it had annoyed her, today she felt differently. She wasn’t going to pretend to understand exactly what those feelings were or why she was feeling them now of all times. She just knew that he made her feel safe.

  She’d never met anyone quite like him.

  Chapter Seven

  “Shit, you look like road kill.”

  Kevin glanced up from the paperwork on his desk to Jake’s amused face. Dylan was standing next to him. “I think I am road kill.”

  “No sleep again?” Dylan asked.

  “Barely.”

  Dylan handed him another file. “I have a feeling you’re not going to get much tonight.”

  Kevin frowned. “Why?”

  “We’ve been looking through Carlisle’s files all morning,” Jake said. “We can’t find so much as a business card to connect him to anyone in Providence with illegal dealings. No phone calls. No business connections. Nothing.”

  “You’re forgetting Milo Brickster,” Kevin said, leaning back in his chair.

  “No, we’re not,” Jake said.

  Dylan leaned over the desk and opened the file. “Except for the fact that Brickster is a purported loan shark that gave George Carlisle quite a sizable loan, we have no other direct connection. All his business dealings are squeaky clean.”

  Kevin glanced at the paperwork. “What about an associate of Brickster’s? Someone at the salvage yard?”

  “Brickster is part owner of the salvage yard and Carlisle chose that spot for the meeting. It could be a coincidence because he knew Brickster. But I don’t think so.”

  Dylan pointed to a line on the paper. “There may be a silent partner. There seems to be a third party mentioned, but not by name. That immediately gave me some pause.”

  “Who’s the other owner?”

  Jake tapped the edge of the desk once with his fingers. “I did some checking. The other owner is Paul Cross. His record is squeaky-clean. A few parking tickets and an old DUI from about twenty years ago. Nothing since.”

  “Squeaky clean and he’s with Brickster? I wonder how that happened.”

  Kevin flipped open the file on the salvage yard. “Seems like Brickster has been a partner from the beginning. Purely a business deal. It’s not uncommon.”

  Dylan cocked his head to one side. “Brickster may have strong-armed his way in if Cross needed money.”

  Kevin shook his head. “That still doesn’t give us a connection to Carlisle. What about employees at the salvage yard? Have you checked any of those yet?”

  “Jake there’s a long list. I mean, how far do you want to go back on this?”

  “As far as it takes to find someone who may be suspicious.”

  “There is one name that I’m going to look into a little deeper,” Jake said. “Again, no connection to Carlisle yet, but he is from Daria’s neighborhood.”

  Jake raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Yeah, a few streets over. Has a long rap sheet, mostly drugs and disorderly conduct. Not exactly the type of guy you’d picture George Carlisle hooking up with. But then, neither is Brickster.”

  With his thumb and finger, Kevin rubbed the bridge of his nose. His eyes stung from finishing up his regular paperwork that had been neglected the last few days. He’d been at it for hours and nearly had it completed. It would keep Jorgensen off his back if he could show him watching Daria wasn’t effecting his job.

  Jake laughed and pulled a chair closer to the desk and sat down. “You signed up for this gig, Kevin.”

  “Yeah, I did. You don’t have to remind me.”

  Dylan sighed. “Look, I may as well tell you this now.”

  Kevin’s stomach fell. “What?”

  “My brother is missing.”

  “Missing?” Jake asked. “You mean, the brother who is DEA?”

  Dylan nodded. “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what Cash does. He’s been very closed mouthed about this case he’d been working on. No one has heard from him in over a month.”

  Kevin had a feeling there was more to this than Dylan was letting on. But he didn’t know Dylan well enough to press him. Dylan had been in the military before coming to the Providence PD. They hadn’t developed the same kind of relationship that Kevin and Jake had.

  “I’ll help you out where I can,” Dylan said. “But I want you to know that I’m going to be taking some time off to do some digging on what my brother was working on.”

  “Isn’t the agency looking for him?” Jake asked.

  “It’s kind of messy,” Dylan said, keeping his voice low.

  Kevin tried to hold back his disappointment. He’d be down one man. But he didn’t blame Dylan for choosing his priorities.

  “Family comes first, Dylan,” Kevin said, getting to his feet and extending his hand. The two men shook hands. “I appreciate your willingness to help me out here.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t do more.”

  Jake and Kevin watched as Dylan walked away. Then Jake said, “Not for nothing, Kevin, but no one would blame you if you pulled out of this. I mean, we’re onto Carlisle. We’ve got him covered. It’s only a matter of time until he trips up. And it’s not like you haven’t warned Daria Carlisle about what her ex-husband was up to. You put it all out on the table for her. She made her decision to stay. There’s nothing more you can do.”

  “I know you’re right.”

  Kevin did agree with everything Jake said. They were keeping a close watch on Carlisle. He had warned Daria of the danger she was in. Any other time that would have been enough. He would have continued to investigate and build a case against the perpetrator, and if the victim chose to stay and take the risk, well, then it was their call.

  “So what’s holding you back?”

  Kevin shook his head. “This is different. Everything about this is different than before.”

  “Including the woman?”

  Kevin pierced Jake with a stare.

  “Whoa!” Jake said, putting his hands up. “I’m just making an observation. I know where you’re coming from. You’ve told me about your sister’s friend, Lucy, and I’ve seen enough women like her over the years. I know you have, too. You’re always looking to rescue them from themselves. I’m just saying, you seem different with this one. “

  Kevin chuckled and rubbed his temples, fatigue getting the best of him. “She hates me being there, yet she brought me hot chocolate and an extra blanket last night. I think she really would leave if she could—she’s an intelligent woman and she knows she’s in danger— but she refuses to let it beat her.”

  “Not to mention she’s pretty.”

  He glared at Jake again, which earned him a laugh from his partner.

  “But you hadn’t noticed that, I guess.”

  The growing irritation that rose in Kevin was less from Jake’s ribbing and more because his partner was dead-on right. Yeah, everything about this case was different. Especially the woman.

  Daria was nothing like any other woman he’d known. And everything about her intrigued him, from her beautiful smile to her maddening stubbornness. But nothing had struck him as sharply as the loneliness he’d sensed from her that morning he told her what her ex-husband had done. She’d looked so utterly alone.

  Kevin’s family no longer lived in Providence, but he couldn’t imagine ever feeling as if he was truly alone.

  Sure, Kevin had grown up a few blocks away from the station where he now worked. He’d played in Little League with the husband of the dispatcher who worked at night. Providence was home. He knew all he had to do was say the word and half a dozen people would be at his door with help if he needed it.

  Daria knew nothing of that.
She’d been caught totally off guard when he’d told her what he’d been doing. Sure, part of it was out of his own guilt. But none of the guys who he’d hired to help him protect Daria had asked for money. Kevin had offered. He wanted to be fair. He didn’t know how long he’d be depending on them to help him out.

  Jake slapped a file folder on the desk in front of Kevin, pulling him from his thoughts. “She must be some woman to have a hold on you like this,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You disappeared on me in Daria Carlisle Land. I asked you what you knew about Marla Rickenberg’s relationship with George Carlisle.”

  “Daria’s assistant? As far as I know there isn’t any connection to her ex. Why? What do you have?”

  Jake shrugged. “Not much. Ski just called and said Carlisle was having lunch at Aluvia’s with a woman who strangely resembles Marla. What do you think?”

  A slow burn started in the pit of his stomach. Kevin looked at his partner. “I think Marla Rickenberg’s having lunch with George Carlisle is a little too close for comfort.”

  *

  Daria dropped her purse into the bottom drawer of her desk and fell hard into her desk chair. “Well, that was a total waste of time,” she said out loud even though no one was there to hear. Rubbing her temples, she closed her eyes and willed the throbbing in her head to stop.

  The little knock on the doorjamb had her looking up.

  “Do you have a second?” Marla asked, holding Daria’s coat in her hand.

  Pulling herself together, Daria straightened up at her desk and motioned Marla to come in.

  “Oh, you have my coat. Where did you find it?”

  “You draped it over my desk when you stopped by to tell me you were leaving for lunch early.”

  Relieved, Daria said, “I thought I left it back at the bank.”

  Marla closed the door behind her, hung the coat up on the coat rack and then sat down in the chair by the desk. By the look on Marla’s face, Daria knew this conversation wasn’t going to be good.

  “Please tell me you’re not quitting,” Daria said. “I’m not sure I could handle that after the day I’ve had.”

  Marla rolled her eyes and chuckled nervously. “I can’t even dream of quitting with the balances I have on my credit cards. No, it’s nothing like that.”

  Daria drew in a deep breath of relief. “Good. Then what’s up?”

  Marla looked at her hands in her lap and nibbled on her bottom lip.

  Daria laughed. “Come on. It can’t be that bad. What is it?”

  Marla hesitated a moment. “I had lunch with George today.”

  “George?” When Marla just looked at her as if she was afraid Daria would throw something at her, it clicked. “You mean you had lunch with my ex-husband?”

  Marla nodded and then quickly added, ‘It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but as soon as I got back, I started worrying that I might have crossed the girl-code line. If it’s going to bother you, I won’t do it again. I mean, I know you’re divorced and all, and you said you were over him—”

  “I am.”

  “But I don’t want this to be a problem for us. I really like you and I’d hate to think I was doing something to hurt you. Does it bother you?”

  Daria leaned back in the chair trying to get distance. Did she mind that Marla had lunch with her ex-husband? No. But she did question George’s motives for seeking Marla out. And she did worry about Marla and what she could be stepping into, given what was currently going on.

  “You’re mad. I can tell.” Marla stood up quickly. “I’m so sorry. I won’t do it again.”

  “No, no.” Daria waved off the comment. “It’s not what you think.”

  Marla sat down again. “Then what is it?”

  If Daria didn’t choose her words carefully, she’d end up sounding like a jealous ex-spouse. Nothing was further from the truth. Marla was a nice girl and although Daria didn’t always think the men she went out with were “relationship material,” Marla’s personal life was Marla’s choice. Not hers.

  But it was becoming increasingly clear that George Carlisle was steps beyond that. When she wasn’t looking, her ex-husband had become a monster. Maybe he’d always been and she hadn’t seen it. If that was the case, then Marla was an easy target, and Daria couldn’t allow her assistant to walk out of her office without Marla’s being put on guard about his behavior.

  “Did you call him or did he call you?”

  Marla chuckled. “Does it matter?”

  “Yes.”

  Appearing a little taken aback, Marla hesitated. “He called me and then he came to the office to pick me up after you left for lunch.”

  “I see.”

  “I should have asked you how you felt about it first, but I was afraid you’d be mad. Are you mad?”

  Daria shook her head. “Marla, you’re a big girl. You don’t need my approval to date someone. Even my ex-husband.”

  “But?”

  “George isn’t the person he seems.”

  With a drop of her shoulders, Marla said, “You are mad.”

  “No, really, I’m not. I just don’t want you to fall for all that charm without knowing what’s behind it. He can be very cunning.”

  Marla considered her words. “You were always so closemouthed about why you got divorced. Are those reasons what you’re trying to warn me about?”

  Those reasons seemed mightily irrelevant now. Back then, George hadn’t tried to hire a hit man to kill her.

  Marla went on. “I mean, George always seems so sweet. Like he loved you so much. I’d love for a guy to look at me that way. What did he do? Have an affair or something?”

  “Yes,” Daria admitted. But even the affair seemed like something insignificant today.

  Marla gasped softly. “Really?”

  “Among other things. He likes to show off money. I’ll bet he took you to some fancy restaurant.”

  “Aluvia’s.”

  Daria chuckled, shaking her head. “That had to set him back some. Money he, no doubt, didn’t have. You see, he likes people to think he has more than he does. He always finds a way to pay for it. But I never knew where that money came from, if you know what I mean.”

  It wasn’t exactly true. At least some of the money had come from a loan shark named Milo Brickster. But did she really need to go into that much detail? Daria liked Marla. She also knew Marla liked to talk, which was why it had always been difficult to confide in her during her divorce. The last thing she needed was people in her office talking about her and her failed marriage at the water cooler.

  “You mean, he’s one of those sleazy guys who takes up with rich widows and steals their money right from under them without them realizing it?”

  She could always count on Marla’s imagination to run wild. This time Daria let her think what she wanted.

  “I really don’t know where he got all his money. But to get the kind of money he needed, he dealt with some business associates’ that may not have been on the right side of the law. Even criminals have stock portfolios, and George meets a lot of people from all walks of life in his business. I didn’t stick around long enough to find out what kind of ‘business’ they had with George.”

  “Wow,” Marla said, nibbling on her thumbnail. “He doesn’t seem like that at all.”

  “No.” Admitting that left a sour taste in Daria’s mouth. “Look, you can do whatever you want. I’m not angry about you having lunch with George. Really, I’m not. I just want you to be careful. Will you promise me you’ll be careful?”

  Marla nodded and quickly got up and left the office. Daria was relieved when she closed the door behind her. Normally, Daria liked her office door open so she could see the movement outside. She spent so much time alone at home that she liked the casual interaction when someone just popped in at her door to say hello.

  But Daria didn’t want the distraction. There was too much on her mind, not the least of
which was her protector, Detective Kevin Gordon.

  It amazed her how different Kevin was from her ex-husband. Just this one conversation with Marla put it all in perspective for her. They were opposite ends of a spectrum. It was hard to believe she’d been married to George at all.

  Where George had been all about impressing others with his money, Kevin used what he had unselfishly and didn’t expect anything in return. He was using his own money and his precious time to keep her safe. What kind of man did that?

  A man with a gentle heart. This was a man Daria wanted to know better.

  Regardless of her feelings for Kevin, which she was having an increasingly difficult time ignoring, she needed to sort through her options.

  But she had a lot of thinking to do now that her business at lunch had been a bust. It was on to plan B. She just had to come up with a plan B by the time she had dinner with Kevin.

  Chapter Eight

  Kevin was sitting in his car as Daria pulled into the driveway. A strange comfort, mixed with apprehension, washed over her. Reaching across the bench seat, she collected her lunch bag and purse before stepping out of the truck.

  As she turned towards Kevin’s SUV, she noticed he hadn’t budged. He was staring at her with the look of a man who’d been faced with a death sentence. She wasn’t really sure she wanted to know the reason for his mood, but she’d started this game by inviting him to dinner that morning and she’d be damned if she was going to back down now.

  “Aren’t you coming inside?” she finally said, walking the few paces down the driveway to the curb. He hesitated before climbing out of his vehicle, slamming the door behind him.

  “What is Marla Rickenberg’s relationship with your ex?” he asked before taking another step closer.

  A strange burning coiled tight in her belly seemed to rise up in degrees, squeezing the breath from her lungs. That hadn’t taken long at all, Daria thought. Ever since those flowers came yesterday, all Marla could do was talk about George. Daria wasn’t blind enough to see that Marla was fishing for information. Being a woman, she knew the look of woman interested in a man.

  She worried her bottom lip. “Why do you ask?”