Lie to Me (5 page)

“No one would believe you were friends with a woman.” James remarked. “Not with your reputation.”

Like James’s reputation was any better. These two kept the scandal sheets in business with their exploits, either drinking, sex, or fights. How Stone found time to manage his Quadrant, she had no idea. Either way, these two were meant for one another.

Seriously, what were the odds of Stone walking into her shop so far from their home? No...
his home
.

“She’s not what I normally hook—”

“Hold up.” Kella slashed her hand horizontally through the air over her desk, halting Stone’s words. Under normal circumstances it’d be a gutsy move since he could lock her up for disrespect, but all her clear thinking had just flown out the window. “I’m not a for-hire dating service. I’m an archeologist. If you need a date, take your ass through that door”—she pointed to the one behind James—“turn left, walk two blocks, and you’ll find yourself in front of the only bordello in town.”

James chuckled and swaggered toward them. He perched his burly frame on the edge of her desk. She glared at him. The nerve of him defiling her desk with his ass. The piece was a classic for God’s sake, she’d refurbished it herself, and she didn’t want it tainted.

“She’ll do just fine for what you need, Stone.”

Kella ground her teeth together at James’s comment.

Before she could collect her fury and reply, Stone spoke up. “Miss Ellason, I understand your reluctance.”

“It’s not reluctance, but a flat-out no.”

The corners of Stone’s mouth quirked up. “I need to locate Mark Evans as soon as possible, and you’re my best chance.”

“Posing as your new fuck toy—” James gave a full belly laugh, and Stone grinned. “—will raise eyebrows in the Quadrant, Regent.” Thank goodness her voice remained steady as she voiced her lie. “Since I’m a lesbian.”

That cut off his bodyguard’s humor, but Stone’s consideration narrowed on her. Stone made a weird gesture of sucking on his teeth while he ruminated over her confession.

While both men assessed her or processed their next stupid move, she ventured into the muck of the conversation. “Does Mark Evans and Kris Stoddard know you’re looking for them?”

“I don’t think so.”

“But you can’t be certain?”

He shrugged and snagged the wind-up toy off her desk.

Praying he didn’t turn it over and see the inscription on the bottom of the toy, one he’d given her, she continued as if not nervous by his perusal. “Why don’t you use your vast Regent resources and have him tagged?” That could be done with the press of a button.

“I require discretion.”

That easily translated into a couple of different scenarios. At the heart of his dilemma was that he didn’t want anyone to know he tracked the man. It also meant Mark Evans wasn’t a fugitive. He’d be easier caught as a fugitive. But the Director definitely had something on Stone Emmerson. An interesting idea and one she wanted the details on to secure her own safety. Or Mark Evans had something of Stone’s he didn’t want others to know about. Probably nothing illegal since Regent’s made the law to suit their needs.

“I’m not a very discreet person, Regent Emmerson, so—”

“I know everything about you, Miss Ellason, so I know you’re lying. You’ll give me what I want or I’ll contact your Regent and advise him you’ve not complied with my requests as he assured me you would. Care to see
my
papers from
your
Regent?”

She bet her next paycheck he expected her to cave after that spiel. Disappointing him would be her extreme satisfaction. A slight grin tugged at her lips, but she killed it a moment later.

“Yes, I would like to see your papers from my Regent.” Kella rose to her feet, strode around her desk and retrieved the wind-up toy from Stone’s grasp. He looked up at her, but his eyes got hung up on her breasts for a moment before traveling to her face.
Pig!
“Now look who’s lying. The Regent himself.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she kept talking. “You need a new fact checker since they missed I was female. Hard to know everything about me if that vital detail was missed.”

The words settled between them. Stone’s jaw clenched, and she suspected he ground his teeth. Ignoring the sudden unease of his men, made obvious by the way they resettled their weight, she gave her husband a fake smile. “Bring me those papers, and you’ll have my full cooperation. Until then, I’m not a citizen of your Quadrant and not obliged to follow your directives.” She strode to the door, opened it, and motioned toward the exit. “Good day, gentlemen.”

James gave her a hard look before turning his gaze to Stone. “We could force her.”

A chill raced along her spine. They could demand her compliance with ease and given his rank, even her Regent wouldn’t do anything about it. There might be some pomp and political tangoing because he failed to follow the right protocol, but at the end of the match, Stone would still have his way. At the suggestion, she noticed a few of his soldiers’ slack frames went taut.

Stone shook his head and rose to his feet in a move that revealed more of a predatory nature, rather than a life filled with political pageantry. That resulted in a rush of nerves. She knew next to nothing about him anymore.

Three of his six soldiers moved out of the room onto the wooden sidewalk, two taking point on either side of the opening and the other one disappearing from her line of sight.

Stone didn’t even look at her as he moved toward the door. Just as she was about to sigh in relief that his larger-than-life presence vacated her office, he clutched her throat in his hand. Their gazes locked, and her breath vanished, not because of his hold, but because of the way her body reacted immediately to his touch.

“I’ll return tomorrow.” His hold pinched where his thumb pressed into her neck, right over where his ownership-tattoo was etched into her skin but hidden thanks to the elders’ contraption. “I’d caution you not to run, but I think I might enjoy the chase.”

And with those words, he released her and pulled on his gloves as if he hadn’t just kind of threatened her. He joined his soldiers, and the lingering two vacated her office a minute later. Only James remained. He gave her a smirk while using the tip of his knife to clean from beneath his fingernails. She understood his silent threat. He’d slice and dice her with pleasure if Stone required a heavy hand.

Once they were out of sight, she breathed a sigh of relief.

––––––––

S
tone stepped on the sidewalk and peered up and down the city street. Quadrant2 was hundreds of miles from his southern Quad13. The structures were mostly made of wood. Even the sidewalks were crafted from timber, giving it what he imagined a cowboy town might’ve looked like. His city was built from concrete and steel, safer in his tornado-prone landscape.

Dragging his fingers through his hair, he pondered the girl inside. Mack Ellason. His wife had been named Mackella. He couldn’t dismiss the similarities. Mack was an archeologist, while Kella had loved reading about relics, and she’d spent countless hours staring at the ones his family owned. He’d believed Mack Ellason to be a man, but now that he realized she was a woman, he couldn’t stop thinking about his wife. Of course Mack’s appearance was dissimilar to Kella’s in every way. One blonde, the other inky haired, one fair skinned, and Kella deeply tanned. They possessed roughly the same build, but it’d been almost a decade since Kella took off. Her figure could have changed drastically over the years.

The use of a V-chip couldn’t be discredited. They were hard to come by, but not impossible, and he bet a relic hunter would have an easier time locating one. While they were illegal, he couldn’t discredit the potential Kella would use one if she were alive. Of course if he pretended Mack was Kella that would mean his wife ran from him illegally too. That thought gave him pause because he couldn’t think of one reason why she would’ve willingly fled the safe environment he offered. Running was a desperate move, and a stupid action for a fourteen-year-old to face the harsh world alone. Kella had never been stupid, but rather highly intelligent, even if she’d executed rash, emotional decisions many times.

What if he’d discovered his woman after all these years on a questionable witch-hunt?

He ground his molars together, while reminding himself there was valid evidence Kella had died in the badlands, a mere thirty miles from his Quadrant. The similarities of their names were nothing more than mere coincidence. Mark Evans said Mack Ellason possessed information
about
Kella. Not that she
was
Kella. He’d also said she was a man.

“She’s an interesting civilian.” James stepped up beside him, but Stone kept his focus targeted on his surroundings as they walked away from the woman who might know something about his long-lost woman.

A knot curled in the pit of his stomach. He should ask James to acquire an R-scanner. That bit of technology would eradicate all his doubt.

“Why didn’t you ask her about Kella?”

“Mark Evans said she’d probably run if she knew we were coming. Figured if I pointblank asked about Kella that’d sending her running too.”

“We don’t need her in a tailspin and covering her tracks. Or running before we find the information we came for.”

“I tagged her with a tracking device.” They took a left at the intersection, and Stone glanced at his closest friend, bodyguard, and confidant.

A slight curl to one corner of James’s mouth. “Thought you did when you grabbed her.”

Most cities disallowed vehicles without a permit. Being a Regent, he could’ve brought his vehicle within the city walls, but he preferred to keep a low profile as long as possible. But his men stood out and grabbed attention from the pedestrians milling about.

“We’ll meet you back at the hotel after a while,” Stone instructed his soldiers. James was deadlier than the six of them put together.

As Regent he’d been taught hand-to-hand combat, and he sparred against James a couple of times a week. He liked to think he could hold his own. If trouble presented, he could teleport to safety anyway.

“Find a place where we can talk?” James rested his palm on the blade secured to his hip.

“Yeah.” Stone retrieved a band out of his pocket, and restrained his hair at his nape with it. The minor adjust to his appearance would make him less noticeable since women in particular seemed to like his longer locks. Thanks to those fucking scandal sheets, he couldn’t avoid the press. He’d launched a team to hunt them down and disband their production only to have his team return empty handed. It seemed the tabloid moved locations frequently.

“You should cut that shit,” his friend said at least once a week and had reminded him twice this week.

“The ladies like it.” Not that he gave a fuck what the ladies liked. He’d tried to cut it, he wanted to, had even gotten in the seat to have it hacked off, but had backed out at the last moment. All it took was remembering that one moment by the river behind his house when Kella had run her fingers through the strands for the first time, and he’d halted the haircut. Crazy, since she’d been gone eight years.

She’s dead, not gone. All evidence points to that.

He’d sobbed like a baby the night his father had delivered the news of her death. Kella had meant everything to him. A new start, a future packed with hope, with his best friend and love at his side, he’d had plans for them.

Pretty fucking sure that wasn’t love. More like lust or puppy love.
Time had shown him he could love any woman that opened her legs to him.

Kella is dead
.

No way a naïve girl of fourteen could’ve disappeared into the badlands, and survived, only to resurface eight hundred miles away almost a decade later. Wearing another face no less. He had a better chance of finding Sasquatch.

They entered the tavern and chose a table in the back corner where the light was dimmest. Stone removed his black, leather jacket and slung it onto one of the empty seats. He grabbed the back of his chair, spun it around, and straddled it. James took the seat that backed up to the wall, and got comfy leaning back on two legs. His friend could keep an eye on those who entered with his placement.

James ordered their drinks and eyed Stone as the waitress strolled away. “Tell me what’s on your mind, brother.”

Stone rubbed at his temples with his fingertips. “It’s probably nothing. Just...it’s a coincidence that Mack Ellason is an archeologist and Mackella was interested in the same subject. Also can’t dismiss that Mark Evans claimed Mack has information on Kella.” He held his breath waiting for James to scoff at his insinuation.

Instead, his friend nodded. “I noticed the similarities too. But don’t get your hopes up. Kella is
dead
. The DNA proved it, and I can’t figure out how she could survive an attack in the badlands, only to reappear hundreds of miles away eight years later.”

“Yeah, that’s bothering me too.” Almost exactly what he’d been thinking too.

James nodded. “I’m more inclined to believe Evans is leading you on a wild goose chase. Just haven’t figured out why yet.”

Stone fell silent when the waitress returned. She set a pitcher on the table, along with two streaked glasses. “Names Missy if you need
anything
.”

He watched James’s eyes alight with interest. “What’s the going rate?”

The fiery redhead threw out a figure, and Stone zoned out of the conversation, his thoughts leading him right back to Kella. Mack Ellason had been sassy, surprising him with her spunk, the same attitude Kella often displayed. Despite Kella’s common birth, she’d back talked him from the day she moved into his home with her mother.

The six-year-old flashed him a glare.
Him
! The nerve of the girl. He was Stone Emmerson. The Regent-heir-apparent. His importance eclipsed everyone. He’d teach her to respect her superiors.

“Stone, this is Mackella, the one I told you about.” His mother gave him a knowing stare, her silent way of commanding him to utilize his manners.