Disgusted with herself, she frowned. The absolute last thing she needed right now was to get distracted by a guy. By Shane Maxwell, for crying out loud. She’d finally committed to the terms of her father’s will. She needed to focus on fixing what was wrong with the Lake Geneva property, then get serious about finding those statues. Maybe when she was done and her life was back to normal and she was back at her old job in Key West…maybe then she could think about running into Shane again.
Reality dropped her hopeful heart into her stomach. Not likely. Not from the way he’d pushed her away. Obviously, something had turned him off in the midst of rounding second. What had he said? You’re you and I’m…Yeah, she could only imagine what that meant.
A sharp sound sent her heart into her throat, and she jumped at the shrill notes playing her favorite Bon Jovi song, then let out a breath when she realized it was just her cell. “Yeah.”
“Where the hell are you?” Billy’s voice was edged with more than alarm; it bordered on irate. And with that clip to his words, he sounded way too much like his brother.
She put the car in gear and headed toward the freeway. “I’m on my way back right now.”
“You’re still in Chicago?”
“Relax, would you? Everything’s fine.”
“Everything will be fine when you get your ass back up here. This whole thing was way too close for my taste. I knew we shouldn’t have taken two cars.”
“We didn’t want anyone to see us together, remember? And they didn’t. Stop worrying.”
“Where the hell have you been?”
“I stopped to get a bite to eat.” A brewsky. Have one helluva make-out session. And a big ol’ boot right back out the door.
“Jesus. You really know how to give a guy a coronary.”
She pushed thoughts of Shane Maxwell out of her head for good, then felt her heart warm at Billy’s concern. For all Billy’s shortcomings, she could say this about him: when something mattered, he pulled through. “I’ll be there in about an hour. Do me a favor, would you? Have a martini ready for me. It’s been one helluva night.”
“Will do.” She heard the victory in his voice. “We need to celebrate anyway. We got exactly what we needed tonight, and no one’s the wiser.”
Nope. No one was. But part of her wished Bryan knew. Too bad he wouldn’t ever have a clue.
Shane had never been so happy to be called back to work.
As he walked across the icy street and headed for the front walk of the mansion that had just become a crime scene, he popped two Tic Tacs into his mouth, snapped the plastic lid shut and stuffed the small box into the pocket of his jeans.
Chicago had taken a nasty hit from Mother Nature two days ago, and remnants of the storm were still evident in the cars and trees covered in snow. While being out in the subzero temperatures in the middle of the night wasn’t usually his idea of fun, it was way better than staring at the ceiling in his bedroom, replaying what had happened with Hailey and dreaming about a bottle of hooch.
His partner for the past two years, Tony Chen, was just pulling to a stop as Shane made it to the front walk. Police vehicles were parked on the quiet street, and a handful of officers were milling around, keeping rubberneckers back. Dressed in jeans, a sweater and a light jacket, Tony slammed the car door of his sedan and gave Shane the once-over. “Well, shit, wife. You had a date.”
Shane frowned. “You always lead with that. Don’t you think it’s getting a little old?”
Tony slid a piece of gum into his mouth and grinned. At five-eleven he was a good two inches shorter than Shane, with dark hair reminiscent of his Chinese roots, but pale, almost teal eyes that just didn’t seem to fit his face. “This time I’m serious. You’ve got that I’ve-just-been-screwed look on your face, and not in a good way.”
Shane flipped Tony the bird as they both headed up the front steps. “A lot you know.”
Tony chuckled, took the gloves a rookie handed him when he stepped into the house. Shane did the same as the door snapped shut and the cold was left behind
The three-story brick was fronted by a wide porch and massive columns. A tall entryway with gleaming tiles and a circular table holding a fresh display of flowers screamed of wealth. No doubt whoever lived here had bucks, but obviously that hadn’t been enough to keep the grim reaper away. Not that it ever was.
They headed toward the living room, where the brunt of officers were milling around, collecting evidence. Amanda Kent, an investigator with the Cook County medical examiner’s office rose from where she’d been examining the body on the far side of the room. “Chen, Maxwell. Nice of you boys to finally show up.” Her gaze raked Shane. “Dismal date?”
Shane frowned at Tony. “Why the hell does everyone keep asking me that?”
“I don’t know,” Tony mumbled. “Maybe because you’re so freakin’ tense it’s obvious you need to get laid.”
Shane glanced back at Amanda, who held up a gloved hand in protest. “Don’t look at me. My husband would kill me.”
Shaking his head, Shane glanced down at the body, hoping to get things back on track. “What have we got?”
Amanda sighed. “White male. Roughly thirty-five years of age. Contusions to his neck and abdomen.” The man, dressed in gray slacks and a white dress shirt covered in blood, lay on his back on the hardwood floor, staring up at the ceiling. “The attacker hit from the front. If you look at the wound here, you’ll see the angle of the cut indicates it came from a horizontal direction. My guess is his attacker was probably several inches shorter than him.”
“Right or left-handed?” Tony asked.
“Right. Definitely. And I’m willing to bet he knew his attacker. There was no sign of forced entry, though the two did struggle.”
Shane glanced around the room. A small table lay on its side, throw pillows littered the floor, some kind of crystal had been shattered into a hundred pieces and amber liquid puddled in the glass. “Man or woman?”
“Hard to tell at this point,” Amanda said. “Could be either. But it would have to be someone pretty strong to get the upper hand. He wasn’t a lightweight.”
No, the guy had to be close to 190. Maybe 200 pounds. “Any evidence under his nails? Hair fibers?”
“Nothing yet. But we’ve just started.”
“Murder weapon?” Shane asked.
Amanda shook her head. “Afraid even I’m not that good. Gotta leave something for you boys to do to earn those paychecks.”
“What about time of death?” Tony asked, ignoring her joke.
“Based on body temp only? I’d say three to six hours ago. They’ve got the girlfriend upstairs. Says she was asleep. Didn’t hear anything. Woke up alone, came down to find out where he’d gone. Found him like this.”
The front door opened, and a blast of cold swept into the house.
“Look alive, boys,” Amanda muttered. “Jim Hill’s here. That’s fast, even for him.”
At the mention of the DA’s pompous investigator, Shane glanced at Tony. “I’ll give you my opening-day Cubs tickets if you take the girl upstairs.”
Tony pinned him with a look. “And leave you alone with Hill? No way. I leave you two alone, and you’ll deck him or he’ll find a way to screw us on this. Either way, you wind up back on IA’s hot list and I’m stuck bailing your ass out again.” He nodded toward the stairs. “Lock it up. It’s your turn anyway, Romeo.”
Shane glared at the stairs as Amanda went back to the body. He’d much rather deal with Hill than get stuck with another hysterical female witness. The last time he’d done that? Yeah, he didn’t even want to remember the last time.
“Yo, Manda,” Tony said before the ME could dive back into her work. “You get an ID on the guy?”
Across the room, Amanda looked down at the clipboard in her hands. “Yeah. Let’s see.” She scanned the page. “Bryan Roarke. Florida driver’s license. Business card in his pocket says he’s with Roarke Resorts.” She glanced up. “Hey, didn’t I h
ear Roarke Resorts was building in the Lake Geneva area?”
Shane froze with his foot on the first step.
No way this was a coincidence.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lake Geneva, WI
“You’ve been in there for almost an hour. Hurry up, girlie-man.”
Hailey pounded her fist on the bathroom door one more time. The shower was still going, and humming came from the other side of the door. At this rate, he was going to use up all the hot water. Considering the Lake Geneva resort wasn’t up and running yet and this wing was the only portion of the place that had hot water, that wasn’t completely unlikely.
“Is the coffee here yet?” Billy called from the other side of the door. “Because I’m not coming out until there’s coffee. It’s frickin’ cold in this place!”
“Southern boy,” Hailey mumbled. “Take him out of the sun, plunk him in the deep freeze and he turns into a five-year-old.”
“Hey,” Billy called, feigning shock. “I resent that comment.”
Hailey chuckled. “Maybe if you grew some—”
“Okay, now you’re just getting personal!”
A knock sounded at the door in the other room. Hailey’s ears perked. “I think I hear the coffee now. You just got spared, princess.”
“Very funny,” Billy yelled.
One side of Hailey’s mouth curled as she headed for the living area of her suite. Suite was a generous term. This one was close to the offices and the kitchen and was one of only a handful that had been active for a few days now. It boasted a living area, one bedroom and a veranda that overlooked the lake. It wasn’t fancy, but she wasn’t staying more than a few days. Since she’d gotten what she needed from Bryan last night, she could put at least one worry out of her mind. The meeting with her staff here this morning to go over the construction timeline, budget and the cause of the delays would take care of the second.
Three days max. Then she’d be back in Florida, worrying about the rest of her father’s cryptic will.
She pulled the door open, expecting to see Liam, the head chef’s new assistant, but instead an attractive Asian American man filled the doorway. He held up his badge. A badge she immediately recognized as being from Illinois. “Ms. Roarke? I’m Detective Chen with Chicago PD. Can I have a minute of your time?”
Chicago police?
Hailey pulled her white terry robe tighter to her chest. “What’s this regarding?”
“Do you know a man by the name of Bryan Roarke?”
Oh, crap. Bryan had figured out the security system had been down last night.
Hailey kept her face neutral. “Yes, I do.”
He glanced up and down the hall. “Mind if I come in? I’d really prefer not to discuss this in front of your staff.”
Hailey hesitated, then realized, yeah, whatever he had to say, she didn’t want said in front of her staff, either. She eased back a step. “Sure, Detective—”
“Chen.” She made a move to close the door after he stepped in the room, but a hand that seemed to shoot out of nowhere stopped her. Chen gestured with his chin. “This is my partner, Detective Maxwell.”
If she’d been sucker punched in the stomach, Hailey would have been less surprised. Her blood warmed at the memories from last night as Shane walked into the room—his mouth, his hands, the things he’d whispered in her ear.
Then she remembered how he’d pushed her away.
Hailey let go of the door and stepped back into the living room, trying to keep her hands from shaking. If Detective Chen noticed any sudden tension in the room, he didn’t show it. She purposely didn’t meet Shane’s gaze. Couldn’t.
“Were you in Chicago yesterday, Ms. Roarke?”
Hailey looked toward Chen. “I’m sorry. What was that?”
Chen’s eerily light eyes narrowed. “Were you in Chicago yesterday?”
Though her pulse was kicking up in her chest, her brain was slowly coming back online, and the tone of Chen’s question finally registered. Two Chicago detectives were standing in her living room asking her whereabouts from the day before.
She chose her words carefully, knowing if she got caught in a lie it would just make things worse. But if Bryan had squealed about her being at the house…If he’d lied to get her out of the way…"Yes, I was.”
“Where about?” Chen asked. “What were you doing there?”
“I had some errands I needed to run and then got a drink.”
Chen and Maxwell exchanged glances. And in the time it took for Chen to look back at her, Hailey knew something was seriously wrong.
“What’s going on here?” she asked, glancing between the two. Shane still hadn’t uttered a single word since stepping in the room and it didn’t look like he was about to, either.
Good cop, bad cop. Oh yeah, she knew the drill.
“What’s your relationship with Bryan Roarke?” Chen asked.
Hailey’s spine tingled. “He’s my cousin.”
“He works for Roarke Resorts?”
She nodded. “He’s vice president of operations for the northern region. Did Bryan do something?”
Chen widened his stance. “I’m afraid we have some bad news, Ms. Roarke. Your cousin was found dead late last night.”
The floor shifted under Hailey’s feet. In her mind she saw Bryan’s aggressive demeanor when she’d refused to sign those papers just two days prior. She must have wobbled, because one minute she was spinning and the next Shane’s big hand was wrapped tightly around her upper arm and he was easing her back to the couch.
Okay, she’d been wrong. Seeing Shane walk in the room this morning wasn’t the biggest shock of her life. Hearing the news about Bryan beat that by a long shot. “Are…are you sure? Maybe you have the wrong person.” She looked up at Chen.
“We’re not wrong,” Chen said flatly. “What kind of errands?”
“Um…” She lifted a hand to her forehead. Could she tell them the truth? No, because that would just raise a bunch of flags about how she’d gotten into the house and what she was doing there. And she couldn’t risk letting Billy get involved. “Shopping,” she lied. “I don’t get to Chicago very often.”
“Were you alone?”
“Yes.” More lies. Oh, man.
“Then you went to a bar? Whereabouts?”
“Ah…” She looked at her bare feet. “Somewhere near Lincoln Park.”
“You don’t know the name of the establishment?”
“No. I asked the cabby where I could get a good burger and beer, and he took me there. I didn’t pay much attention to the name.”
Liar. She chanced a look at Shane from the corner of her eye, swallowed and looked back at her feet.
Chen made notes on a tablet in his hand. “What time was that?”
“I don’t know. Nine, I guess.”
“And what time did you leave?”
“Sometime after ten.” Oh, man, could she sound guiltier? She’d practiced all this in her mind, just in case Bryan figured out someone had been in the house and caused a ruckus within the company. But she’d never once anticipated she’d be answering questions about her whereabouts to the police. And never, ever, because of his death.
Oh, shit. He was really dead. Her stomach rolled.
“Did anyone see you there? Can anyone vouch for your timeline?”
Vouch for her? Hold on a minute. In the midst of all the fuzz in her brain, one thing got through. Her gaze snapped to Chen. And as she focused on his pale eyes, reality dawned.
These two hadn’t come here simply to relay bad news. They’d come to question her. Which meant Bryan’s death hadn’t been an accident. It also meant either they knew about the rocky relationship she’d had with her cousin, or they’d already found evidence she’d been in the house.
Oh, double shit. The cut on her arm. She’d worn gloves to prevent fingerprints, just in case, but her arm had bled good when she’d been stuck under that bed. She’d cleaned up what she could see, but blood could be fou
nd with a black light. And if he’d been killed between the time she’d left the house and when she’d run into Shane…
A lump formed in her throat, but she pushed words out and forced herself not to swallow and look guiltier than she already was. “I’m not certain. The bartender for sure. A waitress.” Shane. She chanced a glance his way and took in his rigid jaw and tight shoulders. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Did he think she was guilty? Was he ashamed of being with her? Did he think she’d run into him just so she could have an alibi?
That last thought sent her stomach swirling. She looked back at Chen. “How did he die?”
Chen glanced at the notepad in his hand. “The house is registered as a Roarke Resorts holding. Did your cousin live there permanently?”
Oh yeah, she was in deep trouble. He was avoiding her question.
She shook her head and looked at the carpet in front of her. Play it cool. Keep your head about you and you’ll do fine. You know how this works. “No. He, ah, lives in Florida. He has a wife.” She closed her eyes. Crap. Madeline. She forced her eyes open again. “He’s been overseeing construction up here. But he prefers to stay in the Chicago house rather than here.”
“Quite a commute, isn’t it?” Chen asked.
Yeah, but that was Bryan’s plan. Stay far enough away so he had an excuse for being gone a lot of the time. None of the staff would ask questions and he’d get off on easy street. It was part of the reason this resort was half a million dollars over budget and two months behind schedule. And it was also part of the reason she was up here now.
Her brain flicked back over the scene she’d witnessed. Paused on Lucy Walthers. Whom neither one had mentioned yet.
Shit. Should she tell them? No. Because then she’d definitely have to give up Billy. And she’d never do that.
“It is,” she agreed in a quiet voice.
She couldn’t help it. She flicked another look at Shane only to find his hard, dark eyes focused solely on her. He still hadn’t said a word, and aside from catching her before she’d gone down like a wussy female, he hadn’t touched her again. But the way he was watching her with those probing eyes set her on edge. They weren’t the soft, gentle eyes they’d been last night. These were cop eyes. The kind that looked all the way through a person and decided, Yep, she’s lying.