Page 13 of These White Lies
When she regains her composure, I wait a beat, and then ask, “Do you and your ex have any common enemies? Someone looking to hurt you both?”
Elizabeth blinks. Her mouth opens, then closes again. She licks her lips, hesitation flashing in her eyes before she nods slowly. “Some of Keith’s affairs were with our married clients. High-profile ones. But that was years ago. I haven’t spoken to Keith in years.”
Luke scribbles something. “No contact is good. It?—”
“He’s been calling me,” she says, cutting him off.
That gets our attention.
“Calling?” I ask.
Elizabeth doesn’t hesitate this time. Either she’s decided I’m not the enemy or she’s getting used to my presence.
“I didn’t recognize the number at first, so I didn’t answer. He left some messages. The first one said he needed to talk to me. That it was important.”
“Did you call back?”
She shoots me a glare. “No. I deleted the rest of the messages, too. Whatever he wanted to say, I didn’t care. Our divorce wasn’t amicable.”
“Damn.” Luke exhales.
I rub my jaw. “The carrier could still have them in their cloud storage. I might be able to recover the voicemails.” My gaze slides to Elizabeth. She looks exhausted. “I think that’s enough to get us started.”
She reaches for her purse. “I need to get to the office.”
“Did you bring a car?” I smile, bracing for what I know will be her reaction.
Her delicate brows bunch together. “No?”
“Great.” I push away from the desk. “I’ll drive.”
She stares at me, then Luke, and finally back to me, her jaw clenched.
“No, thank you.”
“Seems silly to take two cars when we’re going to the same place.” My smile remains in place, but I know she hears the steel underneath when her eyes flash.
“I’m not hiring you.”
“You don’t have to.” I jerk a thumb at Luke. “He already did.”
“No.”
I lift my eyebrows. “No… what? No, you don’t want me to drive, or no, you want to pay me yourself.”
Her breath hisses out like an angry cat, and my cock perks up with interest. I much prefer this version of Elizabeth to the broken woman a few minutes ago.
“I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“Yes, you do.” Luke’s voice is firm.
Elizabeth’s expression turns mutinous, and suddenly I’m done playing.
“Someone not only accessed your security system, they had the skills to cause a neighborhood blackout. For whateverreason, this person or persons think you have something they want. This isn’t a garden-variety crime of opportunity, sweetheart. This was a well-planned, well-executed operation that has so far resulted in one dead body. Do you want to add to that count?”
“And you think havinghimby my side is the answer?” She keeps her gaze on Luke.
“Yes.”
