Drake (Men of Versteck Valley Book 3) Read online

  “Will…” he swallowed hard while staring at her puffy lips. “Will, that hold you until later?” he whispered hoarsely.

  She closed her eyes, took several deep breaths and looked around releasing a small squeak. “Put me down,” she whispered.

  Slowly he eased her to the floor and held on to her arms until she was steady. They stood in front of each other for several moments, breathing. When she stepped back, she didn’t look at him. “I… um… I was going to get us something to... food. Food for the interview.” She held up her hand. “Could you… um... Set things up with Asher? I’ll get.... The food and um… meet you in a few minutes.”

  “Faith…” He had no idea what he would’ve said to her at that moment, and it bothered him that he might have begged for sex, something he had never done in his life.

  She held up her hand. “Please, I need to step away.” Her voice strengthened with each step she took in the opposite direction.

  “Okay,” he said troubled by his lack of control around her. Face slack, he re-entered her office and booted up the secure link for the teleconference. Sitting in front of the monitor, he adjusted his softening dick and tried to make sense of what just happened. Had he been on the brink of begging her to go to bed with him? Seriously? He couldn’t recall ever wanting to be inside someone so bad. His body had been on fire. His brain had short-circuited. He hadn’t been thinking about anything except how good she felt.

  What the hell was going on? This wasn’t like him. He had a book with names and numbers of women who contacted him asking for booty calls. He never begged and rarely asked. Sex was always available if you made sure the woman got off.

  “I didn’t expect you to be here before I contacted you,” Asher said pulling him from his depressing thoughts.

  “Didn’t want you to wait,” Drake mumbled.

  Asher snorted. “Where’s Faith?”

  “Getting food.”

  “You alright?” Asher asked after a few seconds of silence. “Is this case getting to you?”

  Drake had worked much harder cases than this, that didn’t bother him. “One word. Menendez.” He reminded Asher that he had orchestrated the death and destruction of one of Asher’s enemies. Menendez had been responsible for blowing up Drake’s mom’s home.

  “Good point. Can you get Faith? I want to get this done, check on Francesca who’ll be arriving any minute and make love to my woman. She’s getting antsy, I need to take care of home,” Asher said.

  Drake forced a smile. “How are the wedding plans coming along? Did you talk to Moses? Taylor? Will they be back in time?”

  “Mya and her mom are having a lot of fun spending my money for a one-day event. She says that event represents the rest of our lives together. Said she wasn’t ever letting me go. So, I just show up when and where she tells me.”

  Drake grinned. Asher had been bitten hard by the love bug. Listening to him talk about marriage, having one woman, allowing that woman to run him in any way and hearing his cousin’s excitement over having a family, still shook Drake. Of all the men Drake knew, Asher would have been the last person he would have expected to be happy with the prospect of marriage and monogamy, let alone raising Mya’s son, Colin.

  “Talked to Moses a couple days ago. They’re in France again visiting Turner and Fiona. Travis is in Virginia at their grandparents. That was their last job until after the wedding. Moses mentioned heading to Virginia before returning here. Your mom’s been calling them asking when they’ll be home, I think she’s lonely,” Asher said.

  Drake snorted. “Mom’s made herself at home in Versteck and has a full social life, don’t let her fool you. Hard to believe she’s the same woman sometimes.” His mom had played them against each other when they were growing up and things were hard at home. When Moses went missing, she changed and moved back to Versteck to be near them.

  “What’s she going to think about Faith?” Asher asked.

  Drake looked at the monitor. “She would love her. The question is what Faith would think of her. Anna Sanderson is a handful.”

  “When are you bringing her home?” Asher asked.

  “Middle of next week.”

  Asher’s brow rose.

  “Just following orders,” Drake said feeling his mood lighten at the reminder of returning home.

  The door opened. Faith stepped in wearing an egg robin blue jogging suit and carrying a small tray with a few pieces of meat and a bag of chips. He inhaled and narrowed his gaze at her. “You took a shower?”

  She placed the tray on the desk and sat down while looking at the monitor. “Do you have Hart’s interview?”

  Drake sat back in his chair and half-listened to the conversation. What would Faith think of Versteck? Did it matter? He had never considered taking anyone there before. Would he have invited her if it wasn’t for this case? He wasn’t sure. Versteck Valley was the culmination of his hopes and dreams where he could be one hundred percent himself.

  He had an affinity for the wild west and what it represented. A huge part of his personal code of ethics was formed in his teens and were based on an outlaw creed they had simplified. He, Asher and Moses made a vow to always have each other’s back no matter what. Nothing could come between that. Mya, Asher’s fiancé, understood. Taylor, Moses’ woman understood.

  Would Faith?

  He didn’t know. They hadn’t discussed what was going on between them. For all he knew, sex was the only thing she wanted from him and planned to give him a handshake and wave goodbye at the end of this case.

  That didn’t sit right with him.

  “Drake?” Faith snapped her fingers in front of him.

  “Yeah?” He didn’t bother pretending he had been paying attention, he hadn’t.

  “Are you ready to listen to the interview? Asher thinks Hart’s trying to cover himself and keep suspicion from falling on him.”

  “Why would anyone suspect him?” He looked at Asher.

  “He hit on Francesca a couple of times, she wasn’t interested,” Asher said. “It took showing him the photos to get him to admit it. But he swears he hasn’t seen her since he broke up with Davina. He had a bit to say about her and her father.” Asher played the interview.

  Within five minutes of listening, Drake knew he wouldn’t retain much. His focus was shot with the various questions running through his mind regarding Faith, which ticked him off. He had always been on point, dependable, able to get the job done no matter what.

  What happened?

  He glanced at Faith who sat with her eyes closed, forehead creased and fingernail tapping on her thigh while listening to Hart discuss the last time he talked to Francesca. The four of them had been at a place in Belize on the beach.

  “Hold it,” Faith said.

  Asher stopped the recording. “I remember that. Francesca called me that weekend from the beach. She said she wanted to make a few changes in a contract I was looking over for her and she would let me know, but she never mentioned it again.”

  Asher nodded and pressed play. For the most part, Hart’s interview simply added color inside the lines Faith, Asher and Drake had already drawn regarding the relationships between the four adults. Francesca and Jason Bloom were madly in love. Jason would do anything for Fran, and she would do the same for him. Hart had never seen anything like those two. No, Davina wasn’t jealous. Her marriage with the Senator hadn’t been based on love, and they would’ve gotten a divorce if Jason had lost the first Senatorial election.

  Davina and Francesca got along fine, although there were times he thought Davina was jealous of Francesca. Not over Jason, there was nothing there, but because Davina wanted what Francesca had, a man who loved and was devoted to her. No matter what Hart did, Davina could never allow herself to love him fully. He got tired of being second in her affections and moved on.

  When asked who was first in Davina’s affections, Hart said, “Davina.”

  The interviewer continued. “Could Davina have anything to d
o with Francesca’s disappearance?”

  “Maybe, but only if Davina was directly threatened, otherwise no. I think she genuinely liked Francesca,” Hart said.

  “Would Jason have anything to do with Francesca’s disappearance?”

  “No way. That man worshiped her. I bet he’s hired a team to search for her. He won’t function well until she’s found. If she’s… gone permanently, he won’t stay in Washington. He’ll quit. When I say she was his reason for waking every morning, I mean it. They were the real deal, never seen anything like it. If you spent time around them, you would want a love like that. I knew I’d never settle for the crumbs Davina gave me. I wanted what Jason and Fran had. I think I’ve found it with my wife,” Hart said.

  “Who do you think would wish Francesca harm?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. She works with charities which keeps her busy. I’ve never heard anyone say a bad thing about her,” Hart said.

  “Could one of the Senator’s enemies have taken her as a hostage or leverage to get him to do what they want?”

  Hart didn’t answer right away. “Those two have been together a long time. I had to sign a contract swearing never to reveal anything about them. He was really protective of her and what they had. But I will say this, for someone to take a man’s Mistress and not his wife as a hostage, they had to know something because the wife should be the first choice.”

  Faith looked at Drake. “That makes a lot of sense,” she whispered.

  He agreed.

  Hart had little to say about Edward Kipling, Davina’s father and refused to acknowledge Aiden Ramsey in any capacity other than to say Aiden and Francesca were good friends. On the subject of Davina’s reaction to him and other women, Hart had more to say.

  “She was jealous, threatened my wife before we married and cried when she discovered I had a child on the way. Davina couldn’t have children which was probably a blessing since she’s self-centered as hell. Unfortunately, neither can Jason who would’ve made a great father. Since neither of them could have kids, I think it made it easier for Davina to agree to the open marriage. Although I don’t think her agreement mattered to Jason. As I said, he had started the divorce proceedings prior to the election. Francesca talked him out of it, promised to stay with him no matter what. To this day I think he wished he had lost,” Hart had said.

  Drake couldn’t imagine any woman he had ever been interested in allowing him to have a girlfriend on the side. Faith had been right, very few women would agree to what Davina had. When the interview was over, Drake went over bits of the interview that he remembered.

  “What did Davina get out of this? The marriage? Why did she stay in it?” Drake asked.

  “Hart refused to discuss anything financial or anything that could come back to hurt him personally. I think he was hedging his bets that the Senator would appreciate him helping us locate her which is why he talked about Francesca freely,” Asher said.

  “Still, he said Davina was in love with herself, which means she had a reason for staying with Jason. Is it his position? The fact she’s in the limelight on his arm in public?” Drake asked.

  “I’ve seen photos of them at social events, and they’re never touching,” Faith said. “She has his name, but that’s all.”

  “The right name is all you need to make certain deals in certain quarters. I hadn’t thought about her but what if she’s the one who introduced Francesca to Aiden Ramsey? What if her father’s the one with the underground connections that started the money laundering? Years ago, there were whispers about Kipling getting into some kind of trouble, gambling, I think. Hold on, I’ll ask Wesley, he would remember,” Asher said and placed a call while putting them on mute. When he was done, he said. “I was right, Kipling lost most of his wife’s inheritance through gambling, a huge amount, a couple million. Broke her heart. She took their daughter and left him for several years. Moved into the wife’s family estate home. Years later, somehow, she and Kipling reunited but don’t have much of a relationship. Wesley says they were more like room-mates than husband and wife. She holds the purse strings tight, doesn’t give him anything, not while she lives or after she dies. He has to make his own money.”

  Faith slapped the table and turned to face Drake. “Which is why Davina thinks nothing of an open marriage, she grew up in one. She was probably the only reason her parents reconciled. She loves her father and would probably do anything for him,” Faith said with a narrowed gaze. “Even marry a man she didn’t love and push him into a job he didn’t want so she could make money for her father.”

  It sounded cold and calculated to Drake, but it could be true.

  “What do you think?” she asked him.

  “Plausible, definitely plausible,” Drake said rubbing his chin while thinking the matter through.

  “I think you’re onto something, Faith. The old man probably pitched the idea to Davina who used Francesca to make it work. The question on the table is this, did Francesca discover Davina’ or her father’s involvement?”

  No one spoke.

  “How could she not have discovered it?” Faith asked in a low voice. “She put these triggers in place because she didn’t trust someone. She assumed at some point she would go missing or… not return. There was a valid reason for doing that. I’m thinking it’s either Davina or her father.”

  “Again, good points. Francesca knew something or that someone would come after her. She hired you three years ago. Does that mean she realized the potential danger at that time? Or had she waited to be sure?” Drake asked watching her.

  Faith stared at the desk and finally shook her head. “The one thing that keeps jumping out at me was her insistence on keeping the Senator out of any investigation. If this attack was really about her, why would she have said that? Something happened with the Senator, and Francesca’s being used either against him or on his behalf. He’s involved in some way.”

  “Which would explain his wife calling you out of the blue to talk,” Drake said agreeing with Faith’s line of thinking. “It’s all connected to him.”

  “She should be calling you soon, get as much information as you can without telling her much,” Asher said.

  “Isn’t that what lawyers do anyway?” Faith said with a slight smile. “If Davina’s involved with what happened to Francesca, I want you to go after her hard, Asher. Gather as much information as possible and make it stick. The answer to who attacked Francesca was in that green satchel, we just need to look at it again from a new perspective.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Faith remained in her office after the meeting with Asher and Drake to get some work done. Audrey had called when she learned what Harold had done at Faith’s office and made it clear she hoped Faith pressed charges.

  “I told you he was crazy,” Audrey had said. “I hate I ever got involved with Claude. He was good, but not good enough to put up with this.”

  Silently, Faith had agreed with her. Detective Bronson had contacted her with information that Harold had been charged and would have a bail hearing later that day. The prosecuting attorney charged Harold with third-degree breaking and entering because his intent was to violate a restraining order and retrieve Audrey. If they could make it stick, Harold could face up to 10 years. Even if he spent half that time away from Audrey, it would be a bonus.

  Chances are Harold had already made bail and was ensconced with several top-notched attorneys. The prosecution would have to work hard for a conviction, despite the overwhelming evidence.

  Her phone rang. “What’s going on Paul?”

  “Davina Bloom wants to talk to you. Want me to patch her through the secure line?” he asked.

  Faith didn’t really want to talk to the woman but realized the necessity of doing so. “Pass her through in one minute to give Drake time to get here,” she said.

  “Will do.”

  She sent Drake a text informing him of the call and waited. When the secure line rang, Drake walked in the of
fice. His hair was damp, and the scent of soap clung to his skin. He nodded as he pulled out a chair and sat across from her.

  “Faith Gardner, how can I help you?”

  “Faith, thank you for taking my call. This is Davina Bloom, you’ve met my husband, Senator Jason Bloom.” She paused.

  Faith didn’t like the fake, sugary, sweet tone the woman used as if they were acquaintances and didn’t say anything.

  “You met him, haven’t you?” the woman pressed.

  “How can I help you, Mrs. Bloom?” Faith said with the right amount of respect in her tone.

  “You can start by answering my question,” Davina snapped.

  “It’s obvious I’m not answering any questions. Is there anything else?” Faith said, disliking the woman more, and enjoying baiting her.

  “Is there a reason you’re not answering my questions?” This time she used a snooty tone that might work with someone who wanted something from Davina. Faith, however, wanted nothing from the woman.

  “Plenty. First being I don’t know you and don’t have to talk to you let alone answer questions. If that’s all, have a nice day,” Faith said, her tone hardening.

  “Wait.” Davina sighed.

  Faith met Drake’s amused glance.

  “I apologize. There’s so much happening I can’t think straight. Accept my apologies for how I spoke to you before. You’re right. Let’s start over. I’m Davina. Jason is my husband. I was told he came to see you earlier this week. You’re an attorney for Francesca. As weird as it sounds, she’s a friend of mine. Jason’s worried about her and so am I. Have you heard from Fran?”

  “Not recently, have you?”

  “No. And while she and I don’t talk often, she and Jason talk every day. The fact he hasn’t heard from her is abnormal and impacting everybody,” Davina said.

  “How is it impacting people?” Faith asked curiously.

  “He’s not working. Not eating. Won’t go to meetings. His staff is covering for him, but it’ll come out soon that he’s not well. All of his attention is on finding Fran, so if you know anything that can help, please tell him,” Davina said.