Cliffhanger (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book One) (2 page)

Belinda narrowed
her eyes, daring him to say it.

After a
ten-second stare down he crumpled. "You get on me for things
constantly," he mumbled.

"Don't
worry," Victoria said. "I'll look after her."

That conversation
knotted up Kyle's good mood and he turned all frowny faced for the rest of the
night. Belinda knew how sensitive he was to that topic, and she hated trying to
bring it up around him. But she felt confident that the reunion after-party, as
Victoria had called it, would be fine. And if it wasn't, she wasn't obligated
to stay. Belinda would just turn around and zip back home. Done and done. She
left Kyle to his video games and went to unpack and find an appropriate outfit
for the party.

Chapter 2

Bennett Tate
adjusted the final camera in the Mayhew house hallway and climbed down the
stepladder. Private party jobs were both simple and tricky. Simple because
there usually wasn't as much space to cover and his clients generally asked for
basic security. Tricky because they also wanted everything incredibly low-profile,
which was easier said than done. But Bennett had managed to develop an event
security firm known for its transparency and discretion at these sorts of
events. He'd done it before, he could do it again.

He jogged to the
room down the hallway that served as his headquarters, his anticipation
building as it got closer to party time. His associate, Finnegan, manned the
desk at that moment, checking all the cameras to make sure everything worked.
They still had plenty of time before guests were set to arrive, but Bennett
liked to be ahead of the game. He crossed behind Finnegan's seat, leaning over
to see that they had visuals on all sides.

"Everything's
ready," Finnegan said, chomping on a piece of gum.

"Is that
what you're wearing?"

Finnegan checked out
his black windbreaker. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. I
just want you to blend in. As far as the guests are concerned, we're not
supposed to exist."

Finnegan frowned.
"What about Rachel?"

"She's
blending in too. This is a quick job. Shouldn't be much trouble with this
crowd."

"Except that
the client's paranoid someone will steal from him."

"Look at
this place." Bennett demonstrated by glancing around the room. "Do
you blame him?"

"No. But
it's an odd setup to have your friends over."

From the size of
the guest list, Bennett doubted his client knew any of them that well. It
looked like more of an opportunity to show off. "We're just here to do a
job, so quit worrying about it."

Finnegan flicked
the top of his ear. "Am I on the outside again?"

"Just like
we talked about. You can casually walk around once or twice if you want to, but
be cool about it. We don't want to arouse suspicion."

"Wouldn't
dream of it." Finnegan twirled his thumbs. "Maybe I'll nab a hot date
from this."

Bennett set a
firm hand on Finnegan's shoulder. "No harassing the guests. You've already
annoyed one client in that department."

"I wasn't
harassing her guests."

"No, you
were harassing her."

Finnegan smirked.
"She would've been worth it."

"Yeah,
except she already had a boyfriend with more money and muscles than you."
He liked Finnegan. Most of the time. But he could be incredibly ridiculous.
"You're fortunate she found it amusing and kept it to herself." And
they were fortunate that she wasn't that influential in the community.

Finnegan swiveled
around in his chair. "At least I try. You bring in someone hot like Rachel
for a job and you just completely ignore her." He leaned forward.
"She's totally been flirting with you, man. If she flirted with
me..."

Bennett's gray
eyes tightened. "You know what, go home and change. You're not dressed
appropriately."

"Change into
what?"

"Something
less casual. Hurry up. Guests should be arriving in less than an hour."
Finnegan slumped out the door, his thin shoulders drooping. "Put on a
blazer!"

Bennett picked at
the tip of his chin, staring blankly at the laptop computer screens displaying
empty hallways, except for the occasional caterer. By the time Finnegan
returned in slightly better apparel, guests had trickled into the living room,
cleared of furniture to serve as a dance floor. That should be interesting,
Bennett thought, examining the few people who had showed up so far. If nothing
else, maybe the job would be entertaining.

~ * ~

Belinda felt the
music reverberate across the stone driveway before she actually heard it.
Apparently, Stellan Mayhew still knew how to party. She dropped her keys in the
valet's palm, trying to stop herself from mussing her updo, smoothing down the
hem of her silk halter top to give her hands something to do. Belinda took one
last deep breath of salt air as a woman wearing feather earrings checked her
name off a digital list and swung open the door for her.

She stepped into
what she remembered being the Mayhew house living room, which was really just a
showpiece. She never remembered actually sitting there. The room was
unrecognizable as a DJ played the latest dance music from his laptop and pink
and blue lights followed the thrashing bodies around the open floor. Most of
her former classmates clung to the side walls, relaxed against the mantle, or
hung over the second-story railing to watch. Belinda examined her options and
not seeing anyone she recognized immediately downstairs, she went up.

Belinda heard a
squeal before she reached the top. How did anyone have the lung capacity to
overcome the
thump
,
thump
,
thump
of the bass line? Victoria shuffled over on her tiptoes, practically on her toe nails from the height of her
heels. Belinda still had to hunch over a little to give her a hug. Before she'd
said hello, Victoria gripped her wrists and led her into a hallway, past what
looked like a security guard, and onto a balcony looking out over the ocean.

"I like our
little piece of property," Victoria said, the moonlight highlighting her
splash of orange hair, "but this is still the best location in
Portside." She took Belinda's hand again. "So Kyle didn't come with
you."

Belinda shrugged,
butterflies swarming in her stomach. "Things will never be the same for
him."

"We'll never
be the same for him."

"Not you. He
still loves you and Dan. It's just...the accident kind of took all the fun out
of this place."

"I'm shocked
he came back."

Belinda pulled
hair out of her mouth, her coif slowly falling apart at the seams with the
breeze. "Well, living in our old home sure beats what we'd have on our
own. And our parents would rather we live there than leave it empty whilst they
travel the world." Victoria leaned back on the railing and pooched out her
stomach. Belinda crooked an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me
something?"

Victoria gazed
coyly at the moon. "Maybe."

"Do I detect
the beginnings of a bump?" Victoria nodded emphatically. "Too much
ice cream?" Victoria swatted her shoulder with her clutch. Belinda
laughed. "Too much something apparently. How's Dan?"

"Content as
usual." Victoria flicked her head.

Belinda smiled,
giving her friend a bear hug. "I better do this before you blow up."

"Dan has
been hugging me every five seconds. Says he's trying to fill up before he can't
put his arms around me."

"Nice."

"Isn't he
though?"

Belinda looked
down to the lawn, a man hurrying toward the gazebo, built up to look over the
water, with a woman trying to catch up. Belinda glanced at Victoria who was
also watching them intently. Once they were inside the structure, the woman flailed
her arms about, the words "long time ago" drifting on the air. Victoria cleared her throat and motioned her head toward the hallway, quietly returning
there. Belinda gazed out at the couple, but followed Victoria's example. She
nodded at the guard as they passed and they made their way back downstairs.

"I'll find
Dan," Victoria said, louder now. "He'll want to say hi."

Belinda nodded
and pointed to the hallway, attempting to make a sign for bathroom. Victoria put two thumbs up and Belinda left her to find her husband, which should not have
been hard knowing Dan. He was either hiding outside or in one of the back
rooms.

Belinda peeked
down the hallway, grateful to escape the pulse of the living room, and tried
not to get her heels caught on the carpet. She kept her hand on the beige wall,
scanning her memory for where the bathroom was and turned knobs as she
wandered, most of them locked. She probably would have given up the hunt at
that point, except for the hushed voices coming from a nearby room. She clung to
the wall, quietly inching toward the door, her pulse racing. One of the men was
definitely Jeff. Victoria had been positive that Jeff was still on the other
side of the country. After all that time, Belinda supposed it no longer
mattered. On the other hand, Jeff had a way of clinging to the past.

"We stick to
our original plan," Stellan said firmly. "You've held out this long,
you can keep going."

"I don't
know if I can do that anymore." Jeff sounded tired, but not in a physical
sense.

"It's been
years; it's fine."

"How is this
fine?" Jeff's voice reached a level so she didn't have to strain to hear
anymore. Stellan shushed him. "Nothing's been fine since then. Nothing.
I've tried to forget but I can't, Stell. I can't forget anything from that
day."

Belinda's ears
tuned in even more. That day. The day of the sailing accident?

"Keep your
voice down," Stellan said sharply.

Jeff made no
response.

"You're not
to say a word, Jeff. Do you hear me? Not a word."

The hair on
Belinda's back sprung up as Stellan hissed the last sentence.

~ * ~

Bennett watched
the young woman jiggle knob after knob, wandering through the maze of rooms.
Now she just paused as if in concentration. Either that or she was drunk and
confused. Or a thief pondering her next move. She was the worst thief in
Portside if that was the case. He swiveled back and forth in his seat with his
fingers laced over his stomach, watching the laptop screens. She was the only
person wandering the hallways. All the other party-goers were actually at the
party.

So far this was
the least exciting event he'd worked in ages. He was actually relieved when the
rogue guest came into view in the hallway. He zoomed in on her so instead of
taking up the bottom corner of the screen, she filled it. She still stood motionless,
other than swaying a little on her feet. She could be lost. Or his camera could
be stuck. He could get Finnegan over there to check things out, but he was just
down the hall and could easily do it himself.

Bennett sprung
up, happy to have an excuse to move and quietly exited the room. He'd made a
point to keep the room dark to avoid suspicion and stayed quiet as possible
while monitoring things. He padded in the direction of the lost woman with his
hands dug in his denim pockets. He found her around the corner in the same
spot. At least now he knew his camera worked. He paused behind her, but she
didn't notice. He could hear chatter somewhere nearby though. An eavesdropper?

Bennett casually
brushed by her, grazing her bare shoulder with his blazer. She jumped, started
to screw up her nose in irritation, then seemed to think better of it and
smiled. Bennett crooked up one corner of his mouth slightly in response, taking
stock of her. She didn't look like a career woman or a party girl. And she
looked worried. Her eyes searched his face, probably trying to place him. In
the end, they were full of question marks.

"Do you know
where the bathroom is?" she whispered.

Yep.
Eavesdropper.

He pointed in the
opposite direction, then walked that way, glancing back as a cue to follow him.
She hesitated, but he wasn't giving her a way out so she followed, taking about
four steps for every one of his. They came to the bathroom door and stopped.
She looked at Bennett, then at the door, then back to him, drumming her fingers
on her bag. Finally, she switched hands, sticking out the right one toward him.
"I'm Belinda Kittridge."

Volunteering her
name for the records. Excellent.

"I honestly
don't recognize you," she said. "Are you a friend of Stellan's?"
Bennett shook her hand, mostly because she wasn't putting it down.

"No,"
he said, and ignoring her shocked face, walked by her and down the hall just
enough to fade into the shadows but still close enough to see what she did once
he left.

She squinted to
make him out in the dark, putting her hands on her hips and jutting her chin
out. Belinda stayed in that position for a few seconds, clearly hurling curse
words in his general direction. Bennett licked his lips and waited. Sure
enough, once she felt safe that he was out of sight, she drifted back in the
direction of the behind-closed-doors conversation. He marched back in her
direction, making enough noise so she would hear, and then hid. Fawn Eyes
scuttled back to the bathroom door, knocked faintly, and disappeared inside.

Bennett chuckled
to himself and meandered back to his post at the monitors, briefly checking in
with Finnegan. He yawned, resting his head on his palms, unintentionally
keeping his eye on the camera nearest the bathroom. Fawn Eyes finally emerged,
peeked around her, and walked straight ahead. He leaned forward again, waiting
for her to reappear. She did and stiffened when a man entered the picture.
Bennett cocked his head. He'd seen that guy on the monitors earlier...with a
woman he thought. They must have gone outside and reentered a different way
because he never saw either of them again.

Fawn Eyes shifted
her weight several times in the interchange and took micro steps backward. But
the man wasn't giving her an out and kept following her with every retreating
step. Bennett flipped his phone around and around on the table, debating if he
should give Finnegan a call to do a casual walk-by and give Belinda Kittridge
an escape. As he was about to, Bennett's client appeared on screen, slapped the
other man's back, then shook her hand. After a minute, his client seemed to
give her an escape route, which she took in a hurry. His client kept an arm
around his friend, leading him out of the camera's eye.