[B.S. #1] Tied Up in Knotts (17 page)

James looked at Clay, his face a blank mask. He tried to pull off the nothing-is-the-matter look. Clay wanted to say more, but held his tongue when he saw the hollow look in James’s blue eyes.

“She wants you to be her guard, Clay. I tried to get through to her, but the only one she wants to talk to is you. So after this meeting, I would like you to go up and stay in the apartment until she is ready to talk.” James had a hard time talking to his friend. Avery was his and even though he knew he could trust Clay. He didn’t want him around her. It didn’t make sense with all their history, but James couldn’t stop himself from being unreasonable about it.

“Where are you going to stay?” Clay tried to keep his tone neutral as he knew James was close to exploding.

“I’m going to stay in the office. I kind of got use to sleeping on the sofa this last month,” James tried to joke. “Now let’s get down to business, shall we.”

Chapter Seventeen

Avery looked around the quiet apartment after James had left. She really didn’t hate him, no, her problem was she cared too much. She knew part of her heart was already his, and to have him admit that it was all lies was just too much. How much more could she take? Her parents had lied to her, and now James and the men that she had befriended.

Walking through the bedroom into the bathroom, she washed her hands of James’s soot and walked back out and crawled under the covers of the bed. It even smelled of James, She thought of getting up and finding another bed, but the smell seemed to calm her, as she drifted off to sleep remembering the wonderful evening they had spent together before it had turned to hell.

Clay woke her the next morning with a steaming cup of coffee. He had to have been up a while, as his brown hair was still wet from a shower.

“Well you sure stirred some shit with James last night. He looked like he lost his puppy.” Handing her the cup, he sat on the corner of the bed. Clay wanted her to know that he didn’t approve of her treatment of James.

“Well the way I see, I lost all of the puppies. Not only one. It looks like you all had me fooled. I hope you all had a great time while you were doing it.” Avery turned it around on him. She wasn’t the one at fault over this. They were.

Clay reached and patted her foot in a fatherly way. He had to defuse the situation, they wouldn’t get anyplace if Avery had her back up. “Avery, we all didn’t lie. We were doing our job and I know James didn’t have to ask you out. He wanted to. I should think by now you know James only does what he wants.”

He carried on when he saw that he had her attention. “Why don’t you look at the good thing for a change. You were able to move out of the rat-infested apartment of yours, away from your friend Danny. You had a better job than slinging hash and having your ass pinched. You got to go to the opera. What more could you ask for, all the while under our safe guidance.” Clay tried to make light of her situation.

Clay had always seemed to be straight with her, so Avery took a few minutes to think. It was easy to be sarcastic, but she really liked Clay and knew he could supply some answers.

“You’re right with what you say, but it still was all a deception. Put on for me so you all could get close and find out any secrets that I might have,” Avery declared in a tired voice. She hadn’t slept well with her mind racing over all the events since she had laid eyes on James for the first time.

Avery pushed up in bed, one hand keeping the coffee cup steady, the other brushing back the hair falling into her eyes.

Clay’s eyes zeroed in on the charm bracelet on her arm that she had failed to remove in the night before crawling into bed.

Reaching out, Clay touched the small charms surrounding the bracelet.

“Was this one of the mementos from your family? I know you lost most of them in the fire. This is very pretty, is it yours or something that was your mother’s?” Clay asked, his gray eyes scanning all the charms attached to it.

“I’m sure you’re not interested in my bracelet…OK, if you want me to talk, we’ll start there. It’s my bracelet, my parents gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday. It was originally my mother’s, she added charms whenever something she thought was important to remember happened.” Avery put her cup down on the bedside table and started to go through the charms, touching them one by one. “This one is when I was born”—she held up a small baby charm—“next is the cross for my first Communion. This one is books, for my first day of school.” Turning the bracelet around, she told Clay the story each charm held.

Clay noticed one that didn’t seem to fit well with the others. Reaching out he pointed out the small key between the books and the small graduation cap. The key was gold like the rest of the charms, but some of the gold had started to wear off, and silver was showing through some parts.

“What’s this for?” Clay tried to sound casual, but Avery noticed the change in his tone.

“This one?” Avery picked up the key between her fingers. “I really don’t know. It was there when my mother gave it to me. I never thought to ask her about it, and well now it’s too late. I’m sure it means something to her. She only put what she thought was important on this bracelet,” Avery explained to Clay again.

Clay rose from the bed, trying to not startle Avery with his abrupt movement. “I think it might be very important. I’ll be right back.” Clay moved swiftly from the room into the hall and pulled out his cell phone.

James answered on the first ring, as if he was waiting for the call.

“James, can you and Angel come up here right now? I have something I want you both to look at.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Does she want to see me?” James had been pacing in his office waiting for Clay to call and give him an update. He was having a hard time staying away from Avery, especially after he had went back last night and watched her sleep in his bed. He had wanted to climb in with her and cuddle all night. God she really had him by the balls.

“James,” Clay spoke into the cell again, trying to get James’s head in the game. “This is important, more important than Avery’s not wanting to see you. Get your ass up here now. And that’s an order from your pretend boss. I think I like giving you orders, let’s do this on the next job, OK.” Not waiting for James to respond, Clay closed his cell and walked back into the bedroom.

“I think you should get up and dressed. We are going to have company soon.”

Avery flipped the covers of the bed back, and slip her legs out, “Who’s coming? I don’t want to see James yet. I’m still mad at him,” she said as she walked to the bathroom.

“Well I hate to give you bad news, but James is one of the two coming. I know you’re mad at him right now, but give the guy a break. He really put a lot of effort into this job so you would feel comfortable. He didn’t grab you, tie you to a chair, and force the information out of you. No, James gave you a job and apartment and if I’m not mistaken, some romance, as you ladies like to call it.”

Avery blushed as she closed the bathroom door. Clay saw too much with his knowing gray eyes. He knew that she and James had gotten closer than just dating.

Clay sat on the couch and poured two cups of coffee for James and Angel shortly after they arrived and sat down across from him in the living room.

Angel just took the coffee and leaned back in his seat, not saying anything. James grabbed his cup of coffee and started in on asking Clay for an explanation right away. James didn’t look like he had slept much and was on edge, as he didn’t sit back and relax into the couch.

Clay picked up his cup. “This morning, I brought Avery her coffee in bed,” he started.

“What right do you have to be in her bedroom, I just asked you to watch her. Not seduce her when she sleeping.” James jumped up, almost spilling his coffee with his abrupt move. He was being unreasonable, he knew it, but couldn’t take back his words.

Clay stood up to his full height, “That crosses the line, James. I wasn’t going in to seduce her. We’ve been in this job long enough to know that when a person first wakes up they don’t think about lying. I was just getting an early start on the questions. And before you say it. I know Avery is off limits and that you staked your claim. We all know.”

James looked a little ashamed as he sat back down and waved for Clay to take his seat. “Sorry, I’m just on edge. I knew Carlos was after her, but never thought he would try to kill her. After last night, I had to rethink the whole thing. I’m just on my last nerve here, give me a break and take what I spew out with a grain of salt. I really don’t think you’re after Avery. I know you too well, forgive me.”

Clay sat back down, not looking at James. Addressing himself to Angel, he wanted his opinion of last night. “Do you think last night was a hit on Avery? You seem to be a bit jumpy most of the day and we usually have our meetings in my office, not the kitchen. Did you feel something?”

Angel placed his cup on the table, sitting up and moving his body from the relaxed position he had been in moments before. “I don’t think it was a hit on Avery, I think it was a hit on us. I don’t think Danny talked to Carlos. I think it was just Danny and his gang getting rid of any competition. From what I found around the area, when I went back after our meeting last night and the area was cleared of cops, it looks like a small time job. I don’t think Carlos would have tried to kill Avery, without knowing first where the drugs are. There is too much money at stake for him. I wouldn’t doubt that Danny is now regretting his decision, if Carlos got wind of Avery living in the building. With all his resources I think he probably knew or learned this morning shortly after the report came out in the papers.”

James looked impatiently at Clay, “You called. We can talk about the fire afterward. What was so important that we come up here right away? And where’s Avery?”

Avery stepped into the living room, her hair was still wet, telling James she had been in the shower. She was wearing another of James’s T-shirts and had one of his good ties wrapped around her waist to make a belt. She looked good in his clothes. He wished she had used another of his ties, as the one currently around her waist had cost two hundred dollars and was a gift from Chase. But it sure looked better on her than on him. He wanted to go to her in the worst way, but by the look in her stormy green eyes that she turned on him, he knew she hadn’t forgiven him yet. She made a point of taking one of the arm chairs besides Clay and as far away from him as she could.

Turning her head toward Clay, she asked the same question that James had just uttered. “What is so important that we have to have company first thing in the morning? And I would like another cup of coffee, if I have to sit here.” She pointed at the coffee pot at Clay’s elbow.

Instead of pouring her a cup, Clay grabbed her pointing arm, which just happened to have the charm bracelet on. James rose to his feet when Clay made his move. Clay waved him back in his chair as he held Avery’s arm out and pointed out the charm bracelet. “Do you see this?”

“Yes, I noticed it last night when she wore it to the opera. It’s very pretty, but what the hell is so important about it? It’s just a plain bracelet that lots of girls wear.” James was looking at the bracelet as Clay moved the charms around.

Suddenly Angel reached out for the bracelet also. He noticed the small gold-plated key sitting between two normal charms. Angel could see that it wasn’t made of the same material that all the other charms were. Turning it this way and that, Angel examined the key between his large fingers.

Avery didn’t know what to make of three big muscular men paying so much attention to her charm bracelet. Pulling her arm back from Clay and Angel, she undid the clasp and started to pass the bracelet to Clay. “Here, have at it. I think they still make them like this, if you all want one.” Avery gave them all a crazy look.

Angel grabbed it out of her hand before she could give it to Clay.

The big Native American held the delicate bracelet up in one of his big hands, his other hand holding the small key that was attached. “This does not belong, and if I’m right this is a key to a safety deposit box. It has been spray-painted gold to match the other charms, but the paint is starting to come off. This could be what we are looking for.” Angel’s black eyes turned to Clay, then James

James, who had been only looking at Avery and not paying attention, finally took in Angels’ words. Putting his hand out James took the bracelet from Angel and also fingered the key.

James held up the key and looked at Avery. “Where did this come from? It’s not the same as the other charms,” he said, his mind back on the job.

“Like I told Clay this morning in bed.” James got a steely look in his eyes, so Avery amended her sentence.

“When I was in bed
alone
, Clay handed me my coffee as he stood beside the bed. I have no idea where it came from. My parents gave it to me on my sixteenth birthday. It was originally my mother’s. She added charms whenever something that she thought was important happen. This key, to my knowledge, has always been on the bracelet. I didn’t add it.”

James tried to twist the key off the bracelet, but it was welded on. “Hey, don’t break my bracelet, that’s all I have left after last night. If you want the key so bad, take it to a jewelers and have them remove it. Just don’t pry it off and wreck it.” Avery had got to her feet and tried to take the bracelet away from James.

“Sit down, Avery.” Clay put his arms around her waist and helped her back to her seat. “He won’t break it. He knows how important it is to you.” Turning to James still trying to pry the key off, Clay said in a harsh voice, “And don’t break it.”

James let off on trying to get the key from the bracelet, handing it back to Angel. “This could be our break, Angel. Do you think after we have it off, that you can get Grant to trace it? I think it has numbers etched on it, but it is hard to see with the gold paint covering it.”

Angel left the couch and walked toward the door. “Only one way to tell. I’m taking it down to the office. I’m going to try and clean it, then put it under a microscope and see what it reveals.” Angel disappeared out the front door.