Read In Her Sights Online

Authors: Keri Ford,Charley Colins

Tags: #bow and arrow, #action adventure, #contemporary, #romance, #strong heroine, #women slueth, #adventure assassin mystery, #private investigator, #pi, #action, #burn notice

In Her Sights (5 page)

BOOK: In Her Sights
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“Oh.” Mary laughed a little and shook her head. “Of course
not.”

Lexie leaned over. “I always worry that’s going to happen.”

“I don’t think I ever thought about it before, but it would
make me a nervous wreck to know my picture could be taken at just any moment
like that.”

Mary directed her toward a wooden door ten feet to the right.
No windows around it, nothing. Just a solid-looking door. Before they reached
it, it swung open and he stepped out.

Somehow, she managed not to trip all over her feet. Or her
jaw that was surely on the floor.

Addison was the picture of a dream model out of a magazine—no,
scratch that. Magazines were flat, and this man was no flat picture.

His gray suit fit snug in all the right places. His hair had
been styled with what she would guess to be fingertips lightly dipped in gel. A
freshly shaven jawline completed the package. She didn’t know what his cologne
was, but as she moved closer, the scent overpowered the clean and coffee smells
of the office. It was woodsy: pine and earth. He was nothing like the rough-looking,
troublemaking man from last night she’d considered shooting.

This businessman didn’t look like anyone who knew anything
about breaking and entering, much less actually able to perform it as
successfully as he had. He….

She chuckled. He, with his two opposite sides, reminded her
of
her
.

She cleared her throat and dug her nails into her palm.
Lord, she had to get herself together. A laughing ditz was not the way to be
taken seriously. “Mr. Addison, thank you for agreeing to this last-minute
appointment.”

“It never crossed my mind to refuse you.” He backed up
before he stepped to the side and showed her to his office.

The space was tidy and masculine—but unlike the simple
lobby, pictures of a chocolate lab, fish, and other hunting things were on one
wall. An oversized desk that wasn’t just for show if the amount of files, books,
and papers stacked across the top meant anything. A big blue marlin was mounted
on a different wall. Shelving that alternated between books and framed
photographs of men wearing those black shirts with the company logo across
their chests.

He moved behind his desk, gestured at the chairs for her to
have a seat, and sat in a leather chair that didn’t make a sound as he settled
into it. “You asked for this meeting. What can I do for you?”

She sat in the lightly padded leather chair in front of his
desk. “I want to know more about this stolen item you came into my house for.
Who hired you to find it?”

His gaze lowered for a moment. “Privileged information.”

Her father had been a close supporter of the mayor. Lexie had
continued her support as that man climbed from mayor to senator. He had taught
her a lot. Probably about as much as Uncle Gabe. It was simple, really.
Especially in this case. Clayton needed her more than she needed him. “It seems
we have nothing to discuss, then. I suppose I can call that nice detective from
last night and explain the whole mess to him. I knew you were in my house
because there’s a camera that records every time that safe is opened. I have
shots of you from last night.” She stood. “Unfortunate, because your business
will fall apart after you’re arrested for breaking and entering and attempted
theft.”

His eyes narrowed and head turned to the side ever so slightly. “Why should I believe you about the camera?”

“Do I look like someone who randomly patrols my home with a
weapon in the middle of the night?”

His gazed dropped toward her chest and legs, then landed
back on her face. “No, but if you knew I was there, as you claim, why not call
the police from your safe bedroom upstairs? Tell you what.” He leaned on his
desk. “Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”

That confidence from last night was back on show. She lifted her purse to her lap, pulled her phone out and
clicked across the screen. She took a quick screen cap from the video and
turned it around to show him. “Happy now?”

He squinted at the image. “You can’t make a positive
identification from that.”

She turned it back to her. The image was dark, but not
grainy in the least. “Please. Half your face is in the light. That’s not a
cheap camera. I can have the best in the world enhance the video if I wanted. I
showed you mine.”

He opened a drawer on his desk, pulled a file out and tossed
it across to her. She lifted it and sat.
It wasn’t a thick file, and most of it was made up of photographs. She stopped
on a page marked with dates and looked at Addison. “Can you give me an
overview?”

He sat back in his chair. “The dagger was stolen about four
months ago. An investigator tracked it through different people and found it
here. Unfortunately for him, he fell and broke his hip. He contacted me to
retrieve the item and finish the case.”

Clayton just said the dagger was stolen. He didn’t specify
it was stolen, then sold. That wasn’t a question Lexie Olympia could ask
point-blank. So she
tsked
and flipped through the pages. Drew her brows
down. “So the thief stole it, then mailed it? I don’t understand why a person
would steal something and then risk it in the postal system.”

“I don’t understand a lot about this case. When I got the
file, it included that list of addresses it’s been mailed to. I got that
information early yesterday a few hours before Arnold Pritchard got the dagger
and immediately delivered it to you. At the time, I was unsure if he was
spooked or if you were the intended destination all along.”

Intended destination
. AKA, he thought she stole it. “I
can assure you, when I want to purchase something, the mall meets my needs. I
have no use for purchasing items off the black market.” She paused for a
moment. “Actually, I wouldn’t even know how to do that sort of thing, anyway.”

Clayton cleared his throat. “Which confirms my other theory.
When I followed Arnold to your home, I noticed he had someone else following
him. Aggressively, at that. As I mentioned I thought he could have been spooked and handed the dagger
to you just to get rid of it. I went in to retrieve it to put an end to the
matter as swiftly as possible.”

“How did Mr. Prichard get it?” She returned to the list of
people whose hands had been on the dagger. It was a game of hot potato.

“I don’t know. It’s not in the file, and I haven’t been on
this case for twenty-fours hours yet. I’m backtracking now. Did he say anything
when he gave it to you? Acted strangely in any manner?”

“I haven’t personally seen Arnold Pritchard in weeks.” She
closed the file but left it on her lap. “Why did you agree to this case?”

“I told you, I owed someone a favor.” His eyes narrowed
slightly at the corners.

Interesting. He hadn’t even done that last night when she
had him on the floor at her mercy. “What was the favor for?”

“The kind I don’t like to talk about.” He leaned forward on
his desk, arms crossed over each other. “Personal matters, Ms. Olympia. I didn’t
want to do it. I’m unsure what my friend had in mind to do with the dagger
after he found it because, to be frank, I don’t like the few details I was
given. It sounds shady. When I get the dagger, I will see it returned to the
family in California where it belongs. This will be the last of it.”

“Not much of repaying a favor if you don’t give the dagger
to him as asked.” And then again, he’d be pulled into another one of these
schemes. Because that’s what it sounded like. Some sort of elaborate scheme.

“I was asked to find it. I was never asked to give it to him.”

“Sneaky.” She smiled. Somewhat admirable, too. Something in
his personal life motivating him to take a risk that would put his business at
stake. Mr. Addison was just full of interesting things. “Is there a story
behind the dagger?”

“Ancient Crete Dagger. I can’t say how it ended up in
California, but once upon a time, it would have likely been a gift from a
wealthy man to a woman who accepted his marriage proposal. The gift of a dagger
was tradition.”

She placed the file on his desk, tapping the top. “This is a
lot of work. I don’t know a lot about theft, but this mailing system seems
strange. What is the dagger worth?”

“It’s estimated a minimum of four hundred thousand at an
auction. I would really appreciate it if you could turn it over to me now, so
we can both be done with it.”

She had the history lesson she wanted. With the file, what
Kyle had told her so far, and Clayton’s knowledge and reputable business,
everything seemed to be right. The amount of people who had touched the dagger didn’t
raise any appeal for holding onto the item longer than necessary, either. Last
thing she wanted was people following her like they had Arnold.

And as for Arnold, if for some reason he came back for it, he
would simply have to suffer his losses. Next time he bought a hot item, he
wouldn’t bring it to her for safekeeping.

The only problem was she didn’t want to admit having it at
all. She didn’t know Clayton well. She would make her own arrangements to see
it home. If he didn’t want his name attached to it as he claimed, then he
should be thrilled to discover its return. “As I already said, I don’t have
anything like that in my house.”

His brows slashed down. “Ms. Olympia, if you’re that
concerned about being associated with something stolen, I can assure you, I’ll
keep your name out of it. I don’t want my name attached to it, as mentioned. I’m
returning it anonymously.”

She only shrugged and stood. If that was how he truly felt,
then she was doing him a favor. “I wish I could help you.”

He sighed. “So do I. Is there anything else I can do for
you?”

“I think that covers it.”

She left his office and broke through the front doors only
to be brought up short by her cell phone. She read the ID and couldn’t help the
smile at seeing the name. “Good morning, Uncle Sammy.”

Samuel Dearing. He was one of the current Senators for
Mississippi, and a man who had entered her life when her parents died and
he thankfully never left. “Lexie, are you okay? I got a message this morning about
last night.”

She winced. “I’m sorry. I should have called. Everything is
okay. Just a quick break in. The police think I scared him off before he could
even get started. I never even saw anyone.”

“I’ve been on the phone with Gabe.”

Oh boy, she winced. Gabe Maxwell was the lawyer and manager
for Olympia Organization. He’d been in her life for as long as she could
remember. When these two got together, it usually didn’t end well for the way
she liked things. Especially when Uncle Sammy was calling to break the news.

“We discussed your security and realized your last update was
about ten years ago.”

Yeah. She knew. That’s why she liked her current system. It
was easier to skirt around the house at night unnoticed. “I’m really okay. No
sense in doing anything drastic after one night.”

“Your safety is not drastic, Lexus Olympia. Last night was a
break-in where thankfully none of you were hurt,” he scolded, with her real
first name and everything. “I should have done this ages ago. We’re lucky
nothing serious happen so far.” His swallow was audible through the phone. “I’m
making a call to have someone new come out this afternoon to look at the house
and start all the replacements.”

Oh, holy shit. “No. That’s not necessary.”

“You win a lot of arguments, Lexie. This isn’t going to be
one of them.”

She’d like to know one argument she’d won against those two.
She tipped her head back. She’d just have to make sure that the system would
suit her needs. “All right.”

“Thank you for not being difficult about this.”

She wasn’t sure if that was laughter in his voice or not. She
walked to the driver’s side of her car and paused. A white piece of paper under
her windshield wiper flittered in the wind. It wasn’t pizza coupons. “I have to
go. Thank you for taking care of me.”

She glanced up as she fumbled through her purse, dropping
the phone and digging for the small pistol. She didn’t pull it out but held it
in her grasp with the barrel pointed ahead. She fisted the handle so the safety
released. It was the only weapon she had that was registered to her legal name.
The only one registered at all.

Clayton’s building sat alongside a strip with other office
buildings, banks, and such. Fast food was around the corner. A mall several
streets over. This spot was an absolute business district. People walked along
this side of the block, looked at buildings, or talked on phones. There was
very little loitering around. With a quick glance, she didn’t see anyone in a vehicle
watching. It took less than two seconds to make the sweep. With one hand still
clutching her weapon in her purse, she lifted the note.

Be smart and bring the dagger to the address below at
8:00 p.m. tonight. Alone.

She scanned the area again and noted the address. That was a
good hour or so from her house. Her home stood in the center of Melville. Melville
was in the center of a metropolitan area. Anywhere she went, it took an hour to
get to the edge of town. Then there were smaller connecting towns and their
suburbs littered around the edges before actually getting out of town. She went
back through the doors and headed for Clayton’s office, not pausing by Mary first. She could search this on her own but being she was in a parking lot covered by security cameras, he could likely tell her a lot faster. She let herself in and found Clayton on the phone.

“One moment. Someone just walked in my office.” He reached
forward and pressed a button on the phone. He looked back to her, brows drawn
together, and searched her face. “Is there something else?”

She walked to his side of the desk and laid the note down.

He touched a button on the phone. “An emergency has just
come up. I’ll forward you to my secretary, and she’ll take down everything you
want if you’ll hold please.” He paused and nodded even though there was no one
there. “Yes, sir. I’ll be there this afternoon to start. We’ll take care of her
until it’s fully functional.” He pressed another button on the phone and hung
up. “Where did you find it?”

BOOK: In Her Sights
5.66Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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