Kansas Nights [Kansas Heat 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (33 page)

“It’s not a matter of trust. I hate to break this to you, Jack, but you don’t control the whole world.” Kathy knew even as she made her argument that she was already screwed. In four steps, Jack would have her pinned between him and Collin with no place for her to run. “Things are capable of growing beyond even your able hands.”

“Well then, I guess Collin was right. Eddie is a dead subject.” Jack smiled, finally coming to a stop. “So can we talk about how you’re going to take that spanking now?”

Before Kathy could tell Jack to go spank himself, Collin’s arm snaked out to wrap around her waist. She thought she’d given him enough distance but hadn’t counted on him leaning as he stretched to capture her. She’d also forgotten just how quick he could be. From one second to the next, she went from confronting Jack to being snuggled into Collin’s lap.

“Collin!” Kathy tried to wiggle away from the heated breath warming her neck as she pushed at the hand trying to slide between her legs. “Damnit! Let loose, I’m trying to have a serious conversation here.”

“I know, sweet meat,” Collin agreed with a murmur, nuzzling her hair aside to nibble on her ear. “So why don’t we discuss what was missing from Eddie’s mantel?”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Kathy groaned, trying to shove her skirt back down. He’d fisted a hand in the soft material, dragging the hem higher and exposing her sensitive skin to the rough feel of his callused palm. “I already told you. It was a picture.”

“But not of his son and him. There were pictures of him and his son along with his dead wife all over that mantel.” Collin’s hands stilled, his tone sobering with the seriousness of his offer. “Now you want to tell me the truth, then maybe we have something to talk about.”

“Fine. You want the truth?” Kathy jerked hard, breaking his hold and stumbling to her feet. She righted herself quickly, refusing the hand Jack offered her with a scowl. “I’ll give you both the truth. Just wait.”

Not certain they would obey that command and not wanting to get cornered anywhere near her bed, Kathy rushed into her room and retrieved the photo album she needed as fast as she could. Having already looked through the pictures earlier while talking to her father, she didn’t have to search to find the old leather volume. Within a minute, she had it laid out on the table and open to the page of worn and faded photographs.

“There.” Kathy stepped back, watching as Jack and Collin buried their noses in the album. They finally appeared distracted enough for her to finish her dinner.

“What is this?” Collin glanced up, clearly not about to jump to any conclusions. “Duplicates of what was taken?”

“Something like that.” Kathy nodded as she settled back down into her chair, returning to her half plate of macaroni. “I remember the picture on Eddie’s mantel because it had my dad in it, the whole gang from when they were young, same as these.”

“They were taken on the same day?” Jack asked, pinning her with a hard look as he clearly tried to judge the honesty of her answer.

“Yeah.” Kathy couldn’t help but let her annoyance color her tone as she tried to remind herself that Jack had every reason to doubt her words. “It was two days before the guys shipped off to boot camp, and that was their going-away party. And before you can ask, no. I don’t know why anybody would have removed it.”

“I want names on all these people.” Pulling out the group picture from its sleeve, Jack slapped it down in front of her. “And I don’t want any grief.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Kathy sighed, shoving back her seat to go in search of pen and paper.

She’d give Jack what he wanted this time, mostly because he would harass her until she did anyway. If she really wanted to separate their affair from his investigation, Kathy had to start working with them at some point. Of course, they had to start working with her, too. That would require trust, something they stumbled with almost immediately after she handed over the list.

“That was too easy,” Collin warned Jack, eyeing Kathy with suspicion. “She’s up to something.”

“Yeah,” Kathy agreed. “I’m saving myself the trouble of having to catch a murderer, but if you need more help, I’d like to point out that there is one name on that list that keeps popping up.”

“Marion Myers.” Jack didn’t sound happy about having a new suspect.

Kathy was, though. Marion was a stuck-up bitch and a much better fit for jail than Amanda. Of course, the world being what it was, that would never happen. Marion was rich and privileged. Most importantly, she was politically connected. Kathy suspected the authorities wouldn’t even talk to Marion unless they already knew they had enough evidence to prosecute her. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t.

As if he could read her mind, Jack’s gaze narrowed on Kathy. “You stay away from her.”

“It’s a small town.” Kathy shrugged. “You never know who you are going to run into around the bend.”

“Well, if you do bump into her, smile politely and just keep on walking,” Jack ordered her like she was some low-level minion of his.

“I make no promises.” Kathy wouldn’t, especially not ones she couldn’t keep.

“Kathy, this is serious.” Jack hit her with a look that probably broke most criminals. “We don’t have enough evidence to accuse her of anything, and if you go insinuate something to Marion, she’ll make sure we never do. Just remember your ass is already on the line for interfering with this case.”

“Oh, I know this line.” Kathy perked up. “Now you’re supposed to tell me somebody’s going down for these crimes and I don’t want it to be me.”

“No, you don’t,” Jack agreed.

Kathy had actually been expecting a dismissal of her words, another accusation that she was paranoid and overly dramatic. That Jack didn’t accuse her of either of those things actually unnerved Kathy, making her consider her own grim predictions in a new light.

“Besides, she may not actually be guilty,” Collin pointed out.

“You know, that’s why people don’t like cops,” Kathy snapped. “You guys never see the obvious. Of course she’s guilty.”

“Really?” Collin lifted a brow. “Then explain, oh wise one, why she stole the picture. It’s not like Eddie being her brother is some big secret.”

“There’s no secret. I don’t like the woman.” That’s all the counted in Kathy’s book, but apparently Collin didn’t share her sentiment.

“That’s not enough.”

“Well it should be…and if you were my friend it would be. Friends stick by each other.”

“Oh, that’s weak, honey.” Collin sighed as he shook his head at her, clearly disappointed in her argument.

Kathy didn’t have anything better to offer, though. Truth was she had no proof of Marion’s guilt, but she intended to find some. She certainly couldn’t do that while staying away from Marion. Of course, Jack helped solidify Kathy’s determination when he broke into a grin and lifted a hand toward Collin.

“Hey, I think you won that one.”

“It’s about damn time,” Collin retorted, smiling back at his buddy as he smacked his hand in a high five.

“Well, try and see if you can win another one while you got her on the ropes,” Jack suggested, shoving his seat back as he snatched up the picture and list. “I have a few calls I have to make.”

* * * *

Kathy watched Jack saunter out the back door before turning her gaze on Collin, who had followed his partner’s lead and risen from the table. Instead of disappearing, though, Collin began to cart the plates over toward the sink. Kathy helped, but when she reached for the tap, Collin bumped her out of the way. He took over the task of washing the dishes, leaving Kathy with nothing to do but wait for something to dry.

“You’re very good at that,” Kathy commented with a smile as she watched him work with such efficiency. “Your wife train you?”

“That’s ex,” Collin pointedly corrected her as he handed over the first plate. “And no, we had a dishwasher and a maid.”

“A maid?” Kathy almost dropped the dish in her hands with her shock. Gaping up at him, she tried to hold back the smile that thought brought to her. What she wouldn’t do to have somebody clean up for her.

“More than one.”

“Damn,” Kathy whispered, wishing she had a house big enough to need more than one. “If you had enough money to afford a maid who actually cleaned your house, what the hell did you have to argue over that would end in divorce?”

“Lots of things,” Collin assured her. Passing over another plate, he caught her gaze. He offered her a smile to match the one that she wore. “But Cecelia and I didn’t fight.”

“So you had money, you had a maid, and you didn’t argue? Sounds like a marriage from hell.”

“It was.”

There could be no denying the depth of emotion in that simple statement. He didn’t elaborate, and Kathy knew she should probably leave it at that. She couldn’t, though. Her curiosity, as always, got the better of her.

“What, was she jealous?” Kathy took a stab at what she figured would be the most likely problem. Given Collin’s good looks and naturally flirtatious manner, she could see where an insecure woman might start to become annoyingly possessive.

“Naw.” Without even a second of hesitation, Collin shrugged away her best guess. “Cecelia was a Brazilian swimsuit model, not exactly the type of woman to doubt her looks.”

Neither was Kathy, but that bit of information managed to make her wonder what the hell Collin was doing here, in her kitchen. She certainly didn’t fit the swimsuit-model mold. Of course, Kathy could be wrong. After all, Collin was here, and there could be no doubt of his interest in her, so she must be looking pretty damn good. That thought had Kathy smiling.

“So I rank alongside a Brazilian swimsuit model, huh?”

Collin busted out a laugh, his gaze sparkling as he passed her a new plate. “Trust me, sweet meat, you outrank her.”

“Aw now, don’t say that,” Kathy chastised him.

“Why not?” Collin’s smile tightened into a smirk as his brow wrinkled with a confused frown. “It’s true.”

“Even so, it’s bad form because whatever you say about her, you might one day say about me. After all, we’re all just waiting to become exes, you know?”

That had Collin’s hand stilling, the casserole dish sinking back down into the warm, sudsy bath it had been soaking in. “So you don’t believe in the ever after?”

“Oh, please.” Kathy held back her snort, but only because he looked strangely annoyed. “Look, Collin, if you couldn’t make it with a rich swimsuit model, what chance do we have?”

“Every chance in the world.” He tempted her heart to believe him with that solemn vow, but Kathy’s mind warned her against the wisdom of doing that.

“Maybe,” Kathy finally allowed. “Still, it’s safer to live in the moment. Perhaps those moments build into a lifetime, but if not, nobody’s hurt by promises that end up broken.”

“Now you sound like Jack.”

“Do I?” Kathy glanced at the back door to make sure they were still alone before leaning in closer to Collin’s side. “So tell me, he hasn’t ever been married, has he?”

“Once.” Collin shocked her with that answer.

“No way,” Kathy whispered, shocked beyond all measure. “He put on a tux and everything?”

“I said he got married, not had a wedding.” Collin passed a sparkling, clean casserole dish over to her dry as if he hadn’t just blown Kathy’s mind. She took it, wiping down the glass surface with a damp towel and no thought for her task.

“Was she a stripper?”

“No.” Collin smirked. “She was a Filipino biker with tattoos all up and down her arms. Instead of exchanging rings, she got her clit pierced.”

Kathy danced backward with those words, trying to throw off the shudder that thought invoked. Even as the painful image in her head faded, she found herself sharing in Collin’s amusement as the pieces started to fall into place.

“Jack’s cock’s not pierced, so am I to guess that’s why the marriage fell apart? He didn’t have the balls to go through with his end of the exchange?”

“No,” Jack answered for Collin. His hard tone cut through the air, making Kathy start with a squeak. Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she turned to confront his frown and his explanation. “She had the marriage annulled the next day because she found out I had a vasectomy.”

Kathy didn’t have the words to respond to that revelation. Her mouth felt too dry to form any thought her mind might have had she been capable of having one. Pinned beneath Jack’s hot gaze, Kathy couldn’t think beyond the warmth filling her. The heated rush of lust melted her muscles, leaving her weak and trembling.

“Trust me, honey, any day you want to get your clit pierced for me, I’ll be willing to uphold my end of the bargain just as long as you’re not expecting to get kids out of it.”

“And if I do?” Kathy asked, cautioning herself that this was just a game. Jack didn’t mean anything by his words. She certainly had no intention of getting anything funky pierced. That didn’t stop her heart from pounding a heavy tempo against her chest. Jack’s response only made that wayward organ beat even harder.

“You’ll have to ask Collin about that.” Jack shrugged. “He’s the baby-maker.”

“You got kids?” That thought chilled Kathy’s shining optimism in an instant.

“No.” Having finished the last of the silverware, Collin took the towel from her hands as he answered. It would have been too much to hope he’d leave it at that and pretend not to notice the panic in her tone. “Why? Don’t you like kids?”

“Of course.” Not interested in expanding that answer or having any kind of in-depth conversation on the subject, Kathy left it at that and headed for the refrigerator. “Who wants ice cream?”

“You don’t
want
kids.” Never one to leave anything alone, Jack corrected Collin’s question, sounding almost too pleased by that observation.

“No.” Kathy turned to face them both, knowing that they wouldn’t let the topic go until they had their answer. “I don’t date men with kids. They complicate things, especially affairs. They’re loud, messy, demanding, consuming all of a man’s time, energy, and money. Now, do you two want chocolate or vanilla?”

“Wow,” Collin breathed out as if she’d just insulted him. Turning his gaze toward Jack, he shook his head in stunned amazement. “She really is like you.”