Out of Turn (31 page)

“What are you doing?” Kade asked in bewilderment, suddenly appearing at my elbow.

I cautiously lowered my arms. It looked like the avalanche was over. “I’m looking for her… toys,” I explained.

“Her what?”

My face burned. “You know… her personal things. I just thought maybe if she was seeing someone else, they might have left some DNA, or something…” My voice trailed off at the look of amusement on Kade’s face. “What?”

“So you’re looking in shoeboxes?” He snorted. “Why don’t we just ask Blane where she kept them?”

He turned away, but I grabbed a fistful of his shirt. “Don’t you dare ask Blane—” I hissed.

“Ask me what?”

Now Blane had ventured into the closet behind Kade.

“Where did Kandi keep her sex toys?”

Kade’s bluntness made me hurriedly turn away. I didn’t want to think about the images going through my head now of Blane and Kandi—

“How the fuck would I know?” Blane retorted with some surprise.

“Figured you were sleeping with her, you’d know,” Kade said with a shrug.

“Listen,” Blane sneered, “you may need stuff like that, but I don’t.”

“So you’re boring in bed,” Kade said with a smirk. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You can’t be good at everything.”

Good lord. I was trapped in a murdered woman’s closet with two grown men acting like fifteen-year-old boys.

“Can we just drop it?” I snapped. “Or should I get out a ruler and start measuring?”

Both men looked at me, and I knew my face was flaming, but I just cocked an eyebrow at them. Blane’s lips finally twisted in a near smile.

“It’s too cold in here for that,” Kade deadpanned.

“Well, they’re not going to be in here,” Blane said, glancing around the closet. “They’d be by the bed, right? In the nightstand?”

I shook my head. “No. Kandi probably had a cleaning lady and I bet she did the laundry. Kandi would’ve hid them from her.” I crouched down and started taking lids off shoeboxes.

The men seemed to consider this statement for a moment, then Blane reached for more boxes off the shelf, looking into them one by one. Kade did the same.

“So…,” Kade said after a few moments of blessed silence.

I braced myself. I knew that tone and whatever was coming next was probably going to be wildly inappropriate.

“I can’t help wondering,” he continued. “Where do you keep your… personal things?”

Sometimes I hated being right.

“I am so not answering that,” I shot back, digging through another stack of boxes and cursing that Kandi had so many freaking pairs of shoes.

“So is it like a collection? I mean, do you have enough to fill a shoebox? Some of these seem kind of… small… for that sort of thing.” He picked up a box, eyeing its dimensions doubtfully.

Oh my God. I was going to kill him. To my dismay, I heard Blane smother a laugh.

“I do not have a collection,” I protested.

“So you admit you do own items of a personal nature?”

“Every woman does. It’s not a big deal.” I tried to shrug it off.

At my admission, both men paused in their search, their heads turning toward me. I studiously avoided their gazes and prayed they weren’t imagining me with…

“Found it!” I crowed. And not a moment too soon, considering where the conversation had been headed.

The box contained a few things I recognized, and a few I didn’t. But what immediately caught my eye was the navy blue, patterned silk tie. I carefully drew it out of the box.

“Really hoping that’s not yours, brother,” Kade said softly.

Me, too, I thought but didn’t say.

“It’s not.”

Blane produced a plastic baggie and I slipped the tie inside. There were a couple of silk scarves, too, and I put them in another baggie.

“We’ve been here a while,” Blane said, glancing at his watch. “It’s pushing it. Let’s go.”

Kade offered me his hand and I climbed out from the mountain of shoeboxes. Blane watched, flicking off the bedroom light. I saw Blane and Kade removing their gloves as we walked down the hall and I did the same, shoving them in my pocket.

We were almost to the stairs when we heard the front door open. All of us froze.

A cold rush of adrenaline poured through my veins. Who could be here at this time of night? Was it a friend of Kandi’s? A relative? Or was it the murderer, returning to make sure he’d left no evidence behind?

Blane grabbed my arm, jerking open the nearest door and shoved me inside. Kade followed, then Blane, who eased the door shut behind him.

We were in some kind of closet, maybe a linen closet, I thought, and it wasn’t big enough for the three of us. I was sandwiched tightly between Blane and Kade and couldn’t see a thing, the blackness utterly complete.

C
HAPTER
T
WELVE

B
lane and Kade were still and silent, Kade at my back and Blane in front. I strained my ears, hearing the faint sound of footsteps on the stairs, coming closer and passing by our hiding place.

The closet was warm, too warm, it was stifling. I couldn’t move. I was trapped. How long would we have to stay in here?

“Take it easy,” Kade breathed in my ear, his voice a bare whisper of sound. His hands settled on my hips. “Breathe.”

I closed my eyes—not that it made a difference in what I could see, it was so dark—and tried to concentrate on breathing. I felt Blane’s fingers curl over mine as he took my hand. Only then did I realize that tremors shook my whole body. I was breathing too fast and too shallow. Hyperventilating.

I felt the same way I had in the ambulance. It was hard to concentrate. And when I opened my eyes, I kept seeing the faces of the men who’d taken me, felt the horror of being utterly at their mercy. In some detached way, I knew I was fighting a flashback and panic attack, but that didn’t mean I could stop it.

Kade’s arm curved around my stomach, holding me tight. “Don’t think about it,” he whispered. “Think about
something else. You know how many women would sacrifice a limb to be stuffed in a closet with two hot guys like me and Blane?”

His words penetrated my haze and my lips trembled in a faint smile.

Blane had both my hands in his now, then took my arms and wrapped them around his waist, as though to ground me in the present. He rubbed my arms, gently and methodically moving up to my shoulders and back down to my elbows. I rested my forehead against his chest and closed my eyes, breathing in and out. Rinse, lather, repeat. Kade pressed his mouth to my bare shoulder, the kiss gentle and silent. His hands lay low across my abdomen as he held me.

Blane’s scent clung to his skin, leaching through the thin fabric of his T-shirt. I inhaled greedily. Breathe in. Breathe out. But it was still too fast. My head swam.

Fingers lifted my chin, turning my face upward, and I felt the barest brush of Blane’s lips in a kiss. His palm cupped my cheek, a thumb brushing my cheekbone as his mouth moved gently over mine. It was unexpected and I gasped in surprise. Blane took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, forcing my breaths to slow.

Kade’s touch was warm against my shoulder, the slide of his tongue on my skin sending a shiver through me. His hand had crept under my tank, the heat of his palm like a brand.

I couldn’t see a thing, I could only feel. And gradually, as I stood wedged between the two men whose entire focus was on me, who made me feel the safest and most protected that I’d ever been, my tremors eased and breathing was no longer a chore.

Distantly, through the haze of forbidden desire they’d woven around me, I heard footsteps pass the door, heading back downstairs.

Blane slowly eased back, our lips clinging together. I was breathing fast again, but this time for a completely different reason.

“I’m going to see who it is,” Blane whispered. His lips brushed my temple. “Keep her here.”

My heart shot into my throat and I clutched at Blane’s shirt. What if he got hurt?

“I should go, not you,” Kade protested.

“No time to argue.” Blane gently but firmly disentangled his shirt from my clenched fingers, then he was out the door, closing it behind him.

“We should go after him,” I said, turning to face Kade. His hands slid around my back.

“No can do,” he replied. “We’ll wait here. Neither of us wants you hurt. Blane will be fine. He’s good at this, remember? Have a little faith.”

I chewed my lip, my anxiety easing somewhat.

“Why do I feel like we’re in a grown-up, slightly more dangerous version of spin-the-bottle?” Kade murmured. His voice was close to my ear now, his breath warm against my skin. “In which case, my time is short.” His mouth began searching in the dark, trailing kisses along my jaw.

I turned my head away, trying to keep my wits about me. Kade’s lips drifted down my neck to where my pulse was pounding.

“You should stop,” I managed to say.

“I don’t want to,” Kade murmured against my skin. “Blane kissed you. Now it’s my turn.”

Cradling my head, he held me still as his lips found mine.

Kade kissed like he needed me more than he needed air to breathe, as if it was agony to have been apart these past few hours. He overwhelmed me, his tongue tangled feverishly with mine until I was lost to everything but him.

A sharp whistle pierced the silence and Kade pulled back with one last brush of his lips against mine. “That’s our signal.”

I was reeling, but Kade didn’t seem fazed as he opened the closet door and carefully peered into the hallway. He had his gun in his hand when he turned to look back at me.

“You all right?” he asked.

Sure. I was hunky-dory. Making out with Blane, and moments later, Kade—I’d absolutely lost my mind. Guilt and self-loathing crept over me. What kind of person was I to do something like that?

I followed him down the stairs to where the glow of lights showed Blane with someone else. A woman. Older, perhaps in her mid-forties, she was Hispanic and was wringing her hands. Her face was lined with worry as she watched Kade and me approach.

Blane’s gaze drifted over me, banked desire in his eyes. My cheeks flooded with heat, remembering what had transpired in the closet with the two of them.

“This is Maria,” Blane said. “She’s Kandi’s housekeeper.”

“Why is she here at this hour?” I asked.

“Kandi hadn’t paid her,” Blane answered.

“She pay every month,” Maria answered, her accent thick over the broken English. “Now this horrible thing happen to her.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I know is terrible, but
I must have pay. I have grandchildren. Rent is due, bills.” She shrugged helplessly. “I was hoping maybe Miss Kandi have money here somewhere.”

She started crying in earnest now, covering her face with her hands. “I should not have come. Is dishonoring the dead to steal from them. Here.” She rummaged in the pocket of the long skirt she wore, handing something to Blane. “I am sorry.”

It was some kind of jewelry. Blane looked at it, then handed it to me. He pulled out his wallet. “It’s okay, Maria. How much did she owe you?”

“Three hundred dollars,” she said.

Wow. Kandi had gotten off cheap for a housekeeper.

Blane dug twice that amount from his wallet and held it so Maria could see it. “Can you tell me if Kandi’s been seeing anyone recently?”

“Other than you, Mister Blane?” she asked.

Ouch.

Blane’s fist clenched. “Yes,” he said stiffly, “other than me.”

Maria nodded, wiping her eyes. “Yes, but it was secret. Kandi told me not to tell.”

“I need you to tell me,” Blane said.

Maria’s eyes started leaking again. “But if I do, he said he would send me back to Mexico. My grandchildren are here. Who will take care of them if I go?”

“I promise, no one is going to send you back,” Blane assured her. “We need to know who it is. Who was seeing Kandi?”

Maria hesitated, her indecision apparent. I waited, barely breathing.

“It was Mister James,” she finally said.

I sucked in a breath. It couldn’t possibly be—

“James Gage?” Blane asked.

She nodded.

“How long had he been seeing her?”

“A while,” she replied, “on and off.”

“Okay. Thank you, Maria. You’ve been a big help.” Blane handed her the money. She gave him a nod, glanced at Kade and me, then hurried out the front door. A moment later, I heard a car start in the driveway.

“Oh my God,” I breathed, sinking down into a nearby chair. My legs wouldn’t hold me any longer. James Gage was a bad guy, I knew that. He and I’d had several run-ins and he’d not hesitated to use violence and force to get what he wanted.

But murdering Kandi? Why? And what he’d done to her after she was dead? It didn’t make sense, even for someone like him.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Kade said. “I wonder if we’ll find his DNA on the tie and scarves.”

“I have a buddy on the force,” Blane said. “He’s supposed to come by in the morning and bring the case file. I can see if he can get the tests run. In the meantime, we need to go.” His eyes met mine, then flicked away as he headed for the kitchen.

I avoided Kade’s gaze as I hurried after Blane. What had we been thinking? What had
I
been thinking? Did Blane know Kade had kissed me, too?

The ride back to Blane’s was filled with tension, and guilt turned my stomach into a pit of churning acid. Kade parked the car in the driveway and turned off the engine. I was slow in climbing out as they both loitered by the car.

I felt as though I was suffocating, the weight of their gazes made me want to cringe. Did they expect me to choose? How could I choose between a man I loved but didn’t trust, and a man I wanted but didn’t love?

“I-I think I’ll stay out here for a while,” I stammered, backing away slightly.

Hurt flashed across Blane’s face before he masked it. He said nothing, just gave a curt nod, throwing a quick glance at Kade before turning to disappear inside the house.

Someone nearby was shooting off fireworks. Illegal, at this time of night, though it was technically the Fourth of July. I wandered over onto the lawn to get a closer look. It seemed like a better idea at the moment than going inside.