The Perfect Murder by Kat Martin

FIFTEEN

The afternoon turned stormy, dark clouds on the horizon, the wind blowing like a bitch. Reese was meeting Chase in his office at Maximum Security, one of the top detective agencies in Dallas.

Briefly, he’d filled his brother in on Lee Haines’s murder and the ongoing investigation. But Chase wanted details. Reese dreaded the confrontation. Hell, he didn’t know that much about it himself.

Shoving open the glass front door, he walked into the single-story redbrick building on Blackburn Street.

“Chase is expecting me,” he said to Mindy Stewart, the receptionist. The petite brunette sat behind a big oak desk that matched the Western decor of the office.

“He told me you were coming in,” she said, pushing her round tortoiseshell glasses up on her nose. “I cleared his calendar for the afternoon.”

Good news and bad. Plenty of time for his older brother to rail at him for what he’d done, one of the few people Reese allowed to get away with it.

He waved at Jason Maddox as he strode across the open area where oak desks sat in a line of neat rows. Since he was short on time, he didn’t stop to chat. He’d call Hawk later to thank him for his help with Rico Alvarez and ask him to keep his ears open for anything that might help him find Lee Haines’s killer.

With a light rap on the door, he walked into Chase’s office. His brother rose behind his wide oak desk, his dark blond hair slightly mussed, a scowl on his face. Reese was surprised to see Brandon sprawled on the brown leather sofa, sipping a bottle of beer.

Resigned, Reese headed in that direction while Chase rounded the desk to join them.

“I talked to Heath Ford,” Chase said. “He told me as much as he could. What the hell have you done?”

“I’m helping a friend, all right? I’ll straighten things out in a couple of days. I just needed to buy a little time to get things started.”

“Tell me you aren’t really sleeping with her,” Chase said. “You just made that up to help her out of a jam.”

Reese clenched his jaw. “Who I’m sleeping with is none of your business.”

Brandon rose from the sofa to stare him in the face. “It is when she’s your employee, bro. You know how dangerous that is. The company belongs to all of us. That woman could ruin you and cause us endless grief.”

His jaw went even harder. “It’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

“Kenzie is a suspect in a homicide,” Chase said.

“She didn’t kill her no-good ex-husband,” Reese replied.

“How can you be sure?” Chase asked.

Reese’s temper inched up. “Because I know her. I’ve worked with her five days a week for the last six months.”

“What about the gun the cops found a few blocks away?” Bran asked. “It belongs to her, right?”

“Ford said it was registered to her. We haven’t had time to talk about it.”

“Well, you damned well better make time,” Chase said.

Bran’s gaze, a lighter shade of blue than Reese’s, pinned him where he stood. “You ever consider she might be playing you, bro? She could have set you up so she could off her ex old man and you’d take the bait, give her the alibi she needed. Could have been a lot more was going on between them than what you know.”

Reese shook his head. “I don’t believe it. Kenzie isn’t a murderer.”

“You’ve only known her six months,” Chase said. “How long have the two of you been sleeping together?”

Reese forced himself not to glance away. “We’ve only spent one night together.” And it had been Kenzie’s idea. He clamped down on the thought, refusing to let his brother’s suspicions get to him.

Chase drilled him with a glare. “Why her, for godsake? You’ve got half the women in Dallas falling at your feet. You won’t give any of them a second glance. Why take the chance with this one?”

Reese’s control snapped. “Because she’s special, dammit! Because I want her and she wants me!”

His brothers fell silent, their glances going back and forth as if each knew what the other was thinking. Reese wished like hell they’d tell him what it was.

“Okay, then,” Chase said. “Now that we’ve got things settled, let’s sit down and figure this out.”

Reese’s throat constricted. They might argue, as kids even punched it out. But he could always count on his brothers when he needed them. “Fine.”

For the next half hour, they discussed the murder and how to proceed. No one mentioned his relationship with Kenzie again. Reese was grateful for that. He had no real idea where he stood with her and no notion how she had become so important to him.

“I’ll give Ford another call,” Chase said. “Get him to keep me updated as much as possible on the investigation.”

“I’ll start digging,” Bran offered. “Look into Lee Haines’s background, see what turns up.”

“See what you can find out about Arthur Haines, too,” Reese suggested. “According to Kenzie, he’s always played a big role in his son’s life.”

“Arthur Haines...” Bran repeated. “He’s Black Sand Oil and Gas, right?”

“That’s right.”

“How did the daughter-in-law of our biggest competitor end up working for you?”

“Ex-daughter-in-law,” Reese corrected. “When I hired her, she was a single mother raising a son. Her résumé was outstanding, and I was more interested in finding a competent executive assistant than digging into her past.”

“I’ll check it out,” Bran said, but Reese could see the suspicion that had crept back into his younger brother’s eyes.

Finally, the meeting came to a close and the men rose from their deep leather seats.

“You need to stay away from her,” Chase said. “At least until this is over.”

Reese just shook his head. “Not happening. Kenzie needs me right now and I’m going to be there for her.”

Bran’s features darkened. “Once the press finds out she’s your employee and the two of you are involved in a sexual relationship, it’s going to make things a whole lot worse.”

“Would you stay away from Jessie if she needed you?” Reese looked at Chase. “Or Harper?”

His brothers exchanged more glances. “Fine,” Chase said. “We’ll work it out.”

Holding back a sigh of relief, Reese headed for the door, anxious to be away from his family. He loved them, but they had a way of making him feel like the delinquent kid he’d been when he had moved in with them in high school.

He preferred the control he felt in the business world.

Which reminded him to phone Derek Stiles as soon as he got back to the office. He’d already called Nathan Temple, one of the best criminal attorneys in Dallas, and convinced him to represent Kenzie. Reese had spent a year in juvenile detention. He knew from experience how law enforcement worked. Where Kenzie was concerned, he wasn’t taking any chances.

In the meantime, he had a company to run. He was still involved in a major acquisition that had done nothing but go sideways from the start.

He needed answers. For himself, his company, and for Kenzie.

It was time to go to work.