Stay with Me (The WITSEC series Book 1) Page 16

  “Hey.” She looked down at his coffee cup. “Did you just make that?”

  Kane nodded as he took a sip from his mug. “Yep. I even cleaned out the pot before.” He grinned.

  Kelly smirked. “Look at you, Mr. Domestic.”

  “Go get a cup and then come back. I want to go over what we’re gonna do today,” he said, sitting down across from her at his desk. He knew he sounded grumpy but truthfully, he hated the thought of her trying to seduce Brandon Moore only to plant a bug.

  “Okay,” she said, brightly. Picking up her mug and walking away. Kane watched her go and turned to his computer to start his day by checking emails. He opened an email from a pawn shop that looked interesting. By the time Kelly came back, he’d completely tuned out. Apparently, someone had tried to pawn several diamonds from the list that Luca Price brought in the other day. They’d picked up several of the serial numbers from the stolen pieces from micro-etchings for identification found on the stones. He looked up at her and pointed at his monitor as she sat down across from him.

  “I got an email from a pawnshop in Canoga Park. The owner says that they just received the list you forwarded them and they have several items which were pawned a few days ago.” Kane felt himself frown. “He should have given us that list right away. The sellers are probably long gone, dammit.”

  Kelly leaned forward. “Cut Luca a break, Delancey,” she said, shaking her head as she correctly deduced who the “he” was in his comment.

  “You have a problem?” he grunted, angry with the morning conversation already.

  She sat back and studied him for a moment, pursing her lips and drawing her brows down. “Yeah, I have a problem,” she finally said. “Why do you act like you hate the kid? He’s a sweet guy, Kane. I honestly don’t know why you don’t like him but whatever it is, get it out of your system because…” She looked side to side to make sure no one was listening. “… as long as you’re on this undercover with me, we’ll have to actually act like detectives interested in solving our case.”

  “Fine.” Kane heard the growl in his voice before he could stop it.

  “Good morning.”

  Kane looked up and nodded as he recognized Lincoln Snow and his partner, Mac McCallahan, from the FBI. He stood up at the same time as Kelly did and greeted them both with handshakes.

  “Hey. Good morning,” Kane said. “You’ve both met my partner, Kelly Murphy, right?” Kane said.

  Kelly smiled as she shook their hands. “We’ve met. I’m so glad you’re here to go over things with us but we should talk in the conference room.” She looked around at the nearly empty office again.

  “Sure,” Lincoln said. “That coffee smells good.” He pointed to the mug in Kelly’s hand. Kane watched her smile.

  “Kane just made a fresh pot. Help yourselves, guys. We’ll meet you in the conference room.” The two men nodded and headed for the break room and Kelly leaned close.

  “As I was saying, I’ve noticed something, Delancey. Every time I talk about the kid, you get uptight. I may not be a profiler like those FBI guys, but you sure get douchey whenever I mention Luca, much less when the kid is around. You could act a little less like a dick, Delancey,” Kelly said. She narrowed her eyes and Kane got a sick feeling in his stomach. “Try to deny it.” Now her eyes were just twinkling in a devilish way.

  “Fuck you, Murphy.”

  “That’s what I thought, dickweed.” She snorted and Kane rolled his eyes.

  Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting in the conference room where Lincoln was showing Kelly the tiny listening device they’d brought for her to plant somewhere in Brandon Moore’s apartment above his bar. The bug was tiny.

  “Have you ever planted a bug before?” Lincoln asked, watching her face skeptically.

  “No, but I’ll do my best, Snow,” Kelly replied, pursing her lips even more than usual.

  Kane quirked his lips, pretty sure he didn’t want to know why Kelly’s lips were doing absolutely nothing for him personally, now that he’d kissed Luca Price’s lips mere hours ago. Kelly was a beautiful woman whom he’d been instantly attracted to at their first meeting but somehow, since kissing Luca, she’d done nothing for him. It was disconcerting.

  “So, this listening device will pick up conversations in any large room but its range will depend on background noise so you’ll want to place it in a room where most people gather.”

  “Okay, so like in a living room or family room,” Kelly said, taking the small device lying in its small foam-lined box.

  “Right,” Mac said. “My advice is to find the main TV room and put it in the remote control. Generally, the guy in charge—who’ll be doing most of the talking—is also the guy who holds the TV remote.”

  Kane and Kelly both smiled. “That’s good advice,” Kelly said. “You’ve done this before, McCallahan.” It was a statement, not a question.

  The huge man grinned and nodded. “A few times.”

  Kane knew that Mac McCallahan had Special Forces training. He thought he remembered Jarrett Evans referring to him as a Green Beret which would explain his familiarity with listening devices and other covert operations even if he wasn’t with the FBI.

  “Okay, well, good luck, Murphy. Our fingers are crossed,” Lincoln said, standing up as Mac stood up beside his partner. They both reached out and shook Kelly’s hand before turning to Kane. “Good luck, Delancey. This guy is a real piece of crap.”

  Kane shook their hands, frowning. “Don’t I know it. Thanks for coming, guys.”

  “You got it,” Snow said over his shoulder as they walked out of the conference room.

  Kane looked over at Kelly. “I’ll be with you every step of the way, Murphy, even though I absolutely hate this plan.”

  Kelly shrugged and offered him a slight smile. “I know, Delancey. Trust me, you’ve made that very clear but like we discussed, we really don’t have a whole lot of options here.” She glanced down at her watch and then back up at him. “The bar opens in a couple hours. Let me buy you breakfast.”

  “Okay, Murphy. Let’s go.” Kane followed his partner out of the conference room, shutting of the light as he left.

  ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

  Luca was sitting at his desk holding his head in his hands when Sebastian came into the office. He glanced up and stared at his employee, still bleary-eyed from this morning.

  “Good God, Luca. You look terrible. Did you take those headache tablets I gave you earlier?”

  Luca started to nod and then realized how bad it hurt to move his head. He squeezed his eyes shut again. “I took them. I shouldn’t have had that much to drink.”

  “Well, if nothing else, at least your ale budget went to The Abbey. It was a good thing they did by hosting the Rock the Vote event.”

  Luca looked up at Sebastian through slitted lids. As usual he was dressed impeccably in a navy-blue suit. Today he was wearing a tie with a Union Jack pattern set against a white linen dress shirt enhanced by a royal-blue pocket square, and spit-shined black dress shoes. Sebastian always dressed like a proper English gentleman and it was one of the things Luca liked best about the man. That, and the dry wit he so often used that Luca had seen go right over the heads of many an American.

  “I agree. Anyway, how are things going out there?” He stood up and reached down to grab his jacket off the back of his chair as his head throbbed some more. He let out a groan before he could stop it. A moment later, Sebastian was in front of him, placing a warm hand on his shoulder.

  “For heaven’s sake, sit back down before you die. Everything is perfectly fine out on the showroom floor. I finished logging the balance of the new diamonds into back stock since there’s not room for one more stone on the floor.”

  Luca looked up as he plopped back into his chair and tried to smile at Sebastian appreciatively. “Thank you, Seb. Mr. Auerbach is due in this afternoon so I need to make sure everything is perfect.”

  “It will be, Luca. Now, I’m goi
ng into the kitchen to make you a cuppa and get you some Ibuprofen to knock down the last of your hangover. Just rest and…” He waved his hand. “… try not to burn down the world just yet.”

  Luca looked up and smirked appreciatively. “Thank you.”

  Sebastian left the room and Luca reached down, opening his desk drawer to pull out a pen. Inside he noticed the gorgeous royal-blue box where the bracelet from Stephen Auerbach sat. He took it out and opened the box. Inside the gold and onyx bracelet gleamed from its velvet bed. It truly was the most beautiful gift Luca had ever received but keeping it would be wrong on every level. He would have to give it back when he saw Stephen today. He shut the box and then closed his eyes.

  The man he really wanted was someone he’d never have. Even though he’d seen the lust in Delancey’s face and heard the way he’d encouraged him to come all over him, he’d been an idiot. None of it had been real for Delancey when it had meant something to Luca. He should have thanked him for telling him he was straight even though Luca still didn’t believe it. He’d seen the barely banked desire in the man’s eyes when he’d been jacking Luca off. He’d never had a difficult time deciphering whether a man was into him or not; he was quite sure he was right about the detective.

  Kane Delancey wanted him but something was standing in his way. Luca had to chalk it up to Delancey not being willing to let his gay flag fly. He was obviously a macho type guy who never let feelings get in the way. He suspected he’d had a military background because he’d dated guys who were in the military before. Most of them were closeted but Luca had dated them anyway. Those men were different from Delancey. He was holding the detective to a different standard which, upon closer examination, was truly quite unfair. He’d wanted to believe Kane Delancey was different.

  He’d prided himself in the fact that he never did relationships but every time he’d looked at the man, that’s all he thought. Luca had no doubt Kane would have used his body without any qualms about it, but he also knew there was a possibility that Delancey would have forgotten all about him as soon as the case was over. The very idea made him sick inside. He couldn’t allow himself to be put in that situation. He’d seen enough heartbreak in his life. He’d seen his mother lose her husband when the coward couldn’t take the fact that his own daughter was no longer the beautiful little girl they’d all once had. As a boy, Luca never understood why his father had gone out one night and never returned home. He’d never come back for his clothes, any of his belongings, not even a photo of them. He’d left them shortly after Lucie’s illness and never looked back.

  Luca’s eyes suddenly flew open when Sebastian cleared his throat. He’d come back into the office holding a cup of tea and some headache pills and was standing there, silently watching him. Luca gasped and then covered his chest with his hands.

  “Jesus! You could teach a lion how to stalk prey,” he said, sitting forward and reaching for the teacup which he set on the desk. Sebastian sniffed in that way he did as he held out the pills and then dropped them into Luca’s open palm. “Thank you for that, Seb.”

  “No problem. Now, take the pills and when you feel better, come and see what Chris and I have done with the cases before Mr. Auerbach gets here.”

  “Thank you again,” Luca said, popping the pills into his mouth and swallowing them with a glass of water. He really had to get himself sorted before Stephen arrived. After glancing at his watch, he stood up and headed for the bathroom. Perhaps splashing a little cold water on his face would make him feel human again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kane knew he wasn’t handling the absence of Kelly with grace or patience. He sat in a booth in Brandon Moore’s pub, clutching a half glass of Guinness in one hand as he drummed the fingers of his other on the tabletop. It had been almost half an hour since she’d approached Moore with a seductive smile and told him that she wanted to talk with him somewhere private, hoping he’d take her to his apartment above the pub. The plan had been simple. She would plant the tiny listening device the FBI had given her somewhere that would pick up conversations between Moore, his father, and his underlings and hopefully catch them planning a crime. After that, it would be simple to intercept a crime in progress and put the whole west coast branch of the Boston mob in jail for the foreseeable future.

  Planting the bug was an acceptable plan but just the idea of Moore taking liberties with his beautiful partner once he had her alone had Kane’s mind reeling. He hated the fact that she’d gone upstairs without him but it really couldn’t be helped. The large bouncer who stood at the foot of the stairs to the upper floor of the pub was there for his boss’s added protection and privacy. If Kelly signaled over the earwig that she needed help, Kane was going to have to get past the gorilla in order to save his partner. He’d be able to do it but the guard’s presence would delay his response time, not to mention the fact that he’d completely blow the operation if he had to rush to her rescue. Brandon Moore outweighed Murphy by eighty to ninety pounds of solid muscle and as much as he trusted Kelly and her instincts, it wasn’t easy to keep his emotions in check. As the minutes ticked by, it was proving to be a more difficult task than he’d imagined.

  On top of all that, listening to the banter between Brandon Moore and Kelly through the earwig was driving him crazy. The man was startlingly bold, trying to kiss her as soon as they got upstairs. She’d gently pushed him away, telling him that if they were going to have a personal relationship as well as a professional one, Moore would have to take things at a slower pace.

  “I’m not here for that, Brandon,” she said, sounding confident as she spoke to him.

  “You came up here so yeah, you’re here for this,” Moore said, his mouth clearly close to the earwig she wore. Kane listened to a shuffling sound and then a grunt. “Why the hell are you here then? To tease the hell out of me?”

  “Well, for one thing, Brandon,” she purred, “you might try treating me like a lady… at least to begin with.”

  Kane heard Brandon Moore chuckle quietly and close to the earwig which meant that he had to be leaning damned close. “A lady who likes a big cock, right? Give me your hand and I’ll show you what you’ve been missing, girly.” Kane’s fingers tightened on the glass he held, not wanting to think about how the man was leading his seduction.

  “Yes,” she hissed. “It is very nice, Brandon but what’s say you at least offer me a drink first.”

  Kane smiled. The plan had been for Kelly to get Moore out of the room long enough for her to plant the bug she’d concealed in one of her jacket pockets before going upstairs. He figured if the liquor was located out of sight of the main room, she might have thirty seconds to find the remote and plant the listening device.

  “Let me get you something, pretty lady,” Moore said, loud enough for Kane to hear through Kelly’s earwig. “Stay right there and don’t move, unless you want to get more comfortable that is.”

  Kane gritted his teeth; he had to trust that Kelly would handle herself. He hated the tone of lustful seduction in Moore’s voice. All he could do was remind himself that she was armed and that she was no fool. He might be armed also.

  “I’ll wait right here,” she singsonged. Seconds later, Kane heard her whisper. “He’s gone to the kitchen. I’ve got the TV remote… sliding the battery compartment open…” She paused and Kane felt a tic in his cheek as he silently counted the seconds.

  “Fifteen seconds. Hurry up, Murphy. Get it done and get out of there,” he whispered, only loud enough for his partner to pick up and not any patrons at tables nearby. Another ten seconds passed before he heard a relieved sigh over the earwig.

  “Done,” she whispered.

  Kane breathed a sigh of relief as he heard Moore come back into the room.

  “I hope you like Maker’s Mark on the rocks. It’s the best stuff I have up here. I keep the Macallan’s downstairs with the other top-shelf liquor.”

  “It’s lovely. Thank you, Brandon,” Kelly said. The word “lovely”
was Kelly’s signal to have Kane call her phone. He immediately hit speed dial. A second later, he heard her small voice through the earwig. “Shit. That’s my partner.”

  “Tell him to fuck off,” came Moore’s terse reply.

  “As much as I’d love to do that, he thinks I came up here to talk with you about how we can help you out when you need it. If I don’t answer, he’ll worry and come up here.” Then, in a soft, sexy voice that Kane had never heard Kelly use, she said, “You wouldn’t want that now, would you?”

  “Answer the fucking thing then.”

  A second later, Kelly answered his call. “I’ll be down in a second, Delancey. Shit, a girl can’t even get her drink on for half an hour.” Kane heard the sound of ice cubes in a glass.

  “You can get your drink on down here, Murphy.” Kane hung up the phone, praying she got the message. A second later, he heard her growl of frustration through the earwig.

  “I have to get back,” Kelly said. There was a pause and then she spoke lower, almost in a purr. “My partner’s waiting for me, Brandon, and I have to tell him we made progress up here.”

  “Fine, what do you two think you can do for me?” He sounded like a petulant child.

  “Well, the very least we can do is to tip you off when we find out someone is looking into your business affairs,” she ventured.

  “And what makes you think the owner of a bar needs to worry about that?” Moore asked. Kane squirmed and glanced at the bouncer who was still blocking the stairway leading up to the apartment. She needed to get out of there before she riled him up. The tone of voice he was using wasn’t a comfort. She suddenly giggled and Kane cocked his head to the side.

  “What’s so fucking funny?” Moore asked.

  “You, Brandon. Didn’t you think the LAPD knows about your father coming home?”

  “Yeah, he’s dying. What does that have to do with anything?” Moore’s voice was downright angry. Kane started to move out of the booth when he was stopped by Kelly’s next words.