Midnight Lies: The Wildefire Series (11 page)

Quinn was glad he wasn’t driving, because he would’ve lost all focus. Sam had left
the Atlanta PD?

“When?”

“About four months ago.”

Just a few weeks after their argument. Did it have anything to do with him?
Stupid question, asshole
. She had loved her job. Had he hurt her that badly?

“No, I didn’t know. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Yeah, well. Shit happens and all that.”

Yes, it certainly did.

“She went back to Alabama. Last I heard, she and her sisters were going to open a
private security agency in her hometown.”

Guilt sliced deep. Sam had left the city and he hadn’t even known. It suddenly hit
him that the usually closemouthed Detective Murphy was being more than a little chatty.

“Is there a reason you’re telling me all this?”

“If it hadn’t been for Detective Wilde, you might still be a suspect. In fact, you
might be on trial right now. Did you know that?”

A sick feeling wedged in his gut. “I thought some witnesses came forward and said
they’d seen another man.”

“They did, but she was the one who found them. Took vacation and worked night and
day on clearing your name.”

She hadn’t told him any of that. Why hadn’t she? Had he given her a chance? No, he’d
been so hot for her, filled with dark desire and a deep hurt. The next morning, he’d
been disgusted with his weakness and had treated her like a prostitute he’d hired
for the night.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I’ve never seen anyone more devastated than
she was when she left the force. I thought you should know that.”

Quinn couldn’t figure out whether the detective was playing matchmaker or trying to
make him feel even worse. Didn’t really matter. Sam had left her job and moved away
because of him.

“Thanks, Murphy, for telling me that.”

“If you see her, tell her we want her back.”

Was he going to see her? Could he go to her home and apologize? Would she forgive
him? Whether she forgave him or not, he had to see her.

Eager to put his plans in place, Quinn promised he would relay the message and ended
the call. Adrenaline raced through his blood. For the first time in months, he felt
alive. He wasn’t out of the woods by any means, but the knowledge that Sam had done
all of that for him gave him hope. If she had cared about him that much, did she still
have feelings for him?

He had to find out. But more than anything, he had to apologize.

“I really hope you can help me.”

Samantha watched the woman across from her closely. She’d said her name was Lauren
Kendall and that the Wildefire Agency had come highly recommended. Since Samantha
and her sisters had only just opened the doors for business, that news came as quite
a surprise.

Lauren was frightened. The nervous fidgeting in her chair, along with her difficulty
in keeping eye contact, made that obvious. Still, something was off about her story.

On the pretense of reaching for her iced tea, Samantha glanced over at her sister
Sabrina, who was tapping her pen on the notepad in front of her. Was Bri getting the
same vibes?

“You say this man has been following you for about a month?” Bri asked.

“Yes.”

“When did you first see him?”

Lauren looked down at her hands, which were twisting nervously in her lap. “I was
at a restaurant with some of my friends. He stared at me a lot, but I didn’t really
pay attention to him. But then I saw him the next day at my gym, which I thought was
kind of odd.”

“Did he speak to you?” Samantha asked.

“No. Just gave me one of those looks.”

“What kind of looks?”

“You know. The creepy kind, when a guy’s eyes go up and down your body like he’s imagining
you naked.”

“And when did you see him again?” Bri asked.

“About a week later. I was at the grocery store and saw him in the parking lot, staring
at me.”

“Has he approached you … said anything at all to you?”

Lauren’s gaze moved to the window as she answered, “No, not yet.” Her eyes returned
briefly to focus on Samantha, who’d asked the question. “But I know he will soon.
I’m just so afraid of what he’ll do when that happens. I need protection.”

“You’ve gone to the police?”

“No, I didn’t really have anything to tell them. I figured they’d say that until he
does something to me, they can’t act.”

She was right about that, but still there was something not right. Or was there? Samantha
glanced over at Bri again, who, surprisingly, instead of looking at Lauren, was glaring
at Samantha. What was that about?

“So will you take my case?” Lauren asked. “Protect me until this guy goes away?”

“Can you give us a few minutes?” Bri asked. “My sister and I need to discuss some
things.”

“Oh, of course.” Lauren haltingly stood, twisting the shoulder strap of her purse
with her hand. “Should I wait out in the hallway?”

Samantha hit a buzzer on her desk. Within seconds, Wildefire’s new receptionist opened
the door. Standing barely over five feet tall, with soft ash-blond hair and a generous
figure, April Cantrell had the pleasant kind of personality that instantly put people
at ease. After raising four boys, all of whom were now out on their own, she had been
looking for an office job to fill her time. After one interview, Samantha and her
sisters had agreed that the calm, efficient April would be a perfect fit for the agency.

“April, would you take Lauren to the sunroom and see that she has some refreshments?”

“Of course.” She gave Lauren one of her sweet motherly smiles and said, “Follow me,
dear.”

Samantha and Bri were silent as they watched the tall, incredibly beautiful Lauren
practically glide out of their office. In just that short walk, the woman oozed sex
appeal as if it were as natural to her as breathing.

The instant the door closed, Samantha opened her mouth to speak, but before she could
say a word, Bri burst out, “I hate what he’s done to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That bastard Braddock. Before you met him, you would have called Lauren out on her
lies. Instead, you kept looking at me as if to make sure your instincts were right.”

Samantha held back a sigh. Quinn’s first name was never mentioned in the house. If
he was brought up at all, he was always “that bastard Braddock.”

She wished she could deny Bri’s claim but she couldn’t. Confidence in her judgment
had taken some near-fatal blows. First she had suspected Quinn of murder, destroying
their relationship. Then she had shown up at his apartment dressed for seduction,
in the silly, vain hope that he’d be so enamored that forgiveness would come quickly.
Instead he’d used her and she had let him. To compound matters, she’d thrown her parents’
deaths at him as an excuse for her poor judgment. His treatment of her should have
come as no surprise.

After her fiasco with Quinn, her world had been teetering on the edge. Then, only
days later, she’d learned some news that had sent everything free-falling and careening
into another dimension, exploding everything she thought she knew.

Her sister Savannah had found letters from their granddad casting serious doubts that
their father, Beckett Wilde, had actually murdered their mother. After hearing that,
Samantha had barely known which end was up. So much of her life and the decisions
she had made had been based upon what had happened to her parents. Her distrust of
Quinn had been directly related to that one horrific event. And it had all been a
lie.

Not only was her confidence in her judgment destroyed, the parameters by which she’d
lived had been demolished.

Since those dark, chaotic days, the real killers of her parents had been arrested
and were now in prison. That painful part of her past had been put to rest, though
the remnants would remain for years.

It had been with mixed regret and relief that Samantha left her job in Atlanta. She
had lost total faith in herself. Savannah’s suggestion of forming a security agency
seemed like the perfect solution. Being back with her family again, in her hometown
that was dearly familiar, where she was loved and appreciated, felt right.
At some point, she would put those dark memories of Quinn behind her, too. It was
just taking more time than she’d hoped.

Unable to deny or defend herself against Bri’s accusations, Samantha chose to ignore
them. “So what do you think Lauren is hiding?”

“You’re not even going to argue?”

Blowing out an exasperated breath, Samantha stood. “What do you want me to say, Bri?
Everything you said is right with the exception of one thing. You keep blaming Quinn
for what happened and it’s not his fault. I’m the one who betrayed him by not trusting
him.”

Bri snorted. “You were doing your job, Sammie. If he couldn’t understand that, then
he’s an idiot.”

“He’s not an idiot, he was hurt.”

“Yeah, and he hurt you to get back at you.”

There were no secrets between the sisters. They knew what happened. Samantha wanted
to say his treatment was justified but couldn’t bring herself to that point. The hurt
he had dealt her might have been deserved, but that didn’t lessen the pain.

“Look, we’ve been there and done this before. It’s over and done with. Even though
Charlene Braddock’s killer was never caught, at least Quinn is no longer a suspect.
That’s the most important thing.”

Bri snorted again. “Yeah, heaven forbid he thank you for saving his ass.”

“He doesn’t know I had anything to do with clearing him.”

“Yeah … right.”

“What’s going on?”

They’d both been so involved in their argument, neither of them had heard Savvy come
in.

“We’re just discussing a new case.”

“Sounded to me like you were arguing.”

Samantha shrugged. “Not arguing. Just having a lively conversation.”

“About Quinn,” Savvy said.

Samantha rolled her eyes and glared at Bri. Both she and Bri had agreed that they
would keep anything unpleasant away from their sister for the next several months.
Savvy and her husband, Zach, were going to be parents. Considering what had happened
with Savvy’s first pregnancy, no one wanted to do anything to jeopardize this one.

With her slender arms crossed over her chest in a stubborn stance, Savvy narrowed
her eyes and targeted both of them. “Okay, you two. I know you’re only trying to protect
me, but I’m fine. The doctor has said we’re both doing great. So stop keeping things
from me or it’s really going to piss me off.”

“Sammie and I both think Lauren is hiding something.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, first of all,” Samantha said, “she said we came highly recommended.”

Savvy and Bri both laughed, bringing much-needed humor into the room.

“I’d love to know the person who highly recommended us to her. Apparently they’ve
heard of us without any effort on our part,” Bri said.

That was all too true. The agency was in its infancy. Samantha and Bri had just returned
from a two-week training event in Birmingham. Savvy was going to wait on her training
until after the baby was born. They’d had no cases, done no advertising. They barely
existed, except on paper and in the phone book.

“Could Brody or Logan have made the recommendation?” Savvy asked.

Brody James and Logan Wright owned a security agency in Mobile. Both men had served
in the army
with Zach and had been a tremendous help to the Wilde sisters when they had decided
to form their own security agency. The men had also offered to send business their
way.

Samantha shook her head at Savvy’s question. “Right after Lauren called and made the
appointment with us, I called Brody and asked. He said neither he nor Logan had ever
heard of her.”

“So why do you think she came to us?” Savvy asked.

Bri shot Samantha a challenging look. Ignoring her sister’s obvious goading, Samantha
said, “I think her fear is real, but I also think she knows who her stalker is and
figures we’re such amateurs, we wouldn’t see through her.”

Bri nodded. “I agree. But why not tell us the truth? We’d still help her, whether
she knows her stalker or not.”

“Why don’t we ask her?” Samantha said. If they were going to help Lauren, then she
was going to have to come clean with them.

Savvy and Bri both nodded their agreement.

Samantha hit the intercom buzzer.

“Yes?” April answered.

“Would you ask Lauren to come back into the office?”

“Absolutely.”

Seconds later Lauren entered and stood in the middle of the room. Still twisting the
strap of her purse, she asked shakily, “So, will you take my case?”

“We have a few more questions,” Samantha said. She nodded at the chair Lauren had
sat in before. “Have a seat.”

Amazing how someone could look afraid, relieved, and beautiful at the same time, but
Lauren managed to do all three as she settled into the chair. She gave each of
the sisters a bright, encouraging smile and said, “What else did you need to know?”

Seeing no reason not to go for the heart of the matter, Samantha said, “Why are you
lying about not knowing your stalker?”

The confident smile disappeared, replaced by a surprising vulnerability. “I was afraid
you wouldn’t take the case if you knew the truth.”

“I can guarantee we won’t take it if you don’t tell us the truth,” Samantha said.

“He works for Armando Cruz.” Lauren spoke with such quiet drama, it was apparent that
she expected the name to be recognized.

Samantha glanced at Savvy, who was looking as clueless as she herself felt. She then
looked over at Bri and was surprised to see dark fury in her sister’s expression.

“You know who she’s talking about, Bri?”

“Yeah, I do.” Bri sprang from her chair and went to the window. Taking a brief look
outside, she turned back to Lauren. “Did you make absolutely sure he didn’t follow
you here?”